Cleaner Case

An early draft of the Cleaner Case made by Max Payne

The Cleaner Case refers to the 2003 New York City Police Department's case that Max Payne works on and is also very much at the center of.

It starts with the uncovering of an unknown covert group of assassins, the Cleaners, at Annie Finn's gun workshop, a police shootout at the warehouse and recovery of a number of dead bodies in the building.

The case quickly develops over a few rainy nights, and the NYPD men are barely quick enough to follow the trail of piling dead bodies, results of many fierce firefights all over New York City. The case overlaps with Valerie Winterson's investigation of US Senator Sebastian Gates' homicide and a mob war between Vincent Gognitti's men and the Russian Mafia.

At one point, from an investigator of the case, Max Payne becomes one of the wanted perpetrators and fugitives.

In the end, the Cleaners turn out to be one faction's foot soldiers in a war between members of the highly influential secret society, the Inner Circle.

Behind the scenes

The name of the case as the "Cleaner Case" as such is never mentioned in Max Payne 2. The term is a conjecture used by the Max Payne Wiki editors to concisely refer to the events of the second game of the series. It follows the trend set by the term "Valkyr Case" which describes the events of the first game. However, the Valkyr Case is a real canonical case name.

Appearances

• Max Payne 2