L'AFFAIRE VERA CRUZ

Written by Gilles Blancon





You have just been appointed Detective Sergeant in

the Crime Squad at Saint Etienne (Loire). As an

Officer of the Police and in your capacity as a Judicial

Police Officer, you are capable of leading any criminal

investigation.

No sooner have you taken up your new post when

you are called upon to investigate what the press are

fast terming - THE VERA CRUZ AFFAIR.

On the 8th August, 1986, you are notified by the

caretaker at the 'Forest' apartment block of the

discovery of a body. It has been provisionally

identified as one of the residents and, from the

caretaker's description, it is believed to be a case of

suicide with a shotgun as the weapon involved.

You and your team must go to the scene to ascertain

the facts. Once this is complete you will have to carry

out the actual investigation, using the methods at

your disposal.





LOADING AND START UP

The program is in two parts, once the first part has

loaded STOP THE TAPE.



MSX 1, MSX 2:

Cassette version: Press Shift during start up. Press

play on tape. Key RUN "CAS:" on the keyboard and

press RETURN. The program will load automatically

and once loading is complete stop the tape.

Disc version: Insert the disk and switch on the

computer and the program will load automatically.



AMSTRAD:

Cassette version: Insert your tape. For the 664 and

6128 key in | TAPE (To get |, press SHIFT and @

simultaneously) on the keyboard. Then for all

Amstrad cassette computers, press the CTRL key and

the small ENTER key by the numeric keypad. The

message RUN" will appear on screen. Press play on

tape. The program will load and run automatically.



Disc version : Insert the disk and key in | CPM (to get

|, press SHIFT and @ simultaneously) on the

keyboard.  The  program  will  load  and  run

automatically.



SPECTRUM:

Key LOAD"" on the keyboard. The program will load

automatically.



PRINCIPLE OF THE GAME

Has the resident at the FOREST really committed

suicide as the caretaker believes?



You must start your investigation by carrying out

routine inquiries at the scene of the crime. HOWEVER,

a word of advice, AN INVESTIGATION CANNOT END

WITHOUT EFFICIENT AND EXHAUSTIVE INQUIRIES.

These serve as a basis for research and often

evidence. Remember this ...





1. The Forest Residence: The scene of the Crime.

The victim is lying on the floor in the middle of the

room. As you study this macabre scene you notice

that various items are slightly disarranged. You

mustn't touch anything, but you are able to take

photos.



MOVING THE CAMERA - Use the cursor keys. TAKING

A PHOTO - Press COPY for Amstrad, INS for MSX and

SPACE BAR for Spectrum.



Make sure that you have made a note of ALL the

details and, when you are ready press ENTER. Disk

versions will load automatically, while on cassette

versions you will need to press PLAY on your tape

recorder. If you change your mind before the second

part is activated, press R and you will return to the

scene of the crime.



It is time to summarise the evidence and as you

speed back to your office you make a list of suspicious

details. Key in each piece of evidence, separating

each one with a space and, once the list seems

complete, press ENTER.





2. The State Police Force

The State Police Force is one of the oldest French

institutions since its origins date back to the

Marshalsea during Napoleon's time. Its experience

regarding judicial affairs has led it to computerise

very quickly, far in advance of similar services in

other countries.



This is one of the reasons why, in addition to

traditional methods (such as comparing evidence /

interviews / alibis, etc.) you can use the DIAMOND

COMPUTER NETWORK. Utilising this sophisticated

system, you will be able to communicate with other

police  services,  justice  departments,  prison

administrations and, of course, with the National

Police.





Access procedures for the Diamond Network.

Code M (Message)



A message addressed to any service must include the

code for that service and its base town. The message

must include the type of information required in as

much detail as possible.



The reply from the service contacted will arrive in the

form of a listing in a few minutes.



Code P (Printer)

If you have an 80 column printer you will not need to

take notes manually. All you have to do to keep track

of your evidence is to press the P key. To deactivate

press the same key again.



N.B.:	All messages must be confirmed by pressing

ENTER.





Services you can contact on the Diamond Network.



Another Police Squad

Computer Code GIE + name of squad.



If you want to contact the St Galmier squad (42) write

GIE St Galmier opposite 'ORIG', and then make up

your message in the form - INFORMATION ON 'xxx'

AFFAIR. If the squad you communicate with is

concerned with that particular case it will reply giving

you all the information in its possession. There is one

police squad per town.



District squad for judicial information.

Computer Code BDRJ.



There is one police squad per district (as opposed to

town) which will tell you if a particular person is

wanted by the police. You address your requests to

BDRJ  St  Etienne  in  the  following  way  -

IDENTIFICATION OF DUPONT LEON - and if this

person is wanted you will be told by whom and why.



Judicial Research and Comparison Centre

Computer code CRRJ.



The police force has a research co-ordination centre.

If you wish to know the record of someone known to

the judiciary or to make a comparison on a particular

object which could be a clue, you can contact this

service using CRRJ LYON and should compose your

message as follows - INFORMATION ON 'OBJECT'-

(as much information as possible) or ON 'A CERTAIN

PERSON' (Christian name and surname). If the person

has a record you will get a photograph and some

information.



Police Headquarters.

Computer Code PREF.



To get the name of the owner of a vehicle from the

registration number, you should address your

messages to PREF St ETIENNE (if it is 42 vehicle, the

number of a vehicle corresponding to a town) then

input the message IDENTIFICATION No 1111 AA 42,

for example. If the registration is useful to the inquiry

you will get the information you require.



Prisons.

Computer Code PRIS.



If you wish to obtain some information on a detainee

you  should  address  your  request  to  PRIS

BEAUMETTES or PRIS ST PAUL, with a message such

as - INFORMATION ON DUPONT LEON. If this is

useful to the inquiry you will quickly get a reply.



Police Station

Computer Code CIAT.



Certain police stations may have dealt with

something, or someone! , connected with your

investigation, it might be useful to contact them to get

additional information. You can call them up using,

for example CIAT MARSEILLE, then compose your

message to read - INFORMATION ON 'xxx' AFFAIR.





Traditional Methods.

Option S : Statement.

To hear someone's statement you need to know their

name and address (or where they can be found).



Option C : Comparison of Evidence.

You can compare an alibi or other evidence of one

person with certain facts collected during the

investigation. But this comparison can only be carried

out on the basis of a statement.



Option E : Various Examinations.

In your capacity as a Judiciary Police Officer you can

carry  out  different  examinations  such  as

graphological examinations or an Autopsy (e.g.

AUTOPSY VERA CRUZ).



Option A : Arrest.

If you are certain of someone's guilt, it only remains

for you to arrest him.



FINAL ADVICE : Watch out for arbitrary arrest. Have

you got all your facts right? Have you got an airtight

case?

In case of difficulty check your keyboard is in

capital letters.

Now it's up to you. Good Luck.



-- End of Instructions --



See VERACRUZ.GIF for a map of France showing various relevant towns & districts.



-- End of File --

