Part 19: Blackwell Unbound - Update 5

Update 5

Lauren and Joey decide to follow up with Joseph Mitchell. He was asking Cecil about Isaac, so with any luck he'll know something about what happened.

Mitchell's Theme



Lauren knocks on Mitchell's door, and is greeted by him.

Mitchell: Can I help you?
Lauren: Are you Mr. Mitchell?
Mitchell: I sure am.
Lauren: I'm Lauren Blackwell.
Mitchell: Well, do come in, Miss Blackwell.

You know, I can't help but notice there is no phone in here. I think I can see why Mitchell didn't answer.



Lauren: I was hoping that you could help me.
Mitchell: Well, I'll do what I can.
Lauren: Your name has come up in a case I'm working on.
Mitchell: A case? What is this regarding? Are you a reporter, or...?

Time for Lauren to spin the truth, or perhaps not. She can either pretend to be a reporter:

Lauren: Yes. Yes I am a reporter.
Mitchell: From which publication?
Lauren: Ah.
Joey: Say you freelance.
Lauren: I'm a freelancer.
Mitchell: I see.

She can say she is an investigator:

Lauren: No. An independent investigator.
Mitchell: I see. So you're not with the police?
Lauren: Would it matter if I was?
Mitchell: No. It wouldn't.

Or she can call herself a researcher:

Lauren: No. I'm just doing some research.
Mitchell: I see. You're a student?
Lauren: More a student of life.
Mitchell: Ah. Aren't we all?

Whichever option we choose, Mitchell is fine with it.

Mitchell: So what can I do for you, Miss Blackwell?

Now that we're in, Lauren decides to take it slow and ask about Mitchell first up.

Lauren: So how long have you been working here?
Mitchell: Do you always ask such personal questions?
Lauren: I'm just curious about the sort of work you do.
Mitchell: I write about people, Miss Blackwell.
Lauren: What sort of people?
Mitchell: Not the famous sort. Just... ordinary people. Like you or me.



Mitchell: You find that amusing?
Lauren: Oh, not at all.

Smooth, Lauren. Also, get out of my screenshots Hot Mustid

Lauren: So tell me about yourself, Mr. Mitchell.
Mitchell: I beg your pardon?
Lauren: Tell me about yourself.
Mitchell: Yes, I heard you. I hope you didn't come here simply to interview ME. I'm afraid I'd make a poor interview subject.

This isn't going anywhere. Let's talk about Isaac instead.



Mitchell: Ah... Isaac. You knew Isaac?
Lauren: Sort of, yes. I'm looking into his death.
Mitchell: Really? That was almost five years ago. Why the sudden interest?

Wow, five years? I guess he's just been tooting away that whole time.

Lauren: Let's just say that I have a personal interest in clearing it up. Anything you can tell me about Isaac? Why'd you want to write about him?
Mitchell: I... don't want to get too in depth. Out of respect, you understand.
Lauren: Sure.
Mitchell: I was drawn to him for the same reasons I'm drawn to anybody I write about. I felt he had a story that would reach people. Enrich them. Perhaps learn from.
Lauren: Really?
Mitchell: Miss Blackwell, spend some time talking to the poor and downtrodden. Walk down the Bowery and speak to the half wits and have nots. In one hour, you'll learn more than from a lifetime of schooling.

That explains why Mitchell was asking about Isaac all that time ago, he was writing a story about him. Cecil is still pretty worked up over something that happened five years ago, though.

Lauren: So what WAS Isaac's story? I know he played in a band called "The C Sharps", and then something obviously went wrong. What was it?
Mitchell: Listen, you tried asking Mr. Sharpe?

Only five or so times already

Lauren: Yes. He's not talking.
Mitchell: I don't blame him. He's probably just feeling guilty.
Lauren: Guilty? Why?
Mitchell: He has his reasons.

"Guilty"? That sounds ominous.



Hahaha, Lauren is so beautifully blunt with this

Mitchell: I can't do that.
Joey: Of course he can't.
Lauren: Mr. Mitchell. I need to know what happened.
Mitchell: ... Listen, I don't like this. I don't feel comfortable talking about people without their consent. I won't say any more about Isaac, or his sister.
Joey: Sister?

Now there's a loose thread. Lauren pulls at it.

Lauren: Sister?
Mitchell: Please. I'm not going to say anymore.
Lauren: Who was Isaac's sister?
Mitchell: I told you. Not another word.

I guess we can follow that up elsewhere.



Next up, Lauren asks to read the story Mitchell wrote about Isaac, which is a good idea, since it's bound to contain personal information.

Mitchell: Ah. Well, I'm afraid I can't help you there. I never published it.
Lauren: You didn't?
Mitchell: No. It seemed a bit... in bad taste.
Joey: Since when do reporters care about bad taste?

