Part 6: Exploring Kyle's Room

New Music: Heating Up






Including that time when the key broke and you had to lockpick it.

(Inherited it from my old man after he died. Started putting it to good use after quitting the force and working for Ed. Since then, we've pretty much gone everywhere together.)





(I should take another look at that letter...)

Apparently Kyle's wearing a suit under that jacket.



Inside, I find a typed letter reading: "Item: Locate the Scarlet Star, which disappeared at Hotel Cape West 25 years ago."

An order? What kind of order is this?
(Getting an order directly from a client never happens. This has got to be some sort of joke.)



*phone rings*



The ringing suddenly stops.

That's weird.





The map screen in Kyle's room adds a new icon: the phone icon. It lets you either answer the phone or play the recording on the phone with one button! And you can use this from anywhere in the room! I miss this when playing Hotel Dusk.





All we have to do is to press the play button.

The first thing I hear on the tape is a young woman's voice. "Hey, Kyle, it's me. Looks like you're not home yet, huh?"

Voice of a nightingale, that's our Rachel.

"You've really pushed Ed off the deep end this time. What're you gonna do? Don't get blind drunk and do something stupid, okay? I'll call again in the morning."

Damn. Looks like Ed wasn't just letting off steam this time.

*BEEP* Looks like there's another message recorded. I hear the voice of a man I don't recognise. "Kyle Hyde?"

(Who the hell's that?)

"I have an order for you. The request has been taken directly to your room." *BEEP*

What did he say? The request was brought directly to my room?

At least there's no doubt about where that letter came from now.

(I know there was something not quite right about that letter... I'd better take another look.)



Now we can finally examine Kyle's room, so let's do that. There's plenty of things to examine here, so if you don't care about that just skip until you see the letter again (spoilers: it's not this update).


Table I have a small, round table next to my bed.
Clock It's an alarm clock with a flip clock-style display. Gets me up every time.
Answering machine There's an answer phone hooked up. Makes me feel less guilty about ignoring calls.
Phone It's a telephone. I try not to spend my entire day waiting by it.
Closet Let's see if everything in the closet is how I left it.

Pinkie Rabbit It's a piggy bank shaped like Pinkie Rabbit. Or, uh, Pinkie Bank.

Pinkie Bank My beloved Pinkie Bank. There's a coin slot on the back of its head.
(This pink rabbit was the main character in a cartoon I watched as a kid. The piggy bank was given to me by Mila, a girl I met at Hotel Dusk. I guess it doesn't really go with the rest of my crap.)


Umbrella Never hurts to have an umbrella handy.
Towels I keep my towels in a neat pile.
Folded clothes My slacks are folded up at the bottom of the closet.
Hanged clothes I like suits. They're comfy and easy to wear.




Tissue I always keep a good supply of toilet paper.
Bucket There's a bucket on the floor.
Sponge There's a sponge next to the bucket on the floor.

Zoomed-in bucket The bucket is full of water. Good thing there's not a hole in it.
Zoomed-in sponge This is the sponge I use to clean up the bathroom.
Toilet The toilet's a little dirty.
Bottles Shampoo and conditioner. That's right, I condition.
No soap?
Shower There's a shower head above the bathtub.
Faucet These taps could have been here for decades.
Tub There's no water in the tub, but then there's no reason why there should be.
Back curtain There's a curtain in front of the window. A man needs his privacy.
Front curtain My shower curtain is dark green. Not sure I'd ever noticed the colour before.




Mirror There's a mirror above the sink.

Zoomed-in mirror The mirror I look at myself in every morning.
Sink shelf The shelf in front of the mirror has my toothbrush and a cup for rinsing my mouth out.
(And damn, I could do with a shave. I'm looking pretty rough.)
Toothpaste My toothpaste is there on the shelf, right where I need it.
Toothbrush That's my toothbrush and the cup I use to wash my mouth out.
Wash Sink Just your basic wash basin.
Fridge There's a refrigerator with a built-in freezer in the kitchen area.

Apples These apples may be nutritious, but I don't think they'd constitute a meal.
Lemons It's been so long since I last went grocery shopping, I don't even recall buying any lemons.
Jar The jar of my pickles is the only thing in my refrigerator that isn't starting to rot.
(I can't get enough of these when I've had a couple of beers.)

Top left shelf I don't think there's much in here, but I'll take a look anyway.

Bottles It's my stash of sauces and seasonings. I'm all out of mayonnaise though.
Plates Plates and a mug. I should probably put these in with the others.
Top right shelf These cupboards are mostly empty.
Kitchen sink There's a distinctly dirty-looking mug in the sink.
Bottom left shelf I think it's mostly pots and pans down here.

