Sunday Sept 3 - Langdon

[Gaffer]

Jamison wakes you about nine with the news that the weather is quite fine. He has drawn your bath and laid out your suit for church. When you return from services, there is a light lunch ready.

[Langdon]

<OOC: did you send me a PM? I got a notice that I had a new PM, but there was no PM to be seen>

"Erm... Jamison, I don't suppose you happened to write down what time I was supposed to meet Miss Hirt this evening?" I ask as I sit to eat.

[Gaffer]

"Yes,sir, the appointment is at seven o'clock, the 21 Club."

[quote="Langdon"]<OOC: did you send me a PM? I got a notice that I had a new PM, but there was no PM to be seen>

OOC,Yes, I sent to you as jabonko. Here's the text: Now's a good time to post your phone call in the "Sunday-Sept 3 - Dex" thread. Start it with: At noon, Dex's phone rings. Presume he answers and give him several sentences to work with. I'd like the whole thing to go no more than about a half dozen posts or so.

[Langdon]

After finishing the phone call with Dex, I sit and relax for a while. Over lunch I review my notes on what we've found:

Something about the Dimini cult? No... there was a "jee" sound in there. Yasmini? Yedziti? Damn, I should have written this down. Yezidi! That's it. And Mr. Hirt thought they were active in Red Hook for some reason.

There's our suspicions about Miss Hirt, but I'll have to think of ways to ask questions rather than accuse her. If she's not the real Miss Hirt she's not likely to admit it freely.

Then there's the whole business of the Gerritsens. I wonder if I'll bring that up? I suppose I could ask about them, as it seems any real Hirt would know them.

OOC,As a player I'm not great at these types of subtly-interrogating questions, so we may have to hand-wave it with a point of law (cross-examination), flattery or oral history (to loosen her tongue), or assess honesty (to hide the truth or pry it out of her). Also, I'm still a little fuzzy about all the information we've gathered and determining its relevance to Miss Hirt.

I spend the rest of the afternoon preparing for my meeting with Miss Hirt as if I were preparing for a court case. Occasionally my mind drifts back to preparations like this back in college for the Mock Trial club. Those were great years.

[Gaffer]

OOC,As well you might be.

Jamison lays out a conservative gray suit for you, one of your tailor's best efforts. Once you're dressed, he asks, "Shall I call down for a taxi, Sir? Or will you drive yourself?"

[Langdon]

"Call a taxi, please. I may be visiting a restaurant in an area of town I'd rather not leave the car."

[Gaffer]

The taxi pulls up in front of Club 21 a bit before seven. As you're paying the driver, you see Miss Hirt getting out of a red 1932 Ford Coupé with a dark man in a cap behind the wheel. She steps onto the sidewalk in a flurry of furs and silk and the car drives away. without noticing you, she passes into the club, favoring the doorman with a bright smile. You accidentally overtip the cabbie in your hurry to follow he.

In the lobby, she is chatting with the maitre d' when you approach. She turns to you and takes your extended hand in her slim fingers with a secretive smile. You get the impression that she almost leans forward to kiss your cheek. Soon you are seated at a rather secluded table in the dimly-lit dining room.

"I am so very grateful to you for meeting with me on such short notice, Mr. Vilas." Her eyes look troubled and earnest in the candle's glow. "All weekend I was preoccupied, wondering what you might have to tell me. That's why I returned early."

She orders a steak and asparagus with Hollandaise and a Rob Roy cocktail.

"It means so much to me to have a man of your distinction involved, Mr. Vilas. I was so uneasy trusting my secrets and family reputation to the police. But I feel that I can trust you implicitly."

[Langdon]

"Well it certainly is a pleasure to meet with you again Miss Hirt." I continue to make small talk "if only we'd met under better circumstances" and the like, in an attempt to feel out whether she's laying it on thick to disarm me.

When the waiter comes around I'll order the house special of the evening, with a vodka gimlet. "Extra lime please."

