Part 82: Blackwell Epiphany - Update 11 (Part 2)

George's Apartment



Rosa and Joey emerge in George's apartment. It's pretty bare, but pleasant enough. I think artist Ben Chandler does a very nice job of blending the pristine, clean blue lighting on the left with the seedy green lighting encroaching from the outside here.

As nice as this place is, I can't stop thinking about George and Lia. About what... happened.
I know. Just try and focus. A nice cozy home like this, you gotta ask why George would leave it to go out in a blizzard.
He was looking for us. He thought we could help him. And Lia.
Yeah. Well. Let's try and make it worth something.

They took a look around.

There's not much in George Ostin's apartment. Aside from his myPad table.
Huh. Another shiny gadget. Figures it would be the one thing you notice.
Be quiet.
What is it?
That's a myPad tablet. Kind of like my phone, except bigger, with a better screen and you can watch movies on it.
You've got one on order, haven't you?
... Maybe.

Haha We'll check that out soon, but first, let's see if there's anything else in here.



Joey isn't impressed with the fancier things in life, that's for sure. Rosa's a bit more positive towards it.

That'd look amazing on my bathroom wall.
Darling, that thing's bigger than your entire bathroom.

Hahahaha. They keep looking around.

"Bok choi, garam masala, quinoa, branzino."
It's either a shopping list or a voodoo spell.
A saucepan and some cooking implements. They don't look like they've ever been used.
Probably a priceless Ming vase. Or something.
Is that a genuine Ming? It must have cost George a fortune.
Some little tin tchotchkes that are probably worth a million bucks.
They look like candlesticks.

Okay, that's enough stalling. Let's look at the myPad tablet.



Alright, let's have Rosa look at it.



A missed call, hey? I wonder who this Michael is? Rosa checks the emails.



Michael has sent several emails to George. The first of them makes it seem likely that Michael was another member of the Grace Group. It also seems that he knows what is happening to them - presumably he was the one who informed Lia and George in the first place.

Whoever this "Michael" is, he seems to know quite a lot.

You're not wrong, Rosa. Let's keep reading...



Wow. Michael saw it happen? Is he another medium? Or can members of the Grace Group see it happening to other members? At this stage we have no idea who "P" is.



Apparently Michael has a "source" who told him about Rosa and Joey. Who on earth would know about them? Gavin's group? Some other secret society? No idea at this point.

...
So this Michael has a source who knows about Bestowers. About me.
This is starting to get personal.



Looks like George contacted Lia, who decided to quickly build herself a bunker.



The final email is from Emil, the other half of the email that we saw in Emil's inbox. The last two emails are interesting but only filler. The main thing here is that this Michael seems to know a hell of a lot - about what's happening to him and other members of the Grace Group, and also about us.



Then that makes him number one on our most wanted list. Who is this Michael guy, and how does he know so much about us?
When we find him, we can ask him.

Rosa then shows off the experienced gained after years of ghost detectivery!

This number is a 212 area code. That means it's a land-line.
A what line?
You know. A phone connected to the phone wires? Not a cell phone like mine.
Uh huh. So?
We find the phone, we find...

She hesitates as Joey continues to stare at her.

... I don't know. A clue. Or something.
Or something.
Do you have any better ideas? No? Okay.

Hahahahaha, this is perfect Joey just lets her have it in the end.

I'll let you handle the phone stuff. Those things get more complicated every day.



The first obvious thing to try is to call Michael, but...

No answer.

...he's not answering.



While they're up here, Rosa and Joey decide to head onto George's snow-encrusted balcony. Joey takes a moment to (what else?) admire the view.

A roof deck like this, I wonder if money actually can buy you happiness.
I'll settle for central heating. It's cold. It's really cold out here.
So go back inside. I ain't stopping you.



This being a snowy roof, Rosa decides to leave some footprints, but a voice from the neighbouring apartment stops her in her tracks.

Hm?

Ghost on the Roof



Huh. Another ghost! That's the last thing I expected to find up here.

Yes. Um. "Hi there." What are you doing up here?

Rosa has three choices here. She can claim to be a friend of George:

I'm a friend of George Ostin.
Hm. A "friend." Of course. I suppose he was bound to get to a redhead sooner or later.
Oh. No! It's nothing like that.
Please. It's none of my business.

She can say she is admiring the view:

Just admiring the view.
The view is private. Or did George let you through? Either way, you're here now.

Or she can just ask who the ghost is:

Who are you?
Hah. Very funny.
Wait. You're serious?
Um, yes?
Well. This is new.

Whichever way we go, the ghost decides she's had enough fun and goes back inside.

Anyway, I'd best head back in. But I'm sure I'll see you around. Ta.

Seems like she doesn't like Rosa. But that's just fine. We'll do this a different way.



Eh?

If you are controlling Joey the first time you head across the balcony, you get a different scene instead! Which character the roof ghost meets first does have an impact later on, but only in terms of minor dialogue changes.



Seems the ghost is much more a fan of Joey than she is of Rosa. She's even flirting with him.

Huh? Oh. Hello, miss.
Hello yourself. So what brings you up here?

Joey has the same three options that Rosa did. Friend of George:

I'm a friend of George.
Oh? Looking after the place while he's away?
Something like that.

Admiring the view:

Funny. That's why I came out here.
... Um. The view's over that way.
I know.
Ahem.

Or he can ask who she is:

Who are you, if you don't mind me asking?
Cute, very cute. Wait, you're serious. Well. Isn't this delicious. It's so rare that I get to be the mysterious one.

