Conversation 505: INVENTORY / MULLEN IDENTITY

"Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity". Dick Mullen is mistaken for someone (an identity).

How to use this page:

This is a listing of every "entry" in a given game conversation as scraped from the game files. Entries often contain written dialogue, as well as conditional logic governing their appearance to the player. They also link to other entries, sometimes automatically and sometimes through player action. This page is best used to search for a specific word or phrase, as following the links in this format can be difficult. For an experience that better accommodates the branching structure of these conversations, see the corresponding interactive page.

Column definitions:
  • ID: a numerical index for the entry within this conversation.
  • Character: the character speaking or acting.
  • Dialogue: prose containing spoken dialogue and other description.
  • Conditions: logical checks governing this entry appearing or occurring.
  • Links: entries that might follow this one, depending on conditions and player choice. Most links are internal to this conversation, external links to other conversations are marked with the format (conversation ID, entry ID).
ID Character Dialogue Conditions Links
0 None
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1 None
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2 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity In your hand, you hold four-fifths of "Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity."
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3 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity In your hand, you hold "Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity." The brittle paperback feels fragile to the touch.
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4 None
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5 None Variable["inventory.mullen_ripped"]
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6 None (Variable["inventory.mullen_ripped"]) == false
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7 None
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8 You Examine the cover.
  • 10
9 You Start reading.
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10 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity The cover features a pastiche of different scenes. In the foreground, a man in a dark overcoat clutches a pistol to his chest. Rising up behind him are two silhouettes wrapped in a passionate embrace.
  • 11
11 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity The tagline reads: "Detective Dick Mullen must prove his innocence after an old friend is murdered -- by someone who looks just like Dick Mullen!" That seems to sum up the premise nicely.
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12 Esprit de Corps Needless to say, it violates nearly every RCM regulation for a detective to investigate a murder in which he is a suspect.
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13 None
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14 None IsKimHere()
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15 None (IsKimHere()) == false
  • 23
16 Kim Kitsuragi "Are you really reading that, detective?"
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  • 18
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17 You "I really need to know who this Dick Mullen guy is."
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18 You "I'm looking for advice on being a real detective."
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19 You "I'm just skimming it."
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20 Kim Kitsuragi "Well, you won't find it in *there*. Those books are much more about ravishing dames and gun play than real policework."
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21 Kim Kitsuragi "Good luck finding it. He's not much of a character, I think you'll find. Just a stand-in for the reader."
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22 Conceptualization The point is for the reader to feel like *they're* solving the crime along with Dick Mullen. A crude narrative convention, but no less effective for it.
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23 None
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24 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity The story opens with a knock at the door. Detective Dick Mullen is greeted by an old friend, Charlie Spillane, who's come to Mullen to ask a favour on this dark and cold night...
  • 25
25 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity Spillane needs Mullen to drive him in from Vesper to a small town along the Insulindian coast. Despite his friend's apparent agitation, Mullen does as he's asked, then returns home where he passes out drunk, as he does most nights...
  • 26
26 Esprit de Corps An extremely unprofessional and *hurtful* stereotype that's offensive to all upstanding officers of the law.
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27 You Look, I can't judge.
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28 You Keep reading.
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29 You I don't need to read this. I'm already living it. (Close the book.)
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30 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity Two days later, Mullen is arrested by the Vesper police and charged with the murder of Charlie Spillane. At his interrogation, Mullen learns that Charlie Spillane was shot in a bar in the very town Mullen dropped him off in, by a man matching *Mullen's* description...
  • 32
31 None
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32 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity Desperate to clear his name, Mullen manages to convince the Vesper police to release him for *three days* so that Mullen may solve his friend's murder and prove his innocence.
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33 You "The cops release their prime murder suspect so he can find 'the real killer'? Are you shitting me?" IsKimHere()
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34 You No way Mullen did it. (Keep reading.)
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35 Esprit de Corps They're not shitting you, detective. This is what the writers think passes for police procedure.
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36 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity Of *course* Mullen didn't do it. That's the whole premise of the book! Anyway, Mullen returns to the seaside bar where Spillane was murdered, and meets a *beautiful*, *mysterious* woman named Deanna Deneuve.
