The Sting of Death

The Sting of Death is a case featured in Criminal Case, appearing as the one-hundred fourteenth case of the game and the fifty-eighth case of Pacific Bay. It is the second case to take place in Pacific Bay's Wastelands (also called The Wastes), the final district of Season 2.

Plot
Previously, Karen Knight hijacked the player and Amy Young (by simply threatening the junior officer to draw her gun), in which she threatened Amy not to use her gun as she wanted to take the player as a prisoner for Meteor Systems. Since then both the player and Amy had their worlds turned upside-down as they were being held prisoner inside a high-tech base. The player managed to pick the chain's lock, setting themselves alongside Amy free.

First, Amy and the player had to escape from a secret Meteor Systems facility by cracking the code. Once outside and free, they found Karen dead. The player and Amy had to figure out how Karen died moments after breaking free, but Agent Z urged the team to go back inside (much to Amy's distaste) the secret base to find clues that could be useful in catching Karen's killer.

In a shocking turn of events, Karen left a holographic message addressed to the player that said she kidnapped both Amy and the player to protect them from harm. She also wanted to allow them time to prevent Meteor Systems from achieving a hidden agenda, whatever it could be. The message left Amy and the player with more questions than answers. Even worse, Alden Greene (whom the player arrested twice in Grimsborough, as they admitted to Amy) was bailed by Meteor Systems to obey a secret master in promise of achieving something immoral to the human eye. Furthermore, Trevor Finn was mysteriously bailed out by Meteor Systems for unknown reasons.

Alden felt that the player did a good job making him a sloppy killer as usual, yet thinking Karen had no foresight of the future whatsoever. Amy did not care about Alden's feelings―all she wanted from Alden was his reasons for wanting to destroy Pacific Bay. He said that he was given a promise in return for destroying Pacific Bay. Amy hated Alden's vagueness, so she demanded straight answers from Alden once and for all, but Alden did not care at all since he believed the entire city would die sooner or later. Frank Knight shot Alden down with a gun, cutting him off mid-sentence. Amy hated what Frank did, and because of what happened, Alden's motives for killing Karen would remain unknown.

Fed up with Frank's "loose cannon" personality, Amy demanded answers regarding the dirty cop's betrayal. Frank told Amy and the player that since the loss of Laura Knight (Frank's oldest daughter) due to a car accident, Frank gave in into drinking, and due to the grief too great for the disgraced cop to handle, Karen opted to divorce him. After the player set things straight for Frank, Karen opted to reunite with Frank, but wanted him to steal the plutonium from the Mennagio Casino since the super computer required plutonium to function properly. The "master" Alden mentioned was a super computer that was actually Albert Tesla's conscience. The super computer promised to Karen that the Knights' remaining daughter, Daisy Knight, would be brought back from a comatose state if Karen seized the plutonium from the Mennagio Casino, forcing Frank to cooperate with Louis De Rico in the process. The promise turned out to be a lie, as all the super computer wanted to do was to destroy Pacific Bay once and for all.

Frank could not afford to let this happen, so he budged out of jail to reason with the super computer to stop the madness, but the super computer refused to cooperate, as he wanted to turn Pacific Bay into a digital utopia without crime. Anyone who disobeys him will be disintegrated into dust. Frank blitzed to the super computer's source place near the airport in the Wastes. With only a short amount of time before Pacific Bay is destroyed, Amy and the player had to find a way to stop the nuclear apocalypse without bloodshed, and ultimately bring Frank back to solitary confinement.

Victim

 * Karen Knight (found murdered outside Meteor Systems' secret base)

Murder Weapon

 * Scorpion

Killer

 * Alden Greene

Killer's Profile

 * The killer owns a cat.
 * The killer takes anti-radiation pills.
 * The killer drinks martinis.
 * The killer was stung by a scorpion.
 * The killer wears an earpiece.

Chapter 1

 * Investigate Bunker. (Clues: Door Control Panel)
 * Examine Door Control Panel. (Result: Unlocked Panel; New Crime Scene Unlocked: Secret Headquarters)
 * Investigate Secret Headquarters. (Prerequisite: Door Control Panel unlocked; Clues: Victim's Body; New Suspect: Agent Z)
 * Talk to Agent Z. (Prerequisite: Play Secret Headquarters as a task)
 * Investigate Bunker again. (Prerequisite: Talk to Agent Z; Clues: Supply Box, Karen’s Eyes, Faded Badge)
 * Examine Supply Box. (Result: Bits of Plastic)
 * Examine Bits of Plastic. (Result: Power Glove; New Suspect: Computer Interface)
 * Question the Computer Interface. (Prerequisite: Power Glove restored)
 * Examine Karen’s Eyes. (Result: Powder)
 * Analyze Powder. (09:00:00; Attribute: The killer takes anti-rediation pills)
 * Examine Faded Badge. (Result: Badge Owner; New Suspect: Dr Rascher)
 * Question Dr Rascher about working in the secret headquarters. (Prerequisite: Badge Owner unraveled)
 * Autopsy Victim's Body. (18:00:00; Murder Weapon registered: Scorpion; Attribute: The killer owns a cat)
 * Go to Chapter 2. (No stars)

