Play@YSDC

As you arrive at the stationhouse, the day is warm for autumn. A strong breeze from the southwest pushes big puffy clouds across the blue skies.

Dex pulls into the curb and opens the passenger door for Delores. He doesn’t see Langdon’s car parked on this block.

The scene inside is less hectic than last Friday evening, but a number of officers and civilians are transacting various business. Summoned by Sergeant Zann, Esposito comes out and ushers Dex and Delores into the same interview room in which you all met with Marlene Hirt. Langdon is a bit late, but no one seems surprised.

Dex holds open the front door for Delores, and then nods to the rest of the police staff. When Esposito comes over to greet them, Dex offers his hand. "Have a good weekend? Enjoy the time off?" He can't help himself, this guy just rubs him the wrong way. Dex is pretty sure when he was a Prohibition Agent he did more in the first hour of the day then the detective does in the whole day. He follows Esposito and Delores into the interview room. When Langdon walks in, Dex just nods. "So, what have we all learned? I know I have kept in pretty regular touch with Langdon, so we seem on the same page. But before we give over what we know, Delores, Detective Esposito, care to fill us in how your weekends went? Do we know more than we did on Friday about Mr. Hirt or his "sisters"? Or about Mr Hirt's mysterious disappearance?"

I don't know what Ford's problem is, but I'm really not in the mood for it. I look at my watch, pointedly. "Glad you could make it. As for my weekend, I had a nice little trip to Rhode Island. A wonderful little talk with an ex-cop name of Malone who just about had a nervous breakdown when I started asking about the hinky things going on down in Red Hook. It was a real ring-ding, I tell you."

Before Ford can open his mouth I go on. "Alright, first things first. I checked on all the John Does including a really ripe floater from the Gowanus canal. No dice there, though I have to say I'm sorry you missed the floater, Dex."

"I spoke to miss Hirt's doorman and he told me she's a blonde, so unless she's taken to wearing a wig, we can be pretty sure we weren't talking to the real Miss Hirt," said Delores. "I also spoke to her squeeze - he's not seen her for a couple of days and he knows she's worried abour her brother."

Dex listens to what they have said, and sighs, pulling out his notes, and hands out copies to all there. "Well, I have to say Langdon and I have been a bit more...concrete in our investigations. I'll let Langdon, whenever he shows up, talk about his dinner with the false Miss Hirt, but he seems to think he may have an inside track on her. He has the opportunity for another date with her. I did some reading into those books that I managed to get copies of, and our missing Mr Hirt seems to have been quite interested in writing some material about these people and some sort of cult or religious organization. What it all has to do with his disappearance, I am not sure, but he has some connections to some odd people. I also talked to the doorman at Hirt's building, and I hadn't seen any sign of the police at all at his building. I did discover, and if you want to arrest me Esposito, go ahead, but I did discover that someone had broken into Hirt's apartment and that there was signs of a struggle. Broken glass panel on the kitchen door allowed entry. There were strange...claw...marks on the floor of the kitchen, signs of a bashed in kitchen door, obvious signs that someone was searching the apartment." Dex shows them the sketches of the marks from the kitchen floor and the measurements he took. He goes into the broken glass in the rear door, the tossed apartment living space, the damage in the kitchen, the strange painting that was discovered, and the otherwise neat office and bedroom. "There are signs he not only has been missing for a while, but there was a struggle in the process. IS that enough 'evidence' for a more formal police investigation into his disappearance should be opened up?"

I'm completely silent, totally still. Ford is probably waiting for me to get into him with both feet over his weekend escapades. Instead, I walk out of the interview room without a word. I come back about 90 seconds later with my notebook. I can't see myself but I'm sure I'm white as a Ritz-Carlton sheet. I sit down, open my notebook, and try to hold it together.

"Okay, give me the details on the claw marks and this painting. We'll talk about the books later."

OOC-All,I don't know if you guys have kept up on what the others have been up to or not. I have purposely [i]not[/i] read your threads so that I can experience your story at the same time Franky does.

Gaffer,I've asked for someone to bring up the Suydam case file.

