Chapter 4 – Alone in the Dark

You’ve made it back to Derceto from an extended time in memories, and dark forces are coming to a head. There might be more to this than a missing uncle…

After returning from the Sunken Temple, you’ll find yourself in the attic, talking to Edward/Emily. When the cutscene ends, you’ll be at the top of the spiral stairs, just outside of the attic. You have a new item in your Investigation inventory, The Dark Man’s Contract. Go through all of the pages to complete this objective.

Next, we’ve got to get into Dr. Gray’s office. This will require opening the safe in the Clerk’s Office, in order to get the key. However, before you do this, there are a lot of optional clues and Lagniappes you can collect: you may want to go to Dr. Gray’s Apartment to get the Do Not Disturb Lagniappe, Lunacy and the Astarte Artists’ Colony clue, Preperations for St. John’s clue, Trust Me clue, and the Keep Our Secrets clue. The following drop downs will lead you to these items.

Go down two flights of the spiral stairs, and you’ll come to the doors to the Grand Parlor (Image 1). Opening them will start a cutscene, and when it ends, you’ll need to turn left, cross the parlor, and go through the doors to the Dining Room (Image 2).

In the dining room, go left and unbolt the door that leads to the hallway, then go through. Turn right and open the door to your left to go into the bathroom (Image 3). In the sink, you will find the Broken Spectacles Lagniappe (Image 4).

After that, go down the hall and through the open door on the left (Image 5) to find the Preperations for St. John’s clue in Lottie’s room, on her desk (Image 6).

Leave Lottie’s room and go up the stairs (Image 7), and head to the door at the end of the hall. It might take a few tries, but you can grab the Do Not Disturb sign lagniappe from the doorhandle of Dr. Grey’s apartment (Image 8).

Go back down the stairs, and go through the door to the Library (Image 1). On the bookcase in the far right corner, you can find the Lunacy and the Astarte Artists’ Colony clue (Image 2).

Turn around and go through the door to the Small Parlor. On the left, grab the Opera Playbill lagniappe from the chair (Image 3), then turn around and go through the doors that lead to the Conservatory (Image 4).

Once in the Conservatory, go down the stairs and take a left, toward a stairwell going down, to find the Keep Our Secrets note (Image 5). Then, continue out to the Kitchen Garden (Image 6).

In the Garden, go up the ladder (Image 7), and then through the door at the end of the Piazza (Image 8). Then, the Clerk’s Office, which leads to Dr. Grey’s, will be on your left. Before heading inside, you will need to take a trip upstairs first (see below).

In order to get into the safe in the Clerk’s Office, you will need to head upstairs in order to find the combination. When you go upstairs, head for the Sitting Room (Image 1). When you get there, a cutscene will play featuring MacCafferty and Grace (Image 2). After it, make sure to grab the key that MacCafferty dropped on the ground (Image 3).

After you’ve picked up the key, you can head into Cassandra Beauregard’s room (the second door on the right) (Image 4). Turn to the left in order to grab the Cassandra’s Last Page note (which contains the combination to the safe in the Clerk’s Office) and the Movie Script Lagniappe (Image 5).

Once you’ve grabbed those, if you want to collect some clues in the form of notes (Trust Me and To Detective Carnby), you should go down the 2nd Floor Hallway (Image 6). Otherwise, you can go downstairs in order to return to the Clerk’s Office, now that you have the combination.

alone in the dark chapter 3 graves 6 1 get notes
Image 6

If you would like to collect the notes in the hallway, you just need to visit Jeremy’s Room for “To Detective Carnby” (Images 1 and 2).

After that, go one room over to Batiste’s Room to collect “Trust Me” (Images 3 and 4)

Once you head back downstairs, head into the Reception room (Image 7). Once there, you can go through the double doors to the left to grab The Flying Dutchman Lagniappe from the reclining chair (Image 8), and then head into the Clerk’s Office through the door you opened earlier with Bastiste’s Keys (Image 9).

