"Integrity. Honesty. Loyalty." — James Amber's campaign slogan
James Amber's Office is the office of the district attorney James Amber. It is an explorable location in Episode 3 of Before the Storm.
See here for the SMS messages.
Overview[]
The interior of the office is similar to that of the other rooms in the house; it has a rustic touch, a couple of windows, a desk with drawers and a computer on it, bookcases and a lot of evidence files. There is a snow dome and a "Best Dad" statue among them. Several diplomas or certificates are displayed on the walls. To the right of the door, a map with crime suspects and investigation files is visible. The door and the windows are equipped with an alarm.
Episode Three - "Hell Is Empty"[]
Chloe Price is sent to the office by Rachel Amber to obtain information about Sera Gearhardt. She enters the office by disarming the alarm with the security code (0722) Rachel told her. The SMS notification sound is heard from inside of a locked drawer. Chloe eventually finds the key inside the "Best Dad" statue and uncovers James' phone and Sera's letters to James, as well as the checks that were sent to Sera and returned back later. Those revealed that James has been secretly talking to Damon Merrick and that Sera is currently held hostage by Damon. Chloe sends a few messages to Damon from the phone, and Damon demands that the evidence against him be destroyed. Chloe obliges, and Damon then asks James to reveal the snitch. Chloe has the option to accuse either the t-shirt vendor, the bouncer, the skeevy guy, or Frank Bowers.
Accuse the vendor
If Chloe guessed the evidence correctly, Damon will believe her right away and states he would never have thought that. If Chloe took a picture of the wrong object, Damon doubts her and she has to provide more evidence against Gerald. If Chloe examined Gerald's file before going to the board, she can mention the plea agreement formed by him earlier, causing Damon to believe Chloe. Otherwise, she will have to accuse someone else.Accuse the skeevy guy
If Chloe guessed the evidence correctly, Damon will believe her right away and states he barely knows the guy. If Chloe took a picture of the wrong object, Damon doubts her and she has to provide more evidence. If Chloe examined Sheldon's file before going to the board, she can mention his meetings with a parole officer, and Damon believes her; otherwise, she will have to accuse someone else.Accuse the bouncer
Damon will believe Chloe and say that he can't wait to take care of the bouncer.Accuse Frank
Damon will reply that he has known Frank for most of his life and there is no way for Frank to be snitching. Chloe has to accuse someone else.Damon then says that the only thing left is their hand-off, and asks James to show him the money taken from him by the police earlier. Chloe finds the money behind some books and sends Damon a picture. Damon responds with a photo of Sera tied to a chair, and Chloe nervously asks him to keep her safe until she arrives at the mill.
As she is about to exit the Amber house, Eliot enters the office and demands an explanation from her. Chloe's attempts to get past him are unsuccessful, and Eliot insists on Rachel being a bad influence on Chloe, while he is the one who cares. If Chloe tries to calm him, he will break the snow globe, if Chloe tries to walk past him, he will shove her back and the only option left is to call for help. Chloe grabs the phone, dials 911 and obscures it from Eliot's view, starting a backtalk challenge.
Chloe wins the backtalk
Eliot appreciates that Chloe finally listened to him and opened her eyes. He hugs Chloe against her will, only to be interrupted by the sounds of the police. He tells Chloe that he will talk to them and accidentally sets off the alarm; Chloe grabs the money and runs away, her next destination being the old mill.Chloe loses the backtalk
Eliot notices something strange in the way Chloe is acting and sees the phone behind her. He becomes angry and calls her a "bitch". Chloe grabs the "Best Dad" award from a nearby shelf and breaks a window, setting off the alarm. She then suggests that Eliot better run away as the police may arrive at any minute, to which Eliot obliges. Chloe grabs the money and runs outside, her next destination being the old mill.Optional Graffiti[]
- Chloe can draw a graffiti on the left drawer of the desk.
Interactions[]
- Main article: Interactions (Before the Storm)
- Chloe can look at a crime map."Arcadia Bay's least wanted."
- She can look at Damon's crime report.
- She can open a drawer of a file cabinet.
- She can open a file box inside the drawer."What do we have here?"
- She can look at the evidence inside the file box."I should check the computer or some of those files lying around."
- She can look at and shake the snow globe.Look: "If it can rain ash, I guess it could snow in L.A."
Shake: "It's the big one!" - She can look at Frank's file."James has a file on Frank? I'd love to read this, but I've got to focus on finding Rachel's mom."
- She can look at the Best Dad award."Best dad? Pfft. That stuff is all politics, anyway. Hmmm..."(required)
- She can investigate the award afterwards."Sweet, a secret key. Now to find the secret lock."(required)
- She can look at Sheldon's file."Sheldon? Why do I feel like I've heard that name before?"
