Solution
The Mulldoon Murders was written in Inform, and is © 2002 by Jon Ingold.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the game.
[Outside the Museum]
You begin as a detective, carrying a torch (that is, a flashlight) and a lockpick. Examine them, yourself, the crocuses, and the water.
>NORTH.
[Top of the Stairs]
Examine everything here (crate, sawdust, doors, keypad, pillars, museum, bushes). You can’t open the crate or doors yet.
>EAST.
[West of the River]
Examine the river and canister.
>JUMP OVER RIVER.
[Corner of the Museum]
Examine the dispenser, bin, and door. Look in keyhole. This door is also locked. Go southeast or search bushes and see an old fire.
>NORTHEAST.
[Monumental Garden]
Examine sundial, gnomon, cracks, mosaic, and shoes. You may stand on the mosaic, if you like.
>TAKE SHOES. NORTH.
[Cafe]
Examine the door, river, table, trees.
>EXAMINE RIVER. TAKE ICE. EXAMINE LUMP. EAST.
[Between Two Trees]
Examine the trees and vent. You cannot climb the trees, nor open the vent.
>PUT LUMP ON VENT. LOOK. TAKE BUNG. EXAMINE BUNG. WEST.
[Cafe]
>TAKE ICE. UNLOCK DOOR WITH LOCKPICK. OPEN DOOR. WEST.
[Kitchen]
Examine the oven, worktop, chopstick. You may ignore the Pantry to the south.
>EXAMINE CHOPSTICK. TAKE CHOPSTICK.
>OPEN OVEN. PUT ICE ON OVEN. OPEN OVEN. TAKE SPARKER.
>LOOK UNDER OVEN. PUSH OVEN. EXAMINE HOLE.
>EAST. SOUTH. SOUTHWEST.
[Corner of the Museum]
>PUT CHOPSTICK IN KEYHOLE. UNLOCK DOOR WITH LOCKPICK. OPEN DOOR. NORTH.
[Waxwork Room]
Examine men twice, coins, shutter, hut. You can’t refer to the wax men individually, nor can you get wax from them. You can’t open the shutter right now. The hut cannot be taken or dismantled.
>TAKE KEY. EAST.
[Inside the Hut]
Examine woman, table, hand, button. Look under table. After you’ve used the bung, wait a few turns just to listen.
>EXAMINE WOMAN. PUSH BUTTON. PUT BUNG ON BUTTON. WEST. NORTH.
[Room Filled With Rocks]
Examine trough, can, petrol, right chopstick, camera, rocks. Try climbing the rocks. The name of the flask is variable. Your flask might be called a beaker instead, but it’s the same thing.
>NORTH. (or SEARCH ROCKS)
>TAKE CAN. TAKE RIGHT CHOPSTICK.
>WEST. WEST. WEST.
>LOOK UP.
>POUR OIL IN TROUGH. S. S. NE. N. W.
[Kitchen]
Caution: Don’t wait in the kitchen for the kaboom!
>PUT SPARKER IN HOLE. EAST.
[Cafe]
>WAIT. S. SW. W. W. S.
[Outside the Museum]
>FILL CAN WITH WATER. N.
[Top of the Stairs]
>FILL FLASK WITH SAWDUST. E.
[West of the River]
>PUT SAWDUST ON RIVER. E. NE. N. E.
[Between Two Trees]
>PUT ICE IN FLASK. PUT FLASK ON VENT. WAIT. WAIT. TAKE FLASK. EXAMINE BLUE POWDER. W. S.
[Monumental Garden]
>PUT POWDER ON SUNDIAL. PUT WATER ON SUNDIAL. TAKE GNOMON. SW. N. N.
[Room Filled With Very Very Small Rocks]
>TAKE STONE. WEST.
[Strange Sculptures Room]
Examine celery, mug, scaffolding.
>TAKE MUG. SOUTHWEST.
[Foyer]
Examine door, panel, button, desk, hole. Sorry, but you still can’t open the front door, pushing the button does nothing, and the desk won’t reach the hole.
>OPEN PANEL WITH GNOMON. EXAMINE BARED WIRES. EXAMINE GREY CLIPS. EXAMINE GUN. REMOVE CLIPS. WEST.
[Dead End]
Examine vent.
>EAST.
[Foyer]
Giles appears when you leave the Dead End. You can ask him about stuff, now or later, but when he asks if you want coffee, say YES.
>EXAMINE GILES.
>ASK GILES ABOUT GILES.
>ASK GILES ABOUT EDGAR.
>ASK GILES ABOUT MUSEUM.
>ASK GILES ABOUT MAGIC.
