Username: Password:
RegisterForgotten Password

Confidential (confidential_wt.txt)

CONFIDENTIAL
Radar Games, 1985
=================

Solution by Exemptus - February 2021


Overview and general hints:
---------------------------
As private detective Craig Adams, this game tasks us with finding out about the
disappearance of a Mr. Richards in the coastal town where we live. Investigation
type adventures can be thrilling and engaging if implemented the right way, but
this one isn't, because the Quill is far too limited to support the game's scope
and ambition. This is less the fault of the authors than a restriction that had
to be worked around as best as possible.

This game just requires us to find Mr. Richards, dead or alive, and it ends when
we do - but we will not be able to just go there or stumble upon him by chance,
as access to places is limited and it only opens under certain circumstances.
The only way the game has to keep internal state is by means of the Score flag.
Since there is no SCORE command, this flag is not accessible to the player, but
for QUITting, since this always displays the score. Some places will just not
be accessible unless our score is greater than a certain minimum, which is the
way the game limits our actions. In addition, the original instructions showed
where some places are, since in-game there are no hints they even are there: for
instance, you can access the bank from the High Street location by ENTER BANK,
but the description of the location gives no clue about this - you have to know
in advance the bank is there, so a map (or the original instructions) is needed
in order to play.

The game is deterministic, with no randomness at all, but the internal progress
flag forces us to do things in a certain order. Of course, we don't know what
this order is. Luckily, it is very difficult to 'break' the game by trying to go
places, so this can be sussed out by trial and error.

There are several non-standard quirks, which make sense given the investigation
theme: characters can be INTERVIEWed, and should, since some of them have useful
information that advances the plot. There is a car, which allows us to reach
some places that would be unreachable otherwise. Some location connections are
different when we go by car and on foot: a nice touch, although this can be
baffling at first. Also, we can ENTER <place> and EXIT <place> as long as the
place is reachable from our location.

There is a maze of sorts, in the Caravan Park, but it is badly simulated. At a
given point in time we have to find a specific caravan, and it will not be there
until it is the right moment. We can wander around the park all we want at any
time before; it will just not show up. This breaks mimesis, since the player
could well conclude that there is nothing there to find, if the place is
explored early. The 'maze' in reality is a single location, and the game appears
to change it by keeping track of internal location flags when we move. It
behaves like an 8x8 grid, but it is not - visual features appear at random, and
markers are avoided by preventing the player from dropping any objects there.
This is irrelevant as the 'maze' does not need any mapping, but again, it
misleads the player in lots of unfair ways, since there is not a single hint
about how the place behaves internally.

The inventory limit is 4 objects, not counting worn items. This is not a
serious limitation, as there are not that many objects. We begin wearing a ring
and a watch, which have no function at all. The car will disappear at a certain
moment in the game, without any warning, but it can be recovered. This is a
puzzle in itself, as we need the car later.


Walkthrough:
------------

[Starting in our Agency, the phone rings. There is no phone in the description,
but we can hear it.]

ANSWER PHONE [We are asked by Mrs Richards to come to 'The Gables', Dale End]
OPEN CABINET [A key appears]
GET KEY [This is our car key]
EXAMINE DESK [We see the phone and a ticket]

[If we examine the ticket, we'll see it has the number 68. It is a cloakroom
ticket for a jacket we left at the Tropicana Club just across the street, but we
don't need it yet. We will need it later when our car is impounded, in order to
get money from the bank.]

EXAMINE CHAIR [Underneath is a cheque book]

[We will return later to the Agency. For the time being we don't need these
objects.]

EXIT AGENCY [Our car is here]
OPEN CAR
ENTER CAR
W
W
S
S
S
W [This is Mayfield Crescent]
EXIT CAR
ENTER THE GABLES [We are at the front door]
EXAMINE DOOR [There is a button]
PUSH BUTTON [Mrs Richards opens - do we want to come in?]
YES
INTERVIEW MRS RICHARDS

[Mrs. Richards asks us to look for her husband, who left to collect a present
but never returned. We don't have a lot of clues here. First port of call would
be to pay a visit to his workplace, in the Richards & Ellis Developments
office.]

