Part 36: Blackwell Convergence - Update 11

Update 11

LAST TIME

Claude's Swansong







Rosa and Joey are left on the fire escape with naught but the sound of falling rain in their ears.

Prelude to Tragedy



Rosa and Joey return to their apartment in shock.

Suicide.
Well, what else would they think? He was drunk, and erratic, and known to be temperamental. Just be thankful they didn't accuse you of killing him.
Yeah. Lucky.

Actually, that's a damn good point. How the hell did we not get arrested here? Fortunately, I think Claude and Rosa were both too awkward to actually touch one another, so that will help matters.



Us, kid. Us. I was there too.

I love the way these two are dramatically standing back to back here like a daytime soap opera

He was opening up to me. I could have warned him. I could have helped him.
It happened too fast. There wasn't anything either of us could do.

Joey's right on that. There was only a couple of seconds between her materialising and Claude smacking the pavement. Of course, that doesn't make Rosa feel any better.

It's not right.
News flash, kid. The world's a rotten place.
It doesn't have to be.



Look, darling. Your aunt met that witch and barely survived.
And, no offense doll, she had a stiffer spine than you.

She had a lit cigarette as well. But Joey's comments just rile Rosa up.

Maybe.



Not exactly, no.
Then I have to finish what she started.

In a uncharacteristically decisive moment for Rosa, she vows to succeed where her aunt failed and rid the world of the Countess. Joey is quiet here; I guess he's not used to seeing Rosa this passionate and driven.



Her voice is full of calm resolve here. This awful event may yet turn out to be the making of Rosangela Blackwell.



As Rosa enters an uneasy sleep, the jumbled whispering voice starts up again. Time for another dream sequence!



Rosa finds herself back on the fire escape. In addition to the jumbled voices, the stale blowing breeze of a ghost can be heard.

You are proving to be much stronger than your guide suspects.
He thinks I'm stupid.
Be wary of him. Follow your heart.

This ghost lady is right - Rosa is indeed turning out to have a "stiffer spine" than Joey thinks. I'm not sure I like the comment about needing to be wary of him, though...

Who are you?
Shhh. Sleep.



Another challenge? Haven't these past two days been challenging enough already?

You won't remember me, but we will meet soon.



These dream sequences are very short, but you get the feeling that they're quickly working towards a conclusion.

Rosa's Theme



Another day rises, as Rosa emerges from her bedroom.



Mm. Yeah, let's go.

Plenty of subtlety in these two lines. Joey is gracious and polite, as though he may have gained a tiny bit more respect for Rosa, while Rosa keeps her thoughts to herself. If anything, the dynamic between these two has switched around, with Rosa holding her cards to her chest while Joey treads on eggshells around her.



Even if we try to get Rosa to talk with Joey, she doesn't want to.

Not right now.

Joey can try to speak with Rosa instead:

You're in a sour mood this morning. More sour than usual, I mean.
I'm not sour. I'm just taking this seriously. You should try it some time.
Hey, I'm just as serious as the next guy.
Hmph.
Careful you don't smile, kid. Your face might crack.

Rosa now opens up a little bit.

You know what I think we should do?
What?
Talk to people. Somebody's bound to know something.
Sure. Talk to people. Because you're so good at that.
Hmph.

Ahh, there we go, back to the usual dynamic



Rosa asks Joey for more info about Mitchell.

He sounded fascinating. What was he like?
Southern guy. Very soft spoken. Seemed like a wimp but had more backbone than I gave him credit for.

That seems to be a common theme for this update.

I can't believe you and Auntie met him.
He almost got your Auntie killed. Remember that. I thought we were done with Mitchell thirty years ago.
Maybe this has nothing to do with Mitchell.
And maybe pigs can fly.

Mitchell did die over a decade ago, but then the Countess died over three decades ago. He could still be somehow wrapped up in this.



Rosa heads over to speak with Nishanthi about the previous night's events, but she's still not home. That lady is always out. Funnily enough there was music written for her, so I have to assume she was included in the original script. Perhaps Gilbert wasn't happy with the art assets and cut her at the last minute?



We're at a bit of a loose end, here. Rosa still doesn't trust the Meltzer guys, but it's not like there is any evidence of any kind of wrongdoing there. The Minetta is empty other than the bartender.

One thing is bothering Rosa, though. The Countess killed Claude and Frank, but Monique told us straight to our face that she physically saw Frank have a heart attack on the set. That just doesn't gel. It's clear that other people can see the Countess, and even if they couldn't, Frank would have been lifted off the ground like Claude was. There's no way Monique could have mistaken it for a heart attack. Rosa decides to go and speak with her.

Monique's Theme



Rosa jumps straight into Monique.

I'd like to know the truth about Frank's death.
What do you mean? I told you everything I know.

No, you didn't.

Not everything. He didn't have a heart attack, did he?

Monique fidgets in her seat for a moment.