>ASK GILES ABOUT PEOPLE.
>ASK GILES ABOUT ME.
>ASK GILES ABOUT SCRATCH-CARDS.
>ASK GILES ABOUT GUN.
>ASK GILES ABOUT DOORS.
>ASK GILES ABOUT CELERY.
>WAIT. (wait repeatedly, until he asks if you want coffee)
>YES. NE.
[Strange Sculptures Room]
Examine the new door.
>NORTH.
[Metal Staircase]
>NORTH.
[Laboratory]
You may want to note which symbols go with which numbers. You are encouraged to fill one of your containers with purple liquid and taste it in every location for a vision. When you attempt the first taste and the game asks if you are crazy, type YES.
>EXAMINE VAT. EXAMINE JARS.
>X 81. X 82. X 83. X 84. X 85. X 86. X 87. X 88. X 89.
>X 90. X 91. X 92. X 93. X 94. X 95. X 96. X 97. X 98.
>WEST.
[Sparse Berth]
Examine man, note, bed, lamp, tank, plaque. And the egg, when you get one.
>EXAMINE MAN. READ NOTE.
>EXAMINE TANK. READ PLAQUE. LOOK IN VALVE. EXAMINE EGG.
>EAST. EAST.
[Ledge by the Frozen River]
Examine crate, bags, river. Note why you can’t open the bag.
>TAKE BAG. OPEN BAG.
>W. S. S. E. S. S. W. W. S.
[Outside the Museum]
>FILL CAN WITH WATER. N.
[Top of Stairs]
>FILL BEAKER WITH SAWDUST. E. E. NE. N.
[Cafe]
>TAKE ICE. E.
[Between Two Trees]
>PUT ICE IN MUG. PUT MUG ON VENT. WAIT. WAIT.
>TAKE MUG. PUT EGG IN MUG. PUT WATER IN MUG. EXAMINE ICE.
>PUT COFFEE BAG ON VENT.
>W. S. SW. N. N. W. N. N. E.
[Ledge by the Frozen River]
>PUT SAWDUST ON RIVER. SOUTHEAST.
[Boiler Room]
>EXAMINE BOILER. LISTEN. LOOK UNDER BOILER.
>OPEN BOILER. PUT MUG IN FLUE. TAKE MUG. CLOSE FLUE.
>NW. W. S. S. E. S. S. NE. N. E.
[Between Two Trees]
>EXAMINE BAG. TAKE BAG.
>W. S. SW. N. N. W. N. N. E. SE.
[Boiler Room]
>LOOK IN MUG. PUT BLUE POWDER ON RIVER.
>OPEN BAG. PUT COFFEE POWDER IN MUG. FILL MUG WITH WATER.
>OPEN FLUE. PUT MUG IN FLUE. TAKE MUG. CLOSE FLUE.
>NW. W. S. S.
[Strange Sculptures Room]
>GIVE MUG TO GILES. EXAMINE GILES.
>SW. W. NORTH.
[Cupboard]
>EXAMINE GILES. TAKE TABLET. EXAMINE TABLET.
>EXAMINE TERMINAL.
>S. E. NE. E. S. S.
[Corner of the Museum]
Many of the cards in the 39xx series are winners. The key to predicting what symbols are behind the foil is by matching the numbers on the cards to the numbers on the jars in the Laboratory. You can verify this by putting cards in the tank in Sparse Berth, but any cards revealed by the flies are lost forever; you can’t UNDO to get a winning card back. Note that you just need any three symbols, not three matching symbols.
>PUSH FIRST BUTTON. AGAIN. AGAIN. EXAMINE 3981.
>N. N. W. SW.
[Foyer]
You don’t need to scratch the cards before putting them on the desk; non-winning cards are destroyed. It’s ironic that the coin is the only thing that you can use to scratch the scratch-cards for yourself. If you put more than one winning card on the desk, you can get a coin for each one. But you only need the one coin.
>PUT 3983 ON DESK. TAKE COIN. EXAMINE COIN.
>NE. E. S. E.
[Inside the Hut]
When the three cards are revealed, try to take one. Note that all three are glued down, and impossible to take.
>PUT COIN IN HAND. WEST.
[Waxwork Room]
The button referred to here is on Giles’ tablet. It opens the shutter.
>PUSH BUTTON. WEST.
[The General’s Quarters]
Examine the painting, book, windows, curtains. The General doesn’t like you closing the curtains, nor reading the book. The General can’t hear you, so you have to do things like nod your head or show him things instead.
>EXAMINE PAINTING. YES. YES. READ BOOK.