Once you’re in the Clerk’s Office, go around the corner to the safe (Image 10). Using notes you’ve picked up already (or if you’ve played before and have a good memory), you can determine it’s combination.

Cassandra Beauregard always seemed to know something…

You can use “Cassandra’s Last Note” that you picked up earlier to find the combination: 9-1-3. Go left, right, left when inputting the numbers.

Once you’ve opened the safe, you will find Dr. Gray’s Office Key, as well as a note, The Empty Room. You can take this key and go back around the corner of the Clerk’s Office to use the key to enter Dr. Gray’s Office (Image 11). Once inside, you can grab the 2 notes (“Jeremy’s Treatment” and “Cassandra’s Things”), the Stairwell Key, and France (Image 12). If you are playing as Edward, you will also be able to pick up the note “MacCafferty’s Pirate Treasure” here.

With France in hand, you can opt to head upstairs to the Globe in the Sitting Room (Image 13). Using France, you can open the Globe, allowing you to grab the Map of Caribbean Lagniappe (Image 14). Edward will pass by this area again anyway, but Emily might not otherwise, so if you are playing as Edward you might choose to do this later, when you pass by the globe again.

Next, you’ll want to find your way to the basement of Derceto, but you should head there in a very specific order in order to acquire a specific Lagniappe and see a specific scene.

Unlock the 1st Floor Hallway door that you got the key for earlier (Image 15). Immediately, you will see the Dark Man at the end of the hallway, beckoning you to enter the Empty Room (image 16). You won’t be doing so yet, but it is worth noting.

Instead of heading straight for the “Empty” Room, you should stop in both of the rooms leading to him.

Edward should take note of the first room on your left, MacCafferty’s room (Image 17), because there is a vent at the end of the room that you will want to open later (Image 18). For both characters, you can grab the Moment of Clarity note.

Emily, meanwhile, should pay attention to the second room on the left, Ruth’s room (Image 19). Once inside as Emily, look on Ruth’s dresser to find the War Photo Lagniappe (Image 20).

Once you’ve entered both of these rooms, it will trigger the event that causes the Grand Parlor to transform into a jazz club. Simply the hallway once again and go to the door to your right, which usually leads to the Grand Parlor (Image 21). While here, make sure to go behind the bar to grab the elusive Jangling Shaker Lagniappe (Image 22).

After that, you can exit the Grand Parlor/Jazz club out of the door at the far side from where you entered (Image 23). Now that you have the Stairwell Key from Dr. Gray’s office, you can use it to open the gate to your left, in order to reach the basement (Image X).

From here, you can head down the stairs and enter the Red Door leading to the Infirmary (Image 25). Immediately, look to your right in order to grab the Scapegoat Lagniappe (Image 26).

Head down the hall, and go through the doorway at the far end of the hall to find the Radiograph #1 key item (Image 27). You’ll have to wait through a brief scary scene before you can pick it up, however. Once it ends and you have the radiograph, leave the room go through the open doorway across the hall to the X-Ray room. There are two clues on the desks ahead (Image 28) — the Radiography Notes for the upcoming puzzle, and the If All Else Fails clue.

Go into the next room, and grab the Electrical Fuse from the table on the right (Image 29) — note the Circuit Box for later — then from the counter below the X-Ray display, grab the Radiograph #2 and the Surgery Room Key (Image 30).

Now go back the way you came to the hall, and use the Surgery Room Key to go through the right-hand door on the opposite wall (Image 31). Inside, you’ll see a device on the floor playing a recording (Image 32) — interact with it to take an Electrical Fuse from it.

That done, you can return to the room with the X-Ray display, and get the Circuit Box working.

You’ve picked up a few items that are required to being this puzzle, and then you’ve simply got to line up the switches…

Move the fuse switches in the following sequence: 1 – 2 – 4. If you mess it up, just press the Reset button.

After you’ve got the Circuit Box turned on, you can interact with the X-Ray Examination display to begin another puzzle.