  • 37
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37 You Nice, a dame.
  • 40
38 You Now it's getting interesting. (Keep reading.)
  • 46
39 You I feel like I've read this before. (Close the book.)
  • 47
40 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity And not just any dame -- she's truly one-in-a-million, a knock-out whose *mind* is as dangerous as her *curves*. But she's got a *secret*.
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41 You Man, who doesn't?
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42 You Sounds like my kind of woman.
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43 Inland Empire Are you s-s-sure about that? Something about her gives you a *bad* feeling. What kind of *secret* is she hiding?
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44 Volition Your secrets are unknown even unto you, so does that make you a rich man or a beggar?
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45 Composure You couldn't handle a woman like that. Look at yourself. You couldn't even handle your --
  • 135
46 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity Deneuve reveals that she was Spillane's lover, and that he was mixed up with a local amphetamine smuggling operation. As soon as Mullen begins pulling at strings, the whole conspiracy begins to unravel...
  • 48
47 None
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48 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity Not only is the local police captain in on the amphetamine ring, so is the son of a powerful politician, and a strung-out art collector named Torvald. Each of whom has his own reasons for wanting Spillane dead...
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49 You Tell me about the corrupt police captain.
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50 You I want to hear about the politician's son.
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51 You What was that about an art collector?
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52 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity He would certainly have the motive and the means, but the captain walks with a noticeable *limp* from an old war injury. Is it possible he was able to conceal it long enough to commit the murder?
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53 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity Outwardly, the old police captain is a real law-and-order crypto-fascist, a barrel-chested man who's beaten his share of suspects to pulp. But he's also dirty, and increasingly paranoid that someone's going to expose his role in the drug ring...
  • 52
54 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity A typical privileged twat. In all likelihood, he's just in over his head. He does bear a personal grudge against Spillane though, a former prosecutor who nearly brought down his father's administration...
  • 55
55 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity The kid doesn't exactly have Dick Mullen's manly build, but he is the correct height, and while interrogating him at his home, Mullen *did* notice a certain overcoat that looks suspiciously like his own...
  • 59
56 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity That said, Torvald and Spillane have a long history, and while interrogating him, Mullen discovers that Torvald was once *involved* with Deanna Deneuve. Could it be that this is all over a sordid *love triangle*?
  • 59
57 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity Torvald the Art Collector is a strung-out mess. Frankly, it's hard to imagine him holding a pistol steady enough to actually hit someone, let alone plug them three times in the chest the way old Spillane got did...
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58 None
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
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59 None
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60 You Okay, let's get on with the story.
  • 61
61 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity One evening, Deanna Deneuve comes to Mullen's hostel room in tears. The two of them drink half a bottle of vodka, and soon they're seeking comfort in each other's arms...
  • 66
62 You How does Mullen expect to solve the murder if he's sleeping with witnesses! Variable["inventory.mullen_esprit_testimony"] == true
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63 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity As the two lovers share a post-coital cigarette, Deanna Deneuve turns to Mullen and says, "By the way, Dick, there was something else I meant to tell you..."
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64 Esprit de Corps Well, *that* testimony won't be admissible any longer.
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65 You Nice. Get it, Mullen.
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66 Electrochemistry Yes, comfort and pleasure. The warmth of another human's touch, the burning taste of liquor on her full, sweet lips...
  • 64
67 Authority That's just Dick Mullen's *modus operandi*. He might bend the rules, but he closes cases no one else can.
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68 Inland Empire "I love you"?
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69 Half Light The name of the true killer?
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70 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity Whatever it is, Mullen never hears the words -- A blow to the base of his skull knocks him out cold instantly.
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71 Hand/Eye Coordination "Always aim for the centre of mass"?
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72 You Fuck.
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73 You Can't trust a dame. (Shake your head.)
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74 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity When Mullen comes to, Deneuve is dead on the hostel bed next to him. To make matters worse, his clothes are covered with her blood!
  • 75
75 You Double fuck!
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76 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity Mullen trashes his blood-stained clothes and flees the hostel, knowing it's only a matter of hours before the cops discover Deneuve's body, if they haven't been tipped off already...
