Play@YSDC

Jacob sends SMS to Greg and Liz

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We found somthing, The Professor found thought similarities between the tattoos and the designs on the Maltese fragments. He believed ancient Verbti is the originator of the Maltese fragments and the source of the Ur language.
Where are you? We are coming
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Greg looked at his cell phone that went off the same time Liz' did. He exchanged glances with her real quick then checked the message.

"John, we have friends who are helping us with this investi... er, research. Would you mind if they joined us?" Greg asked the man across the table.

"Yes, the BUGGAS," says Liz to John. "I've heard of them. There were students there as well as faculty. Maybe they'll be more willing to talk."

"No no problem mate. (at Liz) Look I'm effectively faculty here while I do my PHD, so if your going around poking your nose in, then I don't want to know about it." Says John a bit uneasily.

"Right," says Liz, saying no more on the subject, though she knows she has an in. She knows Shauna WIlcox was in Malta and is sure she can talk to her as one student to another.

John gets ready to stand "look unless you have something else for me I have an seminar to give in 10 minutes, but I'll be around in two hours and you can buy me a beer and ask me some questions if you have them"

Liz looks to Greg to see if he has anything more to say at this time.

Clay walks into the bar spots Liz, Greg and John; gives them a nod and then strolls over to the bar.

Jacob follows Clay into the place and takes a sit next to Greg and Liz. he nods to John and waits for the man to leave before he says to Greg and Liz what he found.
Hi... so we found something. I managed to talk his assistant over there, Shauna something...
He hands them the copy of the paper he found
The Professor thought he found similarities between the tattoos and the designs on the Maltese fragments. Ancient Verbti could be the originator of the Maltese fragments and the source of this language called Ur. There is a reference to a future paper but I failed to find a draft of this paper. The later paper would explain the connection of the the three but now that the professor is dead, I guess no one is going to finish it.

ooc,Is the professor is the only author of the unfinished paper and the paper Jacob found or are there any other co-authors ?

Greg glanced at the information presented to them, then looked up at John and said, "All right, John. You've been a great help. Have a good seminar and perhaps we'll be around in a couple hours. Hard to say just yet. But before you go... I must warn you. If the professor hasn't already told you, these people, the Verbti... they're a very dangerous lot. They deal in human trafficking, and god knows what else. So you're better off distancing yourself from the whole subject. I don't want anything bad to happen to you too."

Greg glances at a huge sheaf of printed paper, which Jacob shows him he can't exactly take much in apart from its an academic paper of some kind.

Authors:,The only name on the paper you have in your hands in the profs. Its not the sort of, it'll take best part of 20 minutes to scan for details.

And they have no compunctions about murdering someone in the high street in broad daylight... thinks Liz, though she doesn't state the obvious. "Thank you," she says to John. "I'll see you then." "Shauna Wilcox?" she asks Jacob after John has left. "She was Professor Gossham's assistant. I'd like to talk to her. She doubtless knows a lot that can help us, and she's been to Malta, so she may know something of the troubles there." She fills Jacob and Clay in on what they discussed as she scans the paper.

If Liz scans the paper she realises that it isn't really much more than she's already discovered online, which is the professor's theory that the Maltese fragments and Verbti iconography are clearly related. There is a vague suggestion that the Verbti may be the descendants of the Ur Language writers and this will be the focus of another paper.

Greg watched as John walked away before turning his attention to Jacob. He says to Jacob a bit quietly so as not to be overheard by any of the nearby tables, "Nice job. I think we can find out more if we were to investigate the late professor's office or home... but it will require a little B & E. We won't get permission to do it the legal way." He nodded to Liz with her idea as well, "And the girl... definitely a lead, and possibly in danger. But before we trust her completely, we should make sure she doesn't have ties with the Verbti herself."

Yes.
Jacob replies to Liz after she tells him what she and Greg found out.
I think the Shauna you are refering too is the one I met in the professor office. An affair ... I doubt it.
With the new information you found out I guess you can ask her more but since she saw me, I doubt she will we polite to me again. she was quite nervous when I was in the professor's office.

"I don't believe there was an affair going on, either," says Liz. "He's not even teaching any of her classes. She's an English lit student. I think I'll have better luck talking to her, as one female student to another. Before we think about any physical entry, I should try to access his computer. That I should be able to do without even going near it." She pats her laptop. "But first I should talk to her. It may give us a better idea of what to look for."

"Well, we're going to have to find her first, and maybe we should look up some of his other students that took this last trip to Malta." Greg says. He finishes his pint and looks around, "Maybe I'll go to the library here on campus and see if there is anything on this professor that wasn't accessible via the internet."

"I can ask Shauna about the other students who were in Malta with her," Liz says. "There are pictures of them on her Flickr account."