Case 001 // The Skydock Killing

Solve a murder with nothing but a phone

Cyber Sleuth is a detective game played entirely as phone calls. Ring the people around a killing, listen to what they tell you in their own voices — and to what they won’t — then charge one of them before the custody clock runs out.

Coming soon on theApp Store

Coming soon onGoogle Play

iPhone and Android · speak your questions, or type them

[01] // The file

Every case opens on a file and a clock

A victim, a scene, a window of time, and three people you can ring right now. Case 001 starts on a Sunday morning in Nio City: an arcology developer is dead on his own skydock the night of his birthday dinner. Twelve guests. Six matter. You have the custody clock, a call line, and nothing else.

Forty-eight hours on the custody clock, and every call costs two of them
Hang-ups count — a call you cut short still takes its two hours
Charge one person, with a motive, an opportunity and a contradiction

The case file for The Skydock Killing: the victim, Marcus Hale, the scene at Fenwick Spire, the time of death, the three rules of engagement and a 48-hour custody clock

[02] // The line

Then you pick up the phone and ask

There is no menu of questions. You speak — hold the mic like a walkie-talkie, or tap it and leave the line open — and they answer in their own voice, a sentence at a time. A widow with guests still in the house, a business partner between meetings, a son who wasn’t expecting the call. Everyone wants something from the conversation, and not everyone is telling you the truth.

Hold to talk, slide away to cancel, or lock the line open
No mic handy? Type the question and transmit it instead
A name you hear on a call unlocks a new contact; the rest stay encrypted

A live call with Jenna Hale: her greeting, the detective's first question, and the line waiting for her answer, with Hang up and Transmit below

The call line: the custody clock at 46 hours, three contacts to dial, two encrypted slots and the Lab Line

[03] // The evidence

The file fills in while the clock runs

The medical examiner, the skyway gate’s log, a note from the scene. More arrives as you work — the victim’s handset is still at the lab — and the Lab Line will cross-reference anything already in the file. It answers one question per request, and it never offers a theory.

Evidence drops as the case moves, not all at once
Put it to someone on a call and they have to answer to it
Cite something you don’t actually have, and they’ll know

The evidence file at the start of the case: the medical examiner's findings, the skyway gate's log, a note from the scene, and the victim's handset, locked and at the lab

[04] // The charge

Charge one person, and make it stick

When you think you have them, file it: one suspect, and a motive, an opportunity and a contradiction to hold them to. Each slot can only be filled from what you have actually learned. The DA files or declines — and a decline costs two hours the clock won’t give back, so a guess is expensive.

Every slot shows only what’s genuinely in play
A weak chain is turned down, and told what was weak
When the clock reaches zero, the file closes without you

The File Charge screen before anything is attached: three people to choose from and empty motive, opportunity and contradiction slots

Terms of engagement

The rules, as a table

Custody clock48:00:00

Each call−2 hours, hang-ups included

New people to callonly when someone names them

The Lab Linecross-reference only, never a theory

Push someone too hardtheir counsel picks up

A weak chargethe DA declines · −2 hours

Also on the line

A witness you can’t sweet-talk into a confession

sys // 01

They only know what they’ll say

A character can’t be tricked into giving up what you haven’t earned. What you haven’t pushed them into isn’t in their script to let slip — so cases crack with detective work, not clever wording.

sys // 02

Their own voices

Everyone is voiced, from the ring and the first hello to the last word, and a reply starts playing while the rest of it is still being said.

sys // 03

A notebook that keeps itself

Every claim lands in your notes with who said it and on which call. Two that can’t both be true are what a charge is built from.

sys // 04

Pressure has a price

Lean on someone and they get warier. Lean too far and their counsel picks up — and that line goes quiet for good.

sys // 05

No hand-holding

No tutorial voice, no pop-up telling you a clue unlocked. The clock, the people and the way they talk to you are all the feedback you get.

sys // 06

iPhone and Android

The same case and the same clock on both. Speak your questions out loud, or type them when you can’t.

Sunday, 09:00 // Nio City Div-7

You would like the person who picked up the hook

Fourteen years in Division 7, the last six on the line. The Hale file landed at 07:40, and Corp-Sec would like it closed quietly. Nobody above you is going to help.