This case is set up at the end of “A Walk in Elysian Fields”. Elsa Lichtmann has received a $20,000 settlement from California Fire & Life; she was sole beneficiary on the life insurance policy of her friend, Louis Buchwalter. But Cole Phelps has convinced her that Lou’s death was the result of developer’s negligence—shoddy workmanship caused the roof to collapse. As the case opens, you see Elsa arrive at the office of Jack Kelso, an investigator for California Fire & Life. She presents Kelso with the settlement letter.
Objectives
- Review Buchwalter Case Documents.
- Interview Elsa Lichtmann.
- Visit Curtis Benson’s Office.
- Investigate Elysian Fields Office & Subdue Foreman.
- Investigate Demolished House & Escape Bulldozer.
- Investigate Keystone Film Studios.
- Investigate Elysian Fields Site 2.
- Escape Pursuers & Get to Elsa’s Apartment.
Case Report
Total Number of Key Clues 11
Total Number of Interview Questions 3
Fail Conditions
- Kelso dies.
Location: California Fire & Life
Review the documents.
You now play as Jack Kelso, starting out in his office at California Fire & Life 
. Examine the Settlement Letter and check that Elsa gives you; Kelso calls it a “ridiculously generous settlement”. But when Elsa says she believes her friend was a victim of foul play, she gets Kelso’s attention and he pulls out the Buchwalter Case File.
Now you can review all the documents in the file: blueprint, property details slip, and the accident report by the claims investigator. Read the report: a sagging ridge beam, a snapped ceiling rafter, and collapsing roof truss. Either Buchwalter was very unlucky or the building materials were substandard. But the insurance investigator absolves Elysian Fields of any fault.
Interview Elsa Lichtmann.
After exiting the case file screen, talk to Elsa to trigger an interview sequence.
Key Clue Checklist: Jack Kelso’s Office
- Settlement letter
- Buchwalter case file
Interview: Elsa Lichtmann
Topic: Disputed claim payout
Kelso asks about the basis for Elsa’s claim. She replies that Lou Buchwalter was a craftsman and wouldn’t build a faulty roof. Elsa is tough to read, but this reason seems a bit flimsy.
Correct Assessment: Bad Cop
Kelso presses her to take the money, saying her intuition isn’t enough to reopen an investigation. But Elsa insists that something was wrong with that house.
Topic: Connection to Buchwalter
When Kelso asks why Buchwalter named her as his beneficiary if they weren’t married, Elsa hesitates… then replies that they were “family friends”.
Correct Assessment: Bad Cop
Kelso isn’t buying her story, so Elsa levels with him: she was interned with Buchwalter on Ellis Island for four long years. Nazis had killed their parents, and yet they were confined to the island as “resident alien Germans” during the war.
Topic: Motive for dispute
Kelso rather roughly states that “accidents happen” and wonders what Elsa really wants. But she looks him directly in the eye and repeats that she wants the collapsed building thoroughly investigated.
Correct Assessment: Good Cop
Kelso finds her case intriguing, but adds that he needs more information. Then Elsa drops her bombshell: she believes there’s a conspiracy afoot that includes Elysian Fields and Kelso’s insurance company.
When the interview ends, Kelso asks Elsa for her address and phone number. She jots the number on a Slip of Paper and hands it over. Then a secretary appears with the message that Mr. Benson wants to see Kelso upstairs in his office.
- Key Clue Checklist: Jack Kelso’s Office
- Slip of paper
Visit Curtis Benson’s office.
Follow the secretary upstairs to Benson’s office. Your arrival triggers a cut-scene: Benson works on his putting as Kelso tells him about Miss Lichtmann’s refusal to take the payout. Benson orders him to forget about any investigation and get Elsa to take the payout.
Location: Elysian Fields Subdivision Office
Search the subdivision office.
Travel from California Fire & Life 
to the Elysian Fields site 
. Enter the subdivision office and find the Cement Delivery Receipt on the leftmost desk. Kelso notes that it’s an inferior way to mix cement; the ratio of cement to sand to aggregate is 1:4:8, not good for construction grade cement. Somebody’s cutting corners.
Now go to the rightmost desk to find a Demolition Order. It orders the destruction of all building work “associated with the incident of 01/28/1947”—the date that Lou Buchwalter was killed. The order also calls for all building material to be removed from the site. Could this be a sign of a cover-up? Then examine the Company Memo next to the order: Leland Monroe is putting heavy pressure on his construction crews to work fast.
Subdue Frank Osterman.
Exit the office to trigger a cut-scene: the site foreman, Frank Osterman, aggressively confronts Kelso and starts a fistfight. Kelso is a tough fighter, however, so you can silence the loudmouth with just a few punches. Afterwards, a defeated Osterman points out the demolished site where Lou Buchwalter died.
Key Clue Checklist: Elysian Fields Subdivision Office
- Cement delivery receipt
- Demolition order
- Company memo
Location: Demolished Elysian Fields House
Search the rubble.
Travel the short distance to the demolished house 
in the Normandie Avenue subdivision. Find the items marked by the red flags. At two flags you find pieces of wood with the words “Not For Construction Use” stenciled on them. At another flag, find the brick with almost no mortar on it. Go around to the back of the debris pile to find some Broken Wood that you must piece together like a puzzle to form the words: “Keystone Films”. Kelso asks, “Who gets their lumber from a film studio?”
