Game 34: The Colonel's Bequest - Nice Night for a Walk

Laura Bow Journal Entry 3: "Why won't anyone listen to me? Not only is Gertie dead, but whoever killed her has more than likely got to Wilbur now! I must make Lillian listen before more family members get murdered. In the meantime I'm trying so hard to use the investigation techniques my father taught me in an attempt to solve this mystery. The clues I've found so far point to multiple guests, but there's one in particular that I'll be watching very closely indeed. Hopefully without them noticing, or I could end up as their next victim!"

 Time to fill in the details

My last post finished with the big question of whether or not Gertie had been murdered. I left the room to go and find out, but as soon as I did, I was shown a view of the veranda through the windows above the stairs. “Someone’s walking outside on the second story veranda! Who could it be?” Whoever it was walked from right of screen all the way across to the left, but it wasn’t completely obvious from the silhouette whether they were male or female. There are a few guests that I could rule out for the simple reason that this suspect walked uninhibited (Henri and Wilbur certainly don’t) and seemed pretty thin (Celie and Ethel are both much larger), but of course there’s a chance one of those characters is putting on their physical restrictions or pretending to be fat. Once I regained control of Laura, I went straight for the stairs and made my way down to the ground floor. However, my intention of finding out whether Gertie’s body was on the ground below her window was once again put on hold, when the image of my father appeared once I reached the bottom of the stairs.

 Seriously, this really does rule out a couple of guests

“One important tool a good detective uses besides asking questions of people is to selectively reveal information to THEM and listen to their response. If you “tell Gloria about Fifi”, you may receive additional information about Fifi, or at least what Gloria THINKS of her.” I’m assuming that Laura is recalling advice given to her by her father on a previous occasion, and not that her father is somehow communicating with her from afar. The only thing that made me think otherwise was Laura’s reaction after “hearing” this advice. “Thanks, Daddy!” Once the ill-timed advice session was over, I made my way through the billiards room and out the door to the outside world. Gertie’s body was indeed lying on the ground just outside the door! “Oh, dear! It looks as if Gertie has accidently fallen from her upstairs window and killed herself! Or... was it an accident?!” It took me a while to figure out how to examine her body more closely, as all my attempts were met with “Gertie’s dead, all right!”, but eventually I typed in “search body” and got a result. “You quickly examine Gertie’s body and see that she died of a broken neck. You can see no clues as to what might have happened.”

Yeah OK daddy! Now's really not the time for one of your telepathic lessons alright? I'm busy!

 That was a statement! Or...was it a question?!

I didn’t appear to be able to pick anything up, so I went back inside to tell someone about what I’d found. Gloria was still sitting in the billiards room listening to music, so I gave her the horrific news regarding her mother! “Mother??? Oh, no! It can’t be!” Gloria rushed outside to see for herself, only to come back in moments later. “You’re very mean! There’s NOTHING there!” I raced back outside myself to find that Gloria was telling the truth. Gertie’s body had disappeared!!! The killer, or an accomplice, must have come along and removed it already. I walked west to the screen beyond, hoping to find some clue as to where the body had gone, but instead came across Clarence and Wilbur chatting outside the study. The progress clock appeared on the screen, making me forget all about Gertie and focus on what was going on between the two house guests. Wilbur: “I can’t go on with this any longer! I must tell him about...” Clarence: “Quiet! Let’s go into the house to continue this discussion.” Had I interrupted yet another juicy conversation? There weren’t going to be any hidden rooms nearby this time, so I did the only thing I could think of. I followed them back inside!

Haha...got ya!!!

...my eating disorder! I need help!"

I once again interrupted them in the study, and then again in the library, where Clarence suggested they go to the dining room. That worked for me, as that was a part of the house I could view from one of the hidden rooms. I moved the mirror in the hallway and entered the hidden room, then looked through the portrait eyes to finally see what these two gents were up to. Wilbur: “It’s just not right! We’ve got to tell him about it!” Clarence: “No! It’ll work out, Wilbur. I’ve got some plans.” Wilbur: “How are you going to replace that hundred grand we took from Henri? Where would YOU get that kind of money?!” Clarence: “I know people. I can do it...trust me.” Wilbur: “Why were we so stupid as to buy into a racehorse, anyway?! And to use Henri’s money! We should’ve known better!” Clarence: “It would’ve worked out, Wilbur. It wasn’t our fault that &$@*% horse broke his leg!” Wilbur: “All I can say, Clarence, is you’d better do something fast... because if you don’t, I’m ‘fessing up.” Clarence: “I’ll handle it, Wilbur! Just don’t be stupid and say something!” Well, well, well!!! Now I knew what the racehorse scam was that Gertie threatened to tell Henri about! I might just tell him myself!

 It's difficult to see in this image, but the killer walks past the windows in the study and again later in the dining room.

 Don't say nothing? Does that mean I should say something? Oh I'm confused!

