Suspect Confrontation Answers

By this point in The Mermaid Mask, the Case File can resemble a detective’s tackle box tipped across the floor. The loudest clue is not always the useful one. A page, a photograph, or one tiny fitting on a rotatable object may be the piece that keeps the next deduction afloat.

A Suspicion is a special conversation topic that opens after a specific clue inspection or evidence reaction marks a suspect as suspicious. The trigger and the full answer set are separate: the topic can appear before every clue needed to finish it has been recorded. Complete the trigger first, then check the preparation list before selecting Suspicion. The topics may open in a different order, but each answer chain remains fixed.

Spoiler warning: The hints protect the broad murder mystery, but the numbered answers reveal personal histories, concealed dealings, and other character secrets. None of the headings identifies the murderer.

Dr. Zephyr — The Dream Doctor

Prompt: Zephyr claims his dream experiments have no connection to Mortuga’s death. What links his work to the broken Moon Vial at the crime scene?

Suspicion trigger: Inspect the Fog Ball in the Dream Chamber, present it to Zephyr, and follow the conversation about who owns it and what it does. The Suspicion option appears when Grimoire and Sally mark Zephyr as suspicious.

Prepare these clues: Ask Mariana Moon about the Moon Vial and its smell. Inspect the creature, skin image, and funnel on the Hex Bottle; the antenna on the Dream Helmet; the antenna on the Fog Ball; the face on the reverse of the Caretaker’s Journal; the illusionist photograph on the Newspaper Page; the Stargazing Girl recording on the Wooden Pipe; and the dropper in the Ship in a Bottle.

Hint: Follow the potion from its ingredients to Zephyr’s equipment, then work out what really makes the face appear in the Fog Ball.

Character-history spoilers begin:

Present the Moon Vial, then choose The smell. Mariana identified the mixture as seawater and three particular herbs.
Present the Hex Bottle. Its liquid contains the same four ingredients, tying the vial to Zephyr’s equipment.
Complete: The Hex Bottle contains a sea creature, and it’s asleep.
Select the image on Hex’s skin and choose that it is an image of his dream. Hex projects what he is dreaming onto his skin.
Select the funnel on the Hex Bottle and complete: is the same shape as the one on the Dream Helmet. The helmet is a human-sized version of the same setup.
Choose Captain Mortuga as the Dream Helmet’s test subject.
Connect the antenna on the Dream Helmet to the antenna on the Fog Ball: This antenna wirelessly transmits to this antenna, and the Fog Ball receives the dream energy.
Present the Caretaker’s Journal, rotate it, and select the face on its back. This is Zephyr’s record of the face he saw in the Fog Ball.
Present the Newspaper Page and select the illusionist photograph. Complete: The Fog Ball appears in the photograph, and it’s displaying the same face that Zephyr saw.
Choose A certain voice, then Symmetry. The old illusion was designed to react to her voice.
Present the Wooden Pipe and play the recording of Symmetry performing The Stargazing Girl. Her recorded voice activates the Fog Ball without bringing her into the room.
Present the Ship in a Bottle and select its dropper. The dropper on Mortuga’s desk shows that he had borrowed the Moon Vial, while the broken vial itself was found one floor below at the crime scene.

Symmetry Silkmoth — Ill-Fated Illusion

Prompt: Symmetry was in the Illusion Theatre with Mortuga on the evening before he died. What performance was she staging?

Suspicion trigger: Solve the Illusion Theatre’s wooden-panel puzzle and collect the Life-sized Doll. Lift its locket, open the body flap, remove the Film Projector, and play its reel. Ask Symmetry about the doll until she discusses its pull string, then ask about the projector and its film. Her answers trigger the Suspicion option.

Prepare these clues: Inspect Symmetry and her double on the Illusion Poster, the painted title on the reverse of the Sail Cloth, the performance recording on the Wooden Pipe, and the Devil of the Deep image connected to the Action Figure.

Hint: The doll is too young to pass as present-day Symmetry from the front. That problem vanishes if the audience never sees its face.

