Part 48: Blackwell Deception - Update 7

Update 7

Last update, we visited Seagram Assisted Living and found Penelope, but she had nothing meaningful to say. Upon leaving, a senile old man seemed to sense Joey's presence, and Joey immediately clammed up tight.

Old Man



Back at the apartment, Rosa tries to get Joey to open up...

He's nobody, sweetheart. Absolutely nobody.

...but it's like pulling teeth, as usual.

You didn't act like he was nobody.
Look. He's not a spook, so he's not our problem.
And when he dies?
...
I said. He's not our problem. So drop it.

Joey is pretty worked up about something, but he's clearly not ready to talk about it yet. We'll return to this later.



Rosa changes the subject.

She seems to have strong feelings about everything.
I wonder if Madison feels the same way.

Now, Jeremy interviewed Penelope and clearly thinks she said something interesting. Yet all we got out of her was a lot of bitching about her daughter-in-law in between "spiritual" bullshit. Perhaps if we go back and speak to Madison, we'll find something out that will allow us to prompt Penelope into talking about something more interesting.

Before then, though, let's just head to a few locations and tie up loose ends.



Back to Seagram first. Amusingly, the labels for objects and people are sometimes different depending on whether you have Rosa or Joey selected. If Rosa is selected, Penelope is labelled "Penelope Haines", but Joey uses a much more appropriate label



The old man, meanwhile, is simply labelled "Nobody" when Joey is selected. Joey reinforces this if we try to get him to interact with the old man.

He's nobody. Why would I wanna talk to him? He's nobody.

If we try to move into the room, Joey stays put.

Hey Red. You field this one. I'm gonna hold the fort over here.

He clearly doesn't want to go anywhere near the old man.



There isn't too much we can do here, but before we leave, let's steal this ball of yarn.

Nobody I know. Help yourself.



Well, hell, we've got some string, we've got a brochure with a hole in it, and this is an Adventure Game! It's a safe bet that we'll need to combine them together.

Hm. Let's see if this works...

I love the idea that Rosa is able to tell if tying a string to the brochure has "worked" after doing it



Rosa and Joey also catch up with Jeremy.

We've met Penelope.
You found her? How's she doing?
She's... interesting.
Interesting's the word. I could only understand half of that crap she spouted.
Yeah, she's a bit out there. She thinks she's found something meaningful.
Has she?
I don't know. Maybe it doesn't matter.

Something strange happens with the portraits here. I don't think Jeremy is supposed to have that worried portrait all through this sequence. I don't really know for sure, but my guess is that AGS has a "change portrait" flag, and if you don't choose it, it just adopts the most recent portrait. If I'm right, Gilbert probably just forgot to choose a neutral portrait for the start of this dialogue, and Jeremy retained concern from the previous conversation we had with him. It happens a few more times in Deception, though it's easy to miss it.



She's a sweet old lady. Or at least, I suppose she was once.

He's back to his normal portrait now. Unfortunately, he doesn't have any useful info about Penelope. Time to head to Madison's place to see if we can stir anything up.

Haines Residence



I told you, there's no reason for you to be here.

Madison is far from thrilled to see Rosa again. Hopefully we can get something useful out of her before she slams the door on us.

I spoke to your mother-in-law.
You spoke to Penelope.
Yes.

Madison is pretty angry with us about this.

I told you not to speak to her.
No, you said you wouldn't tell me where to find her. I found her anyway.
Hm. Clever girl.

Hahaha, I love the way Rosa tries to weasel out of this on a technicality

And what did she tell you?
She doesn't think much of you, that's for sure.

Ouch. Risky reply, but it seems to do the trick.

*sigh* Come in. Shut the door.



Looks like we've prompted Madison to talk a bit more freely.

She's rich, and she's needy. People like her are easy prey for people like him.

"People like him"? Who is she talking about?

People like who?
People like Gavin.

At least that's a new name. Gavin. If nothing else, we've got another lead.

