Hanging by a Thread

Hanging by a Thread (Case #80, or Case #24 of Pacific Bay) is the final case of Jazz Town, the twenty-fourth case of Pacific Bay, and the eightieth case of the game.

Case Background
Chief Marquez harbored anxiety over the Puppeteer (the mysterious serial killer responsible most notably for the death of Yann Toussaint's parents circa 1983) affair, not to mention Frank Knight's inability to adhere to the Chief's rules. Furthermore, Yann was grossly tardy to work, a feat which prompted Chief Marquez to have the player conduct a security check on the annual Jazz Town Carnival storage rooms.

The player found cabaret dancer Dinah Cooper strung up in chains hanging around like a lifeless marionette inside a storage room, prompting Frank to flag the murder as a Puppeteer murder. The player didn't hesitate to ship Dinah's corpse to Roxie Sparks for autopsy, but throughout the investigation, Chief Marquez found herself in a point where she would have to discipline Yann for no-call, no-show, and in the midst of her issuing Yann a final warning, Jessica Toussaint informed the player to investigate the Toussaint property for a possible break-in by the Puppeteer—prompting Chief Marquez to hold Jessica and Yann's children in the police station for the investigation and to have the player investigate Yann's premise for any leads for the Puppeteer's arrest.

Roxie had to perform all clinical and physical lab tasks due to Yann's absence. Although Roxie wasn't too happy about taking over Yann's tasks, she showed utmost willingness during her analysis of those lab samples requiring physical/clinical analysis. It was later revealed that the Puppeteer attempted to frame Yann a couple of times during the investigation, including but not limited to leaving the murder weapon and Dinah's shoe in the Toussaints' basement. This phenomenon prompted the team to flag Yann as a suspect. Meanwhile, the Puppeteer's note to the player prompted Chief Marquez to pull Frank out of the case, replacing him with criminal psychologist Russell Crane.

Russell and the player used a combination of psychological and real-world clue gathering to incriminate the Puppeteer one by one, and thanks to Russell's psychological expertise, the Puppeteer was unearthed. In the case's shocking moments, the Puppeteer happened to be the Carnival organizer going by the name of Freddie Alonzo, who also happened to be a childhood friend of Yann's.

Freddie told Russell and the player he had no time to waste putting up with the team's vile accusations during the Carnival preparations, but Russell made it clear that the Puppeteer was selfish and cold-blooded, believing themselves to be liberators of children when in reality they were destroying lives of orphaned children. Freddie told the team he was alright without his parents alongside Louie Cooper (Dinah's son) but Russell informed Freddie that his parents were the first to die and exposed Freddie as the Puppeteer when he inquired about him killing his parents due to them being too restrictive on him. Russell continued by stating that the Puppeteer was an emotionally weak middle-aged man who still behaved like a child, in which Freddie admitted he murdered Dinah.

Freddie's parents wouldn't let him do anything he wanted, but Freddie believed kids were free people but had to live in the prison of their parents' care, so he started his killing spree through an act of matricide and patricide. Besides that, Freddie killed Yann's parents when Yann was 14 due to Yann's argument with his parents three decades before the events of this case. Freddie also killed the parents of a young girl named Audrey years back (mentioned during the events of Under the Thunderdome), alas unearthing himself as the Puppeteer. Freddie felt free after he killed his parents, and by killing other controlling parents, he wanted those children to feel the joy of being free as well, which flagged him as a loose cannon. Russell had had enough with the chit-chat, so the player handcuffed Freddie for trial.

Judge Dante hated Freddie's idea of setting 14-year old children free from parents but Freddie countered that parents live boring, restrictive lives and the only thrill parents have are controlling their children. Yann took a stand and told Freddie no human being who's the parent of their children deserves a fate worse than death, but Freddie told Yann he had seen him verbally fight with his parents during the Carnival, making Yann unhappy after the verbal fight—which prompted Freddie to murder Yann's parents. Yann told Freddie that every teenager quarrels with their parents but that makes no excuse for murder, and felt Freddie's actions scarred him for the rest of his life. Freddie told Yann he freed him from his parents, but Judge Dante had had enough—he made it clear that Russell was right about Freddie being a destroyer, and for the murder of Dinah Cooper—among numerous other murders that took place in Jazz Town over the past three decades—with the alias of the Puppeteer, Freddie was sentenced to life in jail.