Frying pan A good old-fashioned frying pan. I'll have mine sunny side up, please.
Pots I'm glad I have these copper pots in case I need them, but who knows if I ever will.
Bottle It's a bottle of sauce. Not sure why I left it down there.
Big pot This is a big pot. I could cook all kinds of things in here. If I wanted to.
Kettle So there's where my kettle is.
Bottom right shelf I should sort these drawers out sometime. They're full of my disorganised crap.
Exhaust The extractor looks almost pristine...because I never need to use it.
Coffee pot My coffee pot's on the stove. A cup of joe always makes me right up.
Stove A stove with a large oven. I haven't used it in a while.
(I'd cook more often, but Sidney's hamburgers are just so tasty.)
Left cupboard There's a locked cupboard next to the stove. I forget what's inside, but it's not important.
Right cupboard All my dishes and cups are in this cupboard. Probably some other stuff too.
Bottom cupboard I never open these cupboards. They're full of crockery that I have no real use for.

Wow, that's a lot. We still have a lot more to go, folks!




Notes I've stuck some notes on the wall. Important work-related business.
(Mostly it's just lists of what I have in stock and how much of it.)
(I can't even read some of them anymore. The writing's all smudged.)
Chair I've had this chair for many years.
(I don't sit in this chair all that often, but it still gotten pretty banged up.)
Table A wooden table. Nothing on it but my trusty suitcase.
Suitcase My case is lying flat on the table.

There's an animation of the suitcase opening and closing but it's not worth showing. You can look at the top part or the bottom part of the suitcase. Apparently Kyle has been using the suitcase even if he can't lock it anymore. Better than using a suitcase when you can't open it, I guess?
Letters
Here's all the mail I had stuffed in my mailbox. Mag's lovely eviction notice too.
Receipts
A bundle of receipts.
(Still need to do the books for...the past six months...)
Book
Ah, here's a blast from the past. "The Secret Word", written by Martin Summer. Stolen by, more like.
(This book flew off the shelves when it first came out. Still selling well, too. It's fairly complex, but I have to say it's pretty moving. Shame about his later works.)
I thought Martin is suppose to admit his plagiarism publicly. I demand my continuity!
Flyer
A flyer about Red Crown.
(This book flew off the shelves when it first came out. Still selling well, too.)
Socks
A spare pair of socks.
Flask
Trusty old hip flask. Pity there isn't a drop left inside.
Wallet
You can tell I've been using this wallet for years.
Pen
A fountain pen. (Can't go wrong with one of these. Much easier to write than a ballpoint.)
Boxers
A spare set of boxers.
(I left these behind last year when I was out doing a side job for Ed. It wasn't pretty. Never forgotten to bring them since.)
That explains why it wasn't there last time.
Tie
My spare tie.
Shirt
My spare shirt.
Box There's a cardboard box under the table with the Red Crown logo on it. It's full of the crap Ed gave me to sell.

Knob
A doorknob set with a lock. Selling doorknobs, door-to-door? Is this Ed's idea of a joke?
Adhesive
Super strength adhesive. It's quick-drying and made to work on plastic and glass. Better keep it away from me.
Ruler
A ruler set with a ruler, a protractor and a couple of triangles.
Globe
A snow globe. How festive. You shake it and it looks like snow's falling on the little house inside.
Ed always says seasonal items sell the best.
Wax
A tin of wax. This thing will make anything shine like the sun, apparently.
Lock
A security lock. "Twice as good as any lock! Just put it on your door and see!" Inspiring blurb there.
Calculator
A solar calculator. Stores sunlight and uses it to power the calculator...or something. Not cheap, though.
Pen
A pen that writes in invisible ink. So whatever you write down disappears after a while.
Right. And how do you make it appear again?
Cleaner
Surface cleaner. Only Red Crown is cheap enough to sell surface cleaner in a miniature tin like this.
Glue
A tube of glue. I think this is more industrial style glue. Takes time, but it works on wood and paper.
Bleach
Powerful bleach. "Gets rid of stubborn stains in an instant! Not to be used on colours or patterns." So it's useful on white stuff. Great. And why does it stink of strawberries?
Camera
A little pocket camera. It's portable and easy to use. Wish I could afford one.
Detergent
Concentrated detergent. Removes any sign of dirt or stains. Why do I need bleach if I have this?

We're still not done! I'm going to have to split it up since there's just so many of it.