Act II had already been filled with drama, and it was only 8:15! Since I’d had more hidden room success, I decided to check out the other rooms now so as to avoid interrupting any further discussions. When I looked in on the billiard room, I once again witnessed Clarence and Gloria at each other! The progress clock ticked over to 8:30, and I watched as Gloria told Clarence she wanted to end their marriage. Clarence: “Are you joking or something? That’s ridiculous!” Gloria: “No, dahling. I’m not joking. I have a new beau...he’s a director.” Clarence: “Yeah, well... I have to think about this! See you around... sweetheart!” That’s not the response I would have expected from someone who’s just been told his partner is seeing someone else. It was made even stranger when I walked into the billiard room to record whether either of them were still there, only to find them quite happily playing billiards against each other. I set my disbelief aside, and continued spying on rooms. I was beginning to wonder whether the majority of the game’s progress would be made by listening to dialogue from within the hidden rooms, and that concern wasn’t allayed when I looked in on Ethel in parlor.

 Way to rub it in!

 Let's not let breaking up get in the way of a good game.

Ethel was clearly very drunk! Not only was she slurring her words, she was also having a full on conversation with Polly the parrot! Ethel: “YOU know how shey all feel ‘bout me, don’cha, Polly?” Polly: “AWWK!” Ethel: “Wellll, I don’ care what shey think! ‘Specially, Gertie and shat connivin’ daughter o’ hers! I shink I’ll have ‘nother drink...okay, Polly?” Polly: “Have a drink...AWWK!” I walked into the parlor with the intention of asking Ethel about Gertie and the handkerchief, since I’d noticed she’d had one in her hand during her conversation with Lillian in Act I. Unfortunately she was just too drunk to make any sense, so that interrogation was going to have to wait. Having now spied on all the rooms that I could, it was time to go hunting for the other house guests. I knew that Ethel was in the parlor, and Clarence and Gloria were in the billiards room, but the current whereabouts of everyone else was unknown. I made my way upstairs to check all the rooms, stopping to look in the previously empty closet at the top of the stairs on the way. To my great surprise, an arm came from out of the darkness, and pulled me inside, apparently killing me in the process. “That’s what you get for being such a snoop, Laura!” The Colonel’s Bequest is right up there with Space Quest for killing off the player with no warning, yet the unavoidable deaths are not as fun, making them feel a little more annoying.

 Teehee...you said shat!

 And they say alcohol isn't a gateway drug!

I restored, and made my way back up to the first floor. There I found Henri in his room, unwilling to answer any of my questions as usual. Lillian was nowhere to be found in our room, so I moved onto Rudy and Clarence’s. I walked in on Rudy and Fifi having some sort of scuffle! It wasn’t completely clear whether Rudy was trying to sexually assault her or threaten her about her relationship with Henri (or something else), but the result was Fifi slapping him and shouting “Leave me alone, you, you...CAD!” She then left the room, leaving Rudy standing there holding the side of his face. He quickly recovered and sat down on the sofa to have a drink, so I asked him as many questions as I could to see if I could figure out what was going on. As you would expect, he wasn’t very forthcoming. I left, and made my way up to Fifi’s room on the top floor. I’d thought that seemed a likely place for her to go given the circumstances, and that’s exactly where I found her, sitting in front of the mirror brushing her hair. As with Rudy, she seemed unwilling to talk about what just happened, but at least I could mark down her whereabouts.

 

CAD? Computer Aided Design? Well I guess that's accurate when you think about it!

 Unfortunately his eyeballs appear permanently focused on your ample curves Fifi.

I made my way to the kitchen to see whether Celie was still there doing chores, only to find that Lillian and Jeeves were too. Not only that, but the progress clock ticked over to 8:45! Jeeves quickly left with what looked like some food on a plate, going outside through the doors to the right, but Lillian and Celie were having a discussion about something or other. Celie: “Now, now chile. It ain’t no use gettin’ yourself upset. Things have a way o’ workin’ themselves out.” Lillian: “I know, Celie...but, it just doesn’t seem right! Oh...hi, Laura.” What had they been talking about? I tried asking a couple of questions to see if I could get Lillian to tell me her woes, but got nowhere. I therefore told her about Gertie’s death, hoping that she of all people might believe me. “That can’t be true, Laura. I’ll go see!” Lillian left and came back a few moments later, saying “Oh, you’re just imagining things, Laura!” on the way back in. She too thought the handkerchief belonged to her mother Ethel though, so that did seem a lead worth noting. I had to wonder why this scene was so important though, as I doubted the clock had ticked over for no reason. Was I supposed to follow Jeeves?

 Where are you going at this time of night Jeeves? Can't you see the time on the gargantuan clock floating in the middle of the room?

No, I just really enjoy telling people that their relatives are dead. It's a fetish of mine!

I walked through the French doors into the night, finding myself standing next to Beauregard’s doghouse and two large doors leading down to the cellar. Jeeves was there, calling for the dog to come and get its dinner. So it hadn’t been a plate of food in his hand, it was a dog bowl! Beauregard wandered over to eat, while Jeeves walked south off the screen. I followed Jeeves for quite a few screens, and since I’ve not yet described pretty much anything outside of the house, this seems a better time than any. Note that I initially followed the butler as closely as I could, not stopping to check anything out in case I might lose him, but for the sake of this post I’ll act as though I had all the time in the world. The first screen I followed him through contained a well just off the side of the gravel driveway. I was able to bring a bucket of water up by winding the handle on the side, and was given a view of it from the lip of the well, but wasn’t able to retrieve anything or take the whole thing with me. Jeeves walked to the left of screen, so that’s the way I went too.

I'll just feed the dog before I go off to finish hiding my latest corpse!

 If Samara crawls out of the well, I'm outta here!

