User:Ghost Hunter 85/Lauren Winter

Lauren Winter is the mother of Johnny Winter, one of the victims of the Origami Killer. She works as a prostitute from her apartment. Further into the plot, she becomes a more major character, and once the game is complete she is interpretable as being its quaternary protagonist.

Background
The majority of Lauren's past can be drawn from her confiding with Scott Shelby, when he informs her he's working with other families of the Origami victims. She confides that Johnny's father, Allan Winter, was a deadbeat who left the day that her son went missing, and that he used to abuse her. She also notes that she became a prostitute in order to save money, and that she intended to move away and have a better life with her son.

Meeting and partnering with Scott Shelby
Lauren, as did Scott Shelby, first appear in Sleazy Place. Scott was a P.I investigaitng the case. Here, whether or not Scott gets Lauren to talk depends on his decisions in regards to talking to her. After Scott leaves, Troy, a former client of Lauren's, barges into her house and is about to abuse her. Scott can walk out of the building or can re-enter the apartment; in the latter case, Scott will fight Troy. (It is irrelevant to the story who wins this fight; the fight is more of a tutorial to the player on QTEs.)

She doesn't appear until a bit later in A Visitor, where she offers Scott a letter that was addressed to Allan the morning Johnny disappeared. She insisted on joining Scott forming a partnership, but only once Lauren threatened to withhold the letter from him did the reluctant Scott accept her. She appeared in Kramer's Party (where they investigated Gordi Kramer, arrested but released due to his father's influence) and Manfred (who was killed during their arrival there).

In Eureka, Lauren reveals she found a notebook containing the clientele who attempted to buy/repair the Royal 5 typewriter used to make the letter Lauren gave Scott. The only person whose name is on that list and a 500-person list of subscribers to an Origami magazine is "John Sheppard." They visited the graveyard of him in The Cemetery, where the gravekeeper recited the sad tale of how John dried in water whilst holding his brother's hand. They then noticed Charles Kramer, Gordi Kramer's father, placing flowers on his grave.

Possible Death and Endings
When Scott walks into his apparently unlocked apartment in Trapped, he finds Lauren being held up at gunpoint by Charles and his agents. They trap Scott and Lauren in a car which is forced underwater. Scott cannot die here, but Lauren might if the player fails to free her. Regardless of whether or not Lauren was saved, Scott will then confront Kramer in Face to Face (Lauren doesn't appear in this chapter, but Scott's dialogue is notably more emotional if she died).

If she survived in Trapped, she will briefly appear in Goodbye Lauren, where she kisses Scott before leaving to visit her mother.

Whether or not she survives in Trapped has an impact on Scott's endings.

Unpunished - If Scott survived in The Old Warehouse and if Lauren Winter died in Trapped, Scott will walk down a street having had gotten away with all his crimes including the one against Lauren's son.

Origami's Grave (with Lauren dead) - If Scott and Lauren are dead, the camera will pan around the graves of Scott Shelby and his brother John. No on-screen characters or voices are seen.

Origami's Grave (with Lauren alive) - If Scott died and Lauren lived, Lauren will stand over Scott's graveyard. She will remark that she feels nothing but contempt for Scott, and spits on his grave as she coldly walks away.

A Mother's Revenge - If both Scott and Lauren survived in The Old Warehouse and Trapped respectively, then Scott will walk down the same street seen in Unpunished -- however, he runs into Lauren. She states that she called all of the families whose sons died, and that none of them ever hired Scott, and Scott is the killer. After reminding Scott that she made a promise to kill the man who killed her son, Lauren pulls out a gun and executes Scott.

Chapter appearances:

 * Sleazy Place
 * A Visitor
 * Kramer's Party
 * Manfred
 * Eureka
 * The Cemetery
 * Flowers on the Grave
 * Trapped (Can be killed by Charles Kramer's elaborate drowning attempt)
 * Goodbye Lauren (Only if saved in "Trapped")
 * Epilogue - A Mother's Revenge
 * Epilogue - Origami's Grave (Only if saved in "Trapped")

Murders committed

 * Scott Shelby (If Scott survives in The Old Warehouse, then Lauren shoots him in A Mother's Revenge)

Trivia

 * In "A Visitor" you can see Lauren's voice actress's picture in Scott's files.
 * Many people think that Lauren is Mary Smith from the "Prototype" trailer.
 * Lauren has the second greatest number of appearances for a non-playable character, with 9 chapters; Blake appears in 12 chapters.
 * Lauren is probably 5'5" tall.