"Now. Miss Hirt. I don't mean to disturb you, but I feel I must get right down to business." I hope to take her a little by surprise by being so direct. "We have not found much information about your missing brother other than the obvious bits you already know. That he was living off an inheritance and it may have been running low. We looked into a little about his father's history, his company." I wonder if she'll notice I didn't refer to Mr. Hirt as her father. Maybe she'll give something away.

"We stopped by his apartment, but even his neighbors hadn't seen him lately. They did mention seeing someone there with a dog." I leave the reference undefined, hoping Miss Hirt will volunteer that she was there. And an explanation for it.

[Gaffer]

"Well, I thought you would be trying to find Alphonse, not prying into his affairs. That does not seem like much progress."

The waiter delivers your cocktails and Marlene takes a sip before continuing in a more conciliatory tone.

"I suppose it has only been two days. For me, I have been worried for so long.

“I thought I had mentioned that I was staying at Alphonse's apartment sometimes. And I did have a friend's dog for a couple of days while he was out of town, but I returned it this weekend.

“Believe me, I wish Alphonse had been more conservative in his use of Father's inheritance, or at least more productive with it. Still it is his money to use as he wishes."

Your meals arrive and Marlene begins eating and making conversation about the weather and such topics. As you await dessert, she smiles fondly at you (perhaps feeling the effect of her drink and her meal).

“I cannot tell you, Mr. Vilas, how your presence in this matter comforts me. I am sure the others are competent. But with someone like you, someone of obvious position and refinement. Let me be plain-spoken, someone of our class,” her eyes mist a bit and she reaches out to cover your hand with hers, “It means so much that I can rely on you.”

[Langdon]

"Well, Miss Hirt, I'm flattered. I really am." Is she coming on to me? Is it right to mingle, to fraternize, to date, a client in a situation like this? Wait a minute, is she serious or just fooling with me?. <Spend: Assess Honesty to try to determine her motives>

[Gaffer]

As the band in the other room strikes up All of Me, she turns toward it and smiles. “I wish we had time for a dance tonight, Mr. Vilas. I do love to dance and enjoy myself and fun has been a stranger to me lately. Perhaps later in this week? Who knows, Alphonse, maybe, will be back to go with us.”

She stifles a sob and begins to collect her things.

<You wouldn't say that she is lying, exactly; but maybe her concern isn't all sisterly love, Could she stand to inherit Alphonse's estate if he's found dead?>

As she gathers her belongings, you realize that it's after eight-thirty.

[Langdon]

"Miss Hirt, if you wouldn't mind waiting just one moment before you leave." Never one to rush a female from my presence, and not about to rudely run away from the lovely lady, I excuse myself, and hand a slip of paper to the man at the bar along with a dime and a dollar bill.

The Note,Please dial the <club where I'm supposed to meet Dex> and tell Dex that Langdon will arrive shortly, and not to worry.

I quickly return to the table to help Miss Hirt with her coat and escort her to her car.

"I must say, I've had quite a nice evening. And perhaps when all of this is over, we will go dancing."

[Gaffer]

As you rejoin her in the lobby, Marlene smiles appreciatively at the attentiveness and the comment.

"Perhaps, Mr. Vilas, we won't have to wait so long." She leans forward to lightly kiss Langdon's cheek and he is enveloped in the sweet muskiness of her perfume.

At the curb, her red coupe is waiting, the driver impervious to the remonstrations of the doorman. She gets in in a flurry of silk and furs and the car pulls away.

[Langdon]

"..." My mouth opens just slightly, but no words come. I shut it slowly as if swallowing some deliciously sweet dessert liqueur. Don't be stupid, Langdon. She's just glad you're helping her out. Funny how when I'm the one being chased it's so much less appealing. But still desirable.

With my head in a mist of perfume I wait for a taxi to take me to meet Dex.

[Gaffer]

As you turn to hail a cab, you see Dex coming toward you along the sidewalk.

[Continue in Sunday Sept 3 Evening - Dex and Langdon ]