He walked through a garden path, straight across the front of the house, passing a statue of the colonel on the way. I didn’t seem to be able to do anything on this screen, so I once again followed Jeeves to the left of screen and across the other side of the driveway. I continued in this fashion, eager to find out exactly where he was going, only to find that he simply disappeared when I reached the next screen! At least that’s how it seemed the first time I went through this little chase scene. Long story short, if I walked to the left of screen to the south of a tree then I reappeared at an old carriage house and Jeeves was nowhere to be seen, yet if I walked just to the north of the tree I reappeared in front of a stable where Jeeves can be seen sliding the door open and entering. I too entered the stable, where I watched as Jeeves fed the colonel’s horse Blaze some hay. Once he left, I was able to explore, finding a saddle and a bridle hanging on the wall. Both of them were too heavy for me to carry, and I was also informed that Laura has “never been fond of horseback riding”.

 Where are you off to you deranged butler!?

So this is where you keep the bodies!

One thing I thought I might be able to pick up though was a lantern hanging just behind Blaze. I wasn’t able to reach it over the little fence, so I tried opening the gate. As soon as I did, Blaze rocked back onto his hind legs and kneed me in the head. Death came quickly! I restored, and this time tried patting Blaze first. I was able to, but it made no difference to the end result. Figuring there must be a way to get the lantern later on, I set out to see where Jeeves went next. We travelled north at this point, soon arriving at a chapel situated in front of a cemetery. Rather than entering the chapel through the doors at the front, Jeeves walked around the back of it before disappearing. I quickly followed, and soon found myself inside, watching as he lit the three candles on the wall. Once again there appeared to be nothing I could interact with in the room, so I left in pursuit of the butler. We walked to the east, along a path leading past a bell tower. There was a rope with a ring attached to it hanging inside the tower, so I tried to pull it, only to be told that “the short rope is too high for you to reach the ring”. I climbed the ladder up to the bell, but was told that it was rusted in place after years of no use.

FINISH HER!!!

A cemetery! I should have guessed you ghoul!

 I never...drink...wine!

 Oh come on Laura! You've got arms you know!

Jeeves continued to the east, passing through a pretty section with a statue of a satyr, and then back to the mansion. He walked behind it, reappearing on the screen where Beauregard was still snoozing in his doghouse. However, instead of entering the house proper, the butler opened the cellar doors and descended. What was he up to down there? Is this what I’d come to see? I followed him inside, only to find the room below was Jeeves' own bedroom! He’d already laid down on the bed for a nap, tired after completing his late night chores. I explored the cellar, but could only find a box of crackers on the dresser beside the bed. Jeeves nodded his head when I tried to take them, which was just as well as I had a pretty good idea where they might be useful. After all, Polly wants a cracker! I couldn’t get anything else out of the gloomy guy, as he kept telling me to leave every time I asked him a question. Was this whole scene there just to get me out of the house or had I missed something during our trip? Was Jeeves merely a distraction? Did something occur in the kitchen in my absence? (These are all hypothetical questions in case you're wondering)

Not to mention the rest of the scene

Oh this sort of thing never ends well!

What? Where are the bodies? No ritual sacrifices!? *Sigh*...back to the drawing board!

I re-entered the house, planning to find where all the guests were situated at 8:45. While confirming that Ethel was still getting pissed in the parlor, I took the opportunity to give a cracker to Polly. “AWWKK! Gonna tell him... tell him. Racehorse scam. AWWKK!” So crackers were the key to getting Polly to talk! I tried giving him more, but he didn’t seem to want to tell me anything else of interest at this stage. I wondered whether I should go and tell Henri about the scam, but that thought was squashed when I found the colonel missing from his room. I thought he might have taken the elevator down to the library, but instead I was confronted with the progress clock ticking over to 9:00 and the words “Act III” on the screen when I entered. Wilbur was there, sitting in the chair reading his magazine about racehorses as usual, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I recalled how things played out at the end of Act I, and decided the best course of action was to leave the room and then come back in. It worked, as I returned to find Wilbur gone, his chair knocked over and signs of a struggle on the floor! Had Wilbur been murdered too!? Stay tuned to find out!

 AWWKK! Where is he...where is he... AWWKK!

 Act III: Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

This is what I make of Act II

• Lillian and Celie chat in the kitchen for the entire hour
• Ethel goes to the parlor and gets insanely drunk. She spends the hour talking to Polly the parrot.
• Henri stays in his room until 8:45, at which point he leaves for an unknown destination. I didn’t check the whole map (there are still lots of places I haven’t visited), but didn’t find him anywhere in the house.
• Fifi has an altercation with Rudy in his room, before making her way upstairs to her bedroom. Both Rudy and Fifi remain in their respective rooms for the remainder of the hour.
• Clarence has a discussion with Wilbur outside the study, but they take it inside when I interrupt them. They move to the dining room, where Wilbur threatens to admit that they stole $100000 from Henri. Clarence tells him not to do anything stupid, and that he would sort it out. Clarence then went to the billiards room, where Gloria tells him that she wants to break up. They then play billiards for the rest of the hour. Wilbur goes back to the library, where he is killed around 9:00.
• Jeeves starts in the kitchen, then goes outside to feed Beauregard. He then wanders away from the house and visits the stable to feed Blaze and the chapel to light the candles. He then enters his room in the cellar for a nap.