Once again, you’ve got to add a few items to the puzzle first, and then you need to figure out how to arrange things… there’s a hint in one of the clues you picked up on the counter in the previous room.

Put the indicated Radiograph plates on the display in their correct spots (Image 1). Rotate #1 90 degrees to the left, rotate #2 180 degrees, and rotate #3 about 45 degrees to the left — try to make the plates match Image 2 below.

Completing the puzzle will grant you the key item Jeremy’s Darkness. Now you need to head to the attic — it’s simply, since you won’t be able to go anywhere else from this point. Go back the way you came, through the red door that leads to the spiral stairs (Image 33). Then make your way up the stairs — you’ll have to sometimes squeeze through narrow openings or smash your way through barricades with a melee weapon. When you reach the locked doors, turn around and go across the boat (Image 34) to continue further upwards. At the top of the stairs, you’ll be able to go through a door to the attic.

When you enter the attic, you can go left or right — to the left is a puzzle and some possible loot (Image 35), but first go to the right and around the corner (Image 36). Here, you’ll find the Tessellated Shard lagniappe next to a bust on a small table. If you’ve collected the entire The Hartwood Curse Lagniappe Set, then you will also be able to interact with the noose here, to reveal some secrets about said curse (Image 37). That done, go back the way you came and go check out the puzzle box in Image 35.

The first bit is fairly simple, add a shape, then just move the shapes around until they all fit together nicely. Then take a look where you put together the puzzle — are there any clues here?

First, add Jeremy’s Darkness to the puzzle, then move the statue shapes around until you get it complete (Image 1). Then, you can interact with the statue to start a talisman puzzle — set the dials, outer to inner, at 6, 4, 1 (Image 2). This solution comes from the inside of the puzzle box (Image 3).

After solving the talisman puzzle, you’ll still be in the attic. Behind you is a spot you can drop down (Image 38), revealing that you’re actually in a steamboat. After a brief conversation with the disembodied voice of Jeremy, go through either of the exits to your right or left, and find the loot suitcase at the back of the boat. Then, continue into the steamboat (Image 39).

Make you rway through the vine-covered interior, and you’ll soon come to a doorway on your right that leads back outside. Head through and you’ll immediately come to another doorway — get your weapon ready, as once you get close to the item on the table just ahead an already-dead monster will drop onto the table, and another will scuttle around the corner and attack you (Image 40).

These little enemies — we’ll call them scuttlers — will show up throughout this steamboat section, and seem to take the same amount of bullets as the regular shambling enemies you’ve been fighting. They can leap at you and grab on, in which case you’ll have to mash the dodge button to get them off — if you hate mashing buttons, go into the settings and off Button Mash (Options –> Controls –> Button Mash).

After dealing with the enemy, continue forward past the card tables and go through the door on the right (Image 41).

Just ahead are two sets of stairs (Image 42) that lead both up and down. First, take the stairs that lead down, and go around the corner to the right and through the red double doors. On a crate by the door is the Broken Compass lagniappe (Image 43), and at the far side of the little area are a few loot spawns. Grab it all, then go back up the stairs. Back on the middle deck, continue around the staircases, and head up the stairs to the top deck of the ship.

The left staircase is blocked, so head up the right one, and then turn left and go up the stairs just ahead to reach the area with the bell. There’s a red lantern past the bell, which indicates a spot you can drop down back into the boat (Image X). This drop can be a bit buggy — we had to stand to the side of the drop in order to get the prompt (Image X).

After dropping down, use the Investigate button to find some nearby loot, but quickly take a look in the corner opposite where you dropped, as a scuttler will drop from the ceiling after a bit. Take it out, and go through the nearby doorway (Image 46) to find the Pallid Mask lagniappe on a chair (Image 47).

Grab the mask, then go back into the previous room and unbolt the door on the left, then go through it and turn right to find the stairs again. Head back up to the top deck, back to where the bell is, and this time cross the deck and go down the opposite stairs (Image 48) — before turning right, look left and note the life boat (Image 49), which you’ll return to a bit later.

