xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx FAQ TITLE: The Optimized Straightforward Walkthru for The Witness COPYRIGHT INFO: This FAQ is copyright 2009-2010 by Stanley E. Dunigan (dunigase@yahoo.com). This FAQ may be posted and used anywhere by anyone as long as it's unaltered, but always check one of the official websites listed below for the latest version. GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com) SuperCheats (www.supercheats.com) Neoseeker (www.neoseeker.com) Cheat Happens (www.cheathappens.com) FAQ DESCRIPTION: Like all of my optimized straightforward walkthrus, this FAQ is a complete walkthru for the game that has been optimized and organized to make it as fast and easy as possible to complete the game. I don't give any reference-style information, like a list of all clues, or encourage you to do unnecessary things. In true walkthru fashion, I usually just tell you the answers without explaining or rationalizing them (though I do offer some explanations in this walkthru to help you understand what's happening). VERSION 1.0 (4/13/2009) NOTES AND CREDITS: This is the original release of this FAQ, so I have no special notes or credits to report yet. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx NOTE: This FAQ was written while playing the Witness version that came with the Lost Treasures of Infocom package that was released in 1991 by Activision. As far as I know, everything will be the same for other game versions. *** STEP 1: Witness a murder. *** Go north twice to reach the front porch, then ring the door bell. After Phong shows you inside, wait once to get taken to the living room, then wait again to get Linder to take you into his office. Sit on the wooden chair to get Linder to tell you about Stiles and hand you a threatening note that he supposedly wrote. Read the note, then wait until 9 pm (WAIT UNTIL 9:00), choosing to keep waiting whenever there's an interruption. After that's over, wait one more time to get Linder shot and killed, with you right there as the witless witness. *** STEP 2: Find where the shot really came from. *** It looks as if Stiles showed up outside and shot Linder through the winder, but maybe that's just what you're supposed to believe. Get up out of the chair (GET UP), then examine the window. Get the chunk of putty, then examine the big grandfather clock. Examine its keyhole to find some powder, then take a sample of the powder (GET POWDER). Examine the powder to find that it appears to be cheap gunpowder. Interesting! What if the shot really came from a concealed gun inside the clock? You can't unlock the clock to verify this, but you can press the butler's button to hear a click sound come from the clock. So apparently the button was rigged to fire a shot from the clock toward Linder when he pressed it. So what about the window? For it to break at the exact same moment, making it look like Stiles shot through the window, the butler's button would also have to be rigged to some sort of explosive in the window. That could be where the putty you got comes in. Use the LOOK or I command repeatedly until Sergeant Duffy shows up, then have him analyze the putty (ANALYZE PUTTY). Wait for Duffy to return with his report (WAIT FOR DUFFY), which will confirm that the putty contains traces of an explosive. Next, have him analyze the powder. When he gets back from that, he'll confirm that it's gunpowder. *** STEP 3: Check out the yard. *** Go west, north, and west to return to the house's entry area. Get the muddy boots from the shoe platform. (If they're not there anymore due to randomness or you taking too many moves to do things, restore a save and go get them sooner.) Unlock the front door, then open it and go west. Go south twice and then east to get to the side yard. There are some fresh foot prints there, so get a plaster cast of them (ANALYZE FOOT PRINTS). Compare the cast that Duffy makes to the muddy boots you got (COMPARE CAST TO BOOTS) to find that the boots are what made the prints. Drop the telegram, powder, putty, and cast to lighten your inventory load, then go east and get the muddy handgun. Go north to the office porch, then get a cast of the foot prints there the same way you did in the side yard. Have Duffy go analyze the muddy handgun, and wait for him to get back and tell you what he found out. *** STEP 4: Get Phong to confess his role. *** Go south, west twice, and north twice to return to the front porch, then go east to the entry area. From there, go east and north, then open the butler's door and go west. Open the mystery book that's in the room (OPEN MYSTERY BOOK), then get the receipt that's being used as a bookmark. Read the receipt to see that it's for two handguns, then go east, north, and west to find Phong in the kitchen. Show him the muddy boots and receipt, then accuse him (ACCUSE PHONG). He confesses to helping set up the gun-clock deception, but says that Linder wasn't supposed to be killed. He also strongly hints that Monica was the one who put the gun in the clock, and may have purposely set it to kill Linder. *** STEP 5: Arrest the real killer. *** Monica's probably already gotten home by now, but you still have some time, so go see what you can learn from Stiles. Go east and north from the kitchen to find him, then show him the muddy handgun, the match book, and the threatening note. Also, compare your back-yard foot print cast to Stiles' shoes (COMPARE CAST TO STILES' SHOES) to confirm that it was him near the office window. Go south four times and then east to return to the office, then hide behind the lounge (HIDE BEHIND LOUNGE). Wait until Monica enters the room and then leaves, then wait some more until Duffy shows up and says he's going with the coroner's men to make sure Linder's autopsy is given top priority. After that, wait until Monica enters the office again and uses a key to remove the gun from the clock. Stop waiting and come out of hiding (GET UP), then accuse Monica. Handcuff her to the lounge to make sure she doesn't get away (CUFF MONICA), then search her (SEARCH MONICA) twice to find the clock key and the handgun she removed from the clock. By then, Phong will probably have entered the room. If not, go find him. Ask him about Mrs. Linder's suicide (ASK PHONG ABOUT SUICIDE) to help establish Monica's motive, then wait for Duffy to get back. When he does, arrest Monica (ARREST MONICA) to finish the game with the best ending. Be sure to read the author's summary to see how all the pieces of the mystery fit together.