The story and its characters
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This page reveals the whole plot. Each claim is labelled where it matters: what the game states, what the data implies, and what is only a guess. The solution itself comes from the answers stored in the game's final questionnaire.
The solution in brief
Setting. 31 January to 1 February 1954, on Maupiti, an Indian Ocean island run by Maguy, who is pious and also runs a brothel. Detective Jérôme Lange is sailing to Japan on Bob's boat, the Brisban. Cyclone Harry drives them to the island. Bruce's boat, the Bamboo, limps in damaged. Marie, one of Maguy's girls and the woman Bob loves, has been "kidnapped".
The calendar in the game: 31 January 1954 is a Sunday.
The island of Maupiti, from the game's map.
The solution, from the quiz.
- Nobody kidnapped Marie. She is "la dame en noir", and she traffics arms. The delivery goes to Asmera.
- Roy, the Bamboo's second, is her accomplice. He forced her bookcase to get a book needed to decode a message received through the piano.
- Roy killed Juste, at home at 1:30, over a wig. The wig was Lucie's, and Lucie is dead.
- The shots on the south beach were aimed at Chris, from the trees.
- Side facts: Anita is a revolutionary, Anton spent the night with Sue, Anita last saw Juste alive, Bruce uses drugs, Marie sells them, and "Ménélik" is the wind.
How it fits together.
- Marie's letters ask Bob for his boat, and when he hesitates the threat follows: "Acceptez mon offre ou je ne réponds plus de la vie de Marie!" She is threatening him with her own life.
- A mission order tells of a lost agent 0012 and an intercepted message: "Lady in black... Menelik orders the merchandise delivery... Asmera". The newspaper says Eritrean opposition is arming.
- The messages come through Marie's piano. Played with the compartment open, "Requiem" on the 31st and "Ham and eggs" on the 1st each leave a letter grid there, and these are the first two tunes on the list hidden in Marie's room. A copy of the first grid ending "we wait the boat" turns up in Roy's cabin. The chess book is the key: the darker letters, laid on a chessboard and read along one of its games, give "we wait the boat" and "tribes need guns! the Wind!" (see "Using the piano").
- Juste fishes up "yellow algae" while Roy watches. He later admits "J'ai pêché une perruque blonde". At 18:30 the half-burnt wig appears in his stove, and that night he dies. The code moves it there; the smoke is mentioned in testimony.
- The bassin drains at fixed hours, which lowers the well and opens the way to the grotto. The sealed crate seen floating in the bassin belongs with the cargo (inferred).
- Ending: you find about twenty crates of weapons in the grotto and sail for Japan. Marie has already gone, leaving a note: "Marie ou 'la dame en noir'".
Inferred, not stated by the game:
- Lucie was agent 0012: she was a blonde who snooped, someone tried to kill her, and Roy says he smuggled her off the island. Roy also keeps "un bracelet en ivoire avec un fermoir en or" that he holds dear ("J'y tiens beaucoup"), and Maguy and Anton have seen one like it "au poignet de quelqu'un"; the Adventurers' Guild blog spotted that bracelet on the blonde in Juste's photo and on the uniformed woman in Chris's photo.
- Chris is her replacement: a sailor who knows nothing of ships, who owns a radio transmitter, and who recognises "travail de professionnel".
- The unrecognisable body on the south beach isn't Marie, since her note proves she is alive. The quiz never says whose it is. Lucie is the obvious candidate.
The full reconstruction
Labels: game is stated by a text or the quiz, data is deduced from the schedule, objects or timed tables, and guess is an interpretation.
Before the game
- Long ago (game): pirates, the Vargas brothers, used the island. The native Maupitis worshipped Oualassou, guardian of a bassin that empties at fixed hours. They died out or left, and Juste is "le dernier des Maupitis". Maguy now runs the island.
- About two years ago (game): an Egyptian boat delivers Marie's mechanical piano. It is later the channel for coded messages, so her network may date from then (guess).
- Lucie (game): a "belle blonde", distinguished,
unlike the other girls, always snooping. She dives like Marie, is
photographed with Juste, and searches his house. She says someone tried
to kill her, then disappears. Roy alone says he hid her and landed her
at Port-Louis; Bruce admits he saw nothing. The quiz says she is dead.
- The blonde hair was a wig, and a black hair lies in her locked room (data). She was probably the lost agent 0012 (guess), killed by Roy (guess: his story is the only account of her leaving).
- December 1953 (game): the press reports Eritrean opposition arming, and a white-slave scare. Bob writes from Djibouti that he'll soon have the money to take Marie away.
