Beneath the luxury building, Bluebeard is busy torturing the suspect Bigby chose at the end of Episode 1. I picked Dee, his involvement has to reveal something about whatever is going on here.
Dee isn’t about to talk, and he’s cocky enough to make jokes. He isn’t a true suspect, trying to call him out will only embarrass Bigby – Dee was with the big bad wolf while the second murder was taking place.
Instead of using violence, I chose to avoid it, and asked him why he was at Toad’s apartment. Next, I showed him the picture of Snow’s severed head. It disgusted him enough to get him talking. It looks like violence doesn’t work on him. Bluebeard tried it and he only got stonewalled.
Next, Bigby will ask where Dum is. Dee doesn’t want to give up his brother, but you can get him talking again when Ichabod brings out Dee’s belongings.
Examine the wad of bills, then pocket it yourself. Hitting Dee right in the wallet gets him talking again. He reveals he was looking for Faith.
To get more, I tried the cigar. Probably a bad move, but I offered Dee a puff – he just blows smoke back in Bigby’s face. No good, there.
But, when he talks bad about Faith, I chose the second option – asking if Faith stole from Dee. In frustration, he reveals that Faith stole from his boss. Now we’re getting somewhere.
The last object – the whiskey, is an easy choice. Offer to give some to Dee and he’ll keep talking. Finally, he’ll say he’s employed by Beauty.
I let him talk, but Bluebeard doesn’t approve, and starts beating on Dee. It’s almost like Bluebeard has something to hide and wants to shut Dee up before he gives too much away. Before he can continue, I chose to grab Bluebeard.
Grabbing him leads to a short scuffle. Dodge downward [S] then mash [Q] to complete the sequence.
Before the fight escalates, Snow White steps into the room. Yep, she’s still alive. Time to find some answers.
Episode 1
Episode 2
Fabletown Business Office
Bigby catches up with Snow outside the elevators. She isn’t happy about the apparent torture going on in the basement.
Asking where she’s been, Snow tells Bigby that she went out to recover a body found by Toad’s son. They don’t know who she is yet.
Instead of admonishing her, I chose to thank her for helping to further the investigation. She’ll remember that.
Returning to the business office, Bigby can choose to talk to TJ (Toad Junior) and his father or see the body. I chose to speak with the pair of frogs first.
Unsurprisingly, Toad is doing something suspicious. He’s talking to the Magic Mirror.
No time to grill Toad. While speaking with TJ, it’s important to use a soft touch. TJ talks about the body falling into the water, and how he came out from below. If you scold Toad Sr. on his parenting, he’ll remember it.
TJ tells what he heard, “Stop laughing” – if Bigby asks exactly what was said, TJ will say he heard “Stop laughing at me.”
Any other questions get a big “no.” I let TJ go before pushing him too far.
Before leaving to see the body, I had to stop by to talk to the Magic Mirror. Like before, the Mirror doesn’t have anything helpful to reveal.
Moving on to the body. Walk right and speak with Snow, she’s already talking to Bufkin about potential suspects.
Before leaving, you can look around the room to discover more entries in the book of fables. Once you choose to see the body, Bigby leaves for the Witching Well.
Bufkin flies in to set the head near the body. Once the investigation begins, I examined the brooch first. It’s likely from the Fables’ homelands, but Bufkin doesn’t recognize it.
Examine the neck and head. The cut is the same, but the mouth is missing a ribbon. Move right, and Bigby will examine her hands and legs.
The ankles show rope-marks, indicative of the concrete tied to make her body sink. The track-marks are strange – apparently, the glamor that makes the victim look like Snow should also conceal the needle punctures.
Prying open the fingers reveal strange lilac flowers. They go into Bigby’s inventory.
Last, after examining the track-marks, Snow will reveal that the victim has an extra button on her coat. Examining it will allow Bigby to open the coat. I asked Snow if it was alright first, and she did the job for me.
Before the investigation continues, Ichabod Crane interrupts. He’ll ask what we’ve learned. I tell him that she’s a drug-user, and Crane frets over diseases. Strange response, why does he seem shocked?
The pair will examine her torso next. I checked the pockets first. One contains perfume with a crude label, indicating that she was instructed to wear Snow’s particular brand of perfume.
The second pocket contains a strange magic object. Crane seems worried, but I tell him not to worry. Bigby will have to solve a puzzle to open it.
There are four rungs that need to be properly aligned. The first rung is in the correct position. To solve the puzzle, follow these instructions; 2nd Rung: Move down 3 times. 3rd Rung: Move down 2 times. 4rth Rung: Move down 1 time. It should match the image above.
There are two items inside; a lock of Snow’s hair, and a torn picture from Snow’s apartment. Someone has been stalking her.
Before that line of thinking goes anywhere, the body loses its glamor and returns to her normal form – a troll. Snow recognizes her. The victim is Lily, Holly’s (the Trip Trap bartender) sister.
Bigby decides they need to tell Holly about this, and maybe they can learn who Lily was seeing. Crane doesn’t want Snow leaving, but I chose to let Snow decide herself.
Episode 1
Episode 2
Trip Trap Bar
With Snow in tow, Bigby’s next stop is the Trip Trap. Jack, Gren, and Holly aren’t happy to see the Sheriff.
After a tense confrontation, Bigby has the choice to remove Jack. I let him speak and broke the news on Holly’s sister to her gently.
Holly doesn’t take it well, and stalks into the corner. None of the fables are happy to see Snow, but she engages with Holly anyway, offering her the strange brooch.