Sounds like the ghost is famous, or at least, she thinks she is.

Anyway, I'd best head back in. But I'm sure I'll see you around. Ta.

She clearly likes Joey better than Rosa, so we'll go with him meeting her as our canon run.



Rosa and Joey quickly come together to discuss what they've just seen.

She's inside a locked apartment, Joey. You're the one who can talk to her. She was George's neighbor. If we can get through to her, she might tell us something.
You say that like it's easy to get a spook to tell us anything.

That's a good point. Maybe she can give us some more information on George.



Now since we were so rudely interrupted before, Rosa finishes putting footprints on George's balcony

Quiet. It's not like anyone up here can see.
*sigh* Fine. Knock yourself out.

Ghost on the Roof



Joey pops inside the roof ghost's apartment, which is completely bare. I guess it got cleaned out after she died?

She seems pretty easy-going, but it's hard to say if it's genuine. It feels polished. Practiced.

I guess she's an actress or something, especially since she seems to think she should be easy to recognise. Joey spies a note on the floor, but...



...it's impossible to read with the lights off.



Joey decides to speak with the ghost instead.

Well. If it isn't my handsome stranger. Coming to pay me a visit?
Sure.
So... what brings you by?

Hahaha, it's not often Joey is the one being flirted with

My name's Joey. Joey Mallone? Why don't you tell me yours?
You honestly don't know who I am?
I'm afraid not.
I admit, I'm fascinated. I know your name, but you don't know mine. It's not often that I'm in this position.

Joey waits for her to fill him in, but she stays silent.



I think... not.
I want to savor this for just a little while longer.
Come on. You know my name. It's only fair.
I can't tell if you're being genuine, or if you're just playing with me.
Why not both?
Well. The night is young. See if you can figure it out.

Gah. It will be hard to deal with her when we don't even have her name for Rosa to cyberstalk her with.



Joey tries to keep pushing her...

Or something.
Listen. It's really important that you tell me who you are.
What on earth could be so important?
It's... complicated.
No. No, I don't think so.
I'm enjoying this WAY too much.
Come on. What's your name?
No. This is too much fun. You'll figure it out. Everyone recognizes me eventually.

But she is insistent on remaining anonymous. Joey decides to focus on her surroundings instead.

So you actually live here? Er, so to speak.
Yes. Why are you so surprised?
Well, this place is kinda... well, empty.
I live alone.

No, Joey's right. This place is bare as can be.



What on earth are you talking about?
*sigh* Never mind.
I might not have the highbrown taste that George has, but my furniture is just as serviceable as his.
And twice as comfortable, I might add.
Ahem.

Hahaha, it's delightful to see how uncomfortable Joey gets when he's the one being flirted with for a change

Could I ask you a couple of questions?
You don't even know my name, and you want to ask me questions?
Well, maybe if you actually TOLD me your name...
Hah. No. Like I said - this is WAY too much fun.

Looks like we're not getting anywhere here until we figure out her name. Maybe Rosa will know?

Well, whoever you are. I'll see you around.
Say hi to George for me, if you see him.



Before leaving, however, Joey decides to have a closer look at that note. He blows it across the floor into the light...



...and closes in on it. "I know about Heather?"

It says "I know about Heather." And it's signed by someone named "J."

That's a bit suspicious. Joey asks the ghost about it.



Do you know anything about this?
...
About what?
This note. The one on your floor.
I have no idea. It has nothing to do with me.

After seeming so smooth and calm before, the ghost starts to get worked up.

Then what's it doing here?
I have no idea!
Okay. Okay. Relax. Are you sure you don't know anything about this note?
No. I don't know anything about any note.
Please stop asking about it.

Whatever the note means, it had something to do with her death, I'm sure of it. The usual signs are all there.

The note is signed "J." Who's "J?"
I have no idea. And I don't know anything about any note.

She's not saying any more for now, but we already learned something. Whoever Heather is, something about her lead to this ghost's death. It seems like a complete non-sequitur from what we've been focusing on until now, but I guess if she was George's neighbour, she might be able to tell us something useful about him.


Tomorrow we'll see if we can figure out who she is, and perhaps more importantly, try to track down this Michael!





At the start of today's update, Durkin told a story about how, for his first case, he attended an incident that was very clearly Lauren going insane in 1980. He then says that he has had a soft spot for kids ever since - but in this case, the kid is Rosa.

It's probably fairly obvious, but...

Durkin is aware that the girl was Rosa

That's obviously the implication Durkin is trying to give, though he never states it outright. I checked with Gilbert to first of all confirm it, and then ask at what point Durkin became aware that the crazy lady he'd met was the kid he'd rescued from the closet all those years ago. Did he know all the way back in Deception when we started helping him out? Or did he know by the time he agreed to meet us at the Cup of Clay?

Gilbert claims that Durkin was entirely unaware that Rosa was the same little girl during the events of Deception. It was only after that case was solved that he looked Rosa up and realised who she was. Presumably, he then went out of his way to contact her again, and ended up finding her useful as a fact-gatherer. I guess by this stage he's developed enough of an attachment to her that he's gone into bat for her and helped get her on the case when she could just have easily have ended up the primary suspect.

Of course, this still doesn't explain why Rosa hasn't been arrested for the countless other things where evidence points clearly at her, most notably the deaths of Gavin and Lisa. But we'll have to address that in a future Word of God update.