Moonmist - Infocom Solution by Sue Medley Red version I knew something was up the moment I got Tamara's letter! Obviously she was scared for her life but - a ghost trying to kill her? Impossible ... or so I thought. I arrived at Tresyllian Castle and was admitted by pressing the eye on the wyvern carving by the gate. The butler asked my name and which was my favourite colour. Red, of course, the colour of my new sports car! Inside the gates, Tamara came flying out to meet me. We chatted for a while and I asked her about the ghost. She really was convinced the so-called White Lady was after her. Soon, she introduced me to Jack, her fiance. Strangely enough, when I asked him about the ghost, he said it is definitely a woman so it could be the ghost of Dee. Dee turned out to be Deirdre, his ex- fiancee, who drowned tragically in the castle well. The other house guests were Vivien Pentreath, Montague Hyde (a shifty customer if ever I saw one), Iris Vane, Ian Fordyce and Dr Wendish. Evidently they were all there for Lionel's memorial birthday dinner. Lionel was Jack's uncle and Jack had inherited the castle from him. The butler, Bolitho, showed me to my room. Before he left, I asked him about the ghost and he said he had seen it searching the carpet near the archway downstairs but it fled when it saw him. He gave me an aerosol that might help me and also said that if I wanted to check my appearance, the mirrors in the room would adjust. Too right, they did! When he left, I tried moving them and found a switch on the wall mirror. Behind it was a secret passage. After washing and changing, I wandered down for dinner. I noticed Bolitho placed a note on Jack's napkin so I sneakily read it. It seemed the servants, by arrangement in Lionel's will, were leaving the castle once the gong had been rung for dinner. One, Gladys, wouldn't be coming back. She had handed in her notice and left an explanatory note on the desk in the sitting room. I vowed to look for that later. The meal was just getting pleasantly under way when a voice came from the bust of Lionel that was in the room! I examined the bust and found it was hollow with a tape recorder in it. Obviously, Lionel had planned this evening well. He said that there was one valuable item he had brought back from his travels abroad hidden in the house. The first clue to find it was hidden under the punchbowl and Vivien had the second. I read them both. The first was of the King of Spades holding a sceptre. The second was a verse: Forbidden fruit tempted the very first lass, 'Twas once in a garden but now in a glass. The meal finished and, with the second clue on my mind, I wandered the castle till I came to the chapel. Thinking to find some peace, I entered. What should I find but a stained glass window showing Eve tempting Adam with an apple. And on the apple was another clue. This one said: Despite its appearance, the fruit was quite sour, One bite of the apple drove Eve from her bower. Hmm ..... bower ....garden! I headed for the hedge maze and found a garden with a pond in the centre. Examining the garden, I dug up a fourth clue! It read: Out of the sunshine, into the rain, The end of the story is Abel and CAIN. The word CAIN had been underlined. Reading the brochure about the castle, I noticed there was a mention of an elephant's foot umbrella stand in the foyer. Inside that, I found a cane which was shaped like a baseball bat but it had faceted bumps on it and the whole thing had been recently covered with paint. Scraping the paint, I uncovered a diamond-studded war club! Rushing to find Jack, I gave the missing treasure to him and he and Tamara were most grateful. Walking back towards the drawing room, I suddenly remembered what Bolitho had told me about the ghost searching the carpet. I searched it myself and found a small red jewel. Oh well, the time had come to do some serious sleuthing so I sneaked into everyone's room and searched the lot of them. Only Jack's room had anything interesting in it. There, I found a necklace with the same red jewels on. One jewel was missing but the one I had found fitted perfectly. Just at that moment, who should walk in but Jack himself. Boy, was I embarrassed! I apologised, and, like a gentleman, he forgave me. I asked about the necklace and he said it had been Deirdre's and the police had returned it to him after the inquest. But something was starting to smell a bit fishy to me. By now it was late and everyone drifted off to bed. I needed a lamp to explore the secret passage and luckily there was one in the kitchen. While I was wandering the passages, who should turn up but the ghost! On impulse, I showed her the necklace. The ghost spoke to me - it WAS Deirdre! She said Jack had tried to kill her and she had escaped by a fluke. She was convinced he had also killed poor Lionel and had been hoping that her ghostly appearances might give the evidence she needed to show he'd committed the crimes. She asked me to find the proof and fled. I returned to the sitting room to read the maid's note. It seemed she had found something dreadful while cleaning someone's room (no name was mentioned) and also said that she refused to stay under the same roof where "things" were going on. At the end of the note she said something about looking through keyholes; it sounded like a good idea to me! I went up to Jack's room and looked through the keyhole. Inside I could see a microphone with its wires going up