Part 58: Blackwell Deception - Update 17

Psychopomp is an awesome word I've never even heard of that before.


Update 17

After Joey spent all of yesterday's update trying to chat up Jamie, he found himself short of information about her to take advantage of. Time to speak to Detective Durkin to, hopefully, fill in the gaps!

Cup of Clay



So. What can I do for you?

As he promised, Durkin is sitting around at Cup of Clay waiting to speak with us. I don't think there's any meaningful reason for the coincidence of him meeting us at the same cafe we investigated a few episodes back, other than conservation of locations.

So, any progress on Jeremy?
Look, you helped us out on the ID, but don't push it. You know about as much as I do.

I guess he hasn't found any more information. Realistically, we probably actually know more than he does.

So why are you looking into Jamie's death? Her teacher said it was natural.
Well, she was right. It looked that way, sure enough.

But it wasn't...?

And?
And her body was found in a dumpster off of Amsterdam. Natural or not, how did the body get in there?

Hm. That's a good question.



I didn't say that. It was three blocks away from some nightclub. We learned she was a regular, so we went over. She bought it in the upstairs room. Some kind of VIP area. One minute, dancing the night away. The next, light's out.

I guess that's why Jamie was haunting the upstairs area in the nightclub rather than anywhere else.

Nobody saw how she died, just that she was dead. Anyway, the bouncer saw it and freaked, so he snuck her out and dumped her. Like I said. Cut and dry. Case closed.
Thrown away like trash. That's horrible.
You're surprised? You know what happened up on the High Line. Some people are animals. They'd choke someone's mother to death for no good reason.

I guess that explains why the police were involved. Durkin seems to have ruled out any kind of foul play.

How are you sure she wasn't murdered?
We have this thing called a "coroner's report."

Haha, Durkin is so sarcastic here

Right. What did it say?
I don't know the medical term, but some kind of brain vessel burst? It happens. One thing's for sure. It was no murder. Just rotten luck.
What else did the coroner's report say?
Nothing too important, why?
I don't know. Could I see it?



Hahahaha, he just stares at Rosa If Durkin didn't think Rosa was a complete nutcase to begin with, he definitely does by now.

You do owe me.
I don't know about that, but you certainly do get around. Look. I can't give you the actual report, but I can give you the gist. You might be nuts, but for some reason, I think you're all right.
Thanks?
Don't thank me. You owe me, now. You got a phone?
Yeah.
When we finish here, I'll send you a message.

Excellent. At least we might get some kind of idea what kind of drugs Jamie was hepped up on.



While we have Durkin here, Rosa asks a few more questions.

Small caliber bullet to the back of the head. He never saw it coming.
That's horrible.
Yeah, well. What are you gonna do?

That confirms what we thought - Jeremy was shot. We still don't know whether it was Gavin wielding the gun, or an associate of his, but I guess at this point it doesn't really matter either way.

Has this ever happened on the High Line before?
Not like that, no. The place used to be a dump. They cleaned it up good, but some grime you can't wash off.

I have to admit, I do enjoy the ridiculously grizzled cop stereotype Gilbert uses for Durkin Rosa also asks about Gavin.

Do you know anyone named Gavin?
You're gonna have to be more specific than that.
He's... kind of a cult leader. I'm not sure what he does yet.



Hahahahaha I love the way every time Rosa says something Durkin gets more and more concerned.

Have you heard of him or not?
Nah. Sorry.

Rosa can also ask questions tangentially related to this case. Professor Appleton:

You spoke to Professor Appleton?
The Graham kid's prof? Yeah. Why?
No reason, really.

Munray's:

The club where Jamie died. It was Munray's, was it?
You get around. Yeah, that was the place.

And Jamie's lifestyle choices:

I think Jamie might have been involved with a wild crowd.
Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, the case is closed as far as the department is concerned.

One last question...

How come Munray's is still open, after what they did?
How do you think any club stays open? They offer favors and spread money around to right people, and the whole thing never happened. It's all hushed up. Nothing in the papers, even.

We didn't learn too much here, but hopefully that coroner's report has something interesting in it for us.

Well, bye.
See you.

Late Night



Uh huh.

Outside the club, Rosa receives a message. Durkin has lived up to his word and sent us a summary of the coroner's report.

Let's see what it says!



Well, it's not very detailed. Still, Rosa is impressed anyway.

That was pretty reasonable of Durkin to give this to us.
Yeah. Now you're in debt to a cop.
So?
So, he's gonna collect. Someday.

You're such a killjoy, Joey.

Is that autopsy report telling you anything?
Nothing we don't already know.

Rosa says that there is nothing new in the report, but she is mistaken!



The autopsy report says that Jamie's bloodwork was clean, but Seb told us she was taking Ecstacy every single night. That doesn't wash. Rosa combines the two clues...

Hm. Now this is interesting. Seb said that Jamie was a drug addict, but her bloodwork came back clean.
Something's not right here.

Rosa is so adorably impressed with herself for having spotted the discrepency She shares her findings with Joey.

I think Seb might have lied about Jamie.
Maybe. You'd better talk to him again.

Why would he have lied? It doesn't seem to make any sense. Either way, we should speak with him and see what he says.

Jamie's Song



Rosa confronts Seb and repeats the information from the coroner's report.

What do you mean?
I spoke to a cop. He saw the autopsy report. She was completely clean.

Rosa's claim that Jamie "never used drugs" is a bit far-reaching, since we only know her bloodwork was clean at the time of her death, but nonetheless, Seb is perturbed by the news.

