Play@YSDC

[Post here for Flannigan's etc.]

"Dex! Good to see you. Hope I didn't worry you. Dinner with Miss Hirt went quite well." The smile on my face is plain as day and Dex recognizes it as that goofy smile a guy gets when a dame shows just enough interest.

Dex shakes his head with a smile. "Up for a drink at Flannigan's bar and quick recounting of what you learned from skir...Ms Hirt?"

"It might not be much of a conversation... She didn't give up much information." I chuckle as we arrive at Flannigan's. I order a round for the two of us.

As I sip my beer, "Y'know, Dex, I've seen plenty of women and she just strikes me as being the lonely lady. I'm sure you know the kind. She loses her brother, her father, her friend, her dog... and she goes looking for a friend."

I take another swig between each sentence. "What did I tell her? Not much! She didn't even press the issue! Here's a lady who's just hired us to find her brother, sounding desperate, and I didn't think of it until just now, but she seemed one cool customer at dinner. She seemed more interested in..."

I clear my throat, "Sorry. What I mean is, I told her we'd visited her brother's apartment and didn't find out anything except that a lady visited with a dog. She said that was her and her dog. Then she went on about how she shouldn't have expected us to find anything so soon and maybe when this is all over we can go out dancing." I give Dex a nudge and get up to get two more beers.

Dex listens attentively, then gets up and orders two more beers, as well as two shots of a fine Irish whiskey. He places the round down on the table, and throws back the shot. "Slainte, or to your health as my father would say."

"Okay, so the dame was a cool customer and didn't expect us to find much. I am not even sure what she expected us to find at her 'brother's' apartment. Heck, did you even find out anymore if she is the real Miss Hirt, or is she still pulling our chains? Did she seem genuinely upset with her brother missing, or was she looking for something else?"

After all those, I shrug a little more to the left than I meant to. "Ehhh.... she got all teary eyed when that song came on...Alllll of meeee... why not take allll of meeee... You know the song, right? I figure she's pulling us around, but heck, she can pull my chain if she wants."

Dex laughs. "Langdon, as long as she isn't playing you for a patsy, enjoy yourself. She just reminds me of someone I once met connected with the mob in Chicago. What did my partner call that dame?" He snaps his fingers. "A black widow. Pretty to look at, but with a deadly bite. So just watch yourself if you take her dancing."

Drinking up a bit more beer. "Since we still don't know more than we did before this little shindig, I am still tempted to give Mr. Hirt's flat a more thorough going over. I wonder...." He goes off into thought for a moment. "I am surprised we haven't heard from Delores. I mean, I can understand the detective not contacting us, but I would have thought she might have been curious."

"Dolores? I hope we didn't send her to look into something more dangerous than we were looking into!" I chuckle.

"For some reason I think Delores can more than handle herself. Razor wit and sharper tongue being her primary weapons, from what little interaction I have had with her." Dex sips his beer for a moment. "You know, to be honest, we have kinda reached a dead end in our investigations, besides my going back and letting myself into Hirt's apartment for a look see. I am not worried about the police bothering me, since I have been hired by a Miss Hirt, even if she is not the real Miss Hirt. Hell, I am tempted to head over there tonight, especially since all the book reading I have done has given me a bit of headache. If you want a copy of what I discovered, I can give you the notes tomorrow. But I like to think I am a man of action and I have had my share of sitting about during my days with the Prohibition Bureau waiting for raids. Every since my wife and daughter passed on, I can't stand waiting..."

OOC, depending on Langdon's response, Dex will either spend some time with Langdon discussing their next step, or excuse himself to head back to Hirt's apartment building and do some snooping around.

"Maybe it's the whiskey, or the beer, or both, but..." I lower my voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "... I say we check out his apartment."

I straighten up, smiling like a politician, rising to my feet with the grace of a man who practices his podium-approaches at the sink mirror every night before bed. I drop enough money on the table to cover the bill, plus a little extra, and nod to Dex. "Shall we?"

<OOC: I'm willing to make a spend to show that although Langdon can let himself get a little loose on a couple beers, he's with it, and maybe only slightly less-coordinated than he'd be completely sober>

It's a short walk from Flannigan's to Dex's Model A, though the sidewalks are still thronged. The streets are pretty crowded in the vicinity of Club 21 and the other clubs and restaurants, but as they head downtown the traffic thins. It's a bit chilly, but the almost-full moon floats in a clear sky.

It's after nine o'clock when Dex passes by 8 Thomas Street and pulls in to the curb. Although the crowd at Trilby's Hat seems to be going strong, all the other businesses on the block are closed and many of the residences are dark. Only a couple of windows in Hirt's building show light and the lobby is only dimly lit.