>TAKE CANNONBALL. E. N. W.
[Strange Sculptures Room]
>PUT CANNONBALL ON PLANK. UP.
[First Level of Scaffolding]
>TAKE CANNONBALL. PUT IT ON UPPER PLANK. UP.
[Second Level of Scaffolding]
>TAKE CANNONBALL. PUT IT ON CHUTE. DOWN. DOWN. SOUTH.
[The General’s Quarters]
You need to wait to give the General time to be distracted by the art in the other room. Otherwise, he won’t let you take the book.
>WAIT. TAKE BOOK. E. S.
[Corner of the Museum]
Read about the battle that the General is currently asking about. The correct dates can change, depending how depleted the right stack in the dispenser is. For example, the Battle of Bodmin is in 1598 if you haven’t used up ticket 1598 yet. Otherwise, the date is later, and you’ll need a different ticket.
>READ ABOUT BODMIN. (or any other battle)
>DROP BOOK.
>PUSH RIGHT BUTTON.
>N. W.
[The General’s Quarters]
Show the appropriate ticket to the General; it might not be 1598. Pay attention to the General’s lesson about the fourth option.
>SHOW 1598 TO GENERAL. TAKE WHITE CARD. EXAMINE IT. E. E.
[Inside the Hut]
>PUT WHITE CARD ON TABLE. TAKE WHITE CARD.
>LOOK UNDER TABLE. LOOK IN BOX. TAKE BATTERY. EXAMINE BATTERY.
>W. N. W. SW.
[Foyer]
Make sure the grey clips are disconnected.
>PUT BATTERY ON BARED WIRES. UNLOCK DOOR WITH KEY. OPEN DOOR. SOUTH.
[Top of the Stairs]
>PUSH CRATE NORTH.
[Foyer]
>TAKE BATTERY. W. N.
[Cupboard]
>PUT BATTERY ON WIRES. S. E.
[Foyer]
>PUSH BUTTON. EXAMINE TREE. CLIMB CRATE. CLIMB TREE.
>THROW STONE AT BUTTON.
[Generator Room]
The game’s going to get weirder from this point on. You can put the shoes back on the body, or take the needle if you like.
>EXAMINE BODY. SEARCH BODY. EXAMINE PENDANT.
>LOOK THROUGH PENDANT. AGAIN. AGAIN. WEAR IT.
>EXAMINE NEEDLE. EXAMINE MACHINE. EXAMINE CHUTE. SOUTH.
[Darkness - on the Strange Sculptures Room]
You drop your torch, it breaks, and you no longer have a source of light. You are forced to wander around in the dark, trapped in the building. If you go to the Foyer, you’ll find that the front door is closed, and Giles won’t let you leave. You can’t climb the crate in the dark. In the Waxwork Room, you can’t find the garden door or leave to the south.
>TAKE TORCH. EAST.
[Darkness - on the Room Filled With Rocks]
Wait around here a few turns; the breeze is coming from the north.
>NORTH.
[Ice-covered Cave]
Examine the man quick; he’ll run away and drop his chisel. Trying to follow him doesn’t help. Examine the carvings both before and after they’re destroyed. Examine the hole.
>EXAMINE MAN. EXAMINE CARVING. EXAMINE SLOT.
>TAKE CHISEL. EXAMINE CHISEL. EXAMINE CARVING.
>S. W. SW.
[Foyer]
Opening the crate destroys it. And even with the lantern, you can’t open the door. When you get the lantern, the former rock room is choked off with an avalanche of rocks; as Site of Explosion, its north and south exits are blocked.
>OPEN CRATE WITH CHISEL. TAKE LANTERN. NE. S. W.
[Waxwork Room]
>OPEN DOOR.
[Car Park]
Note that you now only have the pendant and the chopsticks. All else has been discarded.
>INVENTORY. OPEN DOOR. IN.
[Front Seat of Your Car]
Examine the buttons. Remember the General’s advice?
>EXAMINE BUTTONS. UNFASTEN SEAT BELT. OUT.
[Top of the Stairs]
Note that you can’t go through the bushes any more.
>OPEN DOOR. BREAK DOOR. NORTH.
[Stone Tunnel]
>EXAMINE GILES. PUT CHOPSTICK IN WHEEL. NORTH.
[Tunnel Branch]
Do you still remember the General’s advice?
>EAST. WAIT. MOVE MOSS. EAST.
[Centre]
Examine the vines, figures, pyramid. After taking the pyramid, examine the hole. Listen repeatedly.
>TAKE PYRAMID. EXAMINE HOLE. PUT PYRAMID IN HOLE.