The Manor Murder Case
By P. Walker
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Solution by Paul "equinox" Collins
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[Note: This solution might not be perfect, as there seem to be some hidden complexities or bugs
where things sometimes work and sometimes don't, particularly arresting the murderer.]
In this game you can SWAP between two characters: a policeman and a law-abiding citizen. Both can
perform arrests. There are also several other characters who wander around: vicious-looking thug,
police sergeant, old man, butler, middle-aged woman, and (once he escapes) the murderer. The game
was originally designed so that any character could be the murderer (see note below about giving the
cigarette to the newsagent) but it seems this was abandoned, and now the murderer is a separate
person.
An interesting bug: the torch provides light for both of your characters, wherever they are, even
though only one person can be carrying it.
swap (become the policeman), s, e, e, e, s, e, e, e, e, e, s (police station; the citizen can do
this section too but risks being thrown out by the sergeant), w, search desk, get keys (for police
cells), s, s, open cell, w (the murderer escapes and must now be recaptured), e, n, n, e, n (out of
police station).
Now backtrack along the country lane and you will hopefully find the murderer around that area.
ARREST MURDERER: you try but he runs away; he is now in the caves, which we will be visiting later.
Make your way to the manor entrance, which is north of one of the country lane locations.
talk to reporters (or else they get you kicked off the case later by publishing an unflattering
story), n (into the manor), e, s (study), exam desk, exam body, get cigarette, exam cigarette (a
very unusual brand), search desk, search drawers, get torch, exam paper, get button, exam button
(from a coat), n, e, d, e, get cheque, w, u, w, n (drawing room), w, exam vase, get bullets, e, s,
w, s, s (country lane outside manor; we will use this as our object dump), drop keys, drop button,
drop torch, drop bullets, drop cigarette, n, n, w, n (dining room), w, search table, get hammer, e,
search table, get gun, s, e, s, s, drop hammer, drop gun, e, e, e, e, n, e (post office), cash
cheque (get four pound coins), w, s, w, w, w, w, w, n, w (back to the street of shops), n, buy
nails, buy planks, s, e, s, e, drop coins, get hammer, e, s, mend bridge (requires hammer, nails and
planks), n, w, get cigarette, w, n, w, w, s (newsagent), give cigarette (the man strangely says
"a murderer buys that sort"; originally it seems he would name one of the other
characters!), n, e, e, s, e, drop cigarette, swap (become the law-abiding citizen), e, e, e, s, e,
get cigarette, get gun, get button (these three items are crucial evidence for confronting the
murderer), get torch, e, s, s, w, w, s, w, s, s (you have to be the citizen to go south here, for
some reason), exam boulder, on torch, enter cave, e, n, e, s, s, get batteries (for the torch if it
runs out of power)
The murderer is wandering within the caves somewhere. Find him.
exam murderer (he is missing a coat button), arrest murderer (he agrees to come quietly since you
have all the evidence; otherwise he would keep evading you in the caves)
Now return to the initial cave room that you entered from the hilltop.
n, n, n, e, n, e, e, n, n (country lane), e, e, e (outside police station), swap (to the policeman,
back at our object dump), get keys, e, e, e, e (join the citizen outside the police station), s, w,
s, open cell, e, drop murderer (you win: note that if you dropped the murderer back in his original
cell then he would have escaped again) -- Score: 80%
Apparently useless things:
* The upper floor of the manor has a bathroom (with soap and towel) and a bedroom (with a dresser
that holds a diamond ring). In the bedroom you can ENTER WARDROBE and find a secret passage (torch
required) leading to the study; PUSH DOOR to use it. All of this seems to be useless.
* The butler will bring you a glass of whisky if you ASK BUTLER FOR DRINK. It seems useless and if
you drink it you might be seen by the reporters and sacked.
* The meat in the manor kitchen serves no purpose; the cook will chase you out if you eat it.
* In the police station, the radio transmitter and the coffee machine seem to serve no purpose,
though you can GET COFFEE if you want.
* Some shops offer red herrings to waste your money. In the supermarket you can BUY TIN (of stew) or
BUY FRUIT. In the DIY shop, the screws serve no purpose. In the sweet shop you can EXAMINE SCALES to
find some humbugs, which you can take without paying.
* The bullets from the vase are probably not needed, though they do allow you to fire the gun (which
will end the game if you kill anybody).
* At the police desk, you're supposed to be able to EXAMINE DESK to find a bell, which you can
then ring (or CALL POLICEMAN) to summon the policeman, but none of that code works properly.
