Francine Ferdinand

**Francine Ferdinand** was a suspect in the murder investigation of Hathaway Holdings CEO Bruce Hathaway in Blood In The Water (Case #2 of Crimson County), as well as *Au Naturel* editor-in-chief Emmeline Van Der Faux in The Glamorous Life (Case #4 of Crimson County), where it was discovered that she was one of two co-conspirators in Project Mercury. She appeared as a suspect for a third time in A Beautiful Friendship (Case #5 of Crimson County), this time in the murder investigation of her fellow conspirator, Vincent Forsyth. She was later killed during the events of the investigation after attempting to blow up Galactix MegaCorp.

## Biographical Information

### Affiliation

Galactix MegaCorp  (CEO)
 Vincent Forsyth

### Cause Of Death

Gunshot Wound To The Head  (Shot By Jackson)

## Info

Francine is the 52-year-old CEO of Galactix MegaCorp, residing in Wellington Bay. She has short and curly black hair and blue eyes, as well as an angular facial structure and a mole on her cheek. She wears deep red lipstick and is dressed in a navy blue power suit with matching pants. She is described as a "woman of very few words" by Joaquin Gomez.

In her second suspect appearance, it is known that she drinks Cabernet, watches *Subliminal Minds* and plays tennis.

In her third and final suspect appearance, it is known that she has military training, has read *The Catcher In The Rye* and does *Knights And Knaves* puzzles. She sports an oil stain on her blazer.

## Events Of Crimson County

### Blood In The Water

Francine was flagged as a suspect in the murder after her engraved lighter was found in the victim's quarters. Francine enthusiastically greeted the player, saying that she had been keeping up with their exploits in Zorro Island, before questioning what they wanted. Upon being reminded of the murder, Francine sighed, deeming the murder unfortunate, before complaining about the reaction the public would have to her boarding a boat with a murderer. Despite being unnervingly calm, Francine admits she was friends with Bruce, and hopes that Skie and the player find his killer.

Francine was spoken to again when camera footage detailed an argument between her and Bruce, in which she adamantly refused to sleep with him despite him trying to convince her. Upon being asked about it, Francine sighed before saying that the whole world knows she is asexual, and yet Bruce seemed determined to be the only person to break whatever 'spell' was supposedly binding her. She then admitted that, while Bruce was a good friend, he was a terrible person to be around when he'd been drinking, but that didn't mean that she would kill him because he was being a drunken beggar. She then excused herself to make a work call, perplexing the detectives.

Francine was found to be innocent when Rita Hathaway was found guilty of the murder.

### The Glamorous Life

Francine found herself a suspect for a second time after her lighter was found among some poolside paraphernalia, as Francine greeted the detectives with a smile as they approached her, saying that it was nice to see them again. Upon being informed that Emmeline had been murdered, Francine's façade very temporarily faltered as she processed the news, before she regained her composure and began to speak about what a shame that was and how much her life meant to so many people. She then admitted that she had seen Emmeline lurking around the restaurant in the country club earlier on, suggesting that they investigate there, as she quickly brushed past Jae-hyun as she left, muttering to herself.

She was spoken to again after the detectives discovered an email on Emmeline's personal laptop from Francine, telling her to 'sort her own sh\*t out'. When asked about it, Francine hesitantly said that Emmeline had a habit of finding herself in indecent situations quite often, from compromising positions to unintentionally purchasing a sweatshop with the idea that they made sweatpants. She then said that when Emmeline found herself in a tricky situation, she relied on Francine to "fix" things, since she was good at that, but Emmeline just seemed to find herself in dilemma after dilemma, which grew wearing on Francine's patience, as she just could not deal with her anymore and stopped helping. However, Francine then implored that she did not kill Emmeline, and never would, as she was her friend, no matter what.

Francine was found to be initially innocent when Suni Yadav was arrested for the murder, but she was later confronted by Jackson and the player when they discovered that she had ordered him to keep watch on Emmeline, which led to the eventual murder. She was then arrested, but then bailed out by her partner in crime, Vincent Forsyth, as she abnegated all responsibility for the act and returned to being at large, until Priya Koothrapali informed the Crimson County Police Department that one of the two conspirators had been found dead, leaving Francine's fate unknown.

### A Beautiful Friendship

Francine was discovered to be very much alive when it turned out that Vincent was the one killed. She was soon found at the local funfair, after Alessio and the player found one of her monogrammed coins in the coin dozer machine. Upon being apprehended by Alessio and the player, Francine was mortified by her unintentional giveaway and demanded what the detectives wanted, her face falling at the news of Vincent's murder. She informed the detectives that she didn't know anything, and that she did hope they found whoever was responsible, before quickly fleeing the scene when Alessio attempted to detain her, with the detective giving up due to the heavy crowds around.

Later on in the investigation, Alessio and the player were outside Galactix MegaCorp's building when they witnessed Francine enter, as they followed after her and discovered she was armed with a bomb. Attempting to talk her down, Alessio tried to remind Francine of what would happen if she destroyed everything she and Vincent had worked hard to get, as she wouldn't want to betray her friend. Francine then announced that she and Vincent had created the bomb as a failsafe in case one of them died, and she was using it now. She then tried to shoo the detectives away, to no avail, as she eventually relented and settled upon blowing herself and the detectives up, only for Priya and Jackson to arrive, with the latter fatally shooting Francine in the head before she could press the detonator, saving Alessio and the player's life before Jackson collapsed due to the adrenaline rush.

Still considered to be a suspect considering she died after the murder took place, Francine was eventually found to be innocent when SUSIE-Q was found guilty of the murder, as her death marked the end of Project Mercury.