Yann admitted that serial killers are friendly people on the outside albeit monsters on the inside, but felt that his parents would be proud of the player for finally putting their killer to justice. Frank took some time with the player to repair an old photo of Yann with his parents, after which Yann took the photo on his visit to his parents' grave—making things clear that the player avenged their death and exacted justice on behalf of them. Besides that, Frank suggested a trip to White Peaks for Yann and his family to make up for the insubordination and disobedience he committed during the player's duty in Jazz Town.

Blake Cooper pleaded with Amy Young to gather documents required to validate his custody of Dinah's son, in which Amy and the player were fortunate enough to find Louie's birth certificate and have Hannah Choi verify it was everything Blake needed to tend for Louie as he becomes an adult, but not without Amy and the player catching wind of something that would remind Louie how famous and well-respected Dinah was in her life.

Chief Marquez transferred the player to Amy's hometown of White Peaks, where a resurgence of crime was rapidly spiking as a reward for ending the hurricane crime spree and putting the Puppeteer behind bars.

Victim

 * Dinah Cooper (found hanging like a puppet)

Murder Weapon

 * Saw

Killer

 * Freddie Alonzo

Killer's Profile

 * The killer knows mechanics.
 * The killer eats candy apples.
 * The killer wears a Carnival necklace.
 * The killer is 45 or older.
 * The killer has blue face paint.

Chapter 1

 * Investigate Storage Room. (Clues: Victim's Body, Broken Figurine, Dinah's Handbag)
 * Examine Broken Figurine. (Result: Figurine)
 * Ask Freddie about the victim's message on the dancer figurine. (Prerequisite: Figurine restored)
 * Examine Dinah's Handbag. (Result: Faded Invitation)
 * Examine Faded Invitation. (Result: Steamboat Invitation)
 * Investigate Deck. (Prerequisite: Invitation restored; Clues: Champagne Bucket, Locked Cell Phone)
 * Examine Champagne Bucket. (Result: Unidentified Person)
 * Examine Unidentified Person. (Result: Blake Cooper)
 * Ask Blake Cooper about his relationship with his daughter. (Prerequisite: Suspect identified)
 * Examine Locked Cell Phone. (Result: Unlocked Cell Phone)
 * Analyze Cell Phone. (09:00:00)
 * Quiz Stanley about being the victim's neighbor. (Prerequisite: Cell Phone analyzed)
 * Autopsy Victim's Body. (18:00:00; Attribute: The killer knows mechanics)
 * Go to Chapter 2. (No stars)

Chapter 2

 * Investigate Yann's Basement. (Available after unlocking Chapter 2; Clues: High Heel, Locked Safe)
 * Examine High Heel. (Result: White Powder)
 * Analyze White Powder. (15:00:00)
 * Question Yann about the victim's shoe found in his house. (Prerequisite: White Powder analyzed)
 * Examine Locked Safe. (Result: Open Safe)
 * Examine Open Safe. (Result: Card)
 * Talk to Madeleine about her book on the Puppeteer. (Prerequisite: Card found)
 * Investigate Buffet. (Prerequisite: Talk to Yann; Clues: Torn Book, Faded Restraining Order, Syringe)
 * Examine Torn Book. (Result: Book)
 * Question Freddie about the book he gave to the victim's son. (Prerequisite: Book restored)
 * Examine Faded Restraining Order. (Result: Restraining Order)
 * Confront Stanley about the restraining order filed against him. (Prerequisite: Restraining Order restored)
 * Analyze Syringe. (09:00:00; Attribute: The killer eats candy apples)
 * Go to Chapter 3. (No stars)

