[ACT II] (major spoilers) Kalkstein & Ramsmeat in Anatomy of a Crime

[Eoghain]

[ACT II] (major spoilers) Kalkstein & Ramsmeat in Anatomy of a Crime

Okay... so I know there're a whole bunch of threads on this subject already, but all of them are different experiences; this chapter seems relatively complicated.Note, first: I was only able to find some info on how to "more properly" do the autopsy later on, by reading the manual out of frustration, and found out that there was a book on insects I should've picked up, which I hadn't done . . . maybe if I had done so then Geralt wouldn't be so hell-bent on proving our friend Kalkstein guilty, though he knows he's not.I don't know.Geralt is allowed to tell the criminal Ramsmeat that someone is trying to implicate him, but for some perverse reason he's not allowed to tell his friend Kalkstein that he thinks the Salamandra have been trying to frame him, and though we've seen Geralt move toward this suspicion, he can only say to Kalkstein "I think you're in league with Salamandra".Goddamn it... Geralt... no you don't!...And then he goes on to make ludicrous accusations he knows aren't accurate, then finally write in his journal "Kalkstein is guilty."I'm obviously missing something here. I've tried asking everyone I can find... no more info. No more dialog options with Raymond. I finally agreed to "kill" Ramsmeat, but Raymond won' t be satisfied until I . . . well, not kill him any longer but "squeeze information out of him", apparently he changed his mind between dialog options . . . and after going and coming back, there's no option, as was said in other threads, to lie to Raymond and say I killed him even though I didn't. Even tried going back to Ramsmeat to see if there were new dialog options, there weren't . . . though at least he didn't tell me to "go plow my mama", this time. I suppose that's an improvement, relationship-wise.Wish I could talk to Kalkstein about it, but Geralt only ends up accusing him of murder and conspiracy.So... is there anything at all I can do at this point, or do I really have to go back and do the autopsy all over again?I'm also bothered by Vincent Meis' growing hatred for Geralt (and... why doesn't the guy just arrest Geralt, if he doesn't like him and Geralt is causing so much trouble? It's not as if anyone 'important' would object... except Siegfried, I suppose, although I don't believe anything would be different had I allowed Geralt to dis Siegfried in the beginning) . . . and wonder therefore if I'll ever get into the cemetary . . . but I suppose I'll find out . . . or not.EDIT:I just tried getting him to accept the "kill Ramsmeat" quest and then go to Ramsmeat... but the only dialog option available is "You're with Azar", and so on and so forth until Ramsmeat and his men attack. No option to tell him the truth.So . . . how in the world do I get this mysterious option to lie to to Raymond?

 

[Serechiel]

Unfortunately, you will have to run autopsy again. Before doing it, buy and read book Zerrikanian Insects and Other Vermin or talk to Gardener (he'll tell you a story for a piece of food).

 

[Eoghain]

Hmm... unfortunately, though, I've tried both, and neither helped. The Zerrik insects book added nothing to my notes, and nothing to the autopsy afterward . . . while the gardener, after I gave him some food, had nothing more to add. Actually, I do remember giving talking to the gardener much earlier and giving him food... .It's looking like I'm going to have to start the whole chapter over again . . . well, at any rate, from the point Geralt emerges from the sewers. ...I'd feel better about that if I had a really clear idea of how to proceed.I guess I'll just go with what I know. I'll go through it faster this time, since now I'm starting to become much better oriented to the streets, and also I know essentially what needs to be done . . . only risk is: at the same time, I'm likely to forget certain things that I'd run into before either through exploration or just out of curiosity or just by chance.Yeah, I think I'll start over again. This time I'll see if I can get access to the cemetery early on. It seems I might've done some things which made it harder for me, later on, to get into the cemetery. (Actually, at this point it's impossible to get into the cemetery; only by 'proving' Vincent innocent and somehow making nice with him, I should think, could I hope to get into the cemetery.EDIT:I wonder if getting the echinops roots will get the Gardener to open up? After my first trip to the swamp: when I returned I looked at my contracts again and found I was just 1 echinops root short of completing his contract. (Admittedly he only wanted three, but between those plants and all those drowners and drowned dead and Bloedzuigers, attacking in seemingly inexhaustible platoons (and the only common attack style for dealing with all of these being the Group Style; thankfully I can at least do that . . . otherwise I'd have to switch between Strong Style, Fast Style, Aard and Igni (never liked Igni much but it's useful against those annoying plants)) . . . well, anyway: after maybe 15, 20 minutes of these creatures I'd had enough.Found out a little later, in another trip to the Swamp, why all those echinopsae were appearing. Well... easily taken care of. He can wait.Didn't end up 'using' that trip though -- I guess I didn't feel like it -- so... no completed contract for the Gardener.So: my plan for my second run through Act 2 is to hold the Swamp until the end, after I finish everything I need to finish in the Temple DIstrict. Even if fulfilling the Gardener's contract does make him open up and say something valuable which affects my autopsy conclusions: I might not actually need his input, if I do things 'more properly' this time through.The Swamp really is kind of a pain . . . yes, best to keep it all til later. Keep it for last, and do the whole place all at once, if possible.