Not wanting to interrupt, I remained quiet. Snow is getting through to Holly, and Holly is talking. If Bigby stays quiet, she’ll send Gren and Jack away.
Time for some questions. Instead of getting direct, I choose to ask why the two sisters are so distant. Holly explains that Lily was “withering” under the thumb of the owner of a club called the Puddin’ & Pie.
There’s not much Holly can give. She knows a club, and a guy named Georgie. Time to give them a visit, but first Holly requests her sister’s body for cremation. I promise her the body.
Snow escorts Holly to the Business Office, leaving Bigby alone to check out the club.
Episode 1
Episode 2
Pudding and Pie
At the club, a fable will immediately approach Bigby before he can even get inside. Whatever you say, she’ll let you in and lead Wolf to Georgie.
Georgie’s a scumbag, heckling one of his dancers before offering a girl up for Bigby to beat up. Confronting him, Bigby lays it all out; Georgie had Lily glamored to look like Snow. When he asks for proof, I show him the first option – the strange black market container.
He doesn’t like seeing the item, and starts up the music again. I choose to turn it off, and when he stands again, I give him another warning. Escalating this into violence won’t get him to talk – probably.
Georgie accidentally breaks his own cassette player, and Hans steps over to clean up. Asking Hans leads to him inadvertently revealing that every client is written into a special book.
The owner doesn’t want to give it up, so it’s up to Bigby to persuade him. Time to start smashing. The more things you smash, the more Georgie will remember. But, I chose to destroy the keg.
Which just so happens to reveal a hidden safe in the floor. He still doesn’t want to give Wolf the key. I chose to smash the sign, but I don’t hurt Georgie himself. When the DJ booth is up, I give one final warning, and he relents.
Opening the safe, Bigby gets a look at the notebook. Lily’s last client was a Mr. Smith. Not exactly revealing for a name.
Georgie doesn’t know who the fake name might refer to, but someone is watching from the back room.
Walk to the right and check out the ajar door. Check out the note on the floor to learn that Faith and Lily were both seeing the same client.
Examining Faith’s cubby, there are two strange boxes to check out. Both are empty, but look at them both, then check out the cosmetics on the floor.
Bigby will pick up the pink case and place it in Faith’s cubby. Nothing else to do here but continue deeper into the back room to find whoever was watching.
The Little Mermaid, or Nerissa, looks ready to talk. But, something strange is happening. She repeats the phrase, “Discretion is our guarantee,” like the previous woman. What does it all mean?
Eventually, she offers to make an appointment. It seems like she can’t physically speak, so I accept her offer – maybe it’s a way around whatever spell is keeping her from talking?
She asks for money – Wolf still has that thick wad of dough from Dee. Give her all the cash, and Nerissa will remember it. When she returns, she gives Bigby a key to the “Open Arms” hotel. That’s our next destination.
Episode 1
Episode 2
Open Arms Hotel
When Nerissa gave away the key to the hotel, she gave Bigby room #204, not room #207. That complicates things. Standing in the lobby, there are a few tidbits to check out, but the main attraction is the bell.
Ring it, and Beauty appears! Yep, she’s the one running the front desk of this grimy hotel. I covered for her once before, so I’ll cover for her again. Wolf tells Beauty that her secret is safe.
Next, you’ll get a chance to grill her on several topics. Most importantly, Dee mentioned her in passing. Beauty reveals that she took out a loan with someone called the “Crooked Man” and the two brothers have been on her case to pay the loan back.
When you’re done, Beauty will accompany Bigby upstairs.
Instead of waiting around, I head straight for 207 at the end of the hall. Trying to open it, Beauty objects, but Wolf tells her this is the room Lily was in. Thankfully, there’s no need to knock the door down, Beauty opens it.
Except, the key doesn’t work. Not only that, but Beast appears down the hall. What are the odds he’d show up here? He isn’t happy, either.
Beast thinks Beauty is cheating on him. A fight is inevitable. Duck [S] then weave [W] to escape his attacks, before mashing [Q] and choosing a direction. After two rounds of smashing Beast into the walls, Beauty will try to stop the fight.
It doesn’t last. Beast goes for a pipe. Once he’s down on the ground, Bigby can choose to hit him while he’s down. Beauty and Beast won’t forget that.
With one last lunge, Bigby knocks Beast through the door to room #207. The bloody bed is proof that a murder took place here. Beauty was on duty, but admits she didn’t see anything.
The room is full of things to examine. Let’s start with the bed. The sheets are covered in blood and lilacs. Comparing the lilacs with the one from Lily’s body shows that they match.
On the floor near the window, there’s an apple. Nothing special, but picking it up places Bigby next to the desk. On the right corner, take the odd cassette tape and use it with the cassette player on the night stand.
It’s just music. On the table next to the desk, examine the story book. Many of the pages are marked with sticky notes… is this how the killer picked his targets? Turn the page, and suggest that the apple was how the killer acted out the scene in the book.
On the desk, the killer also brought wine. He’s a smoker, too. Be on the lookout for smokers of “Huff and Puff” – it might just be important.
Finally, let’s check the closet. Connect the dress, the apple, and the glass coffin to the story in the book to completely connect each piece of evidence.
Before leaving, Bigby discovers an envelope in the closet. The photos inside are all of Snow, from years back. This is a long-term stalker.
And for the big reveal, the final image shows the perpetrator himself. It’s Crane.