That's one way to Torch Your Franchise and Run.
While discussing about Gabriel's infiltration into The Higher Truth, Jones and the player are informed by Amir about a dead body being found in Church Street, a section of Old Town that got hit particularly hard by the earthquake and now lies in ruins. There, both officers collect the corpse of Marcus Butler, the famous comic book artist they previously met, with his torso sliced open.
Tropes:
- Absurdly Sharp Claws: The murder weapon is a sharpened toy replica of a White Bear claw, the weapons of the in-universe superhero and Wolverine Expy White Bear.
- Adoption Angst: When he discovered he'd been adopted, Marcus started Gene Hunting for his real parents, something that didn't sit well with William, his adopted father.
- Agonizing Stomach Wound: The victim was killed by being inflicted with one of these.
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: During her first interrogation, Tamu tells you the worst Marcus ever did was breaking one of the bar's chairs after getting drunk.
- Babysitter from Hell: Of the dangerous variety. During the Additional Investigation, Gloria and Judge Powell agree to have Olive babysit Carter to make up for her misdeeds during the case, which ends up backfiring when Olive takes Carter to the dangerous Xerdan ruins then break into Marcus' studio to draw themselves as superheroes despite how immoral that is, prompting both Gloria and Powell to ground their children once they're found.
- The Bartender: Tamu Wanjiku, the bartender at The Kraken, appears as a suspect.
- Big Damn Heroes: Miracle Girl pops up in the Xerdan ruins to aid Gloria and the player look for Carter and Olive during the Additional Investigation, giving you the information necessary to find them.
- Bluffing the Murderer: Jones does this during Haruki's arrest by asking him why didn't he dump Marcus' body and the murder weapon into the Lava Pit present on Church Street, prompting Haruki to say he didn't think about it and unwillingly confess for the murder.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Haruki is revealed to be a member of The Higher Truth who got brainwashed by their ideals so thoroughly he decided to kill Marcus to steal his money and donate it to the cult, believing it was for the greater good.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Olive Powell, Judge Powell's daughter and a suspect in this case.
- Call-Back: Carter Hayes makes another appearance.
- Cliffhanger: The case ends with Gabriel informing the team The Higher Truth has a "big event" planned soon and how he'll try get to the bottom of it, which worries the rest of the team.
- Continuity Nod:
- Convection, Schmonvection: Marcus' body and the murder weapon are found just at the edge of a Lava Pit with no signs of the heat burning either him or the toy replica. The same goes for Jones and the player, who seem unaffected.
- Curse: Tamu attempted to put a Mazundan curse on Marcus (which, per Ramirez's investigation, involves writing the victim's name on a catfish statue) after he groped her.
- Fangirl: Olive is this for Miracle Girl, to the point her only concern regarding Marcus' death is how he'll never draw her adventures again.
- Full-Name Ultimatum: Judge Powell angrily calls Olive by her full name (Olive Wilhelmina Powell) after she discovers her daughter is a suspect in a murder investigation and has also been drinking while underage.
- Geek: Haruki Kato, the victim's friend, is a huge comic book geek who's always seen hanging around The Green's arcade. He even has Geek Physiques, as he's quite pudgy.
- Gene Hunting: Marcus had been doing this after he found out he was adopted, which didn't sit well with his adopted father William.
- Gift-Giving Gaffe: When you find a gift from the victim's father to him, Jones mentions how the most he ever gets from his dad is a six-pack of beers on his birthday.
- The Hero Dies: Olive discovered Marcus had been planning on doing this with Miracle Girl, which made her so upset she sent him hateful text messages through an anonymous phone number.
- Improvised Weapon: The killer used a toy replica of a superhero's weapon to kill Marcus.
- LARP: You meet Miracle Girl in this case, a woman pretending to be the victim's most famous character and who's been helping him promote her. The only time she breaks character is when she starts berating Marcus for badmouthing her to the press.
- Live-Action Adaptation: Marcus sold the rights of Miracle Girl to a Hollywood director for a movie, something that disappointed Haruki an prompted him to call Marcus a Sell-Out.
