Stuck? What to Do Next by Chapter

Late in The Mermaid Mask, the Case File can resemble a detective’s desk after a small but determined octopus searched it. If the hint says to examine your clues, the missing detail is often on another page, inside a message or recording, or on the one face of a 3D object you did not rotate. Opening a clue is not always enough; inspect the exact text, sound, movable part, or hotspot the current deduction needs.

A Suspicion is an evidence-based interview that opens after you find the right clues and discuss them with the right people. Most rooms and interviews allow harmless changes in order. Use the investigation state and fixed trigger below instead of trying to copy one rigid route through the Mortuga Submarine.

Prologue: The Beginning

Investigation state: You are still in the Stonetop Inn, or the investigation is waiting for the strange green light.
At the inn, open and read the red Case File. Inspect The Hex of the Helmsman beside Sally, then speak to Sally.
In Town Square, investigate the green light at the dock until the submarine appears. Board it and inspect the face-shaped Wooden Buoy on the Fore Deck.
Follow the route through the Parlor and Mess Hall to the Illusion Theatre. Check the Illusion Poster, Sail Cloth, Stone Cauldron, Moon Vial, blood, and Chalk Outline.
Fixed trigger: Complete the opening deduction at the Chalk Outline: Magnus Mortuga unlocked the cauldron and was killed by what was inside. Chapter One then begins.

Chapter One: The Curse in the Cauldron

If the Control Room will not open:

Investigation state: The Case File wants you to meet the submarine’s residents, but Sinthia is still speaking through the Control Room door or Symmetry has not appeared.
Visit the Child’s Room. Read both sides of the Newspaper Page, solve the wooden chest, and collect the Glass Eyeball.
Return to the Parlor and inspect the eyes watching from near the Control Room door. Go back to the Child’s Room and select the blinking girl in the painting to reveal Symmetry.
Ask Symmetry every available basic, suspect, and clue topic. Return to the Control Room door; Sinthia should now let you enter.
Interview Sinthia, inspect the room, and return to Symmetry when Sinthia adds the Golden Locket topic. Inspect and open the locket. This opens Symmetry and Sinthia’s Bunk Room.
Fixed trigger: Complete the initial interviews with all eight living suspects. Ask about themselves, the Mortuga Submarine, the night of the murder, and every currently available suspect or clue. The order of the other rooms is flexible.

If the Bilge is completely dark:

Investigation state: The Bilge is available, but Grimoire and Sally cannot see the room or its wall switch.
Solve the phone lock in Dirk and J.D. Wirman’s Bunk Room. Open the calls, contacts, emails, and messages on Dirk’s Cell Phone.
Return to the Bilge beside the Airlock Grotto. Choose Dirk’s Cell Phone as the light, then keep selecting the dark view until the beam reaches the wall mechanism.
Match the lower target with the left orb assembly and the upper target with the right assembly.
Collect the Strange Device and Diving License from the lit water. Rotate the license and inspect both faces.
Fixed trigger: Collecting and examining both clues clears the Bilge check. The Strange Device supports Dirk’s later Suspicion, while the Diving License supports Tadpole’s.

If the Airlock Grotto still has unfinished business:

Investigation state: Madam Tadpole has been interviewed, but the Diving Helmet or locked Pocketbook remains unresolved.
Inspect the Diving Helmet on the left. Rotate the connected dials so matching symbols meet at both ends of every pipe. Begin with the central junctions, then work outward.
Take the Pocketbook from the helmet and ask Madam Tadpole about it. Next, ask Dirk; he opens it using Tadpole’s birthday.
Inspect the photographs and the contents inside, then rotate the cover and select the scratched initials. Simply opening the Pocketbook does not uncover every detail used later.
Fixed trigger: Tadpole’s later Suspicion uses the first Wooden Pipe recording, the Pocketbook, the Diving License, the back of the Moon Photo, and the Illusion Poster.

