[nWoD] The Sleepwalkers IC

[-Sentinel-]

OOC thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=184907)


December 20th, 9:21 PM — Manhattan


Harry and Josh

Harry shouldered his way through the gaggle of journalists and onlookers with the weary annoyance of a cop beginning the fourteenth hour of his shift. Trying to look professional all the same (it was after all the rookie's first murder scene, and he had to be an example for him), the veteran detective ducked under the police tape and joined his half dozen colleagues on the sidewalk of West 47th Street. Under the street lamps, the still-fresh blood shone very red against the snow. The wounded man had been taken away, but the dead man still lay face-down on the sidewalk right next to his blue Audi A8. Two bullet holes were clearly visible in the back of his expensive suit. A good chunk of his head had been blown off, and bits of his brains splattered his car. His broken, bloodied glasses rested not far from him.

Captain Samuel Borden, a stocky African-American in his fifties with a short iron-grey beard and a bald head, was leaning against a lamppost with a steaming cup of Starbucks coffee in his hand. Even he looked slightly nauseated.

“Mason. Prescott.”

Borden nodded at the detective and his rookie. When the captain called his agents by their last names, it was a sign that he was not in a good mood. No one liked to work overtime on grisly cases, especially a few days before Christmas vacation.

“A man in a green coat waits on the sidewalk right in front of this building,” Captain Borden summarized. “The car pulls over. Mr Dead Guy here gets out to put change in the parking meter, but is shot dead by Mr Green Coat before he's taken two steps. His driver pulls his own gun and puts a slug in the killer's head. The EMTs don't know if he'll live. The driver is at the station for questioning.”

“Now, the two of you take a good look at the scene and tell me what you notice. Then I'll tell you more.”


OOC: I'll let you roll this Wits + Investigation test yourselves.


Alexander

Alexander had been plunged in his book for four hours when he abruptly realized that he was starving. From this point on, it was considerably harder to concentrate. The only problem was that his fridge was empty and he had been too busy with his exams to buy any groceries lately. Once again, everyday life got in the way of important things. Like, say, trying to understand the implications of quantum indeterminacy on the concept of free will.

He remembered that some of his classmates were throwing a party just a few blocks from here to celebrate Christmas vacation. Perhaps there was food there. Yes, he decided, getting some food in his stomach was worth tolerating five minutes of loud music and possible social interaction.

He was just getting up from his armchair when his phone rang.

“Alexander.” His mother's voice. It sounded somewhat remote. “Alexander. Watch the news.”


Angus and Gary

((Theme song: Cat People / Putting Out Fire (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdYEERJaIIE), by David Bowie.))


It was Eighties' Night at the Blue Room.

Though the nightclub was reserved exclusively for the select few who had enough money and most of all the right connections, the place was filled nearly to capacity. It was only a few days before Christmas, after all, and all of Manhattan was in a festive mood. The Blue Room's entire staff was present, including every bouncer on the payroll and even a few tattooed thugs hired only for this night. The owner, it was said, never had any trouble finding thugs. That the Room was owned and run by the Sicilian mafia was something of an open secret in some circles. Those same circles tended not to give a damn, as long as they had a good time when they came here. They invariably did.


[hr]

Gary

It was the first time Gary was on bouncer duty at the Blue Room. He had been hired for only one night, but still, it was quite a privilege. If one knew how to socialize, a single night here was enough to make a lot of rich and powerful contacts. It was also a good place to steal wallets, but it was probably not worth it to jeopardize such an opportunity just for a few bills.

The good thing with being a bouncer was that it did not require too much effort. You just stood there with a drink in your hand, looking threatening. The Blue Room paid its bouncers thirty bucks an hour with drinks on the house. For every bouncer in Manhattan, the Blue Room was the El Dorado. Some would do anything for a permanent position here, but the place was known to be quite selective.

Of course, it was hard to look more competent than your colleagues when you were a bouncer. For this, you needed an opportunity to actually bounce someone. And such an opportunity finally presented itself a bit before nine thirty: the doorman was apparently having trouble with an overly insistent would-be club-goer.

“No, I don't want your f*cking money,” the doorman growled wearily. “You're just not invited.”

“Just lookin' for someone,” said the other guy, a blond young man with a vacant stare that made him look somewhat stoned. “I'll be gone in a minute.”

“Tell me who you want and I'll get him.”

“C'mon, man, lemme in..”



Angus

It was the first time Angus saw Luca Brancati from this close. Sitting at the same table as one of the most prominent crime bosses in the city would make any man nervous, but Angus was doing his best not to let it show. Brancati liked to instil fear, but he also liked men with nerves of steel. He would never be giving him this job if he thought Angus was a coward.

“So that hobo sets fire to the warehouse, and is found dead right next to the crime scene with a bloody knife in his hand and a stab wound in his heart,” Brancati was explaining in his rumbling basso. “Sure enough, the cops investigate the arson and find the remains of the cocaine stashed in there. And now they're breathing down our necks, trying to prove that we owned the building. Of course, I'm not stupid enough to think that hobo burned this one warehouse at random. And he couldn't possibly have known what was in it. And then that suicide... bullsh*t. You know what I think happened, Mr Kirk? Some son of a bitch betrayed me, someone who knew where we kept our coke. So he paid a hobo a few hundred bucks to burn down the warehouse and make the police investigate. Once the hobo was done, the traitor removed him from the equation to shut his mouth.”

The crime boss rested his hands on the table. They were large, hairy hands, and every finger on it bore a ring. The man himself was even more intimidating than the two lantern-jawed bodyguards who sat with him.

“Mr Kirk. My good friend Carl tells me you're a very skilled con-artist. I'd rather give the job I have in mind to an insider, but since there seems to be a traitor in my organization, I'll give it to you. You'll take the forged documents I have in here...” He pointed at his briefcase. “...and you'll be a cop who investigates the case. Try to get every bit of information the police has, in addition to whatever you find. Report everything to me. I want to know who paid that hobo, and I want it done discreetly. Think you're up to the task?”

[Wargor]

"Captain." Harry nods respectfully at Borden, his tone of voice serious. Looking down at the body a look of distaste crosses his features, even after all these years it had never gotten easier. "Sounds fairly standard sir, but there must be something strange for you to be acting so cryptic." He walks around the scene, careful not to disturb any of the evidence, his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary

Invetigate - wits + investigation + specialisation in crime scenes.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]

Is there an easier way to roll this kind of thing?

[Exthalion]

Alexander
"Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long..."

With a sigh Alex let his coat he had been meaning to put on fall to the floor. He sat down at his laptop and found the live broadcast of the local news.

"Now, lets see what new mischief the world has gotten up to..."

[Trodon]

"Yes sir, is there a fake I.D. in there?" Angus says gesturing to the briefcase eying it from under his black fedora, he keeps his right hand at his side ready to grab the Glock 17 he kept under his black blazer.

[-Sentinel-]

((I'll wait for Josh's test before I update the Josh & Harry part.))


Alexander

The screen displayed a snowy and well-lit street, with yellow-and-black police tape surrounding a crime scene and weary-looking officers trying to keep civilians and journalists at bay. Nothing could be seen from the crime scene itself.

"...killer, identified as Charles Henderson, was taken to the hospital in critical condition," the anchorwoman was saying. "His victim, attorney Nathan Foster, was known in judicial circles as the lawyer of several high-profile members of the Sicilian mafia. He was forty-seven. The motive that led Henderson to murder him is still unknown. In other news, a Gallup poll shows that support for President Sarah Palin 1 is on the rise since the announcement of..."


1 Indeed, the World of Darkness is a scary place. :smalleek:


Angus

"Of course," Brancati assured him. "I.D., badge, everything you need. You're from the 23rd precinct if anyone asks: that's where I have contacts who'll confirm that you work there, in case some overzealous pen-pusher bothers to check. Unfortunately, I can't give you much in the way of leads. You'll have to read the reports of the 20th precinct for details about the arson: I'm sure they know things they haven't told the public. The name on your I.D. is Michael Norton."

