The Murder of Crows

The Murder of Crows is the sixth mission in Hitman: Blood Money. Agent 47 is assigned to kill Mark Purayah II, Angelina Mason, and Raymond Kulinsky, all members of The Crows, a rivaling organization of the International Contract Agency

Mission information[]

Briefing[]

Hello, 47. The American Secretary of the Interior is being targeted for assassination at today's Mardi Gras parade. We're not sure who's behind the hit, but our client wants you to prevent it by taking out the would-be assassins.

There are three. The leader is Mark Purayah, Jr. His associates are Raymond Kulinsky and Angelina Mason. Kulinsky's a former world-class biathlete, so he's probably the trigger man. Mason is probably just recon and support. They're romantically involved and mentally unstable, so expect a violent reaction if either of them learns the other is dead.

Their whereabouts are a mystery but we've identified the payment on its way to them. The money should lead you straight to them. There'll obviously be a lot of civilians in the mix on this one, and a high-profile hit like this is bound to have backup units on site, so you'll have to be even more discreet than usual.

Intel[]

Walkie talkies transmit everything - even background sound and music, which could reveal someone's location.
Clubs usually have a back entrance for the staff.
Bookstore walls are like paper - you can overhear what's going on next door.
Clubs in this area are known for having hat-dress codes and music themes.
Some private apartments have a useful view.
Pianos can kill - especially when they are dropped from the sky.
A guy dressed as a yellow bird checked into a hotel room a couple of hours ago.

Objectives[]

Kill Mark Purayah II.
Kill Raymond Kulinsky.
Kill Angelina Mason.
Protect the politician (automatically accomplished if the payment is intercepted or if Kulinsky and Mason are slain).
Retrieve the diamonds (optional).

Weapons[]

Firearms[]

SLP .40 - Carried by police officers and in weapon stash on streets.
SLP .40 S - Carried by Mason.
Desert Eagle - Carried by Kulinsky and Purayah.
MP9 - Carried by yellow bird guards and in weapons crate in Purayah's hideout.
SG552 - In Purayah's office.
Kazo TRG - In whatever room Kulinsky is hiding.

Melee Weapons[]

Kitchen knife - In the kitchens of the Blues Oyster and Latin Fever, might be used by the chef of these bars.

Disguises[]

Policeman - Allowed everywhere except the Crow's headquarters, occupied hotel rooms and private apartments. Can openly carry the SLP .40 without suspicion.
Bird Guard (Yellow Bird) - Allows access to the Crow's headquarters. Able to openly carry the MP9 in front of Crow operatives without raising suspicion, but not police or civilians.
Delivery Guy (Red Bird) - Allows access to the Crow's headquarters, but the guard at the front door will not let 47 in without the Diamond Briefcase.
Raymond Kulinsky (Black Bird) - Allows access to the Crow's headquarters. If spotted by Mason while wearing this disguise, she will see through the disguise and immediately become hostile and attack 47. Law enforcement will open fire on you too if they witness Mason doing it. You are also not allowed to open carry weapons oddly enough
Waiter - Allows access to all bars in the level, though the bartender's area is off-limits.
Chef - Same as waiter plus allowed to carry the kitchen knife.
Blues Costume - Allowed into the Blues Oyster bar.
Salsa Costume - Allowed into the Latin Fever bar.
Rock Costume - Allowed into the Rockers Choice bar.