Dex opens up his notebook, and sits back, closing his eyes as he sees the apartment and begins to recount what they discovered at Hirt's apartment.

"Okay, Hirt is a bit of an oddball. Hall closet full of junk, crammed here and there, but the rest of the apartment seems neat and ordered. Call it an insight into his personality. Picture frame fallen on the book shelves in the living space, along with some knocked over books. Simply furnished, no sign of real money spent on the place. His study was neat and ordered: typewriter, stacked paper, new rug, some paintings, including one rather strange looking one. Nothing much of any importance in the office besides a street directory with a lot of Brooklyn addresses dog eared or marked. Most of the main rooms were pretty neat nothing to say was out of the ordinary. One bedroom appeared to be a guest room, the other Hirt's main bedroom. More books, but this time cheap novels and modern easy reading. The bookshelves were one of the signs that he had visitors looking for something. Neat and orderly rows of books, then haphazard books spilling on shelves. A guy is one or the other, and there was no sign of a roommate and nothing that indicated he was living with anyone else."

Dex glances back down at the notebook, and again closes his eyes, steepling his fingers before his face. "The kitchen was the first sign something was out of the normal. Scrap of cloth, from a tweed jacket, the kitchen door off its hinges, gouge mark on one of the kitchen drawers. Food in the refrigerator going bad and there was a missing knife from the carving block. Probably something fairly big. Broken glass pane on the door, but at face height, which was odd. And then there were the four parallel gouge marks on the floor of the kitchen. Those I have shown you. The only thing I took from the apartment were the drawings and measurements of those gouge marks, and a business card that was being used as a book mark in a copy of the Arabian nights Hirt had on his bedside." He reached into his coat and pulled out a business card for Guy Grenville and leave it on the table top. [SEE Handouts http://www.callofcthulhu.org.uk/viewtop ... 574#p86574]

"That's all the concrete info I have gotten. Hirt didn't go willingly, someone has looked over his apartment, but who, I don't know. Frankly, I was planning on talking to this Grenville guy this afternoon, but other than that, I am pretty much at a dead end. Brooklyn seems where we should head next, but this creeping fake Ms Hirt still has me worried. I think she needs to be questioned as to who she really is. Langdon has her number..."

OOC,[color=#FF4000]Marlene Hirt is supposed to be meeting with you at Alphonse's apartment Monday afternoon.[/color]

Franky,[color=#FF4000]The Suydam case file is at Central Records at headquarters. There might still be some old files at the Butler Street Station in Brooklyn (if anyone can find them), but there aren't any here at Hudson Street.[/color]

'Claw marks?' Delores shudders. What seemed like a kooky missing persons case was suddenly starting to look a lot more sinister. She pulls out a cigarette to calm her nerves and manages to light it with a trembling hand.

"I... I can check out the agent, see what he knows," she say, exhaling a stream of smoke. She waves a hand in front her to dispel the cloud, "He may know what Hirt was working on. Something must have happened to set things in motion."

Gaffer wrote:

Franky,[color=#FF4000]The Suydam case file is at Central Records at headquarters. There might still be some old files at the Butler Street Station in Brooklyn (if anyone can find them), but there aren't any here at Hudson Street.[/color]

Gaffer,Any way to have them couriered over? Messenger boy? Pigeon? Byakhee?

FrankyEsposito wrote:

Gaffer wrote:

Franky,[color=#FF4000]The Suydam case file is at Central Records at headquarters. There might still be some old files at the Butler Street Station in Brooklyn (if anyone can find them), but there aren't any here at Hudson Street.[/color]

Gaffer,Any way to have them couriered over? Messenger boy? Pigeon? Byakhee?

Franky,Since you don't have any Bureacracy, it'll cost you a one-point Cop Talk spend and take about a half hour. Zann says he'll get a buddy of his to walk it over.

Langdon huffs into the station looking for his new-found ... cohort? He catches a glimpse of Dex's back heading down a hall and walks briskly after, only to find an unfamiliar man in a suit similar to one of Dex's. Frustrated and slightly lost, Langdon begins to make his way back to the front desk. Turning down a wrong hallway, he hears familiar voices. He knocks on the glass window of the interview room door, drawing himself up nice and tall and presentable-like.

