Tyler Whitney

"You're the only one I can trust!"

- Tyler Whitney's telegram to Robert Cath

Tyler Whitney was an idealistic American man and the best/worst friend of Robert Cath. He has a tendency to get himself into sticky situations while endeveouring to be a champion of freedom and justice.

Whitey boarded the Orient Express to help a group of Serbian nationalists on board, but was killed when he tampered with the Firebird. Cath, out of loyalty to him, decided to deal with his complicated situation.

Background
Whitney is quite wealthy, the son of Southern landed aristocrats. He studied at Yale where he met Robert Cath and developed a passionate interest in the Wobblies workers' movement. He became a champion of freedom and justice, philanthropist, and gunrunner and shared many adventures with Cath. He left the U.S. and joined the Zapatista revolt in Mexico and Cuba (the cause of a small rift between him and Cath), helping raise funds, run guns and munitions. He returned to Europe to lend his support to Serbia in the 1912-13 Balkan Wars. As a result, his social contacts vary from Serbian military to German industrialists. Anna Wolff heard about Whitney in New York while he was trying to raise money of ammunition in Cuba.

Obtaining the Firebird
A Serbian military general who was a member of the Black Hand gave Whitney the Firebird egg to liquidate and buy them military equipment.

Tyler at first showed the Firebird to various art dealers in Paris, at some point learning about the curse. He contacted his friend Robert Cath, perhaps knowing his interest in non-Western science, to examine it on the Orient Express.

Aboard the Express
While in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Whitney sent a telegram to Robert Cath and invited him to the Orient Express where Whitney claimed to have found something interesting for Cath- the Firebird.

Tyler Whitney's personal agenda for being on the Orient Express was a three-way business transaction: he wanted to give the egg to Prince Kronos for a hefty amount of gold which he would then turn over to the German arms dealer August Schmidt to purchase military equipment to support the Serbian Black Hand for their liberation campaign in the Balkans.

The train departed from the Gare de l'Est for Belgrade. He was waited for Cath, who did not show up until after the train left.

Cath's Discovery
Unfortunately, Whitney died before the journey even began in earnest, leaving Cath in a very delicate and dangerous position upon discovering the body. It is not clear how he died but apparently the Firebird killed him, either he activated it by accident or by someone else to kill him. The egg was then stolen by Anna Wolff.

To prevent the discovery of the body by August Schmidt impatiently waiting to meet with Whitney, René Mertens (a conductor), or later by Milos Jovanovic (a Serbian ally of Whitney's), Cath hid the body.

He chose to either to throw his body out of the window or strap it into the folding bed, disposing of it later.

If thrown immediately, it was seen by the young Francois Boutarel who mentioned it to his parents, who paid no notice.

With the body disposed of, Cath assumed Whitney's identity to discover the reason for his death and evade the police.

Dreams
Cath saw Whitney in a dream that night. He pulled an egg out of his mouth and asked "why don't you make it sing?". If Cath fell asleep during Anna Wolff's recital, he was jolted awake by the same dream.

Character
Tyler was wildly idealistic, allying himself with radical groups for the sake of justice. He befriended people easily, with Milos having considered him "like a brother". He also inspired intense loyalty in Cath, determined to seek out the cause of his death for the sake of closure.

Compartment
Tyler's compartment is 1. It is adopted by Cath upon assuming his identity and can be returned to at any time, slept in at night and locked with the master key. Its neighbouring compartment is that of Alexei Dolnikov, and the player may spy on him by hanging out of the window.

Tyler's compartment initially contains his corpse on the floor, which Cath should dispose of or temporarily hide in the bed to proceed with the game. A faded bloodstain remains on the ground. Curiously, the only one who notices it is Milos Jovanovic.

It also contains a case shaped to hold the Firebird egg and its whistle. It is empty at first, but the Firebird can be placed inside upon its recovery (the whistle always stays in Cath's inventory). Trapped underneath it is a scarf belonging to Anna Wolff which Cath will always notice by day two or earlier.

Another suitcase belonging to Tyler is on an overhead rack. The only items inside that can be interacted with are the Russian Firebird poem and a telegram from Cath confirming that he will meet him aboard the Orient Express.