Part 47: Blackwell Deception - Update 6

Update 6

With Jeremy still not ready to move on, Rosa and Joey decide to follow up with the one lead they have - an old lady called Penelope Haines that Jeremy interviewed before he died.

Rosa's Theme



First though, Rosa quickly checks her emails, where she finds a new message from Nishanthi. As you may have noticed, there is no screen for the hallway outside Rosa's apartment in Deception, and now we see that Nishanthi is off revisiting her roots in India, so it's a safe bet that she won't be appearing in this game. It's nice to know they're still in touch, though



Rosa also quickly discusses events with Joey.

Probably because it led to his death. You know spooks, sweetheart. They go out of their way to avoid thinking about that.

Alright, let's go and visit Penelope. Now it would be easy to miss it, but something was a bit strange last update. Jeremy said that Penelope lived in an apartment up on Park Avenue, but when we mentioned Penelope's name to Durkin, he said she was in an old folk's home. Something isn't quite adding up.

Haines Residence



Rosa and Joey arrive at a nice apartment, where they are greeted by a young lady. Presumably, this girl is not the Penelope that Jeremy was mentioning.

Monique's theme from Convergence is re-used here. You know, I honestly didn't realise how much music had been re-used in this game until I started this LP. I guess it's just so easy to listen to that you can tune it out.

Penelope Haines?
I'm Madison Haines. Penelope is my mother-in-law. Can I help you?

Ahh, I see. Presumably Penelope lives with her family.

She had a visit from a reporter not too long ago. A Jeremy Sams from the City Post?
Oh. You're with them. Come in.

Madison seems a bit annoyed that we're here, but invites Rosa inside anyway.



I guess this explains the disparity before. She probably lived here when Jeremy interviewed her, but had moved out by the time Durkin investigated her. That makes sense. Rosa, however, gets completely the wrong idea.

She's not... dead, is she?
What? No! What gave you that idea?
I... well, never mind. It was a stupid question.
You said it. Not me.

Hahahaha, Rosa

Where did she go?
Where she can be taken care of. She's quite elderly. Nice enough woman, but needed a lot of looking after. As you can see, we just had a child. I couldn't look after both of them. Not if I wanted to keep my sanity.
So she's in a nursing home?
An assisted living centre, yes.

Madison seems kind of offended that Rosa would suggest she put her mother-in-law in a nursing home. It sounds like she harbours some guilt over it.



Let's see if we can find Penelope, then.

I don't think that's a good idea. When your... friend from the newspaper came, she became quite agitated. She was always a little unstable, but she became much worse. I don't know what you want with her, but I don't think I should tell you where she is.

Rosa is not so easily deterred, however!

Are you sure you can't tell me what centre she's in? It's kind of important.
I don't care if it's important. She's not well.

Hmm. Perhaps we can just figure out why Jeremy was interested in her without finding her?

What did Jeremy speak to Penelope about?
You don't know? Aren't you from the paper, too?
Not exactly. Jeremy is... ill. I'm following up on his interviews, trying to learn what he did.
I see. Well, I don't know what they spoke about. He spoke to her privately, in her room just over there.

Madison motions to the door next to Rosa. Might be working checking out, if we get a chance.



Rosa decides to talk about a subject that won't piss Madison off any further.

Thanks. His name is Chris. He's about eight months old, now. He's a little terror, but he's mine.

Not much left to say. Rosa bids Madison farewell.

Well, thanks for the chat. I might be back to follow up.
I don't really have anything else to tell you, but bye.



Rosa leaves, but Joey can stick around to do some investigatin'!



Of course, the first thing Joey investigates is Madison herself



He can also blow down her neck in his creepy, stalkerish fashion.

This is what happens when Daddy buys thermostats wholesale.

Chris' eyes seem to follow Joey around the room.

He's staring right at me. Kids that young have always been able to see ghosts like me. They never get scared, though. I guess they don't know any better.



Honestly Joey, you've got some serious issues when it comes to views.



Okay, let's check out Penelope's room. Of course, most of her stuff has been moved out, so there isn't a lot to see.



Joey checks out the cabinet, but doesn't find much.

Crammed to bursting point with old boxes.



Fortunately, a lamp has been left on so Joey is able to read a pamphlet on the cabinet.

