{(set: $miraRecognised to false)
(set: $miraRoomKnown to false)
(set: $jamesDescriptionHeard to false)
(set: $letterRead to false)
(set: $statementRead to false)
(set: $reportRead to false)
(set: $ownerLettersRead to false)
(set: $wexlerAlibiHeard to false)
(set: $jamesTimeHeard to false)
(set: $parkingLogRead to false)
(set: $tapeViewed to false)
(set: $oldDoubtsRemembered to false)
(set: $officeKeyTaken to false)
(set: $faceWashed to false)
(set: $shirtChanged to false)
(set: $alyxNumberFound to false)
(set: $room309KeyTaken to false)
(set: $miraNotesRead to false)
(set: $wexlerVisitKnown to false)
(set: $envelopeFound to false)
(set: $gordonSawBlood to false)
(set: $normanSawBlood to false)
(set: $margaretSawBlood to false)
(set: $ashtrayExamined to false)
(set: $missingFolderNoticed to false)
(set: $folderInCarReported to false)
(set: $attackRemembered to false)
(set: $wexlerToldAboutMira to false)
(set: $wexlerChallenged to false)
(set: $introducedToGordon to false)
(set: $introducedToJames to false)
(set: $introducedToNorman to false)
(set: $jamesSawBlood to false)
(set: $margaretHeardOut to false)
(set: $sourcesDisclosedToWexler to false)
(set: $wexlerFamilyKnown to false)
(set: $wexlerAskedAboutLeroy to false)
(set: $stationCallKnown to false)
(set: $coatTaken to false)
(set: $gordonAskedAboutMira to false)
(set: $gordonMiraAnswered to false)
(set: $badNameTried to false)
(set: $sockSearched to false)
(set: $windowWiped to false)
(set: $radioDiscussed to false)
(set: $seatedAtReception to false)
(set: $ashtrayLeadNoticed to false)
(set: $departureByCar to false)
(set: $leftBeforeReporting to false)
(set: $helpRequested to false)
(set: $gordonAppearance to "")
(set: $normanAppearance to "")
(set: $margaretAppearance to "")
(set: $jamesAppearance to "")}PROTOCOL OF SILENCE
Greyhaven, 1997.
An interactive detective story set in 1997. A night at the Greyhaven Hotel leaves you with a gap in your memory and a death to investigate.
Follow leads, revisit rooms as you learn more, and decide what to put on the record. If you’re losing track of the night, stop on the stairs and go over what you know.
[[SIGN HERE|PrologueDesk]]03:17 AM.
You wake with your cheek against the floorboards. From down here you can see a strip of old carpet caught under one leg of the table. Your head hurts.
A woman lies beside the table. Her face is turned towards you. Something about it makes you look away.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Get up. Slowly. There's someone here.
You know that face. Don't say it. Get closer first. Perhaps we're wrong.
We've been wrong before. Quite often.]
[[Approach the woman|MiraBody]]
[[Touch the back of your head|HeadInjury]]
[[Look around|RoomSearch]](if: $miraRecognised)[Mira lies beside the table. Her sleeve is still where you straightened it. You keep your hand against your own knee.]
(else:)[You kneel beside her.
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Mira?"]
You put your hand on her shoulder. Her sleeve has folded beneath her arm. You straighten it before you know why.
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Mira. Come on."]
You wait for her to move your hand. She never liked being shaken awake.
Nothing.
You bend closer to listen for her breath.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Not like that. You're breathing too loudly.]
You hold your breath. Somewhere behind the wall, water knocks through a pipe.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Now check.]
Your fingers slip against her neck. You move them, press harder, then ease off. You know where they are supposed to go.
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Please."]
You look towards the door, though nobody's there.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Again.]
You check again.
Her sleeve stays where you put it. You take your hand away. For a while, all you can hear is the pipe.
The blood on your shirt has dried. You cannot remember how it got there. When you try to picture the last part of the evening, the room tilts.
You know what the questions will be. Why were you here? What were you to her? What happened?
You look at the doorway again.]
(set: $miraRecognised to true)
[[Take a minute to look around|RoomSearch]]
[[Go downstairs and seek help|ServiceDoor]]
[[Remember her|MiraMemory]]
[[Check your injury|HeadInjury]]
[[Look at the keys beside her|MiraKeys]]The last time you remember seeing her before tonight, she stood in your kitchen with her coat still on.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["You could just tell me to leave,"] she said.
You told her you were tired. Eventually, she stopped asking what you meant.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[You told her you were tired. You were.
Listening to her would’ve been overtime.]
[[Look at the room|RoomSearch]]Your fingers find a split in the skin behind your ear.
You remember driving tonight. After that, only fragments: a chair scraping, a woman speaking, someone standing too close.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[A hole in the evening. Finally, a problem you can point at.
Don't look relieved. Someone might see.]
[[Look for your coat|Coat]]
[[Examine the room|RoomSearch]](if: $coatTaken)[Your coat is already on. The badge and car keys are in its pockets.]
(else:)[Your coat hangs over a chair. Your badge is in one pocket and your car keys are in the other.
The name on the badge is yours. Detective Leroy.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Good. A badge. We can flash it instead of explaining ourselves.]]
(if: $coatTaken)[[[Go to the doorway|ServiceDoor]]]
(else:)[[[Put on the coat|ServiceDoor]]]
[[Keep looking|RoomSearch]]A table, two chairs, a dead lamp. Most of the furniture is covered with sheets.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Keep your eyes at table height. List what is there.
There is nothing on the floor of importance.]
The room smells of dust and old smoke.
[[Look at the ashtray|Ashtray]]
[[Look at the scattered papers|MissingFolder]]
[[Examine the keys beside the woman|MiraKeys]]
(if: $coatTaken)[[[Leave the room|ServiceDoor]]]
(else:)[[[Take your coat and leave the room|ServiceDoor]]]A thick glass ashtray sits on the table. Blood marks its chipped edge. You keep your hands away from it.
(if: $attackRemembered)[You remember the blow now. You leave the ashtray where it is.]
(else-if: $missingFolderNoticed and ($jamesDescriptionHeard or $folderInCarReported) and $wexlerVisitKnown and $wexlerAlibiHeard and ($parkingLogRead or $tapeViewed))[You look from the chipped rim to the bare patch where the folder lay. A hand reaching across. A chair scraping. The movement has somewhere to begin now.
[[Look at the chipped edge again. Follow the movement you remember.|NightMemory]]]
(else:)[Something about the chipped edge bothers you. There was a movement. A sound. You can't put them together YET.]
(set: $ashtrayExamined to true)
[[Look at the loose pages|MissingFolder]]
[[Step back|RoomSearch]](set: $missingFolderNoticed to true)
Loose pages lie beneath the table. You remember a hand setting down a blue folder held shut by a white elastic band. You cannot yet place the rest of that moment.