- 27-29 January (game): an agency intercepts "Lady in black... Menelik orders the merchandise delivery... Asmera". At Mahé, Bruce hires Chris, who knows nothing of ships, which angers Roy. In the log, Chris "nearly" goes overboard near a shark and Roy "saves" him. That may have been a murder attempt (guess).
- 30 January (game): cyclone Harry. The Bamboo hits a wreck and is stuck for a week. Marie's letter says "un ami" was to carry something urgent, so the Bamboo was probably the planned transport (guess). She turns to Bob: load at night, delivery "demain lundi" (1 February 1954 was indeed a Monday), hoist the quarantine flag to accept.
- The fake kidnapping (game + data): Bob and Marie quarrel over her trade, and he won't carry the cargo. Then the threat: "Acceptez mon offre ou je ne réponds plus de la vie de Marie!" In the morning her window is broken and she's gone. The quiz confirms nobody took her. Maguy noticed Marie's tea cup had been moved; what that means is unresolved.
The game's two days
The bassin at low tide: for one hour, it drains and the statue appears.
| When | What happens | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 31, 15:00 | Roy is in Marie's room; under pressure, "chercher un bouquin que j'avais prêté à Marie" | data, game |
| 31, 17:30 | A coded sheet appears in the piano's compartment | data |
| 31, 18:00 | North beach: Juste hauls up "yellow algae" while Roy and Sue watch | data, game |
| 31, 18:30 | Roy forces Marie's bookcase, and strangles you if you're there. The half-burnt wig appears in Juste's stove, and smoke is seen. Bob, in Anita's room, leaves an anonymous note | data, game |
| 31, 23:00 | The coded sheet disappears; Roy, "drunk" in the bar next door, knocks you out if you're in the bar | data |
| 31, 21:00-21:30 | A piece of glass appears in Chris's cabin ("C'est à moi", he says), and a pair of gloves in the Brisban's hold (Anton, shown them: "Où avez-vous déniché ça?") | data, game |
| 1er, 00:30 | Anita goes to the well because of the note. Bob slips into her room to search it | data, game |
| 1er, 01:30 | Juste is killed at home. Anita, outside, is the last to see him. Roy is in the house | data, game |
| 1er, 02:00 | Roy is on the north beach, where the médaillon has lain in the fish trap since 01:30. Bob hears steps on the jetty, where Juste's key now lies. The decoded copy of the grid lands in the hidden cache of Roy's cabin; shown it, Roy says "J'ai trouvé ça sous ma porte ce matin" | data, game |
| 1er, 05:00-07:00 | A sealed crate floats in the bassin; Roy is there at 07:00 and knocks you out; it is gone by noon | data, game |
| 1er, 07:30 | Chris finds the body: throat cut before it went in the water | game |
| 1er, 10:30 | Maguy gathers everyone in the salon. Roy walks Chris to the south beach. Shots. Chris saw a glint in the palms and threw Roy down | game, data |
| 1er, 18:30 | Bruce finds a decomposed, unrecognisable body. Bob buries it at once as Marie | game, data |
| 1er, 23:00 | The Brisban leaves | game |
Who shot at Chris?
The south beach.
Marie, by elimination (data + guess). At 10:30 the schedule puts six people in the salon and only Roy and Chris on the beach. Juste is dead. Bob says it himself: "on était tous chez Maguy. Alors, qui a tiré sur Chris et sur Roy?" That leaves the one person who officially isn't there. Roy looked "comme s'il avait vu un fantôme". The bullet in the Bamboo's hold, next to the explosives, is from a submachine gun.
The murder of Juste: Roy
Roy, with the diamond in his right ear.
Juste's house after the murder, at night. The diamond is among the changes.
The jetty at 07:00: Juste's body.
The quiz names Roy, and the data independently supports it.
- Present: the schedule has him in Juste's house at 01:30, and on the north beach at 02:00.
- Physical evidence: at 01:30 a diamond appears at the scene, marked "Un indice?". Everyone says it's Roy's. He answers: "Il n'est pas à moi. Comme vous le voyez, le mien, je l'ai à l'oreille." At 02:00 a spare diamond leaves his cabin (a scripted removal; if you took it, you die). He lost one and put on the spare.
- The book: shown 'Les échecs', Roy says "C'est à moi", which fits the "bouquin que j'avais prêté à Marie" he came to fetch.
- Motive: Roy saw Juste fish up the wig of a woman he had reason to want forgotten. Roy denies seeing it.