[Samfool]

Walking up behind the doorman, Gary was grinning from ear to ear. His spiked, white hair almost looked ablaze, giving him a devilish look to him. His black T-Shirt was snug enough to show his muscles through the fabric. Putting his hand on the back of the doorman, he chuckled and asked "Oi! Ahahah, whats the problem here? He not lettin' you in?"

[Exthalion]

Alexander
Alex was silent for a moment.

For a short time there was not thought, only an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach and a numbness in his mind.

His hands shake at the keyboard as his brain starts to work again.

Charlie! Charlie! I... but you... how could...

His thoughts were jumbled and confused and he threatened to fall into mania.

Steadying himself he closed his eyes and breathed. He focused only on his breathing, his thoughts continued to spiral around. He acknowledged them, acknowledged that he was having them, then let them go. After a few moments of this he was calm again.

He quickly looked up the location of the accident. It wasn't too far away, he could catch the bus to the next block over and be there within ten minutes.

He quickly grabbed his coat and headed outside, making certain to lock his door and turn off his laptop.

"Ah, the jewel in the flower..."

It seemed he wasn't as calm as he yet wanted to be.

[Supercrazy DM]

Josh walks around the crime scene nervously almost pacing. The press and journalists seemed to be almost drilling a hole inside his head, as if every single one was looking at him. As the Captain recognizes him Josh respectfully nods his head and says "Evening Captain"

After bundling his hands up in his pockets Josh walks over to Harry and says "Bit odd this isn't it? Guy goes out to pay for parking and his driver just happens to have a gun on him. Maybe, they were expecting trouble? What the hell do I know I'm just the rookie."

Josh walks around the crime scene carefully trying to pick up any clues as to what happened.[spoiler]Invetigate + wits + investigation + specialization in crime scenes.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]

[-Sentinel-]

Harry and Josh

Weary after his long day at work, Harry did not notice much that was not immediately obvious. He did, however, recognize the way the expensively-dressed individual had been shot: two bullets in the chest and one in the head, a technique known as the Mozambique Drill. This suggested police or army training. Whoever the murderer was, he was no amateur.

Josh noted the two exit wounds in the man's back and concluded that he had been shot with high-caliber bullets at short range. Strangely enough, even though the two bullets had continued their course, they had barely scratched the car's passenger-side window. Either they had almost no velocity left... or the car was bulletproof. The rookie circled the Audi, stopped briefly near the driver's seat and saw only one case lying on the snow: the driver, too, was obviously a marksman. The case was a .44... Surviving a headshot from such a caliber was either extremely lucky or extremely unlucky, depending on your point of view.

So... a possibly bulletproof car, and a driver who owns a gun and knows how to use it. Josh took a closer look at the murdered man. Thin, in his forties, with strands of grey in his brown hair, wearing a suit probably worth more than Josh's weekly salary. Even though his face was partly destroyed by the bullet and pressed against the ground, it looked somewhat familiar. Had Josh seen this guy in the news?

As Josh and Harry searched, Captain Borden's cell phone rang. The captain answered, talked curtly, then turned it off with a grim look on his face. He looked up at the two cops:

"Conclusions?"


Gary

"Damn right, he's not lettin' me in," said the club-goer ill-temperedly. "But I just gotta see someone. Won't take long. Get outta my way if you know what's good for you."

"Go home," said the doorman, his patience wearing thin. "You're drunk or something. This place is for members only. If you insist, I'm afraid I'll let Gary here break your arm."


@ Samfool: Roll a Wits test. Just Wits, nothing else.

@ Exthalion: I'll put Alexander on hold for a day or two for timing reasons. Please be patient.

[Samfool]

OCC:

I was going to tell him "Well neither will I" but ok xD


Wits roll
[roll0]

[Supercrazy DM]

Josh's thoughts were racing and his heart was beating fast. Dropping his voice low to make sure the press couldn't hear him he turns to the Captain saying"Right, so here is what I figure. This isn't just a random shooting this was planned. The victim is someone familiar I know, but I can't put a name to a face.

The victim was shot close to his car, and yet look. There's barely a nick where they hit it on the window. These were high caliber bullets and should have gone straight through. My guess is that the window is bulletproof and that this guy was someone important. My guess is either someone powerful in the city, who made some enemies. The shooter I'm guessing was hired and maybe was part of a mob or gang. Also, I want to know how good the driver was since I found a .44 case near the window and he managed to hit the guy in the head. I'm guessing the driver would be closer to a bodyguard.

So what do you think captain?"

[Trodon]

"Thank you sir, I will find out who was stupid enough to betray you." Angus says with a tip of his hat, he takes the briefcase and heads out to the crime scene, stopping in a public restroom to open the briefcase.

[-Sentinel-]

Josh and Harry

Captain Borden nodded approvingly.

"You're already good at this, Josh," he congratulated him. "It's indeed an assassination... but I'm afraid we won't learn much from the killer himself. Just got a call from the hospital: apparently he slipped into a coma. They don't know when he'll wake up, if ever. His name is Charles Henderson, thirty-nine. Ex-marine. Came back from Iraq with post-traumatic stress disorder, supposedly cured. No known ties with organized crime, but a few counts of drug possession and drunk driving. Nothing violent until tonight."

He walked over to the dead man. "And this... is Nathan Foster." He spat out the name like a curse.

Everyone in the precinct had heard of Foster and of Borden's endless contempt for him. The man was a lawyer who worked almost exclusively for the Sicilian mafia. The boss himself, Luca Brancati, paid him about a quarter of a million a year and provided him with bodyguards from his own organization. Foster was himself no gangster, but he was as close to an honorary mafioso as one could get.

Nathan Foster was simply the best at what he did: bending the rules. Any time one of Brancati's men was arrested, Foster delved into the paperwork and found the one technicality, the one tiny loophole, that could get the case thrown out of court. It did not seem to matter how much evidence the police department found against someone: once Foster got involved, the criminal waltzed out of jail in a matter of a few days at most, all charges cleared. It was quite possible that bribery also played a part in this, but nothing had ever been proven.


Gary

Gary did not miss how the young man's right hand slid inside his leather jacket, reaching for something.

[Supercrazy DM]

Josh smiles briefly at the Captains praise and then says to the captain "Sir, can we get a warrant to search the guys house? He might have left something that we can use to trace who wanted this guy dead. Best do it fast though if we do. The Sicilian mafia is probably going to be crawling all over the house once they find out who he is.

What's the biggest threat to the Sicilian mafia in town? I'm guessing something big is going to be going down if their main lawyer is going down. Either, they pissed someone off or they are planning something to screw with the Sicilian mafia.

[Samfool]

Roll Initiative or no?
If so.. [roll0]
If not, I will simply grab the guy's arm.

[-Sentinel-]

Harry and Josh

"Yes, better search his house tonight," said Borden with a nod. "Listen, guys, I know you've had a long day, but I need you to do this now. Oh, and the killer had this on him, if it's any help."

He handed them Charles Henderson's wallet: "It has his I.D. and some credit cards. No cash." Then his gun: "Colt 2000, legally bought, but his licence was revoked shortly after he came back from Iraq." Then his cell phone: "It has a quick-dial list, if you want to talk to his family and friends. I already informed his parents."

Josh turned the cell phone on and looked at the quick-dial list. It had only six names, each with a number next to it.


Mom
Dad
Alex
Sara
Dr Steinberg
Dave



Gary

Initiative for the club-goer: [roll0]

(See my next post.)


@ Trodon: Update coming soon, sorry but things are going very fast.

[Supercrazy DM]

Josh shakes the Captains hands saying thanks" Captain where does this guy live so we can go to his house? That is if you're up for it Harry?" Josh gives the detective a look egging him on so he can stay up. In the meanwhile Josh quickly glances over the phone. Then he checks the recent call lists and text messages to see if he has had any recent calls from anyone beside his parents.

OOC: What time exactly was the murder I know we got there at 9:21?

[-Sentinel-]

Gary

Gary's hand closed around the arm of the club-goer, whose vacant stare instantly became more focused. The doorman, noticing the sudden tension, shifted into a fighting stance.

"Better drop whatever you're holding," he advised the club-goer nervously.

"F*ck you," snarled the other, closing his fingers around something and trying to pull it out of his jacket.