Personal-history spoilers begin:

When asked what Symmetry was doing, choose A performance.
Present the Illusion Poster, then the Life-sized Doll. Choose The doll is a prop used in magic tricks.
Present the Illusion Poster again and select the drawing of Symmetry beside the doll. The image shows that the doll served as her double.
Choose Because Symmetry and her doll are no longer identical. The doll has remained a child while Symmetry has grown older.
Complete: The doll could still work as a double for Symmetry if it was facing away from the audience.
Present the Sail Cloth, turn it over, and select The Stargazing Girl.
Choose that Symmetry draped it over the cauldron, then that Mortuga asked her to keep the cauldron covered up. She worked his restriction into the new staging.
Present the Wooden Pipe and play the performance recording. Identify the second voice as It’s someone else entirely.
Present the Film Projector and choose It’s a scene from Dirk’s movie.
Present the Action Figure and select the Devil of the Deep behind it. This identifies the figure projected during the trick.
When asked where Symmetry stood, select the cabinet at the side of the Illusion Theatre—the cabinet that concealed the wooden-panel puzzle.
Identify the solid object hitting the floor as the doll’s head. Symmetry pulled the string to decapitate the doll at the end of the performance.

Dirk — The Other Murder

Prompt: Who was Dirk proposing to kill in the secret recording, and why would that make both speakers free?

Suspicion trigger: Present the Movie Magazine to Dirk and inspect its film advert and interview through page four. His reaction to the article marks him as suspicious.

Prepare these clues: Unlock Dirk’s Cell Phone and inspect its text messages and emails. Play recording two on the Wooden Pipe. Recover the Strange Device from the Bilge and inspect its phone connector and water damage.

Hint: Dirk is discussing a killing, but not necessarily the death under investigation. Separate the actor from the character he plays.

Career and contract spoilers begin:

Present the Wooden Pipe and play recording two, in which Dirk suggests killing someone so both speakers can be free.
Complete: Magnus Mortuga was the original inspiration for Marcus Mordoom, who Dirk plays in the movie adaptation. This explains Dirk’s interest in meeting Mortuga.
Complete: The movie producer asked Dirk to spy on J.D. Wirman and report back. Dirk did not join Wirman solely for personal research.
Present Dirk’s Cell Phone as the device he could use to report from the submarine.
Present the Strange Device and choose It’s broken. It is a custom phone antenna and charger, but it stopped working after becoming waterlogged in the Bilge.
Open Dirk’s Cell Phone again and select the messages sent to Vincent Vanir. They contain reports about Wirman’s progress on his next book.
When asked who Dirk wanted killed, choose Marcus Mordoom, the fictional character.
Choose that Dirk wanted to be free to take other acting jobs.
Return to the phone’s email screen and select the offer from Marsha Mimms. It is the role Dirk cannot accept under his current contract.
Present the Movie Magazine and open page four. The contract discussion explains why further Marcus Mordoom films would keep Dirk tied to the studio.

Godrik Gripp — The Curious Case of Cornelius Cane

Prompt: Why does the present Cornelius Cane look different from Gripp’s older cane, and where did its wood come from?

Suspicion trigger: Ask Gripp to let you inspect Gripp’s Basket. Examine the photograph showing him with his original cane. The mismatch between that cane and the wooden Cornelius marks Gripp as suspicious.

Prepare these clues: Ask Gripp about Cornelius Cane and inspect the joint beneath its bandage. Inspect the shortened spokes on the Ship’s Wheel, the service sticker and reverse-side carving on the Ocean Map, Mortuga’s voyage reel in the Film Projector, the vessel in the Ship in a Bottle, and the face on the Wooden Buoy.

Hint: Compare the cane in Gripp’s photograph with the cane he carries now, then inspect the damaged ship’s wheel.