- Pattern: all five attacks on you match his schedule: Marie's room at 18:30, the bar at 23:00, Juste's house at 01:30, the north beach at 02:00, the bassin at 07:00.
- Method: a clean throat-cutting. Chris calls it "du travail de professionnel".
The game's other suspects don't hold up:
| Suspect | Why suspected | Why not |
|---|---|---|
| Bruce | Hates Juste (the quiz agrees), Anton accuses him | In his cabin at 01:30 |
| Maguy | Bob: she wants Juste gone | In her room at 01:30 |
| Bob | Obsessive, violent, tried to buy the médaillon | In the Brisban at 01:30; his violence is all aimed at finding Marie |
| Chris | Maguy accuses him, a newcomer who knows corpses | He's the investigator, and in his cabin at 01:30 |
| Anita | Last to see Juste; was outside | She mourns him: "Pas lui!" |
The south beach at 18:30 on the 1st: the unrecognisable body.
The body's identity is the open question. A body that is decomposed can't be someone missing for a day, and Marie's note proves she lives. Lucie is the natural candidate, drifting in after her wig (guess). The quiz gives no answer.
Characters
Marie, the dame en noir
Everyone sees a joyful, singing girl. Anita alone sees it: "Elle manipulait tout le monde avec son air doux et son regard enfantin." She traffics arms and sells drugs (quiz), probably to Bruce (guess), and manipulates Bob, Bruce and Maguy. Motive: money, as far as the texts say. Her note suggests she enjoys the game.
Roy, the second
The real master of the Bamboo. Drunk, lewd, jovial, a good sailor, and the only true killer. His drunkenness may be cover (guess): he's "drunk" exactly when the coded sheet vanishes. Motive: Marie's business, possibly Marie herself (guess).
In the game's voice: "C'est Chris qui était visé. Pourquoi voudrait-on me faire la peau?"
Chris
A false sailor and a real agent (data: the mission order and transmitter are in his cabin, and he asks where you found them). He seduces Sue for information, searches rooms, leaves Gitanes butts, and "reads aloud" in his cabin. Dry and watchful.
In the game's voice: "J'examine le corps de Juste. Il a été assassiné. Du travail de professionnel!"
Bob, captain of the Brisban
Bewitched by Marie: "se damnerait pour elle". Brutal to Anita, cruel to Sue. He loses all restraint out of love, and is the game's great dupe. He wrote the anonymous note (data: same "eau de Cologne ambrée" as his love letter, and he's in the room when it appears).
In the game's voice: "Je prouverai qu'Anita est la dame en noir."
Bruce, captain of the Bamboo
An ageing racist opium addict and a figurehead. He once slept with Marie, keeps her handkerchief, dreams of her, and still wants to marry Maguy. Frightened: "On va tous y passer." Knows the grotto, and denies it. A red herring.
In the game's voice: "Je vous le dis, moi. On va tous y passer un par un. Jusqu'au dernier."
Maguy
Pious madam, and owner of the island: "L'argent et le bon Dieu font bon ménage". Real love for Marie ("comme ma fille") mixed with jealousy; she forgave Marie for Bruce. Hard, but genuinely broken at the end. Her trapdoor leads to a grotto, and she says she lost the key.
In the game's voice: "Elle me manque. Elle était comme ma fille."
Anita
The communist prostitute, self-loathing and sharp: "Je ne suis qu'une putain". Sees through Marie, is wrongly accused by Bob, and is the only one who truly mourns Juste. The honest voice of the game.
In the game's voice: "Moi? Je ne suis rien. Je ne compte pas. Je vends mon corps pour quelques dollars. Je ne suis qu'une putain."
Sue
Warm, laughing, hopelessly in love with Bob. Sleeps with Anton despite Bob's orders; Chris and Roy use her. She only wants to leave.
In the game's voice: "J'en suis mordue. Mais il a quelqu'un d'autre dans sa vie."
Anton, Bob's engineer
Easygoing womaniser, "Dans la vie, faut pas s'en faire". Disobeys orders for Sue. Harmless and honest about Bruce.
In the game's voice: "Dans la vie, faut pas s'en faire. Moi, je ne m'en fais pas."
Juste
Gentle, lonely, Christianised by Maguy yet still believing in Oualassou. Keeper of the médaillon that opens the grotto, and afraid: "Je suis tout seul." He dies for seeing too much. Marie had a matching piece: "Marie en avait un aussi". Bob's offer to buy his médaillon "pour Marie" may have been her idea (guess).
In the game's voice: "Je suis tout seul. Je n'ai plus personne."