Red Dead Redemption 2 Serial Killer - "look on my works", and how to complete the American Dreams Stranger quest

Out in the wilds of Red Dead Redemption 2's vast landscape, you stumble onto something sinister - a serial killer, leaving messages like “look on my works” and pieces of a map as a challenge to would-be detectives.

In Arthur Morgan's line of work, death and dismemberment are all just part of being an outlaw. But for all of the van der Linde gang - except one Micah Bell - guts and gore isn't something to seek out and revel in. Do you have the stomach to find the locations of all of the killer clue pieces and track down Red Dead Redemption 2’s serial killer?

Red Dead Redemption 2 Serial Killer - Killer Clue map piece locations

Do you see?

The first location on your grisly trail is to the northeast of Strawberry and the southwest of Wallace train station. South of the station, as you take the road southeast towards the Dakota River, you’ll find an eviscerated body on the north side of the trail. Yes, that is a leg.

Press both the left and right analogue sticks into together to trigger Eagle Eye, and you’ll be able to track what you’re looking for. Follow the trail of viscera north to the black “X” on your map marked as “corpse”.

Here, you’ll find the serial killer’s first victim, displayed with the ghoulish message: “do you see”.

To your left, you’ll find a severed head, which contains the first killer clue piece. Inspect it, and you’ll see that it’s part of a map. It’s a challenge left by the overconfident serial killer, daring someone to try and find them.

Look on my works

Next, you’ll find the second killer clue piece to the south of Valentine post office and train station (see screenshot). Again on the north side of the road, you’ll find a torn up body on the trail to the west of Citadel Rock, on the west side of the train tracks.

Strung up on the supports of the railway line is the serial killer’s second victim, and you can find their head - along with the next piece of the map killer clue - stuck to a post up to the left.

The chilling message of “look on my works” is probably the first you’d stumble on if you’ve not looked for this side mission specifically - grim.

Behold

The final piece of the puzzle is closer to the road than the last two. You need to head down south, past Rhodes and past the civil war battleground at Boulder Blade. Right where the last “S” in Scarlett Meadows is printed on the map, is where you need to go (see screenshot).

To the east of Braithwaite Manor, on the west side of the road, you’ll find the third serial killer victim, along with the third killer clue piece of the map.

You’ll find the severed head behind the tree.

Interestingly, this piece of the map comes printed with a set of numbers, and what looks like a safe.

The full map looks like this:

American Dreams - where to find the serial killer with the pieced together map

So, to find the serial killer you need to follow the map which points you over a bridge to a ruined cabin, with the code to a locked set of storm doors.

The bridge on the map is the one to the southwest of Valentine, to the northeast of the Downes Ranch. Go across it, and you should be able to see where you’re going.

To cut a long story short, the serial killer location you’re looking for is Lucky’s Cabin to the southwest of Valentine - you’ll see it marked in pencil on the map if you take the southwestern road out of town, and before long, it’ll get marked as a Stranger Mission called “American Dreams”.

In the centre of the white Stranger area, you’ll find the cabin.

The safe combination for the lock is 6-34-32, but Arthur should open it automatically.

Explore the basement at your peril, and enjoy the spooky encounter in store - I won’t spoil it.

Finishing up

Once that’s over and done with, stow the Stranger on the back of your horse and head into town to turn him in.

In the subsequent scene, you have a choice - kill the serial killer, or let the Sheriff kill him.

Do the dirty work yourself and you’ll be rewarded with $20. Keep your gun in its holster and you’ll get nothing but the satisfaction of a job well done.

For more Red Dead Redemption 2 easter eggs, check out our full page.

If you fancy another mystery, why not try and find the vampire in Red Dead Redemption 2?

Or if you’d rather a break from the macabre, here’s how to get a perfect pelt every time from Hunting wild animals.

For everything else, head over to our massive Red Dead Redemption 2 guide.

Red Dead Online is now on PC too, so here's our Red Dead Online guide, with tips and tricks to get you started in the single-player story missions and multiplayer modes, how to unlock all the weapons, Ability cards and more.