A Crooked Mile

A Crooked Mile is the third episode of the first season of Telltale Games' The Wolf Among Us.

Plot Synopsis
"After discovering damning evidence at a bloody crime scene, Bigby is just steps behind the prime suspect of a horrific murder, but he's not the only one; other forces in Fabletown will stop at nothing to protect their interests. Every decision matters and time is ticking in this thrilling third episode of The Wolf Among Us."

Storyline
The episode picks up exactly where its predecessor left off; Bigby has discovered that Crane is the murderer; a photo of him in bed with a murdered woman glamoured to look like Snow was found. He sees Beauty and Beast off to arrive at Lily's funeral, where Holly, Grendel, Prince Lawrence (determinant), Vivian and Nerissa are all attending. He can choose to interrupt Snow's eulogy to explain the situation or wait for her. Eventually, Snow returns to the funeral and asks Bigby to wait at a distance.

Whilst he is awaiting, the Tweedles Dum and Dee arrive with shotguns in Bigby's back. They warn Bigby that they will shoot him and the funeral up unless Bigby stops searching for Crane. Infuriated at the sight of the interrupting Tweedles, Holly and Grendel unglamour themselves into their true forms, causing a shootout to occur. Bigby, Holly and Grendel are all wounded in the shooting (and Snow will be too if the player is inactive during the QTE's). The Tweedles manage to flee as the intro to the game plays.

Then, Bigby is patched up by Doctor Swineheart in the Business Office. Holly and Grendel were wounded in the shooting and returned to the Trip Trap. Snow remarks that all the unknowns regarding the murder case are frustrating her. Unfortunately, Crane shattered the Magic Mirror with the Magic Lamp making him impossible to locate; Bufkin tries to piece it back together but Crane has apparently took a shard. Crane also seems to be interested in a particular magic object, but since its page was torn out of the book, Bigby and Snow can't determine what it is. At this point Bluebeard comes in, enraged at how Crane has disappeared and that the office is lacking any official representatives.

Bufkin remarks that he overheard Crane mention that he is going to see a black market witch at 2:00am, but that is only a few short hours away. Bigby, Snow and Bluebeard determine that there are three possible leads to investigate; the Tweedles Office, Crane's apartment, or the Trip Trap to look for Lily's things (since Lily would have been getting her "Snow" glamours from a witch too). The player now must decide which of the three locations to go. Additionally, Bluebeard will go to Crane's apartment (or if Bigby goes there he will go to the Tweedles office).

If he goes to Crane's apartment, then he eventually he finds Jack there, trying to flee Crane's bedroom with an assortment of his valuable belongings. Jack tells Bigby that the name of the witch Crane is visiting is Aunty Greenleaf, and Bigby can accept or reject Jack's offer: in exchange for this info, Bigby would not trouble Jack for his presence. Either way, Snow White comes in as Bigby must now decide to go to the Trip Trap or the Tweedles.

If he first goes to the Tweedles' Office, he finds Flycatcher there working as a janitor. He eventually finds, in a secret room, an address book that has the initials (A.G.) of the witch Crane was using, but cannot determine her initials. He will also choose to offer Flycatcher a job at the Woodlands again.

If he goes to to the Tweedles Office after Crane's apartment, he will find a beaten Flycatcher there and default to the Trip Trap bar. If he goes to Crane's apartment after the Tweedles Office, he will find out from Bufkin that Bluebeard has burned many objects (perhaps the ones he would've caught Jack stealing), and defaults to the Trip Trap. The scene at the Trip Trap seems to be essentially the same regardless of order however.

At the Trip Trap, Bigby re-meets Grendel and the Woodsman. He, whilst conversing with a sleeping Holly,  will find Holly's things also pointing him to Aunty Greenleaf. He will still need to search the other locations if this is his first decision.

(Bigby will find the witch, Aunty Greenleaf, and her address regardless of which order Bigby visits the locations in).

