Buyer Beware (2024)

	Spoiler Warning
	Plot details follow, read at your own risk.

Buyer Beware (also referred to unofficially as "The Jewelry Store Murder") is the last Patrol case in L.A. Noire. This is the last case Cole Phelps takes on as an LAPD Patrolman, before he is promoted to the Traffic Desk as a Detective.

Description[]

While on foot patrol, Officer Cole Phelps hears multiple gunshots and runs toward the sound. He shows up to the scene of a shooting where he discovers businessman Everett Gage dead on the sidewalk in front of his own store, Nunn Bush Shoes, and learns the identity of his killer, jeweler Edgar Kalou, from saleswoman Clovis Galletta, who works at Gage’s store. He also finds five .32 ACP shell casings and a .32 ACP FN Browning 1922 pistol discarded in a bin near Gage's body. Phelps and his partner, officer Ralph Dunn go to Hartfield's Jewelry Store to apprehend Kalou after confirming that he is the owner of the Browning pistol. Upon entering, they are spotted by Kalou, who tries to make a run for it. Phelps chases him through the back alleys, eventually either catching him by firing a warning shot into the air, tackling him, or pursuing Kalou until he gets cut off by several cars crashing into each other as he dashes across the road.

Persons of Interest[]

• Everett Gage - Owner of Nunn Bush Shoes and the murder victim.
• Clovis Galletta - Sales clerk at Nunn Bush Shoes; only eyewitness to murder of Everett Gage.
• Edgar Kalou - Owner of Hartfield's Jewelry Store and primary suspect in Gage's murder.

Objectives[]

• Search Crime Scene
• Interview Incident Eyewitness
• Investigate Eagleson's Gun Store
• Investigate Hartfield's Jewelry Store
• Question Edgar Kalou
• Apprehend Edgar Kalou
• Obtain a Confession

Investigation[]

There are a few notable pieces of evidence to be found at the crime scene.

After collecting the evidence out front, head inside and speak with Galletta, triggering an interrogation.

Note: You can still complete the mission without interrogating Galetta since the gunsmith at Eagleson's will confirm that Kalou is the owner of the Browning pistol.

Question	Response	Response (Remaster)	Evidence	Clue/Location/P.O.I/Lead/Objective
Eyewitness Account	Lie	Accuse	Layaway Voucher	Jewelry Store Edgar Kalou
Possible Murder Suspect	Doubt	Bad Cop		Suspect Positively Identified Possible Religious Motive Hartfield's Jewelry Store
Details of Shooting	Truth	Good Cop		5 Shots Heard

Eagleson's Gun Store[]

Leave the scene and head to Eagleson's Gun Store to further your investigation. After entering the store, the owner will confirm that he recently cleaned and serviced an FN Browning model 1922 and sold some .32 ammunition to Edgar Kalou during his lunch break. He will also confirm that Kalou is currently working behind the counter at Hartfield's Jewelry Store.

Novels[]

While at the gun store, you may wish to add a novel to your collection. The Girl is located downstairs on one of the counters.

Locating a Suspect[]

Upon arriving at Hartfield's Jewelry Store, the man behind the counter will deny that he is Kalou, saying that his boss is sleeping in the back before taking the opportunity to flee outside, barreling through a nearby diner, and making his way across a busy public park. The player can either fire a warning shot to stop him dead in his tracks, tackle him, or pursue Kalou until he gives up.

In the VR version, Kalou will attack Phelps instead of running and you will have to defeat him in a fistfight.

Interrogating a Suspect[]

Back at the police station, Phelps will be assigned by Capt. Donnelly to conduct the interrogation of Kalou. Start by accusing him of lying when he says he never saw Gage that morning, and back it up with Clovis Galletta's eyewitness account. Then doubt him when he denies wanting to kill Gage for personal reasons, and Kalou will confess. If you fail the interrogation, Donnelly will be very disappointed and yells at Cole to get back in there and try again. The scene will then restart.

Question	Response	Response (Remaster)	Evidence	Clue/Location/P.O.I/Lead/Objective
Argument with Gage	Lie	Accuse	Suspect Positively Identified
Possible Religious Motive	Doubt	Bad Cop
Shooting Incident	Lie	Accuse	Murder Weapon Serviced	Eagleson's Gun Store

Bugs[]

• Sometimes, if you put away your notebook during the interrogation and come back and try to interview Kalou again, the game will think you're talking to him back at the jewelry store, which is out of range enough for you to fail the case due to "dereliction of duty."
• There's a chance that Cole will not respond when Donnelly speaks to him prior to the interrogation; Cole is silent, and there is no animation of him talking either. Donnelly will continue as if Cole had responded and the cutscene will end
• Rarely, it is possible for all questions to be taken by the game as "wrong" even though they were chosen correctly.

Note: If you have found all evidence and answered all questions correctly so far, you will only ask Kalou the first two interview questions since you have Galleta's witness statement to prove he was there when Gage was shot. Otherwise, you will have to use the gun store owner's statement to prove that Kalou owned the murder weapon and had it serviced the same day Gage was killed.

Case Outcome[]

Kalou confesses that he murdered Gage in anger, having hated him for years on account of his vicious antisemitism and because Gage had humiliated him in front of Galleta when she visited Hartfield's. Phelps wishes him luck, noting that any competent lawyer could probably use his confession to convince the jury that he is guilty only of murder in the second degree, which carries a lighter punishment than murder in the first degree.

Note: During the interrogation, Phelps threatens Kalou with the gas chamber if he doesn't cooperate, but states that if a deal can be made, he would likely be sentenced to life in prison instead.

Case Briefing[]

"On foot patrol on Grand Avenue, approximately 2pm, I heard shots fired nearby and a woman's scream / Incident appears to be an ambulance shooting outside Nunn Bush Shoes on West Seventh Street. It's too late for the victim, but uniformed backup is enroute to contain the scene and any potential witnesses."

Trivia[]

• If the player decides to tackle Kalou instead of firing a warning shot, the game will skip to a brief cutscene of Phelps handcuffing Kalou instead of a normal tackle.
• Even though Kalou was arrested near Central Police Station, he is processed and interrogated at Wilshire Station.
• The jewelry store along with its location and Edgar Kalou as well as the book store next door are direct references to a description in The Big Sleep (1939) by Raymond Chandler. "A. G. Geiger's place was a store frontage on the north side of the boulevard near Las Palmas. The entrance door was set far back in the middle and there was a copper trim on the windows, which were backed with Chinese screens, so I couldn't see into the store. There was a lot of oriental junk in the windows. I didn't know whether it was any good, not being a collector of antiques, except unpaid bills. The entrance door was plate glass, but I couldn't see much through that either, because the store was very dim. A building entrance adjoined it on one side and on the other was a glittering credit jewelry establishment. The jeweler stood in his entrance, teetering on his heels and looking bored, a tall handsome white-haired Jew in lean dark clothes, with about nine carats of diamond on his right hand."

Gallery[]

Video Walkthroughs[]