Chapter 3

 * Investigate Wooden Shelves. (Available after unlocking Chapter 3; Clues: Carnival Props, Pill Bottle, Faded Notepad)
 * Examine Carnival Props. (Result: Message)
 * Question Blake about the threat he wrote to the victim. (Prerequisite: Message found)
 * Examine Pill Bottle. (Result: Doctor's ID)
 * Analyze Doctor's ID. (09:00:00)
 * Quiz Madeleine about being the victim's therapist. (Prerequisite: Doctor's ID analyzed)
 * Examine Faded Notepad. (Result: Puppeteer Notes)
 * Confront Yann about his Puppeteer Notes. (Prerequisite: Puppeteer Notes unraveled)
 * Investigate Boiler. (All tasks before must be done first; Clues: Bloody Saw, Wooden Chest; Murder Weapon Found: Saw)
 * Examine Bloody Saw. (Result: Paper Pieces)
 * Analyze Paper Pieces. (09:00:00; Evidence: The killer wears a carnival necklace)
 * Examine Wooden Chest. (Result: Paper Chain)
 * Analyze Paper Chain. (15:00:00; Evidence: The killer wears blue paint)
 * Arrest Killer.
 * Go to Additional Investigation. (No stars)

Additional Investigation

 * See what is bothering Blake. (Available after unlocking Additional Investigation)
 * Investigate Deck. (Prerequisite: Talk to Blake first; Clues: Dinah's Chest)
 * Examine Dinah's Chest. (Result: Birth Certificate)
 * Analyze Birth Certificate. (09:00:00)
 * Tell Blake he has the custody over Louie. (Prerequisite: Birth Certificate analyzed; Reward: Burger)
 * Investigate Buffet. (Prerequisite: Talk to Louie; Clues: Faded Poster)
 * Examine Faded Poster. (Result: Dinah's Poster)
 * Give Dinah's Poster to Blake. (Prerequisite: Dinah's Poster restored; Reward: 20,000 Coins)
 * Investigate Storage Room. (Available after unlocking Additional Investigation; Clues: Yann's Torn Picture)
 * Examine Yann's Torn Picture. (Result: Yann's Picture)
 * Bring the picture back to Yann. (Prerequisite: Yann's Picture restored)
 * Investigate Yann's Basement. (Prerequisite: Give the restored picture to Yann; Clues: Box of Pictures)
 * Examine Box of Pictures. (Result: Flyer)
 * Tell Yann about the trip to White Peaks. (Prerequisite: Flyer found; Reward: Warm Coat)
 * Investigate Next Case. (No stars)

Trivia

 * This case's synopsis as well as the climax to one of the plots may have some references to Five Nights at Freddy's. For instance:
 * Both are "Freddies"—Freddy (from Five Nights at Freddy's), and Freddie (from Criminal Case).
 * Both are serial killers.
 * Both are insane.
 * Both have their own ways to kill—Freddy by stuffing the victims into empty suits filled with sharp objects, crushing them and leaving only their teeth and eyeballs, while Freddie by turning them into puppets.
 * Both were involved in a case in the 1980s—Freddy was involved in the Bite of '87, while Freddie was involved in the murder of Yann's parents around 1983.
 * This case and It All Ends Here are the only cases in which a main character is flagged as a suspect.
 * This is one of the few cases in which Amy and Frank interact with each other.
 * All characters, with the exception of Blake Cooper, previously appeared in cases before the events of this case.
 * The marionette starring in "The Adventurous Puppet" (the book that was mentioned to have been gifted to Louie by Freddie during the investigation) is an obvious parody of the fictional animated marionette Pinocchio. In addition, the book could also be a reference to The Adventures of Pinocchio.
 * During Freddie's trial, Judge Dante sarcastically remarks that he thought the Puppeteer was "some toy that came alive at night and killed people, but turned back into a doll by day." This is a reference to the popular horror movie franchise Child's Play featuring the fictional living doll, "Chucky".
 * This is the second Pacific Bay case not to require stars to advance in-between chapters and to unlock the next case, the first one being The Ice Queen.