okay, I still don't think Bryan was as evil as you think he was. I wish it was easier to figure out where in the game certain events happen because I hardly remember any part where we actually see Bryan calling the Pest Control.

However, based on the argument in the hallway after the breakdown meters part, I think Bryan is just angry and not evil and deserving to die.
If you choose the nicer options from Susan's side of the dialog you get roughly
Bryan: " I swear if you every do this again I'm calling the cops"
Bryan: If this happens again " I'll call pest control and and it won't be pretty"
And once Susan leaves he mutters to himself
"Damn cat lady, They should lock her up someplace, ******** nut case."

So his responsive if Susan doesn't tell him to go **** himself. Are perfectly legal and he isn't even saying, you know what I just did I called the cops and pest control, he is just saying I've had enough of your nonsense and I'm going to do something if you bother me again. He doesn't even threaten her directly with harm. And most telling when he is alone he says to himself "They should lock her up". Locking her up I would think he is thinking jail or mental hospital, not kidnapped.

Now if Susan is nasty about it, he says he will take care of the cats himself "... I'll do it myself." But it came across to me as a threat that he would be unlikely to act upon himself. He decided to threaten the cats and not her personally. And then we can assume that he called Pest Control, which is probably what your meant to do when there is a feral colony in the UK. Now this raises questions, is he going to pay this pest control from his own pocket. Damn expensive to deal with a colony of cats in the UK in this way. Or did he go through some city council and they are taking care of it. This would give him even less control as to sending in a Pest Controller he knows will take care of Susan.

Either dialog path leads to the Pest Controller showing up, who is obviously a mission for Susan from a story point of view. Byran never is lumped in with the parasites, and Susan actions tend to reflect that the game designer want Susan to mess with Byran as his comeuppance and not kill him. This suggest to me that he is not evil and should have been taken out instead.

The Pest Control Guy, does say he is looking for her, and that she is the problem. But I don't remember any indication that Byran himself said get her. Also the Pest Control Guy say a "nice man" told me doesn't sound like they know each other to me. Hard to say, I'm still leaning towards Byran just being an average guy, trying to get by.

The game jumps around a lot and it hard to find cut scenes and such, so if you have other indicators that Byran is evil, I'd be willing to change my mind about him if you have other proofs.

Or better still can we ever lure the game designer himself to weigh in on the issue. :)

It's never shown.

He does say several times that he'll call, the PC guy says a man called him, and the woman on the first floor says he mentioned he was going to call. Susan also says she thinks it was him. What kind of world is Cat Lady set in? Is it a normal world and Susan's experiences are unique? Or is there supernatural stuff going on, and Susan is just one of numerous supernatural events in the world? I've just finished another VTM Bloodlines game where there's lots of supernatural stuff going on just outside humanity's awareness. The setting itself is called World of Darkness. Is Cat Lady set in a world like that? My point is, how odd or uncommon is a cannibal PC guy? It can't be too odd, if he also has a wife into it also. She seems like a half-undead type creature, the way she shambles about, and is also able to wait underwater for a fair amount of time.

The PC mentions that they've taken numerous people and eaten them, and there's at least one skeleton in the backyard. If you kidnap frequently, you need to make DAMN sure you don't arouse suspicion, or the cops will come around and ask questions. Having skeletons outside suggests he's been very careful not to attract attention, which is exactly what he'd be doing if he just kidnapped the owner of some unwanted cats. "Say, where's Mrs. Jenkins? Dunno, I haven't seen her since... hmm, since that pest control guy came around. When the cops start asking about her, I'll be sure to mention that PC guy as he was prolly the last to see her." Stuff like that gets you caught and arrested.

This is why it seems very likely to me that Bryan was connected. "Gee officer, I can't remember what PC company I called, I just used a random number from the phone book. Maybe some mugger got her? This IS a bad neighborhood." If Bryan wasn't connected, he'd be sure to pass the company's name on to cops, which would lead them right to the PC's cannibal home. A simple saying is "you don't shit where you eat." You don't kidnap people related to your work unless you're very stupid or someone has your back. I don't think PC guy is stupid.

Susan is drawing psychos from the right, left and center. I assume there is a strong supernatural element in the Cat Lady world. The doctor at the hospital is killing people at his work, and I would expect the doctor is even more clever than the Pest Control Guy. Nothing says that Susan's kidnapping is how the Pest Control Guy normally works. I figure the otherworldly thing is making things fall into place so that Susan can complete the missions it wants completed. Maybe influencing in some way what Byran does, like whispering into his mind that this ad for pest control looks good, and you should warn him about Susan or complain about her.

Also leaving evidence like skeletons out in the open, doesn't really sound like sound, methodical, planning to me, sorry.

It is probably subjective and maybe even designed to be interpreted in multiple ways.

Maybe someone will do a thesis on this game in the future, and maybe will be included in the footnotes :)

I sense too much faith in police & other government services, in some people. If you read into details of some real-life, famous serial-murders cases - or just plain disturbing, but less well-known ones - you will notice, that most of them *should* be caught very early - they were keeping bodies in their homes or leaving them left and right, hurting people at their work or other place easy to connect with them, etc. Still - in some cases - they were doing it for years, due to pathetic lack of competence from investigating police officers, lack of interest from ordinary people, plain luck, or mix of those in any proportions.

for me, one of strong parts of the game, is Susan's realization that - despite how bold the parasites are in their action - they're *really* likely to keep hurting others for undefinable time, if she doesn't stop them. Like, the hint in hospital basement: "one day, the will bulldoze it, burring all the evidence", or hilarious - but not-so-far from many real-life cases - talk with police officer, while in pestman's place.

No my dear, police won't be coming to help you, neither the cavalry is going to make it 'till the grand finale.

/Estel