Chapter 2

 * Investigate Meeting Room. (Available after unlocking Chapter 2; Clues: Skull Bowl, Scorpion Vivarium)
 * Examine Skull Bowl. (Result: Audio Waves)
 * Examine Audio Waves. (New Suspect: Alden Greene)
 * Interrogate Alden Greene about his presence in the Wastes. (Prerequisite: Audio Waves identified)
 * Examine Scorpion Vivarium. (Result: Transparent Substance)
 * Analyze Transparent Substance. (09:00:00; Attribute: The killer drinks Martinis)
 * Investigate Control Station. (All tasks before must be done first; Clues: Faded File, Locked Tablet, Pieces of Fabric)
 * Examine Faded File. (Result: Tesla File)
 * Analyze Tesla File. (15:00:00)
 * Talk to the Computer Interface about Albert Tesla. (Prerequisite: Tesla File analyzed)
 * Examine Locked Tablet. (Result: Tablet)
 * Question Agent Z about his orders. (Prerequisite: Tablet unlocked)
 * Examine Pieces of Fabric (Result: Hat; New Suspect: Trevor Finn)
 * Find out what Trevor Finn is doing in the Wastes. (Prerequisite: Hat restored)
 * Go to Chapter 3. (1 star)

Chapter 3

 * Investigate Conference Table. (Available after unlocking Chapter 3; Clues: Bar Globe, Locked Hologram, Torn Paper)
 * Examine Glass Bar Globe (Result: USB Stick)
 * Analyze USB Stick. (09:00:00)
 * Talk to Trevor Finn about Meteor Systems’s plan. (Prerequisite: USB Stick analyzed)
 * Examine Locked Hologram. (Result: Hologram)
 * Question Alden Greene about his argument with Karen. (Prerequisite: Hologram unlocked)
 * Examine Torn Paper. (Result: Map of Pacific Bay)
 * Question Dr Rascher about the map. (Prerequisite: Map of Pacific Bay restored)
 * Investigate Headquarters Entrance. (All tasks before must be done first; Clues: Syringe, Pile of Rocks)
 * Examine Syringe. (Result: Yellow Substance)
 * Analyze Yellow Substance. (09:00:00; Attribute: The killer was stung by a scorpion)
 * Examine Pile of Rocks. (Result: Piece of Plastic)
 * Analyze Piece of Plastic. (15:00:00; Attribute: The killer wears an ear piece)
 * Take care of the killer now!
 * Go to The End: Part 2. (No stars)

The End: Part 2

 * Investigate Meeting Room. (Available after unlocking The End; Clues: Karen’s Bag)
 * Examine Karen’s Bag (Result: Faded Diary)
 * Examine Faded Diary. (Result: Diary Entry)
 * Investigate Bunker. (Available after unlocking The End; Clues: Locked Tablet)
 * Examine Locked Tablet. (Result: Digital Brain)
 * Analyze Digital Brain. (09:00:00)
 * Ask Dr Rascher about the Super Computer’s ability. (Prerequisite: Digital Brain analyzed; Reward: Burger)
 * Confront the Super Computer. (Prerequisite: Talk to Dr Rascher ; Reward:  20,000 Coins)
 * Investigate Secret Headquarters. (All tasks before must be done first; Clues: Torn Pieces)
 * Examine Torn Pieces. (Result: Map of the Wastes)
 * Ask Agent Z to help read the map. (Prerequisite: Map of the Wastes restored; Reward: Secret Agent Glasses)
 * Move on to the next case! (1 star)

Trivia

 * The title might be based on the Biblical quote: "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law."


 * All Additional Investigation legs of The Wastes, this case included, are named differently to ensure continuity with the district's plot. Hence, The End: Part 2.
 * This is one of the cases of Pacific Bay in which the murder weapon is an animal.
 * The Computer Interface is the only suspect that made no previous appearances prior to the events of this case.
 * More so, a killer from Grimsborough made a surprise return in this case as a suspect, yet later incriminated to be a killer.
 * In addition, a previously arrested killer from Pacific Bay makes a post-indictment appearance.
 * Due to the story's canon, Judge Dante does not make an appearance in this case.
 * Due to the case's canon, the victim's body is not found in the first crime scene.
 * This is one of the cases in which both Amy and Frank interact with each other.