Personal-history spoilers begin:

Choose Cornelius, then His appearance.
Present Gripp’s Basket and select the photograph of Gripp holding his older cane. The old cane does not match the wooden one he carries now.
Complete: Gripp made a new cane after arriving on the submarine.
Ask Where did the wood come from?
Present the Ship’s Wheel and select its shortened, replaced spokes.
Present Cornelius Cane, remove its bandage, and select the joint where shorter lengths of wood were fastened together.
Present Gripp’s Basket and select the remaining pieces of the broken wheel. Their presence proves that Gripp knew how the wheel was damaged.
Present the Ocean Map, rotate it, and select the service-record sticker. It records that Gripp interpreted the map for Magnus Mortuga.
Choose that Mortuga had already followed the map.
Present the Film Projector and play Mortuga’s voyage reel. It shows Mortuga and Felicia preparing to follow the map.
Present the Ship in a Bottle and identify the vessel as the Dearest Selena, Felicia’s ship.
Present the Wooden Buoy, then rotate the Ocean Map and select the matching face on its reverse. The match shows that the voyage reached the map’s center.

Mariana Moon — The Black Box

Prompt: Why did Mariana arrive shortly before Mortuga’s death, and what did she bring aboard?

Suspicion trigger: Open the attic in the Captain’s Quarters, collect the Black Box from the bed, and inspect it until Grimoire and Sally establish that it cannot be opened. That inspection marks Mariana as suspicious.

Prepare these clues: Confirm that Mariana’s pipe is a Wooden Pipe dictaphone and play its recordings. Inspect Mariana’s photograph and number in the Pocketbook, the call history on Dirk’s Cell Phone, the Fellow Manor emblem on the Silkwirm Map, and the broken Handheld Radio from Mortuga’s cabin.

Hint: Mariana did not simply stumble across the submarine. Someone aboard knew her number and asked her to deliver an object.

Concealed-deal spoilers begin:

Complete: Somebody asked you to come onto the submarine.
Choose They called your phone.
Present the Wooden Pipe. Its hidden dictaphone contradicts Mariana’s claim that she has no skill with technology.
Present the Pocketbook and select Mariana’s photograph and the phone number beneath it.
Present Dirk’s Cell Phone, open its call history, and select the two outgoing calls to Mariana’s number.
Choose Mortuga as the person who used Dirk’s phone.
Complete: Mariana Moon brought something onto the submarine to give to Mortuga.
Present the Black Box.
Choose that Mortuga gave Mariana access to the submarine in return.
Connect the Silkwirm Map and Black Box. Select the F emblem for Fellow Manor on the map and the F emblem on the box, then complete: This F emblem is the same as this F emblem, suggesting the box is from Fellow Manor.
Present the broken Handheld Radio from Mortuga’s cabin. Its faulty transmission explains why Mariana heard Mortuga speaking while he opened the box from across the submarine.

Sinthia Seafoam — A Captain’s Legacy

Prompt: When was the Command Contract signed, and is Mortuga’s signature genuine?

Suspicion trigger: Solve Wirman’s Typewriter and inspect the typed material it reveals until its connection to the Command Contract is recorded. This marks Sinthia as suspicious.

Prepare these clues: Show the Command Contract to Wirman and finish the conversation in which he admits it was typed on his machine. Inspect every signature card in the Captain’s Log, the unfinished submarine in the Family Photo, the Submarine Blueprint, and page three of the Inn Deeds.

Hint: Do not compare Mortuga’s signature with only one log card. Compare it with all of them.

Family and ownership spoilers begin:

Present the Command Contract.
Present Wirman’s Typewriter. This establishes that the contract was typed after Wirman arrived aboard.
Complete: Sinthia Seafoam signed the contract after Mortuga’s murder and forged Mortuga’s signature.
Choose We have evidence in the form of a clue, then present the Captain’s Log.
Open page three and complete: Mortuga’s signature on the contract is an exact match of Mortuga’s signature on this card, but it doesn’t match any of the other cards. The perfect match exposes the copy because Mortuga signed every card differently.
When asked why Sinthia believed she was Party B, choose It was originally the Seafoam submarine.
Present the Family Photo, select the unfinished submarine, and complete: Sinthia’s family was constructing the submarine, which was known as the Seafoam submarine.
Present the Submarine Blueprint. It records how the unfinished Seafoam design was altered after Mortuga acquired it.
Present the Inn Deeds, open page three, and select Donovan Drummond, Sinthia’s stepfather. The ownership record explains what Sinthia offered Mortuga in exchange for the submarine.