Contested Strength tests.
Gary: [roll0]
Club-goer: [roll1]

His face twisted in a bestial expression, the club-goer tore his arm from Gary's grasp with surprising strength and drew a small revolver that he pointed directly at the young bouncer's face. "Holy sh*t," muttered the doorman.

"Out. Of. My. Way," hissed the troublemaker. "Counting to three. One..."


Harry and Josh

A look at Charles Henderson's various I.D. cards gave Josh the murderer's address. The recent phone calls were mostly to and from Sara, from mom, and to Dave. There were not that many of them, though.

Josh looked up from the phone and saw a harried-looking young man try to push his way through the gaggle of bystanders and officers.


OOC:
Maybe I should have mentioned this detail: the murder was about half an hour ago.

Exthalion will now be included in your spoiler tags. I'll leave Wargor some time to say or do something, since his character outranks Josh.


Alexander

The bus ride to 47th Street felt like an eternity. When Alexander finally arrived to the crime scene, there were even more cops and bystanders than he had seen on the news. He tried to push his way through the crowd, but a policewoman snapped at him to stay back before he could even get a good look.


OOC: You will now be included in the spoiler tags of Harry and Josh.

[Exthalion]

Crime Scene
Again forcing his way forward Alexander looked at the officer with a look of utter detachment. That scary, dead eyes, look sharks have. His voice was devoid of emotion, even annoyance.

"You will want to question me. The shooter was my brother. If you do not allow me forward, you will see me later this even at the station having cost me nothing but time."

Empathy roll, attempting to respond in just the right way to most appeal to her.
[roll0]
Ten Again
[roll1]

[Wargor]

Harry stood there, lost in thought. He had missed all that evidence, all those clues. He was getting old, he knew that but this really hit home to him. "Right, yes, better get to the house as soon as we can. So, ex-marine takes out Mafia lawyer? We better see if there's any evidence of Mafia threats to any family members, or if they had any connection at all."

Following Josh's gaze, Harry sees the young man trying to force his way through the crowd. "Well well, what's this then?" With a brief nod to the Captain, Harry strides over to the struggling young man. Turning to the officer the man was talking to, Harry puts on his 'official police face'. "Officer, who is this?"

[-Sentinel-]

Harry, Josh and Alexander

The young policewoman stared at Alexander, apparently skeptical. Alexander had seen this look before: Charles was almost old enough to be his father. Then a middle-aged officer came to the rescue, and the younger cop seemed noticeably relieved.

"Um. This young man says he's the killer's brother," she told Harry.


@ Wargor: The policewoman's name is Susan, if it helps for dialogue.


@ Trodon: Be patient, I need to synchronize with Gary.

[Wargor]

"Thankyou Susan, I'll handle this." Turning to Alexander, Harry looks him up and down with a piercing stare. "Brother eh? Got any ID on you son?"

[Samfool]

Gary

Gary's hand closed around the arm of the club-goer, whose vacant stare instantly became more focused. The doorman, noticing the sudden tension, shifted into a fighting stance.

"Better drop whatever you're holding," he advised the club-goer nervously.

"F*ck you," snarled the other, closing his fingers around something and trying to pull it out of his jacket.


Contested Strength tests.
Gary: [roll0]
Club-goer: [roll1]

His face twisted in a bestial expression, the club-goer tore his arm from Gary's grasp with surprising strength and drew a small revolver that he pointed directly at the young bouncer's face. "Holy sh*t," muttered the doorman.

"Out. Of. My. Way," hissed the troublemaker. "Counting to three. One..."

OCC

Wouldnt that be a grapple? Because if so, I would have a +4 for brawl, +3 for strength. Either way, I do this action.


Gary realizes this man means business, and a lot of people could get hurt if he pulls that trigger, the only way to prove him self to the bosses is to get that gun out of this maniac's hands..

He attempts to knock the gun off to the side and grapple him to the ground.

[roll0]
wow, really?

[-Sentinel-]

Gary

Gary tackled the club-goer and tried to pin him to the ground. The doorman was quick to assist him.

Grapple roll for the doorman: [roll0] - No successes.

Madman's turn coming, don't post yet.

Though caught in Gary's grip, the stoned-looking club-goer twisted like an eel and managed to evade the doorman.

[-Sentinel-]

Gary

With an animal snarl, the madman aligned his revolver in Gary's general direction and pulled the trigger.

He chooses the action Attack with drawn weapon. In a grapple, damage with guns is based on Strength and Brawl, not on Dexterity and Firearms. That's a Strength 3 + Brawl 2 + damage 2 roll (total 7 dice) minus your Strength 3 and Defense 2 (so only 2 dice left).

[roll0] - No successes.

The bullet missed Gary's cheek by a hair's breadth. When the gunshot rang, the other club-goers finally seemed to realize what was going on. Some of them started screaming.


Angus

Angus entered the restroom of the Blue Room, made sure he was alone and opened the briefcase to examine its contents. He found a police uniform, an NYPD badge, a few I.D. cards with the name of Michael Norton (driver's licence, credit cards, NYPD card), a cell phone and even a Glock 17 with two clips. And, inside the wallet containing the cards, an advance payment of four hundred dollars in cash.

He was closing the briefcase when a gunshot suddenly rang out from the dance room. Then he thought he heard screams of terror, almost drowned out by the loud music.

[Trodon]

'What the h*ll?" Angus closes the briefcase and stashes it behind the toilet of the 2nd stall he locks it then crawls under the stall wall and runs out of the bathroom, pistol drawn. I should have brought my kevlar vest.

[Samfool]

Seeing the bullets fly past his head, Gary decides to end this now, he grabs the man's arm and begins bashing his hand against the floor, trying to remove it from his grasp.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

Disarm is one success right?

[Exthalion]

Crime Scene
Alex pulled out his drivers license and presented it to the officer. He didn't say a word, instead glancing around at the scene.

[-Sentinel-]

Gary and Angus

Gary

The revolver finally escaped his grasp and slid a few feet away on the floor. The madman looked for a moment as if he was going to keep fighting, but something strange passed into his eyes. His blood-crazed sneer turned into his former slack-jawed expression, then to sudden surprise. He looked around in obvious confusion.

"Uh. Where am I?" he asked, his voice thick.

At some point the music had stopped playing, but Gary could not remember when. Now a whole crowd surrounded them, wide-eyed and puzzled. Several bouncers, some of them with the look of street thugs, arrived with guns and knives in their hands and tried to re-establish a semblance of order.


OOC:
Yes, one success is enough.

To roll a lot of dice with individual results, use the (rollv)(/rollv) tags, but with brackets instead of parentheses.


Angus

Angus pushed his way through the panicked crowd and finally got to the source of the commotion at about the time the D.J. turned the music off. A white-haired youth in a leather jacket had apparently overpowered another young man and held him pinned to the ground. A still-smoking revolver was lying not too far from them.


Luca Brancati was quick to arrive on the scene. He was a big, shaven-headed man with the look of an ageing boxer. Gary knew little about him, but rumor had it that he was a Sicilian mob boss and the owner of the Blue Room. As soon as he cleared his throat, everyone in the room fell silent.

"You." The boss pointed at Gary. "Release him and explain to me what the f*ck happened here," he said in a deadly quiet voice.

[Trodon]

Angus tucks his pistol away, intent on listening.

[Samfool]

OCC:
Can do!

Gary saw the confusion in the man's eyes, but he didnt care, he was obviously playing a ruse.
"On your feet a--hole!"he screamed as he yanked the man off the ground. "Try to shoot someone in this club eh? Under my god damn watch? I don't think so!" He lifted the man by his shirt collar, and threw him at the wall, face first. He began searching him for any more weapons.

[Wargor]

"Hmm. Alex, can I call you Alex? My name is Detective Harry Mason. Do you think you're up to answering some questions for us? I know this must be a hard time for you son." Harry pats Alex on the shoulder, his face expression calm but sympathetic.

[Exthalion]

Crime scene
Officer, please do not patronize me. Yes, I am perfectly willing to answer questions, but may I observe the scene first? I might be able to see something which might not appear important, but is relevant to my brother's state of mind.