The folder is gone. The loose pages are only hotel stationery.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Someone took what mattered and left the mess.
We could learn from that.]
(if: $jamesDescriptionHeard or $folderInCarReported)[A witness described a blue folder with a white band. You cannot prove it was this one, but the detail is worth following.]
[[Look at the ashtray again|Ashtray]]
[[Step back|RoomSearch]]
(if: $ashtrayExamined and $missingFolderNoticed and ($jamesDescriptionHeard or $folderInCarReported) and $wexlerVisitKnown and $wexlerAlibiHeard and ($parkingLogRead or $tapeViewed) and not $attackRemembered and not $ashtrayLeadNoticed)[The chipped edge comes back to you. A movement across the table, cut off before you can place it. You have a time and an account of what was carried away now. You need to look at that ashtray again, in the room on four.
(set: $ashtrayLeadNoticed to true)](if: not $miraRecognised)[The keys lie beside the woman. Your hand stops above hers.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[She had another room. A bed.
Too bad she isn't in it.]
[[Look at her face|MiraBody]]
[[Step back|RoomSearch]]]
(else:)[(set: $miraRoomKnown to true)
Two keys lie beside Mira's bag. One is marked 309. The other says WEST WING.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[A room key. Somewhere else she could have been tonight. Try not to blame her for that.]
(if: not $room309KeyTaken)[[[Take the key marked 309|TakeRoomKey]]]
(else:)[The key to 309 is in your coat.]
You leave the west-wing key beside the bag. The door here is already open.
[[Step back to the table|RoomSearch]]
[[Go to the doorway|ServiceDoor]]](if: not $coatTaken)[You put on the coat and check that your badge and car keys are still in the pockets.]
(set: $coatTaken to true)
(if: not $miraRecognised)[As you reach the doorway, you see the woman's face again.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Go on, then. Leave a woman on the floor.]
[[Approach the woman|MiraBody]]
[[Look around the room again|RoomSearch]]]
(else:)[You step onto the service landing. A bare bulb lights the stairs.
(if: not ((history:) contains "ServiceDoor"))[(text-colour:#ff6666)[Go on. Walk normally. You have been practising normally for years.]]
A sign points down to LAUNDRY and MAINTENANCE. Behind you, the room remains quiet.
[[Look along the closed corridor|ClosedCorridor]]
[[Take the stairs|ServiceStairs]]]The fourth floor has been closed since the fire. A trolley stands under a sheet. The wallpaper is darker around the doorframes.
At the far end, an old EXIT sign hangs crookedly.
[[Look at the exit|FireExit]]
[[Take the stairs|ServiceStairs]]
[[Return to the room|RoomSearch]]
[[Pull the alarm to draw everyone away from the room|AlarmFailure]]The door opens onto an outside staircase. Cold air reaches the landing. The latch is bright against the old wood.
You let the door close. The latch clicks into place.
(if: $statementRead)[The worker described a locked rear exit during the fire. This latch looks newer than the door. You cannot date it by looking.]
[[Return to the corridor|ClosedCorridor]]You pull the alarm beside the service stairs. The bell starts on your floor, then carries through the building.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[There. A distraction.
A little louder than expected.]
[[Follow the evacuation downstairs|AlarmEvacuation]](if: $seatedAtReception)[You leave the glass by the desk and stand before heading for the stairs.]
(set: $seatedAtReception to false)
The service staircase smells of cleaning fluid. You can hear the building below you: a television, machinery, a door closing.
(if: not ((history:) contains "ServiceStairs"))[(text-colour:#ff6666)[Just don’t fall down the stairs.]]
[[Fourth floor — closed wing|ClosedCorridor]]
[[Third floor — guest rooms|GuestLanding]]
[[Second floor — hotel office|AdminLanding]]
[[Ground floor — reception|Lobby]]
[[Basement — laundry and maintenance|B1Landing]]
[[Lower basement — parking|Parking]]
[[Think about what you know|Review]]A television murmurs behind room 312. (if: $introducedToJames)[James stands by his door with the folded newspaper.]
(else:)[A man in a dressing gown watches the service door.]
(if: not ((history:) contains "GuestLanding"))[(text-colour:#ff6666)[Three in the morning and he has put his glasses on to stare at the door. Respect the dedication.]]
[[Speak to the man|JamesDoor]]
(if: $miraRoomKnown)[[[Walk to room 309|MiraRoom]]]
(else:)[[[Look along the corridor|MiraRoom]]]
[[Return to the service stairs|ServiceStairs]]{(set: _look to "blood-blood")
(if: $faceWashed and $shirtChanged)[(set: _look to "washed-changed")]
(else-if: $faceWashed)[(set: _look to "washed-blood")]
(else-if: $shirtChanged)[(set: _look to "blood-changed")]}
(if: $introducedToJames)[James holds his place in the newspaper.]
(else:)[The man watches you through the gap. The chain is still on his door.]
(if: $jamesAppearance is not _look)[(if: $faceWashed and $shirtChanged and $jamesSawBlood)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["You look better. Has someone checked that cut?"]]
(else-if: not $faceWashed and $jamesAppearance is "")[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Your ear. There's blood there. Is anyone else hurt?"]]
(else-if: not $shirtChanged)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Is that blood on your shirt?"]]
(else-if: not $introducedToJames)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Are you with the hotel? I was told nobody works up there at night."]]]
(if: not $faceWashed or not $shirtChanged)[(set: $jamesSawBlood to true)]
(if: $introducedToJames)[[[Ask another question|JamesIntro]]]
(else:)[[[Explain who you are|JamesExplain]]]
[[Leave him alone|GuestLanding]]
(set: $jamesAppearance to _look)(if: (history:) contains "JamesIntro")[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Something else about the man on the stairs?"]]
(else:)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["James. Room 312. I've complained about that service door twice."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["The noise?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["The closer. It doesn't catch. You can hear it from the bed."]]
(if: not ((history:) contains "JamesIntro"))[He looks at the service door.
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Someone came through it tonight?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["A man. Came down from above this floor and carried on down. I didn't follow him."]
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Don't push him, Let him talk.]]
[[Ask when|JamesTime]]
[[Ask what the man looked like|JamesMan]]
[[Return to the corridor|GuestLanding]](set: $jamesTimeHeard to true)
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["About ten past three. I checked the clock because he woke me."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Did he come from upstairs?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Through that service door. Then down the stairs."]
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Ten past three. Write it down. Paper took less of a beating than you did.]
[[Ask what the man looked like|JamesMan]]
[[Ask exactly what James saw|JamesLimits]]
(if: $wexlerAlibiHeard)[[[Check his timing against the earlier departure claim|JamesFollowup]]]
[[Leave him at his door|GuestLanding]](set: $jamesDescriptionHeard to true)
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Dark coat. Grey at the sides. Blue folder with a white band round it."]