That's impossible. She was always talking about Ecstasy. Tried to get me on it.
If she took anything, it wasn't stronger than cough medicine.

Seb stares at Rosa in confusion.

I don't believe this.
I've got the report right here. Sort of. Do you want the cop's number?



Seb angrily snaps at Rosa.

Why would she lie about something like that? That's crazy!

Rosa can either say she doesn't know:

I don't know, Seb.
I'll tell you why.

She can ask Seb for his opinion:

You know her better than I do.
Yeah, maybe I did.

Or she can promise to find out:

I'm trying to figure that out.
Don't bother. I'll tell you why.

Seb has his own theory, though.

She wanted to be interesting. She always thought she was boring. But she wasn't. She was fantasatic. She read Robert Ashbless, for God's sake. How many girls read Ashbless?
I've read Ashbless...

Haha Seb is too busy ranting to hear Rosa's interjection, though.

She wanted to live, she said. Feel alive. She was kidding herself. Told everyone she was taking drugs. Not having the guts to really do it. Stupid. Stupid girl!

Seb is getting really worked up here.

I honestly thought that she and I... God! Look at me. What the hell am I doing here? Is this me, now? Following her ghost around like some lovesick puppy.



Unable to stand the frustration any longer, Seb storms out of Munray's Poor dude, he's had a rough time. Still, at least we know that Jamie liked to read Robert Ashbless! Hopefully, Joey can use that to, um, penetrate her armour.



Hey, you.

Joey asks Jamie about her hobbies.

So. What do you do when you're not lighting up the dance floor?
Nothing much. How about you?
This usually isn't my scene. You'd find me at home with a book, most nights.

This time for sure. Joey is a smooth mover, with an eye on the prize!!

Really? I used to read all the time.
Not anymore.
Nah. So what do you like to read?

Instead of Ashbless, Joey can suggest some more realistic alternatives:

Anything with a centerfold.
Hah. Figured.
I don't usually read.
Yeah, neither do I. Life's too short.

Or, awesomely, he can even start spruiking Rosa's book

There's this book by a lady named Blackwell. Ever hear of her?
No. Is she any good?
Depends who you ask.
I'll pass then.

Rosa definitely needs a different advertiser.



That should do it! However, it turns out Joey is not quite finished jumping through hoops yet.

Really? I used to read him all the time. Which is your favourite?

Uh oh. Joey puts forward a valiant effort:

Um. The first one.
Really. What was it called?
You know, I forget.
Look at me. I'm surprised.

But despite his best efforts...

Oh, I like all of them.
Really. No favorites?
Not particularly.
Right.

...Jamie isn't buying it.

The one about... the guy. You know. I think he wore a hat?
Right.

We'll need to do a touch more research before we can seal this deal.



Rosa looks up Ashbless on Oogle. Apparently he wrote various forms of literature, including something called "Anubis at the Gate". With any luck, Joey should be able to use that information to close off his love transaction!!!

Before that, though, an interesting story about the supposed Robert Ashbless. The author doesn't exist in real life, but is very clearly a reference to William Ashbless, a pseudonym of sorts for famous writers Tim Powers and James Blaylock. They invented the character and wrote hokey poetry to see if they could get it accepted in their local college magazine. Sure enough, it was accepted and they actually released several works under his name.

Apparently Tim Powers found the Ashbless character so amusing that he brought him back as a character in one of his books, "The Anubis Gates". The Oogle page talking about "Anubis at the Gate" makes the reference stark. It's no surprise that Gilbert would be interested in Powers' work, since he is most famous for writing fictional stories about historical figures, where he provides an alternative view on what may have led to them acting the way they did. Obviously, Gilbert drew a lot of inspiration from Powers' style.



Anyway, back to this seedy seduction scene.

Oh yeah, if you want to go with the popular one.
You don't like it?
Oh sure, it's great, but that's the first one people always pick. He wrote other stuff, you know.

Looks like we're in for real, this time.

Like what?
Oh, "Dark Drawings." And "Drawing the Last." If you liked Anubis, you'd like those too.
Really. I'll have to look 'em up sometime.

I'm not sure if those two titles reference "actual" Ashbless works, or if they're just titles Gilbert made up.

I've got bunch in storage somewhere. Maybe I could let you borrow one sometime...?
I'd like that.



Looks like we've done it. The Joey Charm finally claims its first victim!

Eh?
Not sometime. Right now.

Jamie wants to leave, which is exactly what we were hoping for.

God, I hate this place. Why do I come here every night? To have fun? I just feel more miserable. Let's get out of here.
Sound good to me, gorgeous. Where to? We can go anywhere.

Anywhere but here will do.



Or, that will work too, I guess. Joey is so getting laid. Ghostlaid.

Your... dorm?
Yes. The John-Jay Dormitory. Room 402.
Well, I-

Deception Lament



Jamie interrupts Joey midsentence to plant a big wet one on him. Apparently she is pretty impressed with him by this point. Naturally, the game rewards Joey for his dubious exploits with a "Still got it!" Steam achivement.

Ah.
I get the feeling we're going to be good for each other.

Oh geez. As if this wasn't awkward enough already. Jamie coyly floats outside...



...leaving Joey to contemplate just what he's got himself into this time.




Will Joey get a chance to enjoy the moment before Jamie starts asking him to quote Ashbless? Will he leave his hat on? Can ghosts even... well. Ahem. The answers to these and other similarly disconcerting questions can be found here tomorrow!