Part 46: Talking to Dunning

Music: Midnight


Oh, I ain't tryin' to call ya a liar or nothin'! It's just-

It's been stolen! There's no doubt about it.

Well, lemme see here-

I DEMAND that you start looking! I want this hotel searched now!

Look, son... I mean... Mr. Angel... Do me a favor, will ya? Take one more look through yer things.









Keep yer voice down!

Ain't no need to start in with the screamin' and hollerin'! Yer just gonna get the other guests all in a panic.

Like I care. Besides, it's too late to worry about that.

Look, that guy's already heard. And he hardly seems panicked.

Eh?

Music: Slow Steps
Something happen?

Yes, it has!





Both Kyle and Jeff are not impressed.

Mr. Angel, lemme get back to ya in a bit. I'll come up to yer room soon as I can.

Don't make me wait.

Jeff storms away from the front desk.

(??? What was that about? ???)



Now we can talk to Dunning. Come to think of it, we only talked properly to Dunning 3 times:
1. Checking in
2. Paying the fee and him giving us free food (and forgetting to lock the office door)
3. Asking where Louie is
Huh. Felt like we saw him a lot.

Music: Hangover Blues
Got a minute?

Music: Rainy Night


Read note
What're ya lookin' at?
Write note
What're ya writin'?
Show fountain pen
Yep, that's a fountain pen. So what?
Show old photo
It's a photo. Wanna see some'a mine? I got dozens.
Show Summer's novel
Summer's novel, eh? No thanks! If I wanna sleep, I'll go to bed!
Show room 217 key or stack of cash
You know what'll happen if we do this.

What was all that about?

That's the kid staying up in Room 213, right? Jeff Angel?

Yep.

What were you two chatting about?

Ain't nothin'.



...Hold it.

Yeah, I'll just refrain from making that AA reference. This phrase just keep showing up.



What happened?

Something happen?

Nope! Nothin'.

That's a lot of yelling for a bunch of nothing. He complaining about sharing his bed with roaches or something?

'Course not! Not in my place! It's just another fire I hafta put out, that's all.

(??? What was he griping about? ???)

Now I gotta figure out what I'm gonna do about it.

Music: Hangover Blues
Pardon me, do you have a moment?



Do you perchance have a copy of the newspaper?

Huh? Paper?

Yes, I was rather hoping to read the morning fish wrap.

Well, shoot... Had one layin' around here earlier...

Here ya go. Take this. Compliments'a the Dusk!

Good thing he said take this instead of that. I would've put that smiley again if that's the case.

Thank you, my good man.

Just throw it on the table in front of the couch when yer done, all right?

Of course.

Music: Rainy Night
That was a nice diversion. Well, back to business. At least now we don't have to hunt Martin down.

Oh, I almost forgot.
Show cash (again since we already showed this in a previous conversation)
Ya need change? Fine, fine. But just this once, ya hear?

Show cash (againx2)
I only give change once!
Show coins
That's the change I gave ya earlier.

We finally got the coins for the vending machine! This is the only chance to get it.
I repeat: THIS IS THE ONLY CHANCE TO GET COINS FOR THE VENDING MACHINE! After the time changes to 7.40 PM (which will happen this update) Dunning won't give coins anymore.

This is actually the hard part of the vending maching prize sidequest. Most people miss it because either they don't bother showing items, afraid that Dunning will cause a game over, or because they already showed the cash earlier and thought it won't give any new responses.
At least now it's just a matter of finding the final star.

Why was Jeff so angry?

So what's his problem?

Well, t'tell ya the truth... I don't wanna get the other guests all up in a lather, see? So let's keep this between me and you, OK?

Sure.

Sounds like something's been stolen.

Guess Angel Boy went down to the restaurant for a bite t'eat. When he got back to his room, he noticed somethin' missin'.

(??? What got stolen? ???)

What was stolen?

So what got lifted?

I ain't gonna tell ya that!



Are you serious?



You suspect me?

You think I had something to do with this?

No offense intended, right? But I ain't trustin' nobody but me on this.

Ya got that?

Now I gotta handle this with kid gloves so it don't get all blown outta whack.

And we're then kicked to the map screen.



So let's get that autograph. Note that Dunning's still there so you can still get the coins.

Music: Easy Feeling
Hmph. Sometimes I fear for our future generations...

Hey there. Spare a sec?