to the crest on the door. The crest seemed loose so I moved it. Underneath was a small tape recorder built into the door. I played the tape and heard Lionel testing that it worked. Then I heard his voice as he told Deirdre he suspected Jack was trying to kill him. After a slight pause, I heard him talking to Jack and next, of all things, the sound of Lionel being smothered! Deirdre was right - Jack HAD killed Lionel. I knocked on his door and when he admitted me, I accused him. He made a lunge for me but who should turn up and save me but Bolitho. Seeing the game was up, Jack confessed. Poor Tamara - but it's better to have found out the truth now that to have married a murderer. Green version I knew something was up the moment I got Tamara's letter! Obviously she was scared for her life but - a ghost trying to kill her? Impossible ... or so I thought. I arrived at Tresyllian Castle and was admitted by pressing the eye on the wyvern carving by the gate. The butler asked my name and which was my favourite colour. Green, of course, the colour of my new sports car! Inside the gates, Tamara came flying out to meet me. We chatted for a while and I asked her about the ghost. She really was convinced the so-called White Lady was after her. Soon, she introduced me to Jack, her fiance. When I asked him about the ghost, he said he had just caught a glimpse of a whitish figure from the rear but couldn't tell if it was a woman or a bloke in drag. The other house guests were Vivien Pentreath, Montague Hyde (a shifty customer if ever I saw one), Iris Vane, Ian Fordyce and Dr Wendish. Evidently they were all there for Lionel's memorial birthday dinner. Lionel was Jack's uncle and Jack had inherited the castle from him. Hyde said he had seen a figure a few weeks ago on a previous visit to Tresyllian Castle and that it had fled in the direction of the Tower. Though he followed it, he couldn't find it - it had mysteriously vanished! Wendish had seen it the night after Deirdre's tragic accident (Deirdre, by the way, was Jack's previous fiancee who had drowned tragically in the castle well). Anyway, Wendish said that the figure had been in the Old Great Hall and had gone towards the basement. Iris had also seen it on the Tower Stairs but neither Vivien or Ian had seen any sign of it. The butler, Bolitho, showed me to my room. Before he left, I asked him about the ghost and he said he had seen it searching the floor near the archway of the New Great Hall the night before. He said, jokingly, that the ghost must have bad eyesight as, though the light was bright, it was groping blindly on the floor. He also mentioned that the ghost appeared to be left-handed. The figure headed into the drawing room when it was him but vanished when he followed. Bolitho gave me an aerosol that might help me and also said that if I wanted to check my appearance, the mirrors in the room would adjust. Too right, they did! When he left, I tried moving them and found a switch on the wall mirror. Behind it was a secret passage. After washing and changing, I wandered down for dinner. The other guests were in the New Great Hall, chatting, so, as there were a few minutes before the dinner-gong went, I entered the Drawing Room and examined the floor carefully. Success! I found a contact lens! I asked all the guests if it belonged to them. Ian said he wouldn't be allowed to serve in the Guards if his eye-sight wasn't perfect. Jack said there was nothing wrong with his eye-sight either. Wendish wore glasses, Hyde a monacle and, though Vivien admitted wearing contact lenses, she removed both of hers to show she was still wearing them! The gong sounded and we went in to dinner. I noticed that Bolitho placed a note on Jack's napkin so I sneakily read it. It seemed the servants, by arrangement in Lionel's will, were leaving the castle once the gong had been rung for dinner. One, Gladys, wouldn't be coming back. She had handed in her notice and left an explanatory note on the desk in the sitting room. I vowed to look for that later. The meal was just getting pleasantly under way when a voice came from the bust of Lionel that was in the room! I examined the bust and found it was hollow with a tape recorder in it. Obviously, Lionel had planned this evening well. He said that there was one valuable item he had brought back from his travels abroad hidden in the house. The first clue to find it was hidden under the punchbowl and Jack had the second. I read them both. The first was a picture of Tresyllian Castle with clouds of mist hiding the full moon. Lionel said the first clue was just to sharpen our wits. The second said - My first is an "I", but find an eye that sees not. The meal finished and, with the second clue on my mind, I wandered the castle till I came to the Games Room. In there were two stuffed heads, a rhino and a buffalo. I examined the rhino head and found that one of its glass eyes was pointing backwards! I got the eye and found a third clue. This one said - My second is in never but not in ever and lies in a hidden end. In the office, on a desk, next to an ink well, I found a journal. It had been written by Lionel and was of his Amazon expedition. It gave the description of a treasure, Moonmist, a drug from a rare Amazon plant, the moonflower. Apparantly, the natives use it to tip their poison darts but it is also a valuable medicine. The plant should be gathered when the full moon is misted over - which explained the