[-Sentinel-]

Gary

The man, whose I.D. identified as Kyle Warner, aged 27, seemed genuinely scared and confused as Gary searched him for more weapons (and found none). He looked around, bleary-eyed, and fixed his gaze on Luca Brancati. His jaw dropped.

"Hey, white hair," called Brancati with an edge of impatience. "Look, we all apreciate your zeal, but can you tell me what just happened?"

The doorman opened his mouth to answer in Gary's stead, but thought better of it when Brancati glared at him.


Harry, Josh and Alexander

Captain Borden strolled over to Alexander, an eyebrow raised.

"He's the killer's brother, sir," Susan informed him.

"Really?" With a gesture, he invited Alexander to step over the police tape. "Sorry to hear that, kid," he said softly. "You'll be sorry to learn that your brother went comatose during surgery. They don't think he'll wake up anytime soon. Here, have a look around."

In the center of the crime scene was a dark-blue Audi A8 with tinted windows. A thin, browned-haired man in an expensive grey suit was lying face-down on the sidewalk, apparently shot while stepping out of the car. A good chunk of his head had been blown off by a bullet, and the exit wounds of two more bullets were visible on his back.

"Your brother Charles was waiting for him, according to the witnesses," said Borden. "He opened fire as soon as Mr Foster stepped out. Foster's driver and bodyguard pulled his own gun and shot him in the head. We're questioning him at the station about what happened. Go ahead, ask your questions, and then I'll have some of my own."


@ everyone: It would make things easier if you wrote your character's name above your spoiler tag, please.

[Trodon]

Angus
Angus returns to the bathroom to collect the briefcase, then comes back out of the bathroom.

[Samfool]

Gary


"Well sir," Gary says, turning to face Brancati,
"As I am standing over there, looking for someone to bust, I hear the doorman arguing with this.. unruly customer, so I figure I would take a look,back him up you know?" Gary shrugs, trying not to look too intimidated by the man, but not to step on his toes. "Next thing I know, this guy reaches in for his jacket. I have been in a few shoot outs myself, and decided to stop him right there. I reached for his arm, he got loose, so I tackled his a--. He takes a shot at me, and I rip the damn thing from his hand."
Vaughn looks out to the man standing there, with everyone trembling in fear and decides not to alarm anyone with this next bit. He walks closer to Brancati, and motions for him to bring his ear.
"I think," Gary whispers, trying not to get too close to the man, but make sure his patrons do not hear, "That he was out to kill someone. He kept saying over and over that he was looking for someone and then bam! He pulls out a gun."
Gary backs off from the man, trying to gauge his reaction to the situation

OCC: Empathy check? Or could I use Investigation, body language speciality?

[-Sentinel-]

Angus and Gary

(OOC: I rolled a secret Wits + Empathy check for Gary. By the way, all such tests will be based on Empathy, not Investigation. You may want to swap your Investigation (Body Language) specialty for something else.)


A murmur ran through the crowd as Gary told his tale. Brancati's broad face remained stony, but Gary thought he saw a mix of cold anger and vague puzzlement in his black eyes. The mob boss raised an eyebrow and slowly turned to the doorman, who nodded. Then his gaze fell on Kyle Warner.

"Causing trouble in my own nightclub, eh? Were you sent to kill me?"

Kyle was ashen-faced and trembling violently. "I... I swear to God I don't know what the f*ck I'm even doing here. Listen, it know it sounds crazy, but..." He floundered under the mobster's deadly stare.

"It sounds crazy indeed," Brancati agreed softly. A heavy silence fell, broken only when Brancati's cell phone rang. The mafioso frowned in annoyance, then waved his hand at the crowd: "Go about your business. Except you." He pointed at Gary. "Keep this gentleman under control, will you?"

The D.J. played Survivor's Eye of the Tiger (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf45I1ZI__w) and the Blue Room once again erupted into light and sound, although the dancing and drinking seemed a bit half-hearted now. Brancati answered his cell phone as soon as he was sure that attention had shifted away from him. The call was short and Brancati did not speak much, though his expression was very dark by the end.

"Mr Kirk, wait," he called as Angus was about to leave the Blue Room. "Something new came up, we need to talk. And you, white hair, would you please be so kind as to take Mr Warner to the back room over there and watch him? I'll deal with him in a moment."

[Wargor]

Harry

Harry raises an eyebrow at how open the Captain was being with the kid but still follows them back to the crime scene. He turns to Alex, his expression genuinely remorseful. "I'm sorry kid, it's never easy to lose family. But if there's any light you can shed on this, it would be extremely helpful."

[Trodon]

Angus
"Yes sir." Angus said and waits for Luca Brancati to update him.

[Samfool]

Gary


"No problem boss.." Gary said, then, turning to the madman who decided to make Gary's whole night by making him the center of attention, he said "Lets go you insane son of a bitch."
Vaughn couldn't believe his luck, maybe he could get a full time job here and stop having to snap the arms of druggies any more. He really hated doing that, but hell, a job is a job, and a man has to eat..
After taking him to the back room, he looks at the man dead in the eye, and threw him at the nearest wall. He wasn't going anywhere now, not with him watching the door.

OCC:

Oh, really? Well, maybe I should change that >.<
I will just distribute the points in the Mental skills section a little better if that is ok with you.

[Supercrazy DM]

Josh

Josh wanders slowly off to see the brother and introduces himself saying " Do you want me to grab you a cup of coffee from the car? I know what it's like to use family and in this cold it might help make you feel a bit better."

[Exthalion]

Alex at Crime Scene
"I prefer the cold. Stimulants cloud the mind with foreign processes and impair reason. Moreover, I have not yet lost him in the sense that he is dead and I lost him a long time ago in the sense of emotional distance and lack of communication.

Now, would you be so kind as to describe what it is I am seeing? I am not a forensic investigator and am not trained to know what to look for. I do understand my brother though, and might be able to interpret what is here in light of who he is and what he has been through."

[-Sentinel-]

Josh, Harry and Alex

"Jesus Christ, kid, coffee doesn't cloud the mind," snorted Captain Borden. "Makes it clearer, is what it does. Without it, Western civilization would collapse within a week."

He walked over to the corpse. "This man is Nathan Foster, lawyer for the Sicilian mafia. So we're guessing this is the work of a rival gang. Thing is, your brother's not a mobster, as far as we know. I called his parents, and they're in the dark about the whole thing. Couldn't believe their dear son did something like that."

He handed Alex a slip of paper. Six names and phone numbers were scrawled on it.

"This is the quick-dial list of your bro's cell phone. Do you know who the last three are?"


Mom
Dad
Alex
Sara
Dr Steinberg
Dave


Alex only:
Sara is (or was) Charles' girlfriend; it's hard to keep track of his relationships. You met her a few times. Nice girl, and rather pretty and clever too. Doctoral student in biochemistry. Charles met her at a Narcotics Anonymous group, and they helped each other pull through their addiction.
Doctor Steinberg was the therapist treating Charles' PTSD after his return from Iraq.
You have no idea who the hell Dave is.

[Exthalion]

Alex Crime Scene
"I would suggest investigating the last name, for the simple reason I don't know who it is. Sara is his girlfriend, and Steinberg is his doctor. I would look for a possible mob connection before you visit Steinberg. He is very keen on doctor patient confidentiality.

Let me look for a moment."

What could have driven him to this? Come on Charles, what was going through your head?

I don't know if I get a bonus or something since this is my specialty, motivations.

Empathy Roll
[roll0]
Ten Again
[roll1]

[-Sentinel-]

Josh, Harry and Alex

Even before Iraq, Alex never truly understood his brother. Twenty years separated them, and they were polar opposites in terms of personality. Charles had always been the passionate, live-fast-and-die-young type. Then he went to Iraq. When he returned, he was... distant. His once-easy smile was now always off somehow. He had changed... but Alex did not for the life of him understand what could have led him to murder a man.

"His girlfriend, eh?" the captain was saying. "And his doctor... his shrink, I assume? Could be worth it to talk to them." He pointed at Harry and Josh. "Agents Mason and Prescott here are about to search your brother's apartment. You want to go with them? You might notice something they won't."


Angus

Brancati took Angus some distance away from the crowd.

