Carmen: We're here to stop SOMBRA smuggling diamonds, and we find a woman murdered with diamonds in her hands? That can't be a coincidence!
In Mazunda, the Bureau attends the end of the 3R Rally Race to investigate more about SOMBRA using the event to smuggle diamonds using its racers. Soon, the team's suspicions come to fruition when Carmen and the player witness Lily Karam, who has just won the race, dragging out of her car the poisoned body of her co-driver Nomena Leroy, clutching a bag of diamonds on her hand.
Tropes:
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: You find Lavinia totally plastered in champagne during an interrogation, where she mixes up her words and almost outs herself as the killer.Lavinia: I don't even talk... what you're knowing about!
- Animal Assassin: Lavinia kills Nomena by way of a venomous snake hidden in her toolbox.
- The Atoner: Prince Abioye admits he used to take bribes from criminals to turn a blind eye on their activities in the past when Mazunda was still a poor country, which is why he's fighting so hard to stop the diamond smuggling as he wants to atone for those things.
- Big Brother Instinct: Jonah completely loses his temper when he discovers his little sister Lily is a suspect in another murder investigation, refusing to believe it and even running to investigate on his own.
- The Big Race: The case's setting is the last stop and finish line of a rally that SOMBRA has been using to smuggle diamonds out of the continent.
- Blackmail: Nomena, who was willingly working with SOMBRA and Lavinia to smuggle the diamonds, tried to blackmail Lavinia into get her a racing car and a whole team all for herself or else she would leave the operation and reveal everything to the authorities. Sure enough, this gave Lavinia the motivation to kill her.
- Booby Trap: The killer put a rhinoceros snake in Nomena's toolbox so she would get bitten by it when Lily and Nomena made a stop at the last pit stop, far away from help.
- Broken Pedestal: Thomas Moulin becomes this for Carmen when she discovers what an ungrateful misogynistic jerk he is, as she was a huge fan of him prior to his interrogation.
- Buffy Speak: Jack wonders if Michelle has a "diamond-detecting thingy" when she offers her help to look for the missing diamonds during the Additional Investigation
- Call-Back: Ninah Zafy, Lavinia De Brills, Prince Abioye, and Lily Karam reappear as suspects.
- Childhood Friends: Ninah and Nomena grew together in Madagascar and were inseparable, which is how Ninah got a job being the mechanic of her car.
- Cliffhanger: The case ends with Carmen informing you that Lavinia, who you just learned knows the identity of The Mole, has been murdered in her prison cell.
- The Climax: For the Diamond Smuggling Story Arc.
- Continuity Nod:
- The unnamed sports announcer last seen in Leap of Death appears commenting the race at the start of the case.
- SandOil, the oil company featured in Case 8, appear as part of Lily's sponsors.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: The victim was bitten by a rhinoceros snake, which according to Angela slowly shut down her body functions and made her arm rot off.
- Delayed Reaction: Michelle has one when Thomas reveals the SOMBRA mole inside the Bureau and Lavinia were in contact with each other, which means Lavinia knows who the traitor is.Thomas: I don't have a name! Lavinia said her contact at the Bureau would collect them! Please don't arrest me!Michelle: Sure she did. Lavinia's contact inside the Bureau...
- I Did What I Had to Do: Prince Abioye says this in regards of how he accepted bribes from criminals in the past, as it allowed Mazunda to grow into the prosperous nation it is today.
- Disappointed in You: Carmen says this about Lily behind her back when you learn she went ahead and accepted the winning trophy despite her co-pilot being dead.
- Evil All Along: While she was mildly bossy and liked to look down on people, Lavinia still appeared to be on the good side when you informed her about her diamonds being smuggled. Then she's revealed to be part of SOMBRA and the one conducting the smuggling in the first place.
- Fangirl: Carmen is a big one of rally racing, as she appears entirely dressed up and cheering for the event at the start of the investigation. She was also this for Thomas Moulin, though it quickly becomes a Broken Pedestal when you learn about his personality.
- Good Is Boring: Lavinia confesses that the reason why she's been smuggling her own diamonds for years and accepted SOMBRA's proposal was because she was bored and evading taxes brought excitement to her life.
- Implausible Deniability: During an analysis, you catch Elliot signing his heart out until Carmen interrupts him. Then he has this to say:Elliot: <Player's Name>! Carmen! I was just... not singing...