picture we had been given as our first clue. It looked as though the treasure we were seeking was this mysterious Moonmist. As the other guests were relaxing in the Sitting Room, I decided to search their rooms - not quite the "British" thing to do, I know, but, then, I'm an American, and an American detective too. In a medical kit in Wendish's room, I found a small box. Inside was a contact lens with room for another one. With that, a voice disturbed me - Wendish had entered the room and was extremely cross to find that I was searching it. I apologized and asked him about the contact lens box. He said it wasn't his and that someone must have planted it in his room. By now I was starting to feel that there was something rather suspicious about the doctor but, for the moment, I had no proof so left his room. I returned to the sitting room to read the maid's note. It seemed she had found something dreadful while cleaning someone's room (no name was mentioned) and also said that she refused to stay under the same roof where "things" were going on. At the end of the note she said that her old dad had always said that the first sign of madness was talking to yourself but, as far as she was concerned, doing the same on paper was a sign that that's the kind of person to watch out for. I returned to my room and entered the secret passage using a lantern I had found in the kitchen to give me some light. In a dead end behind a portrait of one of Jack's ancestors, which had a convenient peep-hole in it, giving a clear view down the stairs, I found the fourth clue. This said - My third is the silent side of knight; all together, I am what you could use for poison pen letters. I .... N .... K ..... ink! I dashed back to the library where I had spotted the ink well. When I examined the ink well, I found Moonmist! It was a green liquid with a strong odour. I had found the missing treasure. But what could the maid have meant about someone writing things down? The obvious place to look seemed to be the library so I went into there and examined the books. Ahha! A lab notebook! Grabbing it, I read it. It held incriminating evidence of Dr Wendish's fiendish experiments on patients at his clinic. In it, it said he had finally taken care of Poldark's grand-daughter, but that it was a pity she had discovered facts of his end. Poldark was Deirdre's grandfather, so it looked as though Wendish had been responsible for her "accident" in the well. As Wendish seemed to be the villian of the piece, I concluded he must also be the "ghost", so I sneaked back to his room through the secret passages. He was asleep and I searched his room again. If only I had been more thorough earlier! Can you guess where I found the ghost costume? In the same medical kit where I had found the contact lens box! I woke Wendish - he was very surprised to see me. I'll bet! When I accused him, he made a lunge for me but who should turn up to grab him but the faithful Bolitho! It turned out that Deirdre had suspected that her grandfather had died because of Wendish's experiments on his patients. She went to Lionel, begging him to investigate Wendish who, when he discovered what they were up to, silenced both of them. He masqueraded as the ghost to look for the treasure and carried out the attacks on Tamara to make everyone think Deirdre was still alive! Blue version I knew something was up the moment I got Tamara's letter! Obviously she was scared for her life but - a ghost trying to kill her? Impossible ... or so I thought. I arrived at Tresyllian Castle and was admitted by pressing the eye on the wyvern carving by the gate. The butler asked my name and which was my favourite colour. Blue, of course, the colour of my new sports car! Inside the gates, Tamara came flying out to meet me. We chatted for a while and I asked her about the ghost. She really was convinced the so-called White Lady was after her. When I asked her about the Lady, she said that there was an old history book in the library that might tell me more. Soon, she introduced me to Jack, her fiance. When I asked him about the ghost, he said that he saw the ghost briefly from behind so couldn't be sure if it was a woman or a bloke in drag. The other house guests were Vivien Pentreath, Montague Hyde (a shifty customer if ever I saw one), Iris Vane, Ian Fordyce and Dr Wendish. Evidently they were all there for Lionel's memorial birthday dinner. Lionel was Jack's uncle and Jack had inherited the castle from him. I asked them all about the ghost. Only some of them had seen it. Vivien said she had been in the basement thinking about Deirdre, Jack's previous fiancee, who had died tragically in the castle well, when she heard her name being called. She looked, and to her horror, saw Deirdre standing by the stairs! The figure smiled faintly, and ran upstairs. Ian had seen a figure in white in the Games Room - it put the light out and ran. Iris had seen it on the Tower Stairs. The butler, Bolitho, showed me to my room. Before he left, I asked him about the ghost and he said he had seen it searching the floor in the New Great Hall but it fled when it saw him. He gave me an aerosol that might help me and also said that if I wanted to check my appearance, the mirrors in the room would adjust. Too right, they did! When he left, I tried moving them and found a switch on the wall mirror. Behind it was a secret passage. After washing and changing, I wandered down for dinner. I