Russell Crane

Dr. Russell Crane is a main character appearing in Season 2 of Criminal Case, where he serves as the Profiler of the Pacific Bay Police Department.

Profile
28 years of age, Russell has wavy medium blond hair and has green eyes. He is a man of medium size and build, and wears a black tie underneath a striped dark green shirt with black suspenders which go around his shoulders and connect to his brown leather belt. His shirt contains two pockets: the one on the left consists of a notepad as well as a blue pen, while the one on the right consists of a pair of dark brown glasses. Besides that, Russell wears a golden watch on his right hand and a pair of black pants, and also owns an orange "Typical Profiles" book on his hand.

It is known that Russell's favorite animal is a spider and that his favorite food is scones with Earl Grey tea. He is also known to be charming, obsessive and manipulative. In his first appearance as a suspect, it is discovered that Russell carries the scent of blackberries and loves riddles. In his second appearance as a supect, it is known that he knows electronics, drinks whiskey, and is a gambler.

Meeting Dr. Crane
Russell made his debut in Dead Girl Rolling, introducing a new gameplay mechanic in which in the event objects and/or clues cannot be identified by neither bio-forensics nor digital analysis, Russell can find new leads through the lab talent of profiling.

Tending for Amy
Russell had to tend for Amy Young when he found her wounded in the middle of the riot crisis (in which the the Pacific Bay police station was attacked by looters). Amy was severely beaten and Russell had to assist the team in catching Scott Lee Allan's killer since the station attack was linked to the murder. Russell did some lab work to help Frank Knight and the player incriminate the killer in this case, in which Amy had to participate in the lab task.

Being the player's partner
Russell played his first major role following the horrendous murder of cabaret dancer Dinah Cooper. After a threat from "The Puppeteer"—a notorious serial killer responsible for numerous murders over the past three decades, including the murders of Dinah and Yann Toussaint's parents—Chief Marquez was forced to pull Frank out of the case and replace him with Russell as the player's partner due to the case's nature. Russell played his part very well as he 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 to be a certain Freddie Alonzo.

Suspect in a murder case
Following the murder of urban legend hunter Roberto Vasquez, the team of Amy and the player found a fake eye on a melted snowman inside the ice cave where the Night Walker—a notorious "masked creature" and Roberto's slayer—resided in. The fake eye contained a message addressed to Roberto, from Dr. Crane, saying that the victim was wrong about something. Amy and the player thus went to Russell's office in order to talk to him about the fake eye on the double.

Russell thought Amy was compulsing, but the junior cop questioned Russell about his message to Roberto as if she was serious in demonstrating how the law is above everybody. Russell thus stated that he only followed Roberto's trend about the Night Walker and that he now felt guilty after Amy and the player caught him red-handed playing a grave prank on the urban legend hunter. Russell purchased the fake eye at the flea market, and using his hypnosis expertise, made Roberto believe that the eye belonged to a fallen war veteran, which Roberto fell for. Amy promised Russell that she would come back to him if he made any funny moves throughout the investigation.

In the midst of Amy's meltdown, Russell found himself in deeper trouble after the player found a prosthetic leg in which a message that the Night Walker could outlast Roberto was unraveled with forensic dusting. Since Russell was a suspect in this murder investigation, Amy had to inquire about this the hard way in the interrogation room.

Russell told Amy and the player he had nothing to do with the prosthetic leg and also made it clear that he did his own research on the Night Walker. Russell claimed that the killer who donned the Night Walker identity was intelligent and abstained to concede to the murder at all costs. The Night Walker would also do everything to negotiate in order to drop all homicide charges against them. While what Russell might have told Amy and the player weren't hard attributes of the Night Walker, they were psychological attributes which the Night Walker had—high intellect, persuasive, and hard to convince.

Russell was proven innocent after the team sustained a pyrrhic victory in the case, exposing Amy's brother, Duncan Young, as the face behind the Night Walker's guise.

