Template:Gamecharacter We first hear of Raymond Maarloeve as simply a private detective friend of Siegfried's. As Geralt and Siegfried are leaving the sewers, having just killed the cockatrice, they are set upon by Salamandra. After a quick skirmish, Siegfried mentions that Geralt should go see a friend of his, a detective. So Geralt does not just accidentally bump into Raymond Maarloeve in the streets of Vizima, he must visit him at his house near the entrance to the sewers.
Template:Spoiler Maarloeve decides to work with Geralt to uncover the Salamandra criminal organization's location and intentions as they have something in common, their hatred of Salamandra. Over the course of one conversation, although Raymond does not say so directly, we hear the story of how his wife and son were murdered in a grisly home invasion which was also the work of Salamandra. His wife was discovered pinned to the kitchen door with a spear, his dog had been shot, and his son was kidnapped and subjected to horrible mutations which ended in his premature death only six months later as a monster. His only recognizable feature being a sixth toe. Raymond, or "the father" in Raymond's story, then devoted the rest of his life to finding their murderers.
Later, Raymond is murdered by Azar Javed and his identity is assumed using illusion. His help prior to his untimely demise does prove nonetheless valuable in uncovering some of Salamandra's operations in Vizima. One of the clues to the fact that "Raymond" is no longer the "real" Raymond is that Geralt's medallion vibrates wildly whenever he approaches Javed disguised as Raymond. Additionally, a box of fisstech can be seen to have been left lying on the downstairs table at the Detective's house. Upon noticing it, Geralt remarks: "A small box containing fisstech. Must be evidence of some sort. I'd never suspect Raymond of being a user."
Associated quests
Journal entries
| I hired a detective named Raymond Maarloeve to help me search for Salamandra's leader. Raymond, a bitter and cynical man, refused to lift a finger until I paid him. But he also seems to know a lot, including his craft.
Someone has assumed the detective's identity and I can prove it. I found the detective's body. Someone discovered I was working with him and clearly didn't like that. They killed him and assumed his identity. I need to know why. |
Speaking with Raymond provides some journal entries in addition to his own.
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Notes
- Detective Raymond has the face of a head artist on The Witcher Team, Adam Badowski. You can see him in a video called "Making of Combat 2" on the official site.
- Detective Raymond gives the last Sephirot needed for A Mysterious Tower quest when the Vizima Confidential quest is completed.
- When Geralt is in Detective Raymond's presence, the Witcher's medallion goes off when it is tuned for detecting monsters. This can draw suspicion to Raymond's true identity in the early stages of his storyline... especially as the medallion only goes off, after he was found and persued by Salamandra.
- Raymond Maarloeve's name is an easter egg alluding to famous hardboiled fictional detective Philip Marlowe, a creation of mystery story author Raymond Chandler.
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