God I hate being late.

"Sorry I'm late. I suppose you've all discussed everything already? Dex, you told them about the apartment, right? I suppose I'll just add that the man had strange taste: one half of the apartment felt new and expensive, and then the rest was junk. He also had a very bizarre painting - a strange city - quite disturbing, and it didn't really fit in with the hunting prints he had everywhere else. Seemed to be a fan of the Thousand and One Nights - Scheherezade, Ali Baba, the rest."

"I'm sure Dex can catch me up on the rest. I'll just add that I had dinner with Miss Hirt and she seems..." Langdon pauses, looking for the right word, not finding it, "She seems pleasant enough, but her concern for her brother is... well it's odd. She seems worried about him, but she didn't really ask me any questions about what we'd found. Granted, we hadn't found anything yet but... she seemed more interested in arranging another dinner or night dancing with me than she did about finding her brother."

OOC,I posted this once already -- not sure what happened.

"Now hold on a minute."

I look at Dex. "I thought you said she wasn't Marlene Hirt?"

"Hey hey Esposito. I didn't actually see the dame. From what I understood, Langdon met up with the skirt who hired us, the false Miss Hirt. If he actually met the real Miss Hirt, that's news to me."

Glances over at Landgon. "And from what he just said, does that sound like it would be the real Miss Hirt? Not concerned about her brother gone missing? That doesn't strike me as right if she really was Hirt' sister."

"The porter at Miss Hirt's apartment told me she's a blonde," chipped in Delores. She looked across at Langdon. "What colour was your Miss Hirt's hair?" she asked him, "Assuming you managed to get your eyes north of her chassis, that is?" she added dryly.

Already irritable from being late, Langdon overreacts slightly. "Now look here Miss Brown, I'm not some cad! When we first met Miss Hirt she was wearing a particularly interesting necklace, Egyptian or similar. And you're right, my Miss Hirt - as you insist on refering to her - did not have blonde hair." More calmly, "I don't suppose it's fashionable for women to wear wigs out to dinners and investigations?"

OOC: For Keeper: Does Langdon have the fake (ie the one he went to dinner with) Miss Hirt's contact information?
OOC: For rest of the group: We had plans to meet Miss Hirt at the apartment, right?

Langdon wrote:OOC: For Keeper: Does Langdon have the fake (ie the one he went to dinner with) Miss Hirt's contact information?
OOC: For rest of the group: We had plans to meet Miss Hirt at the apartment, right?

She didn't give you any address or phone number.

Yes, you are supposed to meet Marlene at Alphonse's apartment in about ninety minutes.

There's so much to tell them and I don't quite know where to begin. A glance at the clock tells me it's going to have to wait.

"We're supposed to meet her at the apartment in, what, a little over an hour? I think we should head there now -- you guys might know the layout but I don't. I want to know what we're walking into..."

OOC joking around,"We're walking into an apartment, Frank." teehee

"Well, Detective, she may not be the real Miss Hirt, but I hardly think we're in any danger."

"Langdon, just because she is a skirt who can dance and looks good doing so doesn't mean she isn't dangerous. She has been lying to us from the start and I don't like being played as a big palooka. She wants something, or knows something, and I am tired of playing the putz. So I agree with the detective, let's head over to Hirt's apartment, and perhaps see if anything has changed."

Dex glances over at the one woman in the group. "Miss Brown, if that was out of line, just let me know. But that fake Miss Hirt deserves a lot more than a stern talking too." He cracks his knuckles. "And that would certainly be out of line."

I can't believe I'm going to say this. "Ford is right. This woman wants something, and if it was something good she would've just asked for it."

I take a good hard look at Langdon. Is he going dizzy for this dame? "Don't underestimate this woman, Mr. Vilas. That would be a mistake."

Glancing at Esposito's surprising agreement, he chuckles. "Detective, do you happen to own a pair of ice skates? Cause I think its just gotten a lot colder somewhere."