Making a wrong arrest
Russell made a formal request to aid the player in investigating a disturbance in the Imperial Theater to right the wrongs from the previous case, but made a false arrest after the player analyzed Abbi Absinthe's behavior when Russell incarcerated her. The player went to the theater once again with Frank and, with the help of Yann's clinical expertise, Abbi was proven innocent after Reggie Perez was found guilty of a break-in at the theater.

The player was upset about Russell's mistake and informed Chief Marquez about the trouble they had to put up with after the Chief told the player about Abbi's lawyers filing a complaint with the police. Moreso, Chief Marquez informed the psychologist that the next false arrest would be grounds for suspension from the force.

Seeing someone brainwashed
In the aftermath of the case's closure, movie producer Horace Foster reported the theft of a script he needed for his next project. Russell, in hopes of finally redeeming himself for the false arrest he previously committed, accompanied the player as the duo eventually found a script for Horace's The Ornery Die Last. Russell, however, suspiciously wondered why a thief would steal the script only to rip it to pieces. So the player forensically dusted the script, and found fingerprints evident on them—thus shipping it to Hannah Choi in order to determine who the thief was.

Hannah went for the kill by telling the team that novelist Gaston Dumas was the one who stole the script and ripped it to pieces—grounds for Russell and the player to have a conversation with Gaston.

After Russell and the player chastised a brainwashed Gaston for stealing and destroying the script, the player gave the script back to Horace. In addition, Russell informed Horace that Gaston was the thief but was apparently brainwashed to commit the transgression—a feat Horace thought was very unusual.

Wild Wild Death
Following the closure of Horace's murder investigation, Russell deduced that an infamous cult known as the Utopians were liable for Gaston's brainwashing in the previous case and wanted to conduct an inquiry about their activities, but Chief Marquez wanted Frank and the player to check Horace's mansion for a possible break-in before all.

Thanks to Russell's expertise, the person responsible for the break-in was incriminated to be Brett Nolan—a Utopian and the star of Horace's The Ornery Die Last—grounds for Frank and the player to quiz the actor about his transgression. During the conversation, Brett dropped a bomb when he revealed that Russell was raised as a fellow Utopian but had "betrayed" the cult—driving the Pacific Bay Police to a state of darkness.

Back in the police station, Russell was infuriated after being informed by Frank about what Brett bubbled out to him and the player during the conversation earlier on. Things would only get worse for the profiler when his father, Jupiter Crane, made an unexpected appearance, requiring the player to search for a contract he made with Abitbol & Sons Studios to rewrite the script for Horace's The Ornery Die Last. Despite of not being very fond of his father, Russell agreed to accompany the player in returning the restored contract to Leo Brooks—the accountant responsible for writing a contract for Jupiter. During a short conversation, Leo informed Russell about the Utopians practically controlling the district of Ivywood Hills—making the profiler mentally unstable by the minute because of his despise for their hostility, which was the main reason as to why he left the cult.

Russell went back to the police station to lambaste his father for manipulating the player, to which Jupiter responded that the Utopians only wanted to erase their trace of involvement in Horace's film project in order to avert being hit with a murder scandal. However, Russell went off-topic by bubbling out that Jupiter let the Utopians ruin his childhood—suggesting that the profiler was now consumed with vengeance. Russell firmly believed his father was hiding something from him, thus making a promise that he would expose the Utopians' true identity no matter the cost.

Murdertown
In the aftermath of socialite Lindsay Bannister's murder investigation, Russell was asked by Chief Marquez to follow the player in investigating film star Dick Shakespeare's strange behavior. The investigation led Russell and the player to come across a brainwashed Dick and then his journal, which would confirm the profiler's suspicions of the Utopians brainwashing other people, although he felt that this was not enough evidence to bring the cult to justice. Russell then had to question Hubert Bannister about the Utopians brainwashing people, but Hubert, as a loyal Utopian, refused to answer honestly.

Meanwhile, Frank helped retrieve a stolen rare diamond with the help of private detective Eduardo Ramirez. This led to the arrest of a self-proclaimed European Count and a femme fatale, both fellow Utopians; the latter, however, was later released on bail thanks to Hubert, her husband.