I love it when Joey starts to prompt his hosts

Lauren: Since when do reporters care about bad taste?
Mitchell: Ahh. You don't have a high opinion of journalists, do you?
Lauren: Well, you hear things...
Mitchell: Oh, no. Don't worry about it. I'm well aware of the stereotype. I've written about deceased persons before, when I felt it was in the public's interest. But Isaac... well, I felt the dead should have some peace.

Why Isaac in particular?

Lauren: If you felt his story could reach people. Enrich them, as you say. Why didn't you publish the story?



Mitchell: He was murdered. Someone reached around his neck and strangled the life out of him. That puts a bit of a damper on the story I wanted to tell.

Oh. Oh, I see That's a fairly valid reason, I guess.

Lauren: So nobody will hear the story?
Mitchell: No. All my notes on him have been destroyed. Isaac's story might not have reached the people, but it reached me. Maybe that's enough.

All in all Mitchell comes across as a decent person in this scene, but is very clearly hiding something. We might have to come back and follow up with him later.

Lauren: Well, I think that's all for now.
Mitchell: Alright. You have a good night, now.



Joey: Looks like it. She could be the key to this whole thing. Or part of it, anyway.

Lauren and Joey reflect on one of the few useful bits of information they got out of Mitchell, though personally I would have thought his cold-blooded murder would have been more pertinent.



Nope, we're going with the sister thing. Alright, then. I guess we couldn't exactly just ask Isaac about his murder.

IsaaCecil: Huh? What you want with my sis?
Joey: Nothing. I just want-
IsaaCecil: You stay away from my sis, you hear?
Joey: All right, mac. Relax.

Does Joey get hit with the saxophone again? I'll let you guess. Yes.

Johnny Ivory's

This is probably as good a time as any to point out that the Johnny Ivory's theme is an arrangement on the main theme for Blackwell Unbound, which effectively becomes the main theme of the series. Regin obviously liked the melody.



Continuing the talkathon, Lauren comes back and confronts Cecil once again, who is NOT happy to hear from her. This question startles him to the point that he hits a clashing chord on the piano, and then stops playing altogether.

Cecil: You... That's IT! You've crossed the line, sister. It was fun for a while, but now it's time for you to leave.
Joey: Oh, now you've done it.

Cecil is pissed, now. Time for Lauren to show us what she's made of!

Lauren: What are you gonna do, throw me out?
Cecil: Oh, is that a challenge? Don't tempt me, lady. Leave.
Lauren: Okay! This is me. Leaving you alone.

Oh. That was a touch weak.



Joey: Eh, don't sweat it. His bark is worse than his bite.

Lauren backs down easier than I would have thought, but on the plus side, she doesn't really leave. Instead, she turns right back around and gets in Cecil's face again.



Lauren: That's me. I'm like a bad penny. Look buster, I've had it up to HERE with this. I need information. It's stuck in your head and I plan on getting it out.
Cecil: Less talking. More get-the-hell-out.

Of course, Lauren immediately backs down again, but can try several more times.

Lauren: Look, I'm sorry.
Cecil: Oh, you're SORRY. Sorry isn't enough, sister. Leave.

Lauren: I really need to know about Isaac's sister. It's very important.
Cecil: Yeah, well. We all have problems. And my problem is YOU. So leave.

Lauren: You're upset. I didn't want to upset you.
Cecil: I'm upset. Yeah, great observation. If you're so concerned, why don't you just leave? That would make me feel MUCH better.

Lauren: Look, obviously something's wrong. Why don't you try talking about it?
Cecil: What is this, some kind of psychotherapy? You here to get me to open up about my feeling?
Lauren: I'm here for Isaac.
Cecil: He's not worth it. And neither are you. Just get outta here.



This isn't going well, though I have to admire how stubborn Lauren is. After a while Joey starts hinting that we need to try something else, so Lauren tries reasoning with Cecil instead.

Lauren: You want to forget the past, you say?
Cecil: Yeah.
Lauren: Then what's with the picture behind you? If you wanted to forget the past, why'd you keep that picture?
Cecil: I have my reasons. Leave it alone. Just leave ME alone!
Lauren: I just-
Cecil: Shut it. Just leave, why don't you?

"Reasons"? It's probably a fair bet that those reasons are the girl, Isaac's sister. Joey agrees:

Joey: Only time a man gets a look like that, is when he's hung up over a woman. Go easy on him, huh? I think he cares more about that gal than he lets on.

Let's see if we can break down his defences with that then.



Cecil doesn't even hesitate this time.

Cecil: Course I loved her! She was our heart and soul! I would have-

But then he pauses as he composes himself.

Cecil: Damn you, woman. Damn you. I just want to play this piano and forget she ever existed. Why don't you just leave me alone?
Lauren: So what happened, C? It's very important that you tell me.
Cecil: All right! All right. I don't know who you are, or why you're so interested. But you're never going to leave me alone are you?
Lauren: No I won't. You were in a band together, right?

This scene works so well because Lauren's emotions are so level, while Cecil goes on an emotional rollercoaster all around her.