(if: $wexlerVisitKnown)[(text-colour:#ffd180)["Could it have been Captain Wexler?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["I don't know Captain Wexler. If you're about to describe him, don't. You'll only make me less sure what I remember."]]
(else:)[(text-colour:#ffd180)["Would you recognise him?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["I mostly saw his back. I'm telling you that now so you don't leave it out later."]]
That description is not an identification.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Congratulations. We have narrowed it down to a coat.]
[[Ask about the time|JamesTime]]
[[Ask what else he heard|JamesLimits]]
(if: $wexlerAlibiHeard)[[[Ask him to check the time again|JamesFollowup]]]
[[Leave James at his door|GuestLanding]]
(if: $ashtrayExamined and $missingFolderNoticed and ($jamesDescriptionHeard or $folderInCarReported) and $wexlerVisitKnown and $wexlerAlibiHeard and ($parkingLogRead or $tapeViewed) and not $attackRemembered and not $ashtrayLeadNoticed)[The chipped edge comes back to you. A movement across the table, cut off before you can place it. You have a time and an account of what was carried away now. You need to look at that ashtray again, in the room on four.
(set: $ashtrayLeadNoticed to true)](text-colour:#ffd180)["What noise woke you?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Two knocks. Close together. From above, not my door. I opened up and called up the stairs."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["What did you shout?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["I didn't shout. I asked if everything was all right. The man coming down said maintenance."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["And you believed him?"]
James folds the newspaper along its existing crease.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["I went back to bed. That's what I did. You can choose your own word for it."]
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Careful. You were about to ask why he didn't ask another question.]
[[Return to the landing|GuestLanding]](set: $miraRoomKnown to true)
(if: (history:) contains "MiraRoom")[You stop outside 309 again. The reception envelope lies where you put it back on the mat.]
(else:)[You stop at 309. An envelope addressed to Miss Palmer sits on the mat. You lift the unsealed flap. Reception is asking her to settle tomorrow's room charge. You put it back.]
The door is locked.
(if: not ((history:) contains "MiraRoom"))[(text-colour:#ff6666)[Tomorrow. The hotel has plans for her. Even the bill expects her back.]]
(if: $room309KeyTaken)[[[Use Mira's key and enter|Room309Inside]]]
(else:)[The key you need may still be beside her bag upstairs.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[You remember where the bag is. Don't make me describe the rest of the room.]]
[[Return along the corridor|GuestLanding]](set: $miraNotesRead to true)
Mira has copied file references into her notebook. FIRE 1991. INSURANCE COPY. REAR EXIT. A loose page carries the same numbers, with the initials G.F. beside them. Below the references: "His cabinet find. Compare with final report."
Beneath the list she has written: "Ask Leroy about the statement I sent to the station."
(text-colour:#ff6666)[The station. Paper in your hands. Excellent. You remember receiving mail.
Perhaps we could find it before remembering what it said.]
(if: not ((history:) contains "MiraNotes"))[You take the loose reference page.]
(else:)[The reference page is already in your coat. The notebook is open where you left it.]
(if: $introducedToGordon)[You could ask Gordon whether the initials are his.]
(else:)[The initials may belong to someone who helped her find the files.]
[[Look at the photograph|MiraPhoto]]
[[Step away from the desk|Room309Inside]]A photograph stands beside the bed. A little girl and a woman on a windy beach. You recognise the girl as Mira.
She showed you this photograph one Sunday. You pointed at the enormous jumper that almost reached her knees.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Mum said I'd grow into it."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Did you?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Not that day."]
In the photograph, her mother is holding the loose sleeve out of the sand.
(if: $letterRead)[Evelyn Reed. You look at her face again.]
[[Remember the rest of that afternoon|MiraArgument]]
[[Put the photograph back|Room309Inside]]SOON(if: $seatedAtReception)[You put down the glass and get up from the chair.]
(set: $seatedAtReception to false)
The desk lamp is the only bright light in reception. (if: $introducedToNorman)[Norman stands behind it, his crossword beside the guest book.]
(else:)[A man behind it is filling in a crossword.]
(if: not ((history:) contains "Lobby"))[(text-colour:#ff6666)[A crossword. Imagine having a problem that fits in six little squares.]]
(if: (history:) contains "NormanHelp")[The chair is beside the desk, with your glass and the first-aid kit within reach.]
There is a telephone on a small table near the lift.
[[Approach the desk|NormanIntro]]
[Use the telephone(SOON)]
[[Look at the guest information|Register]]
[[Return to the stairs|ServiceStairs]]{(set: _look to "blood-blood")
(if: $faceWashed and $shirtChanged)[(set: _look to "washed-changed")]
(else-if: $faceWashed)[(set: _look to "washed-blood")]
(else-if: $shirtChanged)[(set: _look to "blood-changed")]}
(if: $introducedToNorman)[Norman puts down his pen.
(if: $normanAppearance is not _look)[(if: $shirtChanged and $normanSawBlood and ($normanAppearance is "blood-blood" or $normanAppearance is "washed-blood"))[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["New shirt. Same head. What can I help you with?"]]
(else-if: not $faceWashed)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Shall I get someone to look at that cut?"]]
(else-if: not $shirtChanged)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["You've cleaned the cut. Do you need a bag for the shirt?"]]
(else:)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["What can I help you with?"]]]
(else:)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["What else do you need?"]]
[[Ask about Mira's visitors|NormanQuestions]]
[[Ask for water and a moment|NormanHelp]]
[[Choose an explanation|ReceptionRisk]]]
(else:)[The receptionist rests a hand on the guest book.
(if: $normanAppearance is not _look)[(if: not $shirtChanged)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Sir, there's blood on your shirt. Do you need an ambulance?"]]
(else-if: not $faceWashed)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["You've hurt your head. Shall I call for help?"]]
(else:)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Good evening. Are you a guest? That's a staff shirt."]]]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["I need to ask about Mira Palmer."]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Your name, please?"]
[[Introduce yourself and explain the injury|NormanIdentity]]
[[Ask for water first|NormanHelp]]
[[Try another explanation|ReceptionRisk]]]
(if: not $faceWashed or not $shirtChanged)[(set: $normanSawBlood to true)]
[[Step away from the desk|Lobby]]
(set: $normanAppearance to _look)(if: (history:) contains "NormanHelp")[The chair is still beside the desk. The receptionist tops up the glass.]
(else:)[The receptionist brings a chair round the desk and sets a glass of water beside the telephone. He takes a first-aid kit from a drawer.]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Sit down a minute."]
You sit. He opens the kit under the desk lamp.
(set: $seatedAtReception to true)
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Do you want me to call someone?"]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Not yet."]