EXIT THE GABLES
OPEN CAR
ENTER CAR
E
E
N [To Grange Road - this route is only possible by car]
ENTER OFFICE

[There is one of the partners here. Obviously, it's not Mr. Richards, so it has
to be Ellis.]

INTERVIEW ELLIS

[He says Richards arrived late because his car had broken down. This suggests a
visit to the garage, since it is entirely possible his car is still there.]

EXIT OFFICE

[We left our car here, but now it's nowhere to be seen. As we will find out if
we walk to the Police Station, our car has been impounded (probably for illegal
parking) and there is a fine to pay. This can wait, as we don't immediately need
the car, but we will need money later to pay the fine. Now we'd better pay a
visit to the garage.]

W
W
W
W
ENTER GARAGE

[An eager pump attendant asks us if we want any petrol. We don't for the time
being, as it would be useless without a car, but we will keep this in mind for
future reference.]

INTERVIEW ATTENDANT [He says Richards came and went to see the mechanic]
ENTER MAINTENANCE BAY [There is an empty can here, which we note]
INTERVIEW MECHANIC

[The description does not mention a mechanic, but he's here as the attendant
said. The mechanic tells us that Richards actually came for the car, but it was
not yet ready, and he left. This is useful, as the car must be still here.]

D [We come down to a parking bay at the back - a BMW car is here - must be it]
EXAMINE CAR [The door is unlocked]
OPEN DOOR [We see a passport]
GET PASSPORT
EXAMINE PASSPORT
READ PASSPORT [It belongs to Vernon Richards - will be useful to carry]
CLOSE DOOR [Otherwise the game says we need to leave the scene as we found it]
U
EXIT FORECOURT
EXIT GARAGE

[Now what? We were told Richards bought a present for his son. This means he
probably was at the department store, so we could ask there.]

E
E
E
ENTER STORE
INTERVIEW ASSISTANT [He says the name is unfamiliar and he would need a photo]
GIVE PASSPORT TO ASSISTANT [No luck]
GET PASSPORT
U
INTERVIEW FLOOR WALKER [He is not useful]
U
INTERVIEW WOMAN
GIVE PASSPORT TO WOMAN [She remembers him buying a toy plane from Rose]
GET PASSPORT
INTERVIEW ROSE [She's not in today, so dead end]
D
D
EXIT STORE

[The trail runs cold again. There are some other places we could go, but some
of them are not open, meaning we cannot go there yet. One we haven't tried is
the Taxi service office in Darwin Crescent, but we'll need a wrench in order for
our visit to be productive. The reason will be obvious once there. There is a
wrench at the pawnbroker's, but we need money to buy it.]

W
ENTER AGENCY
GET CHEQUE BOOK
GET TICKET
DROP PASSPORT [This is temporary, we'll come back for it]
EXIT AGENCY
ENTER CLUB [The Tropicana, where we were yesterday]
INTERVIEW ATTENDANT [It does not hurt to ask, but he knows nothing]
GIVE TICKET TO ATTENDANT [He gives back a jacket - a credit card falls from it]
WEAR JACKET
GET CARD
EXAMINE CARD [It's ours - we will need it at the bank as identification]
EXIT CLUB
E
ENTER BANK
GEN PEN
SIGN CHEQUE
DROP PEN
INTERVIEW CLERK [Good try - but Richards is not known at the bank]
GIVE CHEQUE TO CLERK [We get cash in return]
EXIT BANK
ENTER PAWNBROKERS
EXAMINE COUNTER [Aha, there is a wrench]
INTERVIEW GENTLEMAN [No sight of Richard here either]
BUY WRENCH

[This spends the money. Don't worry, we can pawn the wrench back after we are
done with it and still have enough to pay the fine. Now that we have a wrench, we
can pay a visit to the Taxi services office.]

