Heartache by the Number

Heartache by the Number is a quest in Fallout: New Vegas. The quest is given by Cass, who can be found at the bar in the Mojave Outpost. This quest is intertwined in somewhat complex ways with You Can Depend on Me and Birds of a Feather. It is recommended to read those quests as well to get the complete picture.

Related quests

 * Birds of a Feather
 * You Can Depend on Me
 * Can You Find it in Your Heart?

Quick walkthrough

 * Either begin You Can Depend on Me and continue that quest until given the task of convincing Cass to part with Cassidy Caravans, or meet Cass and talk to her until the quest begins.
 * If not already completed, do the first part of You Can Depend on Me
 * Return to Cass and convince her to part with the title for Cassidy Caravans by doing one of the following:
 * (Barter 50) Pay her an extra 750 caps.
 * (Barter 75) Buy her 12 whiskeys and drink them with her.
 * (Speech 50) Either clear the roads so Jackson will let her leave by getting and completing the quest Can You Find it in Your Heart?, or kill Jackson quietly with no one seeing.
 * (Speech 75) Just convince her she should sell.
 * Ask Cass to join you.
 * Talk to her about what she wants to do next.
 * Pay your respects with Cass at her caravan's grave.
 * Investigate the wreckage of the Griffin Wares caravan with Cass.
 * Track down Durable Dunn's missing caravan with Cass.
 * Cass will want to kill McLafferty and Van Graff, but you can suggest a peaceful option:
 * Option A: Investigate Crimson Caravans and the Silver Rush
 * Crimson Caravan: The evidence is located inside a locked safe in McLafferty's office, next to her desk.
 * Silver Rush: The evidence is located inside a hard locked safe behind a hard locked door. There is also a Hard computer terminal to unlock the safe.
 * Take the evidence of the Caravan attacks to Jackson at the Mojave Outpost.
 * Cass receives Calm Heart perk (+50 HP).
 * Option B: Assassinate Alice McLafferty and Gloria Van Graff
 * Kill McLafferty
 * Kill Gloria Van Graff
 * Cass receives Hand of Vengeance perk (+15% damage with guns).

Getting started
The player always gets this quest from Cass, even though they may be led to Cass via other quests (You Can Depend on Me or Birds of a Feather). If the player meets Cass first, the quest begins, but it just sends the player to the Crimson Caravan camp to start You Can Depend on Me.

If the player has not already completed You Can Depend on Me up to the point where Alice McLafferty gives them the Cassidy Caravans buyout offer, the first order of business is completing that quest up to that point. Then the player can return to Mojave Outpost and start trying to get Cass to sell her caravan.

Recruit Cass as a companion
Cass won't join your party because she owns a caravan, and her emotional attachment to it is such that she can't see leaving that life, even if in reality she's nearly broke and her "caravan" is destroyed. The player can convince her to sell the caravan via several methods, all of which involve either a barter or speech challenge: Obviously magazines can be very helpful in getting the skills to the required levels. If the player doesn't have adequate Barter or Speech even with a magazine the quest cannot be completed until the player levels up and gets one of those high enough to continue.
 * With 50 Barter the player can choose to sweeten the deal by throwing in an extra 750 caps.
 * With 75 Barter the player can offer to challenge her to a drinking contest. The player will need to provide (and drink) 12 whiskeys.
 * With 50 Speech the player can suggest that the Outpost is a pretty terrible place to be trapped.
 * Cass will agree, but will point out that Ranger Jackson won't let her leave.
 * The player can solve this problem by talking to Jackson and completing Can You Find it in Your Heart?, which involves clearing out the giant ants from the road down the hill, or can kill Jackson in a sneaky fashion (losing Karma in the process).
 * With 75 Speech the player can just challenge her by telling her she's responsible for the destruction of her caravan, and she'll reluctantly agree.

Once Cass agrees to sell, the player needs to ask her what she's going to do next, and eventually the option to ask her to join will can be selected. The next step is to talk to her (via the Companion wheel) and she'll eventually say that she wants to go visit the wreckage of her caravan.

The mystery of the caravans
When the player finds Cass's caravan, it's nothing but a dead brahmin and some miscellaneous loot (which Cass doesn't mind if the player takes). However, Cass notices something suspicious and suggests visiting the Griffin Wares Sacked Caravan, where a similar attack took place.

After visiting the remains of that caravan and poking around a bit, Cass will get even more suspicious and suggest looking over yet another caravan's remains: Durable Dunn's Sacked Caravan.

At Durable Dunn's Sacked Caravan, the bodies of some Van Graff thugs suggest to Cass that something is fishy in the state of Nevada, and she comes to the conclusion that Alice McLafferty and Gloria Van Graff have been colluding to attack caravans and remove competition for the Crimson Caravan trading company. She wants to immediately go exact some justice, wasteland-style. The player can agree, or suggest a peaceful solution.