(if: not ((history:) contains "NormanHelp"))[(text-colour:#ff6666)[You can look important again when the room stops moving.]]
(if: $introducedToNorman)[[[Ask what he saw tonight|NormanQuestions]]]
(else:)[[[Give him your name and explain|NormanIdentity]]]
[[Return to the lobby|Lobby]](set: $miraRoomKnown to true)
(if: $wexlerVisitKnown)[(text-colour:#ffd180)["About the man who asked for Mira."]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Captain Wexler. I'm certain about the name. He corrected me when I called him Mr Wexler."]]
(else:)[(text-colour:#ffd180)["Has anyone been asking for Mira Palmer tonight?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["A man came in asking for her. Captain Wexler, he said. Is he with you?"]
You look towards the telephone.
(text-colour:#ffd180)["He's my captain."]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["I see."]
He waits, but you don't add anything.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Your captain. Somebody who usually tells you what happens next.
Perhaps he'll tell you what happened. That would save you having to remember.]]
(set: $wexlerVisitKnown to true)
[[Ask how Wexler got upstairs|NormanWexler]]
[[Ask about Mira's room|Register]]
[[Return to the lobby|Lobby]]
(if: $ashtrayExamined and $missingFolderNoticed and ($jamesDescriptionHeard or $folderInCarReported) and $wexlerVisitKnown and $wexlerAlibiHeard and ($parkingLogRead or $tapeViewed) and not $attackRemembered and not $ashtrayLeadNoticed)[The chipped edge comes back to you. A movement across the table, cut off before you can place it. You have a time and an account of what was carried away now. You need to look at that ashtray again, in the room on four.
(set: $ashtrayLeadNoticed to true)](if: (history:) contains "NormanWexler")[(text-colour:#ffd180)["The key he used. You're sure it was his own?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["He didn't collect one from me."]]
(else:)[(text-colour:#ffd180)["Did you let him upstairs?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["He had a key. He comes here sometimes."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Did he say why he wanted Mira?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Something about papers. Then he asked whether Detective Leroy had arrived."]
You stop turning the pen between your fingers.
(text-colour:#ffd180)["What did you tell him?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["That I hadn't seen you. I hadn't. People use the service stairs from the car park."]
(text-colour:#ff6666)[He asked for you. How considerate of him.
Perhaps he was planning a surprise party.]]
(set: $wexlerAskedAboutLeroy to true)
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Did you see him leave?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["No. I was in the back office."]
(if: $ownerLettersRead)[You think of the owner's letters about the fire claim.]
[[Return to the lobby|Lobby]]The receptionist waits.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Try a short sentence. Something with fewer possible witness statements in it.]
[["I cut my head. I need a minute."|NormanHelp]]
(if: $shirtChanged and $faceWashed)[(if: $introducedToNorman)[[["I'm checking a guest's research. Can I ask who visited?"|NormanQuestions]]]
(else:)[[[Show your badge and explain why you are here|NormanIdentity]]]]
(else:)[Your appearance makes a casual introduction difficult. You can still ask for help.]
[[Try a bad joke: "If I killed someone, would I come down and tell you?"|ReceptionFailure]]
[[Stop talking|Lobby]]The receptionist stares at you.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["I'm going to make a call."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["That was a hypothetical question."]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Then please stay hypothetically where you are."]
The receptionist puts a first-aid kit beside you and asks you to sit. Two officers arrive. When one asks whether you need legal advice, you ask whether that part can also be hypothetical.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[If that makes you feel any better, I thought it was funny.]
[[See the night-shift incident summary|ReceptionHeadline]](if: $introducedToNorman)[(set: $miraRoomKnown to true)
Norman opens the book just far enough to check one entry.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Miss Palmer is in 309. If you need her, I can ring the room."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Don't wake her. I know where it is now."]
The words come out before you can choose better ones. Norman closes the book.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Then please keep your voice down on three. Other guests are sleeping."]
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Don't wake her. Wow. That's one way to put it.]]
(else:)[The guest book is behind the counter. The receptionist puts his hand on its cover when you look towards it.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Can I help you, sir?"]
[[Speak to the receptionist|NormanIntro]]]
[[Return to the lobby|Lobby]]Cold air rises from the ramp. Your car is where you left it.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Your car. You have the keys.
That is all it takes. Tempting.]
An attendant sits inside the glass booth beside the barrier. Rock music plays from her radio.
[[Speak to the attendant|Margaret]]
[[Go to your car|Car]]
[[Look at the barrier|Barrier]]
[[Return to the stairs|ServiceStairs]]{(set: _look to "blood-blood")
(if: $faceWashed and $shirtChanged)[(set: _look to "washed-changed")]
(else-if: $faceWashed)[(set: _look to "washed-blood")]
(else-if: $shirtChanged)[(set: _look to "blood-changed")]}
(if: (history:) contains "Margaret")[Margaret opens the window.
(if: not $radioDiscussed)[She's still humming along to the radio. She stops when you begin to speak.]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Something else?"]]
(else:)[The attendant turns down her radio before opening the window.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["If you've lost the ticket, say that first."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["I haven't lost it."]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Last one found it in his mouth. Holding it while he looked through his pockets."]]
(if: $margaretAppearance is not _look)[(if: not $shirtChanged)[She notices the shirt and closes her magazine.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Hang on. Is someone hurt?"]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["I've got a cut on my head. I'm asking about a visitor."]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Don't drive like that. I can ring the desk or get you a taxi."]]
(else-if: not $faceWashed)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["You've got blood by your ear. Have someone look at it before you drive."]]
(else-if: $margaretSawBlood)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Oh, you found a clean one. Cold water for the other one, mind. People use hot water, then wonder why the stain won't shift."]
She points at your head.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Get that looked at before you ruin this one."]]
(else:)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["That's a work shirt. Are you meant to look at the window latch?"]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["No. I borrowed it."]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Shame. Been asking about that latch since February."]]]
(if: not ((history:) contains "Margaret"))[You give your name and hold up the badge.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Margaret. You can put that away. I can barely see you through this filthy glass."]]
(if: not $faceWashed or not $shirtChanged)[(set: $margaretSawBlood to true)]
(if: $wexlerVisitKnown)[[[Ask about Wexler's car|ParkingQuestions]]]
(else:)[[[Ask whether anyone left recently|ParkingQuestions]]]
(if: not $radioDiscussed)[[[Ask what's playing on the radio|MargaretRadio]]]
(if: not $windowWiped)[[[Try wiping the glass with your sleeve|WipeWindow]]]
[[Ask about the trouble with the booth|MargaretCoins]]
[[Leave the booth|Parking]]
(set: $margaretAppearance to _look)(if: $wexlerVisitKnown)[(text-colour:#ffd180)["Captain Wexler was here. I know his registration. Can you check when he left?"]