EXIT PAWNBROKERS
W
ENTER AGENCY
DROP CARD [No longer needed]
GET PASSPORT
EXIT AGENCY
W
N
NW [Darwin crescent]
ENTER TAXI COMPANY
EXAMINE GLASS [There is a woman, but she is on a radio with headphones]
KNOCK GLASS [She can't hear us]

[It's clear we need to do something to attract the attention of the operator. We
saw a door here when we walked in.]

OPEN DOOR
D [The back loading bay]
EXAMINE WALL [There is a metal box]
EXAMINE BOX [An electric box - we could cut the power, which will do the trick]
OPEN BOX [This is what we wanted the wrench for]
OFF SWITCH
U [Now the woman is available]
INTERVIEW WOMAN [Again, we need to show her a photo]
GIVE PASSPORT TO WOMAN [Aha - she remembers him hiring a taxi to the Vicarage]
GET PASSPORT
D
ON SWITCH [Let's be a good citizen and restore power]
U
EXIT TAXI COMPANY

[Now we need to reach the vicarage and pick up the trail there. We won't need
the passport any longer. What we will need is the car, since the vicarage is on
Gospel Road, which cannot be reached on foot. So, we'll pawn back the wrench and
retrieve our car from the Police.]

SE
S
E
ENTER AGENCY
DROP PASSPORT [We won't need it anymore]
EXIT AGENCY
E
ENTER PAWNBROKERS
PAWN WRENCH
EXIT PAWNBROKERS
E
E
N
ENTER POLICE
INTERVIEW POLICEMAN [He confirms there is a fine to pay]
PAY FINE
EXIT POLICE

[Our car is here again.]

OPEN CAR
ENTER CAR
W
N [Ocean Boulevard]

[The car has just run out of petrol. Rotten luck - the Police must have gone for
a spin on it. In any case, there's nothing to it but get some more petrol. Good
thing we noted before it could be found at the Garage. And no, if we had tried
to short-cut this by getting the petrol in advance, it would not have worked.
The game requires us to get the petrol at this moment, not before.]

EXIT CAR
W
SE
SW
S
ENTER GARAGE
ENTER MAINTENANCE BAY
GET CAN
EXIT FORECOURT
YES [Delayed response, but the attendant fills our can with petrol anyway]
EXIT GARAGE
N
NE [Note the reel of cable here - it will be useful much later]
NW
E
GIVE PETROL TO CAR [A bit forced, but PUT PETROL ON CAR does not work]
DROP CAN
OPEN CAR
ENTER CAR
E
S [Gospel Road]
EXIT CAR
ENTER VICARAGE

[There are several locations here, although the vicar is nowhere to be seen.
Let's see what we can find.]

ENTER DRAWING ROOM
EXAMINE WINDOW [We see a garden outside]
GET ENVELOPE
EXAMINE ENVELOPE [It's addressed to Richards]

[So the vicar has written to Richards but not yet posted the letter. It would be
interesting to known what the letter says.]

OPEN ENVELOPE [A subtle approach is needed here]

[So ripping the envelope open is not possible. Technically, it might be illegal,
and we don't know what has happened yet, so it would be prudent to not do
anything rash. Let's try to open it on the sly.]

EXIT DRAWING ROOM
ENTER KITCHEN [A stove and kettle are here - we could steam the envelope]
GET KETTLE
EXAMINE KETTLE [It is full of water already]
OPEN DOOR
D [To the garden; there is a gardener here]
INTERVIEW GARDENER [Says the vicar is at church and offers a cigarette]
YES
GET CIGARETTE [This will allow us to light the stove]
U
EXAMINE STOVE [A gas stove]
ON STOVE
LIGHT GAS
PUT KETTLE ON STOVE [Steam rises from the spout]
USE STEAM TO OPEN ENVELOPE [Success]
EXAMINE ENVELOPE

[Apparently the vicar wrote to Richards to tell him of his opposition to any
redevelopment of the Abbey ruins. We don't know if this has anything to do with
the disappearance, but it would be good to ask the vicar himself.]

