The 9PM Files
Case 26-DC-4471 Delancey County Sheriff's Office Vance, Elena M. · 05 March 2026 Case open

It's 9 PM and the house is quiet.
Four alibis. One is a lie.

A murder game for two, at your own kitchen table. You hold half the evidence. They hold the other half. The case asks ten questions and will not move on until you agree.

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Exhibit A-01 Two people working the case at their own table
Scene photograph · 05 Mar 2026DCSO CID
DELANCEY COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
The 9PM
Files
Case 26-DC-4471 · Vance, Elena M.
17 exhibits · 53 pp. · File A + File B
Case open

Two halves. One each. Never the other person's.

17exhibits
53pages
2h30about
2players, no host
`. Restano scritti una volta sola, qui. Il motivo e' lo stesso del piede e della testata: due copie della stessa frase diventano due frasi diverse in una settimana, ed e' gia' successo (tre claim ritirate rimaste vive in produzione il 14/08). -->

Persons of interest · 05 March 2026

Elena Vance was found in her studio at 9:44 PM

Four people were inside the building, or just outside it, that evening. Each of them told the Sheriff's Office where they were and when. These are their answers.

Identification photograph of Marcus Reed26-P-0118
Marcus Reed
Business partner · 44
MotiveFiled to dissolve the gallery in February. A court inventory is set for 9 March.
"Around half nine. I went up, and the door was pushed to."
9:30 PM stated
Identification photograph of Claire Vance26-P-0119
Claire Vance
Sister · registrar & bookkeeper
MotiveInherits a gallery. The insurance inventory was scheduled for the following morning.
"I left about eight-forty. My phone died around eight."
8:40 PM stated
Identification photograph of Tobias Lang26-P-0120
Tobias Lang
Artist · unpaid
Motive$96,000 of his work sold and never paid for. He was turned away at the desk at 7:12 PM.
"I sat in my car on Rand. I never went back inside."
7:12 to 9:30 PM stated
Identification photograph of Ray Ocampo26-P-0121
Ray Ocampo
Doorman · 16:00 to 24:00 shift
MotiveA termination letter effective 31 March, signed by the victim. He holds two of the four keys.
"I was at the desk. I never saw her go out the front."
Full shift stated

Only one of those four times is contradicted by a document in the file.

Not by a hunch, not by a feeling. By a piece of paper you will be holding. Finding it is the first twenty minutes.

Try one move before you buy it

The smallest thing it will ask you to do

Two real exhibits, one out of each file. At the table you'd never see them at once. Put them side by side.

FILE A
DELANCEY COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
EXHIBIT A-02 · INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

Q: Had you spoken to Ms. Vance earlier that day?

A: I called her at ten to eight. Nine-fifty. Sorry, 7:50. It didn't ring through. No answer, no voicemail, nothing.

DCSO CID · 26-DC-4471 · EXHIBIT A-02 OF 9

FILE B
NORTHPOINT WIRELESS · LE COMPLIANCE CENTER
EXHIBIT B-01 · CALL DETAIL RECORDS
19:50:12voice outbound0 s, no connect
20:03:44dataC-7
20:22:09dataC-7
20:38:19dataA-3
21:47:31voice to 9116 min 12 s

Certified by records custodian · 06 MAR 2026

He said 7:50.
The network says the call never connected.

That one is small, and it's the easiest in the case. Eight of the deductions need one document from each of your hands. That's why one of you can't do this alone, and why you'll end up arguing.

You each get half the case

One takes File A. One takes File B. Never the other person's, not once.

File A and File B on opposite sides of the table
FILE A

The statements

  • Four interview transcripts
  • The incident report and scene inventory
  • The lobby log book, written by hand by a man who is about to be fired
FILE B

The record

  • Cell-site records for five phones
  • The medical examiner's report
  • The building systems event log and the key-cylinder examination
  • The financial exhibit and the photographic plates
This isn't a fairness rule. It's the whole game. We looked at thirteen other case files. Every one of them hands both players the same pile of paper.

Contents of the file

Seventeen exhibits. Fifty-three pages.
Here is every one of them.

Not a page count on a badge: the actual list, with the actual lengths. Half of it goes to one of you and half to the other.