What did this... Gavin do?
He brainwashed her, is what he did. He made her hate us. He told her we were phony and superficial. Okay, we're well off. I can't deny that. But the things she said... She changed her will. Can you believe that? Left everything to Gavin.
Even my husband couldn't look at her anymore. So... we sent her away.

Sounds like some kind of cult leader. Whatever Gavin told Penelope, she obviously believed it pretty strongly, given how angry she still was in the nursing home.

Was it a lot of money?
Who cares about the money? The money isn't the point! She turned her back on her family. Her son. Her new grandchild. Just because some cult leader told her to. You stick by your family. That's just what you do.

You know, Madison comes across as having a bit of an attitude, but overall she seems pretty grounded. I definitely think Penelope has been fed some lies by whoever this Gavin guy is.



I know. I know. we are horrible ungrateful people. Don't think we don't feel guilty about it. But she was impossible to live with, and we have a son to raise. I even gave her a key and told her she could visit whenever she liked.
Not that she would. She denies we ever gave it to her, even though it's lying in her room for everyone to see.

Reeeeaaaally? Rosa's fingers begin to itch...

Well, I'd better get going.
Good bye, then.

Without even knowing why, I have absolutely no doubt at this point that we'll be stealing that key and breaking back into the Haines Residence in the near future



Rosa and Joey head home to think about what Madison told them.

He seems to have done a number on Penelope, if Madison's telling the truth.
He sounds like some kind of cult leader. Or spiritual guru.
Preying on old ladies. He's got no class.

I'm not sure brainwashing people of any other age into leaving their inheritance to you is any classier, Joey.

Whatever happened to Penelope, Gavin was probably at the crux of it.
She's an old woman, Joey. Couldn't she just be a bit senile?
Eh. Maybe. It's not our problem, either way. We need to focus on Jeremy.

Yes, it's probably a good idea to head back to Jeremy's place. We have a new name to run by him, at least!

Jeremy and Rosa



Rosa checks to see if the name rings any bells.

Gavin...
Yes. Yes, I know that name.
Who is he?

Immediately, Jeremy's demeanour is dark. Gavin's name definitely means something to him.

Why is my head so fuzzy? I should know this! He's... important. Somehow. GOD, why can't I remember?

Jeremy's really getting worked up here.

He's at the root of everything. Penelope... and the others... all of them. We've got to find him. We've got to expose him.
Expose what? What did he do?
I...

Not sure what the deal is with Jeremy's smile is here. I think it might have been a misplaced portrait, but then it could be him just kind of freaking out.



I'm sorry. I just don't know. I'm not feeling well. My brain's not working right. Please. Keep digging. Just find him.

Well, at least we've confirmed that he is important, somehow. It seems like something a bit more than just a smooth talker tricking old people into changing their wills though.

Are you sure you can't remember anything about Gavin?
No. I'm sorry. I know he's important, but I can't... remember why.

We're going in circles a bit here, but I guess the next step is to head back to Penelope and see what she knows about Gavin. Jeremy did say she was a "talker", so hopefully she'll be open with us about what Gavin told her.

Common Room



Hearing Madison's name immediately puts Penelope in a bad mood.

Oh, I'd advise against that. Five minutes in her presense will kill a year of your spiritual growth.
Did you really cut your family out of your will?
Sure I did. What of it? They have everything they need. I'm giving it to a much worthier cause. The work must continue. I can make sure it does.

"The work"? This is sounding more and more like a cult every minute.

Madison doesn't seem all that bad.
You never lived with her. For years I lived under a cloud, only I never knew it! The clouds have parted and I See.

The capital S in 'See' isn't a typo. Penelope pronounces it as though it's something magical.

See what?
My purpose. I... never had one before. She couldn't see that. She did everything she could to destroy it.

Yep... an dying old lady who never felt she had a purpose. Easy target for a cult leader.



Peridot?
A stone. Gavin gave it to me. It promotes spiritual growth.
*She* took it before sending me here. Like it will do her any good.