Dexter Ford wrote:"Langdon, just because she is a skirt who can dance and looks good doing so doesn't mean she isn't dangerous. She has been lying to us from the start and I don't like being played as a big palooka. She wants something, or knows something, and I am tired of playing the putz. So I agree with the detective, let's head over to Hirt's apartment, and perhaps see if anything has changed."

Dex glances over at the one woman in the group. "Miss Brown, if that was out of line, just let me know. But that fake Miss Hirt deserves a lot more than a stern talking too." He cracks his knuckles. "And that would certainly be out of line."

"Believe me, as much as enjoy seeing you men made to look like a bunch of easy marks, I get no pleasure in her doing it," replies Delores, "Whatever she's up to, we owe her one."

"Really, you all seem to think she's some sort of thug, or criminal, or ill-intentioned deviant. Maybe she's not the real Miss Hirt. Maybe she's after Alphonse's money. But does that really give her a reason to ambush us at his apartment? And I thought I read too many of those cloak-and-dagger stories."

Langdon checks his watch. "If you're so concerned that she's going to 'get the drop on us' why don't we head over there a bit early?"

Dex nods at the others, and looks at Langdon. "Just as you pointed out a second ago, we really don't know what she is up to. And that is the only issue I am truly concerned about. She has been lying to us, but the issue is why?" He glances at his watch. "I think we can head over, and if we are a little early, we can always grab a cup of joe at the cafe nearby. If not, we can figure out what we are going to do when we confront her with our suspicions. If she doesn't show, where the hell are we?" Dex stand up and makes for the door as soon as they are agreed.

"Now just a second, Dex. I had an idea" Langdon remarks as they walk out. "Maybe we can play her off eachother. Is that the right expression? What I mean is... what if I wait at the cafe for you to finish at the apartment. You three can 'confront' Miss Hirt, as you put it, and I won't be around, right? So then maybe I can give her a call, still on friendly terms, and maybe she'll be more willing to talk to a friend than a foe."

Langdon realizes how ridiculous that sounds. He took it right out of one of the trashy detective novels he read. Something about good cops and bad cops and confusing the suspect to get information.

There's a knock on the door and a uniformed patrolman sticks his head in.

"This just came for you from headquarters, Detective Esposito."

He hands Franky a thick manila envelope.

Esposito,[color=#FF8000] It's the Suydam case file.[/color]

I flip nervously through the file and stare off into space. How much should I tell them? How much is even relevant? Am I grasping at straws or just losing my mind. Damn it, I need a drink. Several, actually, and a good night's sleep.

"Any of you remember this case from a few years back? It was a big deal at the time..." I turn the file around so they can see the name on it.

"The name sounds familiar. Didn't we talk about this already? I seem to recall knowing a daughter or sister or wife or some such."

Dexter Ford wrote:I have never heard of it, even though from the looks of the file and the date, its old news. So what does it have to do with our current case?

I stand and start to pace. There's so much to tell -- and most of it impossible to believe.

"Like I said at the Deli, Alphonse Hirt was quite interested in the Suydam case. Back in the spring he requested the files from headquarters. You know many civilians that do that, Dex?"

I keep pacing. I take out my notepad reluctantly, not in the least eager to relive Malone's tale. "Suydam was a student of Kurdish folklore." When that doesn't ring a bell I turn back to Ford. "Those books you found, about the Yezidi and Devil Worship? The Yezidi are Kurds. Alphonse Hirt was studying the same crazy things that Suydam did." I hook a thumb in the direction of the file. "You don't need to read that to know that things didn't work out too well for Suydam."

I whip through my notes, working up to a frenzy. I don't want to do this. I don't want to think about what goes on in Red Hook. But here I go.

"I interviewed Thomas Malone, the lead detective on the Suydam case. He's retired now, lives up in Rhode Island. Nervous. Real nervous." I reach over and thump the case file a good one. "Malone left quite a bit out of his report. And I can't blame him a bit. Some of the things he saw..." I stare out the door as my voice trails off. I'm not going there; that room is closed.