The case file laid out on a table: interview transcripts, phone
         records, the medical examiner's report and the photographic plates
A-01Incident report and scene inventory4
B-01Cellular call detail and cell-site records4
A-02Interview: Marcus Reed, first2
B-02Medical examiner's report3
A-03Interview: Claire Vance2
B-03Building systems event log6
A-04Interview: Tobias Lang2
B-04Locking hardware and key cylinder4
A-05Interview: Ray Ocampo, doorman2
B-05Financial exhibit: Vance Gallery LLC5
A-06Lobby log book, 1140 Rand Avenue2
B-06Crime scene unit recovery and measurements4
A-07Interview: Marcus Reed, second2
B-07Photographic exhibit: plates 1, 1A, 2, 2A6
A-08Press clipping: The Delancey Ledger, 6 March1
A-09Persons of interest: photograph sheet1
B-08The same sheet, filed in both files1
TOTAL17 exhibits, plus a cover sheet on each file53

The part nobody else has

You don't read the case.
It questions you.

It knew who did it before you sat down. It isn't going to tell you.

The game open at step 1 of 10, showing a hint, a question with four suspects, and a running tally of wrong answers and hints taken

Step one of ten. Not a mockup:
this is the file you receive.

IT TAKES A SIDE

It tells each of you what to ask the other

You get one instruction. They get a different one. Neither is the whole thought.

NOBODY IS THE HOST

No one at the table has read the ending

Every other murder mystery needs somebody who already knows. That person never gets to play.

IT KEEPS SCORE

Three levels of hint, and it counts them

You'll never be truly stuck. But the number in the corner only goes up.

THE LAST SCREEN

You accuse. Then it unseals.

The solution shipped with your files, locked. You get the password after you've committed.

Questions

Do we need a printer?

No. Most people read on their phones. Printing is an option, not a requirement.

Is anything shipped to us?

No. Nothing ships, ever. Two links arrive by email in about 30 seconds. Nothing to download, nothing to unzip, nothing to install.

How do we both get our half?

The email has two links. One is yours, the other you forward to whoever is playing with you. It opens in their browser, on any phone, and it never shows them your half.

What if we get stuck?

Three levels of hint, whenever you want them. Nothing in the case is unknowable.

How long does it take?

About two and a half hours, in ten steps. You can stop after any step and come back the next evening: it reopens where you left it, on the same device.

Can one person play it alone?

You can, but you would be holding both halves, and not knowing what the other person is holding is half of what makes it work. It is built for two.

Do we need an app, or an account?

Neither. Your half opens in the browser you already have, on a phone, a tablet or a laptop. Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for, no password to invent.

Kids asleep in the house?

That's most people who play it. Nothing to set up, nothing that makes noise, and you can stop and pick it up tomorrow without losing your place.

Is it scary? Is there gore?

No. It's paperwork. The worst thing in the case is a bank statement.

While it is being played

Two people, one table, one evening

Nobody hosts it. Nobody has read the ending. You each hold half the evidence, the case asks you ten questions, and it will not move on until you agree on the answer.

★★★★★

We put both phones in the other room, which we have never once done for anything. Two hours later mine was still in there and I was holding the same page for the fourth time, looking for the line that did not fit.

Hannah & TheoA Tuesday, kids asleep
★★★★★

She kept reading her page out loud and I kept saying that is not what mine says. That argument is the game. Ten minutes in we had a pen out and we were writing on the table.

Priya & SamFriday night in
★★★★★

Paid at nine. By ten past we were arguing about a phone record. Nothing to build, nothing to print unless you want to, nothing to wait for.

Marcus L.Played with his sister
★★★★★

Nobody had to sit out and run it. Every other one of these needs a person who already knows the ending, and that person is always me. This time I got to play.

Elena & MarcoThird go at a game night
★★★★★

Two hours forty for us, not two and a half. We took one hint, on question seven, and I am still not over it.

Dan R.At the kitchen table
★★★★★

I printed mine because I like paper. He read his off his phone on the sofa. After ten minutes neither of us noticed the difference.

Sophie K.Sunday, raining
★★★★★

It asks you a question and it will not move until you both answer. You cannot drift off and let the other one carry it. By question four we were leaning over the same sheet.

Tom & AdeAnniversary, stayed in
★★★★★

We named the wrong person. It let us, then it opened the file and showed us the exact page where we had stopped reading properly. That stung more than losing.

Chiara & LucaLost it the first time

The case is still open

You have an evening coming up that hasn't been decided yet. Four people gave a time, one of them is lying, and the paperwork knows which one. It takes about thirty seconds to start.

$29$49.99Two people · One evening
Tonight, if you want it tonight.
Open the case tonight · $29
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