The Ties That Bind

The Ties That Bind is a case featured in Criminal Case, appearing as the one-hundredth case of the game and the forty-fourth case of Pacific Bay. It takes place in Rhine Canyon, a district based in Pacific Bay.

Plot
Previously on Criminal Case, Colonel Spangler pleaded with the Pacific Bay Police Department to meet up with him at the hippie festival in Rhine Canyon. The player asks Frank Knight to accompany them, and upon arrival in the festival, Spangler was burnt to death, forcing a murder investigation to ensue, shipping Spangler's corpse to Roxie Sparks.

The investigation challenged Frank's persona since Hannah Choi found out that Chief Marquez wrote a memo to Spangler to meet up with her at the oasis regarding the truth about aliens in Rhine Canyon. This caused the player to treat Pacific Bay's top police official as a suspect, in which Chief Marquez only wanted to talk to Spangler as she has strong beliefs that she has nothing to do with bloodshed. Frank and the player found a Molotov cocktail (in which Yann Toussaint felt was the sloppiest murder weapon a killer could use) in the last minute, securing their warrant of arrest. Chief Marquez was seriously innocent as Frank and the player collected enough evidence to arrest adventurer Pearl Montana for homicidal immolation.

Pearl had many reasons to be thankful for Colonel Spangler for teaching her the many aspects of archaeology, allowing her to embark on a quest to discover alien life in Pacific Bay. She believed that she was the one who crossed the finish line when it came to the discovery of an alien cave, but to Spangler, orders were orders as he had to quarantine the cave out of civilian reach. Spangler told Pearl to keep her discoveries secret, but Pearl had enough because she believed the Colonel wanted to take credit for the discovery, in which she discovered the cave moments before Spangler barricaded the cave. Pearl thought that Frank and the player made a false arrest, but after Frank gave out the Killer's attributes to Pearl, she bowed to the player's investigative abilities, admitting that she killed Spangler. Pearl caught Spangler by surprise, tied him up with spelunking harnesses, and threw a homemade Molotov cocktail (with a flammable liquid made to treat earring wounds) to off Spangler with an explosion. Pearl used the hippie festival that promoted using flames, so that she could have the team believe Ezra Hope landed the wallop. Frank heard enough, so the player shipped Pearl to court for a hearing.

Judge Dante thought Pearl killed Spangler for crimes against fashion, but Pearl told the judge that Spangler's appearance had nothing to do with the murder. She told the judge that if Spangler wasn't involved, then she would be the one to be credited for her discovery of alien life on Earth. Pearl even told Judge Dante that she should be written in the history books for her discoveries, but given the motives not to mention being liable for the death of a military official were grounds for Pearl to receive a lifetime jail sentence, the first lifetime jail sentence in 14 cases. Frank was relieved to know the verdict of the case, and felt that Spangler was more of anti-hero than an antagonist as even though Spangler obstructed justice at times, he died wanting to redeem himself to the team.

All Amy Young wanted to do was to ensure Spangler did more good than bad to help Chief Marquez get out of her "liar" persona once and for all. Moreso, Chief Marquez wanted Randolph to know that she was the 6-year old girl he saw 36 years before events of this case. Chief Marquez was getting close to settling her past, but felt that she needs to protect Randolph from violence if she wants to lower the crime rates in Rhine Canyon.

Victim

 * Colonel Spangler (found burnt to death in the middle of a festival)

Murder Weapon

 * Molotov Cocktail

Killer

 * Pearl Montana

Killer's Profile

 * The killer wears army boots.
 * The killer does spelunking.
 * The killer has a burn.
 * The killer wears sunglasses.
 * The killer wears earrings.

Chapter 1

 * Investigate Festival Grounds. (Clues: Victim's Body, Video Camera, Faded Flyer, Footprint)
 * Examine Video Camera. (Result: Spangler’s Video; New Crime Scene Unlocked: Oasis)
 * Examine Faded Flyer. (Result: Alien Festival Flyer; New Suspect: Ezra Hope)
 * Ask Ezra Hope about his Alien Festival. (Prerequisite: Alien Festival Flyer unraveled)
 * Examine Footprint. (Attribute: The killer wears army boots)
 * Investigate Oasis. (Prerequisite: Spangler’s Video unraveled; Clues: Box of Weapons, Faded Paper)
 * Examine Box of Weapons. (Result: GPS Beacon; New Suspect: Agent Z)
 * Ask Agent Z why he was tracking Spangler. (Prerequisite: GPS Beacon found)
 * Examine Faded Paper. (Result: Letter)
 * Analyze Letter. (09:00:00; New Suspect: Andrea Marquez)
 * Question Andrea about her meeting with Spangler. (Prerequisite: Letter analyzed)
 * Autopsy Victim's Body. (18:00:00; Murder Weapon registered: Molotov Cocktail; Attribute: The killer does spelunking)
 * Go to Chapter 2. (No stars)