"That necklace that "Marlene" Hirt was wearing? Moons on it, right?' I look at Langdon, knowing that he got a damned fine look at it. "One of the things that Malone heard them chanting, the night that all those buildings collapsed in Parker Place? 'Gorgo, Mormo, thousand-faced moon.'" I let that sink in for a second. "That sound like a coincidenece to you? I don't believe in coincidences, do you?" The last bit is aimed at Dex. Whatever he is now he used to be a cop, and cops just don't believe in coincidences.

"Something about Lilith and a bridegroom, too. It's in my notes here, somewhere. Malone also told me about a book seller who was helpful -- a shop near the Pratt Institute, in Brooklyn. Maybe after Langdon plays 'good-cop/bad-cop' with "Miss Hirt" one of us can pay a visit?"

Exhausted, I collapse into my chair. The game is afoot.

Delores sits watching Franky, worrying a nail. "The book I read mentioned the Yezidi," she says, "I don't think they were nice people - they were involved in black magic and they were persecuted as a result." She shudders - "I'm a modern girl," she thinks to herself, "what am I doing getting involved in this?"

OOC,I thought I already posted something similar to this, but it seems not to be here...

"Detective, are you really trying to say that this woman is some sort of devil-worshiper? Or that she's after Alphonse for some nefarious motive? Maybe that she's the demon Lillith after Alphonse to be her Eartlhy husband?" I let out a nervous chuckle, then gulp.

I berate myself mildly, If I don't believe this, why am I still terrified?

"What I'm saying, Mr. Vilas, is that there's more under Heaven and Earth than I can explain." Ain't that the truth? "And I don't need any books about devil worshiping to know that dame's up to no good."

I check my watch. "Is it time to go meet up with 'Miss Hirt' yet? I feel like arresting someone."

Dex listens to everything that has been said, glad that Esposito seems to have finally opened up with some of what he found. He nods in agreement. "I think its time to allow Langdon's little charade to be carried out. And if Miss Hirt is a devil worshipper of sorts, perhaps its time we put an end to her little escapades." For the first time Dex is glad that he is wearing his crucifix, as any good Irish Catholic lad taught by Jesuits should have around his neck. Throughout it all, he never completely lost his faith.

Sotto voce to Langdon. "You sure have an eye for the dames. Devil worshippers, hmmmm...." and then aloud "and Langdon, I have your back. I am sure Esposito or I will be happy to play good cop to your bad cop. Or vice versa."

Delores was lost in thought, thinking about what she'd heard (and already running potential headlines through her head). She'd wanted more excitement but now it was here, she wasn't so sure any more.

She shuddered and looked up. "Let's get this over with, shall we? I don't like this case - I want to get it sorted and I can get back to covering weddings and cats stuck in trees."

A knock and a young uniformed patrolman sticks his head in the door. "Everyone decent?" he grins before he spots Delores and his face falls, " Sorry, Ma'am. Esposito, kid's here with those sandwiches you ordered."The clock on the wall says noon as the kid comes in and Esposito shells out a couple bucks for four ham sandwiches and four cups of coffee.

Dex grabs a sandwich and a cup of coffee, eating a few bites and chugging back a few slugs of pitch black joe. "All right then, I'll drive anyone who wants come along with me. Langdon, did you drive in that jalopy of yours?" A smile plastered to his face, knowing that if anyone is driving a jalopy he is. "I think Miss Hirt deserves are full attention and we deserve some answers."

I smile at Dex, "Yes, Jamison brought the car. Shall we?"

Dex nods at the detective's suggestion. "I can play the bad cop. Not that I am a natural at it, but I can certainly make do." He glances at Langdon and Delores, suspecting he knows the answer. "Is anyone else packing heat? I mean in case things get more hinky than any of us expect?" Dex visibly winces at using the same words Esposito just used.

"I'll just do what I always do, make it clear that I'm looking out for the best interest of the fine citizens of ... and you know the rest. And I'm not "dizzy with the dame" as you put it. I just think you're painting her to be some sort of malicious would-be evil-doer and we just don't have the evidence to support that!" I smile softly and wink. "Something like that, right, Detectives?"

"And, no, Dex, I don't have a gun."