- Local Hangout: The Kraken, a bar the victim often hanged around and which serves as a crime scene,
- Loving Bully: After Ramirez reads Olive's diary to find where she and Carter have run off to, he tells you to inform her that the boy that's been throwing paper planes at her doesn't hate her, but it's actually in love with the girl.
- Newspaper Backstory: This is how you discover Marcus had criticized Miracle Girl (the LARPer, not his character) to the press, saying she was desecrating the sanctity of his vision.
- No Name Given: We don't get to learn Miracle Girl's real name after the case is over.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Downplayed since he wasn't his biological father, but William outlived his son Marcus nonetheless.
- Post-Stress Overeating: When you inform him of Marcus' murder, Haruki reacts this way, although it could be part of his Wounded Gazelle Gambit since he's the killer.Haruki: Oh, I'm just gonna have to eat away my sorrows. I'd better go buy some more strawberry candy.
- Rank Up: Gabriel's report about The Higher Truth reveal the cult has "circles" that, the more devout (or rich) you are, the more you learn about their objectives and get closer to "The Enlightened One" aka Steven. Gabriel's next mission is ranking up to the innermost circle so he can learn what "big event" the cult is planning to do in a few days.
- Sell-Out: Haruki accused Marcus of being this after he sold Miracle Girl's rights to a Hollywood director, as he agreed the movie could change the story however the filmmakers wanted. Haruki even tried to get the movie boycotted as a result.
- Shout-Out:
- There are several shoutouts to Marvel and DC:
- Miracle Girl is a reference to Wonder Woman.
- Tamu Wanjiku is a reference to Okoye.
- White Bear is a reference to Wolverine.
- Incredible Bulk is a reference to The Incredible Hulk.
- Olive Powell wears a Nevermind shirt.
- In the Church Street scene, there is a clown mask resembling those worn by the Joker's goons in The Dark Knight.
- In the The Kraken scene, there is a stuffed monkey resembling Diddy Kong, a sticker of a red mushroom with white spots, artwork of a familiar ghost and a pixelated heart.
- In the Pub Tables scene, there are some trading cards resembling Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, and the characters on them resemble Pokémon.
- GrimCon is a parody of Comic Con.
- There are several shoutouts to Marvel and DC:
- Skewed Priorities: When you interrogate Olive for the murder, she's more concerned about the fact Miracle Girl will never continue her story than his death.Olive: Marcus? Forget him! All I care about is Miracle Girl!
But now he's dead, who's gonna write more comics about the coolest superhero that ever lived? Oh, why does my life suck so bad? - Smitten Teenage Girl: Subverted. Olive becomes a suspect when you find a fan letter she sent to Marcus, whose gushing words and pretty drawings make Jones assume Olive was in love with him. However, this turns out to not be the case.
- Spy Speak: Gabriel left a message for the department regarding his investigation on The Higher Truth that read "The jibbly squibbler cares not for the sleepy wolf," which Cathy manages to translate pretty nicely due to knowing about it too.Cathy: For instance, "jibbly" means "event", "squibbler" is cult, and so on and so forth.
Anyway, according to Gabriel, the cult is actually a series of concentric circles. You start out in the outermost circle...
... and if you're very devout - or very rich - you move progressively closer to the innermost circle, where Steven Crowe awaits!
Gabriel's already managed to get to the third level, which means he is now privy to some interesting information, including mention of a "big event" that's about to go down in The Higher Truth!
But he says he needs more time to get to a level where he can find out more about what this event is actually about! - Ungrateful Bastard: Miracle Girl accused Marcus of being this after he badmouthed her to the press by claiming she was desecrating his vision, despite the fact Miracle Girl had been helping her promote the character and supported him even when he wasn't famous.
- With Friends Like These...: Marcus was killed by Haruki, his best friend, all because he refused to donate money to The Higher Truth.
- You Are Grounded!: Gloria and Judge Powell ground their children after they run off to the Xerdan ruins and break into Marcus' studio, the former on-screen and the latter off-screen.
