Saturday · Hollowell, Shropshire · 3:40 PM

Ruled Out

A Bellwether Mystery

A famous author is dead in the green room. Twelve suspects. One locked door.

You run Bellwether, a two-partner detective agency in a small English market town. On Friday, Dame Vivienne Blythe hires you to find who has been leaving threatening notes in her pigeonhole at the Hollowell book festival. By Saturday afternoon she is dead, on your watch, and Detective Sergeant Buchanan would like to know what exactly you were hired for.

Get it on Google Play Free · Android

Painted illustration: a young man in a green jacket examines a teacup through a magnifying glass at a town book festival at dusk

How it plays

Every clue is on the page. Read each scene closely. Clues are marked as you find them and go straight into your case file, next to notes on everyone you meet.
Rule them out. At the desk, test each suspect against what you know. Clear the innocent with evidence, not hunches. Pick the wrong clue and Sergeant Buchanan's patience (and her tea) runs low.
One complete case. Twelve episodes of about five minutes each, and a real ending. No waiting weeks for the next chapter.
Make the detective yours. Choose your name, your look and how people address you. Kit has the eye for detail. You have the final word.

Painted portrait of Kit, a fair-haired man in a green jacket — **Kit** · your partner

Painted portrait of Detective Sergeant Buchanan, a woman with greying red hair and a tartan scarf — **DS Buchanan** · not impressed

Game screen: Kit at the agency office saying 'Phone. It's a Dame.' — Friday, 6:10 PM. The phone rings.

Game screen: three threatening notes on cream notepaper, added to the case file — Three notes. The paper is a clue.

Game screen: the desk, with ten suspects still on the list and three cups of tea left — The desk: who can't even get in?

A cosy mystery, properly fair

Everything you need to solve it is in front of you. The fun is in noticing.

Short and complete

Twelve five-minute episodes. Scenes fit a bus ride; the whole case fits a weekend.

For ages 13 and up

A murder, off the page. No gore, no swearing, and a pint or two at the pub.

Play it now

Ruled Out: Bellwether Mystery is free on Google Play. Questions or ideas? We'd love to hear from you.

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