Il Professore Scomparso

Professor Bianchi invites his friends (played by the students) to meet him at the university in Turin. When he does not show up, his friends begin investigating. In his office, they discover that the professor had been studying the details of oil paintings very closely. Their suspicions grow stronger when they also find correspondence with a former smuggler. Hoping that Bianchi will simply turn up again, the group travels to Rome and visits an art fair where Bianchi is supposed to give a lecture. Unfortunately, Bianchi does not appear and the lecture is spontaneously cancelled. So the group seeks out the former smuggler and learns that the professor was here as well. They follow his trail and find a cave with an abandoned base that was left in a hurry. With the clues they find there, they manage to rescue the professor. He is very grateful, but is not satisfied until the smuggling ring has actually been dismantled. And so the group sets out on their final task: infiltrating a secret auction in order to catch the gangsters in the act.

Professor Bianchi invites the players to meet him at the university in Turin. However, when the players arrive there, he does not show up. They had never known the professor to be like this, so they begin investigating. Bianchi had been studying the details of individual paintings in the art museum and had been keeping a particularly close eye on the museum’s traveling exhibition. They soon discover that the paintings are in fact genuine forgeries. Was that the reason for Bianchi’s disappearance? Is Bianchi in danger?

The players set out to rescue the professor, uncover the gangsters’ activities, and save Turin’s art treasures.

Der Kurs im Detail

Hier sind die einzelnen Sitzungen des Kurses mit Aufgaben dokumentiert. Sitzungen sind nach Ort oder Thema benannt.

University in Turin

The students play Professor Bianchi's friends and acquaintances and have been invited to visit him at the university. However, he does not show up. The students then speak with his assistant to gain access to the professor's office and search for clues that might explain his disappearance.

Newspaper article about a traveling exhibition

The article proudly talks about all the art treasures in the exhibition. They really seem to mean something to the people.

Focus: Understanding connections

Advertisement and payment confirmation for a camera

This camera can be used to analyze works of art. Bianchi naturally bought one.

Focus: Technical language, advertising copy

Document proving ownership of a locker

Bianchi apparently did not keep everything in his office. I wonder if this piece of paper is all you need to access it?

Focus: Planning

Post Office

The group visits the post office to gain access to Bianchi's locker and hopefully find clues about his disappearance there. Of course, they do not have permission to access the locker. The players interact with the employees at the post office but are denied access without authorization. Attempts to gain access while the others distract the employees fail. The players then decide to forge a letter of authorization.

Infrared camera in the locker

The infrared camera must have been important to Bianchi if he kept it in his locker…

Focus: Discovering

Letters from a smuggler

Bianchi had been corresponding with a gangster. The man writes that he has been out of the business for a long time, but he makes quite a bit of fun of Bianchi. Maybe Bianchi had managed to find something out.

Focus: Reconstructing the past

Art Museum in Turin

The players visit the museum, which had been of great interest to Bianchi before his disappearance. There, they examine the paintings he printed out. Using the infrared camera, they notice that the pictures are forgeries, as the underlying layers and pencil sketches differ from what had previously been documented. They also find crumpled notes in the professor's handwriting in a wastepaper basket.

Compare paintings with their descriptions

Bianchi compared old descriptions of the works of art with the paintings in the exhibition. Maybe we can find something out if we do the same.

Focus: writing

Criticize one of the paintings

Most of the works of art here are already quite beautiful, but I don’t understand this one.

Focus: writing

Trip to Rome

We’re not getting anywhere here in Turin. Maybe we’ll find Bianchi in Rome, after all, he is supposed to give a lecture there. You wouldn’t believe everything that happened to us on the journey.

Focus: writing

Art Fair in Rome

After following the clues in Turin, the group now hopes to find Bianchi at an art fair in Rome, where he is supposed to give a lecture. The players explore the fair and interact with various booths. For the most part, however, they wait in the hope that their friend will actually show up at the fair, but in vain.

Navigating the fair map

Bianchi is supposed to speak somewhere around here. We just need to find the stage…

Focus: Finding the way

Exploring the booths

The lecture isn’t scheduled until this afternoon. Maybe someone here has already seen him. And with all these booths, at least we won’t get bored.

Focus: Talking

Meeting with the Informant

The players visit the address of the former smuggler with whom Bianchi had exchanged letters. It turns out to be a hotel. They solve puzzles to find the informant, and he tells them about a cave hideout.

Solve word puzzles

The former gangster apparently doesn’t want to receive just anyone. Maybe we can figure out the password using the clues.

Focus: Understanding language

Conversation with the informant

The man’s name is Giovanni Rizzo. He used to have close connections to the art thieves Bianchi was investigating. He doesn’t want to say too much; hopefully we can get some more information out of him, because a lot is at stake.

Focus: Talking, recognizing motives

Smuggler Hideout

The players follow Bianchi's trail and visit the cave where the smugglers had been hiding. They find a base that was abandoned in a hurry. Some traces have been completely destroyed, but in their haste, they left behind a few clues about Bianchi and the organization's plans.

Rizzo accompanies the group on the way

He really wants to help us and meets with us again. However, he won’t go all the way to the hideout; he seems afraid of running into old acquaintances after all.

Focus: Talking

Investigating the cave

This was more than just a camp; people actually lived here. You can’t clear out a place like this in half a day without leaving some clues behind.

Focus: Investigating

Clues on the map

A map hangs on the wall of the hideout that was abandoned in a hurry. It was once covered with pins. Maybe that has something to do with Bianchi’s whereabouts.

Focus: Combining information

Newspaper article about the traveling exhibition in Rome

The traveling exhibition will soon be here too. Is that a coincidence, or are the smugglers planning something here?

Focus: Combining information

Newspaper article about art forgery

They apparently haven’t gone completely unnoticed after all. The police and the press know about it, so at least they are aware. Nothing has happened yet, though.

Focus: Combining information

Rescuing Bianchi

Using a map from the hideout, the players visit marked locations in the hope of finding Bianchi there. They find an intimidated priest and manage to follow clues leading to a small cabin in the woods. They find Bianchi and bring him to safety.

Poem from the hideout

These lines must point to a location. Surely one of the churches in the area matches the description.

Focus: Researching

Questioning the priest

The priest was obviously intimidated. Hopefully we can still get some information from him.

Focus: Persuading

Reunited with Bianchi

Professor Bianchi is doing very poorly. He was tied up and locked in a shed in the woods for days. He should get some rest and then tell us everything.

Focus: Talking

The Art Auction (Exam)

Being back in safety is not enough for Bianchi; he wants to catch the smugglers. Using his information and the clues they already have, they piece everything together and find the location and date of an auction on the black market.

Letter from Giovanni Rizzo

Professor Bianchi isn’t the only one who wants to catch the art dealers; Giovanni Rizzo is helping us too. He even wrote us a plan. It contains the auction’s security measures and the important steps for collecting evidence without getting caught.

Focus: Reading comprehension

Dividing up the tasks

We now need to coordinate as a group, decide who wants to take on which task, and make sure everyone has understood everything.

Focus: Conversation

Carrying out the tasks

We split up. Everyone has to complete their task alone, even though unfortunately something always goes wrong.

Focus: Conversation

Handing over to the police

With enough evidence, we can now go to the police. We managed to catch the art thieves. However, we still have to write the police a report about everything we did. I wonder if we should really mention EVERYTHING we did along the way?

Focus: Writing