Play@YSDC

"Of course," says Jones, "I don't mind if you smoke. Thank you, it would be better if you drive. As long as you recall that we drive on the left side of the road here, you'll do fine. I'll sit in the front passenger seat in case there's trouble as we arrive, and Miss Downing can ride in the back seat. Let us be off, then."

It is still raining as Jones leads the others out to the car. Visibility is now much better than during the fog though.

OOC,I'll give Imme chance to post tonight. If she doesn't then I'll move you to the Pyramid Club tomorrow.

OCC,sorry it's taken me so long to respond! thanks for carrying on

Elizabeth ducks into the car and brushes the rain off of her coat. "The Rukov twins became part of our group because I met them through Andrei," she pauses, obviously unsure of how to continue. Whatever else she had been going to say is left unspoken. "I met Andrei while traveling around Europe and he had decided to come back to New York with me."

OOC,Welcome back! I'm not sure how much, if anything, my character knows about [b]Andrei[/b].

Once Elizabeth has gotten into the car, Jones gets in the shotgun seat. "I presume Andrei is part of your group as well," he says. "That makes six at least, by my count. Are there any others I should know about?"

Johnny takes a few seconds to familiarize himself with the cars controls, then starts the engine, he leaves the talking to Elizabeth if at all possible.

OOC,Andrei, Maksim and Nethaniel were the "heroes" of the battle at the British Museum, although I think they mostly spoke to Barrington. I'll double check who met who, my memory is a little rusty.

"That's quite an entourage you've got, Miss Downing," says Jones. "How did you make his acquaintance?"

"Do you know where he is at present?" asks Jones. "He may very well be in danger too."

The Blue Pyramid Club -Soho, London[/color] 8:50pm - Thursday 29th January, 1925

Johnny parks the car close to the Blue Pyramid Club. A small crowd has gathered on the street - kept away from the club by a handful of uniformed constables. Worryingly there is still no sign of Detective Woods. As far as Jones can see there is also nobody present from the staff of the Blue Pyramid.

Among the crowd are a half dozen or so journalists, Johnny notices the ginger haired Mickey Mahoney of that infamous tabloid rag The Scoop amongst their number.

A uniformed sergeant who Jones does not recognise appears to have taken charge of the scene.

OOC,Assume that Jones now knows exactly which building Woods had been observing the Club from (a nearby tea room). Grafster is hoping to drop back in again soon, and also hopes that his workload will soon be eased a bit. Which is fantastic news. :)

Jones emerges from the car and then opens the back door so that Elizabeth can get out. When she and Johnny are ready, he approaches the sergeant, taking out his warrant card, reasoning that if he doesn't recognize the man, the reverse may also be true. "Sergeant, I'm DS Jones from Scotland Yard," he says, displaying the warrant card. "What can you tell me about the situation here?"

OOC,Hooray! :D

The sergeant is old and overweight. Red faced and panting he looks like he'd much rather be behind a desk back at the Yard than out investigating gunfights.

"I'm Sergeant Fowler, I'm really glad you're here to take over Jones: there's one body inside - shot twice. A doorman from the club. The victim was armed with an unregistered handgun, but doesn't appear to have fired."

"No one from the club staff are still around, they all fled the scene, and most of the witnesses didn't really see anything - they panicked when the shooting started."

"These two young lady's over here," Fowler points to indicate two attractive ladies in their early twenties, well dressed for a night of partying, "claim to have accompanied the perpetrators into the club."

"They claimed that the two men they accompanied were a British and a Russian spy, the Russian was called 'Maks' and claimed to be working for the American Secret Service! They rescued one of the dancers when a barman attacked her, and claim that they were here to rescue another lady called Gwen. Quite an incredible tale, but there are no other reliable witnesses to back up or refute the girls' story!"

"Thank you, Fowler," says Jones. "I'll surely want to interview the ladies and examine the scene. There may very well be truth to their tale. This Russian named 'Maks' can only be Maksim Rukov, who was involved in another incident at the British Museum earlier. He rescued a girl named Gwendolyn Everettson from the Egyptian Murderers there, and he seems to be making a habit of it. This is the first I've heard of him being a spy, though he may have merely claimed to be one. Then again, for all I know, he may be one in actuality. The British gentleman could be your Nethaniel, Miss Downing, but I'll have to get a description from the witnesses to be sure. Any sign of DC Woods, Fowler? I know he was supposed to be watching the club from the tea room over there, but he was missing when Inspector Barrington and I were here before because of an earlier disturbance that most likely involved Maksim Rukov."

Elizabeth surveys the scene carefully, eager for any sign of her friends, while at the same time trying not to draw attention to herself, especially since she has noticed the presence of journalists in the crowd. When Fowler points out the pair of women, Elizabeth scrutinizes their appearance and demeanor, trying to understand how they may have been involved in this.

"No Jones, I'm afraid that you're the first detective that we've seen at the scene." Fowler peers at the tea-room, "I'll take a constable across to ask after Woods, while you're investigating the club and interviewing the witnesses."

Behind the cops, Johnny does his best to screen Elizabeth from the view of the reporters, conscious that Mickey Mahoney at least will almost certainly recognise him. Elizabeth can see the two young ladies clearly from where she stands, they're very attractive looking and scantily dressed, it's not difficult to imagine Maksim Rukovcrossing paths with them!

Jones approaches the two women, motioning for Elizabeth and Johnny to come with him. He carefully positions himself so that he is physically blocking the view of the reporters to keep them from seeing Elizabeth. "Mr. Wong, you may want to stand so that the reporters' view of your employer is obstructed," he says quietly to Johnny as he takes out his notebook and pencil.

"Good evening, ladies," says Jones with a smile when he reaches them. "I'm Detective Sergeant Jones of Scotland Yard. I'm sure you've already been asked some questions, but I'd like to get your statements. May I please have your names, and can you describe to me what happened in your own words?"

Outside The Blue Pyramid Club - Soho, London
8:52pm - Thursday 29th January, 1925

Both girls are in their early twenties, one blond the other brunette, their hair cut shoulder length and styled in a manner familiar to Elizabeth that was fashionable in New York a year ago.

The brunette introduces herself to Jones, "I'm Agatha Williams sergeant, and this is my friend Alice Hunter," she indicates the blond girl.

"We came to the Blue Pyramid Club with a Russian gentleman called 'Maks' who we met a little earlier and his friend..." Agatha blushes as she adds, "well I'm afraid we didn't catch the name of Maks' friend, but he was a proper gentleman and definitely not a foreigner."

"It was Maks that shot the man inside, but he was saving the dancing girl from the foreign spies. He's so brave!"

OOC,Sorry a shorter post than planned, but I need to get posting regularly in this thread now, so some a couple of shorter posts'll get me into a routine. :)