#Alberto in this play is for some reason is almost my..ideal man...i mean i like how he dresses and is a designer...soooo

[cortibah]

So, I’ve recently replayed Chapter 4, and I might have played ‘Angelo Bronte, A Man of Honour’ while a teeeensy bit drunk, and I may have started thinking and well now I’m stuck with this long-ass HC and/or theory:

Angelo Bronte was behind most of, if not all of, Chapter 4.

We know that Bronte rules the underworld of Saint Denis. We know he has some street kids in his employ. We know he has significant connections to local politics, namely Mayor Lemiuex (and we can assume that he retains those connections even if you complete ‘Idealism and Pragmatism for Beginners’ and spare Jean-Marc). It’s not unreasonable to think that he has connections within law enforcement too - if not actively collaborating, then via crooked cops. It’s also not unreasonable to think that Bronte has a city-wide surveillance network of street kids and other lookouts, all of them not as conspicuous as the men in his direct employ.

Bronte is in a position of power and has no intention of giving it up. We can therefore safely assume that getting there took some serious grit, and that he has had to fend off rivals more than once, both from the city and outsiders trying to get a foothold. I would say it’s not implausible that he would look into any would-be rival as soon as possible - in terms of whatever information is available to him about them.

Bronte seems disinterested in events outside of Saint Denis - he was a ‘customer’ of Catherine Braithwaite (see the letter you can pick up in ‘Blood Feuds, Ancient and Modern’) but he didn’t seem all that upset at what happened. He seems disinterested in the Rhodes feud overall. But, we also know through this that he has contacts outside of the city.

Dutch van der Linde is a wanted man almost everywhere. He’s already got a reputation. Most of the gang also have bounties on their heads, if not for association with Dutch then for their own crimes. Most of the gang are known to associate with Dutch as well. I don’t think the information the Pinkertons have about who is in the gang would be available to Bronte, but what’s publicly available would be. (This part I’m fuzzy on, as I’m not sure if Saint Denis police would be able to get information from the Pinkertons and from there relay it to Bronte or not. It’s not really important.)

It’s reasonable to think that while Bronte didn’t care enough to investigate when Catherine first had issues with the gang, he may have started looking into them as early as Jack’s kidnapping. (It’s also possible that Jack may have blabbed a little - I can let that slide, he’s 4 and John clearly hasn’t had the talk about not being a walking infosec nightmare.)

I will say this though - Dutch surprised Bronte. Based on the time skips, I’d say that ‘The Joys of Civilization’ would have taken place in the morning - probably not later than 8-9am, and for me it ended at around 2pm. ‘Angelo Bronte, A Man of Honour’ can be picked up almost immediately. Meaning that within the space of about 6 hours, Dutch had Bronte’s location and was on his way - even though there’s no doubt that Bronte was already alerted that people were asking about him, potentially even already aware that at least one of them was Dutch van der Linde.

From the outsider’s perspective, that speed - getting a location and hitting it within 6 hours - gives the impression that Dutch and his gang are highly disciplined, well-coordinated, and highly experienced, even if they’re not perhaps as quiet as they could be. Combine this with Dutch’s reputation, and Bronte had good reason to be worried...

...and then he meets Dutch face-to-face. The insults could well have been bravado, or he could genuinely have been unimpressed by what he was looking at. Still - again, this outsider comes into his city, locates him, and is at his front door in a matter of hours. Doesn’t look like much, but still, bit of a worry.

It’s absolutely possible that Bronte set them up already with the graveyard job, perhaps wanting to see how Dutch’s team performed without their leader present. Given that it’s absolutely possible to escape the cemetery undetected, John and Arthur may have further given the impression to Bronte that he was dealing with very skilled, coordinated and disciplined people.

Now, let’s jump forwards to ‘The Gilded Cage’. Who does Bronte point out to Dutch?

Mayor Henri Lemieux, already discussed. Apparently owes Bronte money. In the last part of ‘Idealism and Pragmatism for Beginners’, Arthur can potentially dethrone him as Mayor of Saint Denis. During the beginning of that chain too, he drops the hint that he knows Arthur’s real name. 

Colonel Alberto Fussar, who shows up on Guarma (more on this part later)

Hobart Crawley. I don’t believe he shows up again, but correct me if I’m wrong.