Cecil: Yeah, we had a band. Smart girl. Then... she died. Then he died. End of story.
Lauren: How did you meet Isaac's sister?
Cecil: First of all, her name was Sarah. I was looking to start a band, and I saw them perform together. She could sing like... It was magic. Such energy. Such... LIFE. Such a waste.

Looks like that girl in the photo was indeed Isaac's sister, the C Sharp's singer. Dwayne also said she had a voice like velvet, so presumably she was pretty damn special.



Cecil: She got sick. Pneumonia, or something. Started coughing one day and wouldn't stop. She got better after a while, but something happened to her voice. Doctor said she would never sing again. After that, the spark just went out. She hung on for a few months, but... she just lost the will to live.

That sucks

Lauren: Anything else you can tell me about Sarah?
Cecil: I loved that woman. Even when she lost her voice, I would have given up everything for her. Heck, I would even let her brother live with us. I... should have told her.

By this point, Cecil just sounds miserable. Still, Lauren needs to know more about Isaac.

Lauren: What was Isaac really like?
Cecil: That fat bastard? He was good on the sax, but that was the end of his good points. He drank... He was violent. He was useless in every other way. But Sarah could calm him down. She was the only one. If it wasn't for Sarah, I never would have kept him around.

Violent sounds about right, given the number of times he's whacked Joey in the face with his saxophone so far.

Lauren: What happened to Isaac after Sarah died?
Cecil: He went to pieces, what do you think? He couldn't cope. Drank way too much. Started fights during gigs. I tried to stick with him, out of respect for Sarah, but... Let's face it. He was a big, dumb embarrassment.
Lauren: So you cut ties with Isaac?
Cecil: Completely. Told him he was a drunk and a lowlife and wasn't worth the peanuts I paid him. Which was, let's face it, totally true.

Oh, I bet that went down well.....

Lauren: What happened?
Cecil: He beat me senseless, is what happened. Knocked me out with the sax I bought for him. Then he became a bum. Spent the rest of his life living on the streets of Roosevelt Island. Till he got killed by some drifter.
Lauren: You don't know who killed Isaac?



Um. Okay? Lauren is naturally skeptical about this.

Lauren: Oh, come on.
Cecil: No. I did. I'm not the one who put my hands around his neck, or choked him to death. But I killed him just the same.

Oh. This must be the guilt that Mitchell was talking about.

Lauren: You shouldn't be so hard on yourself.
Cecil: I know that. My brain knows that. But my heart... won't listen.

I think we've done all we're going to do here.

Lauren: See you later.
Cecil: Yeah. You know, all this talk reminds me of something. Sarah and Isaac would always play this song.
Lauren: Really?

Hmm... perhaps there is something more we can get out of Cecil before we leave?

Cecil: Yeah. A duet. At the end of every show.
Lauren: She'd sing and he'd play the saxophone?
Cecil: No. She'd actually play the piano, if you can believe it. She wasn't great, but she loved playing with Isaac. And Isaac loved that silly song. They'd never let me join them, but that was OK. It was kind of sweet. In a way. Ah, well.

That could actually be useful. If Isaac had an emotional connection with the tune, we might be able to use it to reach him.



Cecil: Oh that? It was just a short little thing. Isaac would just improv the whole thing, but Sarah's was always the same. Went something like...

Cecil's Solo

Cecil plays a short little piano piece for us. In the game only the first few seconds are heard, but the actual thing is almost a minute long.

Cecil: After Sarah died, Isaac would play gigs but refuse to leave the stage. He'd blow on his sax, playing anything that came to mind. Feet planted like a statue.
Lauren: He'd just keep playing?
Cecil: He'd play forever, if I didn't get four guys to drag him off. I think... I think he was waiting for Sarah to play with him. He was supposed to finish each show with her, and... well. In his heart he refused to believe she was dead.

Hmm, playing his sax forever and refusing to leave until Sarah plays for him? This is all sounding very familiar. We need to get a copy of this music.



Let's get this down...



Lauren pulls out the dictophone and records Cecil's solo. Time to go and deal with this ghost.

The Brown's Duet



Lauren turns on the canned piano solo...



...and Isaac instictively starts playing a beautiful duet with it. This piece is really quite lovely, you should listen to it in full. Lauren and Joey stand in silence listening as Isaac plays along.



As the duet comes to a close, Isaac starts to fade in and out, signifying that he has started to recognise and accept his death. Looks like we're just about done here.


Tomorrow it's time to whip out Joey's tie and send Isaac to the great beyond! Then we'll need to start thinking about this other case.

The Brown's Duet (Alternative)

One last thing before we finish up today. The Brown's Duet was originally a different piece of music, which was really, really gorgeous. I absolutely adore this piece of music. Unfortunately, it lasts for two minutes, and Gilbert reluctantly decided that was too long for the player to sit there watching Isaac swaying back and forth to the music and asked Regin to produce a shorter duet.

Still, this piece of music is probably the most beautiful in the whole game, so I strongly recommend you give it a listen. See you all tomorrow!