- In Vino Veritas: Nomea revealed to her friend Ninah that she was smuggling diamonds and even proposed her to join while they were drunk, though Ninah refused.
- Jerkass: Thomas Moulin, a rally racer star, is shown to be an absolute ass towards his fans when Carmen shows excitement about getting to meet him. He's also a misogynistic who thinks women shouldn't be allowed to race on rallies and even attempted to sabotage Lily's car "as a prank".
- Karma Houdini: Thomas gets away scot-free from trying to sabotage Lily's car and indirectly helping Lavinia smuggle the diamonds after almost getting arrested by Michelle and the player, since the shock of him revealing that Lavinia knows who The Mole is practically makes them forget about his arrest and prompts them to rush to the Bureau headquarters.
- Major Injury Underreaction: Despite his face swelling like a balloon due to his peanut allergy, Lars happily declares is nothing severe.Lars: Your sample contained traces of peanuts in it and I have a minor peanut allergy.Carmen: Minor? Lars, it looks like you have three sets of lips on your face!Lars: It's really not so bad.
- Never Got to Say Goodbye: Lily almost does this when she buys a ticket to Brazil and goes to the airport without telling Jonah, but the player and him manage to catch her and say their farewells.
- Percussive Therapy: After Nomena's murder is solved, Ninah starts destroying her racing car to let out her anger and frustration.Ninah: What does it look like I'm doing? I'm tearing this stupid car apart! This stupid, miserable De Brills racing car!I can't believe Lavinia killed Nomena! For what? For some stupid little rocks I have to lose my best friend?
- Pop the Tires: Thomas attempted to sabotage Lily's car with some spike strips so she would lose, though he didn't manage to and the only thing he got was a cut hand.
- The Scream: Carmen lets out a pretty big one when she sees Sanjay holding the snake that was used to kill the victim, and berates Lars for letting him near it.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: During her trial, Lavinia claims she won't even be a day in jail thanks to her lawyers.
- Self-Induced Allergic Reaction: Lars accidentally triggers his peanut allergy when you bring him a sample containing it, prompting his face to swell like a balloon.
- Shout-Out:
- Thomas Moulin is a parody of Sébastien Loeb, and one of his sponsors is Red Ball.
- In the Repair Station scene, there is an iPhone.
- Sanjay decides to name the snake, which was found out to be the murder weapon, Craig.
- Thomas Moulin's name is similar to Thomas Moerlin.
- Skewed Priorities: Lavinia is more concerned about having to shake a lot of hands in the awards ceremony than the fact Nomena, the co-pilot of the car she's sponsoring, is dead.
- Smuggling with Dolls: A variation of this occurs when you find a tribal mask full of diamonds that SOMBRA and Lavinia were intending to smuggle out of the country with The Mole inside of the Bureau.
- Snakes Are Sinister: The victim was killed by having a rhinoceros snake put inside her toolbox.
- Speak Ill of the Dead: Both Lily and Lavinia trash-talk the victim during her interrogations, the former because she wasn't doing her job as a co-pilot properly and the latter because she was demanding a new car all for herself.
- Straw Misogynist: Thomas, an old timer rally racer, publicly declares women shouldn't be allowed to compete in races of this kind, which makes Carmen's opinion of him take an unexpected turn.
- The Team Benefactor: Lavinia's diamond company was the one financing Lily and Nomena's racing, which served her as a front to smuggle diamonds.
- Thicker Than Water: Despite having their differences and she resenting him from leaving her behind, Jonah and Lily manage to reconcile at the end of the case right before she moves to Brazil thanks to their family bonds.
- Venturous Smuggler: Both Nomena and Lavinia are revealed to be this, working together to smuggle diamonds out of the country for SOMBRA with the help of the rally racing.
- Wham Line: Carmen delivers the next one right when Michelle proposes interrogating Lavinia to know the identity of The Mole.Carmen: <Player's Name>, that's not going to be possible...Lavinia De Brills has been murdered!
- What the Hell, Hero?: Carmen berates Lily for attending the awards ceremony and claiming the rally racing prize despite her co-pilot dying and she being a suspect in her murder.Carmen: Lily, I can't believe this! Your co-driver is dead and you're here celebrating your victory?Lily: Was I supposed to refuse the award? I worked too hard and for too long for that!Carmen: I understand your pride, but I expected a little more compassion.
- You Are Too Late: Lavinia gets murdered in her cell right when you attempt to interrogate her about the identity of The Mole inside of the Bureau.
