Suspects: Adele and Neville, Investigative Reporters Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• This Suspects Box Contains 3 Adele and Neville Mysteries
  • Chapter 1 — The Candy Love (1962)
  • Chapter 2 — Welcome to Mysteria Lane (1964)
  • Chapter 3 — The Dream of Kathmandu (1969)
• Instructions
  • Setup
  • General Principles and Goal
  • Investigation
  • Answering the Questionnaire
  • End of the Investigation
  • Examples of Scoring at the End of the Game
  • Further Details
• Specific Rules
  • 1. Connections Between 2 Cards
  • 2. Unlocking Cards
  • 3. Additional Question
• Adele and Neville's Tips

This Suspects Box Contains 3 Adele and Neville Mysteries

These three mysteries take place in chronological order. We recommend that you play them in order.

Chapter 1 — The Candy Love (1962)

by Sébastien Duverger Nédellec & Guillaume Montiage

Difficulty level: Easy

Contents:

• 53 Clue cards,
• 1 cover card,
• Introduction with the questionnaire,
• Document A: Record sleeve,
• Document B: Map of the house,
• Solution envelope.

Chapter 2 — Welcome to Mysteria Lane (1964)

by Fabien Clavel

Difficulty level: Moderate

Contents:

• 44 Clue cards,
• 1 cover card,
• Introduction with the questionnaire,
• Document A: Map of the neighborhood,
• Solution envelope.

Chapter 3 — The Dream of Kathmandu (1969)

by Paul Halter

Difficulty level: Hard

Contents:

• 51 Clue cards,
• 1 cover card,
• Introduction with the questionnaire,
• Document A: Map of the hotel,
• Document B: Police file,
• Solution envelope.

Instructions

Setup

Choose the case you want to investigate, and take the corresponding deck of Clue cards, the introduction, and the documents for that case out of the box.

• Place the deck of Clue cards face down in the middle of the table so that everyone can reach it.
• Keep the documents for the case nearby. Do not look at them until you are instructed to do so.
• Take a pen and paper to note down your thoughts, conclusions, suspicions, etc.
• Leave the solution envelope in the box. You will only be able to open it once the investigation is over.
• One player reads the introduction aloud. After the introduction has been read, the investigation may begin.

General Principles and Goal

In a Suspects mystery, you will read the Clue cards to work your way through the investigation, discuss the information amongst yourselves, and make guesses and deductions.

Start by reading the introduction. After reading the introduction, you will be instructed to read the questions for the case.

Your goal is to score as many points as possible when you answer the questions correctly. The "faster" you answer (by drawing and reading as few Clue cards as possible), the more points you will score.

Investigation

After you have read the introduction and the questions, the investigation starts.

You will be instructed to draw Clue cards and discover certain documents. There are several different symbols you may come across during the game, which correspond to certain actions you can take. For example:

Question Someone Example: Draw and read Clue card 7 to question the person indicated.

Go to a Location Example: Draw and read Clue card 54 to go to the location indicated.

Examine an Item Example: Draw and read Clue card 12 to examine the item indicated.

Each time you see one of these symbols, you may do the action indicated.

Note: You can do these actions in any order you choose. You can start by questioning someone about something, then go to one location, then go to another, then come back to questioning again, and so on.

Some Clue cards contain additional instructions. Follow these to continue the investigation.

Answering the Questionnaire

• You may answer one or more questions at any point in the investigation. Write your answer on a piece of paper. Then, in the scoring chart, tick the box in the column corresponding to the number of Clue cards drawn (see below).

Note: Count all of the Clue cards. Even the first one.

• The sooner you give your answers, the more points you will score. Once you have more information, you can always change your answers. If you change them, tick the box in the column with the corresponding number of Clue cards drawn.

Note: If at any point in the investigation you are instructed to draw a second Clue card, you may write down your answers BEFORE drawing that second card.

Variant scoring: If the players do not agree on the answers, they may answer individually and compare their scores at the end of the investigation.

End of the Investigation

Note: If the deck of Clue cards runs out, the investigation ends immediately.

Once you have come to an agreement on the answers to the questions, you may open the solution envelope, read the answers, and tally up your points. You'll need to assess your investigating skills objectively.

For each question:

• if your final answer is correct, you score the number of points that corresponds to the box ticked that's furthest to the right in the chart,
• if your final answer is wrong, you score 0 points.

