Connections, departures, and the clock
Every game spends its deadline differently, from a fixed six days to a fuel gauge that doesn't care what day it is.
Travel is the biggest drain on the case clock in every version of the series, but exactly how that spending works, and how much time a case starts with, differs from title to title far more than the general rule suggests.
Depart, arrive, repeat
The core interaction goes back to the original: a See Connections screen lists every destination reachable by a connecting flight from the current stop, and a separate Depart by Plane command sends the player off “once you're ready to take off after the suspect.” Where in the U.S.A. keeps the same pair under the names Show Connections and Depart, with a double-click shortcut for the impatient. Europe prices the lookup itself — checking connections at the Go to Airport screen “takes an hour of your time” before anything has even been boarded. America's Past replaces geography with a MAP screen covering five U.S. regions across nine time periods, with a LAUNCH command standing in for Depart.
How each game counts down
The deadline itself is not a series constant. The Deluxe remake of the original fixes it at a flat six days per case. North Dakota lands on the same figure independently — six days by four-wheel-drive between gas stations rather than airports. Where in Time dispenses with a calendar altogether: the fictional Federal Time Travel Commission grants a set number of hours per case and “has never granted an extension,” tracked on the Chronoskimmer's own panel. America's Past runs the same premise through a Time Remaining Indicator counting down to a flat 00. The original 1985 game is looser still: the Crime Computer simply announces a deadline at the start of each case, and the manual's only firm promise is that “the higher you rank, the tougher the case” — a shorter fuse rather than a published number.
When the clock isn't a clock
Where in Space throws the calendar out entirely for two resources at once: a fixed Star Date to catch the suspect by, and a fuel gauge that both travel and database queries drain, which still has to have enough left afterward to fly the prisoner home. Miss either limit and the outcome matches a missed deadline anywhere else in the series — the crook walks.