Search warrant

Combs the scene for whatever was left behind.

In the game

The search warrant sends a team through a room, a piece of furniture or a car looking for what was left behind: a crumpled note, a piece of jewelry out of place, a key that shouldn't be there. In a real investigation, the team photographs, numbers and bags every item before taking it to the lab. In Confessd, you pick the warrant by the place described on the card and only find out what turned up when the report opens.

The search report is dry and factual, stamped Positive, Negative or Inconclusive. An object that turns up becomes a fact in your Clues, and that fact is often exactly what you were missing to ask the right question to someone who thought they had hidden everything. The search can also come back empty on purpose and clear an innocent person. In no case does it hand you the culprit on a plate: the object ties someone to the place, and you pull the rest out of them in conversation.

A search warrant costs 5 to 50 coins, with the price set for each case. It is charged per game: the result stays available until the end of that attempt at no extra cost, and a new game after a loss charges it again. It doesn't use up a question, so it can be worth more than a shot in the dark when you still don't know where to start. The report's clock only starts after the minigame: it comes out after a short wait, and you can rush it for 5 coins.