Saturday Sept 2 evening - Dex & Langdon

[Gaffer]

Langdon’s car is parked right in front of Hirt’s building on Thomas Street when Dex drives up a bit after seven and parks about a half block down. The sun has set and the moon is rising; temperatures have dropped to the low sixties and autumn is clearly imminent.

Still, the block is fairly busy with people coming and going, especially around Trilby’s Hat (the cafe) and Simpkins’ Grocery. Over at The Book-Worm, the closed sign is up and Steve Malcolm can be glimpsed through the window, tidying up. Koslov’s Art is dark, but a light is on in an upstairs window. A couple is just coming down the steps at Hirt’s apartment building. Inside, the lobby lights are on, but there’s no sign of anyone in the lobby.

By the time Dex walks the half block, Langdon is out of his car, dressed in a long grey overcoat and a dark red scarf.

[Dexter Ford]

Dex pulls his jacket closed, hiding the shoulder holster with his .38 S&W revolver in it, and glances over at the building.

"Are you ready for this Langdon? Cause if you would rather not go in, you can always wait in the diner."

Dex will glance around the neighborhood while speaking to Langdon to see if anything sticks out of the norm. Anyone sitting in their car, watching the building, watching the pair of them?

(OOC edited the .45 auto for one of his two .38s that I said he was carrying on his character sheet.)

[Langdon]

"Ready for this?" I repeat, a little startled. "You make it seem so sinister! Do you expect us to find a room full of menacing figures, with bizarre headdresses, performing some sort of sacrificial rite? Ha!" I chuckle, recalling one of the many ridiculous stories I've read in the pulps. "I think I read that one, too, Dex."

I smile and get serious. "I'm ready to go in. But let's try to be civil. We're not after anybody. We're just looking for information. We're here to help, right?"

[Gaffer]

Dex will glance around the neighborhood while speaking to Langdon to see if anything sticks out of the norm. Anyone sitting in their car, watching the building, watching the pair of them?

Anyone staking out the building would have to be darn near invisible for you to miss them [Shadowing 10]. Langdon's sleek, gleaming automobile, however, is getting a number of admiring and envious glances.

[Dexter Ford]

"Ready for this?" I repeat, a little startled. "You make it seem so sinister! Do you expect us to find a room full of menacing figures, with bizarre headdresses, performing some sort of sacrificial rite? Ha!" I chuckle, recalling one of the many ridiculous stories I've read in the pulps. "I think I read that one, too, Dex."

I smile and get serious. "I'm ready to go in. But let's try to be civil. We're not after anybody. We're just looking for information. We're here to help, right?"

Dex nods at Langdon. "Sorry for the melodrama. I am sure this is a just a missing person's case. As long as Hirt isn't involved with gangsters or rum runners, it shouldn't be anything we have to worry about." Dex reaches into his pocket and hands Langdon the paper with the information copied on it that his partner left at the agency. "Some clues my partner managed to dig up while we were having lunch and running about the city ourselves. I sent a copy to Delores and to our colleague on the force." Dex looks both ways then crosses the street. "Do you know anything about the detective? He's been none too helpful in all of this. I'd argue he almost seems to want us to drop this and frankly, that makes me want to dig deeper."

Dex will check to see if anyone is coming in or out of the building. If yes, he will wait to slip in after them. If not, he will pull out his lockpicks and work on the front door, shielding what he is doing from the street.

[Dexter Ford]

The note handed to Langdon reads, as it does for all the others.

Langdon (or the appropriate name),

I am not sure this is of much help, but all pieces of the puzzle eventually prove useful.
Here is what my partner managed to dig up.

Marlene Hirt
Nothing much current
Manhattan ph. dir. - APpleton 5102 - 1288 Lexington Ave
Palatine Hirt left small fortune to her & brother Alphonse 1918
Robert Stanton executor & guardian
grad. Upper Darby Girls’ Acad. 1923
Eng. Lit. deg. Bennington 1927

Dex.

[Langdon]

"Detective Esposito? No. I don't know too much about him that I can recall."

I'm not too sure what to do so I just follow behind Dex, trying to look like a friend stopping by his friend's place and waiting for him to open the door.

[Gaffer]

There's no traffic in or out of the building just now. You notice a set of buttons beside the front door, each labeled with an apartment number. Through the glass doors, you can see that the dimly-lit foyer includes a row of twenty polished brass mailboxes for the residents, a pair of potted palms by the elevator and a front desk, now vacant.

[Dexter Ford]

Dex will use his lock picks to unlock the door rather than the ruse of ringing a buzzer until someone let's them in.

[Gaffer]

Dex will use his lock picks to unlock the door rather than the ruse of ringing a buzzer until someone let's them in.

<Make a Lockpick roll with a 5 difficulty (partly due to trying to look like an ordinary visitor/resident instead of someone crouched down picking a lock).>

[Dexter Ford]

Dex uses the lock picks and is a bit nervous with Langdon about and it seems the locks were changed fairly recently. Muttering. "Damn Elite Sentry locks. Who woulda thought they sprung for the Tiffany of locks?" He pulls out another lock pick, twists, jimmies and a bead a sweat falls down his brow. Luckily Dex hears the click of release. "It took me a minute or three, but I got it. I didn't realize that the lock was new when the doorman opened up for me earlier."

(Dex rolls a 2, then spends sufficient Locksmith to get the 5 needed. And after checking my sheet again, I have just enough points to do it. http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2346837/)

[Gaffer]

You're in!

[Dexter Ford]

Knowing what apartment Hirt is supposed to be in from checking out the mailboxes earlier, Dex will head for the service stairs and take them up to the floor that Hirt's apartment is located on. To Langdon. "We promised the detective we wouldn't break in, but let's knock on the door and see if anyone is at home, shall we?"

[Gaffer]

Langdon,[color=#800080][As he passes the row of mailboxes, [b]Langdon[/b] glances at them out of pure curiosity. He notices that there are several unclaimed letters behind the little glass window of Hirt's mailbox.] [/color]

[Langdon]

"Excuse me, Dex, but... the service stairs?" I cock an eye at him, thinking that if I were really going up to a friend's apartment we'd be taking the elevator or the main stairwell. Some of the thrill of this only-partly-legal investigation is starting to wear off, replaced by a nervous energy.

Private,I peak through the tiny window carefully, not opening the lid, trying to see if I can spot any dates on the mail inside.

[Gaffer]

Langdon,[color=#800080]The mailbox, of course, is locked and all that shows through the small window is the adressee information.[/color]

[Dexter Ford]

Having opened the door to the service stairs, he glances back at Langdon staring into the mailbox. "Okay, you have a point. Let us take the elevator and see what the more genteel way brings." He sighed and pushed the button to call the elevator. "Did you see anything in the mailbox of interest?"

[Langdon]

I shrug "Just some letters. I couldn't tell how long they'd been there..." I cut myself off and take a second look at the row of mailboxes. <Does anyone else's box have letters in it? Does it look like there is a lot of mail in Mr. Hirt's box?>

[Gaffer]

Hirt's mailbox looks like it is full of mail, the front envelopes pressed right up against the little window.. Most of the others are completely empty, a couple seem to have only one or two items.

[Langdon]

"Well... just shows I'm not a professional investigator" I chuckle to myself. Trying to maintain the image of a friend visiting a friend's apartment I chide "Dex, you really should check your mailbox more often. It looks like you haven't been home in weeks." It's clear I'm trying to be subtle and failing, as I look from Dex to Mr. Hirt's mailbox and back to Dex, clearly suggesting that Dex open the mailbox.