After the Storm

After the Storm (Case #74, or Case #18 of Pacific Bay) is the first case in Jazz Town as well as being the eighteenth case in Pacific Bay and the seventy-fourth case in the game.

Case Background
Previously on Criminal Case, Chief Marquez announced that Jazz Town would be the next district of duty for the player, making it clear that crime and disaster are clouds that obstruct the citizens, in which a disaster called Hurricane Yves devastated the district three months prior to the events of this case, in which death tolls and property losses were rampant during the natural disaster, but the natural disaster bred violence and looting. In spite of Hurricane Yves and the crime bred from the disaster, Chief Marquez stated that Jazz Town is a place of music and hope, prompting the police force to help the devastated district return to its glory—a feat prompting Yann Toussaint to volunteer to take the player and Amy Young to the district.

Once Amy, Yann, and the player arrived in Jazz Town's tram system, a famous jazz musician named Elmer "Boogie" Buttons was found broken into pieces with his body parts arranged on the tram cables exactly like musical notes on a music sheet, mimicking the notes written on the victim's popular song, "After the Storm". Amy and the player didn't hesitate catching the radio playing that song in the scene, so the radio and Elmer's body were sent to Hannah Choi and Roxie Sparks respectively. After careful investigation, the killer turned out to be Linda Buttons, the victim's wife.

Day by day Linda couldn't wait for Elmer to retire from his jazz career so that he would spend his time with Linda after winning his jazz award for a final time, but since Amy suspected Linda of fearing broken promises from Elmer, Linda opened up for the reason as to why she attacked Elmer with his saxophone and used a radio to play "After the Storm" while offing him for good—Linda got sick of Elmer choosing music over her for three decades and because of Elmer's love for music she turned to a life of alcoholism forcing Elmer to seek rehabilitation for Linda's drinking. Amy and the player didn't hesitate to ship Linda to trial.

In court, Linda told Judge Dante that Elmer was married to jazz music more than he was married to her so she committed the graphic murder and transformed his body parts to musical notes in Jazz Town's tram system. Linda didn't like rehab, so she offed Elmer like the aforementioned. Judge Dante told Linda that his wife would be mad if he loved homicide trials more than her but knew his personal life came first before trials. Aside from Elmer's alcohol rehabilitation requirement which Judge Dante took note of (and agreed with Elmer on that statement), he informed Linda that a 20-year jail sentence was the judgment she deserved for the murder of her husband.

Following Linda's incarceration for grand homicide, Chief Marquez told the player she requested a Jazz Town Annual Carnival application from Freddie Alonzo but hadn't heard back from him in which Yann replied that Jazz Town needed the annual carnival more than ever due to the occurrence of Hurricane Yves. Dinah Cooper, on the other hand, had to put up with her son Louie's stubbornness since he hid her cabaret outfit in a place where no one could access it. The player managed to find a carnival proposal hidden in the Elmer Buttons Memorial Concert in which Hannah Choi verified that the folder consisted of authentic carnival proposal papers Freddie was looking for—a feat in which Hannah allowed Chief Marquez to sign the papers in advance.

Notwithstanding, the player also found Dinah's cabaret dress (and pieced it back together) but the player's actions infuriated Louie because of his beliefs of Dinah being at work more than at home night after night, grounds for Yann to admit to a fatherless Louie that he had to live his life as an orphan since he was 14 years of age.

The player accomplished two things. First, the player saved Dinah's job although Yann told her that parenthood is no easy task and advised Louie to go easy on Dinah since the player took Dinah's job requirement to support Louie for granted. Most importantly, the player gave Freddie the carnival papers he required (with Chief Marquez signing them during Hannah's analysis), allowing Freddie to run Jazz Town's annual dance carnival.

At the end of the case, Yann opened up to the player his reasons to travel the world when he was young, but his cultural explorations didn't earn him closure until he joined the Pacific Bay Police Department as the person in charge of Physical Forensics not to mention a family consisting of Jessica, Lily, and James.

Victim

 * Elmer Buttons (turned into musical notes and hung up on tram cables)

Murder Weapon

 * Electric Turkey Carver

Killer

 * Linda Buttons

Killer's Profile

 * The killer knows music.
 * The killer owns a storm survival kit.
 * The killer eats beignets.
 * The killer wears a fundraiser stamp.
 * The killer's blood type is A+.