At this point Clarence seems the most likely suspect, having had strong motives for killing both Gertie and Wilbur. Gloria has now given him a motive to take her out too, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s the next to go. The only thing that has me worried is just how obvious it is, making me think Clarence is being set up as a red herring. We’ll see...

Laura didn't believe in the boogeyman until it was too late!

Session Time: 2 hour 00 minutes

Total Time: 4 hours 00 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: I've written a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!

Game 34: The Colonel's Bequest - A Death in the Family?

Laura Bow Journal Entry 2: "Something awful has happened, I just know it! One moment Gertie was sound asleep in her bed, yet now there are signs of a struggle in her room and she's gone! My instincts are screaming at me, telling me that someone in this ghastly family has killed her. I've been listening in on quite a few of their conversations and it's clear that they're all only interested in looking after themselves. I'm about to go outside and see if I can see what happened to Gertie. I just wanted to write this journal entry in case anything would happen to me too! Hopefully it is not my last!"

What ever you do Laura...don't go into the attic!

OK everyone...gather around! We’ve all had a chance to rest our feet and have a bite to eat. I’m sure you’ll all agree that the first floor of Colonel Henri’s mansion was breathtaking, but there is still much to take in on this vast estate. We’re shortly going to head downstairs to see the ground floor, but first we’re going to pop upstairs to visit the room of Henri’s maid, Fifi. Alright, I’m not going to continue on in that fashion, but I am going to complete my tour of the house before discussing my thoughts about Act I. Upstairs were two doors, although the one that led to the attic was locked from the other side. The other one led to Fifi’s bedroom, which contained a couple of interesting things. Firstly, there was a Victrola (record player) in the corner, but I wasn’t able to use it in any way. Secondly, there was a walk-in change room off to the right hand side. Some of Fifi’s clothes were on the floor in there, but I wasn’t able to search them, get them or wear them. With nothing else to try, I made my way down two flights of stairs to the ground floor.

It's interesting to control a character who won't even touch a record player because it doesn't belong to her. Huge contrast to the likes of Tex Murphy!

My map of the ground floor

THE GROUND FLOOR

As with the first floor, the ground floor’s main hallway was split into two sections, but this time I started in the south section. There was a suit of armor to one side, and the description made a point of stating that “although it’s well-polished, all of its joints are completely rusted.” I wasn’t able to interact with it or the large battle axe it was holding, so I decided to check out one of the two doorways I could access. Entering the left room, I found myself in the billiards room. Interestingly, the progress clock appeared and ticked over to 7:30. This meant something important was happening, so I prepared to pay attention. Rudy and Gloria were in the room and appeared to be mid-conversation. Gloria: “Uncle Henri’s a strange old coot, he...” Rudy: “Quiet. We’re not alone anymore.” Hmmm...obviously my presence had disturbed them. Perhaps I was supposed to look on from a hidden room again? I looked at the picture of a woman on the wall, hoping to find some holes I could spy through again. “You see a picture of a lovely dark-haired girl above the player piano. Strange... her eyes have a haunted, hollow look to them.” Awesome! I checked out the rest of the room while I was there though, yet only discovered that I could play some music by winding up the piano.

 

Damn! That would have made for a pretty different game!

Never mind me...no really, carry on...

I figured I would probably need to restore at some point anyway to catch Rudy and Gloria’s conversation, so I waltzed into the second room off the southern part of the hallway. This time it led to the parlor, and once again the clock ticked over, reaching 7:45. Gertie and Clarence were in room, and my presence was once again a problem. Gertie: “...that old biddy! She’s half-sloshed most of the time and...” Clarence: “Shhh. Here’s that young friend of Lillian’s.” It probably goes without saying that the woman in the picture on the wall had the same hollow look in her eyes as the rest of them, so this was another conversation I was supposed to be looking on from a hidden location. Exploring the parlor revealed a door leading outside, a model of a horse on the table, a bottle of cognac on the bar, and a colourful parrot on a perch in the corner. I knew that the bird was called Polly from the manual, and I assumed he would tell me something useful at some point in the game. I couldn’t get anything out of him at this stage though, nor could I do anything with the horse or the bottle. I therefore restored my game back to 7:15, and made my way up to the northern part of the ground floor hallway.

Does no-one else notice all the eyes are cut out of the paintings?

There was a grandfather clock against the left wall and a large mirror on the right, both of which seemed like they could possibly be hiding secret rooms. I immediately found my thinking was correct, as typing “move clock” caused Laura to shift it enough to walk into another hidden room where I could look through the eyes of paintings. I looked through the southern painting, knowing that I would see Rudy and Gloria’s conversation. Rudy was talking to his sister about Henri’s money, predicting that he must have at least a couple million saved up. His biggest concern seemed to be that Fifi might be getting a fair portion of the cash, and Gloria had no doubts that the maid was trying to get her hands on it. “Why, she practically has him wound around her little finger. Dahling, it’s disgusting!” The conversation continued with Gloria telling Rudy that she was going to divorce Clarence, as she had “a new beau, a director, no less”. As if this bit of info wasn’t juicy enough, Gloria finished by raising her concern that Wilbur might tell people about the “little medical problem” she had. “It could ruin my career if it got out! I’ve got to talk to him.” I didn’t know how any of this information was going to be useful yet, but there was another conversation I was interested in hearing before I gave it much thought.

