Sunday Sept 3 Evening - Dex and Langdon

[Langdon]

Langdon is really just along for the ride and way out of his element. If Dex points out something to him, asks him a question, he's there to answer and give it hisbest. But... when it comes to snooping through someone's room I'm at a loss.

"For a man supposedly living outside his means, this place doesn't seem that pricey. It is a little odd that he'd have a very nice rug and a real cheap one."

[Gaffer]

Quick scan through the closet in the entranceway. Signs it has already been rifled through?

It would be hard to tell, since it’s crammed full of too much stuff in too little space: a couple of overcoats, some hats, a duffle coat, old college textbooks, a box of assorted tools, a pair of mud-encrusted waders, overshoes & galoshes, a broken umbrella, a good umbrella, gift boxes, a lamp without a shade, a flashlight.
Langdon observes (Outdoorsman) that Hirt must have been tramping along a shoreline in the waders.

Notice state of shelves in the living room [ed.] compared to study.

In both rooms, it’s hard to reconcile (Library Use) the haphazard arrangement of some shelves -- few books that are carelessly stacked or fallen over, some turned the opposite way -- with other shelves neatly stocked, mostly with generic volumes like dictionaries, an encyclopedia set, an atlas, various sets of leatherbound classics – Shakespeare, Poe, Dickens, Twain, Stevenson, Kipling, etc. It seems incongruous, especially once you see Hirt’s very orderly bedroom.

In the study, check behind the prints on the wall for a safe of any sort. Especially behind the phantasmagorical one.

The phantasmagorical painting has not been hung, just leans against the wall, like a recent purchase. You find no safe anywhere in the apartment.
Langdon thinks (Art History) that the phantasmagorical painting is the work of a madman with its weird combination of modern design and Middle Eastern influences, many of the buildings physically impossible

OOC:   – or maybe a work of genius. Do the drawers in the desk appear like they should be that empty, or more like they have recently been cleaned out? Look for anything truly out of the ordinary that might have been missed if the place has already been ransacked. The two left-hand drawers are deeper and completely empty, except for a couple of paper clips at the back and some little chads of cardboard that fall off of new file folders. The three right-hand drawers contain a variety of office and stationary supplies – letter paper and envelopes embossed with Hirt’s name and address, stamps, paper clips, rubber bands, pencils, pens, ink, a magnifying glass, typewriter eraser and ribbons, paste and rubber cement, scissors. There’s an unwrapped ream of typing paper and part of another. The long center drawer holds a clutter of paper and notes – a reminder about dinner at the Harvard Club, a grocery list, the book of street maps of New York City, and a bill of sale from Koslov’s Art at 23 Thomas Street for a painting purchased on August 21 for $150. Langdon"It is a little odd that he'd have a very nice rug and a real cheap one." Ask Langdon if he knows anything about the Trilby's Hat, tossing him the matchbook. Trilby’s Hat is the nearby coffee shop you’ve both been to. Why is the kitchen door hard to open? Has it been forced? Just outside the kitchen door Dex spots (Evidence Collection) a torn scrap of fabric, probably the pocket from a tweed jacket. The hinges are damaged and the upper one loosened from the door. Something hit it hard. There’s a gouge on one cabinet door. There is nothing in the refrigerator but some soured milk. The bread in the bread box is moldy. The cupboards and drawers are filled with mundane articles. A carving knife is missing from the knife block on the counter. With the obvious backdoor window being broken (is it near a lock? is it obvious someone could have used that to get into the apartment? is there glass on the kitchen floor? The pane has been broken, but most pieces remain in place. It's at face height, not down near the knob and lock. A cold wind whistles through it, bearing an unwholesome odor. It smells like garbage. Or sewage. Or rotting flesh. There’s no broken glass on the kitchen floor, but several tiles are marred by four parallel grooves in the hard surface. Langdon only,He sees silvery light glow from the cracks in the glass. Looking through it, he momentarily beholds a nightmare city -– cyclopean black towers loom over misty streets, winged things flit through the air, and a terrible pale tower stretches into the heavens, forming a bridge between the city and the sickly yellowing alien moon in the discolored sky. This tower flickers in and out of vision. It's like the painting in the study has been animated. [color=#FF0000]Do you want to spend Stability points to try to avoid a 4 point loss?[/color] go over Hirt's bedroom more closely: checking closets, night stands, under the bed, etc. Nothing seems out of place or out of the ordinary, everything very neat and tidy. Clearly Hirt is a fastidious man. Dex notices (Evidence Collection) that the card used as a bookmark in The Thousand and One Nights is a business card.

[Dexter Ford]

Flicking the business card in one hand, Dex looks about. "Someone has been here before us, or at least my guess...which is the only reason everything is so topsy turvey in one part of this apartment, and neat, like a Doctor's office, in the other. Or there was a bit of struggle in the living room that ran into the kitchen." Dex shakes his head and glances back at the kitchen floor. He snaps the business card in his hand. "The business card seems to be for Hirt's agent, so we at least got something out of this." Dex will go back into the office and copy the name of the art gallery down onto the back of the card. He'll do two last things...check under the desk by getting on his hands and knees, and see if anything is taped on the underside of the desk, and make sure Langdon checks under Hirt's bed.

Before they head out Dex checks the kitchen floor marks, making some quick notes about the length of the marks etc. It's odd...something with claws dragged through the room. He shakes his head, squatting there, using the marker printed on the back of his detective's notebook to make a quick measure, and jotting down whatever measurements he makes. He will also check to see if there is something he might have missed, something not at eye level as he squats in the kitchen and looks back towards the living room.

[Langdon]

For Keeper Only,I'll spend one then make the test. Mind rolling the dice for me?

<I'm ready to be done with this scene, I think we've got plenty of information>

[Gaffer]

Langdon only,You made the Stability check (barely) and didn't lose any points, but you're disturbed by what must have been an hallucination.

When Dex returns to the kitchen, he finds Langdon still looking through the broken pane of glass.

I'm ready to be done with this. I think we've got plenty of information.

Langdon goes to the living room and waits by the door while Dex finishes up. The gouges are about two inches apart, six inches from right to left in total, and ran across three tiles for a total of about fifteen inches in length. When he squints through the broken pane, Dex just sees the back of the building across the alley.

Dex doesn't find anything concealed under the desk or bed and nothing more with a low level survey of the kitchen.

Langdon doesn't say much during the drive uptown, though he does agree they should get together with Esposito and Miss Brown tomorrow. He murmurs "Thanks, g'night." as he gets out of the car.

[SCENE]

OOC,You can go back to your separate Sunday threads to post any last thoughts on the day and let me know what you want to do Monday.

[Langdon]

Keeper only,I still lose the 1 point I spent on the Stability test, right?

[Gaffer]

Langdon,Yes.