T H E B L A G (Budgie Licenceware by G.Atkinson & A.Woolcock) The Solution The Blag is completed when all the bank robbers have been not only arrested, but also convicted at court. The robbers are THOMAS, LOCKWOOD and CHAMBERS. The brains behind the robbery is WOOLSON, who must also be arrested and convicted. Markers are set by the program as each piece of evidence is gathered. When all the markers are set for each offender, they can be convicted. You can arrest at any time, but you will only secure a conviction if all the markers are set. Included in the game is another crime involving the theft of the light from the top of a patrol car. This is quite easily solved, and is not essential to solving the robbery, so you can leave it if you wish. One of the difficulties encountered by the authors of the game was the questioning of suspects. The limitations of STAC (used to write the game), became very apparent when trying to sort out the parser and enable the player to SPEAK to witnesses/suspects. Indeed when the game was first published a Detectives Notebook was supplied with the game, in which could be found the vocabulary used in the questioning routine. This was included because both authors know only to well the frustration of trying to find exactly the right input to get a game to respond. The questioning routine was not entirely successful, but most reviewers liked the game. To this end I have included in this solution the shorthand version of the questions needed to be asked. Enter them as written and you should get the information you require. The game begins at the Police Station in the enquiry office, go to the CID office where you will find the key required to open the desk drawer in the Enquiry office. Inside the drawer is a certificate on which is the name of the dog. Once you know this you can telephone the Dog Section who will supply you with the commands to control the dog, when you ask HOW COMMAND . Also at the station you will find GLOVES which you should wear, a HELMET that you should carry, behind the dartboard, (try MOVE dartboard), you will find the key for the car. Read the teleprinter message to find out the whereabouts and time of the crime. Other than the use of the telephone there is nothing else to do in the station. Move onto the kennel and CALL . The dog will now go everywhere with you, with the exception of down the cliff at Lovers Leap. He's got more sense than that ! Assuming you have the key to the car, TAKE the towrope from the garage and then DRIVE to the BANK. Outside a witness tells you one of the robbers went south. GO South, when you meet another witness act on the information he gives you. However you must use the dog !! Using the command SEEK trust the dogs every move. He will lead you through the maze that is Finchley Woods, and you will also uncover the weapon used in the robbery. If you deviate from the dogs track not only may you not find the weapon, but you will also become hopelessly lost. When you find the weapon make sure you are wearing the gloves before you pick it up, otherwise valuable evidence will be lost! Make your way back to the bank. Here you must question the witness Peter Harrison, ask him to DESCRIBE CROOK, and ask him for INDEX, with the last question he should provide you with a registration number for the getaway car. Inside the bank there are two members of staff. The clerk is upset and the manager is arrogant (we've all met them ). You may ask either one to DESCRIBE CROOK, DESCRIBE GUN or WHAT SAY meaning what did the robbers say. Once you have asked one, the other will not be helpful. Your original witness will also not be able to repeat the information. Outside the bank again, examine the road and you will find a recent repair. Take note of what you see! Back to the car now and drive to headquarters, you cannot reach it on foot. The road is busy and far to dangerous for pedestrians. On arrival you will find you have access to the Scenes of Crime office (SOC) and the Computer room. In the SOC you will find a case, examine the gun with the magnifying glass and also dust it for fingerprints. The scratches you may have previously seen now become the name William Woolson, a good pointer but not enough for conviction. Dusting for prints should also have been helpful, a comparison of what you find will give you the name John 'Blaster' Thomas. Into the computer room, where if you read the manual you find there, you will see you have access to Collator records, Vehicle records and Criminal records. Collator records are your source of local intelligence, or gossip. Criminal records show convictions for offences and Vehicle records show registered owners. You will see that Peter Harrisons getaway number wasn't quite right. However you should get some useful information about THOMAS and WOOLSON. You can check all the characters against these records, and their cars. Don`t forget to ask dates of birth when questioning. Time to move on again, this time drive to Lovers Leap. It should be obvious that you need to go down the cliff. Now you know why you took the towrope. This is the only SAFE way down. Tie the rope to the car bumper NOT the sign, and CLIMB down. If you have Butch he will wait for you. Don't forget to call him again when you return. Once at the bottom examine the tyre of the car you see, remember the marks outside the bank?? Search the car and you will find a can of paint, this and the reference number thereon are significant. Make a note of the engine number, and examine the index plate. What about the letters painted on the engine 'WSY'. There is no more evidence here so you may climb back up, and untie the rope. It may be left here as it plays no further part in the game. Go now to WSY, Woolendon Scrap Yard. Here you will meet the Arthur Daly of The BLAG (apologies to George Cole), Danny Cooper. Like most scrappies he knows the law. He will tell you who bought the engine (you wrote the number down didn't you?) and he will describe them, but don't try and take his book, you have no authority. Ask. . . WHO BOUGHT ENGINE and DESCRIBE BUYER MINI ENGINE. By now you should know who the owner of the getaway car is, Susan Rowds at the grocers shop, time for a chat I think. Ask her. . . . WHERE CAR or WHERE MINI WHO BORROW CAR or WHO BORROW MINI DESCRIBE SON or DESCRIBE CHAMBERS DESCRIBE CAR or DESCRIBE MINI. She will tell you her car had her name painted on it and was a different colour, but remember the can you found! Now visit the garage, here in the spray shop you will find cans of paint matching the one you found in the mini at lovers leap. Together with descriptions you were given of Chambers who is at the garage you can now arrest CHAMBERS and LOCKWOOD. You'll have quite a collection of names by now so don't forget to run them through the computer, it is always helpful to have lots of background information. These records and the name on the shotgun should be pointing you towards Finchley Lodge, here are now two more problems to overcome. The lodge is guarded by a nasty looking dog, there is only one way passed it. The postwoman has the answer, she has to get passed it every day, so ask her to TELL ABOUT MASTIFF. She will give you a biscuit that you can throw to the dog. There is no limit on the number of biscuits she will give you so get more than one. Your other problem is the coded lock on the gates. I hope you've still got the helmet? Go to the second hand shop and give the helmet to Frank Rhodes. If you checked him on the computer you should know that he is a good informant. However he needed to be bribed with the helmet. Once you have given him this, he should be more friendly. Ask him. . . . WHAT CODE GATE He will tell you 2134. Go to Finchley lodge, ignore the stick on the path. Throw the biscuit to the dog and INKEY 2134. Go to the lodge and you will find WOOLSON, unfortunately as you would expect he won't let you in. You need a warrant. Drive to the police station and telephone the warrant office, if you have gathered the evidence a warrant will be made available for you to collect. Collect the warrant and return to Finchley Lodge, using the other biscuit get passed the dog and into the grounds, go to the barn. John 'Blaster' Thomas is here and he is not pleased to see you. Common sense will help you avoid the knife he throws, DUCK. It is now you or him, your only chance of survival is to set Butch onto him using the ATTACK command. Then check the floor of the barn and you will see tracks left by the getaway car. Having dispensed with THOMAS, take the knife and head for the lodge. Although the room is bare the money from the bank must be somewhere. Using the knife lift the floorboards. Lift more than one and you will find the money. Arrest WOOLSON. If I haven't forgotten anything you can now go to court and convict all offenders. Some of the above can be done in a different order, as long as you complete each task. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *