Play@YSDC

Monday, March 13, 1922
around 10:30
Providence, Rhode Island

You enter the City Hall, a white and gray three story building. You try to locate what you are looking for on the room index. The only thing passing as useful seems to be the Hall of Records on the basement floor. You make your way there asking the clerk for directions.

Downstairs you encounter three pairs of doors. Two are the lavatories, amd the third is clearly the one you are looking for. You enter. A slightly bored skinny greying man in large glasses sits behind a desk by the door.

"May I help you?"

Karl Werner

"Good Morning," Karl says, holding the door for Pearl,"We are interested in all of the records on the property at 34 Narrow Lane. Can you help us?"

He steps up to the counter and smiles his best smile at the clerk, removing his gloves and placing his hat on the counter.

"Yes of course, you might try looking in the Court Files, right over there." He points you in a direction that encompasses a quarter of the floor. "Ah, you'll have trouble locating them. Let me take you there."

You follow him to a row of bookshelves labeled "Court Files". Wishing you good luck he returns to his post. That's a lot of files... you both find yourself thinking the same.

Karl Werner

Karl looks at the many file cases and nudges Pearl with his elbow.

"Time for you to work a bit of feminine magic on this fellow and get him to do our legwork, eh? Wait here and smile when he looks your way."

Crossing to the counter, he offers the fellow a cigarette from his gold-plated case.

"I'm also interested in property records, approved building plans, and the like. I take it such non-court files are kept in another office. Could you direct me there?" A five-dollar bill appears folded between his fingers.

"Also, my secretary could use your help locating any relevant court records." He lowers his voice and leans in conspiratorially, "I'm afraid her skills were not paramount in my mind when I hired her." He raises his eyebrows and looks in Pearl's direction.

"No smoking in here sir. You should know better. Put that away please." he pionts at the sign on the door.

He takes the proferred $5. "You might want to try the Main Library a few blocks down."

"It can't be that hard, it's all in alphabetical order. I'm sorry, I have work to do."

Karl Werner

Karl's smile tightens as he closes his lighter and case and stows them in his pockets.

"My apology. I guess $5.00 doesn't buy as much public service as it used to. What is your name again?"

Having gotten the man's name, Karl and Pearl search the records for whatever they can find about the property, including past and current owners, court judgments (liens, foreclosures, etc.), zoning matters, and the like.

D100: 50 for Library Use (25%)

[Spoiler-Button]http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2337335/ 35% Yay![/Spoiler-Button]

Pearl whilst looking through the records notes some references she may return to later. Everytime the clerk looks over to her she puts her helpless and lost look on and flutters her eyelashes in the best seductive manner.

Pearl,While glimpsing at the clearly uninterested clerk that's scribbling away frantically at some paperwork, you look through the files. You come to the realisation that these are just civil records, there are only various peoples names on the folders. You manage to find a file on the Macario family. It discusses to whom the care of two of the Macario's children would be given, as the parents have been institutionalized in Roxbury Sanitarium. The children are living with an Aunt in Baltimore, Maryland.

concerning rolls,I'll do the rolls at home using dice. If you want to roll for something that I miss, just write please

<ooc - I take it I have to wait for Pearl to tell me what she's learned.>

"Hey there Karl, do you know the way to the Roxbury Sanitarium?" Pearl asks with a smile on her face. "It seems the Macario Kids got shipped to an Aunt in Baltimore when mom and pops were sectioned at Roxbury. The rest of these seem to be all civil records, I doubt we'd find much else of interest here"

Karl Werner

"Roxbury's too far to go before we have to meet the others. Let's try the library, then maybe the newspaper."

As Karl turns to go, he accidentally knocks a stack of files to the floor, scattering the papers widely. As he tries to straighten them up, he accidentally mixes them all together. He turns to the clerk with a smile.

"Oh, I am so sorry. I seem to have made a lot of extra work for you."

Whistling, he offers Pearl his arm and they exit the building.

"No problem sir, I'll take care of it." Clearly the $5 were worth more than some spilled papers.

