Maurice Russell

**Maurice Russell** is the lead editor of The Gallows Creek Reporter and the third target of the Whistling Man, being the third 911 caller. He is voiced by Joshua Manning.

## History

### Background

Maurice's journalistic career stretches back to the 1950's, when he covered the murders and subsequent disappearance of serial killer Edward Marshall Mooney, a.k.a. The Whistling Man, at Ellis Point in Gallows Creek on the night of September 3, 1958. In contrast to local legend, he is of the opinion that Mooney died after falling into the river. Maurice has also cooperated with the local KFAM radio station in the past and has their fax number on hotkey.

#### Death of George Barrow

Sometime after September 3, 1968, Maurice was approached by Marie Campbell, who asked him to print a personal account regarding the death of her boyfriend George Barrow earlier that month, which was generally seen as a drunken, accidental drowning. Marie claimed that Teddy Gallows Jr., the son of town businessman Theodore C. Gallows, had killed George and that there was a conspiracy by his father to conceal the true circumstances of George's death, but Maurice rejected her. While the reason for this is never specified, though it's likely that Maurice, who was referred to as a coward by Marie, made the decision under orders of Gallows Sr., likely through his enforcer Clive Elforth, the most probable case being that The Gallows Reporter, being the town's paper, was owned or at least heavily influenced by the Gallows’.

### The Whistling Man attacks

At around 12:43 on September 3, 1987, Maurice was at The Reporter's office when he saw an intruder wearing the Whistling Man's costume through the building's surveillance system. Maurice hid in the nearby boardroom and called 911 to report a breaking-and-entering on the premises, being connected to Forrest Nash on KFAM’s 189.16 - The Scream instead. Maurice was outraged to find that it wasn't the operator Leslie Harper on the other end and asked to speak to Sheriff Matthews in her place, only to be told by Forrest that he was dead. Maurice immediately jumps at the opportunity to be the first to write about the murder and offers to interview him as an anonymous source, believing that he saw it happen and unaware that Forrest was on air. After being told of the latter, Maurice tells him of the intruder, who he thinks is just a teenage delinquent taking a prank too far on Whistling Night. Forrest tells him that they are dealing with an actual murderer, though Maurice dismisses the notion that the perp is Edward Marshall Mooney who's come back from the dead. He still consults Forrest on how he can get out without being found by the Whistling Man, who had entered the floor, blocked the stairway with filing cabinets and begun searching the rooms, being in the office space next door.

Peggy suggests they use each room's telephone lines to lure the killer away, so that Maurice can move towards the exit. Knowing that this would be useless unless the station knew the floor's layout, Maurice uses a nearby fax machine to send a hand-drawn map over to them. After the Whistling Man enters the editor's office, Maurice sneaks away to either the Archives or the Kitchen. Halfway through the plan, he also notes that it would be impossible to move the filing cabinets away without alerting the killer. Forrest brings up locking him away in a room, and just as Maurice tells him that fire hazard protocol required them to make all doors open from the inside, he is reminded that there's a secret archive connected to his office, which can be sealed from the office's side. Upon Forrest saying that they could use a radio as bait, Maurice figures that he can use the hand-held radio of the newspaper's sports reporter, Hopkins, for the job, tune it to 189.16 and turn it up once placed in the secret archive. When he finds it, Maurice must be told to turn down the volume before using it. Once it's been set, Forrest must decide where Maurice should hide. The correct answer is the cabinet, allowing him to get the drop on the Whistling Man and lock him inside the secret archive. Maurice thanks Forrest for his assistance, repeats his offer to interview him on tonight's events the next day and says that he'll go home and call some friends.

A little while later, Maurice will call again, this time frantically telling Forrest that the Whistling Man escaped. He starts at the beginning, saying that he returned to the office a few minutes later, armed and with some of his buddies, to watch over the captured killer. A few of his friends decided that they would teach the prisoner a lesson before police took him in, despite Maurice's objections, but when they unlocked the door, the room was empty. Maurice is audibly fearful of having incurred the Whistling Man's wrath, but quickly denies this when prompted and says that he'll be "clearing out of dodge" for the night before hanging up.

During the Whistling Man's interview, Marie reveals that she targeted Maurice because he wouldn't listen to her side of the story regarding George's death and if he survived, she voices anger over Maurice trapping her son Henry "like some kind of animal" and vows to get revenge on him at a later date.

## Possible Deaths

* Forrest can take up too many attempts to use the phone, either by second-guessing his options twice, asking Maurice to send over another fax twice, leading the killer to a room too close to Maurice, or using the phone more than two times. The Whistling Man will either reach the room Maurice is in because he took too long to move or realize that the phone calls are just meant to lure him away and will go to the room Maurice is in. Maurice will try to stay quiet and hide, but is soon found, speaking his final words "If- AAGGH!" as he is stabbed to death by the Whistling Man.
* If the quick-time event to tell Maurice about turning down the volume is missed, the sound will give Maurice away to the Whistling Man, who enters his room and kills him.
* After the radio is placed in the secret archive, if Maurice is told to hide under the desk, in the secret archive, or by the cubicles, he will be seen by the killer, caught as he tries to exit, or too far away to lock the door, all leading to his death.
* No matter what option is choosen, if Forrest disregards Maurice's warning to only yell when he tells him he's ready, the Whistling Man catches Maurice as he tries to enter his hiding place.

## Trivia

* Maurice Russell is based on J. Jonah Jameson from the Spider-Man comics, specifically his appearance in Sam Raimi's film series, where he was portrayed by J. K. Simmons. Both are chief newspaper editors with an arrogant streak and an extravagant, loud-mouthed way of speaking, who hold a strong disdain for teenagers and someone they deem a masked menace, though with varying accuracy and different rationale. The ending character board also shows that Maurice as having Jameson's signature mustache and flattop haircut.
* The lure method used during the call was already seen in the 2019 demo during the Radio Shed Clerk segment.
* Maurice has a habit of calling people only by their last names, doing so with Edward Marshall Mooney, Hopkins, and Forrest Nash through the call.
* If Forrest led Maurice to the Archives in the first call, he will note that Hopkins' radio is in the same room and compliment Forrest for his pro-active thinking.
* Should Forrest choose to advertise KFAM when asking about Hopkins' radio, when Maurice would usually ask for the station's frequency, he will instead say that he has it memorized because of Forrest's shameless self-plug.
* Maurice has the most possible death variations, though he is tied with Murphy in the most possible choices that can lead to his death.
* If Forrest chooses to phone the Boardroom during the first choice, Maurice will angrily shout that he's in there and ask if he's been listening to him at all. This removes the option, but is not counted as an attempt.