noticed Bolitho placed a note on Jack's napkin so I sneakily read it. It seemed the servants, by arrangement in Lionel's will, were leaving the castle once the gong had been rung for dinner. One, Gladys, wouldn't be coming back. She had handed in her notice and left an explanatory note on the desk in the sitting room. I vowed to look for that later. The meal was just getting pleasantly under way when a voice came from the bust of Lionel that was in the room! I examined the bust and found it was hollow with a tape recorder in it. Obviously, Lionel had planned this evening well. He said that there was one valuable item he had brought back from his travels abroad hidden in the house. The first clue to find it was hidden under the punchbowl and Jack had the second. I read them both. The first showed a skeleton in Chinese Mandarin costume. The second said: Two fellows argued about life! 1. Using this motto, no chap can go wrong, Leave the wench and the grape but go with a ____! 2. On the seas of my life that is laden Not with bottle or tunes, but with innocent ____s! 3. Women and singing are both very fine But for me there is nothing to equal great ____! It seemed to me that the ends to these verses would be song, maidens and wine. The meal finished and with these three words on my mind I set off to explore the castle. In the library, I found a journal which was the diary of Lionel's South Pacific Expedition and in the lumber room, a copy of the Readers Digest which had an article about the skull of Peking Man vanishing after the attack on Pearl Harbour. I wondered if this was the mysterious treasure we were all searching for. In the sitting room was a piano and on it a sheet of music which I picked up and read. It was Beethoven's Suite number 9. Someone has drawn a star in red ink over the word SUIT. Walking back towards the drawing room, I suddenly remembered what Bolitho had told me about the ghost searching in the New Great Hall. I searched thoroughly myself and found a contact lens! Inside the drawing room, I had a close look at the tapestry that was mentioned in the tourist guide. On it was a maiden and on the maiden's arm was a star stitched in red thread. I walked through the kitchen, where I collected a lantern and on to the basement. In the basement, I found a wine rack. In it was an assortment of wines. I picked up a bottle from the rack and saw it had a label saying it was wine from a Cornish vinery called Our Own Vintage. Someone had drawn a star in red ink over the word OUR. SUIT ..... arm .....OUR. Suit of armour! One was mentioned in the guide so I headed back to the New Great Hall. Inside the armour was the third clue. It read: My al____ has no glamour, Its ____e tones do clam____. Can you find me? Fitting the three words I had found into the gaps, I came up with: My alARM has no glamour, Its SUITe tones do clamOUR. That suggested a bell to me so I headed up to the roof where I had seen a bell on my wanderings. In it was a fossil skull - the missing treasure mentioned in the Readers digest! I returned to the sitting room to read the maid's note. It seemed she had found something dreadful while cleaning someone's room (no name was mentioned) and also said that she refused to stay under the same roof where "things" were going on. At the end of the note she said that her dad had always reckoned that talking to yourself was the first sign of a nutcase but that she believed that doing the same on paper was also a sign of someone to watch. I decided to search everyone's rooms and in Vivien's room I found a small plastic box in her wooden box of artists' materials. It was a contact lens box with a single lens in it. Something told me that Vivien was connected with the "ghost" (I'm not a detective for nothing, you know!) By now it was late and everyone drifted off to bed. I used the lantern to explore the secret passages. While I was wandering along them, who should turn up but the ghost! She pointed a blowgun at me! I remembered the aerosol Bolitho had given me (I had examined it closely before so knew just what to do) and pressed the button on it. The ghost's face went green and she collapsed! I grabbed the blow gun quickly in case she came round. The ghost had heavy make-up on so I couldn't tell who it was (though I had a fair idea) so I cleaned her face - I was right - it was Vivien! When I left the passage, I went to her room, which was empty, naturally, and waited.... After a short wait Vivien turned up and I asked her about the blowgun. She said it was a fair cop but that there was something I didn't know that would put matters in a different light. She put her hand in the wooden box and her jaw dropped as her hand came out empty! Of course, I had the contact lens box. I looked in the box and found a diary. I read it. It was tear-strained and read 'Oh Deirdre, Jack will pay dearly for your cruel death by losing his new sweetheart.' I accused her and who should appear to help me but Bolitho! It appeared that Vivien had been intensely attracted to Deirdre and had hated Jack for coming between them. She was convinced that Deirdre's death was suicide, not an accident, because shje felt abandoned by Jack. So as revenge, she had started her reign of terror against Tamara. Yellow version I knew something was up the moment I got Tamara's letter! Obviously she was scared for her life but - a ghost trying to kill her? Impossible ... or so I thought. I arrived at Tresyllian