Oh, I love seeing sweat on a pretty girl's brow.
Look, I gave my statement. I don't see why I should tell you anything.

Rosa decides to approach this from a different angle.

Monique, I'm a writer. We like to exaggerate the truth sometimes.
Yes. What are you getting at?
Let's say I wanted to embellish Frank's story. That instead of dying of a heart attack, he maybe choked to death. Under mysterious circumstances?

Smooth. Actually, this kind of scene shows how far Rosa has come in terms of her ability to deal with awkward situations. After a bit more fidgeting, Monique has our answer.

Rosangela, Frank died of a heart attack. He didn't choke to death.
Are you sure?
Positive. But... if he mysteriously choked to death, and the press got wind of it, the scandal would ruin this company. It's much easier to tell the press that he died of a heart attack. He had no close family, no close friends to speak of. Nobody loses.

Ahh. I see.

I trust we understand each other, and I won't have to call my lawyer?
Leave it, Kid. We don't want a legal battle.
No, I have all the information I need.

So that clears up that little mystery. Frank was choked to death, and judging by his dialogue a few updates back, it probably happened when he arrived early on set before the others had arrived. Monique probably got there next, found him dead, and received a coroner's report that his windpipe was crushed. With nobody close enough to Frank to dispute it, she fabricated the heart attack storyfor the sake of her company's survival.

Nice to have that cleared up, but we're still no closer to solving our immediate problems. Next up, Rosa and Joey decide to check out the Roosevelt Island lighthouse again. If you remember, Joey said yesterday that they should come back when it stopped raining.

The Lighthouse



With the more pleasant weather, a man now standing around here. Now, he could just be a random man, but Rosa is still bothered by the lighthouse having appeared in Claude's painting of the Countess. When he began to sense her, he must have somehow detected that she dwelled in the lighthouse, or was visiting it for some reason. It's a massive long shot, but maybe this man has some link to the Countess as well?

He's drinking from a coffee mug. It's got something written on it, but I can't see it from here.



Let's chat with him.

Mmm hmm?
Rotten day to be out, huh?
I've seen worse.
What brings you out here?
None of your business.

This guy makes it very obvious that he wants to be left alone, but Rosa doesn't give up that easily nowadays.



Hahaha, she's still an adorable dork though

If you say so.
Nice mug.
Uh huh.
What's written on it?
Mind your own business.



Rosa keeps pushing the issue...

And who are you, may I ask?
Rosangela Blackwell. Nice to meet you.
Why do you want to talk to me?

Here's our opening...

I'm wondering if anything unusual happened here.
Unusual like what?
Just anything... unusual.
I've got nothing to say to you.

...but he's keeping tightlipped. If anything did happen here, he doesn't want to speak about it.

I'm curious about the lighthouse.
What makes you think I know anything?

This is going nowhere.

Well, see you around.
Uh huh.

His response to Rosa asking if anything unusual happened is a tiny bit suspicious, though. Surely if he was just here for a day out, he would say that nothing unusual happened, rather than simply being evasive. That would be the easiest way to get rid of us, right?



He also seemed a bit guarded about his coffee mug. Rosa tries to sneak a peak...

Ahem?
Oh! Sorry. I was just curious about your mug.
Mind your own business.

...but is immediately caught by the man, who tells her to go away. Looks like this is a job for Joey, instead.



It says... "Gold Tech"? No idea what that is.

Gold Tech, hey? Let's do us a bit of research.



Well, now this is something. Apparently someone was murdered at the lighthouse. The article says it happened last week, but of course this is the internet so the article could be ages old. It goes on to say:

John Goldwater was the chief researcher at Gold Tech, a local medical research facility.

John leaves behind his father, Marty Goldwater, who often keeps vigil at the scene of the crime.

I guess that old man was Marty, then. I'm not sure I like that Claude painted a sad image of the Countess "becoming something she isn't" at the site of a murder...



With some time having passed since she awoke, Rosa is a little bit more willing to open up to Joey now, but only a little.

Joey, we speak to the dead all the time.
No kidding. It's only now starting to bother you?

Joey isn't exactly great at the whole agony aunt thing, mind you.

No. But last night... I saw someone DIE. You understand?
Not really, no.
Maybe I'm not putting it the right way. Let's talk more about this later.

We'll get back to that later. Let's follow up with Marty for now.



Yeah. Who are you?
Rosangela Blackwell.

Yep, that's him alright. So his son was murdered here.

What do you want?
Your son. I heard what happened.
You knew my boy?
No, but I'm looking into it.

Hopefully he can give us some info.

You with the police?
No, but I'm sort of... freelance.



So sure. Ask me whatever you want.

At least he isn't immediately against us asking questions. Before we ask about his son, though, let's see if he knows anything about the other various clues we've picked up over the course of this case.

Have you ever been to a bar downtown called the Minetta?
The Minetta? Is that place still around? I haven't been there for years.
So you know it?
I used to go there, years ago.
Can you tell me anything about the Minetta?
What's to say? It's a bar. I used to live in that area, when I was young. I'm surprised it's still around.