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77 Esprit de Corps Fleeing a crime scene, destroying evidence... Even if Detective Mullen *didn't* commit the murder, he should be facing *years* behind bars.
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78 Authority Dick Mullen won't be sent to the clink for the sake of some *legal niceties*!
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79 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity So who did it, detective? Who killed Charlie Spillane and Deanna Deneuve?
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80 You The dirty police captain?
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81 You The junkie art collector?
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82 You The politician's twat son?
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83 You Uh... Dick Mullen?
  • 159
84 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity Dozens of pages scatter across the ground. The last fifth or so of the book seems to have been lost. It's possible that you could gather and reassemble the pages, but it would take way too long.
  • 85
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85 You "Stupid old horse glue."
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86 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity Who can you trust in this wicked, messed-up world?
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87 None
  • 88
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88 None IsKimHere()
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89 None (IsKimHere()) == false
  • 264
90 You Your partner. (Look at Kim.)
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91 Kim Kitsuragi The lieutenant gives you a quizzical expression in return. You go back to the story...
  • 74
92 You No one. Just your own two eyes.
  • 100
93 Perception (Sight) Unfortunately, *your* eyes might not be up to the task. Speaking of... should you maybe consider getting corrective lenses? Your nose is like two centimetres from the page.
  • 95
94 You No way. I'm no binoclard.
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95 None
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96 None Variable["inventory.mullen_perc_glasses"]
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97 None (Variable["inventory.mullen_perc_glasses"]) == false
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98 Perception (Sight) Whatever you say, Detective Hyperopia. Why don't you get back to the story?
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99 None
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100 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity That's exactly what Dick Mullen says in "The Dame Who Did It."
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101 You No one. You gotta go with your gut.
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102 Endurance Speaking of, *your* gut's seen better days. It's a cesspool of burbling acids and noxious fumes, the kind of thing the government might declare a Zone of Irredeemable Catastrophe.
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103 None
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104 None Variable["inventory.mullen_endurance_gut"]
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105 None (Variable["inventory.mullen_endurance_gut"]) == false
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106 You Why is my gut in such bad shape?
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107 Endurance Could it be an underlying condition aggravated by years of greasy meals scarfed down between shifts? Or the litres upon litres of hard liquor guzzled on an empty stomach?
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108 Endurance No point in worrying about it just now. Why don't you get back to the story?
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109 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity That's exactly what Dick Mullen says in "Dauntless Dick and the Fatal Appointment."
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110 You [Put the book away.]
111 Kim Kitsuragi "What's the matter, detective?" The lieutenant turns to you with a start.
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112 You "I don't know who's writing this shit, but I get the feeling they aren't experts on homicide investigations."
  • 113
113 Kim Kitsuragi The lieutenant shrugs, resigned to the idea that his profession will rarely, if ever, be accurately represented in art and literature.
  • 35
114 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity The heat is on! If Dick Mullen can't solve both murders before the cops catch up to him, he's going away for life...
  • 178
115 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity You begin furiously flipping through pages. Even as you know these books follow a series of well-worn tropes, you find yourself completely engrossed. You're turning pages so fast you don't even notice the ancient spine coming unglued...
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116 You "Gah! Now I'll never know!"
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117 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity Can you solve the case before the cops close in?
  • 118
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118 You Wait -- I've got some questions first.
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119 You I've figured it out.
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120 Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity What is it, detective?
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121 You Why does everyone close to Dick Mullen wind up dead?
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122 You Why did Dick Mullen become a detective in the first place?
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123 You Why bother solving crimes when the world is so evil?
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124 You I don't have any more questions. I've figured it all out.
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125 Electrochemistry When was the last time *you* ravished a dame, detective? Besides your crusty old sock, that is.
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126 Kim Kitsuragi "That's probably for the best. Those books aren't exactly famed for their tight plotting."
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127 None
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128 Drama It's much more about the dark and deadly atmossssphere.
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129 None
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130 None Variable["inventory.mullen_esprit_stereotype"]
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131 None (Variable["inventory.mullen_esprit_stereotype"]) == false
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