Chapter 1

 * Investigate Street Corner. (Clues: Victim's Body, Victim's Suitcase, Radio)
 * Ask Ricky Hillingdon what he's doing on the murder scene. (Prerequisite: Play Street Corner as a task)
 * Examine Victim's Suitcase. (Result: Torn Paper)
 * Examine Torn Paper. (Result: Jazz Poster)
 * Investigate Jazz Club. (Prerequisite: Jazz Poster restored; Clues: Torn Paper, Champagne Bottle)
 * Examine Torn Paper. (Result: Festival Flyer)
 * Analyze Festival Flyer. (09:00:00)
 * Talk to Freddie Alonzo about the Play for Hope concert. (Prerequisite: Festival Flyer analyzed)
 * Examine Champagne Bottle (Result: Flirty Message)
 * Talk to Dinah about the message on the champagne bottle. (Prerequisite: Flirty Message unraveled)
 * Examine Radio. (Result: Radio Serial Number)
 * Analyze Radio Serial Number. (03:00:00; Attribute: The killer owns a storm survival kit)
 * Autopsy Victim's Body. (18:00:00; Attribute: The killer knows music)
 * Go to Chapter 2. (1 star)

Chapter 2

 * Investigate Concert Venue. (Available after unlocking Chapter 2; Clues: Storm Survival Kit, Torn Photo)
 * Ask Freddie about using the victim's death for the concert. (Prerequisite: Play Concert Venue as a task)
 * Examine Storm Survival Kit. (Result: Electric Turkey Carver--This is the Murder Weapon)
 * Examine Electric Turkey Carver. (Result: White Powder)
 * Analyze White Powder. (06:00:00; Attribute: The killer eats beignets)
 * Examine Torn Photo. (Result: Old Photograph)
 * Analyze Old Photograph. (12:00:00)
 * Talk to Linda about her marriage to the victim. (Prerequisite: Old Photograph analyzed)
 * Investigate Jazz Club Stage. (Prerequisite: Talk to Linda; Clues: Costume Box, Vinyl Record)
 * Examine Costume Box. (Result: Taser)
 * Ask Dinah what she knows about the taser. (Prerequisite: Taser found)
 * Examine Vinyl Record. (Result: Threatening Message)
 * Analyze Threatening Message. (12:00:00)
 * Ask Sid about destroying the victim's record. (Prerequisite: Threatening Message analyzed)
 * Go to Chapter 3. (1 star)

Chapter 3

 * Talk to Sid about winning the jazz award. (Available after unlocking Chapter 3)
 * Investigate Bandstand. (Available after unlocking Chapter 3; Clues: Saxophone Case, Torn Paper)
 * Examine Saxophone Case. (Result: Patient ID)
 * Analyze Patient ID. (09:00:00)
 * Ask Linda about her being sent to rehab. (Prerequisite: Patient ID analyzed)
 * Examine Torn Paper. (Result: Murder Tour ticket)
 * Ask Ricky Hillingdon about the celebrity murder tour. (Prerequisite: Murder Tour ticket restored)
 * Investigate Tramway. (All tasks before must be done first; Clues: Brass Pieces, Toolbox)
 * Examine Brass Pieces. (Result: Victim's Saxophone)
 * Analyze Victim's Saxophone. (15:00:00; Attribute: The killer's blood type is A+)
 * Examine Toolbox. (Result: Music Sheet)
 * Examine Music Sheet. (Result: Strange Marks)
 * Analyze Strange Marks. (09:00:00; Attribute: The killer wears a fundraiser stamp)
 * Arrest Killer.
 * Go to Additional Investigation. (No stars)

Additional Investigation

 * Talk to Freddie about the Carnival Proposal. (Available after unlocking Additional Investigation; Reward: 20,000 Coins)
 * Investigate Concert Venue. (Prerequisite: Talk to Freddie first; Clues: Faded Folder)
 * Examine Faded Folder. (Result: Carnival Proposal)
 * Analyze Carnival Proposal. (09:00:00)
 * Inform Freddie about the Carnival. (Prerequisite: Carnival Proposal analyzed; Reward: Burger)
 * Ask Dinah what's wrong. (Available after unlocking Additional Investigation)
 * Investigate Jazz Club. (Prerequisite: Talk to Dinah first; Clues: Alcohol Crate)
 * Examine Alcohol Crate. (Result: Torn Cloth)
 * Examine Torn Cloth. (Result: Dress)
 * Give Dinah back her dress. (Prerequisite: Dress restored; Reward: Straw Boater)
 * Investigate Next Case. (1 star)

Trivia

 * This case arguably features one of the most graphic murders in the game.
 * This is one of the five cases of Pacific Bay in which the victim and the killer were related, the others being Dead Girl Rolling, Heartless, Under the Skin, and Cloudy with a Chance of Murder.
 * Amy was mistakenly credited as being "Frank" in a few consecutive cutscenes during the early stages of the case's release.
 * After the player restores the torn "Play for Hope" festival flyer, another musician named Rodney Jackson can be seen on the paper along with Elmer Buttons and Sid Montrose. Rodney, however, never appeared physically in the game, and it is unknown if he originally was to make an appearance in the case.
 * The title of the case may reference to After the Storm, the first episode of the fifth season of Castle.