Eventually, Bigby and Snow are pointed to Aunty Greenleaf. They enter her apartment to find a very young girl, apparently Greenleaf's daughter. After opening a Glamour Tube that the girl pleas Bigby to not open, the girl is unglamoured revealing her to be Greenleaf. She is initially un-cooperative in regards to Crane's location, but she cracks down and immediately tells that he was heading to the Pudding and Pie when Snow orders her magical tree burned to ashes since the tree was being used to make illegal glamours. The player chooses if Bigby burns the tree.

Bigby and Snow go to the Pudding N Pie to confront Crane; after walking through Georgie who says into the phone "we have a problem", they find Crane grabbing Nerissa. It is revealed that Crane had been attempting to use the Ring of Dispel he bought from Greenleaf to pierce the speech-impediment Nerissa's ribbons put on her (the ribbons keep her from speaking about her job), but as Greenleaf told Bigby and Snow earlier, the ring is no longer magical. Unable to obtain the information, Crane is unable to use the girls to acquit himself, and if Bigby brings up the discovered photo of him and Lily, Crane will confess his love to Snow (who will reply stating that Crane doesn't love her). Snow announces that she doesn't believe Crane is the killer (though it is known that he embezzled from Fabletown). Crane is then marched out of the club by Bigby and Snow.

As the three exit the club, they find themselves cornered into the alleyway by cars; Bloody Mary and the shotgun-weilding Tweedles' brothers emerge on behalf of who they call the "Crooked Man". After Mary fails to persuade Bigby to hand over Crane, the Tweedles rapidly shoot at Bigby until Bigby transforms into his massive, terrifying werewolf form. He charges and effortlessly overpowers them both, and the player is given the choice of killing or sparing Dum. However, Bloody Mary incapacitates Bigby with a silver bullet, a werewolf's weakness. He is knocked down, and is nearly killed by the Woodsman's axe (somehow in her possession); Snow intervenes and surrenders Crane. Mary, as the Crooked Man's hand is seen waving for Mary to return, stomps on Bigby's arm inflicting a compound fracture and walks away with Crane as Bigby is left incapacitated.

Characters

 * Bigby Wolf
 * Beauty
 * Beast
 * Snow White
 * Holly
 * Grendel
 * Vivian
 * Nerissa
 * Lawrence (Determinant)
 * Tweedledee
 * Tweedledum (Possible Death)
 * Bufkin
 * Magic Mirror (Broken)
 * Swineheart
 * Bluebeard
 * Woodsman
 * Cryer (No Lines)
 * Flycatcher (Determinant)
 * Jack Horner (Determinant)
 * Aunty Greenleaf
 * Georgie Porgie
 * Clever Hans (No Lines)
 * Ichabod Crane
 * Bloody Mary
 * Crooked Man
 * Headless Horseman (Statue)

Locations

 * Open Arms Hotel
 * Buckingham Bridge
 * Woodlands
 * Business Office
 * Crane's Apartment
 * Trip Trap
 * Tweedles' Office (Determinant)
 * Aunty Greenleaf's Apartment
 * Pudding & Pie

In-Game Decisions
Did you interrupt Snow's euology?
 * Didn't interrupt- 81.1%
 * Interrupted- 18.9%

What place did you investigate first?
 * Trip Trap- 44%
 * Crane's Apartment- 35%
 * Tweedles' Office- 21%

'''Did you offer Flycatcher a job? (Flycatcher and the Tweedles Office do not appear if you first visit Crane's apartment then visit the Trip Trap, meaning that you won't have this choice in such a scenario)'''
 * Offered a job- 96.3%
 * Didn't offer a job- 3.7%

'''Did you make a deal with Jack? (Only if you visit Crane's apartment first)'''
 * Decided to make a deal- 69.2%
 * Decided not to make a deal- 30.8%

Did you burn Greenleaf's tree?
 * Didn't burn the tree- 80.4%
 * Burned the tree- 19.6%

