Columbos & Sherlocks: L'Inspecteur

Remember that one brief month when people were hacking Cloak and Sword games into classical murder mysteries?

Class: L'Inspecteur 

Starting Paraphernalia: relatively modest shabby clothes, a conspicuous injury or well-controlled innocent sort of vice, some sort of unconventional skill not befitting an investigator (gardening, opera, etc)

You are not an officer of the law or a professional detective. You are a little old woman who professionally tends gardens, an old priest who rides around the village on his bicycle, an elderly novelist who travels place to place for writing inspiration. Wherever you go though, you always seem to be chased by murder.

George Fort Gibbs, for G. K. Chesterton's short story "The Sign of the Broken Sword"

Who, Me?: As long as you actively keep up appearances as doddering, old, and a little daft- characters whom do NOT have Esprit for you will treat you as a nosy nuisance they wish to be rid of as soon as possible. They are willing to do any small task to get rid of you- answer a question, let you view their room, etc.- but they would never do anything as drastic as attempting to harm you, let alone kill you.

People Person: As long as both characters are in the same room you can tell what, if any, sort of relationship they have (e.g. romance, rivalry, family, held Esprit, etc). This does not work if they are obscured, dead, or wearing any sort of mask or face covering.

Connections: By considering two pieces of evidence in your mind for an hour, you can determine if they are connected or not as well as generally how they are connected. You cannot use this ability again until you uncover another piece of evidence or some other development happens with the investigation.

One More Thing: If you ask someone a question they weren't expecting or ask them at an unexpected time, they are compelled to either answer truthfully or to offer up a barely-believable lie; the kind that might be suspicious but not actively evidence of wrongdoing.

Astound the Experts: If your character makes some keen deduction, uncovers an overlooked piece of evidence, or otherwise performs some impressive detective work- any officers of the law or experts in a field useful to the immediate investigation hold Esprit for your character until the end of the investigation.

Know a Guy: Once per investigation, you may declare your character "knows a guy." This guy is an expert in some skill or field which none of the current party members or NPCs involved in the investigation possesses. They may interpret or examine a single clue or piece of evidence for the party to completely contextualise and offer expert advice on it (e.g. a forensics specialist to examine blood spatters, a clockmaker to act as an expert witness to check if the clock was tampered with to potentially disprove an alibi, etc). This "guy" can either be a recurring minor character who "happened to be in town," or a new minor bit part depending.

Detective Vision: Your character can tell if evidence has been tampered with, or if a piece of evidence is conspicuously absent. They cannot tell what is missing or how something has been altered, they merely know that "something isn't quite right here..."

Did It For Love: If anyone lies on behalf of someone else, you can instantly tell that they are lying. You don't know for who or why exactly they are lying, just that they are.

Has There Been a Murder?: Upon first visiting a town or city, roll 1d10. On a 10, a local prominent figure has recently been murdered and the culprit is still at large. If your character was already investigating a murder, somehow these murders are connected.

Stay in Town: Any chivalrous or honest folk must heed your orders to stay in town at their residences while a murder investigation is occurring; or they may appear guilty. Any dishonourable, meal-a-day sorts though may come and go as they please; but this will mark them as a guilty person in the eyes of the law.

Announcement: If your character possess some key piece of evidence that was formerly hidden (e.g. the murder weapon which was thrown in the lake, fibres from the culprits' jacket, etc) they may shake it around and make a public announcement about it. The culprit, whomever they are, are compelled to make some move to cover up their crime. This is done completely secretly, however it still done sloppily (creating yet more inconsistencies or evidence thanks to the tampering) or without alibi (the culprit acting at a suspicious time).

Oh, Really?: Whenever your character makes some form of obvious mistake (e.g. getting a time wrong, a character's name wrong, etc) any NPC whom witnesses it is compelled to correct them, even if this would divulge other information (e.g. invalidating an alibi, revealing they know a character they claimed to have never met before). If multiple NPCs are present, this ability defaults to the smuggest most egotistical one present.

J'Accuse!: Your character may publicly announce that they have solved the case. All suspects and persons involved in the case must show up at the time and location of your choosing. All present have Esprit for you until you are done presenting your case, and none of them may actively harm anyone else while they hold Esprit for you. If your character ever fails to accuse the correct culprit, they lose this ability and may never gain it again.

Howdunnit: Once ever, you may declare that your character knows exactly what happened. The GM must describe the murder, in perfect detail, leaving out no clue or tell. Now, this just leaves your character to figure out how to prove the facts of the case in a way that would hold up in the eyes of the law.