Jones: It's a poster of our victim! But look how it's been defaced! This can only be the handiwork of someone who had a fresh grudge against our victim!
After attending a concert at the Grimsborough University Concert Hall, the body of Lone Roses' lead singer, Olly Oliver, is found poisoned and encased in a drum on the concert stage.
Tropes:
- Alliterative Name: Olly Oliver.
- Ambiguous Gender: Subverted for the audience, but player straight for the characters. While the Police Department can't see it, The @rtist's suspect profile shows them to have breast outlines beneath their robe, confirming that, at least, they have a female body.
- Asshole Victim: As you learn throughout the case, Olly was a self-entitled douchebag who mistreated his fans and bandmates alike, played harmful pranks on others than involved financial damages, and even stole one of his admirer's songs after tricking her with hopes of forming a band. Due to this, no one actually mourns for his death.
- Awesome by Analysis: Alex is able to discern what kind of clothes the killer was wearing just by analyzing a reflective surface in a drum within a faded photo.
- Bizarre Taste in Food: Irma's Western Twangs Country Burgers, whose sauce is made of onions, ketchup, mustard, mint, chili pepper, ginger, sugar, olive oil, chocolate, and coconut, are apparently very yummy according to Jones.
- Blatant Lies: After Chief King calls Jones to see if you've already solved the murder, this happens:Chief King: How did the killer administer the poison? It didn't materialize in your victim's body by magic!!Jones: Uh... Of course! I was just talking about it with <Player's Name>, and actually, they're waiting for me, Chief, gotta go!
- Broken Pedestal: Two instances regarding Olly:
- Kevin Parker was an admirer of Olly until he refused to give him an autograph and mocked him.
- Mary Lou Hong was Olly's self-proclaimed biggest admirer until Olly tricked her into meeting up to steal her songs, baiting her with promises of forming a band together. It's the reason why she killed him.
- Captain Ersatz: Kevin Parker, the comic book store owner, is one of Jeff "Comic Book Guy" Albertson from The Simpsons.
- Comically Missing the Point: The following exchange after Ramirez reports the body:Ramirez: I need your help! There's something terribly wrong with The Stoned Horses' drum!!!Jones: That's a bit harsh, don't you think? The drummer sometimes forgets what song he's supposed to be playing but at least he does it with enthusiasm.
- Continuity Nod: In the Bookshelves scene, a figurine resembling the one owned by Bart Williams is seen. Bart himself also appears in a The Lone Roses' poster, showing that he's a member of the band.
- Creepy Souvenir: Olly's killer took a photo of his body and uploaded it to the web for everyone to see as a form of trophy.
- Dead Man's Chest: Olly's body is found stuffed into a drum of all things.
- Drowning My Sorrows: After being denied an autograph by Olly, Kevin claims word-by-word he did this with some martinis.
- Dueling Hackers: While trying to hack the victim's Friendnet account, Alex is repelled by another hacker who seems to be on a greater league than him, though this doesn't stop Alex from trying to counter-attack.
- Emoticon: The @rtist uses them while talking. Justified, since you only communicate with them through a computer.
- Evil Laugh: Mary has one during her trial for the murder of Olly.Mary: Ahhahaaaa!! That! Well, when I killed Olly, I realized that it was the first time I'd ever made a stand against social prejudice. I was proud and wanted to remember that moment!
- Failed a Spot Check: After you spend half of Chapter 3 looking for an apparently disappeared Irma, you find her in Kevin's comic book shop right across her diner.
- Fangirl: Mary Lou Hong is one for The Lone Roses, especially towards Olly Oliver. Didn't stop her from killing Olly after he stole her songs, though.
- Foreshadowing: After the case is solved, Jones tells you he's got tickets for the football game next week.
- Frozen Face: The victim is found with this expression
◊ on his face. - Greasy Spoon: Irma Anderson's diner has this appearance. She claims she had to close it for a month because Olly put a cockroach on the burger he ordered there, but Jones has his doubts about that.
- Magical Computer: The @rtist is able to halt Alex's hacking into a local online networking site to see the victim's account, but only does so because, as explained to the team, the police's software is too obvious on the site's network.
- Mysterious Backer: According to The @rtist, the reason why they hacked into the police servers is because they wanted to help you solve the case.The @rtist: I wanted to get your attention so I could assist you! Your software is way too visible on the Friendnet servers...
- Mysterious Stranger: This case introduces The @rtist, a mysterious hacker who uses a robe and a mask and only communicates with you through a computer.The @rtist: Hi there. Your tech guy just explained the situation to me. I have to remain anonymous but you can call me the @rtist, ok?
- Nightmare Fetishist: Nathan shows shades of this after he examines the body, finding fascinating how the poison contracted the victim's face into a Slasher Smile. Jones thinks he's been spending too much time in the lab again.
- Playful Hacker: The @rtist is nothing but totally friendly towards you.
- Pulled from Your Day Off: You discover the body during your day off watching a concert.
- Shout-Out:
- The case's title references the 1970s song, "Killing Me Softly With His Song".
- The victim's name, Olly Oliver, is a reference to Ozzy Osbourne.
- The Lone Roses are a parody of The Stone Roses
- Kevin Parker resembles Comic Book Guy.
- John Lennon and Simon & Garfunkel are mentioned.
- Grumpy Cat can be seen in the "Drum Kit" crime scene.
- The Bookshelves scene, which itself is set inside a comic book shop, has a Captain America shield replica (only replacing the star with a crescent moon) sitting in one corner, and a small glowing green lantern hanging from the ceiling, an image of a sinister jester, and a gorilla resembling King Kong.
- Slasher Smile: Olly's body◊ is found with one due to the effects of strychnine, the poison that killed him.
- The Stoner: Riley Davies, The Lone Roses' drummer, is always high.Riley: Dude, have you seen this? It's seriously trippy! Olly's turned into a drum! Boom boom bada boom!Jones: Great, he's so stoned it's like talking to a hyena on laughing gas...
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Olly was killed by having his beer laced with rat poison.