All Russell now needed was more evidence to prove the Utopians guilty of a brainwashing scheme in order to shut them down for good.

Star Crime
Hours following the case's closure, an anonymous threat letter addressed to actress Susan Blair was found. After tedious hours of analysis, Russell deduced that the letter was sent to Susan by none other than the Utopians, in spite of the actress being a recent member of the cult. This prompted him and the player to rush to Susan only to find her brainwashed; this marked the third time someone was found brainwashed in the exact manner. The actress was evidently brainwashed by the Utopians to ensure she would not leave the cult under any circumstances.

Furthermore, Russell was forced to quiz his own father about the cult's supposed plans for the upcoming annual Ivywood Film Awards. Thanks to Jupiter's "involuntary help", the profiler managed to find a flyer of the Awards ceremony at the nearby drive-in theater; the player unraveled the scribbled part of the flyer to be a brainwash order intended to take place at 8 p.m. at the Ivywood Awards, also bearing a note to have a certain gossip columnist replace Rex as the ceremony's host. Therefore, the duo did not hesitate to quiz the columnist, who also happened to be an enthusiastic Utopian, but could not get the vital piece of information they yearned for.

The findings prompted the profiler to make a promise that he would get to the bottom of the cult's brainwashing fiasco and stop it at all costs.

Deadly Legacy
Moments after Tobias Frankenberger's indictment, Russell was reported missing by the Chief. All Hannah knew was that Russell had gone to investigate the Colosseum set of Margaret Hatchman's unfinished epic film Legacy, grounds for Amy and the player to find out whether or not the profiler was abducted. Chief Marquez's fears came true as the team found Russell held hostage by a lion tamer and Utopian member named Brad Belinsky, who threatened to kill Russell unless the police allowed him and the profiler entrance to the symphony room. Amy correctly assumed that Brad was brainwashed (by none other than the Utopians) to kill Russell, but the profiler pleaded with Brad to release him so that Amy and the player could escort the lion tamer to the symphony room themselves. Russell was attacked by Brad during his investigation, but remained unscathed after his rescue.

Afterwards, Amy and the player opted to investigate the symphony room on behalf of Russell, who returned to the station after his kidnap. The player found a locked briefcase, unlocking it to find a paper containing a brainwashing plan using ELFs (extremely low frequencies). Both Amy and the player could not understand as to why the Utopians would use ELFs to brainwash people, so they gave the evidence to Russell for examination.

After tedious hours of analysis, Russell made a major finding. The fine-tuned ELFs came from the television antenna and were intended to be used to brainwash people. The profiler also suggested that human brains could be wiped clean and reprogrammed with those frequencies. Extremely low frequencies are waves that cannot be heard, but can be felt. The plan was patented by the Utopians and they had a plausible reason to take Russell to the symphony room for fine-tuning of the ELFs to brainwash people with a certain movie that would air during the upcoming Ivywood Film Awards ceremony.

Since a music composer named Hannah Simmer was the Utopian with perfect hearing, she was liable for much of the brainwashing scheme with a single document alone.

Accordingly, Amy and the player placed Hannah under arrest for the kidnapping of Russell and for the brainwashing conspiracy with the Utopians. The music composer knew that her leader pleaded with her not to fight, so she warned the police that the Utopians perfected the brainwashing process, citing that the Utopians would fulfill a prophecy kept secret by the cult. After the composer's arrest, Russell could not help but worry about the Ivywood Awards a step further due to the shocking revelation about the Utopians' brainwashing scheme. Russell also showed fear for the lives of those who would be watching the Awards ceremony on live TV, knowing that the only way to stop the brainwashing for good would be to bring forth the infamous cult's leader to justice before all.