You give her the number. She repeats it while finding a page.
(if: $parkingLogRead)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Same entry. I haven't changed it. There's something on the back in case you're wondering, but that's my shopping."]
[[Check the entry again|ParkingLog]]]
(else:)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["That one. Stopped too far from the window. They sit with their arm out and wait for me to grow a longer one."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["What time was that?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["I've asked for one of those little trays. Like at the bank."]
(text-colour:#ff6666)[You've arrested people for less. They were also easier to interrupt.]
[[Let her finish|MargaretRamble]]
[[Interrupt and ask for the time again|MargaretShort]]]
[[Ask whether the driver was alone|SecondCar]]]
(else:)[(text-colour:#ffd180)["Did anyone leave recently?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["A couple from the restaurant. Said the fish was cold. It's a cold dish. I wasn't going to argue."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Anyone else?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Several. Which one are you looking for?"]
You don't have a name or registration to give her.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[We could question the fish. Maybe it saw something.]]
[[Step away from the booth|Parking]](set: $parkingLogRead to true)
Margaret covers the other entries with her hand. Wexler's registration is recorded just after 03:10.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["That's when I raised the barrier. Give or take a minute."]
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Give or take a minute.
You'd like her to give you the whole night.]
[[Ask about the driver|SecondCar]]
(if: $wexlerAlibiHeard)[[[Ask her to check the earlier departure claim|MargaretFollowup]]]
[[Step away|Parking]]
(if: $ashtrayExamined and $missingFolderNoticed and ($jamesDescriptionHeard or $folderInCarReported) and $wexlerVisitKnown and $wexlerAlibiHeard and ($parkingLogRead or $tapeViewed) and not $attackRemembered and not $ashtrayLeadNoticed)[The chipped edge comes back to you. A movement across the table, cut off before you can place it. You have a time and an account of what was carried away now. You need to look at that ashtray again, in the room on four.
(set: $ashtrayLeadNoticed to true)](set: $folderInCarReported to true)
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Was anyone else in the car?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["No. Passenger seat had a blue folder on it. White band round it."]
(if: $margaretHeardOut)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["The one I was telling you about. Slid into the footwell. He swore at it. Didn't swear at me, to be fair."]]
(else:)[(text-colour:#ffd180)["You could see it from here?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["It fell off the seat when he leaned across. I had plenty of time to see it while he picked it up."]]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Did he seem upset?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["He wanted the barrier open. If that's upset, everyone who comes through here is having a terrible time."]
(if: $missingFolderNoticed)[(text-colour:#ff6666)[Blue. White band. Same as the one missing upstairs.
We could go upstairs and tell her we found it.
No. Don't do that.]]
(else:)[(text-colour:#ff6666)[A folder. Finally, an object having a worse journey than you.]]
[[Ask about the recorded time|ParkingLog]]
[[Return to the parking level|Parking]]
(if: $ashtrayExamined and $missingFolderNoticed and ($jamesDescriptionHeard or $folderInCarReported) and $wexlerVisitKnown and $wexlerAlibiHeard and ($parkingLogRead or $tapeViewed) and not $attackRemembered and not $ashtrayLeadNoticed)[The chipped edge comes back to you. A movement across the table, cut off before you can place it. You have a time and an account of what was carried away now. You need to look at that ashtray again, in the room on four.
(set: $ashtrayLeadNoticed to true)](set: $envelopeFound to true)
Inside your car, an open envelope rests on the passenger seat. The cabin smells of stale coffee. Your parking ticket lies on the dashboard, where you put it on arrival.
(if: $alyxNumberFound)[Your notebook is in your coat.]
(else:)[Your notebook is in the door pocket.]
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Shut the door. Sit for a moment. Nobody out there knows what to ask yet.
You could make this moment last. You are very good at that.]
[[Look inside the envelope|Envelope]]
[[Open your notebook|Notebook]]
[[Step out to the parking level|Parking]]Your name is on the envelope in Mira's handwriting. The flap is torn. There is a letter inside.
(if: $statementRead)[The copied statement is now in your coat.]
(else:)[A photocopied statement is folded behind the letter.]
(if: $letterRead)[You remember opening it here before going upstairs. You have read the words again now.]
(else:)[You remember opening it here before going upstairs. You cannot yet hold the words in your head.]
(if: not ((history:) contains "Envelope"))[(text-colour:#ff6666)[Already opened.
So much for "nobody told me."]]
[[Read the letter|Letter]]
(if: $statementRead)[[[Read the copy in your coat again|Statement]]]
(else:)[[[Read the attached statement|Statement]]]
[[Try to remember sitting here earlier|CarMemory]]
[[Put the envelope on the seat|Car]](set: $letterRead to true)
Leroy,
Evelyn Reed was my mother. She died at the Greyhaven in 1991. Reed was her name after the divorce. I kept my father's.
I should have told you before we became what we became. At first I wanted to ask you about the fire. Then I couldn't find a way to tell you why.
Gordon found the statement they left out, clearing an old cabinet. He called me and gave me a copy. Please read it before you come upstairs. I will be in the west wing, as I said on the telephone. I need you to tell me what happened.
Mira
(if: not ((history:) contains "Letter"))[You go back to “At first.”
Was that why she’d found you?
You start to fold the letter, then stop.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[At first. That’s what she wrote.]
You smooth the page against your knee and read the next sentence more slowly.]
(else:)[You stop at the first sentence again. It has not changed.]
[[Read the statement|Statement]]
[[Sit with the letter for a moment|CarMemory]]
[[Put the pages back on the seat|Car]](set: $statementRead to true)
The photocopy is dated 1991. A hotel worker says the rear exit was locked during the fire. The door was opened before the emergency crews arrived.
A note in the margin reads: "Refer to supervising officer." You recognise your own wording.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[A convenient way to avoid responsibility. Pass it upstairs. Let someone else deal with it.]
You put the copy in your coat. You can compare it with the final report if you find one.
[[Look at the other page|Letter]]
[[Put the envelope down|Car]]You remember Mira asking you to read the envelope before coming upstairs. After that, a fragment: the pages spread across the steering wheel. You remember folding them before you went inside.
(if: $letterRead)[You already knew whose daughter she was when you went upstairs.
(else:)[The writing in the memory will not settle. The real pages are still on the seat.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Read them. You’ve stared at the seat long enough.]]
[[Look at the pages again|Envelope]]
[[Step out of the car|Parking]](set: $alyxNumberFound to true)
Alyx's number is written inside the cover. You worked together before she transferred. Wexler is no longer her commanding officer.
Under the number you wrote: "Call back."
You put the notebook in your coat. There is a telephone in the lobby.
[[Close the car door|Car]]The barrier is down. The attendant watches the ramp from her booth.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[You could leave. You'd have to ask her to raise the barrier.
Just don't say "Have a good night."]
