Suspects: Claire Harper, Eternal Investigator Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• This Suspects Box Contains 3 Claire Harper Mysteries
  • Chapter 1 — Shakespeare's Tears (1921)
  • Chapter 2 — Dead on Arrival (1948)
  • Chapter 3 — The Mystery of the Lady of the Lake (1971)
• 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
• Who is Claire Harper?
• Claire's Tips

This Suspects Box Contains 3 Claire Harper Mysteries

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

Chapter 1 — Shakespeare's Tears (1921)

by Guillaume Montiage and Manuel Rozoy

Contents:

• 54 Clue cards,
• 1 cover card,
• Introduction with the questionnaire,
• Document A: Map of the school,
• Document B: School yearbook,
• Document C: Schedule table,
• Solution envelope.

Chapter 2 — Dead on Arrival (1948)

by Guillaume Montiage and Manuel Rozoy

Contents:

• 51 Clue cards,
• 2 cover cards,
• Introduction with the questionnaire,
• Document A: Map of the marathon route,
• Document B: List of runners,
• Solution envelope.

Chapter 3 — The Mystery of the Lady of the Lake (1971)

by Guillaume Montiage and Manuel Rozoy

Contents:

• 54 Clue cards,
• 1 cover card,
• Introduction with the questionnaire,
• Document A: Map of the Schneider villa,
• Document B: Phone directory and list of villa residents,
• Solution envelope.

Instructions

Setup

Choose the case you want to investigate, and take the corresponding deck of Clue cards, the introduction, and the 2 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 2 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

4. 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 card 30 before taking a break to discuss the case with the other players.
5. 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.
6. Once you have drawn the 46th Clue card, 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 cards 22 and 10 are placed next to each other, the green line matches up completely. You can conclude that the fingerprints found on the teapot belong to Claire Harper.

Card 10 — Claire Harper, 25 years old. With great attention, Claire quickly skims the pages. She raises her big blue eyes from her notes and speaks in a calm but determined voice: "When it comes to murder, it's always worth understanding who the victim was. A victim's personality is the direct cause of many crimes. And although I'm not old, I was taught by the best: my teachers, my father, and the great masters of detective stories."

Card 10 also lists: 23 — Question her about her most recent investigation. 45 — Question her about her education. 37 — Question her about her favourite novel.

Card 22 — Fingerprint. Found on the handle of the teapot, full of strong, fragrant tea. Next to the teapot is a luxurious cloth tea bag with "Genuine Darjeeling, Alubari tea estate, India" embroidered on it in gold. The bag contains a handful of dark leaves.

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 3 'teapot' symbols." The bottom of card 10 repeats: "You may draw this card if you have 3 'teapot' 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 42 — Claire Harper, 11 years old, student in Mrs Robinson's class. Focused and shut off from the rest of the world, Claire sits in the schoolyard, leaning against a tree. In her hands she is holding The Hound of the Baskervilles, her favourite adventure book about the famous Sherlock Holmes. Suddenly she looks up, startled: "Is it six o'clock already? Where does the time go... We have a test tomorrow on Shakespeare, and I haven't studied a thing! I can't get a bad grade in English literature! But there's a problem — I have no idea where I lost my textbook..."

Card 42 also lists: 18 — Ask about her grades in literature. 4 — Ask about her best friend. 34 — Ask her about Thales' theorem.

Card 17 — Textbook about Shakespeare. Carelessly left on a table in the library, near the Mystery section. It definitely doesn't belong there.

Placing card 42's "2" speech-bubble half next to card 17's "5" speech-bubble half forms card 25, which you may then draw.

Card 25 — Claire Harper. Claire sighs with relief: "My textbook! Now I'll have time to study everything. Not that it thrills me, but if I want to become a famous detective, I need to be more diligent about everything I do! Besides, Shakespeare isn't as boring as it seems!"

Who is Claire Harper?

She was born in 1910. She is an avid reader of Agatha Christie, a world traveller, and more British than 5 o'clock tea.

Oxford University admitted her after implementing quotas for female students in 1927. She followed in her father's footsteps and graduated with the key to unlocking her dreams: a degree in criminal law.

Now Claire Harper investigates, observes, discovers, and thwarts. There's no mystery that is too twisted for her brilliant mind, no case that's too hard for her to crack.

Claire Harper isn't just a detective. She's the very best.

Claire's Tips

1. In Suspects, you must use deduction and critical thinking. Your goal is to unmask the killer. Solving a case takes more than relying on your beliefs or your gut instinct.
2. If your theories aren't backed up by facts and real evidence, they're probably wrong. Don't get carried away by your imagination and ignore the facts and logic. On the other hand, a clue doesn't automatically point to someone's guilt. Keep an open mind! You may reasonably suspect someone because only their fingerprints were found on the murder weapon, but that clue could have another explanation. If you find a screwdriver, you might guess that it was used to open a safe, but that doesn't mean that's actually what happened. Gather all the evidence to find out the truth.