“Behind Bars” is the second case of Chapter 2 in Rise of the Golden Idol. It takes place right after “Garden Retreat.”
‘Behind Bars’ case walkthrough, hints, and solution in Rise of the Golden Idol
How to solve the second case in Chapter 2
Image: Color Gray Games/Playstack via Polygon
Ryan Gilliam (he/him) has worked at Polygon for over eight years. He primarily spends his time writing guides for massively popular games like Diablo 4 & Destiny 2.
As with all of our Rise of the Golden Idol case guides, our goal here is to provide a hint-based experience that will lead you to the solution without automatically showing you how to solve it. We’ll start out with small hints for the puzzle, escalate to bigger ones, and eventually just spell out the answer if it’s still not clicking for you. We’ve separated our tiered hints and answers with in-game art, but be wary of scrolling farther than you intend.
In this Rise of the Golden Idol guide, we’ll walk you through the “Behind Bars” case, including hints and the full solution for the names, conference, victim, and events puzzles.
Behind Bars Names
There are eight names to discover in “Behind Bars.”
First hint
- There are four prisoners on the list, three guards, and one handyman.
- The prisoners are best deduced by simultaneously working out their cell numbers.
- There’s a room inside the prison that describes the crimes and first names of all prisoners.
- Outside of the cells but inside the prison, there’s an object that displays some prisoner last names.
- The young guard can tell you much about himself, his boss, and his fellow guard.
Image: Color Gray Games/Playstack via Polygon
Second hint
- You can find the first name of the mustachioed guard on the outside wall of the prison.
- The young guard will tell you his first name, his boss’ first name, his boss’ last name, and the mustachioed guard’s last name.
- The young guard’s last name is hidden in a letter in one of the cells, as is the missing last name of the prisoner from the chalk board.
- Use the pictures in the downstairs office and process of elimination to name every prisoner except for the mystery one.
- The handyman has a name tag.
Image: Color Gray Games/Playstack via Polygon
Solution
Listed left to right, top to bottom, here are the names of the “Behind Bars” characters:
- Patrick Kendal
- Percy Sainsbury
- Jimmy Beswick
- Robert Pakenham
- Jason Kempton
- Daniel Utley
- Jeremy Smith
- Henry Wakefield
Behind Bars Cells
There are five cells for the five prisoners, including the mystery one. You need to determine where they each reside.
First hint
- Consider the things you know about each prisoner’s hobbies and look for signifying items in their rooms.
- One prisoner calls another “neighbor,” meaning they need to be put next to each other.
- Use clues from their information sheet in the office below to realize where they go.
Image: Color Gray Games/Playstack via Polygon
Second hint
- First place the escapee, which will narrow down your choices for the others.
- To place Jimmy Beswick, pay attention to how long his sentence is, and what he says. Then look for something in one of the cells to suggest how much longer that inmate has.
- Consider that the names on the chalkboard don’t list in the way they appear, with the far left cell appearing as #30 on the list.
- The inmate interested in poker has cards in his room.
- The two off-screen cells can be determined with the chalkboard and the dialogue of the inmates.
Image: Color Gray Games/Playstack via Polygon
Solution
From left to right, the inmates display as:
- Escapee (question mark)
- Jimmy Beswick (think dark hair)
- Jason Kempton (scar)
- Daniel Utley (mustache)
- Robert Pakenham (red hair)
Behind Bars Message
In the escapee’s cell, you’ll need to do some secret message decoding, which is mercifully much simpler than it initially seems.
First hint
- You only need two items in the escapee’s cell to solve the puzzle.
- Read the bolded pieces of the letter to figure out where you should focus your energy and your eyes.
Image: Color Gray Games/Playstack via Polygon
Second hint
- Use the message to find the number you need to encode.
- Use the numbers to guide you along on the colorful poster.
- Think about how the numbers and how they correlate to the objects below.
Image: Color Gray Games/Playstack via Polygon
Solution
The secret message was encoded with:
281973
And could be decoded as:
Inside flower book spine equals saw
Behind Bars Events
The event is three sentences long, and can be solved mostly with visual ques once you get the rest of the puzzle down.
First hint
- The first sentence names the escapee, what they’ve done, how they got out of their cell, and who helped them cut the bars.
- The second sentence refers to how they reached the ground and who helped them get through the fence.
- The final sentence is about how he got over the fence, and who gave him the objects needed to do it.
Image: Color Gray Games/Playstack via Polygon
Second hint
- Use the list on the first floor and the chalkboard to discover the escapee’s name.
- Follow his path out of the cell and click on all the hidden places to discover the tools he used.
- Read Percy’s letter and check the other cells to discover who gave him what.
Image: Color Gray Games/Playstack via Polygon
Solution
Arthur Blythe, who was in prison for murder, got out of his cell through a window, using a saw blade he got from Steven Aria.
He entered the yard via a drainpipe, and breached the fence using wire cutters he got from Percy Sainsbury.
Finally, he climbed over the wall by attaching sheets, which he got from Jimmy Beswick, to the bars from his window.
After “Behind Bars,” you’ll be able to tackle the “Blockbuster Release” case.
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