"Foster, my lawyer, just got murdered," he said, his voice tight with anger. "He happened to be the one working to get me cleared of the warehouse case. What a coincidence, eh? His driver, one of my men, put a bullet in the killer's head... some Iraq war vet who's now in a coma and can't say who hired him. So you're going to find out."

He took out his wallet, counted four C-notes and handed them to Angus.

"I'm doubling your pay: eight hundred a day. Bonus of five grand if you take less than three days to find the son of a bitch who's working against me. Ten grand if you take less than two days. The murder happened on 47th, near the corner of 8th Avenue. The cops are still there. If they wonder what an agent from your precinct is doing there, tell them about the warehouse and why you think there's a connection. As long as you find the f*cker before they arrest him and put him out of my reach. Got that?"


Gary

Kyle huddled away from Gary.

"I swear it, I got no idea why I'm here," he pleaded. "I was just gettin' high in my room, and here I am. Your boss's gonna kill me, you know. Let me go."

[Exthalion]

Alex at Crime Scene
"I wouldn't mind going with them. I can't see anything here though. It is too impersonal. His apartment might shed some more light, it was his space after all."

[Samfool]

Gary


"Then it looks like you are f-cked dude." Gary chuckled, "He is guna kill you alright,"
Vaughn leans up against the wall and smiles quietly to himself.

[Trodon]

Angus
"Yes sir, I'll have him as soon as I can. You want me to "take care" of the driver? Or are you doing to handle it?" He takes the money and puts it in his wallet.

[-Sentinel-]

Angus

Brancati frowned.

"I might take care of this later, but first I need all the details. The man, Vittorio, is the one who called me to report his charge's death... He says the police just released him after questioning. I told him to fill you in. Here's his number."

He scrawled a number on a bit of paper and passed it to Angus.

[Trodon]

Angus
"Thank you, I'll get back to you soon." Angus takes the paper, then heads out of the club.

[Wargor]

Harry
"Right, we should probably get going, Josh, get the car ready. This is gonna be a long night." Harry takes a deep breath of the icy cold air before striding over to the car.

[-Sentinel-]

9:57 PM

(Opening credits. Theme song: Serenata (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4Jf6r6BU2A), by Immediate Music. Try to picture New York at night during winter. Gentle snow is falling, shoppers are going about their business with their bags full of Christmas gifts, homeless men sit on park benches, police sirens wail in the distance, etc. Even if you've never been in New York, you've seen it a thousand times in movies.)


Harry, Josh and Alex

Despite the new snow and the car's crappy four-season tires, it took Josh only one try to flawlessly park the huge NYPD Chevrolet Impala into a spot barely wide enough for it. The rookie was learning fast. They were in front of a lower-middle-class apartment building near the south end of Manhattan, not too pretty to look at but adorned with rather lavish Christmas decorations.

The three men stepped out of the car, entered the building and knocked on a surly old landlady's door. She became even more sullen when Harry presented his badge and asked to be allowed into Charles' room.

“He cause any trouble?” she grumbled. “Got nothing to do with whatever he did. He just keeps to himself.”

She opened the door to room 4 on second floor, let them in and closed behind them. Harry turned the light on. The apartment was rather shabby and disorderly, visibly the room of someone who had little time to clean up and did not expect to receive a whole lot of judgemental visitors. Old TV, old radio, old computer, dirty fridge with some food well past the expiry date... but nothing out of the ordinary at first glance, except that this looked more like the room of a college student than a 39-year-old.


OOC: Wits + Investigation tests for Harry and Josh, please. If Alex wants one too, he will have to let me roll it in secret since there is a possibility of a dramatic failure. (Alternatively, he can choose to look somewhere in particular, in which case an Investigation test may not be necessary.)


Angus

Around Christmas time, it was no easy task to find a spare cab in this part of New York, but Angus eventually managed. Sitting down on the back seat, he reached into his wallet looking for some bills that did not have Benjamin Franklin's face on it. His hand came out with a twenty-dollar bill and the slip of paper with Vittorio's number on it. Angus glanced at the Jamaican driver, who had turned the radio on and was singing Without Me (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RScYA_fBqKY) along with Eminem; he would most likely not be eavesdropping if Angus called the bodyguard who had failed to protect Foster.


OOC: Your choice, of course. Just making sure you don't overlook any options.


Gary

Gary was essentially a pragmatist, not a hero, but even he found it increasingly difficult to ignore Kyle's frightened supplications to let him go. Of course, he could not do so: if he did, not only would he lose an opportunity for advancement, but one of the most feared mob bosses in the city would be very annoyed. So he steeled himself and tried to listen to the music filtering from the other room rather than the prisoner's pleas. That bloody madman could be only faking after all... but there was no way to be sure.

After what felt like a very long time, a man knocked on the door of the back room and let himself in. He was tall and gaunt, with receding black hair and a thin scar along his jawline. Like many serious gangsters, he was dressed like a businessman or politician: tuxedo, tie and black shoes.

“So this is the kid,” he said in a slightly accented voice, his pale grey eyes falling on Kyle with absolutely no expression whatsoever. “The boss would like to see him alone. He's asking you to stay here until he's done. For your reward.”

He drew a small pistol and gestured at Kyle to follow him. The young man shrank back.

“No, please no, please no,” he whimpered, clinging to Gary.


OOC: Wits + Empathy test, please.

[Exthalion]

Alex at Appartment
Would you mind rolling an empathy test for me? My idea is that I might be able to determine something about his mental state based on his home. Like if he were agitated or just apathetic. Also, roll the investigation test. I will try to figure out when he was having various emotional states. Like if he only recently got agitated.

Search his computer first.

[Supercrazy DM]

Josh

Josh deftly weaves in and out of traffic while casually sipping his coffee. After smoothly parking he locks the car and walks in with Harry and Alex. As they begin searching the house he says " Gee I wonder what we will find here."

[Samfool]

Gary

[roll0]

Hopefully that rolled correctly..
if not, here:

[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

It worked ^^
Dont I get to roll another for the 10?

[-Sentinel-]

Harry, Josh and Alex

Josh was feeling rather tired by now, and his eyes only scanned the room distractedly without stopping on anything that might enlighten them. He opened a few drawers and looked under the bed, but found absolutely nothing suspicious.

Alex did not search the room at first: he only stood near the door and took it all in. His brother had always been a bit of a slob, but usually he at least tried to act responsibly when he was with a girl. The current state of this room, then, meant that his girlfriend (Sara, her name was) had not been here for a while.

The bed, he observed, was in such a state of disarray that it looked like Charles had a rather agitated sleep. He was having nightmares when he came back from Iraq, but supposedly it was over now...

Of course, this did not explain why Charles had murdered a man he had supposedly never met. With a sigh, Alex sat at the computer. Besides his university essays (Alex could not help but notice that the most recent ones were rather lazily written), there was little interesting stuff.

He stood up and paced around the room, his eyes going everywhere. There was a potted plant near the window, and the soil near the plant's stem seemed to have been recently disturbed. Alex dug his finger in it and found a small, transparent cylindrical container half-filled with a reddish-brown powder. It looked like chili powder. Even with the top on, it smelled somewhat acrid.


Gary

Gary noticed that the scarred man looked a bit... nervous, as if in a hurry.

"Come," he hissed at Kyle, visibly annoyed, flicking a glance over his shoulder at the Blue Room behind him. "Cooperate and you won't be harmed. You're making it harder for yourself."

[Samfool]

Gary


"You want me to toss em outta here?" Gary asks, not knowing what else to do.

[-Sentinel-]

Gary

"It's okay," grunted the scarred man, "he'll cooperate."

He walked over to Kyle and jammed the muzzle of his pistol under his jaw. The prisoner turned ashen-faced, but stopped struggling. He shakily got to his feet, apparently resigned to whatever unenviable fate awaited him.

"You just stay here," Scarface told Gary. "The boss will be here soon."


[hr]

Indeed, Brancati arrived no more than a minute later with his two bodyguards. The bulky mob boss took one long look inside the back room, his face mostly emotionless but for one bushy eyebrow that went up quizzically.

"I'm almost afraid to ask," he rumbled, "but where's the son of a bitch you were supposed to be guarding?"

