The player character is a reporter for the fictitious newspaper The Washington Representative. Veronica Ashcroft-Wellman, a longtime friend and wealthy socialite, invites them to the annual Ashcroft Halloween Ball, where Maryland’s high society gathers to socialize and network.

The paper’s editor suggests covering the party as a story. Since it is a costume party, the character arrives in a rented cowboy outfit, and many of the attendees wear masks, making them hard to identify at first.

Not long after the party begins, Veronica is found dead, strangled with a familiar-looking lariat. A bullet from the costume’s gunbelt is also found near the body, and the player becomes the prime suspect in the murder.

The rope had been left in the closet earlier, and the missing bullet could have been taken by anyone. The player must investigate to identify the real killer.