The Secret of Foxglove Manor

🕯️ The Goal

Someone in Foxglove Manor took the Moonlight Orchid and Lady Eleanor’s Codex. There are four suspects: Lord Arthur, Dr. Maeve, Gideon and Helena. Your job is to work out who did it, how (the method) and why (the motive) — and to prove it with two pieces of evidence.

Nothing in the game announces the culprit. Every new case is generated fresh, so the truth is different each time you begin. You get one verdict per case, and it cannot be taken back.

🌙 Your Week: Days, Candles & Evenings

• You have 7 days, and 3 candles each day. The bar at the top always shows the day and your candles.
• A candle burns when you examine an object or ask a suspect a question. Reading, flipping cards, testing alibis, journaling and pinning are always free.
• When the third candle goes out, evening falls. You must write that day’s journal entry (at least 25 characters, in your own words) and press Seal the Day. That opens the next dawn with three fresh candles.
• Want to stop early? Close the day spends what is left and moves you to the evening.
• After the seventh evening it is time to name the culprit. You may also accuse earlier, once you have at least 5 pieces of evidence and have questioned 2 suspects.

🗺️ Estate Map: Chambers & Objects

Six chambers sit on the map: the Conservatory, the Solarium, the Library, the Wine Cellar, the Walled Garden and the Herb Pantry. Tap a pin to step inside. Each chamber holds three objects. You choose which one to examine — the names and short descriptions are your only hint, so read them like a detective.

• The dice: every examination rolls a d6. On a 1 the candle sputters and one extra candle burns (if you have one). On a 6 the flame holds and the candle is spared. Otherwise it simply burns.
• An object you have already examined can be re-read for free at any time.
• Some objects are atmosphere only — they cost a candle but give you a mood to write about. Others hold the records that decide the case.

💬 Questioning the Suspects

Open a suspect from the Suspects & Loupe tab. Each one offers up to five things:

• Three questions (their evening, what they saw of the others, what the orchid means to them). Each costs a candle and you choose how to ask:
  • Gently — builds trust (+1).
  • Press — lowers trust (−1), but you notice how they react: a nervous tell or a calm face.
• Present the evidence — once you have found the object that points at them, put it to them and hear their explanation. It becomes a Statement in your Evidence tab.
• Confide — when trust reaches 2, the suspect will confide something personal. It is free and gives +1 Insight.

A word of caution: a nervous tell is only nerves. The guilty and the merely embarrassed both fidget, and innocent people do too. Treat tells as a nudge, never as proof — the records decide.

In the portrait loupe (tap a suspect’s picture) you can notice small details for free. They are good material for your journal.

🔍 Evidence & Tokens

Every object you examine becomes an illustrated token in the Evidence tab. Tap a token to turn it over and read what you found. The game never tells you what a token proves: you compare it with what people told you.

Each token notes where and when you found it, and offers Quote in today’s entry to copy it into your journal.

⚖️ The Contradiction Grid

Alibi Timeline. Each suspect’s alibi names an hour. Drag a name onto the hour it claims (or tap the name, then tap the hour). Records you have found are filed under the hour they speak to.

Cross-Examination Board. Drag a record onto a suspect’s alibi — or tap the record, then tap Test on their card. It costs nothing, but you can only test what you have actually discovered. The result tells you whether the record:

• ⚡ contradicts the alibi — the story cannot be true;
• ⚠ weakens it — the alibi is unproven, but nothing places them elsewhere;
• ✓ supports it — their story holds;
• · has no bearing on it.

Beware the decoy: in every case one innocent person looks suspicious for a while. Another record somewhere in the manor can explain it. Keep searching before you accuse.

✍️ The Casebook Journal

• The Day’s Chronicle is written for you as you play: every search, question, tell and test.
• Prompts are built from what actually happened that day. Tap one to start writing.
• Write your evening entry in your own words. A real entry earns +1 Insight.
• Sensory Oracle: once a day, roll a d6 to get a sense (sound, smell, touch…) and a writing prompt for the chamber you last searched.
• Past days stay editable. Export 7-Day TXT saves your words; Print Keepsake PDF prints the chronicle and your entries; Backup (.json) lets you restore the whole game on any device.
• At the verdict the game quotes your own words back at you.

🍵 Tea, Talents & Insight

You may sip your tea once a day (free). Each blend does something different:

• Bergamot & Lavender Grey — your next search cannot sputter.
• Smoked Lapsang — gain 1 Insight at once.
• Chamomile & Heather — your next question is free.
• Spiced Elderberry — your next find also tells you whom it concerns.

Your sleuth’s talent (chosen at the start) makes your first search each day free in two chambers — Herbalist: Conservatory & Pantry · Appraiser: Library & Solarium · Cousin: Cellar & Garden — and colours what you notice.

Insight comes from sealing real journal entries and from confidences. Spend 1 on a Hunch: it names the chamber that still holds something worth a candle.

🕯️ Deduction Yarn & the Verdict

• On the Deduction Yarn pin your suspect, the method and the motive, then cite exactly two pieces of proof you have found.
• The strongest proof is a record that breaks someone’s account. Two pieces that point the same way are also sound. A weak case may still name the right person — but it will not convince the household.
• In the Verdict chamber, choose your moral decision, then press Stamp the Seal. There is one verdict.
• There are 8 endings, graded on how sound your deduction was. You earn up to 5 candles of rating, and a Chronicler’s Seal for keeping a real journal.
• Afterwards the game reveals what really happened, and you can begin a new case with a different truth. Your old casebook is kept on the Shelf of Past Cases.

🧭 Detective’s Tips

• Read the alibis closely. Each names an hour and a place. The objects named after those places are good first stops.
• Compare, don’t collect. The question is never “what did I find?” but “does this match what they told me?”
• Seek the explanation. If a record makes someone look guilty, ask what could innocently explain it — and look for that record.
• Don’t lean on tells. They narrow the field but they cannot decide it.
• Put on headphones, switch on the rain or the hearth, make the tea. This is a cosy game: let the evenings be slow.

💾 Saving, Backing Up & Installing

• Autosave: everything is saved on this device as you play. Nothing is sent anywhere.
• Backup (.json) in the Journal tab downloads a copy you can restore on any phone or computer. Do this before clearing your browser or changing device.
• Install as an app: on Android (Chrome) open the ⋮ menu → Install app or Add to Home screen. On iPhone/iPad (Safari) tap Share → Add to Home Screen. Installed copies work offline and are less likely to lose your saves.
• If the installed app ever shows an error page, close it completely and open it again once — it will update itself and then open normally.
• Starting a new case never deletes your journal: it moves to the Shelf of Past Cases (download any of them as .txt).