Black Stories 2013 ~ Case 04: Surprise

[Dead Princess Sakana]

So it has been over two years since I abandoned the last iteration of Black Stories on MotK due to ~*~circumstances~*~. I had almost forgotten that I ever ran this game, until...
Yesterday a certain shim brought the topic up again. So here we are again, it's time to dust off the case-cards and start working those brains!

The old thread - containing links to all previously solved cases - can be found here

But before we begin, let me greet you and explain what you are going to do here.

Greetings, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am honored that you have followed my invitation once more.
I see before my eyes right now some of the finest detectives this world has to offer.
Now I am sure you wonder for what reason I might have called you.

Tonight, I shall present to you riddles, cases and mysteries that yearn for solution.
It shall be your task to take what I give you and work your way towards the truth.
So take a seat, have a tea and sharpen your minds, for our game shall begin now.

In this thread I want to invite all of you again to play the game 'Black Stories', which I'm sure many of you know by a lot of different names.
The game is simple:
I will give you a short description of a case, only a bare minimum of facts.
Your goal is to resolve the case and find the truth behind the events there.
To reach that goal, you will ask me questions that I will answer.

So, here are the rules:
> Every question you give me must be answerable with 'Yes' or 'No'
> I will answer with 'Yes, 'No' or 'Irrelevant/ Unknown'
> To solve a case, simply state the truth of what happened. I will then tell you if you are right or - if you are wrong - which parts are correct.
> There might be situations in which I may provide a little more information than just Y/N (i.e. if you're horribly stuck), but I will ask beforehand if you want me to reveal anything
> At points, it might be helpful for you to try and sum up the information you have gathered. I will then state whether your summary/ conclusion is correct.
> Everyone may post as often and with as much questions as he/she wants to, even if I have not answered their previous question yet, but please don't overdo it (No 20 questions in one post, for example)
> I will try to answer as often as possible, but due to time zones I might not be around during the most active times. Please bear with me there.

>The riddles all consist of events that are possible, however often improbable, in the real world. Riddles where the use of supernatural explanations is allowed will be specified as such.

Some more meta information:
Be fair and don't answer to riddles that you know the answer for from the start. A number of those cases might be widely known around the world, maybe with slight variations so if you are not sure if the riddle you know is the same one I'm asking, simply PM me.
If anyone knows a riddle he/she wants to let people solve, simply say so in the thread or PM me.

Detective's Record
Case 01: Camping - Solved
Case 02: Fun at Work - Solved
Case 03: BT's Round ~ Impossible Trial - Solved
Case 04: Surprise




So with this done, we shall start right away with our newest riddle:

Case 01: Camping
Shortly after Harry had arrived at the camping ground some people died there.

[FinnKaenbyou]

>Is Harry a hurricane?

[Yaersulf]

>Did harry kill the people?

[BT]

Oh, I love these. Case 01 seems really... bland, though. I'm used to a short 'story'. OK!

>Is the number of deceased relevant?
>Are all the bodies still 'there'?

[Dead Princess Sakana]

Oh, I love these. Case 01 seems really... bland, though. I'm used to a short 'story'.

I'll just say that goes for a lot of the fifth edition cases I'm using right now. I also have the "Real Crime" edition, which isn't too bad, but I'll probably also get the second edition soon because the earlier ones were often better. (Most of the cases in the first thread were from the first edition.)

>Is Harry a hurricane?

Heheh, someone is starting off strong here: Yes

>Did harry kill the people?

No

>Is the number of deceased relevant?

No

>Are all the bodies still 'there'?

No

[BT]

Well there's not much left now is there?

>Were the deceased expecting Harry?
>Were there survivors?

[The Hating Hater]

>Did Harry ate all the marshmellows?

[FinnKaenbyou]

>Is the camping ground in an unusual location?

>Are the campers using the camping ground unusual?

[Sect]

> Did the people die because of damage caused by Harry?

[Bound]

>Did the people die of water or food poisoning?

[Pesco]

Were the dead people non-civilians (e.g. rescue services, research staff, military etc)?

[BT]

A note: I've played this game before with 'points', where every question adds one to the count, 'good' questions don't count and are worth -2 points, 'very good' questions are the same but '-5' and the solution doesn't count and ends the game. Aim for the least amount of points. I find that it makes it more competitive and limits walls of useless questioning. :V

[Dead Princess Sakana]

>Were the deceased expecting Harry?

Unknown, but you may assume they did know about Harry beforehand

>Were there survivors?

Yes

>Is the camping ground in an unusual location?

No

>Are the campers using the camping ground unusual?

No

> Did the people die because of damage caused by Harry?

No

>Did the people die of water or food poisoning?

No

Were the dead people non-civilians (e.g. rescue services, research staff, military etc)?

No, everyone that died was a normal camper

A note: I've played this game before with 'points', where every question adds one to the count, 'good' questions don't count and are worth -2 points, 'very good' questions are the same but '-5' and the solution doesn't count and ends the game. Aim for the least amount of points. I find that it makes it more competitive and limits walls of useless questioning. :V

Huh, interesting. I can see the appeal of playing it like that, but I'll frankly admit that I'd probably not be able to keep track of scores and all properly.  :V If there's interest in playing one or two rounds like that, that's an option, but at least for me it's not something I'd do permanently.

[BT]

>Were the deaths caused directly by humans?

Yeah, I guess it's kind of a bother. If I host a round (I want to! I have a few cases on my mind.) I think I'll do it myself.

[Keegster2]

> Was Harry a small hurricane?