Chapter 2

 * Investigate Hidden Cave. (Available after unlocking Chapter 2; Clues: Pile of Stones, Faded Drawing, Broken Artifact)
 * Examine Pile of Stones. (Result: Diagram)
 * Examine Diagram. (Result: Pink Substance)
 * Analyze Pink Substance. (06:00:00; Attribute: The killer has scorches)
 * Examine Faded Drawing. (Result: Drawing)
 * Confront Ezra Hope about his threat against Spangler. (Prerequisite: Drawing unraveled)
 * Examine Broken Artifact. (Result: Strange Device)
 * Analyze Strange Device. (12:00:00; New Suspect: Randolph)
 * Ask Randolph about his relationship with Spangler.
 * Investigate Oasis Camp. (Prerequisite: Talk to Randolph; Clues: Fish Trap, Faded Poster)
 * Examine Fish Trap. (Result: Photograph; New Suspect: Pearl Montana)
 * Ask Pearl Montana about the photo she gave to Spangler.
 * Examine Faded Poster. (Result: Manhunt Poster)
 * Question Agent Z about the manhunt for Spangler. (Prerequisite: Manhunt Poster unraveled)
 * Go to Chapter 3. (1 star)

Chapter 3

 * Investigate Cave Entrance. (Available after unlocking Chapter 3; Clues: Torn Photograph, Randolph’s Bag, Faded Press Article)
 * Examine Torn Photograph. (Result: Photograph)
 * Confront Pearl Montana about her message to Spangler. (Prerequisite: Photograph restored)
 * Examine Randolph’s Bag. (Result: Homemade Gadget)
 * Analyze Homemade Gadget. (09:00:00)
 * Question Randolph about using army property for his device. (Prerequisite: Homemade Gadget analyzed)
 * Examine Faded Press Article. (Result: Press Article)
 * Question Andrea about the press article. (Prerequisite: Press Article unraveled)
 * Investigate Access Ramp. (All tasks before must be done first; Clues: Burnt Lighter, Glass Debris)
 * Examine Burnt Lighter. (Result: Blue Substance)
 * Analyze Blue Substance. (09:00:00; Attribute: The killer wears sunglasses)
 * Examine Glass Debris. (Result: Molotov Cocktail)
 * Analyze Molotov Cocktail. (15:00:00; Attribute: The killer wears earrings)
 * Arrest killer.
 * Go to Map to the Stars: Part 6. (No stars)

Map to the Stars: Part 6

 * Investigate War Room. (Available after unlocking the Map to the Stars; Clues: Locked Briefcase)
 * Examine Locked Briefcase. (Result: Torn Paper)
 * Examine Torn Paper. (Result: GIA Document)
 * Speak to Agent Z about the GIA’s document on aliens. (Prerequisite: GIA Document restored; Reward: 20,000 Coins)
 * Investigate Oasis. (Available after unlocking the Map to the Stars; Clues: Spangler’s Bag)
 * Examine Spangler’s Bag. (Result: Spangler’s Diary)
 * Analyze Spangler’s Diary. (06:00:00)
 * Let Andrea know about Spangler’s Diary. (Prerequisite: Spangler’s Diary analyzed; Reward: Burger)
 * Investigate Festival Grounds. (All tasks before must be done first; Clues: Faded Message)
 * Examine Faded Message. (Result: Coordinates)
 * Analyze Coordinates. (06:00:00)
 * Talk to Randolph. (Prerequisite: Coordinates analyzed; Reward: Colonel Uniform)
 * Investigate Next Case. (1 star)

Trivia

 * This is one of the cases in which a Main Character gets flagged as a suspect for a plausible reason.
 * This is one of the cases in which all characters made previous appearances prior to this case. Moreso, this is the only case featuring familiar characters that is not a final case of a district.
 * The Additional Investigation chapter is named differently in this case, as with all other cases of Rhine Canyon. In this case, the chapter is dubbed "Map to the Stars: Part 6".