2. VER2 - Burglar Puzzle

The student player (SP) who enters the virtual world is a private detective. His/her objective is to solve a burglary by looking for clues. The burglars have broken into a mansion and have stolen some very expensive jewellery. As a PI this kind of case is what gets your heart racing. Pick up the phone and try to solve the mystery.

As the game can take a bit of time to complete, or since you may wish to restart from a different point in the game, when you first enter the SP will find themselves on a landscape that looks a bit like Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland. There are 3 options available to the SP: 

  1. To start the game: move across the stones towards the two doors that lead to an underground bunker. Stand in front of the tower and you will be teleported to the starting point 

  1. To restart from the police station: move towards the middle image "Precinct". Stand in front of the building and you will be teleported to the police station 

  1. To restart from the detective's office: move towards the last image on the left. Stand in front of the door and you will be teleported to the detective's office 



Scene 1 – Detective Agency Office

When the SP first enters the virtual world, they hear a telephone ringing and they have to press “answer call” on their wrist. The call is being made by the owner of the mansion.


Hi is that …? 

There’s been a burglary at my house and a very expensive necklace is missing.  We arrived home to find a broken window in the sitting room.  Strangely, after looking at the CCTV footage we could see a man entering the house through the sitting room window but could not find the footage of him leaving.  We also found this partly ripped blueprint of the house, which we believe the burglar used to navigate around the house.  Could you come now?

SP presses “On my Way” and is teleported to the empty street where the mansion is located. 

The SP needs to walk down the street using the joystick on the left controller. Enter through the gate on your right and head towards the open window on your right. The sitting room window has been broken and that is the only access point. There is a stone block under the window. Jump onto the block by pressing the “A” button on the right controller and pushing the left joystick forward at the same time. Once on the stone reach up with the right hand and grab the window frame. You will see a white dot - press both triggers to make a first. Then put your the left hand higher up on the left side of the frame and do the same thing. Once you are in the window frame move yourself forward with the left joystick (you can also pull the right joystick back and teleport yourself  into the room if you find climbing through the window too challenging) Now you are in the house.

You will hear the parrot talking: “Behind the old man”. Let the SP walk around the area and notice that they can't open any of the doors. There is also an NPC pacing on the left next to one of the doors / he says “That picture gives me the creeps”. On the floor, near the parrot there is a blue print - the SP should pick it up. 

The room with the old man picture is marked on the blue print together with the code 1234 on the back. The SP needs to make their way to the door with the blueprint in hand and open the door. They need to locate the picture of the old man - remember what the parrot said? (It’s behind the old man). In fact there is a safe behind the picture. Let them try to move the picture, but they won’t have any luck. They need to find a way to move the picture.

Maybe there is a secret switch or button? If they don’t notice the red button under the desk, point it out to them. When pressed this moves the picture and they can see the safe. BUT there is a code that needs to be entered. On the back of the blueprint there is the code. They need to enter the code 1234 and the safe opens. Inside there is another blueprint with the CCTV room marked on it. 

They need to take the blueprint and open the door to the CCTV room. The door will not open unless they have the blueprint in their hand. Once inside the CCTV room they will see a bank of monitors. Let them have a look around and explain what they can see. There is another door in the CCTV room, but to access this door the SP needs to go back into the living room. 

In the living room near the fireplace there is another blueprint with how to access to the basement marked on it. The SP needs to pick up the blueprint and move back to the CCTV room and open the door that they saw before. This will lead them to the door to the basement. While they are in the living room looking for the blueprint, they should have noticed that the parrot was now saying “1001 Nights” rather than the original message “Behind the old man.” If they didn’t hear the message get them to go back to the living room and listen to what the parrot says. Once they have heard “1001 Nights” and they have opened the door, they need to head down the stairs. When they get to the bottom of the stairs all they see is two bookcases. There seems to be no door, but just these two bookcases.

Remember what the parrot said? They need to remove one of the books to make the bookcase open to reveal a hidden room. The book ‘1001 Nights’ is the key to opening the door. The door opens to reveal the suitably distraught criminal sitting at the table together with the stolen necklace. They could describe how the burglar might feel now that he has been caught. 

After a minute if the SP looks at the right wrist there is a message that says “Call the police.” 