Rains Fall and (possibly) Eagle Flies. They’re not part of the conspiracy, and I feel like they’re probably gatecrashing just a little - but Bronte doesn’t seem to care, or already knew they would show up and didn’t bother trying to stop them.

Hector Fellowes, newspaper tycoon. Again, I feel like Bronte’s comment about killing him was to see how Dutch might react. Too much fawning would have been suspicious too, as would an outright refusal. (And, later, Arthur threatens Fellowes on behalf of Lemieux... more on that in a bit too.)

There’s a few other important people at the party, and I absolutely believe that Bronte would’ve at least had access to the guest list, and absolutely would have been able to place people on it that he wanted there.

First, there’s the finance guy that Hosea talks to, and gets the information about the bank from. Now, don’t get me wrong - Hosea is very careful in how he asks his questions, but he’s still talking about work at a party. It’s very possible that the banker is not a banker at all, or is under orders from Bronte to dangle information - and/or report back if someone seemed awfully interested in the bank in Saint Denis. (This is the slightly crackpot part of this theory.) 

Dutch spoke with Heston Jameson, the head of Sisika Penitentiary, and Crawley. I don’t think it’s a coincedence that Jameson was there. (We’ll get back to him later.)

Arthur doesn’t speak to anyone, but he can be recognized by Lillian Powell if you’ve interacted with her at La Bastille (I think she has 3 or 4 interactions, I don’t know if you have to complete them all before she’ll appear at the party) and obvs saves Algernon Wasp. It’s possible all of the NPCs you can interact with at the party (pouring drinks, accepting the gift, etc) are named, but I don’t have my copy of the game right now to check. ANYWAY. NOT IMPORTANT.

Also - Bronte dangles the trolley station tip. Now, it’s not at all controversial that Bronte absolutely set up Dutch to take a fall this way. I want to explain why, and why the rest of the theory, while admittedly all wild speculation on my part, is made plausible by it.

Firstly, let’s think back to ‘Angelo Bronte, A Man of Honour’. Overall, Bronte has the impression that Dutch and his gang are disciplined, coordinated, well-informed, and generally, damn good at what they do even if they don’t tend to do it quietly. But he’s now met Dutch in-person twice, and he’s clearly not quite sure what to think.

So, he dangles the trolley station This could have gone several ways:

Had Dutch played it cool, accepted the tip but not acted on it at all and stayed out of the city from then on, Bronte may have been led into thinking that Dutch had only intended to stick around long enough to retrieve Jack, and that was it.

Had Dutch played it cool, accepted the tip, not acted on it and stayed active in the city, that tells Bronte that Dutch already had his eye on a bigger prize, and may have marked Dutch as a potential threat. (Or, it would indicate that Dutch had checked the information through someone else.)

Had Dutch accepted the tip and only scouted the station, then backed off, that would have told Bronte that Dutch not only intends to stick around, but is clever enough to double-check information. Again, that marks Dutch as a threat.

But. Dutch did none of these things. Dutch accepted the information, scouted the station poorly enough to fail to notice that there wasn’t that much money there, and was most likely seen scouting the station (remember, Bronte has plenty of surveillance out there).

This could have told Bronte two things, potentially both at the same time.

One, Dutch was exactly what Bronte thought of him - good at pretending to be clever, but not actually that smart. Absolutely out of his depth in a city, and up against someone with more resources, personnel, connections and power than him. In other words, not a threat.

Two, Dutch is either desperate enough or stupid enough to take a tip from someone who he has no reason to believe is an ally, and act on obviously bad information even after checking it himself (either through poor scouting, or sheer desperation). Dutch is desperate for money, and so can be played with that. And where is all the money? The bank. Therefore, Bronte could have deduced that Dutch would likely try to hit the bank soon.

I absolutely believe that Bronte informed the Saint Denis police to watch that station more closely, hence why they showed up so fast. It’s also not inconceivable that he warned them that someone was planning to rob the bank - John notes in the intro to ‘Banking, the Old American Art’ that there’s an awful lot of cops around already. It’s possible that the Pinkertons were informed by Saint Denis police, either beforehand or obtaining the information after coming in to investigate Bronte’s death. (Or even directly from Bronte’s 2IC - while I’m sure Milton & Ross have no more love for Bronte than they do for Dutch, we know they’re willing to work with criminals to catch other criminals, and Bronte’s 2IC could well have been after revenge.)

