The dock was foggy as the travellers boarded the luxury liner. Liverpool to New York in 14 days, they were told. It was certainly not one of the fastest passages in 1933, but it would do. The Breda was a Dutch ship, with an international crew and passenger list. Among its passengers this trip were two well know detectives, Hercule Poirot and Sam Spade, also aboard was a murderer.
LIST OF CHARACTERS
Hercule Poirot: a famous Belgian private investigator
Sam Spade: an American gumshoe
Captain Henrik: of the Dutch ship Breda
Jon: a muttering disgruntled seaman
David Jones: a young Welsh doctor
Elizabeth Jones: his wife
Vincent Scarletti: a New York mobster
Herbert Wilson: a bloodless London Merchant Banker
"Tex" Hogsetter: an ugly American
Mr + Mrs Engel: two German American tourists
returning home
Miss Madeline: a French noble woman and vamp
and finally
Miss Ann Lacland: a British socialite and the victim
EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE MURDER
M. Poirot and Mr Spade formally met at supper on the first night of the voyage. They quickly hit it off and spent an enjoyable evening making observations about the strange behavior of their fellow travellers...
- 1. Miss Lacland and Miss Madeline appeared to be competing for the
attentions of any and all men present. Misters Jones, Scarletti, and
Wilson seemed to be the main targets of interest.
2. Both Lacland and Madeline publicly scorned "Tex" Hogsetter.
3. Spade noted that Mr Scarletti has a gun. Typical gangster.
4. Mr and Mrs Engel, a midwest tourist couple, shared a table with Miss Lacland. She appeared to be polite but making fun of them in a very subtle way.
5. Then at the end of the evening, Poirot noted that the Captain called down Seaman Jon for being "too familiar" with the passengers.
Over the next two days Poirot and Spade spent much of their time together. Talking about past cases, and trading investigation methods. Poirot favored exercising the "little grey cells" while spade favored pushing buttons until someone shoots at you! They had not common ground in matters of style, but they agreed that the events happening on board ship were definitely a powder keg waiting to blow. They noted that ...
- 6. Lacland won out over Madeline in the battle for men's
affections. She had her pick of who she wanted, when she wanted.
7. Madeline took up with Tex, much to her own disgust.
8. Mrs. Jones displayed a public show of jealousy when she yelled at her husband at breakfast on the second day. "You show more attention to that tramp than you do to me!"
9. Scarletti, Jones, the bloodless Mr. Wilson, and Seaman Jon are noted coming out of Miss Lacland's room at the most unbelievable hours of the early morning. Lacland displayed quite a stamina.
10. Lacland's various "fancy men" realize their mutual existence and begin to make dominance moves on one another.
11. Tex Hogsetter and Miss Madeline appeared to be egging on the fight over Miss Lacland. They appeared to be downright enjoying it.
Then on the morning of the 4th day at sea, the 2 detectives were called to the Captain's office. Apparently the keg had exploded.
THE MURDER
Captain Henrik, Invited the detectives to his office to hire them to solve a murder. It appeared that Mr and Mrs Engel found Ann Lacland dead in her room. Dead passengers was bad for business, so the Captain and shipping line thought maybe the two detectives could rescue part of the situation by solving the crime before the ship reaches New York.
They accepted the job and agreed to split the fee. The game was afoot!
DISCOVERY: THE ENGEL'S STORY
The naive couple had been eating meals with "the lady" (as they called her) every day. On the morning of the 4th day they came knocking on her door at around 9 : 30, to ask her to breakfast. She did not answer the door when they knocked. There was no do not disturb sign out so they checked to see if the door was locked. It was not, so they decided to just pop their heads in and say good morning.
When they opened the door they were shocked to find the room In complete disarray. Then they saw the lady, lying on the floor. Mr Engel, a veteran of the Spanish-American War, knew what a dead person looked like, so he stopped his wife from entering the room. He instead closed the door and sent his wife to fetch an officer while he guarded the room.
This is the story they told the Captain, and what they told you. The crime scene awaits your Inspection.
THE CRIME SCENE
Ann Lacland's room shows clear signs of a struggle. Tables and chairs are knocked over, a vase is broken by a wall, and the telephone looks like it was thrown across the room.
