Deadline (Activision and Infocom/Infocom)

Last modified on April 6th, 2005

Deadline

Hints


  1. Looking for a motive? Spend a couple of minutes fiddling with what's on the desk.
  2. Can't figure out the method? A criminal after Romeo's heart.
  3. Still wondering about method? You look like you need to freshen up. When you get where you're going, be very snoopy.
  4. Need more proof? Take the time to stop and smell the roses.
  5. Trying to lay a trap? Make like Juliet, and your patience will be rewarded.
  6. Does your trap fail? Exact timing is the key that unlocks many a door.

Solution


From the front path of the Robner's estate, go North to the front door of the house. Type "Open Door" and go North into the Robners' house. From inside the door, go North, East, and type "Climb Stairs" twice (or you can just go Up and Up to get to the second level of the estate. From there, go West four times, and North to the library where you'll start the first of a series of Sherlock Holmesish activities. In Deadline, you need to establish the motive and method for the murder beyond all reasonable doubt before you can arrest the guilty party. If you don't have an air-tight case, the jury will acquit the defendant.

It's here in the library where we go about establishing the method by which poor Mr. Robner was done in. Firstly, type "Examine Rug". You'll find some mud spots which is your first clue. Now, "Get The Cup, Pad, Calendar and Pencil" and "Rub Pencil on Pad" and then "Turn Page of Calendar". Aha! Perhaps a clue as to the motive? Let's see if we can substantiate the method a little more... that mud on the rug was very interesting.

Type "Open Balcony Door" and Go North onto the balcony. Check out the railing by typing "Examine Railing" and you'll see some scratches, lending credence to the theory that perhaps the murderer climbed up the balcony from the ground below where he or she got mud on his or her shoes. Let's have a look below and check for some indication that the murderer was indeed below the balcony.

To leave the balcony, go South twice, East four times, Down twice, West, and South. Type "Open Door" and go South back to the front door. Now go East twice, and Southeast to the shed where you'll see a ladder. Type "Examine Ladder". Hmmm! This "ladder and balcony" theory is looking good! Let's see if we can prove the ladder was below the balcony. This'll have to wait a while though, because it's getting late in the morning and we have to do some more checking in the house before the reading of the will takes place. Besides that, we need to talk to Mr. McNabb and he doesn't seem to be in the mood right now.

Return to the house by heading North, South, North and head back upstairs with North twice, East, and Up twice. Let's see what else we can find upstairs. Go South twice into Dunbar's bathroom. Type "Open Cabinet" and "Examine Loblo". Aha, again! Now we go back downstairs and see if we can find Mr. McNabb to see if he knows anything about a ladder under the balcony. Go North twice, Down twice, West, and South twice. Let's take a break for a while. Type "Wait Until 11:30". Now for Mr. McNabb. Let's try the garden path first with East, Northeast, East, and West.

If McNabb isn't around, just wait for a while or snoop around the area and he'll soon show up. Deadline is very unpredictable when it comes to the various characters moving around the scenario. Once you spot McNabb, go to him and say "Hey McNabb", followed by "What is Wrong". He'll tell you about some holes he found in his garden so, naturally, you say "Show Me the Holes". He'll take off and you "Follow Him". When he stops, type "Examine Holes". Eureka! The ladder was here and the depth of the holes proves somebody climbed it up to the balcony! To make sure we cover every angle, type "Examine Ground" and "Dig Around Holes". Hmmm... wonder what this could be about? To find out, type "Analyze Fragment For Loblo". Oops, it's later than we thought! Back to the house for the reading of the will. Go North, Southwest, Southeast, and East to the house and North twice, West into the living room. Now just "Wait" for the will to be read.

After the will is read, you decide to see if you can roust some of those present into giving you some clues as to the guilty party and, perhaps, the motive for the crime. Let's start with George. Type "Show George the Calendar". He'll get very nervous and start heading out of the room. Type "Follow Him" until he finally goes to his room. He'll keep telling you to leave him alone, but just keep following him until he enters his room.

At this point, you decide to see if George knows more then he's telling. You aren't going to get anything from him here, so let's go to the balcony and wait to see if he does anything. Go West, North twice, to the balcony and type "Wait 10 Minutes". Voila! Here he comes! Wait until he goes behind the bookshelf and then type "Wait 4 Minutes" to give him time to really get his hands into the cookie jar. When your four minutes are up, go South, "Examine Bookshelf", "Press Button", and go East. Ha! Caught him red-handed!! Type "Get Will", "Look Safe", "Get Papers", and "Read Papers".

Things are beginning to look up! Let's see if we can substantiate some of this stuff. Go back to the living room with West, South, East four times, Down twice, and West twice. My, isn't this cozy! Type "Hey Baxter", and "What about Focus". You know he's lying so you "Show Papers to Baxter". Ah, that's better! Now for some clever psycho-detective work. Type "Show the Lab Report to Dunbar" and "Show Lab Report to Baxter". Whip around and "accuse Dunbar". Hmmm... a tad nervous, isn't she? Perhaps we should go off and wait to see what develops.

Go East to leave the room and "Wait for Dunbar". Just as we suspected! When she passes you, type "Follow Her". Once outside the house, she'll drop a ticket. Type "Get Ticket" and "Read Ticket." WOW! This is getting good! Type "Show Ticket to Dunbar". You know you've got her on the run now so head off to the shed to wait and see what develops. Go East twice, and Southeast and "Wait for Baxter". When they both show up, "Show Ticket to Baxter" and "Arrest Baxter and Dunbar". You didn't believe them for a minute, did you?

Due to the dynamic nature of Deadline, there are several ways to end up accusing Baxter and Dunbar of the murder. There are also more puzzles to solve, but this is all that is necessary to put together an air-tight case against them.

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