Tue Sep 5 - Flanigan's, Again

[Gaffer]

The wind picks up as it gets near sunset and the temperature falls. Rain is falling gently and the low clouds make it seem later than six o'clock.

OoC,[color=#FF4000]You can describe your arrival at the restaurant or just skip right to being seated, even skip ordering if you want. Share your information and ideas and plan for tomorrow. I'll pop in as appropriate with suggestions and reminders.[/color]

[Dexter Ford]

Dex ushers everyone inside as the weather seems to have taken a change for the worst. Finding an empty table, he orders a round of beers from Esther, the usual waitress/barmaid, and then settles in waiting for Esposito, while only glancing at the menu. He knows what he wants, having eaten here a few times. He snaps his fingers. "I'll be right back." He walks to the bartender and slaps a dime down on the countertop, asking to borrow the house phone. He then proceeds to call Lila, seeing if she is free to come join them for dinner at Flannigan's. If she is, he will walking back with a jaunty step. If not, he'll smile and plop himself down.

He rubs at his sore arm, scratching an itch.

[Delores Brown]

Delores watches Dex, wondering who he's calling. She picks up a menu and peruses it. "Have you eaten here before, Mr Esposito? What would you recommend?" she asks Frankie.

[FrankyEsposito]

Didn't think she saw me come in. I slide into a chair.

"The steak sandwich is pretty good." I try not to be too obvious, but I'm a little concerned she might be cracking up. "You had the chicken last time, didn't you? How was that?"

[Gaffer]

[by the GM for Langdon Vilas]

"The T-bone is excellent," Langdon chimes in.

[Delores Brown]

"Well, I'm hungry," smiles Delores, "It's gonna be steak for me." She puts down the menu and checks to make sure there's no-one eavesdropping. She leans forward and says conspiratorily, "So, what did you find out?"

[Dexter Ford]

Dex comes back to the table, and sits down, ordering a steak, baked potato, and a beer. He listens as Delores and Langdon speak, but they have been over their clues. He glances over to the seat where the detective is seated and has joined them, and he waits for an answer from that front. He looks back at Delores and smiles. "I was trying to get in contact with my girlfriend, to see if she could join us for dinner. I have been spending very little time with her of late, and I figured an hour might make up for some of it. But I doubt she can make it, largely due to her commitment as a member of one of the Broadway shows she is dancing in."

[FrankyEsposito]

I can't afford a steak, but hell. I may never get another chance. You only live once, right?

"Steak it is, then." I don't even try to smile. It wouldn't fool anyone.

When the waitress is gone I sigh and pull out my notebook. "Good news first, or bad?"

I answer my own question before anyone else can: "Just kidding. It's all bad."

OOC,I'm working on Franky's Tale right now. Should have something to post on Wed.

[FrankyEsposito]

I sip my Coca-Cola and grimace. Wish I had something to fortify it with. I look around at the faces staring at me. What the hell are we doing here? The last time this cult was around it took the full force of the NYPD to bring them down -- and even then they survived. How can the four of us -- even with help from some of my old cop buddies -- hope to do anything here.

I look around the joint, taking in the faces of the patrons. Look at them shoveling their chow into their pie-holes. Yammering about this actress, or that show, or some business deal they're trying to close, or what they're getting their wife for her birthday. That mook over in the corner buying drinks for everyone? Must've just hit it big on Wall Street. The couple in the corner? She don't know it yet, but he's about to pop her the question. Sheep, all of them. They've got no idea what really goes on out there. I plan to keep it that way.

I turn back to my companions and scan their faces one last time. We're a sorry lot, more than a little off our collective rocker. Chances are that some of us won't make it through this. Hell, maybe none of us will. I need to remember to call Angelo. And Siobhan. Christ, what am I going to tell her? Enough stalling, Franky. Let's get it done.

[FrankyEsposito]

"Okay, here's the short version." I flip my notebook open to the summary I worked out on the subway ride.

"The cult is back. Maybe not as strong as before, but plenty strong enough. You can't swing a dead cat" ...yikes, bad choice of words, Esposito... "in Red Hook without seeing that damned symbol somewhere. It's chalked on the pavement, in shop windows. Hell, some of 'em even have it embroidered in their curtains. It seems to be centered around Bay Street."

"The fez-wearing bastards are planning something. Some sort of big festival. Soon. This week, maybe next. Word is that the cops are 'going to get what's coming to them.' Tomorrow night looks good for it -- they've got an attachment to Wednesdays. Probably involve that old dance hall on Annunciation."

"The only good thing is that no kids have gone missing yet. Folks in the neighborhood are might scared."

I lick my thumb and turn the page.

"Azaff is involved, looks to be the ringleader, maybe. She's been seen with Alphonse Hirt -- real friendly, those two. Least they were. Nobody's seen Hirt for a while. Pretty sure that Azaff and friends kidnapped the real Miss Hirt, about a week ago. Chloroform. Got some pros working for them, no surprise there. No clue if her brother was involved in that or not. Don't know what they want with her, or if it's got anything to do with the festival. Don't know if she's still alive or not."

I pause a minute to let it all sink in. "Questions? Anyone have anything to add? What do you guys do on your summer vacations?"

[Delores Brown]

Delores sits back and stares at Franky. "Just how did you find all that out?" she murmurs, "All we managed was to find out that the painting was something to do with it..." She shakes her head. "Nevermind, we'll save that for the write-up." She looks around as if worried someone might be watching and leans in closer. "So, what are we going to do about it?" she asks.

[FrankyEsposito]

"How did I find it out? Talking to people, looking around. Putting things together. You know, cop work." I shudder a little at the though of walking around Red Hook for the first time in years.

"Some of it is supposition, you understand. Conclusions. Could be wrong. But my gut tells me I've got the bulk of it right. Now what's this about the painting?"