The only place where Bronte went wrong? He forgot that the gang can move damn fast when it wants to, and was unaware that Dutch is vindictive as all hell.

Dutch actually showed some cleverness in the double feature of ‘Country Pursuits’ and ‘Revenge is a Dish Best Served’. He correctly worked out that Saint Denis is full of Bronte’s eyes and ears, so went to Lagras instead - an impoverished, mostly black and/or Creole community that evidently don’t like Bronte much either, and a good distance from Saint Denis too. I’m sure part of his getting in good with Thomas was commiserating over Bronte, plus the water infil/exfil route is quiet, clearly unexpected, and leaves no trail to be followed. While I’m not sure Dutch was expecting the Legendary Alligator to make an appearance... well, they got out alive.

I don’t think more than 24 hours could have passed between ‘Country Pursuits’ and ‘Revenge is a Dish Best Served’. Bronte was clearly caught off-guard, since he was still in the house, and was forced to resort to hiding in the bathroom.

In other words, what Bronte wasn’t expecting was a repeat of ‘The Joys of Civilization’/’Angelo Bronte, A Man of Honour’ - that under the right conditions, the gang can move incredibly fast. They already knew his location, they just needed a way in - and it’s kind of on Bronte to not think about making sure he was secure from a water infiltration as well. 

Was it smart of Dutch to kill Bronte? I’d actually argue, yes - leaving Bronte alive meant risking reprisal. However, it was absolutely an impulsive decision on Dutch’s part. A better way to handle it would have been to have made it clear from the start that Bronte was never going to be taken alive, but that he’d be executed elsewhere where the evidence could be quickly destroyed. A bit less shocking for the gang.

Had Dutch left Bronte alive, I have no doubt that Bronte would’ve wiped out the gang as soon as he had a chance to. If not out of anger or to remove a threat, then to ensure Dutch couldn’t humiliate him a third time.

But, there was a loose end left - the bank. Again, I think it’s absolutely plausible that Bronte ensured the information about the bank was planted, and/or that he was informed that someone had been asking about the bank at the party.

There’s three possibilities.

One: Undoubtedly, Bronte’s 2IC would have been privy to all of this, either before or after his death. And even if Bronte’s 2IC wasn’t out for revenge, Dutch was an obvious threat that needed to be dealt with. So, Bronte’s 2IC informs the law - someone is going for the bank, soon. Might have even informed them that it was Dutch who would be going for the bank. Bronte’s 2IC works fast, as evidenced by the hostile personnel placed at almost all entrances to the city (and possibly throughout) after ‘Revenge’.

Two: Lemieux, having lost the guy who was loaning him money, may have gone to the law and passed on the information. Lemieux knew who Arthur was, at least, and it’s probable he knew or could easily find out who the rest of the gang are. If Arthur completes ‘Idealism and Pragmatism for Beginners’ in Jean-Marc’s favor, this might also have been a bit of revenge. This possibility has some more holes though, as I’m not sure how Lemiuex would have had information that the gang was planning to hit the bank. I doubt Bronte would have shared it with him.

Three: some combination of both of these.

How the Pinkertons obtained the information and got in on the counter-operation isn’t as important, but they did - and thus, we get ‘Banking, the Old American Art’.

In other words: Bronte got the last laugh.

As a fun bonus, I don’t think it’s a coincedence that John was sent to Sisika and Jameson was at the party. (I’m not clear on how long the guys were in Guarma, but it was obviously long enough for him to be tried and sentenced - I’m sure the Pinkertons wanted it all done by the book and with no room for appeals.) Granted, Sisika is about as secure as it gets, and since others in the gang are at large...

Fussar I think might be a red herring. I don’t remember him recognizing Dutch - even if he had, he would have needed a name (though remembering that Dutch was at Lemieux’s party would have narrowed down the list of potential identities). He and Dutch never spoke though (that I can remember) and while Dutch does stand out a bit, it’s very possible that Fussar never even saw him at the party. Still, it’s kind of a fun little shout-out - and it links ‘The Gilded Cage’, ‘Help A Brother Out’ and the entire Guarma chapter too.