DROP ENVELOPE
OFF STOVE
DROP CIGARETTE
D [Back to the garden; the gardener has gone, but left his spade]
GET SPADE [It will be useful not before long]
U
EXIT KITCHEN

[The bottle here is full of glue and would allow us to re-seal the envelope
after opening it. However, the game doesn't mind whether we do it or not, so we
won't bother.]

EXIT VICARAGE
OPEN CAR
ENTER CAR
N
W
S
E
S
E [Church Lane]
EXIT CAR
ENTER CHURCH [Nobody here]
CLIMB ON PLATFORM [There is an organ]
EXAMINE ORGAN [It's a pipe organ with a foot pedal]
PUSH PEDAL
PLAY ORGAN [The noise attracts the vicar, who was in choir practice]
INTERVIEW VICAR

[The vicar does not tell us anything we did not know already - Richards had
plans to redevelop the Abbey ruins, but the vicar was opposed. This may or not
be significant, but it suggests having a look at the Abbey ruins.]

CLIMB OFF PLATFORM [There is a choirboy here now.]
INTERVIEW CHOIRBOY [He says Richards stormed off after mentioning the Abbey]
EXIT CHURCH
OPEN CAR
ENTER CAR
W
N
W
N
E
S
EXIT CAR [We need to continue on foot]
NE
N [Here we are, at the ruins, but there is a dog]
EXAMINE DOG [Unfriendly, and seems to be sitting on something]

[Dogs can be distracted. If only we had a stick to play fetch with. But we are
in the middle of a forest - there are plenty of sticks actually.]

S
EXAMINE TREES
BREAK BRANCH OFF [The OFF is needed, for some reason]
N
THROW STICK [The dog runs after it]
R [We can see a document]
GET DOCUMENT

[The dog will be back if we go away, so we need to do all here first.]

EXAMINE RUINS [There is a blood stain and a patch of disturbed earth]
EXAMINE BLOOD [Not fresh - might be Richards']
EXAMINE EARTH [Someone has dug here]
DIG EARTH [Some jewels appear]
GET JEWELLERY
EXAMINE JEWELLERY
DROP JEWELLERY [This is so we can carry other things]
DIG EARTH [We find a gift case]
GET GIFT CASE
EXAMINE GIFT CASE [There is a bracelet inside]
EXAMINE BRACELET [It has the name "Sarah Kent" on it]
EXAMINE DOCUMENT [It is a Casino membership card, number 3645]

[What is this? Stolen jewels? A blood stain? Who is Sarah Kent? And what does
a casino membership card have to do with any of this? First, let's try the
casino. There is a way to contact Sarah Kent - phone the operator and ask for
her number. We can try that later. We'll take the membership card and the spade,
as it is useful elsewhere, but leave the valuables here, as they won't be needed
to finish the game.]

DROP GIFT CASE
S
SW
OPEN CAR
ENTER CAR
N
W
S
S
W [Beach Drive, where the casino is]
EXIT CAR
ENTER CASINO

[But the membership card is taken by the bouncer and we are unceremoniously
thrown back onto the street. That did not go as planned. However, there is a
back alley into the casino which we can try. The back window is open, but it is
too high to reach without help, so we need something to stand on. There is a
litter bin at Melbury Park that serves this purpose.]

E
S
W
W
N [There is a railing here which we can climb]
CLIMB OVER RAILING [And here is the bin we mentioned, and a newspaper]
GET BIN
GET NEWSPAPER
READ NEWSPAPER

[Police are mystified by the second inexplicable robbery in two months at
Benson's jewellers. Interesting. It is natural to conclude that these are the
jewels we found at the Abbey ruins. But how does Richards enter this picture?
Did he rob the jewels? Does not fit the type - he seems a pretty ordinary
family man. But he did go to the ruins, as the vicar told us. What if he came
across the robbers by accident? This would explain things. But as a surmise, it
does not tell us where to find Richards unless we know more about the robbery.]

