Hard Evidence: The Marilyn Monroe Files

By Alexander Tait

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(Special thanks to Gary Denning for pointing out a discrepancy in the Mafia murder theory as well as provision of the missing answers!)

This game, by Novell/Perfect Home (1995) involves meticulous investigation of a plethora of Marilyn Monroe information, including footage, documents, and flashback videos of the time. I found this game simple, straightforward, but not always easy. It is one of the most fascinating educational games I have played. Throughout the game I often felt I was an investigator, listening to testimony or reading documents.

In this game, You are required to complete all four characters’ investigations to finish the game. It is not possible to complete any character’s theories without information from the others. Each of the four specialities, District Attorney, Reporter, Coroner, Cop, has access to areas not accessible to the others. You can run each investigator concurrently, and check their progress by clicking on the portrait at the top of the screen. This reveals a graph evidencing your progress. This allows for a degree of flexibility and a sense of non-linearity. Be sure to read all documents closely, as some of the information is not obvious.

District Attorney
Watch the introductory video. Go to your apartment. Look at your computer to examine the two theories this investigator has. The goal of this game is to find the information and complete the spaces in the theory. It will not allow you to alter it once it is correct.

Visit the courthouse. Use your ID on the elevator. Go first to the DA’s office. Examine all the documents. Then go downstairs to Court 2. Watch the witness testimony.

Go to the airport. Fly to New York. At the Artist’s Studio watch the video. Then return to Los Angeles.

Go to the Chinese Theater. Watch the four slide shows of Marilyn Monroe’s filmography. Then head out to Marilyn’s star on Hollywood Boulevard. Watch the video and read the documents.

Visit the bar. Read the newspaper articles and watch the videos about the 50s and 60s. Click on each of the items in the cabinet to hear about significant others in Marilyn’s life.

When complete, return to the apartment. Complete the theories on the computer. The answers are:

CIA Theory
CIA
Robert F Kennedy
Sam Giancana
John Roselli
F. Castro Assassination
Press conference

Studio Theory
Twentieth Century Fox
Cleopatra
Insurance payment

When you have completed the theory, a video plays explaining the theory. When you have completed both theories, your supervisor congratulates you.

Reporter
After watching another introductory video, proceed to your apartment (amazing these guys all live in the same apartment!) to find out your two theories: suicide and accidental death and cover up.

Go to the TV station. Show your press card to allow access to the studio. Watch the videos.

Go to the bar. Talk to the barman for some information. Look at the memorabilia and read the newspaper articles.

Proceed to the airport. Fly to Las Vegas to visit the casino. Give the doorman a tip to learn some things about Marilyn at the Cal-Neva Casino he learned while a croupier there.

Return to your apartment to complete the theories:

Suicide Theory
Twentieth Century Fox
Sam Giancana
John F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
George Cukor

Accidental Death and Cover up Theory
Robert F. Kennedy
Arthur Jacobs
Ambulance
Peter Lawford
Milton Rudin

Once again, when you have completed the theory, a video plays explaining the theory. When you have completed both theories, your supervisor congratulates you.

Coroner
Watch the introductory video. Then proceed to your apartment and find out the two theories to pursue: murdered by psychoanalyst and physicians’ error.

Go to the Toxicological Institute. Use the key on the cupboard to access the coroner’s reports.

Go to the bar. The man at the bar is revealed as a doctor and very happy to talk to you. He provides you with theories and recommends where to go.

Return to your apartment and record the information you have collected. The answers are:

Murdered by Psychoanalyst
Dr Ralph Greenson
Jealousy
James Hall
Dr Ralph Greenson
Injection to heart

Physician’s Error
Dr Ralph Greenson
Chloral hydrate
Eunice Murray
Dr Hyman Engelberg
Nembutal

Again, on completion of the theory, a video plays explaining it. This is followed by your supervisor congratulating you.

Cop
After watching the introduction, proceed to your apartment to familiarize yourself with the theories you need to investigate: unintentional suicide, and Mafia murder.

Head to the Police Department. Use your badge on the elevator to go up to the cop’s office. Look first at the Marilyn Monroe calendar. Watch the video. Then, progress to the files on the shelves. Read each one. This is perhaps the best resource for information in the game.

Take the elevator up to the interrogation room. Listen to each tape.

Head to the bar. Talk to the man at the end of the bar who mentions Jack Clemmons. He advises you to go to Chicago.

Go to the airport and catch a plane to Chicago. Proceed to Little Italy. Approach the limousine. A window descends and you are handed another tape. Return to Los Angeles.

Go back to the interrogation room at the Police Department. Click the new tape on the tape recorder. Play the new “highly classified” tape.

Return to your apartment to record all the details for your theories:

Unintentional suicide
Eunice Murray
Dr Hyman Engelberg
Dr Ralph Greenson
Jack Clemmons

Mafia murder theory
Sam Giancana
Needles Gianola
Mugsy Tortorella
Robert F. Kennedy
Peter Lawford
Jimmy Hoffa
Bernard Spindel

As before, when you have completed the theory, the video plays explaining the theory. When you have completed both theories, your supervisor congratulates you.

End game
When all eight theories are complete, a man (the President?) congratulates you and invites you to his house for a dinner of steak. A game looking for an ending. Then, you are allowed free access to the General Archives.

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