The parking ticket is in your car. The pedestrian door opens onto the street.
[[Decide whether to leave|DepartureChoice]]
[[Walk back to your car|Car]]
[[Return to the parking landing|Parking]]SOONYou stop on the service landing and try to put what you know in order.
(if: $gordonAskedAboutMira and not $gordonMiraAnswered)[Gordon is waiting for an answer about Mira. Asking for another file will not get past that.]
(if: $letterRead and $statementRead and $reportRead and $attackRemembered and $wexlerVisitKnown and $wexlerAlibiHeard and ($parkingLogRead or $tapeViewed))[You can describe the attack you remember and identify the records that challenge Wexler's departure time. You have the worker's statement and the hotel report.
(if: $alyxNumberFound)[Alyx's number is in your notebook. You can call her from reception.]
(else:)[You need help from someone outside your own shift. Your notebook is worth checking.]]
(else:)[(if: not $wexlerVisitKnown)[Reception may know who asked for Mira tonight.]
(else-if: not $wexlerAlibiHeard)[You know Wexler visited. Ask for his own departure account before comparing it with someone else's.]
(else-if: not ($parkingLogRead or $tapeViewed))[A guest's account of an unnamed man does not identify Wexler. His car registration or the exit image could test his time.]
(else-if: not $attackRemembered)[(if: not $ashtrayExamined)[You did not look closely at the objects on the table upstairs.]
(else-if: not $missingFolderNoticed)[You saw the ashtray, but have not checked the loose pages or the gap on the table.]
(else-if: not ($jamesDescriptionHeard or $folderInCarReported))[You remember a missing blue folder. Ask the witnesses what anyone was carrying.]
(else:)[You now have an account of what left the room and when. Look at the ashtray again with those details in mind. The noise in your memory is still unfinished.]]
(if: not $letterRead)[(if: $envelopeFound)[You have not read Mira's letter on the passenger seat.]
(else-if: $miraNotesRead)[Mira wrote that she sent you a statement at the station. Check what you brought with you, including your car.]
(else:)[The papers in Mira's room, or the things Mira brought upstairs, may explain why she asked you here.]]
(else-if: not $statementRead)[There is an unread copy behind the letter.]
(else-if: not $reportRead)[(if: $officeKeyTaken)[You have the office key but have not read the final report.]
(else-if: $miraNotesRead)[(if: $introducedToGordon)[Gordon may recognise the references on the page you took.]
(else:)[The initials on the reference page may belong to someone working at the hotel. Ask in maintenance.]]
(else:)[The papers in Mira's room may explain which hotel records she wanted.]]]
(if: $reportRead and $statementRead and not $oldDoubtsRemembered)[Your handwritten note leaves a separate question. You can follow that memory in the office. It does not have to delay asking for help.]
(if: $wexlerAskedAboutLeroy and not $stationCallKnown)[Norman said Wexler asked for you before you introduced yourself at reception. You could ask the captain how he knew you were coming.]
(text-colour:#ff6666)[The phone works. It has worked all night.
Yes, I know. We were getting ready.]
[[Continue on the stairs|ServiceStairs]](set: $room309KeyTaken to true)
You pick up the key by its tag and put it in your coat. You will have to say where you got it.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[]
[[Step back|RoomSearch]](if: $room309KeyTaken)[Inside Mira's room, the bedside lamp is still on. A suitcase lies open on a chair. There is a notebook on the desk and a coat hanging from the wardrobe.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Here she is. The ordinary version. Half a cup of tea. A sock with no partner. You can manage a sock. Start there.]
[[Read the pages on the desk|MiraNotes]]
[[Look at the photograph by the bed|MiraPhoto]]
[[Look inside the wardrobe|MiraWardrobe]]
(if: not $sockSearched)[[[Find the other sock|SockSearch]]]
(else:)[The single sock is back beside the suitcase.]
[[Step outside and lock the door|MiraRoom]]]
(else:)[The door is locked.
[[Step back|MiraRoom]]]Her coat hangs inside. One button is sewn on with thread that does not quite match.
(if: not ((history:) contains "MiraWardrobe"))[You remember sitting with it across your knees. Mira held the lamp. Every time she leaned over to look, the light moved off the button.
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Hold it still."]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["I am."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["The lamp, Mira."]
She moved it back. You pushed the needle through and caught your finger.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Shit. Sorry."]
You shook your hand. She put the lamp on the table and went to get a plaster. When she came back, she took the coat off your knees first.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Don't bleed on it. I've only got the one."]
You laughed. She was smiling when she wrapped the plaster round your finger.
Your thumb is resting on the button now.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Don't pull it. Please.]]
(else:)[You leave your hand against the mismatched thread for a moment.]
You shut the wardrobe without taking anything.
[[Return to the room|Room309Inside]](text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Why don’t you ever ask the next question?"]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["I ask questions all day."]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Never mind."]
You remember reaching for the kettle. She watched you fill it, although neither of you wanted more tea.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[You filled the kettle instead of answering her.
It was a good kettle. Very reliable.
She must have appreciated having something like that in the house.]
[[Let the memory go|Room309Inside]](text-colour:#ffd180)["Someone says he left before quarter to three. Could we check your clock?"]
(if: $jamesTimeHeard)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["I told you about ten past three. Let's see how close the clock is."]]
(else:)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["The man I saw came through at about ten past three. I checked my clock when the noise woke me. Let's see how close it is."]]
(set: $jamesTimeHeard to true)
James opens his door and compares the bedside clock with the clock on the television news. They agree within a minute.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["That gives you a time. It doesn't give you his name."]
(text-colour:#ff6666)[He caught you trying to turn a number into a face. Don't make him do your job as well.]
[[Leave James at his door|GuestLanding]](text-colour:#ffd180)["He says he left before quarter to three."]
Margaret takes her glasses off, cleans one lens, and puts them back on.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Well, he didn't borrow my watch."]
She checks the preceding entries with a finger down each column.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["No second departure for that registration. If he came back, he didn't bring the car out twice."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Could the time be wrong?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["A minute or so. Not half an hour. The camera's on the same clock as that monitor. Gordon can show you. I don't touch the recorder. Last time I touched it, we got a quiz show."]
(text-colour:#ff6666)[You have asked twice. She has checked twice. We are running out of ways to hear a different answer.]
[[Thank her and leave the booth|Parking]]Outside the entrance, guests stand in coats pulled over their nightclothes. The receptionist calls out room numbers and checks names against a list.
One of the guests is barefoot. He asks to go back for his shoes. The receptionist tells him to wait.
You watch the entrance. Firefighters go in with the floor number from the alarm panel. You stay outside while they check the closed wing.
When they find Mira, someone radios for police.
Officers begin taking details from the people waiting outside. One asks whether you are staying at the hotel. You give your name. He asks you to spell it.