Escape the Bulldozer!
Setting down the broken wood triggers an intense cut-scene: Frank Osterman, angry at the ass-kicking he got, hops aboard a bulldozer and tries to run Kelso down.
Kelso turns and starts sprinting down a steep-sided, pipe-filled trench. You can run full speed down the trench, hopping and climbing over pipes and platforms, until you reach the ladder at the far end, however you’ll have to be proactive to make it; turn and shoot at Osterman to slow him down. Every time you try to shoot the foreman, he raises the bulldozer’s blade to block your firing angle, so target and shoot fast.
Use a gamewell.
Now you need an address for Keystone Film Studios. Hop in your car and follow the blue phone icon on the map to find the gamewell just down the street at the corner. Use it to call in and get the address.
Key Clue Checklist: Demolished Elysian Fields House
- Broken wood
Location: Keystone Film Studios
Search the studio lot.
Travel to the Keystone Film Studios 
. Your arrival triggers a cut-scene: Kelso gives the gate guard a little incentive to let him snoop around for a while.
Start by hopping the gate to the right, near the building sign that reads “Construction Workshop”. Then begin searching through the piles of lumber.
On the very first lumber pile to the left, after scaling the fence, you find the Lumber Delivery Receipt for hundreds of pallets of Eastern White Pine. Then search the nearby lumber against the fence to find a sign that indicates Inferior Quality Lumber, not for structural use. As Kelso points out, wood like this won’t support a roof.
Search the screening room.
Now continue around the corner of the Construction Workshop and move along the fence to the next building, Stage 3. Turn left and proceed straight ahead to the doorway under the sign that reads “Screening Room”.
Enter the screening room and examine the Film Canister on the table to the right, just inside the doorway. The title on the canister is “Suburban Redevelopment Fund”. The canister is empty, but you’ll find the missing film reel already loaded onto the projector. Examine the projector to open it.
The projector automatically starts up. In the close-up, turn the top dial to focus the picture; turn the middle dial to adjust the film speed. Once you get those set properly, flip the bottom switch to reverse the film direction, rewinding to the beginning.
Then watch the Suburban Redevelopment group meet at The Brown Derby to discuss their plans, and note all the powerful and familiar faces on the board… including Kelso’s boss, Curtis Benson. You learn that the group is racing to put up houses fast enough to satisfy the federal government, which is threatening to meet demand with public housing—which Leland Monroe calls “tantamount to Communism”. Now you see the reason for Monroe’s big construction push, and perhaps the reason why holdouts are being bullied to sell. When the Film ends, exit the building.
Use the guard booth telephone.
Head back to the guard’s booth at the lot entrance and use the phone. Kelso calls his boss, Curtis Benson, and gets another stern warning. Then he calls Elsa Lichtmann, who arranges a meeting outside the stage door at The Blue Room to discuss the latest findings.
Key Clue Checklist: Keystone Film Studios
- Lumber delivery receipt
- Inferior quality lumber
- Film canister
- Film
Location: The Blue Room
Watch the long cut-scene as Cole Phelps catches a glimpse of the back alley meeting between Elsa and Jack Kelso.
Location: Elysian Fields Site Two
Investigate the house.
Travel from the Blue Room club 
to the second Elysian Fields building site 
at the corner of Wilton and Santa Monica. Your arrival triggers a cut-scene: Kelso spots an odd flickering light in the house across the street from the site office gate.
Enter the house and examine the light switch in the downstairs hallway. Kelso discovers that there’s no wiring behind it! Then check out the kitchen sink and try to turn on one of the faucets. No plumbing!
Now go upstairs. When you enter the master bedroom (the big one just left of the upstairs bathroom), you trigger a cut-scene. Three armed goons enter the room behind Kelso, who manages to talk them into holstering their weapons for a fistfight. Give it your best shot, but don’t worry when Kelso goes down: there’s no other alternative.
Kelso’s knockout triggers another cut-scene: the goons lean over Kelso and decide to toss him in the trunk of their car. After a fade to black, Kelso awakens in the trunk as the thugs enter the Elysian Fields site office.
Listen to the phone conversation in the office to see who’s behind this attack. When the henchmen drive off to finish the job, watch as Kelso manages to escape the trunk.
Commandeer a vehicle and escape the pursuers.
When control returns, sprint to the Buick Coupe parked at the curb, across the street from the Elysian Fields headquarters building. Its owner has gotten out to visit the Fresh Fruit stand. Hop in and drive away.
Now you must lose the thugs. Several carloads of the angry fellows chase you. Note that Elsa’s apartment appears as a yellow flag on your map when the chase begins, but you must lose the pursuers before heading there.
Take a zigzag route, using alleyways and back streets wherever possible. Keep an eye on your mini-map to keep track of your pursuers (marked as the red car icons) and to see them trying to cut you off up ahead. When all red blips disappear from the mini-map, Kelso says, “Where are they?” and you’re in the clear.
Location: Elsa’s Apartment
Get to Elsa’s apartment.
Travel to Elsa’s apartment 
. Your arrival triggers the case-ending movie: Kelso staggers up to Elsa’s apartment for a Marine reunion before passing out.