If Marty visited the Minetta decades ago, perhaps he knew Joe Gould?



You mean Professor Seagull?
You've heard of him?
Sure I did. Back in the day, you'd always see him wandering the West village. Must have been... oh, fifty years ago? I was a young man, then. He called himself Professor Seagull. If you gave him a dollar, he'd recite poetry in seagull language.
For real?
Who knows? It was a laugh. New York was full of people like that, in those days. Times have sure changed.

What about Mitchell?



Didn't he used to write for the New Yorker?
Yes.
I think I've read some of his work, but it was so long ago I can't remember.

This dialogue adds some flavour, but is otherwise not very useful. Let's get to the topic at hand.



Rosa asks about John's death.

His neck was crushed. They said he was choked. But there were no bruises on his neck. I've never heard of anything like it.
Crushed.
Yeah.



Rosa and Joey explain glances. There is no way this is a coincidence. The Countess was responsible for John's death as well, in exactly the same manner as the others. Just how many people has she been "helping" lately?

Do you have any theories of your own?
Course I do. It was his rival company that did it. Lazarus Technology. They did it. But I can't prove it.
Why do you think this other company is involved?
Look, my boy was a genius. He ran a medical technology firm not far from here, as one of their chief researchers. He was making a device that could improve the efficiency of pacemakers. A real breakthrough, he said.



Lazarus, hey?

It was a real race to see who'd finish first. He didn't eat. He hardly slept. He poured his life into his work. Then one night, he called me to say he had finished. He wanted to celebrate. That was the last time I talked to him.
He was killed that night?
Yes. And a few days later, the device was registered. By Lazarus. No justice. None at all.

I don't know about this. The Countess is clearly involved in this death, but it seems unlikely that Lazarus would have since they wouldn't have any connection to Frank or Claude. I think Marty might be barking up the wrong tree here. Not that Rosa can tell him anything, of course.

So you think someone from Lazarus killed your son?
It's a pretty big coincidence, wouldn't you say? I've tried calling Lazarus, but they refuse to talk to me. They eventually put a restraining order on me. *sigh* At least John went to his grave believing he was a success, for all the good it does.



He was my son. He had his head in the clouds, but his feet were firmly planted on the ground. He wanted to change the world, and by God he could have done it. Oh well. I'll be joining him soon, I'm sure.

Yet another horribly depressing story in a Blackwell game

Anything else you can tell me?
No. Please, enough.
Well, see you around.
Uh huh.

Let's head back home and see if we can make some sense of this.

Rosa's Theme



Rosa opens up a little bit more with Joey...

What are you getting at?
It'd be nice if they knew we existed.
Very poetic, darling, but do you really want to spend your life in a padded cell?
No. You're right.

It's becoming increasingly clear that Rosa is not satisfied with how things are going here.



She then turns her attention to John Goldwater.

M.O.?
You know. Modus Operandi? It's what the real detectives say.



blackwell.gif

Do me a favor, kid, and never say that again.

Hahahahaha

There was no ghost at the lighthouse. John might have passed on normally.
Maybe there's someone we can talk to?

Actually, that's a good point. Back in Lauren's time, the victims of the Countess stuck around as ghosts, and so did Frank. Perhaps they were just exceptional cases? Presumably Claude didn't leave a ghost behind either, since Rosa and Joey never mention it.



You can hardly blame him. He thinks they killed his son.
Lazarus didn't kill his dad, and you know it.
Like he'll believe the truth.
That's the tragedy, sweetheart. He'll carry that grudge to his grave. And if we're lucky, we'll be the ones to deal with it later.

Maybe we'll get a ghost out of this after all!

So you don't think Lazarus Technology really killed John Goldwater?
No. I think our elderly lady friend is the guilty party.
So they're a dead end?
Not necessarily. Any lead is a good lead.
I wonder if I can talk to someone from Lazarus Technologies.
If that's what you wanna do, do it.

I guess that's a good an idea as any. Maybe Marty was on to something?



They've got a phone number on their Oogle page, which is handy. Rosa gives them a call.



For general information about Lazarus Technologies, press one. To inquire about our products, press two. To speak to an operator, press three.

Rosa tries to speak to a real person first...

You have reached the general office mailbox. Please leave a message, and someone will get back to you shortly.

...but nobody answers. Let's try option #2 next:

If you would like to request a product catalog, please speak to a customer representative.

Okay, we'll try the first option, inquiring about their products.

Lazarus Technologies is the world's leader in biomedical and biomechanical engineering. We supply research and development to hospitals and clinics throughout the world.

This message then continues to say:



Meltzer are involved again? That changes things. I'm starting to agree with Rosa - something very suspicious is going on here.


Join me tomorrow as Rosa confronts the Meltzer brothers again to see what the hell is going on here. We're quickly heading towards the pointy end of Convergence!