Nobody has asked who pulled the alarm. You do not volunteer it.
(if: $shirtChanged)[(text-colour:#ff6666)[At least you changed for this.]]
(else:)[(text-colour:#ff6666)[Keep the coat closed. We need no eyes on that bloody shirt of yours.]]
[[See how the morning describes it|AlarmHeadline]]GREYHAVEN MORNING EDITION
BODY FOUND IN CLOSED WING AFTER HOTEL ALARM
Guests were evacuated from the Greyhaven Hotel during the night after an alarm sounded in the closed fourth-floor wing. Firefighters found a woman's body while checking the area. No fire was found.
Police are investigating the death. The cause of the alarm has not been established. Guests were asked to provide their details while emergency services worked inside.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Excellent work, detective. You've put the kibosh on your own investigation.
Truly admirable.]
ATTEMPT ENDED.
[[Try again from before the alarm|ClosedCorridor]]NIGHT-SHIFT INCIDENT SUMMARY
DETECTIVE REQUESTS HYPOTHETICAL LAWYER
An injured man identified as Detective Leroy introduced the possibility of murder during an unsolicited conversation at reception. He then disputed whether his own example should be taken seriously.
The receptionist contacted police. The man remained at the desk and attempted to clarify the clarification. The officers asked him to begin again with his name.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[An unfortunate misunderstanding.
I blame the delivery.]
ATTEMPT ENDED. The receptionist has not decided who killed anyone. He has decided this is beyond his pay grade.
[[Try the explanation again|ReceptionRisk]]You keep your hands away from the ashtray. A small chip catches the light. Suddenly you remember the same edge moving towards you.
(if: $attackRemembered)[You know where this fragment leads. The first clear image is still Wexler beside the table.]
(else:)[Wexler stood beside the table, between you and the open doorway. The blue folder lay within Mira's reach.]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Give it to me. Then we all go home."]
Mira pulled it towards her. You put your arm between Wexler and the table. You remember knowing his hand was moving before you understood what he held.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Stop there. You were trying to help. That would be a very good place to stop.]
[[Remember the next few seconds|NightSequence]]
[[Break off and step back|RoomSearch]]The first blow catches the side of your head. Your knees hit the floor. The chair scrapes against the boards.
Mira drops beside you.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Leroy? Can you hear me?"]
You try to answer. Your hand slips against the floor. She looks up at Wexler, then back at you.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Don't get up. I'll get someone."]
She gets past the chair before Wexler catches her arm.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Let go of me."] You see the ashtray in his other hand. He swings it towards her head. She strikes the edge of the table as she falls.
You try to get up. The room slips sideways. You do not remember him leaving.
[[Put the memory beside what you learned|NightReconstruction]](set: $attackRemembered to true)
You look at the doorway.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Don't get up. I'll get someone."]
You remember trying to answer her. You don't think you managed a word.
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Mira."]
You've said it aloud.
Her sleeve is still where you straightened it.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[We should...]
You wait for the rest.
For once, nothing follows.
You look down at her. There are things you know how to do in this room. Check a pulse. Keep people outside. Ask who touched what.
You stand there.
[[Leave the objects in place and step into the corridor|ClosedCorridor]](text-colour:#ffd180)["Detective Leroy. I hit my head upstairs."]
You show him your badge. He glances at it, but keeps the chain on his door.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Do you want me to call the desk?"]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["I can get downstairs. Did you see anyone coming from the upper floor?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["You should have someone look at that. And before you ask me anything, I didn't see what happened upstairs."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["I haven't asked what happened."]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["People hear 'I saw a man' and stop listening to the rest."]
He takes the chain off but stays in the doorway.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["I can answer from here. Keep your voice down."]
(set: $introducedToJames to true)
(text-colour:#ff6666)[He has opened the door. Try not to make him regret it.]
[[Ask his name and what he saw|JamesIntro]]
[[Go back to the landing|GuestLanding]]You show your badge.
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Detective Leroy. I know Miss Palmer. I came to see her. Something happened upstairs. I've got a cut on my head."]
The receptionist copies your name from the badge, then looks towards the stairs.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Upstairs where?"]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Near the service stairs. I don't have the whole evening straight."]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Then I'd rather get you medical attention than ask you to explain it standing up."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Give me a minute. I'm staying inside."]
(if: $shirtChanged)[You explain that you borrowed the shirt from the laundry. He writes the laundry cupboard number on his pad.]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Norman Baines. Sit by the desk if you feel dizzy. If you need me to make the call, say so."]
(set: $introducedToNorman to true)
(text-colour:#ff6666)[A name and an offer to call someone. Premium customer service.]
[[Ask who visited Mira tonight|NormanQuestions]]
[[Take the water and sit for a moment|NormanHelp]]
[[Return to the lobby|Lobby]](text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Apparently we're not a bank. That's what the manager said. As though I'd asked for the money as well."]
She turns the book round, then draws it back to check the page.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["He had to lean right over. Folder slid off the seat when he did it. Had to put the handbrake on and fish it out. That's why I remember the car."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["The time's in there?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Of course. You think I write down how far away they park? I'd need a much bigger book."]
(set: $margaretHeardOut to true)
(text-colour:#ff6666)[She was getting there. Give your jaw a rest.]
[[Look at the entry|ParkingLog]]
[[Ask about the folder and driver|SecondCar]]
[[Leave the booth|Parking]](text-colour:#ffd180)["Please. I need the departure time."]
Margaret stops with her finger above the page.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["I was finding it."]
She turns the book towards you and covers the other entries with a sheet of paper. She waits for you to read.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[There. Efficient. She liked you better when she thought you'd lost a ticket.]
[[Read the entry|ParkingLog]]
[[Ask whether the driver was alone|SecondCar]]
[[Leave the booth|Parking]](text-colour:#ffd180)["What's wrong with the booth?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Which bit? The window latch, the heater, or the fact that everyone thinks I own the hotel when the machine eats a coin?"]
She holds up a small biscuit tin. It rattles.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Foreign coins. Washers. One of those little things for a shopping trolley. People will put anything in there except the price on the sign."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Why keep them?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["The manager says it's user error. Next time he says it, I'm tipping the lot on his desk."]
She puts the tin under the desk and opens her magazine again. She seems quite pleased to have explained it.
[[Ask about tonight's departures|ParkingQuestions]]
[[Leave her to the magazine|Parking]]01:46 AM. THE STATION.
The carbon paper has slipped. Your signature appears twice on the vehicle return form, once where it belongs and once across DAMAGE REPORTED.
You pull the sheets apart. The box for new damage is empty.
You cross out the misplaced signature and initial the correction.
An envelope lies beside your keys. Someone left it at the desk for you during the shift. You recognise the handwriting.
From the corridor, a colleague asks whether you're going home.
