The Sinking City 2: How to Open Ma Fishface’s Shop Door

The occult ward sealing Ma Fishface’s Shop in the Arkham Fish Market blocks story progress, and no gadget in your kit will touch it. The Leyden Jars you may already be carrying do nothing here. The one item that removes the barrier is Freddie’s Urn, hidden inside a wall painting near the Cold Storage room.

Quick answer: Melee or shoot the head of the one figure in the painting near Cold Storage who is not holding a musical instrument (second from the right). Take Freddie’s Urn from the revealed hole, carry it to the 2F Abandoned Office barrier, and place it there so Faye can sing the melody and drop the ward.

Why gadgets and Leyden Jars fail on the ward

The barrier is tied to a song rather than a mechanism, so it ignores every device you try on it. The Leyden Jars are for a separate puzzle entirely, where they power the Starfish gates guarding the Workshop that holds the Antikythera. Trying them on Ma Fishface’s door is the most common reason players get stuck.

The ward only responds to Freddie’s Urn. Faye needs to catch the melody woven into the barrier, and the urn is what lets her do that. Everything below moves you toward getting that one item.

Clues that point to Freddie

A couple of notes name Freddie as the singer whose tune keeps the ward alive. You do not need them as inventory items, but reading them explains why an urn is the key and confirms which figure in the painting to strike.

Clue	Where to find it
Old Freddie – Ex Voto	The mural near the Cold Storage door in the East Wing
Eulogy for Old Freddie	On the bar counter in the Pub, up the ladder past the Electrical Panel
Tide Runners	Basement, just off Cold Storage

The eulogy frames Freddie as a well-loved crooner, and the Tide Runners note hints those sailors were more than sailors. In the Investigation menu, connect all the Freddie-related clues so the game registers the singer before you approach the ward.

Get Freddie’s Urn from the painting

Return to the spot where you fixed the red pipe with the handwheel to stop the gas leak. Next to that pipe, a ramp leads toward the exit door of the Cold Storage room.

Look at the large mural on the wall beside that door. Most figures in the painting hold musical instruments. The one that does not is Freddie, the second person from the right.

Hit the head of that non-instrument figure. A melee attack works, or you can put a bullet in it. Striking any other figure does nothing and only wastes time. The blow breaks open a hidden compartment behind the painting.

Interact with the revealed hole to collect Freddie’s Urn into your inventory.

Place the urn and drop the ward

Carry the urn to the second floor and reach the Abandoned Office doorway, where the ward blocks the way into the shop.

Face the barrier and place Freddie’s Urn inside it. Faye picks up the tune, sings along, and the ward collapses.

You know it worked when the barrier disappears and the door into Ma Fishface’s Shop opens. Walking through triggers a cutscene where Ma Fishface introduces herself.

What comes after the door opens

Once the cutscene plays out, grab the second Leyden Jar off the counter beside Ma Fishface. That jar feeds the Starfish puzzles ahead, not the ward you just cleared, so keep it for the gates and the workshop route.

From here the fights get heavier. Skip encounters you can run past, conserve ammo, and lean on your handgun and shotgun, crafting rounds for them from raw resources before pushing forward.