[Exthalion]

Apartment
"Officers, this may be important. Since he went to the trouble of hiding it I think it may be important."

[Samfool]

Gary


"F-ck." Gary solemnly stated. "F-CK!" he blurted, a little louder this time.
"THAT LITTLE PIECE OF SH-T!"
Gary held his hands to his head.
"You mean you didn't send that f-cking guy? The one with the scar on his face?"
His face is as pale as his hair at this very moment. All this went to his head. He didnt f-cking think. And now this mobster is going to have his head for it.
"L-Let me go after him. I will kill the bastard myself.."

[Wargor]

Harry
Harry takes in the room with a practised eye, before striding round to make a more thorough investigation of it, looking for any small clues.


Wits + Investigation
[roll0]

[-Sentinel-]

Harry, Josh and Alex

Harry, just as tired as Josh, fared little than the rookie. He knew he could push himself pretty far if he wanted to, but he had his limits. He could no longer work sixty-hour weeks with the same ease as before.


Gary

Brancati frowned. He did not look angry, but there was sudden interest in his black eyes. He drew closer and shut the door to the backroom, taking one bodyguard inside and leaving one outside.

"Calm down, boy. A man with a scar on his face, you say? Can you describe him better?"

[Wargor]

Harry
Rubbing his tired eyes, Harry sighs. "I've got nothin." Hearing Alex's voice he glances over, and see's the young man holding the container of power. "What's that son? Any idea what it might be?"

[Samfool]

Gary

Taking a deep breath, Gary tried to recall the features of the man's face..

Rolling Memory Roll (Int+Comp+1 [Happened less than an hour ago])
[roll0]
OCC:
THREE sevens? Really? mehhh Rolling the 10 on the OCC Thread.

[Trodon]

Angus
Well, now is as good as any time to call. Angus pulls out his phone and calls the body guard.

[-Sentinel-]

Gary

Gary gave the mob boss a quick but precise description of the scarred man. Brancati listened intently, obviously taking mental notes, then turned to the bodyguard who had entered the back room with him:

"Antonio. Go ask the doorman, he remembers faces."

Without a word, the bodyguard turned and left the room. Brancati once more turned to Gary, his gaze lingering on him for an uncomfortable moment.

"That was... rather clumsy of you, young man," he said, his voice mild. "If you hadn't stopped that kid in the first place, you'd be in real trouble. As it is, I'm only a tad irritated. And getting rid of your body would be more trouble than it's worth." His black eyes bore a hole into Gary's face. "What's your name, white hair?"


OOC: A test was not really necessary, by the way.


Angus

Vittorio answered at the first ring. He sounded understandably nervous and spoke very quickly:

"Ah, yes... the murder? Never had a chance to stop it, it just happened too fast. One moment that guy was leaning against the wall, the next he had his gun in hand and was putting three bullets through Mr Foster. I've been in a lot of situations like this, and usually I can tell when someone's about to kill... I see murder in their eyes, just seconds before they act. Not then. He was just looking bored, even half-asleep, and suddenly he was shooting. Shooting like a pro, too. The cops say he's an ex-Marine."

"Now listen." His voice was troubled. "When I shot him, I was running on instinct, not stopping to think. But I still noticed something weird. Just after killing Mr Foster, he was holding his gun like he was about to shoot himself next. I never gave him five seconds, though... like I said, I just followed my training and shot him in the head. He's still technically alive."

[Samfool]

Gary


OCC:

Better safe than sorry

"Vaughn, Gary Vaughn" Gary whispered, a hard look on his face. He was afraid of the mobster's power, yes, but he was sure he was not going to die today.

[-Sentinel-]

Gary

"Okay, Mr Vaughn, listen. The scarred man came here to either rescue that Kyle fellow... or silence him permanently. Either way, it just proves that it's not an isolated incident. Kyle was part of some kind of group."

At this moment, Antonio came back and whispered something in Italian in his boss' ear. Brancati nodded, then gestured at his bodyguard in dismissal.

"Antonio informs me that no such man came through the front door," Brancati said as soon as they were alone again. "Meaning he came through a back door. All back doors are locked, so he must have been let in... or he had a key. One of my men was working with him, possibly against me."

He paced around the room. "Last night one of my warehouses was burned down... the one where we kept half a million dollars worth of cocaine. No outsider could have known about it. And tonight, my lawyer was shot dead in the street. Not a coincidence. I know I can't trust any of my own men anymore, so I must rely on other people, even naive and clueless cretins like you. Tell me, Mr Vaughn, what are you good at?"


OOC: Are the others waiting for me? Usually, after 2-3 days of inactivity, I think it's time to move the plot along.

[Exthalion]

Alex at Apartment
"I am sorry, but I am not a chemist. Have you encountered anything like it in your own work?"

[Supercrazy DM]

Josh

Josh wearily goes over he had been up for 16 hours and hadn't had his standard 3 cups of coffee for the day. Wearily he says I''m not sure, but the guys at the station might know. What about you Harry?"

OOC: Sorry for inactivity I had all country which sucked up my life.

[Wargor]

Harry

"I'm not sure, we should probably get someone down at the lab to analyse it, it might be important." He wearily rubs his face, before glancing round the room. "I say we give the place one more once over then move on, it never pays to be too careful." He does one more search of the apartment, just to make sure.

Is this alright? If not just ignore it.

[roll0]

Rolled d'6, I'll re-roll in OOC.:smallredface:

[-Sentinel-]

Harry, Josh and Alex

Harry's second search yielded little of any interest, except some signs suggesting that Charles Henderson was a rather lonely and slightly immature sort of person, someone not well-adapted to society. Rather, it was the absence of clues that puzzled the detective. It was as if this guy had decided one night to grab his gun, leave his apartment and murder a lawyer.

[Wargor]

Harry
"It just all seems so...random. No sign of any clues, nothing to point towards mob connections, it seems like he just went out and shot him on a whim. This kind of thing just doesn't happen."

[Samfool]

Gary

Gary was baffled. Was he really about to offer him a job? He just let the guy who tried to shoot up the club walk out the door. This was too good to be true, and 'Mr.Vaughn' was not about to walk blindly into a deal with this man.
"I can break a man's legs, disarm him, incapacitate him, kill him in two to three punches, and if all else fails, I have my pistol on my side."
Gary showed the pistol in the shoulder holster. And his face was hard as stone, trying not to show any emotion.
"If you want a man dead, I am your guy."

[Trodon]

Angus
"Technically alive, what do you mean?" This doesn't make any sense, he was going to shoot himself?]

[-Sentinel-]

Gary

"So you're saying you're a thug?" replied Brancati. "I have no shortage of these, most of them more experienced than you. The only reason why you still have all your teeth is that one of my own men's been working against me, and I need someone from the outside who can outsmart him. Think you can be that someone?"

OOC:
I'm currently trying to think of how to make Gary join the rest of the group in the main investigation. For Angus it's easy, but for Gary it's a bit harder. I hope I haven't written myself into as corner. Meh, I'll find a way. :smallwink:


Angus

"The killer's in a coma," Vittorio explained. "So we can't interrogate him. But you can probably find other leads if you ask... The boss told me you were going to pass for a cop, right?"


OOC: Anytime you're ready to move on to the crime scene, say so.

[Samfool]

Gary


OCC
I think I can help you out there ;D

"Experienced huh? Then why was I the one who caught the guy in the first place?" Gary said, very sternly, but not offensive in the least.
"That guy just about killed someone, and I let him walk right out the f-cking door. Let me go after him, and who ever he is working for. I know how this sh-t works ell enough to get around the systems and bull. Its not like I have not hunted down a man before. He will not get away with this, weather you send me or not. It will just take longer if you don't."

Vaughn's eyes were almost aglow. He hated that he f-cked up. He hated that this mobster saw him as 'just another thug'. He could snap their arm in about two seconds flat the way they clumsily charge at you. Gary has killed before, but this is different. That scar-faced f-ck stole his golden ticket.

This is personal.

[Exthalion]

Alex
"It does not just happen though. Human psychology is a complex blackbox at times, but that does not change the fact that it still has definitive inputs and outputs. Something happened, and I intend to find out what."