- She can open the left drawer in the main desk.
- She can look at and draw a graffiti on the sherry bottle inside the drawer."More sherry."
- She can look at the service award on the desk."I guess getting your ass kissed comes with the DA territory."
- She can look at and user James' computer.Look: "Pro tip: when digging for secrets, try the DA's computer."
Use: "Looks like a recent email from Rachel's mother to James. Even if James is trying to protect Rachel from her mother, this seems like a pretty terrible way to act." - She can look at Gerald's file."James sure keeps lots of files on people."
- She can look at and open the right drawer in the desk.Look: "Locked drawer inside locked office. Seems promising."
Open without key: "Not gonna be able to smash my way through this one. Hopefully there's a key around somewhere."
Open with key: "Welcome to shadyville."(required) - She can look at and open the shoebox from the drawer."James' stamp collection?"(required)
- She can look at the phone inside the shoebox."I have to know who James is talking to on this secret phone of his. It could be about Sera."(required)
- She can look at the letters inside the shoebox.Letter #1: "Sera sent all these letters, and James never gave them to Rachel? That's so messed up."
Letter #2: "The Sera in this letter doesn't seem anything at all like the person James told us about last night."
Checks: "So this looks like Sera stopped cashing the checks James sent her? Guess he forgot to mention that during his story last night." - She can look at the evidence again after reading James' messages.Look: "Shit, which of these is Damon talking about? I could just take a wild guess and see what he says. Or maybe there is some info on the case hanging round the office."
Look again: "Hope James doesn't really get Damon off the hook. That dude's gotta pay."(required)
- She can look at and take a picture of the casing."Did Damon really shoot someone? Guess I shouldn't be surprised."
- She can look at and take a picture of the knife."Could this be the evidence? Damon and knives seem like a solid bet."
- She can look at and take a picture of the gloves."Hmm. If TV has taught me anything, these babies will be swimming in DNA."(required)
- She can burn the glove in the waste basket. (required)
After burning the glove,
- Chloe can investigate James' computer. Won first backtalk: "Ah man, this guy's the snitch! He was so cool to me at the mill. Wonder if there's someone else I could pin it on instead..."
Failed first backtalk: "Looks like asshole-McBouncer-dude is Damon's snitch. I'd hate to be him right now." - She can look at and investigate Sheldon's file.Look: "Feels a little weird having this guy's records at my fingertips."
Investigate: "This is that freak from the mill. Wonder what Damon would think of his 'very cooperative' comment?" - She can look at and investigate Frank's file.Look: "Been learning a hell of a lot about Frank lately."
Investigate: "Okay, there's no way that Frank is snitching on Damon. But I love learning about his badass loitering charge." - She can look at the crime map again to accuse someone."Okay. If I'm going to accuse one of these guys, I'd better be sure I'm right."(required)
- She can look at and accuse Frank"Guess this explains why Mr. Amber knows so much about Frank."
- She can look at and accuse Sheldon Pike."Could this douchebag be the snitch Damon's talking about?"
- She can look at and accuse Gerald Scott.Didn't talk to vendor: "This guy looks like a real tool."
Talked to vendor: "This is that asshole who was selling Firewalk shirts!"
Stole a shirt: "I totally knew this guy was a criminal when I stole from him." - She can look at and accuse Rodney Sears.Won first backtalk: "his guy let me into the mill. Cool dude."
Failed first backtalk: "This is the asshat who wouldn't let me into the mill."
After successfully accusing someone,
- Chloe can look at and investigate the sawdust.Look: "I wonder if this has anything to do with Damon's stash?"
Investigate: "Holy shit."(required) - She can look at and take a picture of the money."That must be thousands of dollars. No wonder Damon wants it so bad."(required)
Trivia[]
- The code to the office is Rachel's birthday (07/22).
- The "Best Dad" award bears a lot of resemblance to the Oscar Award.
- One of the original inspirations for Arcadia Bay's design, Tillamook Bay, is mentioned in a letter to James.
- The email service where James receives the email from Sera is called "Idol Mail", referencing the brand "Idol Minds" that Deck Nine Games did business under until 2017.
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
Files[]
Before the Storm Locations
| |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcadia Bay | |||||||
| Amber House (Rachel's Room · James' Office) · American Rust Junkyard (Hideout) · Burned Forest · Chloe's Truck · Frank's RV · Hospital · Price Household (Bedroom · Chloe's Room · Garage · Bathroom · Farewell) · Old Mill · Overlook Park · Neighborhood · Train | |||||||
| Blackwell Academy | |||||||
| Blackwell Campus · Blackwell Academy Hallway · Parking Lot · Campus Backstage · Principal Wells' Office · Prescott Dormitory (Drew's Room · Eliot's Room) · Drama Lab · Custodial Room | |||||||