An inspection of her bed indicates that she had sex one or two times the night before. ("Par for course" Spade comments.) The ash tray by the bed has three different brands of cigarette butts in it. It appears as thought someone had riffled through the victims drawers looking for something.
The victim is dressed in a nightgown, that shows signs of being dishevelled in the fight. She has bruises on her arms as though someone had grabbed her roughly by the shoulders. She appears to have died in the every hours of the morning but no exact time is set. At the very latest it was 4AM. The cause of death appears to be a blow to the back of the head. She has two bruises on her chest which appear to have occurred after she was dead!
A closer inspection of the room uncovers blood on a radiator across the room from the body! So some one must have moved her after she fell. There is a small pool of blood near the radiator which indicates she must have laid there for a short while before being moved. Beyond this they find nothing else of Interest.
So, who did it?
WRITING ORDERS
I am biased in favor of thinking men's detectives, so anyone writing orders for Hercule Poirot may write two arguments. Those writing orders for Sam Spade may only write one argument a turn. Regardless of which detective you chose to represent, you also get to write one order for the murderer (to help cover his path).
Remember that in these arguments you are trying to find one person (or group of people) who you establish have meansf motive, and opportunity to have committed the crime.
THE MATRIX
Talk/Bargain
Heroic Action
Work/Prepare
Cowardly Action
Do Business
Wicked Action
Move
Fight
Have Fun
Love/Hate
Sad/Happy
Feay/Fearless
Shame
Envy
Make a Friend/Enemy
Advantage
Reputation
Kill
Victory/Defeat
Political Agenda
Natural Disaster
Religion
Social Class
Politics
Justice
Tradition
Wealth/Power
Motivation
Loyalty/Honor
Personality
Beyond your abilities
Knowledge
Logic
Magicif
"Miracle"
"Monster"
"Adventure"
Wild Card
Wild CardvWild Card
MYSTERY SUPPLEMENT
Means
Motive
Opportunity
Move
Escape
Greed
Investigation
Anger
Interrogation
Envy
Question
Love Clues
Fear
Mystery victim
Red Herring
Lie
Deduction
Intuition
Insight
Organization
Arrest
Jail
Court
Plan
Fight
Crime
Skill
Plot Device
Physical Evidence
Action
Action
Action
Wild Card
Wild Card
Wild Card
Wild Card
AFTERWARD
The political matrix and the action/mystery matrix have a lot of overlap. In a PBM like this, I could very easily cut that all out. I don't, because this two matrix combination can also be used to play face to face games. I've found that overlap helps in face to face games since it gives the players such a wide variety of action. The matrix is really only there to help people know how to make arguments by suggesting certain ideas. It is not really meant to limit a persons actions.
If you are wondering where to even start with this game, try this Look at the evidence you have so far. Make a theory about who you think did It, based on that evidence. Then make an argument to find more specific evidence that proves that your suspect did it. If this sounds like your just making it up, it is because you are.
In real investigations, one always starts with a theory. Generally people find what they are looking for (even if it is not there!) We also often miss what we are not looking for. If this bothers you then don't go into police work. it might be more helpful for you to think about your orders as though you are writing the next page of the mystery novel. Each page adds new clues In, until the mystery is solved.
One may also be confused as to what to do with the murderer's arguments. Here too it is helpful to decide who you think the murderer is. Then make arguments that either provide the person with an alibi or which implicate other people. Don't try to think about the big picture of what the "truth" is. Just try your darndest to defend your chosen murderer. The detectives will be the one's to find out who the real murderer is ... even if they have to pin it on an innocent bystander!
This will be a fun game. I really have not idea what will happen. I do know though, that the Invisible hand will move the players towards finding out a person who could have done the crime. Once they have established means, motive and opportunity for the person to have done the crime they need mearly arrest the scoundrel and turn him over to the courts for prosecution. The courts will decide if he is "really" guilty.
I Invite all EGG folks to play in this game. As always it is a free PBM. I do not charge a turn fee or anything! Just send me your orders.
Back to Experimental Games Group # 23 Table of Contents
Back to Experimental Games Group List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1993 by Chris Engle
This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com