[Supercrazy DM]

Josh

Josh pauses for a second and then thinks out loud saying " What did you notice about your brother after he got back? Was he different at all?"

OOC: Is it legal for me to keep on investigating?

[Trodon]

Angus
"Yeah, I have everything for it." Angus said, not wanting to give away anything just in case the driver was listening in. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

[-Sentinel-]

Harry, Josh and Alexander

OOC: I think we have nearly exhausted the possibilities of the apartment. I will soon switch to the next day for everyone, so if you have other things to say or do here, now is the time.


Angus

"No, that's about all," answered Vittorio. "Good luck. Hey, if you succeed quickly, maybe the boss will even forget my failure."

[hr]

The crime scene was already getting cleaned up by the time Angus arrived. Only a few weary-looking cops were still around, and their task of keeping civilians at bay was much easier now that the absence of a body made the whole thing a lot less interesting to watch.

"Move along, sir, nothing to see," a young policewoman told Angus in a droning tone that suggested she had been saying this for hours.


Gary

"That's the spirit," said Brancati with a half smile that did not soften his piercing gaze. "Come back to me tomorrow morning at nine, here at the Room. It'll be closed, so we'll have some privacy. I might have a little job for you."


OOC: I'll soon switch to the next day for everyone, so don't make big plans for tonight.

[Trodon]

Angus

"I'm Michael Norton from the 23rd precinct." Angus says, showing the fake I.D. "I need to read the reports of the 20th precinct and see if I can be of any help."

[-Sentinel-]

Angus

The young cop frowned in polite puzzlement.

"Um... okaaaay," she said slowly. "But what does the 23rd precinct have to do with this case?"

[Trodon]

Angus

"I was sent here to see if there was a connection, a hobo burns one random warehouse and there happens to be remains of cocaine? That can't be a coincidence, someone's getting set up and I need to find out who and who set him/her up."

[-Sentinel-]

Angus

The other cop's eyes widened in understanding.

"Oh yeah, that warehouse. It was Brancati's, right? Yeah, might be a connection. Didn't think of it."

She stepped aside to let Angus walk past the police tape, but there was not much left to see except some blood on the snow.

"You're a bit late, though, we're cleaning up. If you need details on the murder, you'll have to ask Captain Borden... or Harry Mason, he's the one working on this case. Got their phone numbers."

[Trodon]

Angus

"Yeah, I'll need to talk to them, thank you. What do you know about this?" Angus asks.

[-Sentinel-]

Angus

"Here." The policewoman wrote down two numbers on her empty paper cup of coffee, that she gave to Angus. "Name's Susan, by the way."

She gave him the rundown of the events surrounding the murder. Angus already knew most of it: the killers waits on the sidewalk, shoots Foster three times as he exits the car, then gets shot in the head by Foster's driver and bodyguard.

"Weird thing is," Susan concluded, "the killer, Charles Henderson, had no known ties with organized crime or Mr Foster. You know how murders go: it takes means, motive and opportunity. Here, there was no obvious motive. That's what we're trying to find. Henderson won't be any help as long as he's in a coma. His parents and brother are as puzzled as the rest of us."

[Trodon]

Angus

"Thanks Susan." Angus gave her a quick smile and took out his phone, dialing the number for Captain Borden.

[Wargor]

Harry

"Cmon, we're done here. Let's get this down to the lab then catch some sleep. We got some people to talk to tomorrow."

[-Sentinel-]

Angus

"Borden," a gruff voice answered curtly.

[Trodon]

Angus

"Captain Borden this is Michael Norton from the 23rd precinct, Susan gave me your number and I'd like to talk to you about the murder near the corner of 8th Avenue, and the warehouse that he burnt.

[-Sentinel-]

Angus

Brief but heavy silence.

"Hmph. Yeah, nasty murder... and none of your precinct's business, as far as I know. What's this about the warehouse, anyway? I thought it was a homeless man who burned it."

[Trodon]

OOC: Sorry, didn't have an internet connection.

Angus

"Yeah he burnt it, then was found dead a couple of blocks away. I think he was paid to burn it down so the we would find the cocaine, then killed him so he can't testify." Angus rubbed his neck, then glanced around, seeing who was there.

[-Sentinel-]

Angus

"Maybe," conceded the captain noncommittally. "I take it your precinct sent you to lend a hand in this investigation, then?"

Only three cops were still at the crime scene. One was the young, dark-haired Susan, apparently the one giving the orders and not looking too comfortable doing it. Another was a thirtysomething Indian or Pakistani with a moustache, busily taking pictures of the blood-spattered blue Audi that had been Foster's car. The third was a short, stout man with receding brown hair who leaned idly against a lamppost with a cigarette between his teeth.

[Trodon]

Angus

"Yeah, I need to look at your precinct's files can you get them to me?"

[-Sentinel-]

Angus

The captain grunted a bit sourly.

"Listen, I'm one of the two men with the authority to let you see our files, but I must supervise you. Thing is, my shift's almost over and the other guy's on summer vacation." To Angus it sounded like an excuse to keep officers from other precincts out of this investigation. "Tomorrow morning would be much more convenient. If you need your info so badly, how about you call lieutenant Mason? He's the one working on the case."


OOC: I'm asking everyone to be patient. I'm trying to coordinate all players so we can move on to the next day at the same time. There's not much more left to do tonight, but tomorrow will bring new elements.

[Trodon]

Angus

"Okay, thank you." Angus hangs up the phone. I'll call lieutenant Mason in the morning.

[-Sentinel-]

Harry, Josh and Alexander
Harry carefully put the suspicious container of powder in a Ziploc bag and decided that the apartment held little of interest. Perhaps the killer's friends and family would reveal something interesting, but it was getting a bit late to call them.

The two officers and the student wordlessly left the room, walked back to the car and drove away. Watching the Christmas decorations and cheerful shoppers everywhere, it was hard for Alexander to accept that the world went on, uncaring.

Angus
Angus took a taxi back home. The young con artist was starting to have a mild headache and was thankful that this driver, at least, was considerate enough to keep his radio down. He needed to think: tomorrow the real work would begin.

He would have to do it fast, and he would have to do it well. Brancati did not tolerate failure.


Gary
Thankful to still be alive, Gary walked out of the Blue Room through the back door the scarred man had probably used, perhaps hoping against all hope to find some sort of clue to work with. There were tracks in the muddy snow of the backstreet, some of them recent, but they could belong to anyone. Many people must have come and gone over the last hour.

With a sigh, Gary called a taxi. Enough stress for tonight.


[hr]

December 21st, 8:11 AM


Harry
Taking breakfast alone was not fun when you were in your forties. As a general rule Harry did not like to be home. It felt empty, lonely. Perhaps that was why he insisted on working over sixty hours a week: he had nothing to go home to, except silence and regret.

This morning, the New York Times did not have much to say about Nathan Foster's murder, thanks to the police's efforts to downplay the crime and keep journalists from finding out too much. No mention was made of the lawyer's connection with the Sicilian mafia. The PR people at the NYPD were well aware that criminals were like sharks: if they smelled blood, they went into a frenzy. And God knew things were bad enough in everyday Manhattan without rumors of a new gang war.

Harry's cellphone rang.

“Borden,” came the captain's voice. “I need you at the post-surgery wing of Bellevue Hospital Center ten minutes ago. Yesterday's killer, Charles Henderson, was... murdered in his bed.” Something in his tone sounded strange, as if there was something he did not let on. “I left a message on Josh's phone. He'll be here too, if he knows what's good for him.”

Josh
When Josh sleepily walked into his kitchen for some Mini Wheats and coffee, there was a blinking red dot on his phone indicating that he had a new message.

“This is Borden,” came the captain's tense-sounding voice when Josh picked up the phone. “Get your ass to Bellevue Hospital Center, post-surgery wing, as quickly as you can. Foster's killer, Charles Henderson, has been murdered. Gonna call Mason now. Bye.”

Alexander
Alexander woke up on his couch with a start, a book still open in his lap, and sat there for a moment wondering just what had drawn him from his sleep so suddenly. Then he heard a polite but rather insistant rap on his apartment door. He got up, answered the door and found himself facing a bald, middle-aged cop who nervously held his cap in his hands.

