Case: The Departure

**Case: The Departure** is the first field case Quaestors are challenged to solve. The mystery evolves around the disapperance of 24 tenants of apartament building in Seattle in 2019. These events are directly tied to episode one of the Out of Sight podcast.

## Walkthorugh

Mission icon is located somewhere in the western USA.

#### Chapter 1 - The Departure

Entering this case greets you with a following message:

> "*Review the news article published last year about the disappearance and the evidence we found pertaining to the building’s history. There might be some clues in both directions to help us understand what happened in 2019.*
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> We have an agent on location if you discover anything.
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> Objective: Find out if something else happened here.*"*
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After that, you'll find 3 new pieces of information on the desk. 2 images:

Chapters, emergency serviceChapters, claimAnd a text message:

> "*FROM SPD NORTH PRECINCT*
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> HEATHER MALLOY'S TESTIMONY
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> Officer: Hello Mrs. Malloy, I’m [REDACTED]. Thanks for coming in. I’ll be recording this interview. Okay. Tell me about your sister. What was she like before moving to [REDACTED]?
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> H.M: Sure. She and I don’t always see eye-to-eye. We aren’t into the same things and we sure as hell don’t have similar personalities. She’s outspoken and can’t let anyone else have the last word. She can’t keep her thoughts to herself, either. When her mind’s set, it’s almost impossible to change her opinion.She drives me crazy but she’s still my sister, you know?
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> Sorry, I just need [unintelligible]
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> Officer: It’s okay. Take your time. Should I come back?
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> H.M: No, I’m sorry. I’m alright. When she moved to Seattle a year after me, our relationship was pretty good. We’d hang out at each other’s apartments every other week or so, and I felt like we’d outgrown the dumb fights we had growing up. The past few months were different, though.
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> Officer: You said you noticed a change in her behavior. When did that start? Any idea what caused it?
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> H.M: I don’t know… She started keeping to herself which was pretty weird for her. She isn’t really the type of person to want to be alone like that or keep secrets.
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> The last time I saw her I was dropping off some stuff that our mom had mailed to us, and I walked in on her with an arm under her bed, digging around like she used to do when we were kids checking for monsters. I joked about it but she didn’t like that and got defensive, so we ended up fighting.
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> It sucks that my last conversation with her ended in an argument. You’ll find her though, right? You have the resources to track her down?
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> Officer: I can’t promise anything. Was there anyone in her life she mentioned to you that stands out, maybe someone new?
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> [...]*"*
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At this point Quaestors are expected to use logic and deduction to find and explore important information. There's a couple of hints and dead ends, but to follow the main lead, you need to pay attention to Heather Malloy's testimony and his description of his last meeting with his sister. Type "**BED**" into the input field to see the next message:

> "*Maggie was hiding secrets under the bed? I’ve sent our agent to check it out. They found an old logbook with a lock mechanism. Looks like it needs a 3-digit code to open.*"
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To find the code, you'll need to follow a lead from another file - a newspaper piece from 1912. It talks about "the thrice yearly Vacation" and while it is unsure if that's a mistake or not, Quaestors are supposted to pay attention to the events that took place 3 years prior. Type "**1909**" into the input field to see the next message:

> "*This was a tough year for the LYS. I don't know the extent of our hardships, but I did find this article about some strange events happening in Seattle around that time.*"
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A new piece of information will land on your desk. It's "*A Journal of the Land and Home to the New West*", published on June 7th, 1910:

Chapters, ranch
The information you're looking for is Dr. Henry's last name. Type "**SEABROOKS**" into the input field to see the next message:

> "*Dr. Henry Seabrooks… That name is familiar. I can’t find anything though, but I did find mention of a Dr. Sherbrooke in Seattle, it's from an oral history published 50 years later. Perhaps the name was misrepresented? Maybe it's worth a look.*"
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After that, a new piece of information will be waiting on your desk:

> "*SECTION: PACIFIC NORTHWEST*
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> EXTRACT FROM ORAL HISTORY OF EARLY LYS OPERATIONS
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> Accounts from the year 1960:
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> Mary N. (Member, Portland chapter):
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> From what I’d been told, after the war and the pandemic, there was no chapter in Seattle. No one was in touch anymore. It could have just gotten too dangerous to leave a signal, but whispers were that they had been “disbanded.” It’s the only time I ever heard of that happening. I was too afraid to ask if it was an euphemism. I still don’t know.
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> Orville S. (Member, Portland chapter):
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> My mother told me they’d gotten a couple visits from an herbalist named Gladys, came down from Seattle on the train along with a doctor... Dr. Sherbrooke, if I’m not mistaken. They came to share lectures on some plant medicines and meditation combinations they’d been working with. Whatever the project was, it did not sit well with her. Anyhow, that was the only time I ever heard her curse.
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> Jake M. (Co-founder, Vancouver chapter):
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> Around 1907, a fellow named Silas emigrated from Washington state and joined us on Salt Spring for a retreat. He was a brilliant practitioner, we soon learned. But in his waking life, he was rather what you might call today “shell shocked.” Hilda and I were able to ease his trauma some and he opened up to us. I’m bound to keep confidence, but suffice to say we quietly forbid all our local associates from visiting the Seattle Schoolhouse.*"*
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The important thingabout this file is the mention of the Seattle Schoolhouse. Type "SCHOOLHOUSE" into the input field to learn more in this next message:

> "*So they built a schoolhouse? But I… oh, I see. Well we don’t know anything about the project, but I did find this forgotten operation report from a while back. I can’t believe this was overlooked…*"
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Another file will pop up on your desk:

> "*LYS ARCHIVES: FILE DBH98105-PS*
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> PROJECT SCHOOLHOUSE
> Codename: Project Schoolhouse
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> Location: [REDACTED]
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> PS established. All assets secured, including [REDACTED]. Begin master records and efficiency reports. Log entry code: The Many Sunrises of a Leap Year.
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> [REDACTED]*"*
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That "log entry code" is a solution to a previous puzzle, with a 3-digit code on a logbook found in Seattle. To solve it, simply find out how many days there are in a leap year. The solution is "**366**", but you can't enter it directly. First, type "**LOGBOOK**" to see following message:

> "*It’s still locked, do you have the code to open it?*"
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Once you proceed from here, you can type "**366**" to unlock the logbook and solve the puzzle. The following message will conclude this case:

> "*Opened Logbook*
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> That did it! We can access the book now!
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> Oh wow… This is an old LYS logbook. What a find! It details all the safehouses the LYS used in the Pacific Northwest, but more importantly it has specifics about the experiments done by Dr Seabrooks in this building. The last entry from him was in 1909, as expected.
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> Let's see what they were doing at the Schoolhouse... Oh, actually, I can't... Listen, this was a huge help for us Quaestors, but I can't share anything further. Don't feel bad, I don't have access to everything either but I can say, the more you prove yourself to the LYS the less barriers there will be.
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> Way to go on this one, I'll make sure to note it in your file!*"*
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