[[Say Greyhaven, then home|PrologueHome]](text-colour:#ffd180)["Greyhaven. Then home."]
The colleague stops at the door.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["The hotel? Bit late for dinner."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["I'm not eating."]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Right. Turn the lamp off when you go."]
You wait until the footsteps have faded before putting the envelope in your coat.
[[Switch off the desk lamp|PrologueMessage]]Mira called before midnight. You were still on shift.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["I'm at the Greyhaven. Can you come when you finish? I'll wait."]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["Is this about us?"]
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Read what I left at the desk first. I’ll be in the west wing. Please read it before you come up."]
You said you would. Another telephone rang before you could ask anything else.
Now you stand beside the dark desk with her envelope still unopened.
[[Take your keys and go to the car|PrologueRoad]]02:06 AM.
The envelope slides towards you when you turn. You catch it against the passenger seat without taking your eyes off the road.
At a red light, you notice your notebook wedged into the door pocket. Alyx called earlier. You wrote her number down with a reminder to call back.
The light changes. A car behind you sounds its horn.
At the next junction you turn towards the hotel.
[[Drive to Greyhaven|PrologueRamp]]02:14 AM. GREYHAVEN HOTEL.
Most of the upper windows are dark. One side of the building disappears behind scaffolding that has begun to rust at the joints.
The parking entrance is below street level. You take a ticket from the machine and wait for the barrier to rise. Behind the booth window, someone is reading a magazine.
You park near the pedestrian door. You have left enough room to open the passenger door, although nobody is sitting there.
[[Switch off the engine|PrologueEnvelope]]The engine stops. The dashboard goes dark. In the light from the booth, you can still see the envelope on the passenger seat.
You put the envelope on your knees. Your name is written without your rank. She used to leave notes like that beside the kettle.
Your thumb rests under the flap.
You begin to open it.
[[...|BlackoutSymbols]]∴ ⊘ ∴
⌁ / ∅ / ⌁
— ⸮ —
[[...|BlackoutDots]](text-colour:#ff6666)[.......]
[[...|BlackoutVoice]](text-colour:#ff6666)[wakey wakey]
[[...|Wake0317]](if: $sockSearched)[The second sock has not appeared. You leave the suitcase alone.]
(else:)[You check under the bed. Dust. Behind the radiator. More dust. You try the empty side pocket of the suitcase, then crouch for another look beneath the bed.
When you stand, your head catches the frame.
You stay crouched.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Careful. We're running out of parts of your head that still work.]
You sit on the floor with the single sock in your hand.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Still no partner. You two should get along.]
You put it back beside the suitcase.]
(set: $sockSearched to true)
[[Get up carefully and return to the room|Room309Inside]](if: $radioDiscussed)[The radio is still playing inside the booth.]
(else:)[(text-colour:#ffd180)["What's playing?"]
Margaret turns the volume up enough for you to hear the guitar.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Old Gods of Asgard. My favourite band."]
She listens for a moment before turning it back down.]
(set: $radioDiscussed to true)
[[Ask about tonight's departures|ParkingQuestions]]
[[Return to the booth conversation|Margaret]]
[[Leave her to the radio|Parking]](if: $windowWiped)[You leave the smear alone.]
(else:)[You pull your sleeve over your hand and raise it to the window.
(if: $shirtChanged)[You begin polishing the glass. Margaret lowers her magazine.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["What are you doing?"]
(text-colour:#ffd180)["I need to see who I'm talking to."]
You keep polishing. Margaret slides the window wider.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["There you are, Detective."]
You look down. A grey streak runs across the cuff.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Fresh shirt. Not anymore.]
(set: $windowWiped to true)]
(else:)[Margaret looks from the bloodstained sleeve to the window.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Please don't use that sleeve."]
You lower your arm.]]
[[Return to the conversation|Margaret]]
[[Leave the booth|Parking]]You stop beside the pedestrian exit. Your car keys are in your hand.
Mira is still upstairs.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[You can come back. Once you've worked out what to say.
That is what we usually do.]
[[Go to the car and try to drive out|DriveAway]]
[[Leave the car and walk out|WalkAway]]
[[Stay and return to the parking level|Parking]](if: not $faceWashed or not $shirtChanged)[You sit behind the wheel and take the ticket from the dashboard. At the booth, the attendant looks at your head and shirt before reaching for it.
(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["You need someone to look at you. Let me ring the desk. Or I can call a taxi."]
She leaves the barrier down. You put the car back in its space and switch off the engine.
[[Leave on foot instead|WalkAway]]
[[Stay and return inside|Parking]]]
(else:)[You take the parking ticket from the dashboard and drive up to the booth. The attendant checks the time on it, takes your payment and raises the barrier.
(if: $margaretSawBlood)[(text-colour:#8fd3ff)["Get that cut checked. I'm serious."]]
You nod and drive up the ramp. Nobody comes after you.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[There. A ticket. That was all she wanted.]
(set: $departureByCar to true)
(set: $leftBeforeReporting to true)
[[Drive home|DepartureMorning]]]You put the car keys back in your pocket and push through the pedestrian door. It opens from this side without a ticket.
Cold air reaches the cut on your head. A delivery van passes at the top of the ramp. You wait for it, then cross the road.
Nobody stops you.
(text-colour:#ff6666)[Keep walking. We can decide where when we get there.]
(set: $departureByCar to false)
(set: $leftBeforeReporting to true)
[[Keep going until you reach home|DepartureMorning]]At home, you leave the light off. You sit with your keys on the table and wait for the night to feel further away.
By morning, Gordon has gone looking for Mira and the west-wing key she borrowed. He finds her. The hotel calls the police.
Later, your telephone rings.
(if: $departureByCar)[The caller asks whether you were at the Greyhaven. Your registration is on the exit recording.]
(else:)[The caller asks about your car. It is still in the hotel parking level.]
(if: $introducedToNorman or $introducedToGordon or $introducedToJames or ((history:) contains "Margaret"))[People at the hotel have also given your name.]
You are asked to come in and explain your connection to Mira.
(if: $wexlerVisitKnown and $wexlerAlibiHeard and ($parkingLogRead or $tapeViewed))[You tell the caller about the departure records that contradict Wexler. You identify where they can be secured.
(if: $attackRemembered)[You describe the attack you remember.]
The information is taken down. Then the caller asks why you left without reporting the death.]
(else:)[You cannot account for the part of the night in which Mira was killed. Leaving her there has not made that easier to explain.]
(if: $statementRead)[The statement is still in your coat.]
(if: $shirtChanged)[The bag containing your old shirt is beside your chair. You have not thrown it away.]
(text-colour:#ff6666)[There was an attempt to avoid confrontation.]
END. THE CALL YOU DIDN'T MAKE
(link: "Start again")[(restart:)]