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Feb-5-2012 08:31

Okay, I'm PRETTY sure either I messed up, or the system did...
I just scored another False Accusation, and I was certain I had the killer. It doesn't make sense.

I had 10 suspects, I checked with the Fortune Teller to confirm. By that standard, I should have 3 suspects with real alibis, and I did. I got all 3 of them. My PE were 3 footprints; 2 Slim, 1 heavy, and one unidentified Hair. From the suspects with real alibis, 2 had a Slim Footprint, and one had a Heavy one. I checked one of the Slim Footprints with both the Slim-footed suspects, and it didn't match, so I had to assume my killer was slim, because if that PE doesn't match either of your slim suspects, it means one of them matches the unidentified Hair and the other matches the other slim footprint. The one Heavy suspect should definitely match the Heavy footprint, because there is nothing else that could belong to her. Mind you, I checked TWICE on my total number of suspects.

I know you're thinking:' Well, maybe you didn't get 3 suspects with real alibis. You probably made a mistake.' Here's the thing: I DOUBLE-CHECKED each suspect and I definitely, with absolute certainly, got 3 suspects with valid alibis.

Now, let's move on. I go through WE and finally get a pointed finger, so I accuse her, and what do I get?

A false accusation, AND the real killer was someone with a Heavy footprint.

Seriously, where did I go wrong? I'm really baffled by this.

Feb-5-2012 11:39

that's an interesting way to start. i always check physical evidence with fakes first.

but maybe i'm still not understanding this properly? you said that there was only one suspect with a heavy footprint and that she had a real alibi - but that the pe must match with her 'cos everyone else has a slim footprint. yet when the false accusation came up and it said the name of the killer (with fake alibi) it was someone with a heavy footprint ...?? so that would mean you had missed checking the heavy footprint with him/her, no?

sorry if i am being a bit confused or missing something :)

sorry if i'm being a bit dim

Feb-5-2012 11:56

Since you got a FA against a suspect who had WE against her, she must have had a valid alibi. Therefore, there must have been 4 suspects with valid alibis. That would also explain why your PE analysis mistakenly led you to the conclusion that the killer was slim.

You didn't say what level case this was. SH cases can have 10 suspects and 4 valid alibis. If it was an AI case, either there were 11 suspects, the number of valid alibis at the AI level are not as we understand them, or this is a system bug.

How did you double check the total number of suspects? You need to check the witness list. Is it possible a twist added a suspect?

Many people have done AI cases using the same sort of logic you follow, so it seems unlikely that there can be AI cases with 10 suspects and 4 valid alibis. But if that is what you encountered, whether it's a rare occurrence or a bug, it throws a monkey wrench in case analysis.

Feb-5-2012 15:34

heh once upon a time I was convinced I had done the same. I sent Ben a very long email outlining my chagrin and righteous indignation at getting an undeserved FA and that I wanted my clean sheet reinstated etc etc I know what I'm doing etc etc angry fist-slamming etc etc

Long story short...

I was wrong :D

We all make mistakes. It sucks. Agreed.

Feb-5-2012 22:36

I was definitely sure on it. I was! The Fortune Teller told me it was 10 suspects only (By that I mean I got the 'Your journey nears it's end yada yada...'). Never thought I'd come across a case with 4 suspects with valid alibis...

Ah, should have checked that person's alibi with the Barber first instead of assuming that she had a fake considering I had 3 alibis already.

I can only say this....

Crap. Time to move on.

Feb-6-2012 00:27

I know how you feel. I tell you what I did once, and it had nothing to do with a glitch, taking a chance, or anything like in your case.
One night, around 4:30 AM, I fell asleep and while in my zombie state of mind, I somehow managed to click on a suspect with a real alibi and accused him. When I awoke, I found to my horror the following message on my screen, “You have accused an innocent man.” I almost had a heart attack. I mean, it wasn’t my fault I fell asleep, right? So thinking Ben would have pity on me, I emailed me and pleaded my case. Even though he was gracious and sympathetic about it, he let me know I had to deal with it. After all, it wasn’t his fault I was too stupid to go to bed, and sat there drooling all over my keyboard while in deep slumber, LOL! Anyway, my heart goes out to you, cause I just recently had to hand over a bundle of money to the old Shady Guy, and now he's got me to where I'm checking, rechecking, checking, and well.........like you mentioned, making sure before I click. Sometimes those names look alike, and it doesn't help one bit when you're blind as a bat, got your nose to the screen, while trying to see if you have the right name high lighted, LOL! We love you Synesence:) *Hugs*
Love Deb~

