Gotta be careful with the Rushmore Refacement.
The Bureau requests an emergency meeting with the President of the United States in Mount Rushmore, located in Keystone, South Dakota, to warn him about SOMBRA and their plans to create political unrest between the country and the Unified Nations. However, before they can get the chance to even see him, Jack and the player are informed about the death of Special Agent Jonathan Stafford, who was shot in the chest near the lake.
Tropes:
- Accidental Murder: Sidney didn't actually wanted to kill Jonathan, but a heated discussion between them plus some blind rage on Sidney's side made him shoot Jonathan without wanting to. He even attempted to revive him after noticing what he had done.
- Age-Gap Romance: Sidney, who is 57, was having an affair with the victim, who seemed to be in his 30s at most.
- Assassination Attempt: Subverted. At first, the Bureau is led to believe that Jonathan was killed due to someone wanting to assassinate the president and he died defending him, but his cause of death turns out to be completely unrelated to that.
- Big "WHAT?!": Elliot does this when Sanjay reveals he gave Vanna Alabama his number without his consent.
- Blackmail: Jonathan was trying to blackmail Olivia Hewett, the First Lady, with threatening to reveal their affair to the president if she didn't escape with him to another country, though Olivia states she didn't care about his threats since her life plans involved more than just being the First Lady.
- Bleed 'Em and Weep: During the autopsy report, Grace states that the killer tried to revive Jonathan after shooting him, probably out of remorse, and Sidney later confirms this when you arrest him for the murder.
- Call-Back: Queen Mary III and Vanna Alabama reappear, the former as a suspect and the latter during the Additional Investigation.
- Cassandra Truth: As expected, President James Hewett refuses to believe that there's a mysterious criminal organization trying to pit the United States against the Unified Nations without any solid proof, forcing you to try come up with some way to prove it.
- Choosing Neutrality: Olivia claims she can't go to Vanna Alabama's USStay benefit concert because, as the First Lady of the United States, she can't be seen taking sides with any movement.
- Closet Gay: Jonathan was having an affair with both the First Lady and Sidney Hirsch, but would rather kept the latter a secret even if the former would mean a lot more trouble.
- Conspiracy Theorist: President Hewett thinks the Bureau is this, believing SOMBRA is just a conspiracy they're trying to endorse and therefore refuses to believe you.
- Continuity Nod: The file that the Russian president left to Hewett has the logo of COSMORUS.
- Culture Clash: Jean-Marc Bonneur, the French president visiting Mount Rushmore, claims that Jonathan got hostile with him after he tried to kiss President Hewett, since it's a custom in his country.
- A Deadly Affair: Sidney killed Jonathan in a fit of rage after Jonathan refused to break up his affair with Olivia and instead called him old.
- Don't Call Me "Sir": During your first meeting with him, James tells you there's no need for formalities and that, instead of "President", you should just call him Dubya.
- Fanboy: Sanjay turns out to be a huge fan of Vanna Alabama, to the point he implores Carmen to let him go to a nearby concert of her.
- Forbidden Friendship: Sidney (who is the Director of Homeland Security) tells you he tried to fire Jonathan because he was getting too close and friendly with the president, which could be dangerous in his line of work. However, it's later revealed that he wanted to fire him so he could stop seeing the First Lady.
- Formally-Named Pet: One of Queen Mary's corgis that you find in this case is called Sir Wagglesworth.
- The Gadfly: During this case, Sanjay likes to tease Elliot about his liking for Vanna Alabama just for the giggles, to the point he actually gives Elliot's number to Vanna during the Additional Investigation.
- Hero Secret Service: The victim was a Secret Service agent deployed on Mount Rushmore to protect President Hewett.
- Hypocritical Humor: After teasing Elliot numerous times about liking Vanna Alabama, it turns out Sanjay is an even bigger Fanboy of hers. He even decides to assist to a concert during the Additional Investigation, and he's shown to be extremely excited of meeting Vanna.
- Impeded Communication: During the Additional Investigation, Elliot tries to bring down BØB and use its hard drive full of SOMBRA data to prove the president that SOMBRA is real, but unfortunately it gets hijacked, cut off so it can't get contacted anymore, then redirected to the Canadian wilderness by unknown forces.
- Iron Lady: Olivia Hewett, since she's the First Lady of the United States.
- I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: In the main investigation, you find an autobiography written by French president Jean-Marc Bonneur, where he describes how once he accidentally shot one of his bodyguards during a hunting trip, potentially making him a suspect in case he "accidentally" shot Jonathan.
- Love Triangle: Both Sidney and Olivia had a thing for Jonathan (Sidney romantically, while Olivia only did it for the thrill), while Jonathan had been involved with Sidney but decided to choose Olivia. You could also throw President Hewett in the equation, but he's so unaware about everything that he didn't realize his wife was cheating on him with Jonathan.
- Malaproper: James Hewett is prone to saying these, which goes with his The Ditz personality.James: Listen, I'm deeply saddened and absolutely do want to find the person who mastermined this murder...Jack: "Mastermined"? Oh, you mean, masterminded...James: Exactly... mastermined.
- Oh, Crap!: Elliot has this reaction when he realizes BØB has been hijacked and is now on a crash course somewhere in the Canadian wilderness, since BØB's hard drive is the Bureau's only chance of proving to Hewett that SOMBRA is real.
- Our Presidents Are Different: James Hewett is the President Buffoon variety: he's a ditz who can't realize his own wife is cheating on him with a Secret Agent service, can't take a murder investigation seriously and instead decides to practice for his hoedown dance while a potential assassin is on the loose nearby, and believes SOMBRA is a conspiracy theory without even letting you explain yourself despite the fact that the Bureau is the international security force.
- Pet the Dog: During the Additional Investigation, Olivia gives Sanjay a ticket to attend Vanna Alabama's concert, then Vanna herself greets him and gives Sanjay an autograph.
- Race Against the Clock: Starting from Chapter 3, you're given 12 hours to solve the murder or else the FBI will take it away from the Bureau.
- Running Over the Plot: While investigating the camp, you discover that the victim had ran over one of the Queen's corgis with the presidential van, although it didn't die.
- Save Sat: Subverted. After President Hewett requests proof that SOMBRA exists so he can consider taking actions, Elliot tries to bring BØB out of space and use its hard drive full of SOMBRA information to prove it, but unfortunately it gets hacked and taken away from the Bureau before it can touch ground.
- Shout-Out:
- James Hewett is a parody of George W. Bush, and even has the nickname "Dubya".
- Jean-Marc Bonneur resembles Nicolas Sarkozy.
- Olivia Hewett resembles Claire Underwood.
- Interestingly, there is a house of cards in the Conference Table scene.
- In the Rushmore Lake scene, there is a toy fish resembling Nemo.
- In the Conference Table scene, there is a bobblehead of Abraham Lincoln.
- Brolex is a parody of Rolex.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Sidney Hirsch, the killer, is the one who asks for the Bureau to help them and solve the murder in the first place.