[Delores Brown]

"There was a painting in Alphonse Hirt's flat that looked kinda kooky and we traced the seller, a guy called Koslov. He was selling a similar painting..." - Delores remembers the picture in the shop window and shudders - "...and we went along to meet the buyer. Turns out it was a lawyer called Raymond who was stinging Koslov. Got him to the meet under false pretenses then gets him arrested for stiffing the landlord for the rent." She looks at Dex, "Anything I missed?" she asks.

[Dexter Ford]

Dex listens and then brings out his notebook, adding a few notes to what he already discovered. "Yes, that seems about right. The Sheriff's Office arrested Koslov and took him away. Not the nicest group of flatfoots I have ever met." He shakes his head and then flips back in his notebook. "I did do some digging about the cult and the Yezidis' as well, digging around in the Public Library, meeting up with some sort of expert about cults from that region, and then discovering that there wasn't much beyond being a bunch of primitive devil worshippers who believed that their god would come back or something like that with the right rituals. If you want the details, now I am sure I can be a bit more academically precise, but honestly, I really didn't learn anything that would make me say, 'Wow, we can't fight these guys or take them on.' More sort of covering my bases information. But you, Detective, have been lot a more productive then we were, since I think Delores would agree, we have largely been running around in circles for the last day or so. I am tired of chasing our tails."

Dinner was served, so Dex paused for a moment once the waitress was gone. "So I guess its time we go break up this festival. And since our time is limited, what sort of preparations should we do before then? I'd love to settle this in the daytime tomorrow, not one of those last minute sort of solve the day events were the outcome is in the balance like all those serials you see at the pictures." Dex cut into his steak, lifting a piece and speaking. "Though a good old Buck Rodger's ray gun might be useful right about now." He slid the piece into his mouth and chewed for a bit, the swallowed before speaking to Delores. "I know the detective over there is good with a piece, and I have had some time on the range, but can you provide any sort of assistance in the firearms department? I do have a piece or two I can spare if you need something, but I'd prefer not to go into an encounter that might be dangerous without you being able to defend yourself to some extent."

[FrankyEsposito]

"Now hold on a minute there, professor. The four of us go in there guns blazing and we're going to end up bloodier than my steak here." I cut off and chew a piece to make my point. "We're gonna need all the help we can get."

"I ran into a couple flatfoots down there, guys I used to know when I worked Red Hook. Good guys, solid guys. They might be able to give us a bit of help. I don't know what will happen if I go to my sergeant and tell him that the woman he wanted us to help is stirring up the old cut down there. He's as like to tell me to get off the bottle as he is to provide any help. No, I think we're going to have to work this from the bottom."

I start running down the list -- the sadly short list -- of people in the department who might be willing to help.

[Delores Brown]

"My pa taught me to shoot a rifle, mainly a .22, good for keeping rats down on the farm," replies Delores, before colouring slightly - she hadn't planned to let on about her rural upbringing. "I can probably hold my own with a pistol if necessary. A rifle's probably a bit big to carry around?"

[Dexter Ford]

Dex chuckles at Esposito's vehemence. "I had thought about just blowing the place up with some explosives, but that might be a bit more problematic than you might want." He laughed. "And I was joking." He ate a piece of steak, swallowed some beer, and then calmly talked to the detective. "Look detective, I know we haven't gotten off on the best foot the last few days, but I am not a neophyte when it comes to raids. I was in the Prohibition Bureau for a quite a while, working in Chicago and dealing with the worst Capone and his boys had to throw my way. Even lost my family to their revenge, so while sometimes I think darker thoughts about what happened, my life is pretty good and I don't intend to throw it away anytime soon."

He glanced at Delores and at the quiet Langdon, before continuing with his conversation with Esposito. "Look, frankly I'd rather leave this to the authorities, but we are under the pressure of time so we do need to get something going sooner than later. That means dealing with these goons and cultists and putting an end to their actions." He spoke to Delores directly at this point. "I am not sure I can lay hands on a rifle very quickly, but I think if we can get one from a store here in Manhattan, it shouldn't be too big a deal."

He looked at his steak. "I'd like to put an end to this threat, an end to this case, before any more of my friends and my girlfriend get hurt by this." He put his fork and knife down on the plate and looked at all three. "I will not allow anyone close to me to die at their hands."

[Delores Brown]

Delores looks at the three men, the seriousness of what they are planning stating to sink in. Dex seems worried, she thinks to herself, wondering how great the risk is. She knows she can go back to writing up school fetes, interviewing centenarians or hanging around the courthouse and precinct, feeding on crumbs, or she can do something that could finally help her realise her dream and get her name in lights. She makes up her mind. "I'm in," she says with quiet finality.

[Gaffer]

Langdon looks around the table. Violence isn't something he's familiar with. Nonetheless, he nods manfully, "You can count on me."

[ooc - To clarify, the church building/dance hall on Visitation Street has been a gathering place for cultists in the past. Esposito's information is that the cult's current center is on Bay Street, several blocks away. Also, I think everyone has heard or seen reference to a certain bookstore in Brooklyn that Hirt frequented. It might be worth checking out.]

[Dexter Ford]

"So, we are all agreed that we should deal with these cultists, with some of Detective Esposito's able police assistance?" He takes out a small notebook.
"Delores, we need to get you a weapon of some sort. Langdon, do you have any sort of heat you are packing?"
He glances at Esposito. "I don't think I should ask, but how many policeman can you call on for help? And how much firepower can they bring?"

He also glances through some of his old notes, and then looks at them all. "Is there anyplace we should still check out if we have time?"
He taps at a note in his book. "There is still this old book store in Brooklyn that we keep coming up with links to that Hirt visited. Has anyone been there, or do we need to go there first?"