You make your way to the library. An old librarian greets you with her unhappy toady smile.
"May I help you?" she croaks running her eyes all over Pearl from behind her horn rimmed glasses. She turns her gaze to Karl and tries her best to ignore Pearl.

Karl Werner

"Good morning, dear lady. I am Karl Werner." says Karl with a confident smile, "My associate, Miss Wealstone, and I are doing research on a local property and the people connected with it. Could you show us where the library would keep any records of that type? And perhaps you could help us to navigate the intricacies which I am sure you know like the back of your hand."

Karl,Fast Talk [45] = 4

"Charmed Mr. Werner. Please, call me Brunhilda. Yes, I happen to know my way around the library better than anyone else. I'll gladly take you to the newspaper section. You know, ever since the fire in 1878, we have the oldest selection of newspapers in town.

She comes out from behind the counter asking some assistant to take her place. Karl takes the cue and offers her his hand. She graciously accepts. Pearl just sniffs under her nose and follows the couple.

You meander thought the library going deeper and deeper in until you reach a place where the smell of dusty parchment fills the air. The shelves are stacked with old newspapers dating back to the eighteen twenties.

Pearl
This might take a while. Do we have enough time? I think it's about 11, and we have a rendesvous at 1.

Karl Werner

"Well, let's make a start and see how much we find. We should at least be able to find the most recent reports in the next hour or so."

Concentrating on the "paper of record" and starting with the edition six months back, Karl takes each paper in turn and scans quickly over the front page and the back page, the legal notices, the police reports, the obituaries and generally glances over everything else except for the advertising sections and the classified advertisements. Then he passes it to Pearl to do the same thing, in case he misses anything.

[D100 for Library Use (25): 78]

Brunhilda
You know Mr. Werner, it would probably be much easier for you to search in the newspapers as they have everything sorted by address, which I can't say about our records. I suggest searching for the older information here, the sixties and earlier.

I will roll for pearl tomorrow. don't want to wake the wife with the tumbling dice. link your rolls please, or you can let me do them(I'd prefer that). This continues in OOC thread

Pearl Library Use [50] = 32

Karl somehow finds himself distracted and can't immerse himself into the old newspapers. Brunhilda decides to return to her work but asks you to call on her if you need her. Adter she takes her leave, Pearl seems to unwind and dives into the stacks of old parchment. Time flies and as Karl feels hoplessly lost in the old news, while Pearl's methodology seems to be very good.

Pearl
I think I'm onto something. Could you go meet the boys while I continue here, please? She asks Karl without raising her head from the newspapers.

It's nowhere near 1PM, but perhaps they finished their task early and could help out here.

Karl Werner

Karl finds that he is getting quite peckish, as long as the girl is offering...

"Well, if you're certain you'll be alright on your own," he whispers as he gathers up his accoutrement, "Can I order anything for you?" Once he has everything, he crosses to the front desk.

"Miss Brunhilde," he puts a German gloss on her name, "My assistant will be remaining to continue her efforts. I, unfortunately, must return to more mundane labors. My work? I am publisher of a monthly magazine, perhaps you have it here, The Seer. Let me give you my card. If the library does not subscribe, or if you would like a personal subscription, please write me at this address. And for a mere dollar a month, you can become a member of our exclusive organization, The Seer Society. Again, my great thanks for your assistance today." And he takes her hand, bending over it in a most continental manner. Another smile and he is through the doors, lighting a cigarette and strolling down the street, thinking of lunch.

OOC to Pearl: in a few hours, yes. She's definitely on to something, but there are just so many files.

Karl makes his way to the Town Hall.

<ooc - Karl is on his way to meet the others at the cafe. We've done City Hall/Town Hall. right?>

Pearl, her face streakes with smudged ink feels that she is finally getting somewhere, all this paperwork though it is so confusingly filed. "Now I ain't no secretary - but I think might be able to do better than this system ... but this keeps cropping up ..." she mumbles to herself.