Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (Part 2)

There is so much to this story that I don’t believe going back on what was said last time would be of much use. If you must remember the events, head back to Part 1 and give it a good read again. I’ll try to complete Chapters 3, 4 and 5 today, if possible.

Kyle feels hungry, and as a miraculous coincidence, the restaurant opens at 6. It’s currently 6. Gotta love when everything goes right. So Kyle heads back downstairs (He wasn't in his room; did he just teleport there after talking to Louie?), and sees little Melissa being grounded by her father. After the girl leaves, Kyle has his first actual discussion with the father. Name’s Kevin Woodward. Surgeon. Kyle presents himself to Kevin, and the father seems to recognize the name. Well gee, that’s odd. On the other hand, we get to see the restaurant, Moonlight Grill – oh, hey Louie. Sorry if we left in a rush to Room 215 after that big talk we had. We feel compelled to head to my room after every moment of interrogation. For no reason other than funsies. As Kyle chats with him, Louie says that three rooms were broken into six month prior, when the other “Kyle Hyde” stayed, and Dunning still didn’t repair them. Rooms 217, 220 and 218. In fact, Other Kyle stayed in Room 217. We also encounter Iris on the way. Boy, this hallway sure is packed with people. Apparently, she’s the reason Melissa is grounded.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Kyle is smiling???
A big honest smile? That's so rare!

Kyle enters, finds a doll Melissa forgot there, gets his meal (I’m hungry. I just ate breakfast, right before posting this part, and I’m hungry. This game made me hungry. Well, that’s just great.), and then gets dessert, but is approached by Martin Summer again. The author wonders if there wasn’t something like a bookmark that stayed in the box that wasn’t ours. After Martin leaves and dessert is eaten, Rosa comes to get the plate, and is reminded that Martin Summer, yes, that guy Kyle makes fun of, is one of her favorite authors. An author she loves stays in Hotel Dust? What are the odds? Summer got famous with his first book, The Secret Word (which was also the name on the notebook we gave back to him).

While going upstairs, we meet Helen, and Kyle has to escort her to the restaurant. On the way back, Louie walks to Kyle (Never a break, never a moment without anyone not nagging us...) and hands him a fountain pen that was found in the restaurant, under Kyle’s table it seems. We find out an engraving on it says “To Alan, with love”. After which we go back upstairs to give Melissa her doll back... but we have to stay with her a little and do her puzzle a second time. The player can then flip it by closing the Nintendo DS and reopening it (Here’s the solution, to everyone who couldn’t figure it out). A message is written on the back of the puzzle pieces: "Good-Bye Melissa". Then her father comes in, and is kinda angry that Melissa let Kyle in and talked about her mother. Keep your voice down, you’re scaring the little girl.

Anyway, we go back to the room, we find Summer’s bookmark, and then we go to him. We give  back the bookmark, and then we learn that the pretty picture on it was painted by a man named Marcel Osterzone. I swear, this name sounds made up. It’s a picture called “Angel Opening A Door”. After this discussion, we head back to Room 215, but Kyle heard Melissa crying in Room 218, one of the rooms that has been ravaged six months prior. We bring power back in Room 218, then we unlock the door with the unfolded paperclip… and voilà.

I don't see why some young kid would hide in the darkness...

Melissa says she hid in there because she hates her dad, he’s a liar, all that stuff. And now, Interrogation Time. We find out that her father Kevin knew about Hotel Dusk and he hoped that going there would allow him to find Melissa’s mother. And Melissa is still blaming herself for her mother leaving. Ah, the poor kid... Though it’s not her fault, as it seems like her mother had been planning to leave... I refer you to my previous sentence: “Ah, the poor kid...”

We finally get Melissa out of Room 218, and then we meet her dad again. Wow, this guy makes Homer Simpson look responsible. Oh wait, that’s right, this is 1979, we need a time-relevant analogy. Um... This guy makes... uh... This guy is as present as... uh... Jim Anderson from Father Knows Best? Wow, that’s some old reference right there. And it was probably a wrong analogy anyway. Kevin says he was on the roof. To find out why, we head there and find Iris. Don’t expect her to say anything of value, though.

