Part 5: Gabriel Knight vs. The Police

Chapter 5: Gabriel Knight vs. The Police


After he gets to his bike, Gabriel decides he's close enough to the NOPD building to just walk there. Unfortunately for him, the hike is a bit longer than he thought, and combined with the summer heat, humidity and his enormous leather trenchcoat, it seems like forever.



He wanders in, a sweaty and uncomfortable mess, adding to the general funk of the place.

I dug for a couple minutes, but I couldn't find any photos of the inside of the NOPD, so I can't say how accurate this looks. I do have a dreadful movie called "Dr. Ice" that was filmed in an office they pretended was the NOPD, but that's hardly a reliable source. My guess is it's not terribly accurate, since the back room and what we see of the outside don't mesh very well.

I like to call this room the "Lobby of Hate." Nobody is ever nice to you in this room. Not that there are a whole lot to choose from -- you only talk to two people in here.

There to greet all the fine citizens of New Orleans is Officer Frick (Jim Cummings, one of those all-purpose voice actors with like 300 credits to his name), a balding fat man with enough repressed rage to power a couple apartment buildings. At all points through the game, Gabriel is dealt with on an emotional range from "totally apathetic" to "openly hostile."

Sitting at the desk is a police photographer, Officer Franks (I can't find a credit for the actress). Her role in the game is to hate Gabriel as much as is allowed for her to keep her job. Gabriel doesn't have to deal with her much, but when he does she addresses him with a layer of thick condescension usually reserved for child molesters.

Between the two of them we have more than our fair share of pure, undisguised contempt.

Those guys in the background are just window dressing and will never be seen again.



Just like most every day for years, Gabriel heads straight to the swinging door to go talk to Mosely.



Just like most every day for years, Frick shoots him down.



Gabriel's not very fond of him.




Looks like we're gonna have to ahead and ask permission to wander into the police precinct unsupervised. Sigh. Poor Gabriel.

To be fair, though, that door in the background? That's Mosely's office. It's right there. He doesn't even have to get up off his fat ass to keep an eye on Gabriel. So he's still being an asshole.



Well, first order of business: talk to someone who doesn't hate Gabriel.




(New personal topic: "Crime Scene")

"Why am I not already there?"




Yeah, like that's gonna stop Gabriel.



He can plead like his life depends on it.





We're not gonna get anything more out of him, but now Gabriel knows he has to find that damn crime scene.




"Every goddamn day, I swear."




You're going to see a lot of things like this. The game engine doesn't allow for you to get any items in the interrogation screen, so they hold off on giving you anything until you're done talking. Usually it doesn't have a veiled threat.

Gabriel decides to ask him about some assorted topics.



Starting with the obvious.







"Pretty please?"




He knows better, but sometimes Gabriel just can't help himself. The quips just come tumbling out and God save whoever gets in the way.




After completely failing to save face, Gabriel remembers one other thing that's been bugging him.






Nice. Even if this is a dead-end, it'd be neat for the book.

Just one more thing...




"Dammit."







Frick is already not listening, having returned to whatever the hell it is he's doing in that notebook.



Oh, Mosely.







Whoa. I wouldn't really want to carry that around with me, but Gabriel does for the whole game anyway.



There are a lot of jokes cracked about Mosely's hair loss, but it doesn't really follow. His portrait clearly shows a big puffy head of hair, with only the slight beginnings of baldness creeping in. Gabriel's kind of a jerk to his loved ones, though.



He's about to leave when a scene of rampant greed and gluttony wanders in from offscreen.

The beignet vendor is one of the more hilarious bugs in the game (fixed in the version I'm playing). He would wander in based on your processor speed, which past about a 386 meant the dude hurtled in at the speed of sound. Everything that happened around it would roll just as fast, so the whole scene would be over in about two seconds if it weren't for the dialogue.



As soon as Frick sees the beignet vendor, his mouth waters. It's his favorite food in the world, but he's trying to lose weight -- his eighth attempt this year. Looking at that vendor gives him chills. His palms go sweaty and he can barely keep his grip on the pen.



Franks has a considerably more subdued reaction. She's fond of beignets, but it isn't a deeply-entrenched urge like certain other officers.



She hops up quickly to grab one. A snack would be nice, although it would be best if she didn't get powdered sugar all over the camera again.



Frick can't look. His will is sapped as is. His pen shakes. The names in his book blur and seem to change. Tom Beignet. Pastry Moore. Beth Sugar. Sweat rolls down his face as his defenses turn to mush.



"Fuck it."



"Wouldn't dream of missin' this."



Frick stays put in the doorway to make sure Gabriel doesn't go anywhere. He knows that type.

He's not exactly wrong.



(They didn't animate Gabriel for this part. It's a shame.)



