Die by the Sword

Die by the Sword is a case featured in Criminal Case as the one hundred twenty-seventh case of the game. It is the twelfth case of the game's World Edition (Season 3) and also the final case to take place in the Sahara Region.

Plot
The Bureau had just landed in Iraq when Ingrid told the player that they must find U.S. Ambassador Jessica Stern’s son, Andrew before it was too late. Carmen suggested that they make a plan to rescue Andrew from The Sword. She recalled from Dubai that The Sword was planning a trap, but they did not know what it was exactly. The trap had started ever since Chief Ripley had been murdered, and they had known that the player would follow them no matter how dangerous it was. Carmen also recalled that The Sword was affiliated with SOMBRA, a global criminal organization. Elliot then entered headquarters to announce that he had captured the tracking signal from Andrew’s bear in an abandoned museum. Carmen and the player were right away prompted to search the museum.

The team was unable to find Andrew. Instead, they found the body of nomadic tribesman Anir Aznag, with his head torn apart. With the assumption that The Sword killed Anir, the team got to work. During the investigation, Elliot had found a hidden underground, The Sword’s lair, underneath the destroyed town Asal Hawaa had investigated prior to this case. Carmen and the player searched there for more evidence, and they found Andrew alive. Seeing as he needed psychological attention, Carmen did not hesitate to send him over to Marina to help him.

Meanwhile, Carmen and Elliot found out what had happened to Jack since he had never reported for duty. Asal had kissed Jack, as he had requested her to do so, but at the same time, she slipped a tranquilizer pill in his mouth, poisoning him. Also, Dupont had been poisoned just from touching The Sword’s blade to analyze a message. Dupont had mentioned Omar Bahir during his analysis, so the team did not hesitate to place him in custody for attempted murder. Later, Marina called Carmen to tell her that she was locked inside the bunker and that Jonah Karam was outside with a gun; however, Jonah claimed to have locked her in to protect her. With the final hours focusing on Anir’s case, Carmen and the player unearthed The Sword to be, indeed, Omar Bahir.

Carmen lambasted Omar by providing the evidence the player had collected throughout the investigation. In the end, Omar admitted himself to being The Sword. He had a mission in the Sahara to sow the seeds of conflict and extremism everywhere. He had known that The Bureau would go onto him, so he decided to kill Chief Ripley and abduct Andrew so that the player would walk into his trap. Omar then prepared himself to kill Carmen and the player with a poison grenade. Carmen told him to put it down, but Omar refused, saying that SOMBRA needed him and he had the antidote with him. Before he could pull the pin, he was shot to death by Jonah, who thought the team could use a little firework, something Carmen agreed with.

After the chaos, Carmen and the player went to the hospital to check in on Jack and Dupont. Fortunately, the two agents were doing very well. Once they had this news, Ingrid told the team to go back to headquarters. The player was tasked with two things: find out what SOMBRA was and help Angela find her photos she took of Andrew and her husband Lars.

Carmen went with the player to the abandoned museum to find Angela’s photos, and they took them back to their owner. Among the photos, the player found one of a suspicious woman, prompting them to search the database. Shockingly, the player found out that the woman’s identity was none other than Chief Ripley. Carmen did not believe it, remembering what had happened to the chief back in Spain, until Chief Ripley showed up in the flesh. She explained that The Bureau had believed she was dead because she had ordered the doctors to say it.

Chief Ripley explained that telling the player that she was dead was a hard decision; she had gotten a tip that SOMBRA had plotted an attempt on her life, and she did not have a lot of time to come up with the plan. Ripley had decided to convince The Sword that they did kill her to buy The Bureau more time. When asked how she had survived the poison in the dart, Ripley answered that she had taken the antidote with the champagne when the team was celebrating their victory over the Promethian Cult. She had known that the player would not give in to the danger and would come through alive, and she rewarded the player with a badge as a reward for their bravery.

Meanwhile, Chief Ripley wanted to talk to the player about hiring Jonah as a field expert. She told the player, rather than Marina, to talk to Jonah, and then get back for the chief to make the final decision. Jonah was tempted to take the position, but Carmen reminded him that certain team members still had their doubts about him. To prove his worth, Jonah asked the player and Carmen to go with him to the destroyed town. When the player found a tiny parachute with a tiny USB stick on it, Jonah doubted his abilities, admitting he was better at shooting people than examining a piece of evidence for clues. When he saw the USB, Jonah claimed that he learned everything about parachutes in the army; he explained that this type of parachute was dropped by a drone, and he asked the player to reveal the message: a logo of COSMORUS, a Russian space agency. However, Jonah had no idea why COSMORUS would drop a parachute with a USB key on it into Iraq, so the player decided to give it to Elliot.

The USB key revealed a video message for the player from Natasha Romanova, Marina’s mother and the head of COSMORUS. She had reasons to believe that the space agency had been infiltrated by foreign spies and was formally asking The Bureau for help.

When the player spoke to Marina about the message, she immediately told them that her mother could not be trusted. However, Carmen agreed with the player in that Natasha was right to call The Bureau for help in that situation. Marina told the player to be on guard while making the right decision.

Afterwards, Chief Ripley had made the decision to hire Jonah, and Jonah accepted the offer, revealing his excitement of working with the player. She also made the decision to investigate the security breach in Russia; if the spies were to hijack the satellite systems, then world would be sent back to the dark ages at the push of a button. Chief Ripley immediately told the player to report to Russia to start investigating and find out if SOMBRA was responsible.

Victim

 * Anir Aznag (found beheaded in the bombed museum)

Murder Weapon

 * Sword

Killer

 * Omar Bahir

Killer's Profile

 * The killer weighs at least 140 lbs.
 * The killer knows chemistry.
 * The killer speaks Arabic.
 * The killer has a scar.
 * The killer wears red.