What's behind the rocket clock today?

She's getting a lot more than that!

As expected, I was able to move the mirror in the hallway and step through into a fourth (and I assumed final) hidden room. Here I looked in on Gertie and Clarence in the parlor, where they too had a rant about other guests. Clarence had apparently offered a fair amount of money for Ethel’s property on the river, but she refused to sell. Gertie doubted its value but Clarence seemed certain that he could make a lot of money out of the land. He then offended his mother in law by telling her that she’d “probably go and blab everything to Ethel”, which clearly didn’t impress her. Gertie: “I wouldn’t sell you any land, either! You’re no better than a low-down snake-in-the-grass! I don’t know what my daughter sees in you! I KNOW about your little racehorse scam. If you don’t watch your P’s and Q’s I’m gonna tell him all about it!” She then stormed out, ending the conversation. Wow! This whole family really has a lot of skeletons in the closet, and I was uncovering a lot of them in quick succession. It was now 7:45, and I still had a door on either side of the hallway to check out. I started with the left one...

But oh my Clarence, that is one fine smoke ring!

...and found myself in the library, where Wilbur sat in a chair reading a book. Gloria walked in at the same time as me, approaching Wilbur to demand he not spill the beans regarding her medical condition, before leaving. Apart from Wilbur, there wasn’t much of interest in the room, although I noticed the elevator shaft I’d seen in Henri’s room also appeared here. I passed through the room into another beyond it, which turned out to be the colonel’s study. Fifi was rushing around cleaning everything, and paid little attention to me snooping around. The room description made a point of mentioning the small glass case on the desk and the two large cabinets at the back, so I figured they must be important. The glass case contained a little, silver derringer, but unfortunately it was locked. I tried to break it, but was told it “would look suspicious if the derringer were to suddenly disappear”. Both cabinets were unlocked, and contained various weapons including rifles, a pearl-handled dagger, a mace, and an Australian boomerang! Any attempts to pick up any of them were thwarted by Laura claiming she wouldn’t know how to use them. It was becoming pretty obvious that I was going to be solving the puzzles in this game using brains and not brawn! Despite there being another door leading outside from the room, it was time to check out the last part of the house.

From some of the closeups of Gloria, I have to wonder if this little "medical condition" involves a sex change

Oh come on! Just point and shoot! How hard can it be?

The doorway to the right off the hallway took me to the dining room, which itself had another doorway continuing off to the right. I couldn’t find anything at all to do in the dining room (apart from kill myself again by entering the chute below the light on the wall), so I made my way through the doorway into the kitchen. Celie was in the kitchen washing dishes, and Beauregard the dog was lying on the floor near the warm stove. It’s here that I picked up my first item, after well over an hour of play! When I opened the icebox, a message popped up saying “Aha! A leftover soup bone! As it might come in handy, you grab it and take it with you.” OK, so a bone didn’t seem like a critical item for completing the game, but it was a start! The most obvious thing to do with a bone was to give it to Beauregard, so I did. “You give the bone to Beauregard who eagerly begins to gnaw on it.” Nothing else happened. So I finally got my hands on an item and then it was gone about ten seconds later, with no apparent reward. Was I not supposed to give him the bone? Had I dead ended myself and should restore immediately? Does The Colonel’s Bequest even have dead ends?! I tried to take it back, but Beauregard wouldn’t let me.

 The game's first real tragedy!

OK, so I held up my end of the bargain! Now which of the family members is a murderer Beauregard?!

There was a door heading out of the kitchen into the outside world, but since I’d now covered every room in the house and come across every character in some fashion, it was time to take stock of everything I’d seen and try to figure out what I was meant to be doing and what questions I should be asking. After a little bit of experimentation, I soon realised that it didn’t particularly matter what order I spied on the four conversations, meaning they didn’t absolutely occur at the times I first came across them. I thought it would be a good idea to start up another worksheet and mark down the location of each character’s whereabouts at each fifteen minute interval. This involved a fair bit of restoring, but I soon knew where everyone was located at 7:00, 7:15 and 7:30. While attempting to find where everyone was at 7:45, I stumbled across a very important event! After Gertie and Clarence had finished their aggressive discussion in the parlor, Gertie had made her way up to the first floor and gone to bed. When I walked in to find her fast asleep, the clock appeared on screen and ticked over to 8:00. Not only that, but the words “Act II” also appeared, so something must have just happened!

Hmmmm...it hardly seemed important that the old woman was snoring away

Was I supposed to have viewed something from a hidden room? It didn’t seem likely as I didn’t appear to have interrupted anything. I walked back out of the room, and was surprised to find an item sitting on the floor in the hallway. It was a handkerchief, which I picked up. Typing “look at handkerchief” merely displayed an image of it, so I wasn’t able to get any specific detail about it. Who left it there and what were they up to? I walked back into Gertie’s room and lo and behold, she wasn’t there anymore! “Did something happen in here?! A small table is lying on its side near a wide open window! Is that cigar smoke you smell?” I looked out the open window: “Looking downward you think you see something, but can’t make out any details.” It seemed pretty obvious what was going to be down there, but I would have to go outside to be certain. You’ll have to join me for Act II to find out what was there, as I want to spend the last part of this post putting my thoughts down on what I see as happening during Act I. I’ve collected quite a few puzzle pieces so far, but need to devote some time to putting it all together.