The Ship of Dreams
Chief Marquez—after giving a thought to the revelation from the previous case—attempted to have the upcoming Ivywood Film Awards canceled as a precaution to prevent the notorious Utopians from brainwashing millions of viewers watching the ceremony. Russell opted to interrogate his father about the identity of the cult's leader (and eventually put him in temporary custody due to suspicion) while Frank decided to check up on the set of a big-budget film for any clues leading to the same direction.

Subsequent to the enquiry, the trio of Frank, Russell, and the player assembled in the station, only to find Chief Marquez in a brainwashed state. Frank immediately suggested the player to partner up with Russell and find the one liable for this shocking turn of events while he guarded the helpless Chief.

The duo found a picture of Chief Marquez which the player forensically dusted to reveal a plan to brainwash the top police official. Russell then had to spend hours analyzing the writing on the picture, thus revealing that it was was too neatly written even though the message was meant to be a threat—meaning this was the doing of a control freak, someone used to writing quickly and efficiently. This discovery made by Russell left him and the player with just one thing in mind: Holly Hopper, a familiar journalist and Utopian.

Cornering Holly, Russell and the player accused her of brainwashing at least six people (including Andrea) and also held her responsible for the planning of a terrorist attack scheduled to take place at the the Ivywood Awards. Holly, in a rather quick and suspicious manner, admitted her brainwashing fiasco and took a moment to claim that she had succeeded to her predecessor as the Utopian leader seven years prior to the present day, before finally "shooting herself to death" in a bold attempt to resist arrest and to protect her cult.

Moments after the disastrous event, Russell insisted that the player keep an eye on the imminent Ivywood Awards ceremony just in case the Utopians still had something in mind—though he would find a cure to heal Chief Marquez from the brainwashing effects in due course.

Dead Carpet
With the Ivywood Film Awards scheduled to get under way in just a few hours, the notorious Utopians—even without Holly in the picture—were ready to implement their devilish scheme: to recruit new followers and fulfill the "Prophecy" through a brainwashing attack intended to affect millions of viewers watching the ceremony's live broadcast, by simply replacing the original tape with that of a certain brainwashing film.

Hours before the ceremony, however, movie producer Tyler Snakes was found dead at the entrance of the Awards Theater, looking as if he suffocated to death. Ironically, Tyler was a Utopian as well as the person in charge of supervising the Awards ceremony, and given that no human being would just drop dead like that, the inquiring team of Amy and the player immediately shipped Tyler's corpse to the morgue.

In the middle of the case, Amy was unexpectedly found in a brainwashed state, forcing Russell to take over her place for the remainder of the investigation. Russell proved his determination by eventually helping the player find the weapon used to off Tyler: a poisoned cigarette. And soon enough, in spite of the twists and turns the police force had to deal with during the investigation, the duo managed to incriminate Tyler's killer to be a femme fatale and fellow Utopian named Velma Bannister—but Russell had to utilize his manipulative trait in order to make her admit to grand homicide.

Velma's main motive was to gain access to the TV room of the Awards Theater, believing that she could "save" Ivywood from the Utopians' brainwashing plan even though she knew this would contradict what her cult desired: she wanted to use her own recording (which would brainwash viewers into obeying, worshiping and loving her forever) instead of the intended one the Utopians wanted. However, Tyler was in charge of broadcasting the Awards ceremony and Velma needed access to the TV room by any means necessary in order to replace the Utopians' tape with hers, leaving her with no choice but to take him out of her way. As the statement came to an end, Russell and the player shipped the femme fatale to trial, where she was sentenced to 18 years of hard time.

Following the indictment, Russell and the player had to interrogate psychiatrist Trevor Neuman, a Utopian who was liable for inventing the brainwashing method for the cult. Trevor admitted that he created the brainwashing technique, but felt that there was no way to reverse its effects, which Russell refused to accept. So the player had Trevor arrested for being a part of the illicit scheme prior to checking the TV room for the brainwashing tape. The player succeeded in finding the tape and Hannah had to give her all to deliver the psychological cure, thus healing Chief Marquez and Amy (not to mention Frank and Roxie, who had unknowingly watched the accidental airing of the brainwashing tape) by fluke and luck. Hannah would also make sure the cure get aired on all the channels worldwide, in an effort to save each person—including Russell's father—under the effects of the brainwashing.

