First, a brief tutorial

In Mystery of Mesmer's Manor, your goal is to find the perpetrator behind the mind control episodes. The main thing working against you is that to everyone else, you are the primary suspect! At the end of each day, the group will assemble to discuss everything they've learned. This can end in your success, allowing you to move freely the following day, or your failure, forcing you to give up and accept captivity.

To succeed, you'll need to do two things:

1) Name a plausible culprit other than yourself. You'll need a minimum number of incriminating clues related to one of the other available culprits. For the first night, you'll need 3. This may change on subsequent nights. Note that you will only be able to find clues related to a couple specific girls depending on the day, not every girl every day, so plan accordingly.

2) Avoid being voted suspicious by others. Others might becomes suspicious if you do something shady or if they just don't like you. A few suspicious votes are fine, so long as they don't equal or exceed the number of incriminating clues you needed to collect (in the case of the first night, 3). Raising the affection of certain guests can help you cancel out the votes of others.

Throughout the remainder of the day until the night's gathering, you'll meet with the others. During those encounters, you have three options. Pick the best one for the scenario and based on what you need to survive the night. You may find that different women respond better or worse to different options.

1) Grill: play bad cop and apply pressure to get a girl to spill her secrets using classic detective techniques. Some girls like a tough guy and you'll build affection with this option. Others you'll spook and they might come to hate you.

2) Gossip: play good cop and provoke one of the girls to engage in friendly chatter. Good for maintaining relationships with those who like a friendly chat. Bad with those who see it as a waste of time.

3) Control: using the Ring of Ursa Minor, you can control the women to do various things. Suitable for a variety of purposes, even just for your personal enjoyment. If someone catches you doing it, they'll probably get suspicious.

Each night will end with a new victim until the perpetrator is caught.

If you fail, it's game over... Luckily, before the whole event kicks into motion, you'll have one more chance to Bargain with the owner of the Ring of Ursa Major for clues or help you may be missing. Of course, there will be repayment involved, somewhere down the line! Hm hm hm hm.

Finally, as a reminder: this game is entirely for your benefit, Mr. Malcolm Wolf. There's no need to overthink it. Take your time and enjoy.