If the Cargo Hold Pin Board will not finish:

Investigation state: You have met the crew and spoken to Mariana, but the Pin Board rejects your layout.
The board shows where everyone is now, not where they were during the murder.
Top row: Sinthia in the Control Room and Zephyr in the Dream Chamber. Middle row: Dirk and Wirman in their Bunk Room, and Symmetry in the Child’s Room.
Bottom row: Mariana, Grimoire, and Sally in the Cargo Hold; Gripp in the Engine Room; and Tadpole in the Airlock Grotto. Put Mortuga outside the submarine diagram.
Fixed trigger: Finish the board, then follow Mariana’s prompt to look behind it and collect the Moon Photo. Inspect its front and back.

If Wirman’s Typewriter is the blocker:

Investigation state: The Typewriter’s three dials will not validate, or the Handwritten Letter is missing.
The outer arrows choose the parts being combined. The inner section rotates the finished symbol. Treat the top as 0 degrees and count clockwise.
Left dial: arrow at 90 degrees and T at 135 degrees. Middle dial: arrows at 45 and 225 degrees, hollow circle at 0 degrees, and flat mark at 315 degrees. Right dial: arrows at 45 and 135 degrees, filled circle at 180 degrees, and hollow diamond at 90 degrees.
Confirm the pattern, take the Handwritten Letter, read it fully, and ask Wirman about both the Typewriter and the letter.
Fixed trigger: The puzzle reward is the Handwritten Letter. Wirman’s Chapter Two Suspicion also needs the relevant pages of the Newspaper Page and The Hex of the Helmsman, plus the Message in a Bottle and the Typewriter itself.

If you cannot reach the Captain’s Quarters:

Investigation state: The locked Captain’s Cabin on the upper map row is closed, or the ladder inside has not appeared.
Show the Glass Eyeball during interviews until the Case File identifies it as the Eyeball Key. Use it on the Captain’s Cabin door.
Inside the Captain’s Cabin, inspect the HER Painting, Ship in a Bottle, bell, and broken Handheld Radio. Ask Sinthia about the HER Painting, then return to it.
Look above the woman’s head and rotate the misaligned sun disc. Interact with the painting again to reveal the ladder to the Captain’s Quarters.
Upstairs, solve the Model Town route and open its lighthouse to obtain the second Film Projector reel. Inspect every movable part of the Black Box.
Fixed trigger: Inspecting the still-locked Black Box starts Chapter Two. Other unfinished room checks remain available.

Chapter Two: The Box That Would Not Open

If Zephyr’s Suspicion will not appear:

Investigation state: Zephyr’s page has no Suspicion option, or the Case File asks you to examine clues or speak to someone about him.
Check the Moon Vial, Hex Bottle, Dream Helmet, Fog Ball, Caretaker’s Journal, Newspaper Page, Wooden Pipe, and Ship in a Bottle.
On the Hex Bottle, inspect the sleeping creature, its spikes, and the funnel. On the Dream Helmet and Fog Ball, inspect the antenna parts. Turn the Caretaker’s Journal over and select the face on its back cover.
On the Newspaper Page, open the page with the illusionist photograph. On the Ship in a Bottle, inspect the dropper. Play every Wooden Pipe recording currently available, including the one containing Symmetry’s voice.
If the Wooden Pipe is still missing, question Gripp until Sally comments on Mariana’s pipe, then return to Mariana and ask about it.
Fixed trigger: The game announces when The Dream Doctor Suspicion is ready. Complete Zephyr’s confrontation using the exact clue detail requested on each screen.

If another Suspicion will not unlock:

Investigation state: The Case File says to speak to a named person, speak to someone else about a subject, or examine clues in the Case File.
A named person still has an unread topic. A request to speak to someone else usually means another crew member must identify the clue first. An examination request means a relevant page, recording, screen, movable part, or 3D hotspot remains unread.
Check the suspect’s room and core evidence: Symmetry uses the Illusion Theatre doll, Sail Cloth, Illusion Poster, Film Projector, Action Figure, and Wooden Pipe; Dirk uses the Wooden Pipe, Action Figure, Strange Device, Cell Phone, Movie Magazine, and its email and message screens.
Gripp uses the Cornelius Cane, Ship’s Wheel, Ocean Map, and details on their backs or beneath their coverings. Mariana uses the Wooden Pipe, Pocketbook, Dirk’s call log, Black Box, Silkwirm Map, and Handheld Radio.
Sinthia uses the Command Contract, Typewriter, Captain’s Log signatures, Family Photo, Submarine Blueprint, and Inn Deeds. Wirman uses the Handwritten Letter, Newspaper Page, Hex of the Helmsman, Message in a Bottle, and Typewriter. Tadpole uses the Pocketbook, Diving License, Moon Photo, Illusion Poster, and first Wooden Pipe recording.
Read every relevant page instead of stopping at the cover. Play both Film Projector reels available in this chapter and every Wooden Pipe recording you have. Rotate photographs, maps, the Cornelius Cane, HER Painting, and other 3D clues until their usable faces have been checked.
Fixed trigger: Complete all eight Suspicion sequences, report to Sinthia in the Control Room, then use the departure lever on the Fore Deck. This ends Chapter Two and opens Chapter Three. The Suspicion order may differ with your interview order.