You’ll come to another small set of stairs — you can go into the bridge to find an enemy and some loot if you want, but the way forward is to the left (Image 50). You’ll come to an open doorway on your right; go inside and loot the place, then leave the way you came in and go right (to continue the way you were originally heading). You’ll come to a door on your right — go inside and loot the place. Grab a fresh melee weapon before unbolting and leaving through the door opposite where you came in (Image 51).

Turn right and head towards the front of the large curved structure (Image 52) — go down the stairs and use your melee weapon to break the damaged section of wood (Image 53). Go through the hole you opened and climb down the two ledges, then squeeze through the narrow gap to the left.

You’ll enter the engine room, where you can find a bit of loot. Next, grab the Empty Gas Can from the right-hand crate, then interact with the small wheel to shut off the steam (Image 54). Go up the stairs and use the Empty Gas Can on the Fuel Tank to fill the gas can (Image 55).

Go back down the stairs and interact with the Power Generator (Image 56), and use the Filled Gas Can on it. This will allow you to pull the Switch, starting the generator. That done, you can squeeze back through the gap you came through (Image 57) and climb back up the ledges to reach the boat deck again.

Note: There are quite a few enemies in this next section — we’ll walk you through where they are, but you can also just try and sprint/dodge your way to the life boat mentioned earlier (Image 49).

Head up the stairs and use the molotov to your left to help deal with the scuttler up ahead (Image 58), then go through the doorway on your left, kill the scuttler, then continue forward around the outside of the ship’s cabin. Around the corner is another scuttler, and a second waits in the room with the open doorway on the left. Beyond them, down the stairs is another two enemies, and beyond them the life boat (Image 59).

Walk out onto the life boat and press the button to lower the boat (Image 60) — ignore the enemies that appear as you descend, as they won’t attack you. When the boat stops, go through the doorway in the side of the boat, then climb down the ledge, collect any nearby loot, and cross the room to climb the ladder on the other side (Image 61).

Turn left, and deal with the sitting enemy before they get up (Image 62) — a second enemy will come out of the left-hand doorway just ahead. Deal with them both (there’s a molotov to your left if you need it) and then continue forward into the engine room. Circle the room to clear the loot, then interact with the engine (Image 63) to complete your current objective.

Now you will need to return to the 1st Floor Hall, just across the hall from Reception, and go through. Since you visited the 1st Floor Hall earlier, you should have already gone through the first two rooms in the Hall, finding and noting different things based on your character.

Now, the routing will change a bit depending on your character, but you can start by going to the Empty Room, the last door the left at the end of the Hallway (Image 64). When here, make sure to grab the Ashes of Indigo Lagniappe by the window, sitting on a piece of canvased furniture (Image 65).

Jump to Edward

Jump to Emily

Edward

In the Empty Room, the wallpaper will be peeling off the wall. Tearing it open will reveal a series of cryptic messages, while you will need to use to somehow figure out what’s going on (Image 66). Somehow, you’ll also need to open the safe in this room (Image 67).

The writing on the wall seems very personal to you. Maybe you can find something in your own belongings?

You will notice that, amidst the messages, there is one that seems to indicate a number: “#196XXX-LA”. The XXX indicates what the safe combo will be, but in order to determine what that actually is, you should open your inventory. The very first item is Edward’s Private Investigator liscense, titled “Edward Carnby, P.I.” It’s number is “#196694-LA.”

By filling in the gaps, you can determine that the safe combo is 6 – 9 – 4 (left, right, left). This will give you the PIcayune coin.

Using the item you retrieve from the safe, you should take it back to MacCafferty’s room at the beginning of the 1st Floor Hallway (Image 68). Go to the back corner of the room, and use the Picayune coin to unscrew the vent cover (Image 69). This will give you “The Missing Drawing”, but all will not be as it seems after this…

Once you reenter the hall, you will see that Derceto has changed once again. The Stair Hall is now reminiscent of a bayou (Image 70). You will need to traverse this new environment and head up the stairs, but watch out for the monster on the lower floor (Image 71), as well as the bats that will continuously swarm you after you go up the stairs and to the altered Gallery (Image 72).