 

[e-ahmet.823]

You can talk about autopsies with Vincent though I think you must prove him innocent first but I'm not sure. To prove him innocent go, meet him at the warehouse in the slums at midnight. There should be a side quest about it. It's triggered when talking to Vincent I think.Don't forget the book about insects.

 

[Eoghain]

You can talk about autopsies with Vincent though I think you must prove him innocent first but I'm not sure. To prove him innocent go, meet him at the warehouse in the slums at midnight. There should be a side quest about it. It's triggered when talking to Vincent I think.Don't forget the book about insects.

Yeah, I did the warehouse long ago, he didn't seem annoyed like I thought he'd be but Geralt, instead, was annoyed at being "used". That was long ago and he's long since forgotten it and now only sees Geralt as a huge nuisance.When discussing autopsies with Vincent: he only describes how useless autopsies are.One of the things I don't understand in this game: When you first mention, to Shani, in the hospital, that you want her to help you with an autopsy, she quickly hushes you and whispers something like: "Are you crazy? That's illegal!"Understandable that she helps out of course, but what I don't understand is why I can talk freely to Vincent Meis, of all people, about autopsies, if autopsies are illegal in Vizima.And like I said: for some reason, the insect book didn't make a difference. It was as if I'd already read the book, except that I hadn't.EDIT:Oh, yeah, and: no bestiary or glossary entries about the bugs.

 

[e-ahmet.823]

The important thing in autopsy don't make any conclusions until Shani examines the victim's head.

 

[Serechiel]

EDIT:Oh, yeah, and: no bestiary or glossary entries about the bugs.

The book gives location entry about Zerrikania, not about bugs

 

[Corylea.723]

And like I said: for some reason, the insect book didn't make a difference. It was as if I'd already read the book, except that I hadn't.

Did you talk to the Gardener? The guy who tends the plants in the garden next to St. Lebioda's used to be a mercenary, and if you ask him about his mercenary days, one of the things he will tell you is about those Zerricanian flies.

 

[Eoghain]

And like I said: for some reason, the insect book didn't make a difference. It was as if I'd already read the book, except that I hadn't.

Did you talk to the Gardener? The guy who tends the plants in the garden next to St. Lebioda's used to be a mercenary, and if you ask him about his mercenary days, one of the things he will tell you is about those Zerricanian flies.

That might have been why the Zerricania entry was in my journal to begin with (because the first thing I did, of course, when I first saw the Gardener, was talk to him about his 'mercenary days') . . . and this, I'm sure, is why reading the book doesn't add any glossary entries. I hadn't read the book -- since the "you've already read this book" text isn't there -- but I already had the info, anyhow.Anyway: Problem solved. After getting the info necessary to clear Thaler: he made it possible for me to enter the cemetery. Now I've found what I needed to go there to find.I'm glad I explored a little more before restarting Act 2. I was just about to . . . but now, everything is solved, and the game tells me I can/should now lie to 'Raymond'.Thanks, all.