Murder Mystery

The Old School RuneScape Wiki also has an article on: osrsw:Murder MysteryThe RuneScape Classic Wiki also has an article on: classicrsw:Murder Mystery

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Murder Mystery (#47)
Release date	9 June 2003 (Update)
Members	Yes
Voice Over	No
Official difficulty	Novice
Quest series	Sinclair
Age	Fifth Age
Developers
Main developer(s)	James B
Graphics
Concept	Unknown edit
Quality Assurance
Core	Unknown edit
Audio
Composition	Unknown edit
Infobox • Talk page

Murder Mystery is a quest revolving around the murder of Lord Sinclair, which needs to be solved. It is a unique quest, in that everything is random and there is a good amount of detective work you have to do on your own. However, there are plenty of clues to be found as to who the culprit is. The murderer varies on every account.

Official description

Old man Sinclair has been found dead in his mansion! Unfortunately, the local authorities are having some trouble figuring out who's the guilty party. Maybe the eye of a passing adventurer will be of help.

Overview

Start point	The Sinclair Mansion, situated north of Camelot and north-east of Seers' Village.
Member requirement	Members only
Official difficulty	Novice
Official length	Medium
Requirements	Skill requirements are not boostable unless marked with a [B] for boostable. None
Items required	Items from the tool belt are not listed unless they do not work or are not automatically added. Empty pot Free inventory space
Enemies to defeat	None

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Crime Scene Investigation

To begin, talk to one of the guards near Sinclair Mansion, located directly north of the Seers' Village. They tell you that Lord Sinclair has been murdered and they cannot figure out who killed him. Offer your help, and he says that you should question the family to gather information about the murder.

Enter the mansion and search the murder scene in the north-eastern section. Inside will be a pungent pot which you should collect, along with the criminal's dagger. Investigate the smashed window to find the criminal's thread.

Outside, you must investigate the wooden gate, noting that the dog barks at anyone unfamiliar. Then, go around to the various bedrooms belonging to the suspects to find a number of silver items, all contained within barrels in each room. Look for:

• Anna's silver necklace
• Bob's silver cup
• Carol's silver bottle
• David's silver book
• Elizabeth's silver needle
• Frank's silver pot

There are four rooms upstairs and two on the ground floor.

The Usual Suspects

The barrel of flour used to obtain fingerprints off the evidence

Now it's time to get your first piece of evidence. Go to the gardener's shed connecting the mansion, to the north-west, and search the sacks to find some flypaper; you may need up to seven sheets, so collect them all if you have the inventory space.

Go to the kitchen next to the stairs and fill your pot with flour. Use the flour on the criminal's dagger, then use the dagger on a piece of flypaper to get an unknown print.

Dust each silver item with flour and use the flypaper to lift fingerprints off them; Use each person's print on the unknown print of the silver dagger you found at the crime scene. Once you've got a match, you can drop all the other silver items. You'll need more than just that for a conviction, though.

Sherlock in the House

The poison salesman

Go to the mansion gate and speak to Gossip, loitering around the guards, and ask him who he thinks is responsible. He mentions seeing a poison salesman who came from the village and gave a huge sale on poison to the family. The poison salesman is in the pub in Seers' Village.

Travel southwest to the pub and ask him about the poison and he'll tell you that everyone at the mansion bought some. Go back and ask the person with the matching fingerprints what he/she used the poison for. Then check the corresponding item or area. Things will not be as they said.

Law and Order

• If you have found matching finger prints for Anna, she will say that she had used the poison on the compost heap. When investigated, the dialogue will say, "The compost is teeming with maggots. Somebody should really do something about it. It's certainly clear nobody's used poison here."
• If you have found matching finger prints for Bob, he will say they had a problem with the beehive in the garden (located near the milk seller) and had used the poison on it and you must investigate it. It will say, "The beehive buzzes with activity. The bees definitely don't seem poisoned at all"
• If you have found matching finger prints for Carol, she will say that she had used the poison on the drain to unclog it, you must investigate the drain. It will say, "The drain is totally blocked. It really stinks. No, it REALLY smells bad. It's certainly clear that nobody's cleaned it recently."
• If you found matching fingerprints for David, he will say that there was a nest of spiders upstairs between the two servants' quarters and that he had to kill them all before their pathetic servants whined at his father. When you investigate the spider web, it says that there is a spider's nest here and you estimate there must be at least a few hundred spiders ready to hatch. It's certainly clear nobody's used poison here.
• If you have found matching finger prints for Elizabeth, the daughter of the deceased man, then she will say that she had used the poison on the fountain. Go and investigate the fountain, but in the dialogue it will say that no one has touched, or poisoned the fountain.
• If you found matching fingerprints for Frank, he'll say that he was cleaning the family crest with it. Go outside, and check the family crest on the wall. It will mention that it is still dirty, and there is no evidence of cleaning here.

Go back and talk to the guard and tell him you know who did it. Show him the fingerprints, tell him about the poison, and show him the thread from the window-sill, since its colour will be a match to an article of the guilty party's clothing. Case closed!

Rewards

• 3 quest points
• 2,000 coins
• 1,406 experience
• 2 Treasure Hunter keys and 2 Hearts of Ice
  

Music unlocked

• Monarch Waltz

Required for completing

Completion of Murder Mystery is required for the following:

• King's Ransom
• Recipe for Disaster/Freeing the Lumbridge Sage
• Seers' Village Tasks:
  • Easy: "Bunch of Flours"

Transcript

This article on a quest has an associated dialogue page. Click here for a transcript of possible conversations encountered throughout the quest.

Update history

The update history project is a work-in-progress - not all updates to this topic may be covered below. See here for how to help out!

• patch 8 April 2009 (Update):
  • Tidied up some code dealing with the Murder Mystery quest items.

Cultural references

• Hobbes mentions that he didn't hear the dog barking, suggesting that the murder wasn't committed by a stranger. This may be a reference to the Sherlock Holmes story "Silver Blaze" which hinges on the same point.
• At the beginning of the quest the guard says, "Every murder leaves clues to who done it." This may be a reference to the mystery genre, Whodunnit.
• The suspects' silver clue items may be a reference to the Beatles song "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", which is about murder.
• The experience gained in crafting may be a reference to the book, Murder in Room 1406.

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