Amy: <Player's Name>, I know you probably have all the key facts in mind, but personally I could use a little recap! Let's see...
Chief Marquez sends Amy and the player to patrol an oil well so they can know more about Rhine Canyon. There, they find the body of scientist Bruce Green tied to a pipe and eaten by vultures.
Tropes:
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Judge Dante has this stance during the trial regarding the killer's use of vultures, as the birds don't normally consume live meat and it could be harmful to them.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: When interrogating Zuma, Amy takes Frank's "Let's go bust their chops" and adds her own spin by calling them Aztec chops instead.
- Call-Back: Zuma Tlaotani reappears as a suspect.
- Classified Information: Agent Z refuses to tell you a lot of stuff due to him being a secret agent.Amy: Agent Z, is it? What does the Z stand for? "Zebra"?Agent Z: That is classified information.
- Cool Shades: Agent Z wears them. Amy even calls him "Mr. Dark Glasses".
- Creating Life Is Bad: Zuma strongly disapproved of Bruce's experiments, which involved growing corn in the desert, because he saw it as unnatural.
- Deadly Dust Storm: One of the crime scenes takes place in a town (aptly named "Dust Town") that is being attacked by a sandstorm, forcing Amy and the player to dress protective gear.
- Eaten Alive: The victim was eaten alive by vultures.
- Eye Scream: When you find Bruce's body, you can see that his eyes are missing, and Roxie later confirms that the vultures ate them while he was still alive. Ouch.
- Fed to the Beast: The victim was killed by being tied to a pipe and left for the vultures to kill him.
- First Contact: This case reveals that, during her childhood, Chief Marquez supposedly made contact with an alien, but everyone took her for crazy and a liar.
- Green Aesop: One towards man-made pollution and people wanting to create replacements for things Nature already provides for us.Zuma: Why did he want to change the desert? Mother Nature made the desert dry for a reason! It is not the desert which must change, it is Man!Look around you, <Player's Name>! Mankind has destroyed Nature! It has polluted every inch of it! And now, mankind must pay.
- In Harmony with Nature: Zuma became friends with the victim after the former showed himself as someone who cared a lot about nature and the Aztec's wisdom about it.
- Innocence Lost: Chief Marquez experienced this during her childhood after supposedly coming into contact with an alien, which got her nothing but humiliation.Amy: But... But aliens aren't real, Chief...Chief Marquez: Don't you think I know that? For years after the event, everybody thought I was crazy, or even worse, a liar! It ruined my childhood!
- Jobless Parent Drama: Jake killed Bruce because growing corn in the desert would've forced him to close the oil well, something he couldn't afford as a parent needing to take care of his children. Better illustrated during his Motive Rant.Amy: What are you on about? Bruce's discovery would have helped you, not killed you!Jake: Oh yeah? Helped us how, by having the oil well shut and turning our sons into farmers?!That wouldn't have happened for years, if ever! But in the meantime, companies would have closed and we'd have lost our jobs!Amy: But surely replacing oil wells with farms is better for the planet?Jake: Maybe you can afford to be worried about the pollution, missy, but I can't! I've got to put food on my family's plate! Oil drilling is all I know, I'd have never found another job!
- Married to the Job: Jake Drill, the worker of the oil well, has been working in the oil industry for years to the point he has developed asthma because of it.
- New-Age Retro Hippie: Ezra Hope, a stoner who lives in Rhine Canyon and was friends with "green man" (the victim) because he supposedly appreciated Nature as much as him.
- Only in It for the Money: While Jess genuinely wanted to save starving people by growing corn in the desert, Bruce wanted to sell the idea to the highest bidder instead, which got him in trouble with a lot of people, including Agent Z as he was tasked with stopping Bruce from selling the corn formula to enemy nations.
- Right Behind Me: Happens while Amy and the player discuss about Agent Z's story involving Chief Marquez and aliens.Amy: Talking about aliens... I'm not sure Agent Z told us the truth about his investigation, but I really don't want to ask Andrea...Chief Marquez: Ask me what?Amy: Chief Marquez! I didn't know you were here!
- Saying Too Much: Agent Z does this during the Additional Investigation when you try to question his activities in Rhine Canyon.Agent Z: I don't owe you anything, you don't have the clearance. My mission in the lab is confidential, it's just bad luck that it tied me to your victim.Amy: Haha! So that's why you're here? You're working at the lab?Agent Z: [With an Oh, Crap! expression] I can't confirm nor deny anything. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do!
- Shout-Out:
- Agent Z is a parody of Agent K, and he works for the GIA.
- In the Storage Area scene, there is a wanted poster of a man who resembles Heisenberg.
- In the Waste Containers scene, there is a caricature of Nosferatu.
- Soapbox Sadie: Ezra is a Rare Male Example, obsessed with saving Nature and sending threatening photographs to the oil workers if they don't stop pollution the ambient.
- Stealing the Credit: Bruce and his fellow companion Jess Prakti were working on a project involving growing corn on the desert, which would've been revolutionary and save millions of people from starvation. Unfortunately, Bruce stole all the credit for himself then tried to auction said idea to companies when Jess wanted it to be free, making for a strong murder motive.
- The Stoner: Ezra, the local hippie, is always high. He even asked Bruce to grow weed in the desert for him, and got mad at him when Bruce refused.
- Wistful Amnesia: Chief Marquez claims that her memories of meeting an alien are very hazy, only having brief flashes about it for some reason no matter how hard she tries to remember.