Feb-6-2012 07:43

I pretty much do only AI cases, as this case of Synesence's was. Here are my findings of what the fortune teller says with 11 suspects:

8 or fewer suspects: "... There are many more with secrets in their hearts..."
9 or 10: "... There are still others with whom you must speak."
11: "... All of the actors have taken their final stage. "


I used to think that when the line "There are still others with whom you must speak" was given, there was only 1 suspect left. I know now that is not always true. Bottom line, there may be 2 suspects undiscovered when you get this reply from the fortune teller.

Since Synesence had 4 pieces of evidence, he made a mistake on what the fortune teller was saying. Remember that with 4 pieces of evidence, an AI case may have 10 or 11 suspects, and the fortune teller will not be discerning when you have 9 suspects so far.

Feb-6-2012 08:38

Ah, that is true, Night Queen. But AI cases are based on either 11 suspects with 4 PE, 10 suspects with 3 PE, OR 10 suspects with 4 PE. I had 10 suspects in total when I questioned the Fortune Teller, and I got the "... All of the actors have taken their final stage. " line. That means I had 3 suspects with valid alibis for sure, and I had! I confirmed it up and down the list, I'm definitely certain.

Ah, whatever. I'm over it. I just hate having to payoff Shady with my prize money and a quarter of a million more. I knew I should have asked for the major discount instead of the damn Compact Travel Kit! Drats!

*Kicks sand*

Feb-6-2012 12:04

I think you're the victim of one wrong click along the way, mate. Your method and logic are flawless and I do believe it would've been hard to miss the "All" in the Fortune Teller's reply. So...maybe you had your hands on a Ridiculously Hard case by mistake (happens to me sometimes) or maybe when you checked the alibis you may have chosen the wrong name to ask (that’s not possible to miss though if you’re using an automatic helper)…dunno. What I do know though is that ever since I’ve been playing this game I haven’t encountered any flaw in the cases’ mechanics.

Anyway, one way or the other I’d simply say today wasn’t one of your best days. So have a drink on me to drown your sorrow…or better said… your dough, hehe…and think positive: tomorrow has to be better. Or…have another drink; your choice.

Feb-6-2012 12:32

Probably right, Bane. But it was during an AVH, and they're all AI cases. They all had different names, so I couldn't have gotten it wrong there. And most of all, I know I had 3 real alibis down, because I get all jittery and excited when I get my third alibi down and start singing the suspects' names repeatedly while I--

Yeah, I'm just going to stop. Somehow, I'm starting to feel more stupid going on and on about this. Let this go down as an important day...

The day I have to look Shady in the eye and tell him...

Yep, it was me. I did it.

Feb-9-2012 12:54

Syn, that happened to me three times thus far.

They say that I must have made a mistake while I was noting things down. There were times when I caught myself making a mistake while noting, but in one of these instances I double checked, too and I was dead sure about it.

Something similar happened to Summer Daze, too. Whereas Cordelia Falco says she has never come across a glitch in any of her 3900+ cases that she has solved.

What happened to SD, me or you aren't exactly the same, but all of them involve logical paradoxes.

People can make mistakes even when they double-check. If there is no chance that the software should cause glitches, then I believe that's the only explanation.

I just thought you should know that you are not the only one. When there is 1 or 2 people with real alibi whose traits are a match for a PE and that number is much smaller than those I'd have to check with the ones with false alibis, I also check PE with real alibi first. I was just as bewildered when the same thing happened to me. The only assurance is that the game doesn't go crazy like that, say, 95% of the time. That's if you are a 100% you did not make a mistake while checking.