Examples of Scoring at the End of the Game

Say you're trying to solve the following case: "Dr Lesombre was murdered by Miss Fuchsia in the garage with a 12 mm spanner." The questions for the case would look like this:

Number of Clue cards drawn	1-30 cards	31-45 cards	46 cards or more	Wrong answer
Points scored	5	4	3	0
1. Who is the killer?	X
2. Where did the crime take place?	X		X
3. What is the murder weapon?		X		X

Total score: 5 + 0 + 3 = 8

1. Your answer "Miss Fuchsia is the murderer" is correct. You answered after drawing 30 Clue cards. You score 5 points.
2. Your answer "The crime took place in the garage" is correct. After drawing 30 cards you answered "in the kitchen", but after drawing 46 cards you changed your mind and wrote down the correct answer. You score 3 points.
3. Your answer "The murder weapon is a combine harvester" is wrong. You answered after drawing 45 cards. If your answer had been correct, you would have scored 4 points. However, since your answer is wrong, you score 0 points.

Your final score: 5 + 3 = 8 points.

Further Details

1. Since the scores change at different cut-off points (for example, you score 5 points if the number of cards drawn is between 1 and 30), it's a good idea to wait until you've drawn the last card of a threshold before taking a break to discuss the case with the other players.
2. We recommend choosing one player at the start of the game to keep track of the number of Clue cards drawn. This will save the game unnecessary delays and make it more enjoyable for everyone.
3. Once you have drawn the first Clue card of the third threshold, there is no longer any reason to keep track of the number of cards drawn. You can draw the rest of the Clue cards to confirm or disprove your theories.

Specific Rules

1. Connections Between 2 Cards

Sometimes you will need to combine information on two cards in order to come up with a theory.

To check for a connection between two items, place the cards next to each other, face up and in the same orientation (do not turn them). If the coloured line matches up on both cards, then you can draw a definite logical conclusion.

Example: When card 16 is placed next to card 49, the green line matches up perfectly with the fingerprint and Adele. You can conclude that the fingerprints found on the camera belong to Adele.

Card 16 — Adele, Investigative Reporter. Her gaze doesn't lie: she has a theory about this case and fully intends to bring the truth out into the open! "You know, Neville, the truth is often right in front of us, and it's we who fail to see it. That's when a photographer's eye is essential."

Card 16 also lists: 21 — What country are we heading to for our next story? 44 — Adele, are you still planning on bringing all your cameras with you this time? 32 — Why don't you exhibit your best photos from the field?

Card 49 — A fingerprint. Found on a state-of-the-art camera.

2. Unlocking Cards

Some cards only become available once several other cards bearing a certain symbol have been drawn. That is, once you have uncovered a certain number of a given symbol, you may draw that card.

Example: "You may draw card 10 if you have revealed 3 'camera' symbols." The bottom of card 10 repeats: "You may draw this card if you have revealed 3 'camera' symbols."

3. Additional Question

During the investigation you may find items you'd like to learn more about. To learn more about one of these items, place the suspect card you want to question next to the item card (the same way you check for a connection between two cards).

If the halves of the speech-bubble icons match up, the suspect can tell you something about that item. You may then draw the card with the number formed by the two speech-bubble halves.

Example.

Card 32 — Neville, Investigative Reporter. Looking a bit panicked, Neville has been rummaging through his things for a long while now. "Adele, are you sure you haven't seen my notebook? I wrote down my latest interview and I need to hand in my article today. I can't very well write the whole thing from memory!"

Card 32 also lists: 4 — Neville, I thought you were a stickler for tidiness! Did you check your desk? 18 — What was that interview about, anyway? 39 — Honestly, couldn't you write an article without your notes?

Card 49 — A notebook. It was in Adele's bag, among the lenses, flashes, and film rolls.

Placing card 32's speech-bubble half next to card 49's speech-bubble half forms card 15, which you may then draw.

Card 15 — Neville, Investigative Reporter. "Seriously, Adele? You had it in your bag? How did it end up there? Well, I don't have time to solve this mystery: I have an article to write!" Neville sits down at his desk and rolls a blank sheet of paper into his typewriter. But no sooner has he settled in than: "Oh no, this can't be! There's no more ink. Adeeeeele?!"

Adele and Neville's Tips

1. In Suspects, you must use deduction and discernment. Your goal is to unmask a killer: relying on your convictions or your gut instinct alone will probably not be enough to solve the case.
2. If your theories aren't backed up by facts or tangible evidence, they're probably wrong. Don't get carried away by your imagination at the expense of the facts and logic. On the other hand, a clue doesn't automatically point to someone's guilt. Keep an open mind! A character whose fingerprint is the only one found on the murder weapon may reasonably be suspected, but that doesn't necessarily make them the culprit. And if you find a screwdriver, it's likely the tool used to unscrew the safe, but not necessarily. It's the sum of all the clues that will give you certainty.