Oooohhhh, an item!!!! A precious, precious item!

 

I don't know...is it?!

This is what I make of Act I.

• Lillian goes to the bathroom to wash up before coming back to the guest room for a chat with Ethel. Ethel bad mouths Gertie, claiming she doesn’t deserve any of Henri’s money, and wishes to talk to Henri about the situation. Neither of them appears to leave the room.
• Henri and Fifi are smooching in Henri’s room before the colonel sends the maid away. Henri appears to stay in his room for the remainder of the hour, but Fifi goes to the study and cleans furiously.
• In the parlor, Clarence tells Gertie about his plans to get Ethel's land. Gertie is disgusted by Clarence's attitude and tells him she doesn't know what her daughter Gloria sees in him. She then tells him she knows about his racehorse scam and threatens to tell "him" all about it (which I assume is Henri). Gertie leaves the room and goes to bed, where she is attacked and thrown out of the window a short time later. Clarence doesn’t appear to have left the parlor throughout.
• Jeeves is wandering around offering drinks, although it’s difficult to track his movements the whole time.
• Celie is in the kitchen washing dishes for what appears to be the entire hour.
• Rudy and Gloria are in the billiards room, talking about how Henri never spent any of his money on the estate. They question Fifi's motives, and then Gloria admits she is going to break up with Clarence. Gloria then talks about a “medical condition” she had, and suggests she is going to demand Dr. Wilbur not tell anyone about it or risk ruining her career! Rudy leaves the room and heads up to his bedroom, while Gloria goes off to talk to the doctor before lounging in the billiard room listening to music.
• Wilbur is in the library reading books until Gloria comes in and demands he not tell anyone about her medical condition. He appears to remain there for the whole hour.

I knew that chandelier was trouble!!! It randomly fell on my head!

So who had a motive to kill Gertie, if indeed that is what has happened? Well Clarence sure did, as Gertie threatened to reveal his racehorse secret, but Ethel also had a few nasty words to say about Gertie, so she too needs to be watched. The cigar smoke suggests either Clarence or Henri's involvement, as they seem to be smoking them the majority of the time. Then again, the most obvious suspects can normally be ruled out in stories like this, so if anything it's unlikely to be any of those family members. Time will tell...

Session Time: 1 hour 00 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 00 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: I've written a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!

Game 34: The Colonel's Bequest - Rooms With a View

Laura Bow Journal Entry 1: "I arrived at Lillian's Uncle Henri's estate and boy is it huge! It's beautiful room after beautiful room, and I haven't even seen much beyond the first floor. I can't wait to see the grounds tomorrow! Unfortunately it appears that Henri doesn't have long to live, and he spoke at dinner about splitting his inheritance amongst the family. I couldn't believe how everyone reacted once he'd left the room! All arguing with each other like their portions of his fortune weren't going to be enough! It seemed like some of them wanted him dead sooner rather than later too, which is just too awful to comprehend. I also feel like there's something else going on, and I plan to find out what it is. I already know that Henri and his maid are having an intimate relationship, but I think there are darker secrets held within these walls. Now what would father do?!"

Oh and make sure you switch off your mobile phones too.

Don’t ask me what I think of The Colonel’s Bequest just yet. I feel like I’ve been dumped into a very large environment and been pretty much left to my own devices to figure out not only what is going on, but also how best to play the game. I’ve already put a couple of hours into it (which I'm unlikely to cover in this first post), and while I’m genuinely intrigued by the setup, I can’t say I’ve achieved...well...pretty much anything! As usual though, I’ve jumped ahead, so let’s start at the very beginning. Right from the outset, The Colonel’s Bequest does things very differently to any game on the list so far. After successfully bypassing the copy protection screen, I was given a rundown of each of the characters that will be involved in the game. This is done in a very effective way (clearly influenced by theatre), with each character’s portrait appearing at the bottom of the screen, before their full body image appears and merges with the cast of characters on stage. The final character to appear of course was Laura Bow, with her sweet and innocent looks very much in contrast to the brooding and cranky appearance of the majority of the others. I really like this idea, and it’s perfectly suited to The Colonel Bequest with its whodunnit murder mystery backdrop.

Thank you...thank you...you're too kind!

With the characters introduced, the credits began appearing on screen. However, replacing the theatrical style of the opening was a more modern movie style. The credits were introduced gradually, overlaying the game’s introductory scenes. The first shot is outside Tulane University in New Orleans, with the year being 1925. It’s immediately apparent how much time and effort was put into making the world of The Colonel’s Bequest feel alive, with a bird flying by, then a butterfly, before a squirrel arrives and sits on a rock near where Laura is seated, paging through a book. Unimportant people walk around in the background, bringing to mind Gold Rush, which is one of the really positive things I took from that game. Finally, Lillian approaches Laura, shuffling along in that very twenties flapper fashion, her hands pushed out to the side and her hips swaying. While I’m not overly familiar with 1920’s musical styles, the jazzy music also seems bang on. Don’t worry, I’m not going to continue on with this much detail, but I wanted to give those of you that haven’t played the game an idea just how much Roberta and co. nailed the era right from the opening moments.

Looks like a great place to sit back and enjoy a good book!