Chapter 1

 * Investigate Wrecked Museum. (Clues: Victim's Body, Andrew's Bear, Anir's Bag; Victim identified: Anir Aznag)
 * Examine Andrew's Bear. (Result: Unknown Substance)
 * Examine Unknown Substance. (Result: Asal's DNA; New Suspect: Asal Hawaa)
 * Interrogate Asal Hawaa about her DNA on Andrew's Bear. (New Crime Scene unlocked: Destroyed Town; Prerequisite: Unknown Substance identified)
 * Investigate Destroyed Town. (Clues: Sniper Scope, Stained Rag)
 * Examine Sniper Scope. (Result: Notches; New Suspect: Jonah Karam)
 * Ask Jonah Karam about his sniper scope. (Prerequisite: Notches unraveled)
 * Examine Stained Rag. (Result: Green Substance)
 * Analyze Green Substance. (03:00:00; Attribute: The killer knows chemistry)
 * Examine Anir's Bag. (Result: Message to Victim)
 * Analyze Message to Victim. (09:00:00; New Suspect: Omar Bahir)
 * Talk to Omar Bahir about his message to the victim. (Prerequisite: Message to Victim analyzed)
 * Autopsy Victim's Body. (18:00:00; Attribute: The killer weighs at least 140 lbs)
 * Go to Chapter 2. (1 star)

Chapter 2

 * Investigate Hidden Bunker. (Clues: Andrew Stern, Stained Map)
 * Analyze Andrew's Testimony. (12:00:00; Attribute: The killer speaks Arabic; Suspect's Profiles: Omar Bahir, Jonah Karam, and Asal Hawaa speak Arabic)
 * Examine Stained Map. (Result: Brown Substance)
 * Examine Brown Substance. (Result: English Tea; New Suspect: Benjamin Scott)
 * Ask Benjamin Scott about the map to the bunker. (Prerequisite: Brown Substance identified)
 * Investigate Bombed Street. (All tasks before must be done; Clues: Asal's Bag, Sword; Murder Weapon confirmed: Sword)
 * Examine Asal's Bag. (Result: Fake Lipstick)
 * Examine Fake Lipstick. (Result: Lipstick Device)
 * Analyze Lipstick Device. (12:00:00)
 * Demand to know what Asal Hawaa did to Jack Archer. (Prerequisite: Lipstick Device analyzed)
 * Examine Sword. (Result: Arabic Writing)
 * Analyze Arabic Writing. (12:00:00)
 * Interrogate Omar Bahir about the poisoned sword. (New Suspect: Sultan Mahmoud; Prerequisite: Arabic Writing analyzed)
 * Ask Sultan Mahmoud about the quote on the sword. (Prerequisite: Interrogate Omar Bahir)
 * Go to Chapter 3. (1 star)

Chapter 3

 * Ask Jonah Karam why he locked Marina in the bunker. (Available at start)
 * Investigate Communications Table. (Available at start; Clues: Video Camera, Torn Paper)
 * Examine Video Camera. (Result: Video Recording)
 * Analyze Video Recording. (09:00:00)
 * Talk to Benjamin Scott about his extremist video. (Prerequisite: Video Recording analyzed)
 * Examine Torn Paper. (Result: Warrant)
 * Examine Warrant. (Result: Sultan’s Order)
 * Question Sultan Mahmoud about his death warrant. (Prerequisite: Sultan’s Order unraveled)
 * Investigate Broken Statue. (All tasks before must be done; Clues: Museum Rubble, Dusty Sword Sheath)
 * Examine Museum Rubble. (Result: Sharp Stone)
 * Analyze Sharp Stone. (09:00:00; Attribute: The killer has a scar)
 * Examine Dusty Sword Sheath. (Result: Dust)
 * Analyze Dust. (15:00:00; Attribute: The killer wears red)
 * Take care of the killer now!
 * Go to Crossing the Desert 6. (No stars)

Crossing the Desert 6

 * Investigate Wrecked Museum. (Available after unlocking Crossing the Desert; Clue: Angela’s Photos)
 * Examine Angela’s Photos. (Result: Woman’s Face)
 * Examine Woman’s Face. (Result: Chief Ripley’s Face)
 * Find out why Chief Ripley faked her death. (Prerequisite: Chief Ripley’s Face identified; Reward: The Bureau Badge)
 * Investigate Hidden Bunker. (Available after unlocking Crossing the Desert; Clue: Cellphone)
 * Examine Cellphone. (Result: Phone)
 * Analyze Phone. (06:00:00)
 * Convince Benjamin Scott to go home to his parents. (Prerequisite: Phone analyzed; Reward: Burger)
 * Ask Jonah Karam what he thinks of working for the Bureau. (All tasks before must be done)
 * Investigate Destroyed Town. (Prerequisite: Ask Jonah; Clue: Tiny Parachute)
 * Examine Tiny Parachute. (Result: COSMORUS Logo)
 * Analyze COSMORUS Logo. (06:00:00)
 * Ask Marina about the message from COSMORUS. (Prerequisite: COSMORUS Logo analyzed; Reward: 20,000 Coins)
 * Move on to the next case (in Eurasia)! (No stars)

Trivia

 * The case's title comes from a Biblical quote, more specifically Jesus' saying: "Live by the sword, die by the sword".
 * This is one of the cases in which Carmen and Jack interact with each other.
 * This case is one of the several cases containing LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) suspects.
 * This is one of the cases in which all suspects made an appearance prior to the events of this case.
 * Due to the story's canon, Judge Adaku does not make an appearance in this case.