“Mornin', sir, my name's Patrick,” he introduced himself, his voice grave. No title, no last name. Just Patrick. “Are you Mr. Alexander Henderson?”

He did not seem at ease to be here.


@ the others: I'm afraid Angus and Gary will have to wait for a bit, as I'm running out of time right now and I don't want to keep the others waiting. An update for you will come soon enough, possibly tomorrow. Assume that your characters sleep late.

[Wargor]

Harry
"Damn. I'll be there asap." Harry clicks off the phone and hastily wipes his mouth, hoping he hadn't left any sign of the bacon and egg's he'd just eaten. He grabs his suit jacked, slipping it on, as well as his scarf which he wraps round his neck, before pulling on his coat and donning his hat. With a quick scan round for anything forgotten, Harry slips out of the silent, soulless apartment and locks the door.

He hurries down the stairs and out into the freezing Winter morning, shivering as the cold air hits his face. He hurries to his beaten up old car and gets in, praying silently for the heater to work. He pulls away, heading for the hospital.


OOC:
Btw, did I drop the substance at the police lap in the downtime or do I still have it? Oh, and I took the liberty of giving myself a car as I wasn't sure how to handle getting there otherwise. If you have a suggestion that works better let me know.

[Exthalion]

Alexander
The chain was still on the door so that it couldn't be thrown open.

"Full name, badge number, and precinct."

His cell was in his hand, the number for the station already dialing. He hated texting, but one handed dialing was a useful skill at times.

[-Sentinel-]

Harry and Josh

It was hard to put police tape and control movement in a hospital, where space was limited and employees constantly had to hurry left and right. As a result, the crime scene was cramped and rather chaotic, but they had at least managed to keep journalists out. The half dozen officers worked in awed, horror-struck silence, talking only in whispers. Captain Borden himself, far from a faint-hearted rookie, looked like a shell-shocked Vietnam veteran. He greeted Harry and Josh with no more than a distracted nod, preferring to let them see the murder for themselves.

Charles Henderson had been assigned a small room for post-surgery care following the extraction of the bullet in his brain. He was plugged to all sorts of machines to keep him alive on the off-chance that he one day woke up. Of course, he never would now, not with his throat crudely slit to the spine. His blood was all over the bedsheets and floor.

He was not the only corpse in the room, though.

A young woman with violet-dyed hair, who could not have been more than twenty, was sprawled on the floor in a puddle of her own blood, right next to the bed. Her abdomen had been carved open savagely, exposing her intestines and several of her ribs. Her intense green eyes still stared at the ceiling, and... there was an unmistakeable smile on her face. She held a bloody kitchen knife in her hand.



Btw, did I drop the substance at the police lap in the downtime or do I still have it? Oh, and I took the liberty of giving myself a car as I wasn't sure how to handle getting there otherwise. If you have a suggestion that works better let me know.

You still have the substance. It was too late to go back to the station last night.

Yes, you can have a car.


Angus

Angus woke up a bit later than he had intended to: with the kind of money involved in this current job, he could not afford to waste too much time. What was he supposed to do, again? Oh yes, there was this 'colleague' from 23rd precinct, Harry Mason, who was working on the case of the murdered lawyer...


Alexander

The officer showed his badge. "Patrick Cooper. 23rd precinct." The same precinct as Harry and Josh. "Listen. It's about your brother Charles. He's been... murdered at the hospital, shortly after surgery."


Gary

The Blue Room would not open until 8 PM, so Gary had to knock at one of the back doors to go to his meeting with Luca Brancati. Tony, manager of the nightclub and one of the boss's money-launderers, answered him. He was an overweight, balding man with a short black beard and eyes that narrowed suspiciously at just about everyone.

"Ah. You," he said flatly, recognizing the young bouncer he had hired yesterday. "You here to get hired for another night, I'd wager? Can you come back later?"

[Wargor]

Harry

A look of utter revulsion crosses Harry's face as he takes in the vicious murder, and the young woman's disturbing death. "Jesus Christ." The profanity slips out uncontrollably, and he immediately feels guilty, almost as if his words were breaking some kind of solemn vow of silence that had befallen the crime scene.

He turns to the Captain, gathering his wits as best he can. "How the hell did this happen sir? And the woman, it couldn't be self inflicted, surely not."

[Samfool]

Gary


"Nah man, the boss wants to see me in private. Tell him the 'White Haired Kid' is here. He knows I am coming.." Gary muttered.

[Trodon]

Angus

Angus gets dressed and pull out his phone, calling Harry Mason.

[Exthalion]

Alexander
Please come in, and tell me everything.

Once you have done that, please tell me if there is anything I can do to help.

Forgive me if I seem cold, but this is how I deal with emotional trauma. Or not deal with it as my therapist tells me.

[-Sentinel-]

Harry and Josh

Borden jerked his thumb at a surveillance camera in the corridor, just outside the room.

"We watched the tapes. Mr Henderson was brought here after surgery at about 2:17 AM. The woman came in, alone, at 5:49. Less than a minute later, the alarm on Henderson's life support went off. When help arrived, Henderson was dead and the woman was dying. She's the only one who came in and did not come out. But... the suicide is strange, I'll grant you that. I've seen a lot of them, but never one like that. Usually they prefer quick, clean, painless ways."

"Her name was Michelle Logan, twenty-one. Was kicked out of New York University two months ago for cocaine possession. She worked part-time as a waitress. No known ties with Charles Henderson. I sent officers to tell her parents, her roommate and the Hendersons."

Harry's cellphone rang. The detective did not recognize the number appearing on the screen.


OOC: It's Angus, by the way, so you can include him in the spoiler tag for the conversation.


Alexander

"Right." Patrick Cooper entered the room and took a deep breath. Something in his stance showed that he did not intend to stay long. "It's, um, kind of strange. They extracted the bullet from your brother's head and put him on life support. A few hours ago, a young woman called Michelle Logan, aged about twenty, came in and... just cut your brother's throat with a kitchen knife. Then she committed suicide on the spot with the same knife. No one knows the motive. There's no link we can see between Charles Henderson, Michelle Logan and Nathan Foster, the man your brother killed yesterday."

"Do you wish to come to the hospital? Maybe you can help the officers."


Gary

Tony moodily closed the door, and locked it as noisily as possible as if to make a point. He came back a few minutes later.

"Right, get in," he said curtly.

The fat Sicilian escorted Gary through the seldom-seen back rooms of the nightclub. They looked much shabbier than the Blue Room itself; from here, it was hard to believe that this building was considered the trendiest place this side of Manhattan. Gary was led to a small, windowless room with unpainted concrete walls, exposed pipes and only a bare bulb for lighting. The only furniture was a table and two chairs. Luca Brancati already sat on one chair, drinking coffee. With a gesture, the mob boss invited Gary to sit down (there was another steaming cup of black coffee ready for him) and dismissed Tony.

"So," said the boss as soon as they were alone, "you ready for your first true job?"

His tone was soft, but something in his eyes told Gary that whether or not he was ready hardly mattered.

[Wargor]

Harry (+Angus)

"My god. What could drive a girl to do that to herself. Or do that to him either." Hearing his phone ring, Harry fumbles it out of his pocket, looking abashed. "Sorry Captain." Stepping out of the room he answers the phone, putting on his 'official' voice. "Harry Mason, who is this?"

[Exthalion]

Alex
"Yes, that would most likely be for the best. I'll get my coat. May I ask how she got into his room? I would assume he would have been under guard."

[Samfool]

Gary

"Lets hear it." Gary said, sitting down cautiously.

[Trodon]

Angus (& Harry)

"This is Michael Norton from the 20th precinct, Susan gave me your number, I'd like to talk to you about the warehouse burning and the suicide a block from that if you have a minute." Angus pulled out his NYPB badge checking "his" rank, just in case he needed to know.

[Wargor]

Harry (& Angus)

Harry's eyes narrow suspiciously, he had heard nothing of these crimes, and it always made him jumpy when someone he didn't know called claiming to be another officer. "20th Precinct eh? Can I have your badge number? Just to be thorough. Why don't you tell me what you know about the arson and the suicide, then I'll fill in anything as best I can."