With Ivywood psychologically cured, Holly was finally arrested for good (earlier in the case Holly's suicide was discovered to be nothing but a fake demonstration—the Utopian leader only wanted to lay low for a while due to the unbearable stress). Meanwhile, Russell and Jupiter finally settled their differences after all the years of separation and hatred. The profiler's past ceased to haunt him once and for all after Chief Marquez returned to announce that her team would now report for duty in the district of Rhine Canyon.

Suspect once again
Russell was flagged as a suspect once again after Amy and the player found a wooden Magic Cube with his fingerprints dusted by the player. He said that he received the magic cube from the victim as a gift. He first bumped into him when the player first interrogated him and thought he was cleverest person he ever met. Amy was wondering if what Russell said was the whole story, but he insisted that she had nothing to worry about, and was looking forward to how the player would crack the case.

Russell was spoken to once more after the player found and analyzed a graph he wrote about previous killers in Paradise City. Although Yann was unable to find much, what he did find immediately pointed to Russell. When asked about the graph, he said it would enable the team to find killers before they harm anyone. Unfortunately, Danny did not fit in the graph and messed up Russell's results, and he could not find a way around it. To Amy's shock, Russell was happy that Danny was dead so he could now disregard those results.

Russell was eventually found innocent of charges, but after he saw Amy bravely confronted Karen Knight, he opted to tell her how he was impressed to see a junior officer who was psychologically shattered from White Peaks rise up to stability to stand up for Chief Marquez. Amy did not like the idea of letting Frank go (after Frank was found guilty of murder), but Chief Marquez did not want a pyrrhic impound, believing that people can be brought to justice bloodlessly. As Amy and Russell shared their first kiss, the two pleaded with the player to give them some privacy.

Russell told Amy to have a snack with him (alongside the player) after she inquired about Frank's motives en route to a dangerous pursuit in the Wastes.

Frank Knight's death
Amy had called Russell regarding Bobby Prince's arrest for the murder of Frank Knight, alongside revealing to the profiler that she had to shoot Bobby so she would not be killed. While feeling sorry for her, Russell agreed with the player that Amy's actions were in favor of self-defense, supplementing Amy with the confidence boost she needed to defeat Albert Tesla, reminding her of all she had done and all she could do what she had set her mind to do. Russell explained that that was the reason he fell in love with her.

Russell felt relieved after Amy was cured from the radiation thanks to Yann Toussaint's synthesis of the expired anti-radiation medicine the player and Amy found at the control room of the super computer. Afterwards, Russell attended Officer Knight's funeral, knowing that the deceased detective deserved a proper funeral in spite of the bad things the cop did since Paradise City. He thanked Frank for teaching him that even though he used brains to uphold the law, sometimes a dirty joke or two were needed to uphold the law as well.

Amy would then teach Russell lessons in humility as the player followed Jack Archer on their first steps toward continuing gameplay at the Bureau (the world's top police organization), but Amy felt sad that the player left her in lieu of continuing play in the Bureau. Russell admitted that he was rejected by the top police force when he applied for the job when the player said their final goodbyes to the profiler.

Personal life
Russell was raised in Ivywood Hills. His father is Jupiter Crane, as mentioned above, and his mother is the late Caroline Crane.

Besides that, Russell had studied the Aztec alphabet when he was a child, and he has also studied astronomy.

Russell is currently in a relationship with PBPD junior officer Amy Young.

Analyses
Russell's job is to analyze physical objects and/or clues that cannot be analyzed flawlessly through bio-forensics or digital analysis, but instead through psychological analysis, and to return the results after a certain amount of time or a speed-up process using Criminal Case Cash. His task-wait rates will vary depending on the difficulty of the task, but they all cost 1 Criminal Case Cash per 30 minutes.