DROP NEWSPAPER
EXIT PARK
NW
SW

[Remember the cable we saw before? We'll need it, so let's cut some from the
roll. For some unknown reason, the tool to do this with is the spade. It is not
the best tool I would choose to cut cable, but it's what the game expects. Who
are we to argue?]

UNWIND CABLE
CUT CABLE
GET CABLE

[We don't need the spade anymore, but we'll need a bit more money, so we'll pawn
it now to save some time.]

S
E
E
E
ENTER PAWNBROKERS
PAWN SPADE
EXIT PAWNBROKERS

[Now to the casino, where we were going before the side-track.]

W
N
N
W
W [Here is the casino's rear entrance]
DROP BIN
CLIMB ON BIN
GO THROUGH WINDOW [We are at a VDU back room]
EXAMINE VDU [A computer asks for a file number; we'll enter the one on the card]
TYPE 3645

[The casino file is for Benson, the jeweller, himself, who was suspended for
outstanding debts. Did he rob himself maybe? But where is he now? Let's try the
Sarah Kent clue. We have a phone at the Agency, so it's best to call from
there.]

GO THROUGH WINDOW
E
E
S
S
W
ENTER AGENCY
PHONE OPERATOR [What name?]
SARAH KENT [The number is 7522]
PHONE 7522
INTERVIEW SARAH

[She says she'll meet us at the 'Cove', which is the local pub. It has been
closed until now; it opens the moment we have this conversation. Also, phoning
Sarah Kent before finding out about Benson in the Casino file does not work, as
the phone is not picked up.]

EXIT AGENCY
E
N
ENTER PUB
EXAMINE BAR [We see a smartly dressed woman - must be her]
INTERVIEW WOMAN [She confirms she is Sarah Kent]
BUY DRINK [For the lady; this is what we needed the money for]

[Sarah talks. She is Benson's fianc?, and tells us that the business with the
shop was bad and Benson was stressed, which supports our theory that he robbed
himself. She says he left this morning with his caravan. There is a caravan park
south of Fox Quay, so that is where we go now.]

EXIT PUB
N
N
W
S [Caravan park entrance - going D enters the park proper]

[Now we have to find Benson's caravan. We will know when we find it, but that is
not the problem: this is a simulated grid of locations that we can wander in
for a long time, since we need to enter the location from the right direction
(from E to W) or else the right caravan won't show up. Just follow the
directions below and all will be well, but I do not recommend wandering off;
finding the way out can be also tricky if you lose track of your movements. By
the way, there is absolutely no way to find Benson's caravan before meeting
Sarah Kent, as this is the trigger to generate the former event.]

D
S
S
S
S
S
E
E
E
E
E
E
N
W [Here we see blood seeping from under a caravan door]
EXAMINE CARAVAN [The window is open]
GO THROUGH WINDOW [There is a dead body here]
EXAMINE BODY [It is Benson, with his wrists slashed; he has a note]
READ NOTE

[It is a suicide note, telling Sarah he stole his own jewels for the insurance,
and says someone discovered him at the Abbey and was wounded in the fight -
in a panic he pushed the man over the cliff's edge. Must be Richards. So, we were
mostly right, but it was an accident, and afterwards Benson took his life as
he believed he had killed Richards. But maybe Richards survived the fall from
the cliff: even if he didn't, that is where the body should be.]

EXIT CARAVAN
W
W
W
W
W
N
N
N
N [Exit should be here, if all went OK]
U
U
E
S
S
W
OPEN CAR
ENTER CAR
E
N
N
E
S
EXIT CAR
NE
N
N [This is the edge of the cliff]
EXAMINE EDGE [There seems to be a ledge below]

[We have to climb down to the ledge, which is where the cable we cut before
comes in handy.]

TIE CABLE TO TREE
D [We are on the ledge - there is a body here, as expected]
EXAMINE BODY [It is Richards - he has concussion and exposure, but he is alive]

[Congratulations - the case is solved with 100% score. End of game.]