OOC,[color=#FF8000]Let me know what you intend on this visit. I don't want to rush things, but I don't want to keep others waiting too long to begin Monday's threads.[/color]

Dex has a set of lockpicks in his car, buried inside a small tool bag he carries around. Call it an emergency kit for a detective. Once they arrive outside the building, Dex will inform Langdon that they are going to leave the mailbox alone. "That is a federal offense. I don't intend to have the Postmaster General on my case, and I don't think anything in it could be too important. If it comes to it, I will find the local postmaster and see if I can pull some strings to get access to the mail, at least a looksee what is in the box. Tonight, we are just going to let ourselves into Mr. Hirt's apartment, search the place for anything obvious. An easy in and out, no problems expected course of action."

If Langdon appears a bit nervous, Dex will hand over a small silver flask of Irish whiskey for Langdon to take a nip from "to steel the nerves."

Dex has little trouble picking the front door lock this time, since he's familiar with it. The lobby is very quiet, your footsteps muffled by the carpet. The elevator indicator is on the fourth floor.

I have no reason to think otherwise <OOC: no sense trouble> so I press the elevator call button and wait. When we get up to the apartment, I plan to take a bureaucrat's and accountant's look through Hirt's papers. There's been so much mention of money, I'm sure I can find something.

The elevator dings and the doors open. "Good evening," a young man in a topcoat and fedora nods and smiles as he walks past you and out the lobby doors. The ride to the third floor is smooth and silent. You step into a softly carpeted foyer, tastefully appointed with dimly-lit sconces and a small table holding fresh flowers.

There is no response to the door bell for Apartment 302, so Dex kneels and twirls his "tools" in the standard lock, popping the catch open in less than a minute. Dex and Langdon step inside and close the door.

Before the man in the fedora leaves, Dex will look him over quickly, hoping to notice anything out the norm: bulge under his jacket, muddy shoes, the usual signs that he might not be part of those supposed to live in the building? If nothing, he will shake his head and head into the elevator. Once they are in Hirt's apartment, he has two things he wants to check:
1) a quick search to see if there is a safe of any kind (checking nightstands, behind paintings, etc.)
2) a quick scan over the bookshelves to see if there are any more books or anything that stands out as connected to this strange cult he is connected with.

Dex will make sure the door to the apartment is closed behind them, and he will pull out two small flashlights from his kit, handing one to Langdon. However, he will turn on a few lights, believing it will be less suspicious than if flashing lights from their flashlights were seen through windows.

The young man looked like a fellow who had just dropped off his girlfriend. Nothing about him alerted your investigative instincts.

OOC,I'll give you what you see at a quick glance around the rooms. You'll have to tell me what you want to look at more carefully.

When you flip on the lights, you see a closet door beside the entrance. The living room is tastefully furnished with a sofa and armchairs, a couple of brass lamps on end-tables, and a big radio cabinet. There are two tall bookshelves along one wall, a small number of books carelessly stacked or fallen over and a picture frame face-down on one of the shelves. A stiff new rug is underfoot. [Langdon thinks it's rather cheap.]

The study is very masculine with extensive cherry bookcases and a large matching desk with a typewriter on a stand and a leather swivel chair. An antique Persian carpet covers the floor. [Langdon notes that it is quite expensive.] There are several hunt prints on the walls and, leaning against one wall, a framed painting that depicts a phantasmagorical city, dominated by a pale tower against a black sky.

The shelves again hold few books in haphazard arrangement. The desk is clear of all but a few pieces of paper and ordinary notes – a dinner at the Harvard Club, a grocery list, that sort of thing – and the drawers are mostly empty, no sign of any writings. Beside the typewriter is a well-thumbed book of street maps of New York City, the south Brooklyn section dog-eared and foxed. In the ashtray is a matchbook from Trilby’s Hat.

The door to the bathroom in the hallway is ajar. Everything looks neat and tidy in there. A dining alcove has a buffet and matching table with four chairs, a couple of watercolors on the walls.

The kitchen door is askew and hard to push open. The kitchen is very art moderne – lots of chrome and streamlined appliances, a black-and-white tiled floor. There’s a back door leading out to the fire escape with a broken pane of glass.

There are two bedrooms, one of which is devoid of any personal items whatsoever, a guest room. The second, larger bedroom is obviously Hirt’s own – the wardrobes and dressers are packed with clothes, and there is a small bookshelf laden with novels and other mundane books. On Hirt’s nightstand is a beautiful edition of The Thousand and One Nights; the bookmark set to the start of the tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

Have at it, boys.

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?) Dex won't be too worried to make sure everything is in the same spot when he leaves.

As follows:
1) Quick scan through the closet in the entranceway. Notice state of shelves compared to study. Signs it has already been rifled through?
2) In the study, check behind the prints on the wall for a safe of any sort. Especially behind the phantasmagorical one. 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.
3) Ask Langdon if he knows anything about the Trilby's Hat, tossing him the matchbook.
4) Why is the kitchen door hard to open? Has it been forced? (Obviously since we got into the kitchen, it can't be jammed by a body behind it. : ) )
5) With Langdon's help, we will go over Hirt's bedroom more closely: checking closets, night stands, under the bed, etc.

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."

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 wrote: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.

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.

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>

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.

Langdon wrote: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.