Oh, hello there, Mr. Hyde.

I must tell you about this article I was reading in the newspaper.

It seems there was a burglary in Beverly Hills last night. Quite brazen, really... The victim was an attorney named Larry Damon.

Mr. Damon happens to be a friend of mine, you see? I do hope he is doing well.

Yes, well, I apologize for the tangent. Did you perchance need something?

You know Rosa? The maid? Well, she asked me for a favor. You mind signing this book for her? Seems she's a big fan of yours.

Oh! But of course!

Great.

My apologies, but would you mind bringing it up to my room later? I apologize for the trouble, but...

Hell, why not? I'm already in this thing up to my eyeballs anyway.

How generous of you, Kyle.

Summer puts down the newspaper and leaves the lobby.



We can now read the newspaper.

Music: Straight Chaser

Newspaper There's a copy of some local rag on the table. The date on the paper is December 28. That's today. What do you know?

Upper-left article There's an article about a burglary on the left side of the front page.

The Beverly Hills home of attorney Larry Damon was burglarized last night. Police say that $20,000 and a pistol were taken from a safe in the study. The perpetrators then fled the scene in Damon's car. A police spokesman said they are actively pursuing the case.
Lower-left article There's an article about an art exhibit below the burglary story.

American foremost modern art collection is coming to the Central Gallery. The collection features works by many bright young painters. The event promises to be fun for the whole family, and a great way to ring in 1980!
Right article There's also a personal ad on the front page.

Meet me on your birthday in the hotel where we last saw each other. -H.



Music: Monochrome
Now let's go to Martin's room and see if we can get the autograph for



Rosa... Wait, she should've met Martin!



Music: Hangover Blues
Stop! Stop! I'm cleaning the hallway, Mr. Hyde! You'll have to wait!

Look, I just need to get through here-

I SAID, WAIT! Now wait! I'll be done in a little bit, OK? Fine. But I'm glad to see you anyway.

Did you get Mr. Summer's autograph for me like I asked?

I asked him, but I don't have it yet.

You don't? Why not?! What's the holdup? Land sakes, it's not hard!

Don't growl at me about it. Want it done fast, shoulda done it yourself. Hell, Summer just walked by a few minutes ago.

He walked through here? Mr. Summer? Really?

Yeah, I was just talking to him by the front desk.

Stop teasing me, Mr. Hyde! I've been here cleaning for longer than that. Mr. Summer did not come anywhere near me, and for a fact!

Wait, that doesn't make sense.

He said he was going back to his room, and it's on the second floor, right? So then he had to come through here.

Well, usually, but...



Hey...



Other stairs?

What do you mean, other stairs?

I mean the stairs that aren't THESE stairs! The back stairs!

Maybe he used the back stairs to get to his room.

Music: Rainy Night


Read note
What are you looking at?
Write note
What are you writing?
Show Summer's novel
No reaction at all. It's like nothing happened.

There are more stairs?

So where are the back stairs?

Just go out the door in the lobby and head down the right hallway.

You can't miss the stairs. They go up to...well, they go up to the second floor, of course. I bet Mr. Summer used them when he saw me cleaning these in here. Mmm-hmm!

Got it.

You can go ahead and use them, but you have to remember something. The door to the stairs is locked on the second-floor side!

Music: Hangover Blues
Don't forget about my autograph, all right? Promise me now!

Yeah, yeah.

Music: Monochrome








We'll do the usual rounds. This'll be much quicker since none of the doors can be opened.


Knock I guess knocking on random doors isn't the best way to meet people.
Knob Locked. And here I am without a key. ...Or an axe.

Knock No one's coming to the door. Maybe I should've called first.
Knob This door's not opening without a fight, and I'm too tired to kick it.


Knock Nobody's in. Well, at least I'm getting really good at knocking.
Knob Locked. Question is, are they locking me out or someone else in?

We'll go upstairs next time. For now, enjoy the descriptions for the new items.

Music: So Noted

The maps haven't been filled, but the game just told us (technically me since I didn't show it) what the rooms are. From the top: storage, Rosa's room, and Dunning's room.

The nice thing about this is that it accounts for the dollar we trade for the coins (it used to say 30 bucks).
The bad thing is the typo that doesn't exist before. And that I missed showing the description before paying the hotel fee (it used to say 70 bucks).

That's the amount of money before we pay the rent.