Thus begins Chapter 4. Kyle asks Rachel at Red Crown to do some research on that Osterzone guy for him. Then we get the key to Room 217 from Louie. To think this guy used to be a lowly pickpocket, and now he’s the best ally an ex-cop can have. Who’d have thought such a silly scenario? Oh, but let's not get caught using that key, Dunning won't like it. After all, he mentioned he was a champion of one-legged ass-kicking contests... Wait, that’s not it. Never mind. Outside, we see Criss Angel- I mean, Matt Demon- I mean, that punk who brought Mila to the hotel, but he goes back in his room. We can finally sneak into Room 217.

That’s where we find... a painting on the floor; a wine bottle with four apples. Quite the anticlimactic discovery, if you ask me. But wait, what’s that in the drawer? A lighter? That Kyle recognizes as the one Bradley always used? Oh, now we’re getting somewhere. Sadly, this format for the review doesn’t really allow me to exclaim my joy. So... Gasp. We also find a photo hidden behind the apples pictures. A picture of a man and his daughter. ...Gasp?

We leave but hear a door close. The door to Room 215 is half-open. The floor inside is wet and it’s coming from the bathroom. We open the toilet’s lid and find a wad of cash in a plastic bag hidden in there. We better not tell anyone yet; it’s so easy to become the target of suspicion...

One of the oldest tricks in the book, as old as the invention
of the toilet.

Moments later, we see Rosa waiting in front of Martin Summer’s room. She wants an autograph, but since she can’t waste her time, she orders Kyle to get it for her. Sigh. Though she does give us one of Summer’s books. Our search takes us to the front desk, where we see Jeff Angel yelling that something has been stolen from him. After the guy leaves, we chat with Dunning. Needless to say, the man has rather harsh words for the guy. Quote: “I’d like t’introduce his ass to my boot!” Told ya. Dunning has a desire to kick some ass. Love this character. He's great. If you show him Summer’s novel, he’ll reply “No thanks! If I wanna sleep, I’ll go to bed!” Great. Simply great.

We check the day’s paper, and it talks about three things: Someone robbed an attorney for 20,000$ and left with their car, an exhibition at an art museum and in the personal ads, someone looking for an Alan Parker, asking to meet at a certain place... We leave, but we can’t use the hallway, Rosa is cleaning. She does tell us about a second staircase leading upstairs, though we can't use it to go downstairs, as the door locks behind us when we get to the second floor. A one-way staircase... Brilliant? Nah, I don’t think so. Well, we get upstairs and find Dunning... He finally spills the beans; Jeff claims money has been stolen from him. A huge sum. ...Twenty grand. Start connecting the dots!

...That was a figure of speech. Sigh, time to move on. We get to Summer’s room, and we finally get him to sign Rosa’s book. Turns out the pen Louie found is his; it slid out of his pocket. But wait, the pen says “To Alan, With Love”... Martin claims Alan Parker is his real name and Martin Summer is a nom de plume, but I find this hard to believe. Anyway, he signs the novel and slips out that he likes to stay in unknown hotels when attempting to escape his own fame, stop at random places... which is odd to say about Hotel Dusk; if he didn’t know he was gonna stay here, how could he have a package delivered to the hotel? Something stinks here, and it’s not the bathroom. Well, this exchange ends, and Kyle heads out. Time to give Rosa her book.

On the way, we find Iris who says Dunning has been body-checking the guests. Whoops, better hide the stuff we don’t want to be seen with. Then we can bring the novel back to Rosa. She’s read  an analysis of Summer’s handwriting, and apparently the way Summer writes is similar to a liar or a coward. She adds that The Secret Word is the only good book Summer ever wrote. Oh, and finally she says that Martin Summer is the guy’s real name, not just a pen name. Time to interrogate a certain author.

See how different the Rs are?

Summer sees his web of lies pierced through by Kyle’s questions. He gets mad easily though, so tread lightly. Turns out, we compare the writings and find out that the handwriting in the notebook is different from his. Cornered, Summer finally admits everything. He used to work as a reporter for some magazine with Alan Parker ten years ago, and the two were friends. They both wished to become novelists, too. Sadly, Martin never managed to write anything too great, while Alan finished a perfect manuscript; the one for The Secret Word. Martin stole the manuscript and published it as his own, and Alan went missing. None of Martin’s next books were all that great. However, he still had some fame, so he hired an assistant... but that person found out and started blackmailing him. Claimed he’d reveal the entire thing to the media if Martin didn’t send him a huge sum of money, in exchange for the notebook. See, kids, blackmail is a terrible thing. And if you do it, you’re a rotten bastard. Stealing other people’s work is terrible, too.