The SP presses it and the call is made. They are transported to the the police station, to an interrogation room, where the mystery continues. 

When the SP arrives at the police station, they find themselves inside the interrogation room. The criminal is sitting silently at the table, refusing to speak. On the table there is a piece of paper with “Tomorrow morning, meet me here I6 PW” written on it. If they pick up the note a voice says “New evidence. A note from who?”

If they leave the interrogation room, they can walk down the corridor. There is a room with riot gear and the area where the cells are. On the right there is a flight of steps. Go down the steps and there is a police officer there.

Listen to what he says, “Take a look at his belongings. People sometimes leave clues where they don’t realise.” On this level there are a number of rooms. In the police bull pen you will find the burglar’s phone. If you pick it up there are SMS’s as well as a Voice Message. Check them both.    

A recent message from “PW” contains a riddle:
“With a shiny shell and wings to fly, I scuttle on the ground and reach the sky. My name’s shared with a famous band.”
(Answer: Beetle / Beatle – the make of the getaway car.)

The voice message says: “We meet as planned. No mistakes”

In the captain’s office there is a train ticket on the table. If you pick it up you hear a message: "train ticket - need to learn more." 

If they leave the policeman says “that train ticket may not be what it seems” or “we need more details” 

There is a room with a map on the wall with numbers and letters and the names of 4 stations on it. If the SP touches the incorrect station a voice says “not correct, check evidence again”. The clue “I6” should lead you to Central Station. If you press on the name Central Station your wrist screen prompts you to “go to Union Station.” Tap the screen and you are teleported there. If the SP struggles to decode the coordinates, you can give them a hint: “That ticket might not be what it seems…”

In the train station there is an NPC (police woman) and an arrivals board. If you approach her she will tell you: “pinpoint the train PW is arriving on, on the train schedules board over there”. A voice then says “what were the clues again?” Remind the students of the clues from the mobile phone - The SP now checks the train schedule posted on the wall. They must find which train arrives at the target station at the same time mentioned in the note (“Tomorrow afternoon”). 

 Go back to the police woman and she says “lets go find the getaway vehicle”. Your phone rings and you press it to go to the parking garage. There are a number of cars there but only one beetle. If you approach the NPC she will prompt you to find the getaway vehicle. Once you have gone to the beetle go back to the NPC and she says “Thank you. Now we have everything to catch PW”. Your phone rings again with the word 'continue'… on the screen. You are now teleported back to the detective agency office.

The SP returns to the detective agency. On the desk in front of them is a stack of letters, a newspaper, and a small pile of case files. The SP should pick up the newspaper first. The article mentions the CEO of a major company who recently declared bankruptcy and celebrated a birthday “last week.” This detail will be important later. Note the date on the newspaper. 

There is also a photo on the coffee table. One of the people is circled in red. If the SP picks up the photo, there is a message on the back: “You crook, you owe me my investment. Watch out!” This indicates that someone was blackmailing the CEO. The phone on the SP’s wrist rings and you hear a recorded message. At the end of the message a voice says: "There is nothing here. I need to go back to the mansion". Press on the word 'mansion' on your wrist. 

In the mansion, the SP finds themselves in an empty room with two doors. One opens but the other doesn’t. Open the door and you enter the study. Open one of the doors and you find yourself in a dark room with some photo prints hanging out to dry. There is nothing else in the dark room. Go back into the study. There is a door with a code pad next to it. The code is that date of the CEO’s birthday 1803. (remember the date on the Newspaper was 2403 but he celebrated a week ago 24th -7th =18th 

On the table there are a number of photos plus a photo album. When the SP picks up the photo album, they find a UV light. Press the button to switch on the UV light. There is nothing else in the room, but maybe there is something in the dark room. In the dark room there is another photo with a red circle around someone. The SP picks up the photo and there are 4 names on the back, but nothing shows up when they shine the light on it. Let them figure out that they need the room to be “dark” for the UV light to work. Get them to turn off the lights. Now they look at the photo with the UV light and they see the words “PERT SWEATER” this is an anagram of one of the names - Peter Waters. Get the students to think back to the initials on the phone messages - PW. 

Now the SP finds themselves back in the police station. The police officer says “We’ve tracked them down. The real mastermind is the CEO’s accountant. Looks like PW wasn’t working alone."