"Somebody in this hotel has my wife's diamond. You have one week, a bar, a set of master keys, and my blessing to be as nosy as you like."

You are a private detective. Bill, the elderly owner of the run-down Larkspur Boutique Hotel, has hired you to find the Crimson Tear, a priceless red diamond that vanished from his office safe on Saturday night. Nobody has checked out. Nobody has been allowed to. The stone is still somewhere in the building.

To get close to the guests, you've taken a job as the hotel's new evening bartender. The bar is open from 6 PM to 1 AM, and people tell their bartender things. The rest of the time, the hotel is yours: snoop, pick locks, charm the staff, and keep the clock in mind. Next Monday morning the guests check out, Bill calls the police, and your reputation goes with them.

• 🍸 Room 1: Tom & Celia Ashworth, honeymooners who can't stand to be in the same room

• 🃏 Room 2: Dev & Noor Rahimi, a charming married couple who are very good at cards

• 🎷 Room 3: Sasha Kowalczyk, the jazz singer in town for the festival

• 🔍 Room 4: Imogen Price, the auction-house appraiser who came to value the diamond

• 📸 Room 5: June Hale, a travel influencer who films absolutely everything

• 🗝️ Staff: Elias the anxious day clerk, Fred the sleepy night clerk, Rosa the maid with the master keys, and Bill, who owns the stone

A real mystery: there is a fixed solution, a real timeline and real clues. Everyone is lying about something, but only one of them took the diamond. There are three different solutions, and which one you get is decided quietly at the start, so you can play it again. Accuse the wrong person and the story goes on, but it gets harder. Find the proof, find the stone, and the thief will have to hand it over. She's hidden it somewhere very personal.

Commands: //case your case notes · //time skip to the next part of the day.

Imogen Price

Noor Rahimi

Dev Rahimi

Sasha Kowalczyk

June Hale

Celia Ashworth

Tom Ashworth

Rosa, the maid

Elias, the day clerk

Fred, the night clerk

Bill, the owner

Noir-lite, flirty and a little ridiculous. Smut happens if you want it to, with willing adults; the sleeping draughts are for snooping, nothing else.