Valentine Pilman - Kamchatka Guide

[Steerpike]

He moves over to the door and opens it for the militia, beckoning them in, he hands over the note to the tall officer
"My intruder left this along with...well go through to the Kitchen, you'll soon see"
Pilman escorts the officers into the Kitchen once more, but before following them in, he takes the time to usher little trip to his nook under the counter.

[Laraqua]

The Militsiya woman looks around and utters a short whistle. "They've really done a job on your kitchen, haven't they? You're not going to get that stink out in a hurry." He pokes his head back out into the corridor. "Muddy paw prints but no shoe prints ... did you let the dog in or was the back door open?"

[Steerpike]

"I came down and smelled it long before I saw it...I was thinking some foul drunk had collapsed outside the kitchen door. Then I came in and saw...when I got over the shock I realised that the door was open...and I do remember locking it the night before...Trip was wandering all over the Kitchen and the back court, he was highly distressed...whoever had broken in did it without alerting my dog...which makes me think I need to take him to the vet, in case the bastard doped him with something"

[Laraqua]

"That's probably quite likely," said the Militsiya woman. "Best to check that out. Can you think of anyone who might want to do this? Do you have any enemies? Been receiving any threatening mail or phone calls?"

[Steerpike]

Pilman nods slowly and retrieves the strange mail he had opened yesterday, along with the book

[Laraqua]

The Militsiya woman nods and takes a look over them. "Any idea who may have sent this letter?"

[Steerpike]

Pilman thinks long and hard about this one, before answering.
"The trouble is...that mountain has always brought out the kranks...i think its the same here...only this one went too far"

[Laraqua]

The Militsiya woman nods again. "You're the guide for the expedition?" She chews her bottom lip, as though deep in thought. A short while passes before she speaks again. "Have you been receiving any crank calls? Has anyone followed you? Approached you in the street?"

[Steerpike]

"Mikhail Lubov!" Pilman is slightly startled by how loudly he shouted the name. "Sorry officers, but although i have not been getting crank calls...I was approached by this man...he sent me a letter, wanted to me to take him and his family to the foothills region...was quite a bit of money as well...5000 roubles...I have his letter here and the contact number"
Valentine again leaves the kitchen and retrieves the letter sent by Lubov and then hands it over to the officer.

[Laraqua]

"That's a possibility," she said, her face unreadable. "It may also be a coincidence. You do know, of course, that the expedition got quite specific permissions to scale that mountain... From what I've heard, it's still out-of-bounds to most. Still, I'll take down a copy of his details. Has anything been stolen? Anything missing? Otherwise broken?"

[Steerpike]

"Well I told Lubov this and that the Geysers were out of bounds after the mudslides...I was to take him to the foothills..nothing more...he wanted to bring his family with him....but as for anything being stolen...I haven't had a chance to check...I called you straight away"

[Laraqua]

She frowns. "I know there's a lot of money to be made by escorting people up there with the current publicity ... but it's illegal. If you get caught, you'll be looking at jail time. As to not touching anything, that's wise. A lot of people get so emotional they start searching the place over, ruin any and all evidence in their haste. I'll be straight with you, our department isn't going to check these for fingerprints. We don't do that for trespass, harassment or ... this level of property damage. If you bag this evidence yourself, though, and keep a diary indicating all the dates and times of this sort of occurrence ... threatening letters ... things like that, then if this escalates, we'll then have a place to start."

[Steerpike]

"Sure, of course...i had no idea that even the foothills were totally out of bounds...I'll let Lubov know and I'll have a look over the house and store to see if anythings gone. I'll keep this note, and take a photo of the bird, but I'm not keeping it in the house"

[Laraqua]

"Well, I don't know what the actual boundaries are, but if you're planning on going, you'd best make sure. I didn't mean you should keep the, uh, carcasses as evidence. Just things like the note. Keep a log and keep us updated if anything more happens. We'll check with the neighbors to see if they've seen or heard anything."

[Steerpike]

Pilman sees the officers out promising to keep in touch and to check about legal boundaries...when the door closes, He goes through to clean out the Kitchen, disposing of his present and giving the place a good airing out.

*ooc*
Valentine will then phone the authorities to discover how far he can take Lubov...if the entire area is out of bounds he will waste no time in contacting Lubov and cancelling the trip.
He will also have a good look around the house to check for other presents or signs that things have been removed...paranoid he even checks the phones

[Laraqua]

The authorities reveal that he can walk around the base of the mountain and take photographs but the foothills themselves are out of bounds without proper, written permission from the right government departments. There don't appear to be any further presents or signs of items being moved. The phones don't appear to be tampered with.

[Steerpike]

He hangs up and then rings up Lubov to tell the man that there has been a change in plan...The family outing will be to the base of the mountain only, no trip to the foothills and certainly no trip to the geyser, which after the mudslide is very much out of bounds. To soften the blow, Pilman informs Lubov that he cannot accept the fee agreed, and feels that only half should be paid.

[Laraqua]

Lubov acknowledges Pilman's words with a grunt and a sigh. "I'll tell the kids. Still, thanks for sorting that out. The last thing I want to do is have any trouble with the law."

The moment Lubov puts the phone down, it rings. There is also a knock on the door, a moment later.

[Steerpike]

Valentine curses under his breath and goes towards the door thinking that if its his night visitor come to gloat, he is going to knock his block off
"Ah what am I thinking, I'm never that lucky" He opens the door....

[Laraqua]

Leaving the ringing phone behind, he opens the door to see a disheveled man covered in a multitude of scratches, cuts and grazes whose nose appears to have been broken at least thrice in the past. His greasy brown hair hangs before his face and down around his ears toward his chin. His round face has sprouts of bum fluff poking out at all angles. His blue-gray eyes, on the other hand, appear bright and intelligent, though they roam around, checking all corners and movement, as though searching for something.

"M-Mr. Pilman?" asks the strange man.