Below is the list of analyses Russell performs throughout the course of the game:

Case #4: Dead Girl Rolling
 * Charm (03:00:00)
 * Cryptic Words on Ad (06:00:00)

Case #5: The Ice Queen
 * Receipt (15:00:00)

Case #6: Bayou Blood
 * Handwriting (06:00:00)
 * Voodoo Doll (09:00:00)

Case #13: Eastern Promises
 * Massage Positions (09:00:00)

Case #14: Spineless
 * Notebook (09:00:00)
 * Anarchist Manifesto (09:00:00)

Case #16: Killing Time
 * Recipient Number (09:00:00)

Case #19: Cloudy with a Chance of Murder
 * Poncho (03:00:00)
 * Puppeteer Article (06:00:00)

Case #20: Open Wounds
 * Routine Map (12:00:00)
 * Police Interview (06:00:00)

Case #21: Under the Thunderdome
 * Photo Album (06:00:00)

Case #22: Of Rats and Men
 * Mask (12:00:00)

Case #27: Into the Woods
 * Drawing (09:00:00)
 * Night Walker Notes (06:00:00)

Case #28: The Hunger Planes
 * Flight Manifest (12:00:00)
 * Alice's Journal (06:00:00)
 * Picture (06:00:00)

Case #32: Once Upon a Crime
 * Inkblot Test (09:00:00)

Case #33: Wild Wild Death
 * Playing Cards (03:00:00)
 * Bottle Label (12:00:00)
 * Cryptic Card (09:00:00)

Case #34: Murdertown
 * Riddle (03:00:00)

Case #35: Star Crime
 * Utopian Statuette (12:00:00)
 * Anonymous Letter (09:00:00)

Case #36: Deadly Legacy
 * Message (03:00:00)
 * Doll (09:00:00)
 * Plan (06:00:00)

Case #37: The Ship of Dreams
 * Buoy Message (09:00:00)
 * Threatening Message (06:00:00)

Case #38: Dead Carpet
 * Card (06:00:00)
 * Experiments (09:00:00)

Case #40: Temple of Doom
 * Drawings (03:00:00)

Case #41: The Seeds of Death
 * Accusing Message (09:00:00)

Case #42: Crystal Death
 * Road Sign (03:00:00)

Case #47: Uncivil Rights
 * Diary (06:00:00)

Case #48: Blood in the Blender
 * Circled Words (06:00:00)

Case #51: Killer Takes All
 * Threat for Victim (15:00:00)
 * Owl Statue (09:00:00)
 * CCTV Footage (06:00:00)

Case #52: Death at the Circus
 * Message on Moon (12:00:00)

Case #54: Blood Diamond
 * Message (03:00:00)
 * Wooden Statue (09:00:00)

Case #55: No Honor Among Thieves
 * Collage (09:00:00)
 * Mysterious Message (09:00:00)

Case #57: Into the Wastes
 * Diary (15:00:00)
 * Strange Printout (09:00:00)

Case #59: The Final Countdown
 * Strange Items (12:00:00)

Gameplay
As of 11 February 2015, the player may choose Russell to join the investigation of each crime scene (in any Pacific Bay case) and provide hint bonuses. He is available as a 3-hint partner. (Note that this feature is only available on the mobile version of the game.)

Trivia

 * Russell's beta name was Jake Crane, but was changed to Russell Crane before the official release due to unknown reasons.
 * Russell's character strongly suggests that he was modeled after Spencer Reid, a fictional character from the CBS crime drama series Criminal Minds.
 * Russell is one of the main characters who were flagged as a suspect in a case for plausible reasons.
 * Russell is also the only main character who was flagged as a suspect more than once.
 * Russell could be ambidextrous as he writes with his right hand but has his watch on his right wrist. This may just be an oversight.
 * Russell is one of the characters who animate (or move) in at least one cutscene in the game.
 * After finding Amy and the player safe back in the station from the Wastes in The Final Countdown, Russell draws his back to hug Amy. This makes him one of the few characters to do so in a cutscene.