Play@YSDC

Delores acts instintively and sticks out a foot to try and trip the running man as he barrels down the stairway.

OOC,one point spend on Scuffle please. [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2720760/]Nice trip? (1d6=5)[/url] Drat! :(

As the man clatters to the foot of the stairs, Langdon steps manfully to the fore, "Stop right there, fellow," he pipes, "I want a word with you."

The man growls, "Out of my way, you." and swings his bundle up, the corner catching Langdon under the chin with a dull clunk! sending the young man sprawling. Distracted, the man fails to notice Delores's foot thrust deftly between his own. In a trice, he is on his face on the pavement, his bundle collapsing with a sharp snack beneath him.

Dex emerges from the stairway a moment later.

Dex simple cocks the hammer of his automatic and speaks very softly.
"If you don't want to remain on the floor permanently, keep your hands away from the package and don't move."
He motions for Delores to pick up the package and gives Langdon a hand if necessary.
If the guys so much as looks like he is going to get up, Dex will shoot him, preferably in the thigh, somewhere that hurts but probably won't kill him immediately.

The big man lies still, spreading his fingers on the sidewalk. Langdon rises unsteadily to his feet. With some tugging, Delores is able to pull the parcel from under the man. The corner of a picture frame juts through the torn paper.

"If is rubbery," the man groans in a heavy Slavic accent, "My vallet iss in my heep po-cket. Bad luck for hyu, hit iss empty. Hyu shuld heff stick-ed me oop when I return-ed.

Delores pulls at the torn paper, exposing more of the picture, almost dreading what she might find. "Where were you heading?" she asks.

The guy turns his head to see what Delores is doing with the paper, "Iss hit moch demaged, my pro-perty? Are you int-erested in buyink, perhops?"

Delores tears away enough of the wrapping to determine that it is, indeed, the painting.

"Eff we are goink to tawk busy-ness, per-hops we should be goink into my shop," he continues, "We will be more com-fort-able end there iss less chance Offy-cer Grancher comes alonk end shoots man holdink gon to head off respectable busy-ness man, da?"

Dex pockets his pistol and yet keeps a hold of it. Stupid to shoot through one's coat, but effect nevertheless for concealing a weapon. He stands back from the man to let him up. "Just remember, if you run, I will shoot you. I'll deal with the cops later." He looks at Delores and at Langdon, and then motions the man to head back into his shop. "Why the hell did your run from me in the first place? You could have just spoken to us when you noticed us in the street."

The guy stands up and dusts himself off. Across the street, Joe Makropolos, owner of Trilby's Hat is standing in his doorway, "Everything okay, Jerry?"

"Sure, sure," comes the reply. "I trip-ped is all." He leads the way into the shop.

Inside, he flips on a light, saying "I'm Jerry Koslov, ass I presume hyu know." The walls are mostly covered with paintings in a variety of styles - faux-primitif, Dada-esque, Surreal-ish - none of it looks very good. A couple of bookcases hold objets d'art of varying levels of talent, few of them better than mediocre. Koslov lays the painting on an empty table and peeks under the paper, then flips it over and strips away the paper and cord (the back is facing up). One corner of the frame has come apart. Koslov sighs heavily.

"As to why I am runnink from hyu... I t'ought hyu was bill-collectors or agents uff my lendlord. Dis is goink to cost moneys to repair that I ain't got," he says, looking at Dex, "Hyu broke it, so hyu should pay, da? I got customer for dis."

Koslov looks at each of the others, annoyed that no one takes him up on his proposal, "Come, come, let us be reas-onable. I don't want to call police and tell them that I was ass-aulted by Miss Delores Brown of the Wor-uld-Telegram end her associates. I estimate my damages are no more than fifty dol-lar. An insig-nificant amount for a great metro-pol-itan newspaper, da?" He smiles a very smug smile.

Delores,[color=#FF4000] You remember leaving your card yesterday.[/color]

"Listen buddy, we can play this two ways. The easy way or the hard way." Dex taps the pistol in his pocket. "It'd be three of us against you, so don't be stupid. Answer our questions, and we will consider perhaps reimbursing you for any damage. Otherwise, I can see there being a lot more discussion that might take place before we get to any money changing hands."

Delores puts a hand on Dex's arm. Koslov seems to be ready to talk, so there is no reason to threaten him. "The picture?" she says, turning to the store keeper, "Where did you get it? And where are you taking it?"

"Ahhhh..." Koslov smiles smugly, laying a finger beside his nose, "Is this wery painting hyu are int-erested in. I see.

"Is called 'Within the Walls of Sacred Irem' and was painted by Ear-nest Mo-rris, a tragic young artist of this city, now unfortunately lost to us. As to where I am takink it... Why, to a customer, of course. So I am unable to sell it to hyu. Onless hyu are prepared to offer a wery great amount of money. Which - I must say - seems doubtful."


Chuckling, he says, "Now I would like my fifty dollar and to say good day to hyu. I must repair frame and get across town. Good-bye!"

Dex looks at Delores and her restraining hand, and then nods. He glances back at the art dealer and speaks very slowly. "The only reason you aren't laid out on the floor at the moment is because the lady here seems to think you aren't a wise ass. I am highly skeptical of that conclusion and highly doubtful you want try to jerk us around. So why don't you prove me wrong and tell me who the customer is, or I am afraid I'll have to disappoint my lady friend here."

Dex reaches into his wallet and puts five $10 bills down on the counter (which pretty much empties his wallet, but the guy doesn't need to know that). Dex just shakes his head.
"Here it is in black and white, my friend." Dex looks at the man and places two fingers on the money, pushing towards the gentleman, but not letting him touch it. "You have a choice: give up the client's name, take your money, go on about your life. Forget we were ever here. Or, I take my bills back, call the police, who I know very well, and have them bring you in for kidnapping and they charge you as an accessory after the fact to murder." He calmly looks at the man, as serious as he can be. "See someone is dead, and all the leads come to you and your client. So you can go to Sing Sing for the next 25 years, or you can give us a name, and take your money. The later sounds like a win for you. The other option...how long do you think you might last in the Big House?"

OOC: I'll make an Interrogation spend if I have to.

Delores stands back, staring at flatly at Koslov, willing him to take the money and start talking.

Koslov frowns for a long time, his eyes never leaving Dex's five tens. Finally, he heaves a deep sigh.

"Ho-kay, I will tell hyu all I know, but I expec' to get that money.

"I don't know who my customer is. I am to take painting to a lawyer end he will giff me two-hun'red fifty dollar. I dun't know eefen where customer is, maybe not this city or country eefen.

"Let me fix frame end hyu can go with me to lawyer's office. When i haff my money from him, hyu can go in end tell him hyu follow-ed me. That way I cannot be blam-ed. Hyu agree?"

He looks hopefully from face to face, his eyes pleading.

"Who's the lawyer?" asked Delores, "Where's the meet?"

Koslov ponders for a moment. Dex can see him weighing his options. He shrugs and blows out a dramatic, Slavic sigh, muttering something none of you understand.

"Very well, the lawyer is Claude Raymond. Office is on Fulton Street, not far." With that, he picks up the fifty dollars, picks up the painting and marches back to his workshop. Within minutes, he has repaired the frame (carefully not looking at the painting. He re-wraps it and places his hat on his head.

"I am ready. Someone get a cab."