Smoke and Mirrors

Smoke and Mirrors (Case #66, or Case #10 of Pacific Bay) is the sixty-sixth case in the game as well as being the tenth case of Pacific Bay and the final case of the Bayou Bleu district.

Case Background
The victim was a Bayou Bleu local named Vanessa Kimmel, who was found at the graveyard transformed into a human voodoo doll. According to Roxie Sparks's autopsy, the killer strangled Vanessa and pulled the victim's eyes out before making Vanessa a lifeless human voodoo doll. Although Frank Knight launched the case, Hannah Choi's digital analysis of a photo album with the missing girls suggested a serial killer to be on the loose, proving the bayou's voodoo to be a fad. Due to Harvey Fitchner's failure to nab the serial killer of the three mystery girls years before this case (not to mention Frank not wanting to treat Harvey as a suspect), Chief Marquez had to pull Frank out of the case, having Amy Young take over for the remainder of the case.

After careful investigation, the serial killer responsible for the voodoo fad was none other than the voodoo priestess Erikah Mabayo. When Amy and the player approached Erikah for the arrest, Erikah threatened to kill Amy and the player with her voodoo unless the team walked away from Erikah, in which Amy refused to do so. The voodoo doll didn't work on Amy, confirming Erikah's voodoo practice as a fad.

The team lambasted Erikah for owning a brothel and utilizing fake voodoo to leave her alone, but Erikah countered by claiming herself a very persuasive person and continued by assuming certain girls who become prostitutes wanted to work for money to leave Bayou Bleu were easy to enslave to cover her tracks, but her tracks were ruined when Alec Howard was found to have impregnated Vanessa--which triggered Vanessa's urge to leave Bayou Bleu for good. Erikah is the type of person who believes no one is allowed to expose her secrets--something Vanessa unknowingly did upon her abdication of the Bayou, so to keep herself secret, Erikah strangled Vanessa and turned the young woman into a lifeless voodoo doll.

The Honorable Dante accused Erikah not just of the murder of Vanessa and three other women, but also defiling humanity by preying on prostitutes, whom Erikah claimed were easy to manipulate, but Erikah told the Honorable Dante that she was a prostitute in the past as she was abused and tortured by men in the past and felt that males, not females, should be charged for those crimes, causing Judge Dante to counter that justice fails due to people too timid to speak up due to Erikah's false use of voodoo to ensure Bayou Bleu would be too timid to seek the help of justice--enough to warrant a lifetime jail sentence with no parole for Erikah.

Harvey would never forgive Erikah after he found her liable for his failure in arresting her years ago. In the hours following Erikah's arrest, Alec Howard was arrested for counts of obstruction of justice and Frank managed to find the three skulls Erikah buried in the graveyard years before this case that triggered Harvey's failure in the case. With Frank's success in finding the missing skulls Erikah hid through the years, Harvey resigned from the Pacific Bay Police Department, and the player's success prompted Chief Marquez to move the player to the district of Inner City, where a community feud was currently taking place.

Victim

 * Vanessa Kimmel (turned into a human voodoo doll)

Murder Weapon

 * Strangulation

Killer

 * Erikah Mabayo

Killer's Profile

 * The killer knows fishing.
 * The killer eats spicy food.
 * The killer has a leech bite.
 * The killer is a woman.
 * The killer weighs 145 lbs.

Chapter 1

 * Investigate Graveyard Entrance. (Clues: Victim's Body, Torn Document, Faded Map)
 * Autopsy Victim's Body. (18:00:00; Attribute: Killer knows fishing)
 * Examine Torn Document. (Result: Document)
 * Analyze Document. (06:00:00)
 * Talk to Harvey about the missing girls. (Prerequisite: Document analyzed)
 * Examine Faded Map. (Result: Map to Hut Pathaway)
 * Investigate Hut Pathway. (Prerequisite: Faded Map decoded; Clues: Faded Trophy, Voodoo Photo, Fish Trap)
 * Examine Faded Trophy. (Result: Threat)
 * Question Betty-Lou about her threat to the victim. (Prerequisite: Threat revealed on Faded Trophy)
 * Examine Voodoo Photo. (Result: Voodoo Spell)
 * Quiz Erikah over her voodoo spell on the victim. (Prerequisite: Spell on photo Unraveled)
 * Examine Fish Trap. (Result: Victim's Necklace)
 * Examine Victim's Necklace. (Result: Blood)
 * Analyze Blood. (03:00:00; Attribute: Killer eats spicy food)
 * Go to Chapter 2. (No stars)

