Deadline walkthrough

DEADLINE (Infocom)
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Here  is  the  solution  for  solving Infocom's mystery game, Deadline. All
commands  which  should  be typed in exactly as you see them are in quotes.
Directional movements are in brackets. E.g., "OPEN DOOR" and [N,N,E]. Robin
Hood  did an excellent job of explaining the solution, but because of typos
or  perhaps because of different versions of Deadline, it didn't work on my
copy.

So, the corrections are attributable to me, Tamerlane of the Ring. From the
front  path  of the Robner's estate, go [N] to the front door of the house.
Type  "OPEN DOOR" and go [N] into the Robners' house. From inside the door,
go [N,E] and type "CLIMB STAIRS" twice (or you can just go [U,U]) to get to
the  second  level of the estate. From there, go [W,W,W,W,N] to the library
where  you  will  start  the  first  of  a  series  of Sherlock Holmes-type
activities.  In  Deadline,  you need to establish the motive and method for
the  murder  beyond  all  reasonable doubt before you can arrest the guilty
party.  If  you  don't  have  an  air-tight  case, the jury will acquit the
defendant.

It  is  here  in  the  library where we go about establishing the method by
which  poor  Mr. Robner was done in. First off, type "EXAMINE RUG" (or just
"LOOK  RUG").  You  will find some mud spots which is your first clue. Now,
"GET  THE  CUP,  PAD, CALENDAR AND PENCIL" and "RUB PENCIL ON PAD" and then
"TURN PAGE OF CALENDAR." Aha! Perhaps a clue as to the motive? Let's see if
we can substantiate the method a little more...that mud on the rug was very
interesting.

Type "OPEN BALCONY DOOR" and go [N] onto the balcony. Check out the railing
by  typing  "EXAMINE  RAILING"  and  you  will  see some scratches, lending
credence  to  the  theory  that perhaps the murderer climbed up the balcony
from  the ground below where he (or she) got mud on his shoes. Let's have a
look below and check for some indication that the murderer was indeed below
the balcony.

To leave the balcony, go [S,S,E,E,E,E,D,D,W,S]. Type "OPEN DOOR" and go [S]
back  to  the  front door. Now go [E,E,SE] to the shed where you will see a
ladder.  Type  "EXAMINE  LADDER."  Hmmm! This ladder- and-balcony theory is
looking  good!  Let's see if we can prove the ladder was below the balcony.
This  will  have  to wait a while, though, because it's getting late in the
morning  and  we  have  to  do  some  more checking in the house before the
reading  of  the will takes place. And besides that, we need to talk to Mr.
McNabb and he doesn't seem to be in the mood right now.

Go  back  to  the  house  by  heading  [N,S,N]  and head back upstairs with
[N,N,E,U,U].  Let's  see  what  else  we  can  find upstairs. Go [S,S] into
Dunbar's bathroom. Type "OPEN CABINET" and "EXAMINE LOBLO." Aha, again! Now
we  go back downstairs and see if we can find Mr. McNabb to see if he knows
anything about a ladder under the balcony. Go [N,N,D,D,W,S,S]. Let's take a
break  for  a while. Type "WAIT UNTIL 11:30." And now for Mr. McNabb. Let's
try the garden path first with [E,NE,E,W].

If McNabb is not around, just wait for a while or snoop around the area and
he  will  soon show up. Deadline is very unpredictable when it comes to the
various  characters moving around the scenario. Once you spot McNabb, go to
him  and  say  "HEY  MCNABB"  followed by "WHAT IS WRONG." He will tell you
about some holes he found in his garden so, naturally, you say "SHOW ME THE
HOLES." He will take off and you "FOLLOW HIM." When he stops, type "EXAMINE
HOLES."  Eureka!  The  ladder  was  here  and the depth of the holes proves
somebody  climbed  it up to the balcony! To make sure we cover every angle,
type "EXAMINE GROUND" and "DIG AROUND HOLES." Hmmm...wonder what this could
be  about? To find out, type "ANALYZE FRAGMENT FOR LOBLO." Oops, it's later
than  we  thought!  Back  to  the  house  for  the  reading of the will. Go
[N,SW,SE,E]  to the house and [N,N,W] into the living room. Now just "WAIT"
for the will to be read.

After  the  will  is read, you decide to see if you can roust some of those
present into giving you some clues as to the guilty party and, perhaps, the
motive  for  the  crime.  Let's  start  with  George. Type "SHOW GEORGE THE
CALENDAR." He will get very nervous and start heading out of the room. Type
"FOLLOW HIM" until he finally goes to his room. He will keep telling you to
leave him alone, but just keep following him until he enters his room.

At  this  point,  you decide to see if George knows more then he's telling.
You  aren't going to get anything from him here, so let's go to the balcony
and  wait  to  see  if he does anything. Go [W,N,N] to the balcony and type
"WAIT  10  MINUTES."  Voila!  Here  he comes! Wait until he goes behind the
bookshelf and then type "WAIT 4 MINUTES" to give him time to really get his
hands  into  the  cookie  jar. When your 4 minutes are up, go [S], "EXAMINE
BOOKSHELF,"  "PRESS  BUTTON,"  and go [E]. Ha! Caught him red-handed!! Type
"GET WILL," "LOOK SAFE," "GET PAPERS," and "READ PAPERS."

Things  are  beginning to look up! Let's see if we can substantiate some of
this  stuff.  Go  back  to  the living room with [W,S,E,E,E,E,D,D,W,W]. My,
isn't this cozy! Type "HEY BAXTER," "WHAT ABOUT FOCUS." You know he's lying
so  you  "SHOW  PAPERS  TO  BAXTER." Ah, that's better! Now for some clever
psycho-detective  work.  Type  "SHOW  LAB  REPORT  TO DUNBAR" and "SHOW LAB
REPORT  TO  BAXTER." Whip around and "ACCUSE DUNBAR." Hmmm...a tad nervous,
isn't she? Perhaps we should go off and wait to see what develops.

Go  [E] to leave the room and "WAIT FOR DUNBAR." Just as we suspected! When
she  passes you, type "FOLLOW HER." Once outside the house, she will drop a
ticket.  Type  "GET  TICKET"  and "READ TICKET." WOW! This is getting good!
Type  "SHOW  TICKET  TO  DUNBAR." You know you've got her on the run now so
head  off  to the shed to wait and see what develops. Go [E,E,SE] and "WAIT
FOR  BAXTER."  When  they both show up, "SHOW TICKET TO BAXTER" and "ARREST
BAXTER AND DUNBAR." You didn't believe them for a minute, did you?

Due  to  the  dynamic  nature of Deadline, there are several ways to end up
accusing  Baxter  and  Dunbar of the murder. There are also more puzzles to
solve,  but this is all that is necessary to put together an air-tight case
against them.

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