Once you are up top, you will need to break the boards blocking your way to the Sitting Room while being swarmed by bats (Image 73). Thankfully, there are plenty of melee weapons around. Once you’ve broken the boards, you’ll be able to enter the safety of the sitting room, and then you should head into Grace’s Room (Image x) directly to your right in order to complete the next puzzle (Image x).

The pictures on the floor in this room must go in some kind of order. So how can you determine where each picture should go around the rot?

You can use the tendrils of dark rot in order to properly line up the drawings. The tendrils are pretty exact matches, and you can tell on most images whether they belong on the corners or the side of the rot. The pictures should end up being arranged as follows, which will cause the Talisman to automatically complete itself to bring you to the next area.

You will soon find yourself back in Edward’s office in New Orleans, a memory of your his making. But what does he need to remember? Let’s find out. To start, you’ll need to grab the Desk Key from the table next to the couch, and then you can grab the papers from the desk and use the Key to take two papers from within the desk drawer (Image 76). While you do so, interact with Edward’s spectre, as you will have to wait for the dialogue from that to finish before completing the puzzle to piece together the clues (Image 77.

You’ll need to figure out what case Edward was working on. Maybe piecing together your clues on the corkboard will help.

After Edward is done talking to his spectre, go to the corkboard behind the desk. Place all 3 clues (one from on top of the desk, 2 from with), and then flip over the leftmost and middle clues. This will complete the puzzle, and red threads will connect and flow from the board.

alone in the dark chapter 4 graves 28 1 corkboard

Once you’ve completed the clue, a red thread will weave out from the corkboard, leading you through the streets of the French District in New Orleans. Since the pathway is fairly straightforward, you probably don’t need to follow the thread.

Instead, leave the office, go down the stairs, and go out the door and onto the streets. Go to your right, then take a left when you reach the street (Image 78). You’ll come across an alley to your right adjacent to an art dealer, which you should go into (Image 79). If you need ammo, you can take your time to root through trash cans along the way.

You’ll come across your spectre again, bashing in the door leading into the art dealer, who you’ll need to interact with (Image 80). Then, you can go inside and up the stairs to encounter one more spectre standing in front of the painting that you came here for (Image 81).

Once you’re done monologuing to yourself to try to remember what happened next, the wall to the right of the painting will burst open, revealing a monster ambushing you (Image 82). Dispatch the monster, then go through the hole it made and out onto the balcony of the room (Image 83) to take a ladder back down to street level (Image 84).

Once you’ve descended, you will be ambushed by a lot of enemies in the flooded street. Dispatch or run past them until you reach a fork in the road, and the turn right (Image 85). Keep going forward until you reach a tram car (Image 86), which you can enter and close the doors of in order to lock any remaining pursuers out (Image 87).

Go through the tram car and out the other side, and then enter the park to your right (Image 88). From here, go forward toward the statue until you see a crashed car to your right, containing another spectre you can interact with (Image 89).

While you are talking about your memory, 2 enemies will attempt to ambush you after breaking open the gate at the opposite side of the park (Image 90). If you are quick enough, you can go through the gate when they do in order to progress. Otherwise, you will need to wait for a third enemy to come along to completely break the gate down before moving into the Hotel St. George (Image 91).

From here, go into the St. George Motel and look to your right to find the Curious Napkin Lagniappe (Image 92), and then you can go behind the front desk to speak to your spectre more and grab some loot (Image 93).

After you grab that, go up the stairs twice until you reach the third floor (Image 94). Once there, enter the first door on the floor (Image 95) to reach the next point of your memory. Here, you will need to piece together clues in order to determine where Edward eventually tracked his mark down to.

You’ll need to piece together the various clues in this room in order to determine where to go next. First, gather everything up, then put it on the map to see what you can learn.