> Did anyone die by natural causes?

[UncertainJakutten]

Hrm...I think I might have figured out the solution, is there any penalty for guessing now and being wrong?

EDIT: DERP I CAN READ.

Ok, so Harry the Hurricane comes ripping through this campsite. The campers were expecting it, but what they didn't expect was their food and water supplies to be ruined for whatever reason. They also ended up stranded by the hurricane. A few days in the aftermath they were hungry. VERY hungry. So hungry, in fact, they might have killed a few of their own for food before getting rescued.

[FinnKaenbyou]

>Did Harry occur naturally, or was he a by-product of whatever killed the campers?

[Conqueror]

>Did the campers get there after the hurricane had already struck?

[CrowCakes]

>Is Harry's time of arrival relevant?
>Is the time of the year relevant?
>Was there a lightning storm when Harry arrived?
>Were the campers in their tents when Harry arrived?
>Did Harry take the bodies away with him?

[Dead Princess Sakana]

>Were the deaths caused directly by humans?

No

> Was Harry a small hurricane?

No

> Did anyone die by natural causes?

No

Ok, so Harry the Hurricane comes ripping through this campsite. The campers were expecting it, but what they didn't expect was their food and water supplies to be ruined for whatever reason. They also ended up stranded by the hurricane. A few days in the aftermath they were hungry. VERY hungry. So hungry, in fact, they might have killed a few of their own for food before getting rescued.

No. I have marked the correct part in red (because we all like our Umineko references), as you can see that's not too much.

>Did Harry occur naturally

Yes

or was he a by-product of whatever killed the campers?

No

>Did the campers get there after the hurricane had already struck?

No, they were there before Harry occurred

>Is Harry's time of arrival relevant?

No

>Is the time of the year relevant?

No, let's assume summer or fall

>Was there a lightning storm when Harry arrived?

No

>Were the campers in their tents when Harry arrived?

Unknown, but probably Yes

>Did Harry take the bodies away with him?

No

[Bound]

>Did someone take the bodies away?
>Did the campers try to escape from Harry?

[BT]

Case 01: Camping
Shortly after Harry had arrived at the camping ground some people died there.

Yeah, there was always this.

>Did the campers expect to die the way they did?
>Did anyone else expect the campers to die the way they did?
>Stupid, but were their deaths caused indirectly by humans?
>>By their own doing?

[UncertainJakutten]

It's Lupus :|

More seriously, um, hmm...

>Were the campers isolated at all by the storm?

[capt. h]

They say there's only a few ways to die. Natural, accidental, and murder. I think suicide is there too. So.

> Did any campers commit suicide?

> Did any campers die accidentally?

> Did any campers die of any type of poisoning?

> Did any campers die of drowning?

> Did any campers suffocate to death?

> Did any campers get mauled to death by an wild animal?

> Did any campers die of blunt force trauma?

> Did any campers burn to death?

> Did all campers have the same cause of death?

[Bound]

Idea: When Harry arrived, the campers ran to their cars and tried to escape. They died in a panic-induced multiple car crash.

[FinnKaenbyou]

>Did Harry steal away something important that caused the campers to die? (i.e. they died because this important thing was not there.)

[Dead Princess Sakana]

>Did someone take the bodies away?

You could say that, Yes

>Did the campers try to escape from Harry?

No

>Did the campers expect to die the way they did?

No

>Did anyone else expect the campers to die the way they did?

Unknown, but not impossible

>Stupid, but were their deaths caused indirectly by humans?

Certainly not a stupid question. The answer though is No

>>By their own doing?

And thus No to this too

It's Lupus :|

>Were the campers isolated at all by the storm?

Possible, but unknown and thus irrelevant


As for the following: I'll just say that while my rules don't exactly forbid asking this many questions - and while it certainly leads to results - I think many will feel that this is kinda unsportsmanlike to just rattle off everything you can think of. Please try to not to do it that way too often.

> Did any campers commit suicide?

No

> Did any campers die accidentally?

No

> Did any campers die of any type of poisoning?

No

> Did any campers die of drowning?

No

> Did any campers suffocate to death?

No

> Did any campers get mauled to death by an wild animal?

Yes

> Did any campers die of blunt force trauma?

No

> Did any campers burn to death?

No

> Did all campers have the same cause of death?

Yes

Idea: When Harry arrived, the campers ran to their cars and tried to escape. They died in a panic-induced multiple car crash.

Not at all

>Did Harry steal away something important that caused the campers to die? (i.e. they died because this important thing was not there.)

No, Harry did not steal the precious thing

[FinnKaenbyou]

OK, idea.
>Various dangerous wild animals were caught up in the hurricane and landed in the campsite. They then proceeded to eat the campers.

[Raitaki]

> Was the campers' cause of death related to weather?
> Was the campers' cause of death related to a health condition?
> Was the campers' cause of death related to fire?

[Dead Princess Sakana]

OK, idea.
>Various dangerous wild animals were caught up in the hurricane and landed in the campsite. They then proceeded to eat the campers.

Yes

While I could be nitpicky for details, I won't be this time, since we're just warming up again. I did, however, remember that the cards I use have some pictures on the solution as well, so I will from now on post those.

Harry was an especially strong hurricane, that caused the water level in the adjacent swamps to rise.
Some alligators were swept to a nearby camping ground by the water,
where they devoured several campers.

Well well, that wasn't too hard to start with, was it? Nicely done. Now on to the next one~

Case 02: Fun at work
The three friends wanted to take some funny pictures at their workplace.
One of them did not go home anymore on that day.