Castle and was admitted by pressing the eye on the wyvern carving by the gate. The butler asked my name and which was my favourite colour. Yellow, of course, the colour of my new sports car! Inside the gates, Tamara came flying out to meet me. We chatted for a while and I asked her about the ghost. She really was convinced the so-called White Lady was after her. Soon, she introduced me to Jack, her fiance. He was a real charmer! The other house guests were Vivien Pentreath, Montague Hyde (a shifty customer if ever I saw one), Iris Vane, Ian Fordyce and Dr Wendish. Evidently they were all there for Lionel's memorial birthday dinner. Lionel was Jack's uncle and Jack had inherited the castle from him. I asked all of them if they had seen the ghost. Jack, Vivien, Wendish and Ian hadn't seen it. Hyde had met the ghost and said it was going towards the tower. Iris had seen it on the tower stairs. The butler, Bolitho, showed me to my room. Before he left, I asked him about the ghost and he said he had seen it searching the carpet in the drawing room downstairs but it fled when it saw him. He gave me an aerosol that might help me and also said that if I wanted to check my appearance, the mirrors in the room would adjust. Too right, they did! When he left, I tried moving them and found a switch on the wall mirror. Behind it was a secret passage. After washing and changing, I wandered down for dinner. While I was waiting for the dinner gong to be rung, I searched the floor in the drawing room really carefully and found a red jewel. Once in the dining room, I noticed Bolitho placed a note on Jack's napkin so I sneakily read it. It seemed the servants, by arrangement in Lionel's will, were leaving the castle once the gong had been rung for dinner. One, Gladys, wouldn't be coming back. She had handed in her notice and left an explanatory note on the desk in the sitting room. I vowed to look for that later. The meal was just getting pleasantly under way when a voice came from the bust of Lionel that was in the room! I examined the bust and found it was hollow with a tape recorder in it. Obviously, Lionel had planned this evening well. He said that there was one valuable item he had brought back from his travels abroad hidden in the house. The first clue to find it was hidden under the punchbowl and Jack had the second. I read them both. The first was of a Polynesian diver holding a knife and plunging through black water. The second said: ".....yet the ear distinctly tells.... How the danger sinks and swells, By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the ____s" The meal finished and since I could only think of one word that would complete the verse - bell - I headed up to the tower where there was a bell. Examining it, I found the third clue which read: "....and so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling - my darling - my life and my bride..." I wandered through the Castle, unsure what to do next, till I came to the basement where there was an iron maiden in the dungeon. On impulse, I enetered it. The floor dropped away and I found myself in a secret tomb where there was a coffin. I opened the coffin and found the fourth clue. It said: If you search for "a cask of Amontillado", don't get trapped! There was a wine rack in the basement upstairs so I re-entered the maiden and returned to the basement. The walls there had loose bricks. I moved the bricks and made a hole. Climbing into the hole, I found a secret crypt in which was a skeleton and on the skeleton was a black pearl necklace - the missing treasure! I returned to the sitting room to read the maid's note. It seemed she had found something dreadful while cleaning someone's room (no name was mentioned) and also said that she refused to stay under the same roof where "things" were going on. At the end of the note she said that Jack might be interested to know that a certain pet shop in Frobzance sells more than harmlesspuppies, kittens and budgies. What could she mean? I decided the time had come to do a bit of snooping so I went round all the bedrooms and searched them. In Tamara's room was a jewelry case containing an earring and the earring had a jewel missing. Just then Tamara came in and was justifiably annoyed and finding me searching her room. I apologised and showed the jewel to her. Shw flinched a little but said she didn't recognise it but when I found the jewel fitted the earring perfectly, I knew I had a strong piece of evidence. Leaving Tamara's room, I noticed everyone was gettinbg ready to go to bed so I went to the kitchen where I had seen a lantern earlier and collected it to use to explore the secret passages I had found earlier. Close to the entrance to me bedroom, I found the ghost's costume and a blowgun. The costume had red hairs on it just like Tamara's! It looked as though my friend was deeply involved in something shady. I returned to her room via the secret passages and looked under the bed. I found a journal which had in it a descrption of a black pearl necklace and also a receipt which was from the pet shop in Frobzance. It was a receipt for the purchase of an adder and had Iris's name viciously crossed out. I woke and accused Tamara. Jack dashed into the room and Tamara confessed to fraud. It transpired that Tamara was afraid that Iris was a rival for Jack's affection so she tried to make it seem as thouggh Isis was the vengeful "ghost", bent on killing Jack's new love, Tamara.