Chapter Three: Secrets of the Mortuga Submarine

If the late-game evidence sweep has stalled:

Investigation state: You reported to Sinthia, used the Fore Deck lever, and the Case File now marks several empty rooms for another search.
The room order is flexible. On the Aft Deck, collect and fully inspect the Figurehead. In the Control Room, solve the electronic panel beside the captain’s jacket and collect the second Handheld Radio.
In the Airlock Grotto, select the Message in a Bottle and use Wirman’s Typewriter to break it. Read the writing on both sides; the reverse is the missing second page of the Command Contract.
In the Dome Tank, solve the Treasure Chest and rotate the Ocean Treasure through every angle.
In the Cargo Hold, enter Mariana’s tent. Set the Mushroom Puzzle Box to 3 Dayglo, 2 Evergleam, 4 Illuminight, and 5 Nevergleam. Take the new Wooden Pipe tape and play all four recordings.
In the Dream Chamber, inspect the gap in the bookshelf to enter the Cabinet of Curiosities. Read both of Zephyr’s Letters. Sort and rotate every skull in the Skull Shelf, then collect and inspect the story item behind the glass.
Return to the Black Box in the Captain’s Quarters. Replay the fourth recording from the new tape, then pull the handle when the interaction appears. Collect and inspect the Mourning Envelope, third Film Projector reel, and Ripped Scroll.
Fixed trigger: Opening the Black Box starts Chapter Four. Do not restart because one room cleared before another; these searches can be completed in different orders.

Chapter Four: The Box That Was Actually Really Easy to Open

Investigation state: The Black Box is open, but the chapter has not advanced to the theatre reconstruction.
If the Cabinet of Curiosities is unfinished, complete the Skull Shelf, collect the object behind the glass, and read both letters on the left shelf.
Return to the Dream Chamber and inspect the Hex Bottle. After Symmetry interacts with it, inspect it again to view the new image.
In the Captain’s Cabin, inspect the Iron Bell and complete its clue connection with the Stone Cauldron. Move the nearby table, lift the rug, open the lid, and inspect the passage below.
In the Illusion Theatre, close the Stone Cauldron and rotate the loose pipe behind the Illusion Poster. Test both handles, then use Sally’s help to turn them together. Inspect the metal fragment that appears.
Fixed trigger: Inspecting that fragment completes Chapter Four and starts The Unveiling of the Illusion Theatre.

Chapters Five to Seven: Final Reconstruction

Investigation state: Chapter Five, The Unveiling of the Illusion Theatre, has begun. Major method and ending spoilers begin here.
Complete both active reconstruction branches. When the game accepts a broad clue but asks for more, rotate it, open the needed page or recording, and select the exact hotspot named by Grimoire and Sally’s response.
Chapter Five fixed trigger: Finish both reconstructions. Head toward the Mess Hall; when the voices lead you to the Parlor, speak to Sinthia to begin Chapter Six, The Murder of Magnus Mortuga.
Chapter Six state: The full crew confrontation is active. Follow the prompts in order and use only the clue, page, recording, or object face requested on screen.
Chapter Six fixed trigger: Finish the group deductions and identify the culprit. This begins Chapter Seven and the final pursuit.
Chapter Seven state: The culprit has been revealed. Follow the active confrontation and location prompts; this is no longer an open evidence sweep.
Final trigger: Complete the pursuit and the following scenes. No extra Bilge, Airlock Grotto, Pin Board, or attic visit is required.

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