Solving the Dark Alley case in Forensic - M.E. Protocol requires systematically gathering five key pieces of evidence at the crime scene, cracking a date-based puzzle to open a safe in the victim's apartment, and correctly sequencing your findings in the M.E. analysis system to secure a conviction. This complete forensic me protocol dark alley case walkthrough breaks down every step, from the initial scene sweep to the final report, ensuring you achieve an S-rank completion.
This case is one of the first major tests in the game, moving beyond simple evidence collection into multi-location investigation and puzzle-solving. Success hinges on methodical work and connecting seemingly disparate clues between the alley and the apartment.
The Crime Scene: What to Find in the Alley
Your first task is to process the primary crime scene without contaminating evidence. The game's methodical pacing is key here; there are no timers, so a slow and deliberate approach is rewarded. You'll need to identify and tag five crucial items. While the body, wallet, and weapon are obvious, two other pieces of evidence are easily missed.
- The Victim's Body: Your first interaction. Photograph the body from multiple angles before interacting further. Use the appropriate tool to establish a preliminary time of death and note the visible wounds. This forms the anchor for your entire investigation.
- The Murder Weapon: A discarded pistol is located a few feet from the body, near a dumpster. Do not pick it up immediately. First, photograph it, then use the fingerprint brush and adhesive tape to lift any prints. Only after dusting for prints should you bag it as evidence.
- The Victim's Wallet: Found near the victim's left hand. Photograph, tag, and bag it. The contents will provide the victim's identity and, crucially, a key to their apartment.
- Discarded Glove (Hidden): Look behind the large green dumpster. A single latex glove is partially hidden in the shadows. This is a critical piece of trace evidence. Tag and collect it for fiber and DNA analysis.
- Footprint Evidence: Near the entrance of the alley, there is a faint but distinct footprint in a patch of mud. You must use the camera with the correct lighting settings to capture this properly. This is the most commonly missed piece of evidence at the scene.
Analyzing the Initial Evidence
With the alley evidence secured, return to your mobile van to begin the analysis phase. The M.E. system is where you turn physical objects into actionable data. The goal is to build a profile of the crime before you even visit the second location. A sloppy analysis here can compromise the entire case.
Processing the Victim and Weapon
Start with the high-priority items. Insert the samples from the victim's body into the chemical analyzer to confirm cause of death. Run the fingerprints lifted from the pistol through the criminal database. In this case, you will likely get a partial match or no match at all, which is expected. The serial number on the weapon, however, should be logged and cross-referenced.
Tracing the Wallet and Glove
Analysis of the wallet confirms the victim's identity and provides their home address, unlocking the next stage of the investigation. The glove is more complex; run it through the spectrometer to identify any foreign materials and the DNA scanner for potential suspect DNA. The results will be inconclusive for now but become vital later when you have a suspect to compare them against.
Infographic showing the 6-step evidence processing workflow.
The Victim's Apartment: Unlocking the Secrets
Using the key from the wallet, you can now access the victim's apartment. This location is less of a crime scene and more of a logic puzzle. Your goal is to find information that gives context to the murder, and the centerpiece of this puzzle is a locked safe.
Annotated diagram of the victim's apartment showing puzzle clues.
How to Find the Safe Combination
The safe is hidden behind a large bookshelf in the main living area. Interacting with the shelf will reveal the safe, which requires a four-digit code. The code is not written down anywhere obvious. To solve it, you must find and connect two clues within the room:
- Clue 1: The Calendar: On the wall next to the desk, there is a calendar. The date June 12th is circled in red marker.
- Clue 2: The Framed Photo: On the corner of the desk is a framed photograph of the victim celebrating a birthday. The cake in the photo clearly shows the number "35".
The puzzle connects the victim's 35th birthday to the circled date. By searching the apartment's computer files (password: password123), you can find a document confirming the victim's date of birth is June 12, 1989. The case takes place in 2024. The victim turned 35 on June 12, 2024.
However, the code isn't the year. The circled date is the key. The code is the month and day, repeated: 0612. Many players mistakenly try to use the birth year. The safe code is 0612.
What's Inside the Safe?
Opening the safe reveals two critical items that break the case wide open:
- A Financial Ledger: This book details a series of illegal transactions between the victim and another individual, establishing a clear motive of a deal gone wrong.
- A Key: A small, unlabeled key. This key belongs to a storage unit, which will be marked on your map as a new optional location to visit for more backstory, though it is not required to solve the case.
The ledger is the lynchpin. It contains the name of the person who was paying the victim, giving you your prime suspect.
Connecting the Dots: The Final Report
Now you have a motive (a soured financial relationship from the ledger) and a suspect. Return to your mobile lab and input the suspect's name into your database. This is the final phase where you link all your disparate evidence threads into a coherent narrative to close the case.
Your database will bring up a profile for the suspect from the ledger. Now, you can cross-reference the evidence you've already processed:
- Fingerprint Match: Re-run the partial print from the murder weapon. With a named suspect to compare against, the system will now confirm a 100% match.
- DNA Confirmation: The DNA found on the discarded latex glove can now be compared to the suspect's profile in the database, also yielding a conclusive match.
- Motive Established: Link the financial ledger to both the victim and the suspect in the M.E. system's reconstruction interface. This officially establishes the motive for the crime.
With a confirmed weapon, DNA evidence placing the suspect at the scene, and a clear financial motive, you have everything needed. Open the case file and submit your final report, linking the suspect to the murder. This will successfully close the case with an S-rank, provided all five pieces of evidence from the alley were collected.
Comic grid showing the final four steps of linking evidence to the suspect.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the safe code in the Dark Alley apartment? The safe code is 0612. It's derived from the calendar date, June 12th (06/12), which is circled in the apartment.
Where is the last piece of evidence in the alley? Most players miss one of two items: the latex glove behind the dumpster or the footprint in the mud near the alley's entrance. Use your UV flashlight to make trace evidence easier to spot.
How do I use the M.E. system correctly? The key is to process evidence methodically. Analyze items to turn them into data points (like fingerprints, DNA profiles, serial numbers), then use the reconstruction board to link those data points to the victim, the suspect, and the motive to form a logical chain of events.
Can you fail the Dark Alley case? You can submit an incomplete or incorrect report, which will result in a low grade (like a C or F) and a failure to identify the correct suspect. You can miss evidence or fail to crack the safe, leaving you without enough information to logically prove the suspect's guilt.
The Verdict
The Dark Alley case is a perfect microcosm of what makes Forensic - M.E. Protocol a compelling investigation simulator. It's not about action; it's about patient observation, careful procedure, and the satisfying click of logic when two separate environments—the alley and the apartment—provide the pieces to a single, grim puzzle. Mastering its deliberate rhythm is the key to not just this case, but the entire game.