Walkthroughs

How to solve the case - The Trace walkthrough for Chapter 1, The Garage

All the evidence, clues, leads, and answers

How to solve the case - The Trace walkthrough for Chapter 1, The Garage
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iOS
| The Trace

The Trace is a new murder mystery game that slips you into the shoes of a detective and asks you to gather evidence, follow leads, and answer burning questions as you try to solve the case.

Our first mystery: did this chap really drop a hydraulic lift on his own face - or did some one knock him off?

In chapter one we'll need to find ten clues, to answer seven questions.

Follow our lead below to find everything you need to find, and answer all the questions correctly.

The Trace

We start with a tutorial, so this should be pretty self explanatory. But for the sake of completeness, we'll walk you through it.

Tap on the door, tap on the handle, and then swipe down on the handle to open the door.

The Trace

Tap on the body and tap on the hydraulic controls twice. In the zoomed-in view, press the up button to find out that it's not working. Spin the control around and hit the blacklight button to reveal a fingerprint.

Hold your finger on the print to scan it. It belongs to one Josef Spinowicz - a mechanic.

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Tap on the button at the bottom to reveal this spiderweb view, which shows clues and questions - and lets you combine them to solve the mystery.

Drag the lift clue to the question on screen to answer the first conundrum.

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Take the two keys from the side of the body. Then, look at the man's shoes to get a lead about his scuffed heels. Then look in the man's jacket pocket on your right to find the wallet. Tap on it.

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Pull up the driver's license on the left to find out the deceased's identity. You'll automativally get the second piece of evidence: the photo of the deceased and his daughter.

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Zoom out, and turn around so you're looking at the bathroom door. Open the drawer on your left to get the screwdriver, as shown above. Now enter the bathroom and turn on the light.

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Look on the left of the locker to find a number - 347. Now use this to open the combination lock on the door. Inside you'll find two objects: a hip flask and a blue rag. Let's look at the flask first.

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Open the lid with your finger to get the evidence about Joey's drinking habit. Put the flask down and look at the rag.

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Hold your finger on the rag to scan it and add it to your evidence. Now back up and leave the bathroom.

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Use the square-headed key to unlock the door to the service reception. Open it up and tug on the light switch to reveal the contents of the room.

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Look at the shards of glass on the floor and tap on them to add them to your inventory. Also, look at the scuff marks near the door to get a new lead.

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Look in the shelf, and investigate the trophy. Then hold your finger on the blue fibres at the base of the dollar symbol. This will match it to the cloth in the locker.

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Look at the painting on the wall and slide it right to reveal a safe. Look at the left side of it and use the blacklight to reveal a fingerprint, which you can scan.

Now open the world's least secure safe by twisting the dial left until it clicks (on 70) and wait for the green light to show. Then twist it right until it clicks again. Repeat until you're in. The combination, if you're curious, is 70-30-90-10.

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Inside you'll find an empty gun holster with a fingerprint on the back, and a book of business records that will automatically give you a new lead.

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On the other side of the room, look in the rubbish bin to find some scraps of paper. Add them to your inventory and then…

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Double tap on the yellow scrap near the computer chair. Drag the scraps from your inventory onto this screen to enter a jigsaw mini game. If you put all the pieces together you'll see that it reads "PIN: 246844".

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Look at the computer and type the PIN above into the number pad. You'll see a suicide note on the screen, and another lead for your collection.

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Check the drawers to the right of the computer desk. In the lower drawer is a small key - grab it, then exit this room.

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Check the tool trolley on the far side of the main garage. Use the small key to unlock it and then take the wrench from the top drawer, and the saw from the bottom.

Look down at the chain and cut it with your saw. Then push the trolley to reveal a grate.

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Use the wrench to remove the bolts (remember - righty tighty, lefty loosy!). Crawl through and pull the light switch to see inside the room.

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Open this drawer and scan the fingerprint on the wrench.

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Take the lubricant from the table and add it to your inventory.

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Open this fuse box with your screwdriver and pull down the handle to turn off the power. Remove the broken fuse and then exit back through the grate to get back into the main garage.

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Over by the body, look at this fuse box on the ground. Use the lubricant on the handle and then pull it down. Then use the screwdriver to open the cover. Take the fuse and then go back to the previous room.

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Place the live fuse into the box, then pull the handle up to restore power to the hydraulic lift. Back into the garage!

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Look at the hydraulic control and press the up button to lift the car platform. Now you can look at the dead guy's hand (scan a finger to get a print) and face.

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Take a look at his glasses, and then drag the shards onto the broken frame. Put them back to get your final lead.

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With all the clues now in your possession, you can answer the questions posed by the case. Here's what to drag where.

Who opened the safe, and why?
  • Money ('money is missing from the safe')
  • Holster ('the deceased's holster is empty')
  • Safe ('the safe was opened by the deceased')
How did the deceased get the mark on his head?
  • Dollar symbol ('the mark on the deceased's head matches the design on the trophy')
Where did the glass shards in the office come from?
  • Glasses ('broken glasses belonging to the deceased')
  • Broken glasses ('The glasses were smashed in the office')
What caused the drag marks on the floor?
  • Shoe ('The deceased's heels are scuffed and dirty')
Why isn't the trophy as dusty as its surroundings?
  • Trophy ('The trophy has been wiped clean')
Why was the computer left on standby?
  • Computer ('A suicide note on the computer screen')

When all the clues are in the right places, you'll finish the chapter. Onto the next!

More The Trace walkthroughs Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3
Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer