Pierra Athanese runs a small bookstore in the French city of Strasbourg, close to the German border, and the game begins as the Agents arrive there. The occult bookshop is called Athanor. It’s at the end of a narrow, winding dead end street in the medieval Grande Île district of the city.
Further, I'm going to assume the Disgraced Doctor (cameo, Double Tap) is in this scene as a witness.
Rielle knew her days were numbered during med school. The Oxycontin addiction was getting out of hand, even for her standards, and she really didn’t want to put out a shingle and spend fifty years wiping snotty noses and listening to old people complain about lumbago or gout. So she just never “applied herself” and after she graduated, she never went on interviews. Which is fine, interviews are for suckers. She dresses down; jeans and sweat shirts, just like residency.
The exact nature of the crime doesn't matter so much, but let's call it assault. Someone came into Athanor and beat the snot out of shop owner Pierre. The characters arrived on the scene just after this happened. Pierre is oddly reluctant to say what happened.
Secure the Scene Crime scenes are fragile. They are a snapshot in time and the more time goes by the blurrier that snapshot looks. That's without even considering those who might damage it by removing evidence, adding evidence, or just generally being a pain in the neck.
In this example the protagonists aren't cops. If anything, they're the opposite. They have no official standing so they're going to have to rely on personality and perseverance to keep the scene secure. This may involve posting a player character on the door to make sure nobody gets in. Someone will need to go round the shop making sure nobody else is on the premises, that there are no other ways in or out.
Conduct the Initial Examination. If this were a homicide, the first thing the detectives would do is ignore the corpse. It isn't going anywhere. Of all the things in the scene, it's the least likely to change in the next few minutes, and it's going to be investigated carefully so odds are any evidence will be found. Whereas the scene itself is mutable, and this is probably the one time it will be looked at carefully. Anything not found now will likely never be found.
In game, as Director, you need to ensure that there's at least one clue in this crime scene that leads somewhere. Depending on how complicated you want the crime scene, you could plant multiple clues. You may want multiple ways to find that same clue, if you think the players might not have the appropriate pool or not use it when needed.
In this scene, Forensics (possibly Outdoor Survival or Reassurance on witness Rielle): there's some wet footprints on the floor. It hasn't been raining, but there is a puddle out back of the shop; water collects there due to bad drainage. Whoever left those marks came from the back of the shop. There's an alley there which isn't easily seen except from a neighboring bistro, The Drunky Fox Social Club. The alley serves both the bookstore and the bistro's kitchen.
Interview Witnesses. There are two in the scene, disgraced doctor Rielle and the shop owner, Pierre. Witnesses are valuable for detectives because at some point they need to convince a jury that A happened because of B. Witnesses are very persuasive; people tend to believe their lying eyes.
For protagonists in a game like this, juries are the last thing on their mind. They just want evidence, any kind of evidence, to lead them to the next scene. The question is, are these witnesses truthful?
Pierre is keeping his mouth shut. He says he didn't get a good look at them, it all happened so fast. One of them wore a brightly colored shirt. The other spoke German. That's all he remembers. Bullshit Detector knows he's lying.
Rielle is also in the scene. She was in the back of the store, browsing, and the attackers didn't know she was there. Pharmacy or a 3-point Medic notices her calmness, apathy and short attention span - classic signs of opiate addiction. This suggests she may not be a reliable witness. She says there was only one attacker and that he was short, cropped hair, wearing a hooded jacket with a logo on it. She doesn't remember the logo.
Again, you could put more than one clue in this scene, but a lot depends on how complicated you want to make it. You already have one clue - the footprints. Another clue here is fine, but add too many and you'll be drowning in clues.
I would put in one clue and make it obtainable from either witness. Interrogation on Rielle, Intimidation on Pierre. Use the wrong technique on either witness and they clam up, making the clue unobtainable from that witness.
The clue: the attacker was finishing off an energy drink as they came into the shop, and dropped it on the floor. That can will have fingerprints, maybe even DNA evidence, which will help to identify them.
Of the two witnesses, Rielle is the more reliable, but the players won't know that.
Collect Evidence for Further Study. This will include that can, which is still there on the floor whether the players got the clue from the witnesses or not. The players still have a chance to pick that up. They could examine Pierre's injuries, to see if the damage was done by a professional or an enthusiastic amateur. They could look around the shop for further evidence.
Again, I would be inclined to have only one clue available from this avenue of investigation, but notice how these clues are piling up. It's a simple scene, but we already have two significant clues. A third one can be had by collecting evidence, and in this case I would be inclined to have that clue available to those who follow up on those wet footprints. They lead to the alley which is next to the Drunky Fox Social Club, and if they go there they discover that the attacker came back through the alley, into the bistro's kitchen, and out through the front of the bistro. On their way, the attacker dumped a hooded jacket into the bistro's garbage, probably attempting to change their look in case they were being followed. Witnesses in the bistro (Reassurance) identify the attacker as a woman with close cropped hair; opinions vary as to whether her hair was blonde, dark or artificially colored. All agree she was short and muscular. The jacket (Streetwise, possibly Urban Survival if the character has Strasbourg as a familiar city) has the logo of a Strasbourg martial arts dojo.
Once upon a time I said about scenario design:
In summary: yes, you want a series of scenes that connect up to reach certain Core moments which, in turn, lead to a resolution. There will be a certain amount of improvisation but improv doesn’t solve all your problems. Improv is a support for your existing structure, not a replacement for that structure.
Crucially, you need to bear in mind that your structure isn’t some magical castle in the clouds that can only be reached by imagination wizards. Your structure is very simple. It starts with this:
You put yourself in the characters’ shoes and ask yourself, if I had to answer this question, what would I do?
The same design principles apply here. Slightly modified, because this time you're not putting yourself in the characters' shoes. You're putting yourself in the attacker's shoes, the person committing the crime. You ask yourself, if I had to do this thing, how would I do it? From there, you piece together a line of action which in turn leaves a trail of clues. You entered from the back of the shop, you did what you came there to do, and you left the same way, trying to throw off pursuers by changing your appearance.
Each of these activities has the potential to leave a trail of clues. You know this. The question is, what clues, and how best to collect them?
Enjoy!
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