Nothing is like it seems in this town, especially for a private detective like you whose job is to see through the veils and masks that everyone wears. You thought no secret or mystery would be beyond your grasp, but nothing prepared you for your next case: a note on your office's desk with a short message.
It said "find the lost man" and gave an address.
You've been tracking down clues since then. The first was a clue within a clue. A photograph of two men in hats standing by a window behind which there were many others of men wearing similar hats.
> You notice one of the men in the photo is a regular at the crime infested bar in the seedy part of town. You decide to check it out.
The second clue was in another picture. This time the only hat-wearing man in the group was staring into space. He had a long beard and seemed nervous. His name appeared above his head: CODMAN JOSEPH BECKETT.
You enter the bar and immediately feel unwelcomed. Everyone knows you are a cop and puts their heads down. You walk up to the bartender and show him the picture of Codman and ask if he has seen him.
With a shrug he says yes, that guy comes in every night around closing time. As you leave the building you notice that someone else in the crowd is following you.
What do you want?
The man takes off his hat and reveals himself: it is Codman and he looks scared for his life.
He tries to run away from you, but you grab him before he can escape. When he sees who has caught him, he screams, "Help! Help me!"
He begs for mercy as you cuff him.
You ask Codman what has him so spooked and he reveals that it is the Hatted Men that he is afraid of. Codman says that he didn't know what he was getting into when he joined them and now he is worried that they want to kill him for what he knows.
After some more questioning Codman tells you about the Hatted Men and how they operate.
It turns out that the Hatted Men have something called a HAT TRICK. They play games with people using hidden clues and riddles.
You ask Codman to take a look at the photo of the missing person you are looking for. Codman recognizes the photo immediately and begins to sob uncontrollably. Codman clearly knows who this is.
When you ask Codman why he doesn't report this to the police, he explains that nobody believes him because he isn't smart enough to understand the truth. But after seeing the Hatted Man's trick, he understands everything perfectly.
You attempt to escort Codman to the police station, but just before he enters your car, you hear bell ring and suddenly Codman has been shot through the head with a Rubik's cube.
You rush to find Codman dead on the ground.
You return home, puzzled by this strange turn of events. Your boss asks you if there is anything new going on. You tell her you don't think there is any connection between these deaths, but she wants you to keep an eye open
Right before Codman died, you asked him, "Codman, do you know Edward Nygma, aka the Riddler?"
"Yeah," he answered. "I met him once."
After the shooting, you go back to the crime scene and discover that there are no bullet holes in the wall. You notice that the floorboards in the room are not normal wood.
The floorboards appear to all be made of recycled board games. Some of the games you can see are:
MONOPOLY, RISK, and DUNGEON.
You also see a chessboard and realize it is a very old version of the game.
You see a pawn and a knight trapped in the middle of the board.
You attempt to move the knight and suddenly a secret passage opens up.
The hole leads into the sewers and you are able to follow it.
As you descend into the dark sewer tunnels you begin to smell the rotting corpses of rats. You come upon a dead body and you recognize the face of the man you are looking for: EDWARD NYGMAR.
You hear a noise and look up to see a hatted man has noticed and starts to run off. You give chase.
You catch up to the man and tackle him. He falls into the sewage pit and you watch as he disappears down a drain.
You use your flashlight to examine the corpse of Ed Nygmar.
You notice some oddities with his body:
His right hand is completely severed from his arm, and his chest is covered in a rash.
There are several other minor wounds and cuts around his body.
When you shine a light into his mouth, you notice that he has a false tooth.
You say, "I wonder If Rat Cory is is hanging out in this tunnel?"
A rat scurries away from you.
You continue down the tunnel and eventually reach a ladder that goes to the surface. You climb it and emerge from the manhole cover. You notice something is wrong and look around.
The sun is setting, but there are still plenty of people walking around the streets. There is only one place where this many people could have vanished.
You notice a sign that says, "BOOGIE'S BAR AND GRILL".
You watch as the rat runs into the bar and you follow behind in. Inside Boogie's you see a lot of unusual things:
There is a bartender named Mr. B who looks like a giant baby.
He is dressed in a clown costume and a top hat.
Mr. B is sitting on a stool and playing cards with the patrons of the bar.
You ask Mr B if he knows anything about the hatted men.
He says, "Those guys are just here for the money. I don't know what they want with you, but I have a feeling that you will never leave this city alive."
You ask him, "What are the Hatted Men?
Why did Codman call them that?".
"They are assassins. They kill people for the fun of it and get paid to do so. But they always make sure that the victim is connected to the mob, or some rich guy who thinks he's above everybody else.
You notice the patrons being to sneak out of the bar and suddenly you are surrounded by hatted men. It's not looking good for you, until you notice Rat Cory naw off Mr B's face. Rat Cory motions for you to follow him, and you rush out of the bar through the back door and into the dirty alley.
Rat Cory leads you to an abandoned building. You notice that the back door is unlocked.
You enter the old warehouse and see that it is filled with all sorts of weird and creepy stuff.
Clown suits, funny hats, weird balloon animals - what in the world is this place?
You see a broken down old couch in the back of the room.
Suddenly you hear a sound.
You look up and see a woman standing over you.
She is wearing an old fashioned maid uniform.
You rush over the couch and trigger the couch shotgun hidden inside. The old maid narrowly avoids the buckshot.
After a moment of silence she says:
"I am a ghost. And you are not welcome in my home!
You can tell because the front of your shirt is covered with blood, and it doesn't belong to me.
The blood spells out:
'I am a Ghost.'
You look at the old maid and say, "This is the Riddler's lair!"
The old maid laughs and says:
"You're a fool.
You say to the maid, "Riddle me this!" and grab a clown outfit and put it on.
You then pull a clown mask off the wall and pull the strings tight around your head.
You hear the old maid laughing again and saying:
"It is a riddle you dolt.
You say to the maid, "I've got a riddle for you!! There once was a private dick, he find a missing kid, and the the dick got really sick, and made a maid dead."
You say to the maid, "You must be a ghost, because you haven't answered yet."
The old maid looks shocked and angry. She starts to walk towards you, but suddenly stops.
The maid stutters and says, "You... your.... your... THE RIDDLER?!"
You laugh and say, "Gotcha!"
You quickly start to run away from the maid and get into a clown suit as well.
You look around and notice that the old maid has disappeared, but there is another clue in her place.
You pick up a piece of paper and read the message in lipstick. You notice that there is no name, but instead there are two words written.
The first word is, "SOLVED".
And the second is, "CASE CLOSED".
You smile and continue running away from the maid.
You soon reach a tunnel entrance.
As you approach, you see that the door is open.
You run out and are blinded by the light. As your eyes adjust, you notice the old maid is standing in front of 100 hatted men ready to do battle against you.
You point the clown gun and shoot the hatted man in the face, causing him to fall.
You have won. You are now a "Ghostbuster".
Good Job.
You have been given a case number.
Next time on "The New Ghostbusters":
You have to track down the hatted men and rescue the kidnapped girl.
You will need to solve the mystery of the Riddler.
In which, you must save Gotham City and defeat The Joker.
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