J.D. Wirman — Stranger Than Fiction

Prompt: Why did Wirman return to Silkwirm-on-Sea and seek out the Mortuga Submarine?

Suspicion trigger: Solve Wirman’s Typewriter, recover the Handwritten Letter hidden inside it, and show the letter to Wirman. Continue until he reacts to the name T.W. Ibis. This marks Wirman as suspicious.

Prepare these clues: Read the letter’s reverse-side directions. Inspect page five of the Newspaper Page, page five of The Hex of the Helmsman, the room diagram and typed sheet inside the Message in a Bottle, and the paper in Wirman’s Typewriter. Finish Wirman’s earlier admission that the Command Contract was typed on his machine.

Hint: Ibis gave Wirman a route to Mortuga because Wirman needed a story, not a quiet writing retreat.

Professional-history spoilers begin:

Present the Handwritten Letter.
Choose that T.W. Ibis was Wirman’s old boss, then present the Newspaper Page and open page five. Its editor credit establishes their working relationship.
Present The Hex of the Helmsman, open page five, and select the dedication to T.W. Ibis. The dedication contradicts Wirman’s claim that Ibis was merely an unimportant boss.
Complete: J.D. Wirman needed to steal Mortuga’s real-life story to use as the plot for his next book.
Present the Message in a Bottle, turn the paper to its diagram, complete It’s a drawing of a room on the submarine, and identify that room as the Illusion Theatre.
Present Wirman’s Typewriter. The paper in the bottle matches the paper in the typewriter and the Command Contract, which Wirman admitted was typed on his machine.
Present The Hex of the Helmsman and select its title. Complete: The Curse in the Cauldron title is drawn in the same style as The Hex of the Helmsman title because it’s a plan for the next book.

Madam Tadpole — Keeping Secrets

Prompt: What was Tadpole arguing with Mortuga about, and why does she possess the strange Pocketbook?

Suspicion trigger: Complete the Cargo Hold pinboard, look behind it when Mariana points out the hidden compartment, and fully inspect the Moon Photo. The photograph marks Tadpole as suspicious.

Prepare these clues: Open the diving-helmet safe in the Airlock Grotto, collect the Pocketbook, and ask Dirk to open it. Recover the Diving License from the Bilge. Play recording one on the Wooden Pipe, inspect the WW initials on the Pocketbook, read the reverse of the Moon Photo, and inspect Baroness Fortuna on the Illusion Poster.

Hint: The bloodstained object is not really a book, and the scratched initials on its cover do not belong to Mortuga.

Identity and personal-history spoilers begin:

Present the Wooden Pipe and play recording one, which captures Tadpole asking Mortuga to give something up.
Present the Pocketbook.
When Tadpole dismisses it as an ordinary book, choose It’s not even a book.
Open the Pocketbook and select Tanya’s photograph, then present the Diving License. The repaired license identifies the woman in the photograph.
Complete: It probably means the book didn’t originally belong to Tadpole.
Connect the Pocketbook and Moon Photo. Select the scratched WW on the Pocketbook and the identifying text on the photograph’s reverse. Complete: The scratch on the cover is an engraving of the WW initials because it was made by Waylan Wolfe.
Present the Illusion Poster and select Baroness Fortuna. She links the Pocketbook’s records to Waylan Wolfe’s performance group and their connection to the Silkwirm Inn.
Tadpole reveals that the dispute concerned the captaincy. She wanted Mortuga to leave the submarine because she believed remaining captain had become a self-imposed punishment, not because she wanted the title herself.

Once all eight Suspicion topics are complete, return to Sinthia in the Control Room and choose the report topic. If the report does not advance, check the Case File for a suspect portrait whose Suspicion entry is still incomplete. That is the loose thread still flapping in the current.

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