Lars: Merry Christmas, <Player's Name>! I'm so excited the holiday season is finally here!
Right during Christmas Eve, the Bureau arrives to Siberia, Russia, so they can investigate a COSMORUS outpost whose coordinates were in the launch codes that SOMBRA illegally obtained. There, Jack and the player decide to visit Lake Baikal
to check out the Northern Lights, where they find the frozen body of COSMORUS maintenance technician Nick Kringle with a bullet wound on the chest.
Tropes:
- Abnormal Ammo: The victim was killed with a bullet made of ice.
- Asshole Victim: The victim was a Double Agent working for SOMBRA, an international crime organization, just for the sake of money.
- Bad Liar: Jack and Asal are so hilariously bad at hiding their relationship that they shouldn't have bothered trying to make it a secret in the first place.Asal: <Player's Name>, what a lovely surprise to see you here! I had no idea you were in Siberia. I was just doing a little ice skating and ... sightseeing.Jack: What a pleasant coincidence, isn't it, Ms Hawaa?Asal: Why, yes it is, Agent Archer. And may I say you're looking very handsome today.Jack: Uh... what was that, <Player's Name>? The mug? Oh right! The mug...
- Bad Santa: The victim, who worked as a Mall Santa, preferred to flirt around and assist to parties rather than perform his job. And that's without taking into account how he was secretly working for SOMBRA.Forrest: Santa was too busy getting drunk and sleeping around to do his seasonal duties! He was on his own damn naughty list!Jack: Please don't tell us you killed him because he was a bad Santa.
- The Bartender: Dominika Snegurochka, a Dominatrix owner of the local bar that Jack is afraid of.
- Call-Back: Asal Hawaa and Nikolai Sharapov reappear as suspects.
- Casual Kink: The victim was heavily into BDSM with fellow Dominatrix girlfriend Dominika.
- Christmas Episode: The case takes place during Christmas Eve, and so most of the team, suspects, and even the victim appear dressed in Christmas attire.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: When the player finds a photo of a half-naked Nick in Asal's phone, Jack goes absolutely bonkers and demands an explanation from her, remaining distrustful even after she makes clear it was part of her investigation job.
- Dance Party Ending: The case ends with the Bureau having a Christmas party with eggnog and a Secret Santa event.Lars: Wait, Chief! Before we go...Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
- Dating Catwoman: Jack is revealed to be dating Asal who, while not evil, is still somewhat antagonistic towards the Bureau and tried to poison Jack back in Iraq.
- Deep Cover Agent: Halfway through the case, you learn that the victim was a secret CIA agent in charge of keeping tabs on COSMORUS, and during the Additional Investigation you discover that Forrest Sugarcrystal, his fellow coworker, is one too.
- Dominatrix: Dominika Snegurochka, The Bartender you meet in this case, is one. She even "asked" Santa Nick for a spanking paddle as a gift.
- Double Agent: Nick was both a CIA agent and a spy for SOMBRA who, like Darya, sold classified information to them.
- False Friend: Nick pretended to be Nikolai's friend so he could steal some classified documents from him and sell them to SOMBRA.
- Germans Love David Hasselhoff: In-Universe example with Jack and his merchandise store, who claims it's more popular in Siberia than anywhere else in the world.
- Goal in Life: For Yelena, going to space is this.
- Hangover Sensitivity When you encounter Nikolai for the first time, he's suffering from a hangover after drinking too much with the victim, to the point he has to leave to barf.
- Human Popsicle: You find the victim frozen on a lake after being killed.
- Just Following Orders: Asal excuses her crime by claiming she was just following orders from the Mossad.
- Karma Houdini: Asal notably becomes the first killer in the franchise who gets granted immunity after killing someone, since it was the Mossad who ordered her to kill Nick for security purposes and Judge Adaku mentions her superiors having a word with him before the trial.Jack: I can't believe Asal's going to walk! How did she pull that off?
- Kinky Spanking: When you rummage through Nick's Santa bag, you find a spanking paddle addressed to Dominika.Jack: The message on the tag of the spanking paddle says: "Spank me, I've been naughty."That's definitely not for a kid...
- Love Hurts: Both Yelena and Jack suffer from this during the case: Yelena was in a relationship with Nick, who in return cheated on her with Dominika, and Jack gets pretty hurt when you discover Asal, his girlfriend, murdered a man under orders yet said nothing to him, forcing you to investigate and unmask her as the killer.
- Mall Santa: The victim worked as this as part of his undercover persona.
- The Man Behind the Man: It's revealed that SOMBRA was the one behind Marina's assassination attempt years ago, since the president she exposed as a fraud was working for the organization.
- Oblivious to His Own Description: After learning about Jack and Asal's relationship, this happens between him and Chief Ripley.Chief Ripley: I'm glad you're back. I've just been notified that a certain Bureau member's new girlfriend has joined us here in Siberia during our highly confidential investigation.Jack: <Player's Name>, you brought someone on this trip? You sly devil!
- Poirot Speak: Yelena mostly speaks in good English, but her syntax tends to be a little bit off.Yelena: Since I was little girl, I wanted to go to space. For 20 years, I've waited for COSMORUS to give me opportunity to go... but I'm rejected always!
- Prone to Tears: Yelena is prone to bursting into tears whenever you talk to her, either because she can't fulfill her dream of going to space or because her boyfriend was cheating on her.Jack: <Player's Name>, I'm not so good with women and tears so let's come back later...
- Pun: When Angela recalls how she met Lars when he got stuck in the chimney of a library during a Christmas party in college, Lars says it was love at first soot.
- Refused by the Call: Yelena Tereshkova has been waiting to become a cosmonaut and be granted permission to go to space, but COSMORUS keeps rejecting her applications, much to her chagrin.
- The Reveal: SOMBRA is planning to launch a satellite with the classified documents both Darya and Nick sold to them.
- Running Gag: Angela makes yet another Matryoshka doll, this time of Lars as part of her Secret Santa gift.
- Saving Christmas: Parodied by Jack when you find the body dressed as Santa Claus.Jack: Ho ho... oh no! This wasn't an accident! Someone KILLED Santa Claus?! <Player's Name>, we've got to save Christmas!
- Secret Santa: In the Additional Investigation, the Bureau has one of these during their Christmas party: Angela gifts Lars a Matryoshka doll of him, Lars gifts Jack a sweater, and Jack gifts you a mug with his face imprinted on it.
- Shout-Out:
- The victim's name is Nick Kringle. He even plays Santa at the COSMORUS Christmas event.
- Forrest Sugarcrystal's elf costume resembles Buddy's outfit.
- Dominika Snegurochka's surname comes from The Snow Maiden, its original Russian name being Snegurochka.
- Yelena Tereshkova is named after Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to go to space. She also resembles Tina Fey.
- Stuck in a Chimney: Lars gets stuck in the chimney of the victim's house with the fire lit on, forcing you to rescue him.
- The Tease: Dominika likes to tease Jack whenever you speak to her, which seems to disturb him due to her Dominatrix status.
- Third-Person Person: Dominika speaks like this.
- Tragic Dream: For Yelena, going to space seems like a very impossible dream to achieve, since she's been working in COSMORUS for decades yet they keep rejecting her cosmonaut applications.
- Uranus Is Showing: Yelena sent a postcard to Nick with a photo of Uranus and his name of it as a payback for him cheating on her.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: Nikolai vomits off-screen during his first interrogation due to his hangover.
- What Have I Become?: Parodied when you're tasked with capturing the victim's reindeer-dressed deer, with Jack asking how they went from investigating an international crime organization to this.
