Warning: This page contains huge spoilers for the games, especially who was murdered and who was the murderer. If you have not finished the game, do not read any further!

What exactly motivates people to commit murders? Sometimes the motive is greed. It can be also revenge or jealousy, or to cover another crime, or for financial gain. But for mentally ill people, the motives may be completely different. If you finished Laura Bow 1 successfully, you know that Lillian Prune killed seven people, including her mother. What was her motive? Gathering various pieces of information -- what Celie and others can tell about Lillian, her bizarre behavior at the playhouse, her conversation with the colonel, and most of all -- her diary, Templeton came up with the following conclusions. If you have any more information that can be added to these profiles, please post them on the Sierra Planet Forums, and they might be added here!

Lillian Prune's father committed a suicide when she was young. That made Lillian break down mentally. She was committed in a sanitarium for a couple of years. Seeming mentally healthy, she was released. Missing her father, she began to see the colonel as a substitute for a father. She had disturbing thoughts about the other members of the family -- and the staff members -- trying to separate her from the colonel. She hated them all, including her mother -- except Celie, with whom she was befriended. She found the perfect opportunity to get rid of her 'enemies' -- on the night of the family reunion. She didn't believe what the colonel had told her (on Act 5) -- that he treated her just like the others. Sometimes she lost contact with reality -- she was playing with the dolls in the playhouse, like a little girl -- but she consistently stuck to her scheme. Let me assure you that her motive was definitely NOT the bequest. She didn't care at all about her uncle's money. She carefully planned the murders, using various instruments, spreading false clues (her mother's hanky, for instance). She managed to kill seven people, but the eighth murder didn't succeed -- Rudy Dijon managed to grab the gun and to kill her in self-defense. The bottom line: Lillian was homicidal schizophrenic paranoiac.

Rudy Dijon's motive was obvious: greed. As you can hear from the other characters -- Lillian Prune, Clarence Sparrow, Dr. Wilbur C. Feels and Celie -- he was a heavy gambler and was deeply in debts. He did not plan to kill the colonel and the others -- at least not yet -- and he killed Lillian in self-defense. But after he found out Lillian killed the other members of the family, save the colonel, he seized the opportunity to become the sole heir of his uncle by planning to murder him, and then blaming him of the murderers, and claiming to kill him in self-defense.

If you finished Laura Bow 2 successfully, you know that a mysterious Watney Little killed and impersonated Dr. Archibald Carrington, but it was Detective Ryan O'Riley who killed most of the people. What were their motives? Gathering various pieces of information -- from talking to suspects, reading various types of paper documents, and eavesdropping on conversations -- I came up with the following conclusions:

Watney Little's motive was financial gain. He escaped from prison with the help of Detective O'Riley and took part in both schemes -- the theft of the Dagger and the art forgery. He murdered Dr. Carrington and impersonated to him, figuring that the disguise would make it easy for him to steal the Dagger of Amon Ra and to arrange the replacement of the original paintings with the forgeries. After all, no one would suspect that the president of the museum was stealing art items from the museum. But he left two pieces of incriminating evidence that gave him away (after his demise) -- the pocket watch of Dr. Carrington and the police file.

Detective O'Riley's basic motives were financial gain and covering the crimes for the murders of Dr. Pippin Carter, Ziggy Ziegfeld, Watney Little, Ernie Leach, and Countess Lavinia Waldorf-Carlton, and jealousy or revenge for the murder of Yvette Delacroix. If Laura eavesdrops on the first conversation between Detective O'Riley and Yvette in her office, Detective O'Riley says that he is frustrated that after spending so many years fighting crimes, he is still earning low salary, while the criminals around him are getting rich. Therefore, he planned the theft of the Dagger with Watney Little. That explains why he handled the theft case in such negligent manner. It is very likely that Detective O'Riley was the mastermind behind the art forgery scheme, and maybe he was involved in the fencing jobs that Ernie did for "Big Al." The murders of Watney Little, Ziggy, and the Countess: Detective O'Riley did not believe in partnership -- he meant to get rid of all his accomplices -- Watney, Ziggy and the Countess, thus keeping to himself all the money gained from the theft and the forgery, and minimizing the risk of getting caught. His motives for killing them were financial gain and to cover the crimes. The murder of Dr. Carter was meant to incriminate Dr. Tut Smith as the murderer and the thief of the Dagger. Detective O'Riley figured that Dr. Smith was the perfect candidate for a suspect -- he was a fanatic Egyptian. He kept demanding that Dr. Carter would give the Dagger to the Cairo museum, and everyone knew how much he and Dr. Carter hated each other -- so O'Riley murdered Dr. Carter and left the ankh near the body, in order to mislead whoever would investigate the matter. The motive was to cover another crime. The murder of Yvette was of jealousy or revenge: In their first conversation in Yvette's office, Detective O'Riley warns Yvette that he will kill her if he found out that she was sleeping with another man. She thought he was joking, but he obviously wasn't. He strangled her with a scarf, planted bifocals -- maybe to incriminate "Dr. Carrington" or Rameses -- in her hand and then covered her body with fast-drying plaster (that could incriminate Steve Dorian). If Laura eavesdrops on their second conversation, Detective O'Riley shouts at Yvette for lying to him -- he accuses her for sleeping with another man -- and she blames him for the theft of the Dagger. That could also be the motive -- to cover the crime -- but Detective O'Riley murdered her mainly out of jealousy. It is difficult to figure what was the exact motive for murdering Ernie, though it was, in general, financial gain or to cover another crime. There are several possibilities: Ernie was an eye-witness to some of the crimes Detective O'Riley committed. If Laura eavesdrops on the conversation between Ernie and Yvette to Ernie's office, Ernie tells Yvette that he has bigger problems than worrying about "The Icepick" -- he saw something he was not supposed to see. Maybe he saw the theft or the murders. So Detective O'Riley murdered him to cover the crimes. Detective O'Riley was connected somehow to the loan-shark known as "The Icepick." Maybe he was working for the Icepick as an enforcer, or he was the Icepick himself. Either way, since Ernie owed money to the Icepick and did not pay on time, the Icepick decided to eliminate Ernie to make an example of him for those who owed him money -- exactly what Yvette was afraid of. In that case, Detective O'Riley's motive was financial gain. Dr. Oylmpia Myklos sent Ernie a message to check Vat 13 (the warthog vat) because it was clogged (because of the dagger), right? Well, even though Laura heard the first message, maybe there was another one that Ernie did hear, so he went to check it out. If Detective O'Riley saw Ernie looking into Vat 13, he would probably freak out because he thought that Ernie would discover the dagger. So, all O'Riley had to do was climb up behind Ernie and push him in, or just distract Ernie long enough for him to pass out due to the strong vapors and fall in. In this case, his motive was to cover up a crime. -- Audra (9-3-1999) Detective O'Riley's plan could have worked, but he made some mistakes -- for instance, he left incriminating evidence on at least three of his victims -- but his biggest mistake was underestimating Laura Bow's resourcefulness, wisdom and bravery!