Lillian invites Laura to her Uncle Henri’s estate for the weekend, where he’s holding a family reunion. Laura is at first unsure, having a lot of study to get through, but agrees to go after Lillian’s promises that the old place is creepy and interesting. The intro then shifts to two nights later, with the girls aboard some sort of canoe en route to the estate. Once again there’s great detail, with shifting reflections on the water, frogs jumping around, and fireflies circling. They soon arrive, and the girls briefly pause at the gates to Misty Acres, taking in the scene in the same way the player is. In true Addams Family style, the door is opened by a worryingly broody butler, just as a bolt of lightning crashes above. Jeeves seems completely unaware of who is standing before him until prompted by Lillian, to whom he responds: “Everyone else has already arrived. They’re just sitting down for dinner. Please come in and join them.” The scene once again shifts to the dining room, with all eight guests sitting around the table for dinner. Henri is wheeled into the room by the rather voluptuous Fifi, and immediately goes about explaining why he called for this particular family reunion.

I hope they haven't paid the ferryman yet!

When you said rich, you really meant it didn't you!!!

“As you know, I’m a very wealthy man. I have invested my money wisely and have put away almost every dime. However, my end is near and I have decided to bequeath my millions to each of you sitting at the table.” I immediately wondered whether that statement included Laura, but that was quickly put to rest. “Except of course Lillian’s friend, Laura. AHEM! Anyway, as I have said, you’re all inheriting my money, and you will inherit equally when I go. If any of you should die before I do, then your share will be distributed equally to the surviving parties.” So it appears that Henri is good with money, but not so good at taking his family member’s safety into account. That last statement is just asking for someone to go on a murderous rampage! Henri excused himself from the table, leaving the guests to bicker over how long Henri might have to live and who deserves more money etc. This all disgusts Lillian, who announces: “I’ve had enough of this! Laura and I will retire to our room now.” This is technically where the introduction finishes, with Laura and Lillian appearing in the guest room they will be sharing together.

"I have...ahem...other matters to attend to."

You can't choose your family

The words “Act I” appeared onscreen, along with a clock face on which the hands ticked over to exactly 7:00pm. Lillian excused herself to go freshen up in the bathroom, suggesting I “explore the estate a bit”. After she departed the room, Laura voiced her feelings about the evening so far: “Hmmmm...something doesn’t feel right. Everybody’s acting too strange...even Lillian. What would Daddy do in a situation like this?” I have to say that this seemed a little forced to me. The family weren’t being particularly nice, but I don’t think any of them were acting suspiciously enough to kick off an investigation. Laura must indeed have extremely good intuition! After Laura had questioned what her father would do in the “situation”, an image of him appeared: “Honey, if things don’t feel right, they probably AREN’T. Observe the situation closely, yet be unobtrusive. Explore your surroundings quietly and carefully. Try to question the others without raising suspicion. Notice small details. Take lots of notes. And above all, be careful.” This all seemed like pretty good advice, and by now I was keen to get on and put it into practice. Laura collected her notepad and pencil from her suitcase, and control was handed to me.

Act 1: "Laura begins investigating a crime that hasn't occurred yet"

Note 1: "I forgot to take my medicine again and am already hearing my father's voice in my head!"

I began scouring the room, looking at everything I could see. Pretty much everything had a description of some sort, but the majority of them were stock standard, such as “There is only dust under the bed”. There were two things that seemed as though they might be important in the guest room. Firstly I discovered a small door beneath the pictures on the wall, which turned out to be a chute that I could open. Thankfully I saved my game before crawling inside, as doing so caused Laura to fall to her death. Secondly, when I looked at the picture of Colonel Dijon (Henri) on the wall, I was informed that there was another picture (of a little girl) on the opposite wall. “Funny, the girl’s eyes have a strange, hollow look to them.” I wasn’t certain whether that meant she had a cold, distant look in her eyes or whether they were literally hollow, but I assumed the latter. I tried investigating the eyes further but could find no way of interacting with them. Meanwhile, Lillian had returned from the washroom and her mother Ethel had also entered the room from the right of screen. Both were now seated and having a conversation. Their banter seemed of little consequence, but it was interesting to see the other characters go about their business in apparent real time.

Ha!!!

I asked both Lillian and Ethel about all the other guests. Their answers were occasionally interesting, but nothing stood out as critical. For example, when asked about Henri, Lillian responded with “If you ask me, I think he’s having a little fling with Fifi!” When asked about Rudolph, Ethel responded with “My nephew tries to pass himself off as a gentleman, but he’s nothing but a worthless gambler and womanizer!” I took screenshots of all their responses, but was yet to figure out whether randomly questioning people was the way to go or not. The idea of going around asking everyone about everyone brought Mortville Manor to mind, and that really didn’t make for a pleasant thought! I decided to move through the house, mapping it out as I went, and hoping that more specific motives would arise. Now, before I go on, I’ve been pondering how best to blog through The Colonel’s Bequest so I don’t spend eighteen weeks on it. If I were to describe every conversation I had and every little thing that I investigated on every screen, we’d all be in for a long and boring ride, particularly as it's quickly becoming apparent that I will be revisiting pretty much every screen multiple times. With this in mind, I’ve made the decision to give you a tour of the first floor of the house for the remainder of this post, ignoring all the minor conversations and item investigations that went on. Here goes...

