Conversation · Dick Mullen and the Mistaken Identity

It sounds like you're in for a long, hard road, detective...

I... don't know.

Because I don't want to let Kim down.

Just make sure you don't lose him. You'll not find another like him...

It's true in more ways than you know.

You haven't been treating the lieutenant much like a friend, though, have you?

You haven't. But it's not too late. You share a bond that's thicker than blood.

Okay, maybe not. There are parts worth saving.

Like what?

The sweet taste of a good cigarette, which I still need to find.

There are worse things in the world than the pursuit of chemical pleasures. But there are better things, too...

What's a book know about real pleasure? What's better than feeling your mesolimbic pathway flood your mind-crevices with pure dopamine?

Why are you even still reading this garbage? You've got smokes to find!

Why are you even still reading this garbage? Rip some sweet cigs instead!

The smooth taste of some ultra-high-proof booze.

There are worse things in the world than the pursuit of chemical pleasures. But there are better things, too...

What's a book know about real pleasure? What's better than feeling your mesolimbic pathway flood your mind-crevices with pure dopamine?

Why are you even still reading this garbage? Heed the bottle's call.

The pleasure of contemplating art!

You don't know how you know, but you can feel this book laughing at you.

Art? You think contemplating art is going to save you?

Hey, fuck you book! (Give the book the finger.)

You know you look like a mad man, right? Giving an inanimate object the finger like that.

"What's the matter, detective?"

"This book is making fun of my sincerest beliefs."

"Then perhaps you should stop reading it."

But you can't stop, can you? You've got to find out what happens.

Yeah, I do. I'm the god damn art cop, after all.

Whatever you say, art cop. The book has stopped laughing, but you can feel it grinning smugly at you.

Friends and family.

Do you even have those?

I might. I just need to find them.

Yes, yes. They're out there waiting for you, just over the next rise, up on Marvel Hill!

Did you lose them? Or did they leave you? Do you even know the difference?

But then what does this book know? It's just a poorly made piece of pulp garbage, made to be consumed and discarded.

I've got Kim.

Just make sure you don't lose him. You'll not find another like him...

It's true in more ways than you know.

You haven't been treating the lieutenant much like a friend, though, have you?

You haven't. But it's not too late. You share a bond that's thicker than blood.

I did, but I lost them.

The taste of a good cigarette.

Drugs. You know it's all about the drugs.

There are worse things in the world than the pursuit of chemical pleasures. But there are better things, too...

What's a book know about real pleasure? What's better than feeling your mesolimbic pathway flood your mind-crevices with pure dopamine?

Why are you even still reading this garbage? Baby, get some of that sweet speed or spooky pyrholidon... it's the good stuff.

Good, evil, it makes no difference. These are the end times we're living in.

Unfathomably evil. Death is infinitely preferable to this torment.

Why does everyone close to Dick Mullen wind up dead?

It's a dangerous line of work, but somebody has to do it. That's why Dick Mullen never lets anyone get too close...

What's the matter? Afraid you've been hacking up your friends' bodies in the night?

You are the murderer, after all...

Have you gone over everyone? Is anybody missing?

I've figured it out.

I don't really like where this is going. (Close the book.)

Can't trust a dame. (Shake your head.)

Who can you trust in this wicked, messed-up world?

No one. You gotta go with your gut.

That's exactly what Dick Mullen says in "Dauntless Dick and the Fatal Appointment."

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.