Oddly enough, Martin has, too, been searching for Alan, but hasn’t come any closer to finding him. But why Hotel Dusk? It appears Alan cherished this place. Well, it seems we won’t get any more out of this guy, so the chapter ends.

This next chapter opens in Kyle’s room... again, did he just teleport there or what? The phone rings. It’s Rachel, again. She finally found the fascinating info on this fellow, Osterzone. Some artist who died in 1910, whose paintings only started getting famous in the fifties, and how collectors are now paying large sums for his works... is it me or everything is about large sums around here? Oh, and of course, Angel Opening a Door is Osterzone’s most prized painting... and it got stolen from an art gallery around the time Bradley betrayed the force. After this call ends, it’s 8:00, and Rosa asked us to meet her at her room at this hour. Time to go.

Downstairs, we encounter Jeff Angel yet again, and then Dunning. After Jeff leaves, Dunning admits that Jeff’s complaints sound fake, like it’s an act or something. The hotel's owner decides to give it another hour and then call the cops. He really hates cops... Oh well, time to head to Rosa’s room. Rosa lets Kyle in, but then goes to get medicine for Mila, thus leaving them alone. The teenage girl can’t speak, but she writes in Kyle’s journal the name of her father: Robert Evans.

I may no longer be a cop, but I can still sew!
...Okay, that pun was just terrible.

Sadly, before she can write anything else, we’re interrupted by Rosa, who shoves Kyle out. Our salesman goes back to his room, but Melissa comes to visit him. She broke one of the wings on her doll, and wants Kyle to repair it. Thankfully, there’s a mini sewing machine in the package Kyle received, and he fixes Melissa’s doll. He ain’t just half proud of it, too. Afterwards, Melissa says that she saw Jeff coming out of Kyle’s room earlier... You want truths? Ask a kid. They can tell just the thing you need to solve your problem. If they trust you, they won't lie. Kyle thanks Melissa, and then both leave.

Kyle heads to Room 213, but nobody’s home. He heads downstairs, where he sees Jeff coming out of the Staff Only section. Kyle heads into the laundry room, and finds a pistol hidden in the laundry cart. We learn from Louie, who entered the room after we found the pistol, that Jeff came in there earlier. The two devise a plan to catch Jeff.

Louie creates a distraction in Room 214, and when Jeff goes there, Kyle sneaks into 213. There, he finds a second key to Room 215 and a student ID saying Jeff Damon. ...Nice contrast there, Angel, Damon... All the Damon of the universe called, they wanted their integrity back. Sadly, Kyle gets caught, so he talks with Jeff. It takes showing him the day’s papers before he finally starts cracking. 

Be careful, though; one misstep and it’s Good Bye. I mean, Game Over. Show him all the important items, and be extremely careful when picking answers, as you won’t get another chance. You anger him once, you don't get the answer to one of the important questions, thus you lose.

Trust me, Kyle; rich brats have no concept of the value
of money. Just check all these upper-class twats in the
Battle Chateau in Pokémon X and Y...
Oh right, Pokémon doesn't even exist in 1979. 

After this point, showing Jeff the stolen 20 grand or the pistol just leaves him silent. He spills the beans; his real name is Jeff Damon, he stole that wad of cash and the pistol from his father, a rich LA attorney. Turns out Jeff’s father is no Phoenix Wright. Well, apparently he is, but inverted; a genius defense attorney, except evil. An “arrogant scumbag”, Jeff says. Kyle shows off his deduction skills, and says Jeff, being rich, never learned the value of money, nor did he ever shoot a firearm. He stole the cash and the pistol to scare his dad, and turned up at Hotel Dusk completely by luck, where he found Kyle and thought he would be an easy target to pin blame on.

Jeff’s father would frequently defend crime organizations in court. And these days he’s defending Nile. Yes, THAT art theft organization. And Jeff’s plan was to cause all sorts of trouble so he’d get arrested and embarrass his father; but Kyle reminds him that criminal groups are quick to the trigger. If he gets that story out in the news, both his father and he will end up six feet under. Kyle tells Jeff to go back home with all the stuff he stole.

Gee, every single person in this place has a relation with crooks or people around art. Louie and his partner, Melissa’s mother who works in an art museum, Summer being a fan of Osterzone’s painting that got stolen... Jeff’s father defending Nile... And it’s crazy how people will do stupid things as long as they think they have a perfectly valid reason to...

So many coincidences force me to take a break. See you Friday.