I'm still trying to figure out whether I should ask questions related to my current task or just ask everyone everything. Then again I don't actually have a task yet!

THE FIRST FLOOR

The guest room that Laura and Lillian occupy is on the first floor of the house, which as you can see from the map I made below, contains seven rooms plus a connecting hallway (and two hidden rooms, but we’ll get to that later).

 My home has a total of five rooms. This one floor has six bedrooms!

The room to the right of the guest room was once a nursery, but is now occupied by Lillian’s mother Ethel. I could find nothing in this room that I could interact with.

The first floor main hallway is displayed across two screens, with the first one having doors leading off in three directions. Most tellingly though, when I typed “look at floor”, I was informed that: “You notice deep scuff marks on the floor near the two armoires.” Following up on this lead, I was able to move both the left and right armoires to reveal hidden rooms, which I'll cover soon.

The door to the north of the hallway led to a bathroom. I could find nothing of interest there, but did experience a great death scene when I made Laura take a shower! Laura rather surprisingly stripped naked (although I guess it’s not that surprising when you know that Roberta once posed naked in a tub for the cover of Softporn Adventures) and hopped into the bath to take a shower. Someone entered the room, and a knife glinted in the darkness. By now you can probably guess what happened next! The jarring music of Psycho kicked in and Laura was brutally murdered, pulling the shower curtain down as she fell.

 What's that? You want me to show more screenshots? Shame on you!

 

This death scene was far better than the whole Psycho game!

The door to the west of the hallway led to Henri’s room. The only interesting thing I could find there was an elevator, but I could find no way of using it. If Henri was in the room then he would tell me to “Stay out of my elevator!” and if he wasn’t there the elevator would be ascended to an upper floor with no apparent way of bringing it back down. I can only assume that when Henri's not in his bedroom, he has taken the elevator up to wherever the elevator goes.

The door leading further west out of Henri’s room took me to a room that hadn’t been used for a long time, yet “currently seems to be the guest room of Dr. Wilbur C. Feels.” I could find nothing to do in this room at all.

Moving down to the southern half of the hallway, I gained access to two more rooms, three sets of stairs and a closet. Interestingly, the chandelier hanging from the arched ceiling regularly shifts about as though it could fall at any time. I can only imagine it will play a role at some point. The closet was empty.

The eastern door leading out of this section took me to another guest room, with this one belonging to Rudy and Clarence. Unsurprisingly there wasn’t anything to do in there, but once again the eyes of the child in the picture on the wall were described as having a “strange, faraway look in them”.

The western door leading out of the lower hallway section took me to Gloria and Gertie’s guest room. There was nothing that I could do, but this time it was a horse on the wall that had a “strange, vacant stare”.

That completes our tour of the mansion’s first floor! So what did we learn from all this? Well, clearly all those vacant stares had to mean something, and I quickly discovered what it was. Both the armoires in the hallway open up to reveal hidden corridors. Once inside the corridors I could look through the eyes of four paintings, spying in on people within Henri’s room, as well as the guest rooms of Rudy and Clarence, Gloria and Gertie, and my own room. The trick was doing it at the right time. If I walked into Henri’s room prior to spying on it I would catch Fifi and Henri about to kiss, but they would quickly move away from each other after noticing my presence. Interestingly, the clock would appear on screen and tick over to 7:15 if this happened; suggesting I’d missed my opportunity to witness their conversation. However, if I entered the left hidden corridor and spied on them before entering the room, the clock would tick over and I could witness the two being very intimate. Fifi: “Oh, mon ami, I find it difficult to refuse you. I am so attracted to you.” Henri: “Well, I WAS quite a blade in my younger days!” Fifi: “Oh la la, I can tell, Henri, I can tell!” Henri: “Ah, Fifi, my dear. I DO appreciate you, but you’d better leave now before we’re noticed.” Fifi: “If you say so, Henri. Au revoir, mon cheri.”

 My first and only real success in a whole post!

 There are hidden doors into the rooms too, but I couldn't use them while there were people in there.

 

...and all your money!

Looking into my own room was also rewarding, although the time notably didn’t move onto 7:30 when I did. Ethel was having a bitch about Gertie. Ethel: “Gertie isn’t deserving of any of Henri’s money! Why, she’s not even a blood relative!” Lillian: “What are you going to DO about it, Mother?” Ethel: “Well, I can certainly talk to Henri about her and those two brats of hers!” Lillian: “You never change, do you, Mother?” Ethel: Never mind, Lillian. You and I will never agree on anything!” So I’m beginning to see how The Colonel’s Bequest might work, and it has me a little concerned to be honest. I know it’s early stages, but the game looks like it might be all about being in the right place at the right time, which is going to involve going back and forward between all the locations multiple times. The fact that I’ve not been able to pick up a single item so far suggests it’s not going to act like a standard Sierra adventure game, but I hope it doesn’t turn out to be a completely linear story with little actual puzzle solving. Reader comments suggest it requires a lot of thought, so hopefully I’m worrying about nothing, but I guess it depends exactly how that thought is supposed to be applied. Perhaps I’m just worrying about the obvious similarities to Mortville Manor, albeit in a much prettier environment!

Let's hope she doesn't, particularly when I'm looking into the room!

Session Time: 1 hour 00 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 00 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: I've written a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!