Violent Solution
Alice McLafferty is relatively easy to kill, though the trick is to do so in a way that doesn't turn the rest of the Crimson Caravan hostile. A sneak attack critical headshot while hidden is a good choice, or planting C4 on her and setting it off remotely. In any case, it's a good idea to finish You Can Depend on Me and Pressing Matters first, since they won't be available once McLafferty's dead.

The Van Graffs are heavily armed and have good armor. Going into the Silver Rush and winning the ensuing gun battle may be difficult. As with McLafferty, it may be advisable to plant C4 and set it off, or use a stealth boy to perform a sneak critical from a hidden location. It is possible to sneak a weapon or two from the table by dragging them (using the "pick up" command) into the bathroom first. Once the weapons are in the bathroom, the player can just steal them with no one watching. Of course, just taking a weapon from the table and readying it immediately is also an option.

It's not necessary for the player to give up their weapons in the first place if the player and Cass kill the door guard, Simon. The rest of the guards (and the Silver Rush crier down the street) will turn hostile and come outside, where the player and Cass can get the drop on them (the player can plant C4 at the door or use Eulcides C-Finder when the guards come out). Then the player and Cass can waltz through the door and kill the remaining Van Graffs.

Another approach worth noting: if the player begins the Birds of a Feather quest (given by Gloria Van Graff), the first task is to guard the door of the Silver Rush. The fourth customer to approach the door has a bomb, and if the player lets him in without checking him, he goes inside and sets the bomb off, killing everyone inside.

Once both targets are dead, the player just needs to speak to Cass to finish the quest. The reward is 500xp and the Hand of Vengeance perk, which provides Cass with +15% damage with guns.

Peaceful Solution
The evidence the player needs is in two safes: one in Alice McLafferty's office at the Crimson Caravan Camp and one in the office at the Silver Rush. They can be searched in either order.

The one at the Crimson Caravan is right next to McLafferty's desk. It has an average lock. The office is empty at night, so the player can lockpick undisturbed. Alternatively, the key to the safe can be pickpocketed from McLafferty. Once the incriminating note has been obtained, the player should talk to Cass and show her the evidence.

At the Silver Rush, the safe is in the office, right off the main room. The door has a hard lock, or the key can be picked or looted from any of the Van Graffs, including Simon and the other guards (but not the crier). The safe lock is also hard, and does not have a key, but there is a terminal attached to it with a hard lock. Again, once the evidence has been obtained, the player should talk to Cass. She'll suggest taking the evidence to her old pal Ranger Jackson.

The player should then talk to Ranger Jackson at the Mojave Outpost. After the player gives him the news of the conspiracy, they can speak to Cass to end the quest.

The reward is 500xp and the Calm Heart perk, which gives Cass +50 HP.

Bugs

 * If the player accepts Can You Find it in Your Heart? and You Can Depend on Me before talking to Cass this quest will glitch so that the Pip-boy shows "Clear the roads for Jackson..." and "(Optional) "Remove" Jackson as an obstacle..." completed, and no suggested next step. (PS3 and Xbox 360 Confirmed)
 * Solution: recruit her as a follower and talk to her; she'll suggest visiting her caravan's grave. (PC,Xbox 360 and PS3 Confirmed)


 * The continuity of this quest will be very confusing if you previously killed the Van Graffs for the Brotherhood of Steel or for other reasons. Upon first meeting Cass, she will tell you that she's glad the Van Graffs have been dealt with and that all that's left is to kill McLafferty.  The game will trigger the "Kill McLafferty" leg of the quest, even though neither you, nor Cass herself, have any idea why she should be killed.
 * Solution: If the above happens, then the murder of McLafferty will not end the quest, nor change options. It will appear that the quest is impossible to complete, as the marker will be shown at her body. However, after waiting long enough Cass started the dialogue that ends the quest.


 * When accessing the Van Graffs safe and terminal the graphics didn't show up but the noise was made for each. A way around this is to try the safe and use the vibrations of the controller to determine if the bobby pin is in the right area.


 * (Possible Occurrence)After taking Cass to her caravan wreckage she will tell you to go to the next caravan site, but she will then stop following you and cannot be reacquired.(Tested on Xbox 360 and PS3)


 * When I killed the Van Graffs by bringing Cass to see Jean-Baptiste, I got locked out of the Las Vegas strip and the Lucky 38. The North Gate to the Las Vegas strip says you need a key to pass the gate.
 * Solution: kill one of the strip gate guards, there will be a key on the "corpse"


 * Sometimes you have to actively talk to Cass (choosing the option from the companion menu) at each of the assaulted Caravan sites in order to trigger the dialogue that advances the quest.


 * If you're heading to Durable Dunn's Sacked Caravan, the questmarker might lead you through Isaac's House.

Behind the Scenes
This is one of many quests that are named after songs that can be heard on the radio, in this case the Guy Mitchell song Heartaches by the Number, which is broadcast in-game on Radio New Vegas.