Considerably relieved, Frick wanders back to his desk with as much dignity as he can muster.



He notices that although he was hallucinating, one of the names was in fact a hooker named Beth Sugar. He chuckles wryly, paying no attention to Gabriel's curious stare.



He keeps his voice fairly steady, but his eyes burn with lust -- not for Franks, but for the delicious pastries she holds. He sets them aside momentarily in an attempt to practice his restraint, knowing full well that they're right next to him in case the urges overtake him again.



So, two officers completely abandoned their desks in favor of powdered sugar treats. Gabriel makes sure to remember this as he begins the long walk back to the park.



Since he's here anyway, albeit sweaty and somewhat uncomfortable, he decides to pace around for just a little bit to dig for ideas. This plan goes smashingly, as there's a motorcycle cop about four feet from the entrance.



Let's dig for that crime scene!




The cop's accent is hilarious. It sounds like someone heard about Southern accents for the first time and decided to try it out for Sierra.

The radio on the bike crackles to life:




"Holy crap, that's probably Mosely's crime scene!



"There's no way this guy'll let me just listen in, though. I need to distract him. Drive him away somehow."



"What I need is someone really irritating. Someone that'll get him so angry he'll forget all about the bike."



"...perfect."



Gabriel gestures for the mime to follow him. The mime, sensing mischief in the air, follows eagerly and silently.



With a brief gesture at the cop, Gabriel stands aside. The mime, knowing exactly what to do, begins his monkey impression.



The mime follows the cop's demands about as well as he did to Gabriel's before.





Without warning, the mime breaks away. He doesn't do his usual little "ohhhh I'm so scared" gesture and wander back to his place. He just fucking cuts and runs. It's awesome.










This worked out better than Gabriel could have possibly imagined. They're leading him right to it!





So everyone gets a little foggy on the search for the crime scene. Nothing ominous about that.




Well, we got enough information that we can probably find it. Just keep an eye out for the glaring yellow jacket.



The cop returns exactly in time for it to no longer matter. This is the luckiest Gabriel's gotten in this investigation to date.





Not actually sorry in the least, Gabriel hops on his bike and begins his hunt for the crime scene.



Here's what all the icons here are for, in case you were wondering. We'll be adding quite a few more before the game is over.



For whatever reason, Gabriel doesn't get lost along the way and finds the crime scene pretty easily.



To avoid adding to the general confusion, Gabriel wanders straight into the middle of it. Nobody notices.



One of the cops covers up the bloody naked dead guy while most everyone else departs.



Gabriel does the smart thing and wanders past the police tape to sneak up on Mosely.




Mosely frequently calls Gabriel names that involve dicks. They have a beautiful friendship.





Well, that's obviously a lie, but it sounds more legal than "I distracted a cop with a mime and hijacked his radio."



Mosely is perhaps a little too generous with case information. We'll be taking advantage of that through most of the game.





Seeing (and smelling) a dead body up close is a bit unsettling, but Gabriel crosses his arms and powers through.






To prove Mosely's point, a limo immediately rolls up.





This is the first of a number of comic-book-style scenes. Each frame appears one at a time, usually featuring a little bit of animation and dialogue. The panels appear onscreen as the action occurs, but for the sake of the LP they'll be presented as if printed on a page.

From left to right: Mosely and Gabriel wander up to the car. The window rolls down revealing a strikingly beautiful woman. She and Gabriel catch each other's eyes and stare at each other, a bit shocked at ... well, it's hard to say exactly what.



And we're back. Mosely seems to know her, or at least know of her.




You'll note Mosely makes absolutely no attempt whatsoever to cover up the body while he's talking to her.





And just like that, they're gone. Gabriel watches the car roll away, entranced.




Mosely doesn't seem to know the Knight history with rich women.





It's his hormones talking, but Gabriel does have a point here.



"Well, maybe you don't."



Finally done taking notes and ignoring plot points, the remaining officer tromps right over the marks on the ground.




I'm glad I don't have that job. I don't think I could be that cold about (real) dead people.




Awesome. That should give Gabriel plenty of time for his own investigation.





The officer and the paramedic wheel the body away while Mosely gives Gabriel full access to the scene. Not that Gabriel wouldn't be digging around here anyway, but it's a nice gesture.



The ambulance roars off...



...and so does Mosely. Gabriel's all alone here now; time to start poking around!



Next time:


Gabriel and Mosely have a meaningful chat in Chapter 6: Gabriel Knight vs. Minor Felonies!


Videos!
07. Tell me about yourself, Officer Frick. (Dailymotion) (Youtube)
08. Police scanner treachery (Dailymotion) (Youtube)
09. Gabriel Knight, crime scene. Crime scene, Gabriel Knight. (Dailymotion) (YouTube)