
Live · AL-19-440
Ashford Lake: The Midnight House
Six guests. One death. A defense file you can actually finish. Every clue you need is in the house.
6 suspects · 6 rooms
Play the file
Crime Talk
A file you can finish. Search the house, interview the guests, and file a charge. All characters and events are fictional. No account. Progress stays on this device.
Name who did it, how, and why, and back the charge with evidence from the house.
Step 1
Search the rooms
Examine the spots in each room.
Step 2
Question the guests
Ask what they will answer.
Step 3
Build the evidence board and the timeline
Pin what matters, and put the night in order.
Step 4
Make your accusation
Name who, how, and why, then file the pieces that carry it.
Some questions are marked Locked. A locked question stays shut until you have found the clue it needs, or until you have already heard another answer it depends on. The note under the question says what is missing. Once you have that, the question unlocks. Leaving a question locked does not cost points.
You start at 1,000. The score cannot go below 0 or above 1,100. With no hints and no missed charges, a solved timeline scores 1,050.
| Start | 1,000 |
|---|---|
| Each hint | −60 |
| Each wrong charge | −120 |
| Each half-right charge | −40 |
| Timeline in order | +50 |
| Rookie | 0–399 |
|---|---|
| Investigator | 400–649 |
| Detective | 650–849 |
| Lead Detective | 850 and up |
A charge is right when the person, the method, and the motive are all right, and at least 2 of the pieces you file support it. You file 2 or 3 pieces. A right charge does not cost points.
A charge is half-right when you name the right person, or you name both the right method and the right motive, but the charge is not fully right. Each half-right charge costs 40 points.
Any other charge is wrong and costs 120 points. Those costs stay on the file if you come back and file again.
A piece that does not support the charge does not cost points on its own. An event in the wrong place on the timeline does not cost points either. You gain 50 only when every event is in the right place. Move a card after that, and the 50 comes off until the night is in order again.
Searching rooms, asking questions, and using the board do not change your score.
The best score on this case is 1,050. That file closes as Lead Detective: no hints, a right charge the first time you file, and the timeline solved.
A Lead Detective run
Lead Detective starts at 850. The perfect file looks like this.
| Start | 1,000 |
|---|---|
| Hints | 0 |
| Wrong charges | 0 |
| Half-right charges | 0 |
| Timeline | +50 |
| Score | 1,050 |
| Rank | Lead Detective |
You can still close as Lead Detective with a lower score, as long as you finish at 850 or above.
Progress saves in this browser, on this device.

Live · AL-19-440
Six guests. One death. A defense file you can actually finish. Every clue you need is in the house.
6 suspects · 6 rooms
Play the file
In the drawer
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