Shadows OverScotland Player Handouts - Cubicle 7

Shadows Over Scotland
Handout 1. Carmichael’s Letter
Dear Sir,
- S c e n a r i o 4 : H e e d t h e K r a k e n ’ s C a l l H a n d o u t s -
Detective Constable John Carmichael
Inverness Police Office
19 Union Street
Inverness, Highlands
I write to you requesting your aid in a terrible tragedy here in Inverness. Not more than twentyfour
hours ago, the celebrated Norwegian naval explorer Erik Øland was murdered in his hotel
room under mysterious circumstances. At the same time, or thereabouts, his vessel ‘The Kraken’
was dynamited near the Inverness docks in the Moray Firth. Word of Øland’s murder has not yet
reached the newspapers and, for the time being, we are keeping matters quiet to help facilitate
our investigation. The explosion has been explained away as belonging to an accident aboard a
decrepit fishing trawler.
Let me briefly explain the situation. Øland was found murdered shortly after midnight by a
hotel maid, who was asked to inform him of the destruction of The Kraken. This maid found the
explorer lying face down on the floor with a Highlanders’ dagger protruding from his back. He
was clutching a bloodied piece of paper in his left hand. On the paper was a Norwegian phrase:
“han var en død mann—morderen”. We have had this translated as: “he was a dead man—the murderer”.
Øland appears to state that his murderer was ‘a dead man’; we are currently looking into other
possible explanations, including metaphorical, for this message.
As I am the only detective constable in Inverness, and this is a high profile case requiring
delicate and urgent attention, I have requested and been granted leave to invite you, and any
colleagues who may prove useful in the investigation, to Inverness. You were recommended to me
by a number of individuals in the service for your discretion and experience with matters of
unusual nature such as this, and I trust that your expertise will be invaluable. We will of
course reimbourse any travel and accommodation expenses you incur, and have arranged to pay you
a retainer for the duration of the investigation. This is a matter of the utmost urgency, and
I would ask that you kindly reply as quickly as possible, hopefully in the affirmative. In the
meantime, the Inverness procurator fiscal and I will continue our initial investigations.
I hope very much to hear from you shortly,
J. Carmichael
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