The place is called "Seagram Assisted Living" and it's got a branch down on East 33rd.

That must be the "assisted living centre" Madison was talking about. With luck, we should be able to find Penelope there!



How's it going? Oh, no need to get up.

Joey can also play with Chris a bit When Joey speaks to the kid, he stands up and starts following Joey around.



Hilariously, Joey can phase through a door, causing Chris to bash his head, and we even get a Steam achievement for potentially injuring the poor thing. This is another one of those moments that Gilbert admits he later regretted, but rather than removing it he just asked his artist to draw the kid laughing so that it didn't look like he'd hurt himself too badly. At least this time around, we don't actually need to do it to pass the game.



Back to the case. Joey relays the information to Rosa...

Did you get the address?
Course I did.

...and they're on their way!



Well, after a short pit stop.

I know, Joey. I want to get to the bottom of this as much as you do.

Seagram Assisted Living



I guess nursing homes remind him of his own death?

Rosa and Joey find themselves in a nice little nursing home, much to Joey's apparent distaste.

I know this place is a thrill a minute, but are we htiting the road anything soon?

Joey also offers his opinion on Rosa herself.

Red hair. Glasses. Intensely awkward expression. It's Rosa Blackwell, all right.

Yes, the music for this place is exactly the same as for the City Post, meaning that Gilbert is now re-recyling music. Deception has some a couple of really nice new pieces of music, I promise you. They just apparently haven't turned up yet.



Rosa spots some brochures, which are presumably the same as the one in the Haines Residence. Since she couldn't steal that one, she takes one of these instead.

Got it. It's a brochure for the Seagram nursing home. It's got a big hole punched in it. I guess for hanging on hooks.



Joey, meanwhile, investigates the receptionist's breasts.

You know, not being able to smell it or anything.

Or the flowers. Right. Easy mistake to make.

I think those are irises. They smell really nice, that's for sure.



This little red blob of pixels is a hole punch. You might have noticed that the brochure we grabbed a second ago has a hole in it. Originally, we had to punch a hole in it, since we're going to need that hole. But apparently playtesters didn't notice the hole punch and kept getting stuck, so eventually Gilbert took that puzzle out, but decided to leave the hole punch there as a red herring.



Let's see if we can dig up Penelope.

You've got the right place. What can I do for you?
Could you tell me a bit about this place?
Well, if you want my opinion, this is one of the best assisted living centers in New York. But you don't want to hear a PR spiel, I'm sure. If you're interested, take one of our brochures over there.

Yeah, we already did that, actually. Rosa's got sticky fingers, you know?

I'm looking for a Penelope Haines? Does she stay here?
Mrs. Haines? She spends her time in the common area, most days. It's on the second floor. You can't miss it.
Thanks.

Excellent. Before heading up to find her, Rosa asks about her.



Her? Nice lady. Very... I guess you could call her spiritual. She hangs out in the common room most of the time.

"Spiritual"? That probably really means "nuts".

It's okay if I go visit her?
We like to think of our residents as guests, not patients. We take care of them, but this is their home. As long as you don't bother anybody, you can come and go as you please.

You know, our track record for not bothering people isn't exactly great.

Thanks for the help.
Have a good day.

Common Room



Joey and Rosa head upstairs where they find an old lady, and a senile man who is disturbed by our entry.

There there. It's only visitors.

I guess the old lady must be Penelope. The music here is another gentle atmospheric number that didn't make it into the Deception soundtrack, but provides nice mood. I've put it on Tindeck for you.



Rosa and Joey once again check out the view. Don't mind us, guys, we'll just wait while you ogle the windows.

Not bad. I guess retirement's not such a bad gig after all.



Joey looks at the senile man (despite this screenshot making it look like he's staring at Penelope).

Dying young has one thing going for it, at least. I'll never end up like him.



Rosa tries talking to the man, but there's no response.

Nothing.



Alright, let's try talking with Penelope, if that is who this old lady is.

Hm? Oh!
Madison. Well, this is a surprise.

Umm.. we're not Madison. But it's safe to say this is Penelope.

No, I'm not Madison.
You're not? Ah, yes. Sorry, I should have known.
Your aura carries a whiff of her essence. I got confused.