Notes[]

Raymond Kulinsky will randomly spawn in one of the three clubs' upper floors. If he spots 47 there, he will shoot on sight, regardless of 47's disguise.
The Birdman guarding entrance to the Crows headquarters as well as the policemen guarding the entrances to the front doors to the Clubs WILL NOT leave their posts if they spot a weapon laying around. They will just radio in for a roving guard to pick it up instead.
The only way to lure the Birdman guard away from the main entrance to the headquarters, is to look though keyhole at the library next to the Crows HQ. The bird guard will then run towards you and only look. Then you have free entrance to HQ, but be quick because he quickly returns to his regular post, plus the other at the street corner comes too (And the Courier if you haven't taken him out).
If 47 approaches the door guard in the yellow bird disguise, the guard will admonish him and tell him to "get back to your post."
If Mark Purayah catches you picking up the diamond briefcase while wearing the yellow or red bird outfit, you will be shot for stealing the briefcase.
Mark Purayah can be sniped through the bookstore wall. If the Diamond case is intercepted (of which several opportunities to accomplish with a sedative exist) Agent 47 can bypass entering the "Big Bird's Building" altogether.
Billy Jack will never put the diamonds briefcase down until he delivers them so it is impossible to sneak in a remote mine. Furthermore if you knock Billy Jack out and a law enforcement officer revives him, he will double-time back to the bird headquarters WITHOUT the briefcase even if you left it there with him.
If you knock out and steal the weapon from the Crow Guard who‘s in the hotel room, when he regains consciousness he will go to the Bird HQ and take one of the MP9’s in the lower-level stash box. He will then proceed to walk back to his hotel room. There are only two rounds of MP9s so when he enters the HQ for the third time he will cower in fear in front of the stash box.
Mason starts at the Music Shop, then goes to the Blues Bar, to the Latino fever bar, then to the alley across Rocker's Choice, and her final stop is at Rocker's Choice. After this, she loops back to the Music Shop and starts her path again.
If the Crow Guard in the hotel room is killed, the girls dancing in the room with him will initially flee and summon police or guards. Afterwards, they will return to the room and resume dancing, even if the body has not yet been removed.
If 47 is disguised as a Crow Guard and is seen with a MP9 in his hand by other Crows, they won't react (except for Billy Jack, who will cower in fear) but they will still count as witnesses. If you’re good at recognizing targets from loading screens, you can kill Mason and Kulinksy before Purayah. Doing so will cause him to keep asking for them via their walkie-talkie.
Mark Purayah can be shot from a small, elevated platform accessible via a climbable drain pipe in the alley across from his building (the alley with the hanging piano.) Although 47 is invisible to Purayah even while the latter is looking directly at him, if 47 steps too close to the edge of the platform he will be visible to anybody in the alley below.
Regardless of whether or not the guard birds open fire on 47 first, the police will join in on the shooting and take no notice of the violent gunmen. It is unknown whether this is an intentionally choice of the developers or a glitch; though the latter is more likely, it seems to insinuate that there has been an agreement between the local authorities and the Crows, as they rent out two separate rooms - as well as an entire building as their base of operations - during the level.
If the briefcase is not delivered the assassins will continue to idle by, unless Mason finds out Kulinsky is dead or vice versa, in which the hit will be carried out by the surviving assassin without order.
The game counts the unarmed Delivery Guy as an enemy even though he has no aggression and his defense mechanism is to cower in fear.
The three bars in the mission are all restricted for 47 in his suit, requiring a proper disguise to enter.
Angela Mason's SLP .40 S can easily become 47's best friend in the remaining missions. It is less complicated then 47's Silverballer and easier to use depending on the player. Since many guards use the regular SLP .40, extra ammo is very easy to come by.
After the briefcase has been delivered, the assassins will proceed to perform their tasks.
- The suitcase can be delivered by Billy Jack or by 47, regardless of disguise (though NPCs will warn you if you are trespassing).
If you disarm Kulinsky and leave him alone he eventually walks back to Purayah’s office and remains there for the remainder of the game (unless disturbed).
- Mason won’t follow this path since you can only disarm her SLP .40 S. She is still armed with a blade tucked underneath her sleeve that she uses to slit Cilley‘s throat.

