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ARRIVE AT BLACKWOOD MANOR | |
| Note the mailbox at the gate and that the car key is inside the cubby hole of the car. | |
| Use the key in your inventory to unlock the front door of the manor. Hang about in the entrance area until Jerry telephones, then answer his call. | |
UNPACKING | |
| Go to the guest room (up the stairs, then the first door on the left) to unpack. Put the typewriter case onto the desk and open it. Remove the paper and typewriter, then close the cover and put the case away. Next, put the suitcase on top of the little table next to the desk and open it. Take the pen and matches out of your suitcase. Examine Jerry Carter's business card to 'trigger' being able to phone him and read your shorthand notebook to likewise 'trigger' phoning Barbara, your assistant. | |
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SHORTHAND NOTEBOOK | |
| Also read the blurb on the cover of your previous novel (Vanishing Town) and the letter from Jerry. | |
| Look around the guest room, noting the pictures in the top left drawer of the desk and the crumpled up note in the waste paper basket. In the doctor's bag next to the fireplace you find a stethoscope. There are also more medical pictures in the bag. | |
LIGHTS IN THE MANOR | |
| Try any one of the light switches in the manor to discover that they're not working. After this, and having looked at Jerry Carter's business card, return to the main hall at the entrance to telephone Jerry. He tells you that he's arranged for an electrician to meet you at the main gate. Also telephone Barbara and pay careful attention to what she says. | |
| Go to the front gate to meet the electrician. Open the mailbox and find a note from him that he couldn't wait for you. Return inside and phone Jerry again, who suggests that you try repair the fuses yourself. | |
| Make your way to the kitchen. In addition to the door through which you entered, there are another three. The one with coloured glass insets leads outside. The other two, next to one another, lead to the maid's room and the basement respectively. The basement door (on the right) is locked. | |
| Enter the maid's room and examine everything carefully. Take the sheet of paper (with curious markings) from the top of the desk and the pencil inside the top right drawer of desk. Also study the photograph of the kitchen that you find under the notebook in the same drawer. | |
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| The photograph shows a key hanging on a key holder in the kitchen. You won't find the key on the key holder, so where could it be? What if it fell off the holder? Unfortunately the vase is no longer on the little table, but you will find it in the small hallway to the right as you leave the kitchen. | |
| It's too dark to see inside the vase, so you need to open the curtains behind the vases. Remove the rusty gold key and use it to unlock the door to the basement. Note that the key won't be visible in the vase before you find and look at the photograph. | |
| Go to the basement and open the fuse box on your left at the bottom of the stairs. Examine the fuses and also try resetting both trip switches by pulling them down. The problem is obviously more serious than just a burned out fuse, so go back to the main hall at the entrance and again telephone Jerry, who suggests that you look for some candles. | |
| Explore and search the manor thoroughly. You won't find any candles so telephone Jerry again. Jerry suggests that you drive into town to buy some candles. Note that you must look inside the sideboard drawer (containing tablecloths and napkins) in the dining room, inside the top drawer (empty) in the cabinet next to the sink in the kitchen and in the chest (containing a lamp) in the attic before the correct conversation with Jerry is triggered. | |
| Go to your car and remove the car key from inside the cubby hole. Insert the key in the ignition and then try to switch it on, only to find that the battery is flat. Once again you need to telephone Jerry and tell him about this. | |
| There's nothing more you can do about the lights, so continue with the other things that must be done. | |
MAID'S LETTER | |
| Use the pencil (from the drawer in the maid's desk) to scribble over the letter you found on her desk to reveal a letter written in Italian. Do you remember what Barbara said she was doing? She was 'learning tongues', so she may be able to translate the letter. Telephone her and she suggests that you mail the letter to her. | |
| Go to the study and look inside the second drawer from the top in the desk to find an envelope. Put the letter in the envelope and then use the pen (from your suitcase) to address it to Barbara. Now go outside and place the letter inside the mailbox. | |
DIARIES | |
| On the table in the living room you find Doctor Milton's diary. Read the diary carefully as it contains background information on what has happened. | |
| James Blackwood's diary is on the desk in the study. Again read this diary carefully to get information on what happened to him in South Africa. | |
| After reading both diaries you need to yet again telephone Jerry. He tells you about the murder that took place in the manor during May 1963. Previously you weren't able to read the newspapers piled up in the attic without knowing a specific date, but after Jerry has mentioned May 1963 go to the attic and read the newspaper article about the murder. | |
SATURDAY NIGHT | |
| Once all the above have been done you should begin to feel tired, so go to your room and click on the bed. | |
| You 'wake up' during the night and hear a hammering sound. The only place you can go to is the gallery. In the corner (where you previously saw a cabinet housing two ivory tusks) is a boarded up door. As soon as you try to take the hammer on the floor in front of the door you wake up proper, realizing that what happened was only a dream. The odd noises get louder as you approach the fireplace. Examine the fireplace with the stethoscope to determine that the noises are coming from it. | |
| Think carefully about the design of the manor and you should be able to work out that the living room is directly beneath the guest room. Go to the living room and examine the fireplace there with the stethoscope. You hear fairly loud 'scratching' noises and realize they are coming from below. There's nothing more can do for now, so go back to sleep... | |