There's Gavin's name, without us even having mentioned him to Penelope. Jeremy was right, she IS a talker.

Can't you get another one?
This one was given to me by Gavin. It has special energy inside. It's... irreplacable.



Rosa strikes while the iron is hot.

Gavin is the one who opened my eyes.
You make him sound like a prophet.
Far from it. He's just a man who had his eyes opened. And he helps others do the same. He was just a signpost on my spiritual journey.
More like the exit ramp to your personal loony bin.

If Gavin helps others to "have their eyes opened", perhaps he'd be willing to meet with us? Rosa tries asking.

I'd like to meet Gavin.
You? No. No, I don't believe you're sincere. That reporter. Jeremy. I sent him on his way to Gavin, and it just upset things.
It upset someone all right. Upset them enough to kill.

Upset things? Jeremy ended up dead, and it seems likely that this Gavin character had something to do with that.

Perhaps he wasn't ready. Perhaps he remained closed minded. Perhaps I should have seen that.
Either way, you must find your way to Gavin yourself. Unless you can prove your sincerity.

Let me guess, proving our sincerity will involve carrying out a task for Penelope.



Let's figure out what bribe we need here.

Promote your spiritual growth. If you don't do that, your eyes will remain forever closed.
Spiritual growth. I'm the only spirit around here and it's never done me any good.

Hahahaha, Joey spits out "Spiritual growth" with so much sarcasm it's hilarious He's jumping in left and right throughout this scene, even if he is doing it from alongside the elevator so as to not attract the senile man's attention.

I could get your peridot for you.
You would do that? You'd brave that nest of vipers and retrieve it for me?
It's hardly a nest of vipers.
That's because you can't See! But if you get it for me... let's just say that helping others is the key to helping yourself.
I'd like to help myself to some earplugs.

There we go, now I see why we're going to break into the Haines Residence. It's to steal Penelope's peridot stone back. Because nothing says "spiritual growth" like burglary!



Having the key would help matters...

A key? No she didn't.

...but unfortunately, Penelope is so convinced that Madison is evil that she is incapable of acknowledging having received them. Gah!

She told me she did.
Well, she's lying. She hates me, so she wouldn't give me anything. You understand?
I'm not sure I do.
That's all right. Maybe you're not supposed to.

I swear, if you say that one more time

Haines Residence



Maybe Madison will just give us the peridot?

Hi.
Come in. Shut the door. What?
Penelope mentioned a peridot stone?
Oh, that thing. She wore it constantly. Believed it contained spiritual powers, or something. I should throw it away.

Throw it away? Aren't peridots worth a decent amount of money? Surely you could just sell it or something?

Can I have the peridot stone?

Hahaha, Rosa just straight up asks for it You've come a long way, girl!

Why?
Penelope would like it back.
Absolutely not! That trinket just made the problem worse for her.
The next time I think of it, I'm just going to throw it away.

No, don't do that We need that peridot!



I think Penelope would appreciate it.
Did you hear what I told you? I said no.

Looks like we'll need to break in after all.

Well, I'd better get going.
Listen, I appreciate what you are doing, but please don't bother us again. We're embarrassed enough by this as it is.
I'll do my best.
I expect more than that. If any of this shows up in the paper, we'll deny everything. You got that?

At least that's better than the threat of lawyers we got when were stalking the Meltzer brothers in Convergence.

Now, Chris and I are meeting my husband for dinner. So if you'll let yourself out...?
Right. Sure.

Deception Tension



A short while later, Rosa knocks on Madison's door again, and sure enough, she's gone out. Joey decides to do a bit of scouting.



Hard to see in this screenshot, but Penelope's peridot pendant is hanging off the corner of her bed.

Some kind of green trinket.

Unfortunately, Joey is unable to pick it up.

Nope, still a ghost. Can't pick that up.

We'll need to get the key so Rosa can come and use her conveniently non-corporeal hands!




Join me tomorrow as we help Rosa to commit yet another barely-justified crime!!