When the Chip is Down

"*Chlorine oxide harvests another victim! Hunt down the assassin through streets of Casablanca before another hit!*"
– Case Teaser

**When the Chip is Down** is a case featured in Criminal Case Third Line: World Dominant, appearing as the 7th case of the game. It is the first case set in Sahara Region.

## Plot

During opening sequence of Sahara Region, a young man running across the desert of Morocco as he being chased by the masked killer. He attempt to call the FBI, but the phone was dead down. He turned around and screams out when the Silence Slayer slit the throat to silence him and buried him in the sand so nobody found him forever.

Next day, Stephanie instructed Anabel and the player to go to the docks to meet with Ismat Marzawi, military attaché to Ambassador Andrea Johnson. Anabel then asked Chief Fowler for permission to take the player while it was still early in the day after Daniel Newcastle's assassination. There, the team found him dead on a fishing boat, inhaled with the same kind of chlorine that had assassinated Commissioner Newcastle.

The five people were labelled as suspects: Andrea Johnson (US Ambassador), Cornelia Mendez (university student), Darko Yakushev (sharpshooter), Attieh Fajr (belly dancer), and Ismail Al Hammadi (scientist).

While searching for investigations, Anabel and the player were investigating in the desert, only to found a headless body of the man with a death threat message said (You can scream all the way, but you can die silence!). Soon, she being attacked by the masked killer before the player throwing the gas bomb on it. After heading back to the base, Stephanie learned out that the man is actually Frank Detroit, the CNC reporter who is killed during his presence in Morocco.

Mid-investigation, Taraji learned that Ismat had been meeting with tribal leaders, some of whom had connections with rebellions. Later, Ambassador Johnson tried to shut down the embassy as a show of political prowess, which would force the team to leave Morocco by the end of the day. Despite this threat, they were able to arrest foreign student Cornelia Mendez for the murder.

She denied killing Ismat at first, but admitted she killed him with the same chlorine to mislead The Bureau into thinking whoever killed Ismat killed Newcastle as well. She said that Ismat had gotten drunk one day, raped her, then left as if nothing happened. She then killed him to ensure it would never happen to other students. She told Judge Palamo in court that he could have gotten away with more due to his diplomatic immunity. The judge sentenced her to 10 years in prison.

During Walking Across Desert Storm (1/6), per Fowler's advice, Anabel and the player interrogated Cornelia in prison for details on Commissioner Newcastle's murderer. She explained that someone dropped the chlorine ball in her bag unbeknownst to her in the olive souk. In olive souk, they found a ripped package of the chlorine-tarnished bomb fragment with fingerprints that—per Henri's analysis—belonged to olive vendor Hakim Azaro. Hakim denied touching the package at first but confessed that a mysterious person named The R.I.F.T had paid him to drop a dart in Cornelia's bag. In fear of his and his family's life, Hakim made Anabel promise to not tell anyone.

Meanwhile, Rosamund found out that Darko Yakushev had contacted Professor Ismail Al Hammadi to introduce him to some tribal leaders. Ismail pointed to the docks where the team found out that Ismat was exchanging secrets for money and that Darko took the picture for Ambassador Johnson.

After Rosamund and Anabel shared their findings with Fowler, Rosamund tried interrogating Darko once again. He finally shared that he was investigating "The R.I.F.T" and that they fled to the desert. With no other choice but hiring Darko as the weapon expert, the Bureau went to the desert of El Oued in Algeria.

## Suspects

**Andrea Johnson**
US Ambassador
 **Blood** | O+

**Suspect's Profile**

* The suspect drinks mint tea.
* The suspect wears purple scarf.
* The suspect wears a lipstick.

**Cornelia Mendez**
University Student
 **Blood** | B-

**Suspect's Profile**

* The suspect drinks mint tea.
* The suspect reads Berber languages.
* The suspect eats couscous.
* The suspect wears purple scarf.
* The suspect wears a lipstick.

**Darko Yakushev**
Sharpshooter
 **Blood** | B+

**Suspect's Profile**

* The suspect reads Berber languages.
* The suspect eats couscous.
* The suspect wears purple scarf.

**Attieh Fajr**
Belly Dancer
 **Blood** | O+

**Suspect's Profile**

* The suspect drinks mint tea.
* The suspect reads Berber languages.
* The suspect eats couscous.
* The suspect wears a lipstick.

**Ismail Al Hammadi**
Scientist
 **Blood** | B-

**Suspect's Profile**

* The suspect drinks mint tea.
* The suspect reads Berber languages.
* The suspect eats couscous.
* The suspect wears purple scarf.

## Quasi-suspect(s)

**Hakim Azaro**
Olive Vendor
 **Blood** | O-

## Killer's Profile

* The killer drinks mint tea.
* The killer reads Berber languages.
* The killer eats couscous.
* The killer wears purple scarf.
* The killer wears a lipstick.