Oh geez. Penelope already sounds like a twat. I think I'm starting to see why Madison put her here.



I could see it a mile away. Your aura, my dear. It's been infected by her.
Her?
The woman who calls herself my daughter-in-law. Bit of her essence have infected your aura like vile worms.
...really?
No, not really. Don't fall for this. She smells Madison's perfume. I don't have a nose and I could tell she was swimming in it.
Madison is a spiritual viper.

Wow. Now I definitely see why Madison put her here. Penelope gives new meaning to the idea of a nasty mother-in-law.



That is one hell of a metaphor.

The energy. Energy flows into her but doesn't come out. She just cares for material wealth and nothing for her fellow human beings.
She's corrupted my son, and it's too late for him.
But me? I got out. Lucky escape.

You know, Madison didn't seem all that bad when we were there. Penelope comes across as quite crazy.



Okay, let's get to the reason we're here. Rosa asks about Penelope's meeting with Jeremy.

Oh, that young man? So keen. So interested.
He believed. Or he wanted to.
He's on his way now, I think. I sent him there.

Wait... "Sent him there"? I don't like the sound of that one bit.

Where did you send Jeremy?
To the next phase, of course!

Jesus. Is this another senile old lady murdering people? Gilbert has issues.

The next phase?
There are many worlds, but we have work to do in this one.
I... I'm afraid I don't understand.
There, there. You're not supposed to.

Penelope is patronising and unlikeable, but I doubt she would simply admit to having killed Jeremy. Rosa decides to delve deeper.



What?! What are you talking about?
Jeremy is dead. He was killed a few days ago.
... Oh.

Penelope's surprise gives way, of all things, to laughter.

Oh my. That IS funny.
Pardon?
Me going on about sending him on his way to the next world. What you must think of me.
Don't worry about it.

It's really not that funny. Something is definitely off with this lady.



Still, can't be helped. Don't worry about the boy. He has rejoined the universe.

I guess this is what the front desk lady meant by "spiritual".

What did you and Jeremy speak about?
My work. The universe. And my work within the universe.
So many people. So many lost. I'm quite important, you know.

Oh, I'll bet.

What kind of work do you do?
I meditate. I think. I exist.
Really.
What more is there?

Yep, very important indeed. This lady is insane, we're clearly wasting our time here.



Oh, it's been a pleasure. Stop by any time.

God, I hope not.

Old Man



As Rosa and Joey go to leave, the senile man starts to mumble again.

This theme is technically called Tiffany's theme, named for a character we haven't met yet, but Gilbert liked it so much that he used it in several places in Deception. It's simple but very emotive and powerful, and I really like it. I think it's the best track from Deception and one of the best from the series.

Chhoh?
...
Chhooey? Joey? Is that you?
Eh?

Somehow, this old man is detecting Joey's presence.



I doubt this guy is a medium, and he's not quite dead yet. Something very unusual is happening here.

...
Hello? Anybody there?
Joey...
Yeah. That's my name. Do I know you?
I...

From Penelope's perspective, Rosa has turned around and watched as the senile man has started mumbling and whispering. She offers an explanation in her infuriating manner.

I'm afraid he does this sometimes. Talks to people who aren't there. Or perhaps they are? He sees the world through different eyes.
Or, for crying out loud. Shut up.



With what seems like great difficult, the man forms a couple of sentences.

Why did you do it?
...

Suddenly, Joey seems to recognise the man.

Are you...?
No. Not you.

Swivelling around, he snaps angrily at Rosa.

Get the elevator, Red. We're leaving.
Joey-
You really want to have this conversation here? Get the damn elevator.

Not really able to argue, Rosa calls for the elevator and they quickly exit the nursing home.



Outside, Rosa asks for an explanation...

What?
Who was that guy?
Maybe nobody. Maybe somebody. I dunno.

...but as usual, Joey is keeping his lips sealed, much to Rosa's frustration.

You don't know.
No, I don't. If there's something to say, I'll say it. Until then, we've got a spook to sort.

He's not talking for now, and we're at a bit of a dead end. Visiting Seagram has left us with many more questions than answers.



Plenty going on here! Join me tomorrow as continue to pull apart this web of intrigue.