DESTROYED BY A MONSTER OF HIS OWN CREATION. - L.A NOIRE GAMEPLAY (PART 18)

Following the end of World War II, Cole Phelps, a USMC Pacific Campaign veteran who was awarded the Silver Star for his bravery during the battle for Sugar Loaf Hill, returns to Los Angeles, California to live with his family while taking on work as a patrol officer of the LAPD. In 1947, working with his partner Ralph Dunn, Phelps successfully and almost singlehandedly solves a murder case, impressing the captain of the Homicide department, James Donnelly , who helps promote him to detective.

Working alongside Stefan Bekowsky in Traffic, and then Finbarr "Rusty" Galloway in Homicide, Phelps earns a reputation for solving difficult and high-profile cases, which eventually lands him a promotion to Vice. Around this time, he begins falling for German lounge singer Elsa Lichtmann , and eventually has an extramarital affair with her. Unknown to him, Roy Earle , his partner in Vice and a corrupt cop, uses this information to help several prominent figures in the city cover up a major scandal by making him a distraction for the media, in exchange for a place in a syndicate known as the "Suburban Redevelopment Fund" (SRF)—an illegitimate development program that claims to supply housing for homecoming WWII veterans. When his adultery is exposed, Phelps becomes disgraced within the LAPD, hated by Los Angeles at large, is demoted to work in Arson, and his wife kicks him out, leaving him to go live with Elsa.