Did you kill Tweedle Dum?
 * Didn't kill him- 52.7%
 * Killed him- 47.3%

Impacts

 * Lawrence will appear in this episode if his suicide was prevented in "Faith".
 * Grendel's right arm will be missing if Bigby tore it off in "Faith".
 * Holly's dialogue to Bigby at the funeral will change slightly depending on his response to her request for Lily's body in the previous episode.
 * Tweedle Dee's front teeth will be missing if he was arrested in "Faith" and punched during the interrogation.
 * Dee will also have more malicous dialogue if Bigby was violent with him during the interrogation.
 * The Woodsman will have additional dialogue in the Trip Trap explaining his release if Bigby arrested him in "Faith".
 * If you tortured him and then question him before he leaves, he will ask if you gonna burn him again or smash another bottle in his face. On the other hand he can apologize for the interrgation.
 * Gren's dialogue about Woody's sessions with Lily will change slightly if Bigby told him and Holly about it in "Smoke & Mirrors". (Can only be done if Woody was arrested).
 * If Bigby trashed the Pudding & Pie during "Smoke & Mirrors", Georgie will mention if he came to smash the rest of his place. If he didn't smash the club, Georgie will ask if he wants a "taste of the wares".
 * If you smashed his club, parts of it will be shown smashed like the TV and the sign when entering it.

Mentioned Characters

 * Boy Blue
 * Briar Rose
 * Pinocchio
 * Jersey Devil
 * Johann
 * Weyland Smith
 * Crispin Cordwainer
 * King Thrushbeard
 * Prince Charming

Deaths

 * Tweedledum (Determinant)

Trivia

 * First appearance of Swineheart.
 * First appearance of Flycatcher. (Determinant)
 * First appearance of Auntie Greenleaf.
 * First appearance of Bloody Mary.
 * First appearance of the Crooked Man.
 * First appearance of the Headless Horseman.
 * Last appearance of Tweedledum. (Determinant)
 * First mention of Boy Blue.
 * First mention of Pinocchio.
 * First mention of Weyland Smith.
 * First mention of Briar Rose.
 * First mention of King Thrushbeard.
 * First mention of Crispin Cordwainer.
 * First mention of Jersey Devil.
 * First mention of the Butcher.
 * First mention of B.C.W.
 * First mention of Prince Charming.
 * Originally, the episode selection screen for this episode depicted Detective Brannigan going after Bigby at the Woodlands. However, it was changed to Bigby chasing Crane's car when "Smoke & Mirrors" was released.
 * If you arrested the Woodsman in Episode 1, then he will tell you that he was engaging in sexual intercourse with Holly's sister Lily in the following episode; later in that episode, you can tell Holly of The Woodsman's confession. If you do, then Gren will criticize Bigby for being the one who had to tell her in this episode. If you didn't tell Holly (or if you didn't arrest Woody and don't know yourself), then Grendel will berate Woody since Holly had to find out going through Lily's things.
 * A mistake is noticeable if you arrested Tweedledee in Episode 1 and punch him twice during the interrogation he should have his teeth knocked out. However if you punch him once, he should still have his teeth intact and if this is done, he will have his teeth missing in this episode despite still having them in the previous.
 * When Bigby goes to the Trip Trap, Gren eventually passes out after the cutscene. Should the player have the decision summaries on, the game will say in the upper left hand corner, "Gren won't remember this." This is a joke at the fact that this system frequently uses the phrase, "He/she will remember that/this" when the player states something in particular.
 * When Dee says to Bigby "You know how this goes, the first thing in a visit? You say, "How do ya do?"" These are the words he is depicted as speaking to Alice in his source material, Alice in Wonderland.
 * Seeing as to how Adam Harrington voices both Bigby and Woody, it is somewhat ironic that Bigby can impersonate Woody whilst speaking to a drugged and nearly-asleep Holly.
 * What is also quite intriguing is the street name, "King St." In Episode 1, you see Faith walk down that street, and at the beginning of Episode 2, Bigby and Crane are adjacent to it.
 * The title comes from the nursery rhyme "There was a Crooked Man".
 * This is the only episode in which Bigby has no non-canon death scenes; neither of the action scenes in this episode (at the opening or end), even if all the QTEs are failed, can result in Bigby dying and giving the player a game over. However, the action scene at the end will drag on for more time if the player ignores the QTEs.
 * This is the only episode where Toad does not appear, although a letter of him is in Crane´s desktop.