Bugs & developer oversights[]

The mission takes place on October 25, 2004. However, New Orleans Mardi Gras is always celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday, which itself is forty days before Easter. This means Mardis Gras season usually starts during either January, February or March.
There's a glitch relating to the person on the third floor that overlooks the Rocker's Choice sniper outpost. If you grab him and hold him hostage, leading him to the outside balcony and you PUSH him down, he will survive the aftermath and spawn back into his apartment. NOTE: This only works when you push him off and not drop him (meaning the animation cutscene of 47 dropping him over the rail)

Quotes[]

Civilian: ”Hey look at me! Throw me something mister!”

Crow guard: "Just leave the suitcase here and get lost buddy"

Crow guard: "You got no business here partner!"

Police officer: "Sorry partner, no costume, no entrance, no drinks." (Each officer that guards outside the 3 clubs).

Mark Purayah II: "That's right, that's right. We're taking care of that... No... No there won't be a problem... Diamonds... That's right, just as I promised, a whole goddamn case of rocks." (When diamonds has been delivered).

Mark Purayah II: Bird One and Bird Two, hello?... Bird One, Bird Two, you copy? Come in?... I need audio confirmation, hello?... Bird One and Bird Two, you out there? Come in!" (When Mason and Kulinsky have been killed before Mark Purayah, and the diamonds were delivered).

Mason: "You killed my boo!! Now die!" (When she spots 47 in Kulinsky's outfit).

Bookshop Keeper: "Looking for anything in particular Kojak? Fraid we ain't got any picture books."

Bookshop Keeper: "Don't even ask me about Faulkner man, because you can't even handle Faulkner!"

Bookshop Keeper: "We got the best rare books in New Orleans, but contrary to what you believe we don't have books for people who rarely read!"

Gallery[]

Outcome[]

Agent 47 eliminates two prominent members of The Crows, and is also able to kill Mark Purayah, both a co-leader and one most skilled assassin clones of The Franchise.

Video[]

★_Hitman-_Hitman_Blood_Money_-_Mission_6 — ★ Hitman- Hitman Blood Money - Mission 6

The Murder of Crows

Hitman_Blood_Money_-_The_Murder_of_Crows

Trivia[]

A "murder of crows" is the collective noun for a group of more than one crow.
Scattered throughout this mission are large black X's spray painted on doors and walls. These are actual symbols that first responders used to communicate to each other during the recovery after Hurricane Katrina. Basically these symbols made it easier to know that a house has been searched.
The New Orleans Chief of Police is named Wiggum, a reference to the Chief of Police of Springfield in the cartoon The Simpsons.
The Blues Oyster bar's name may be a reference to the first Police Academy movie, which featured a gay bar called the Blue Oyster Bar.
- It may also be a reference to the hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult
Billy Jack (the briefcase courier) can occasionally disappear after delivering the briefcase
In the basement of the Blues Bar there's a little memorial for Rudy Menzana, one of the mob bosses from Flatline. You see a picture of him that is next to a cross.
"The Murder of Crows" mission has the most NPCs in Blood Money, though most of them don't react to your actions because they are part of the crowd surrounding most main buildings, moving as one entity, rather than having their own AI; killing them also doesn't add "kill" to your statistics.
It's possible to kill everyone on the map including the "ghost people" that walk around the street.
The song that plays in the Rock Bar is a real song called ‘White Noise’ made by a small band called ‘The Vacation’ back in 2004.

Absolution[]

During the first trailers for Hitman: Absolution, a brief mission file for The Murder of Crows can briefly be seen. The yellow bird suit available in this mission has also been seen in the Hitman Absolution trailer Introducing Disguises.
The bird suit is also available in the mission One of a Kind, with its description hinting that it was actually present at this mission.

Easter Egg[]

Missions in Hitman: Blood Money
Training	Hideout - Death of a Showman
Chile	A Vintage Year
France	Curtains Down
California	Flatline - A New Life
Louisiana	The Murder of Crows
Colorado	You Better Watch Out...
Mississippi	Death on the Mississippi - Till Death Do Us Part
Nevada	A House of Cards - A Dance with the Devil
Epilogue	Amendment XXV - Requiem