Claudia Pulchra is the villainess of "When in Rome", case #3 of Criminal Case: Travel in Time, the 6th season of the crime solving game Criminal Case (release date March 28, 2019). She was a Vestal priestess and the daughter of noblewoman Flavia Pulchra, who was found strangled to death inside the Circus Maximus viewing box of Octavian.
While Claudia initially appeared devastated by her mother's murder, the player's investigation revealed that Claudia was at odds with her mother, as she had forced Claudia against her well to become a Vestal priestess to improve her own social standing. Claudia confessed to her feelings toward her mother after a message she wrote condemning Flavia was discovered by the player and Jack Archer, accusing her mother of having never cared about her.
Later on, it was revealed that Octavian had approached Claudia regarding Flavia, claiming he sympathized with her and claiming he would marry her and help her escape her life as a priestess if she killed her mother. Claudia, effectively persuaded by Octavian, went through with Octavian's plan and murdered Flavia, setting off a curse against her before attacking her at the Circus Maximus and strangling her mother to death with a rope. One of Flavia's earrings got caught in Claudia's clothing during the struggle, with Claudia disposing of the earring after fleeing the stadium.
Body oil Claudia left on the earring (along with other clues) led to her being revealed as her mother's killer, with the player and Jack confronting her on her crime. After unsuccessfully claiming innocence, the evil Claudia confessing to Flavia's murder, revealing how Octavian had convinced her to kill Flavia. Jack responded by telling Claudia that Octavian had deceived Claudia into killing Flavia to keep her from jeopardizing his political ambitions (her having been a strong supporter of his opponent, Mark Antony), only for Claudia to refuse to believe it and proclaim Octavian would pardon her for her crime. Instead, however, when Claudia was brought to Octavian, he feigned shock at Claudia being Flavia's killer and that he had never meant to encourage Claudia to do so. Octavian ultimately had Claudia banished from Rome, much to the villainess' dismay.
Trivia[]
- Claudia Pulchra is one of the first one-shot villainesses of Criminal Case: Travel in Time.