Chapter 2

 * Investigate Brothel Lounge. (Available after starting Chapter 2; Clues: Ultrasound, Smashed Painting, Faded Tip Jar)
 * Examine Ultrasound. (Result: Patient Number)
 * Analyze Patient Number. (12:00:00)
 * Talk to Alec about his affair with the victim. (Prerequisite: Patient Number analyzed)
 * Investigate Tree House. (Prerequisite: Talk to Alec first; Clues: Mysterious Woman, Tree Stump)
 * Examine Mysterious Woman. (Result: Sharon Kimmel)
 * Talk to Sharon about her deceased daughter. (Prerequisite: Sharon identified)
 * Examine Tree Stump. (Result: Leech)
 * Analyze Leech. (09:00:00; Attribute: Killer has a Leech bite)
 * Examine Smashed Painting. (Result: Portrait of Erikah)
 * Question Erikah about her portrait in the brothel. (Prerequisite: Erikah's portrait restored)
 * Examine Faded Tip Jar. (Result: Tip Jar)
 * Talk to Betty-Lou about the tip jar. (Prerequisite: Tip Jar revealed)
 * Go to Chapter 3. (No stars)

Chapter 3

 * Interrogate Harvey about the victim's eyeballs. (Available after unlocking Chapter 3)
 * Investigate Boudoir. (Available after unlocking Chapter 3; Clues: Torn Photo, Faded Article)
 * Examine Torn Photo. (Result: Photo of Alec paying Vanessa)
 * Grill Alec about being the victim's client. (Prerequisite: Torn Photo restored)
 * Examine Faded Article. (Result: Old Article)
 * Analyze Article. (09:00:00)
 * Question Sharon about the victim attacking her. (Prerequisite: Article analyzed)
 * Investigate Tombstones. (All tasks before must be done first; Clues: Stone Box, Broken Slab)
 * Examine Stone Box. (Result: Fishing Line)
 * Examine Fishing Line. (Result: Skin Cells)
 * Analyze Skin Cells. (15:00:00; Attribute: Killer is female)
 * Examine Broken Slab. (Result: Tombstone)
 * Analyze Tombstone. (09:00:00; Attribute: Killer weighs 145 lbs)
 * Arrest Killer.
 * Go to Additional Investigation. (No stars)

Additional Investigation

 * Question Harvey about the missing girls. (Available after unlocking Additional Investigation)
 * Investigate Hut Pathway. (Talk to Harvey first; Clues: ID Card)
 * Examine ID Card. (Result: Fingerprints)
 * Analyze Fingerprints. (09:00:00)
 * Quiz Alec about Dolores's ID card. (Prerequisite: Fingerprints analyzed; Reward: Burger)
 * Investigate Graveyard Entrance. (Prerequisite: Talk to Alec first; Clues: Metal Pieces)
 * Examine Metal Pieces. (Result: Golden Flower)
 * Investigate Tombstones. (Prerequisite: Golden Flower restored; Clues: Fresh Dirt)
 * Examine Fresh Dirt. (Result: Skulls)
 * Tell Harvey that the missing girls' case is finally closed. (Prerequisite: Skulls found; Reward: Harvey's Shirt, Harvey's Glasses)
 * Investigate Brothel Lounge. (Available after unlocking Additional Investigation; Clues: Embers)
 * Examine Embers. (Result: Open Pendant)
 * Analyze Open Pendant. (03:00:00)
 * Give the pendant back to Sharon. (Prerequisite: Open Pendant analyzed; Reward: 20,000 Coins)
 * Investigate Next Case. (1 star)

Trivia

 * The case name, Smoke and Mirrors, is defined as a metaphor for a deceptive, fraudulent, or insubstantial explanation or description according to both Wikipedia and Wiktionary. In this case, the voodoo fad was discovered to be a cover-up for a serial killer spree.
 * This is one of the two cases of Pacific Bay in which two of the suspects are incarcerated, the other being Under the Skin.
 * All suspects with the exception of Sharon Kimmel appeared previously in Bayou Bleu's previous cases.
 * This is one of the cases in which both Amy and Frank interact with each other.
 * This is the first case since Dog Eat Dog of Grimsborough that a partner change happened with cause--in this instance, Frank was ordered out of the case to prevent possible bias with Harvey Fitchner.
 * This is one of the cases of Pacific Bay in which the murder weapon is an action--in this case, the killer strangled the victim to death.
 * This is the first and thus far the only case in Pacific Bay in which two suspects are arrested.
 * In the crime scene "Tombstones", a portait of Pope Francis can be spotted.