CH2-09 Malta - everyone together.

[ghill]

OOC:   Jacob certainly would be a good choice if you intend to persuade him you are some part of the Maltese legal establishment. But its all rather moot if you don't know what you are going to ask him.

[BenTheRat]

"Well its show time guys. Someone needs to step up." Clay pipes in, while finding a comfortable spot to relax and get a cold one.

[Mr. Handy]

"Don't look at me," says Liz. "I'm much better at talking to computers than to people. "

[ghill]

OOC:   So no one actually knows what questions they want to ask the prof? In which case why ring him?

[carnage_lee]

Andy Wade

"Let's hold off a moment and try and decide a proper plan of action, a lot of things have happened and we ought to spend some time to try and make sense of what we have... if that's possible." Andy takes a long swig of his beer. "We know we're on to 'something' but we don't have, or can't make sense, of all the pieces. We're not really sure what are clues and what's just... 'noise'. Westerlund was arrested on what must have been 'false charges' some one wanted him out of the way and importantly they didn't go as far as to murder him, which is the preferred method back in the UK.... that could be important. These people are not shy in committing blatant acts of murder to 'silence' someone.... but they didn't do that here... it would certainly have been easier to do away with Westerlund than have him arrested and subsequently deported from the island." Andy pauses looking out of the window, while he gathers his thoughts.

"Of course it does fit.. they wanted the sites closed down and framing the 'man in charge' had just that effect. Not only that... they don't seem to have been that bothered by a potential investigation by the authorities... so whatever they don't want to be found is probably still 'in the ground'." he shrugs. "Those items we found were probably planted to complicate the criminal investigation... keeping the sites closed for longer. Also... if they didn't need to kill Westerlund does that mean he 'knows' less than Gossham, Grundy and Mathers?"


"Am I making any sense, here?" he asks the others... hoping that everyone will chip in with ideas.

OOC:   So that sums up the recent events as far as Andy can tell... the waters are still murky (I have no idea what is going on!). Knowing what we 'know' and without any other ideas it's probably a good idea to approach Westerlund... Andy will try to contact... but I'd like to 'hear' what we all think is going on from a characters perspective before he proceeds... I think it's a good idea - if we were playing ftf we'd be swapping ideas and information more freely even if it were ooc. Hoping you all agree.

OOC:   Andy has an opening with Westerlund, namely the events on Malta... Andy can mention that he was injured at the Mathers' house and 'rescued' the daughter (it's a matter of record and Westerlund can verify that easily enough).... and also that they've done Westerlund a favour by getting rid of the 'evidence'.

[royya]

Maybe we can help Westerlund, tell him that we, without revealing identities yet, are in Malta and we want to find what he looked for ?
What are the chances ?
Jacob suggests

[Mr. Handy]

"I think you've the right of it," Liz tells Andy, sitting on the edge of the bed and swinging her legs idly back and forth. "I think it best that you make the initial approach, let him know you believe he's innocent, ask for an interview so you can get his side of the story. Then we can ask him about the sites he's worked on, show him the pictures Albert took and ask Westerlund their significance. Albert could be your photographer and I could be your intern - though I'd prefer Girl Friday."

[carnage_lee]

Andy Wade

Andy nods at Jacob's suggestion "I don't think that I can approach Westerlund and not let him know who I am. It will be important to develop 'trust' as soon as possible and letting him have enough information to be able to 'check me out' is probably the best way to start.

"I don't think we'll need to go to the trouble of 'inventing' staffers for me, Liz, well we would if we were to meet him face to face and I don't think that's on the cards... we don't know when we'll be back in the UK, after all.

Andy Scribbles some notes on his pad "Any other ideas about how we should proceed?"

[royya]

I agree, we want the professor on our side, but we should be secretive. I really hope that he was not sent here by the Albanians. There is a chance that he is working with them under threat ? Just do not reveal our exact location. We trust no one.
Jacob says

[ghill]

Greg sighs, "I'm still confused, why exactly did they kill Gossham and the others in the first place, what were they involved in which was so important?" Greg swigs from his bottle of water "Maybe that would explain why they didn't bother killing Westerlund, which does seem a bit out of character for them...I mean no sign of burning bushes, fire demons or sword wielding maniacs."

[Mr. Handy]

"I think it must have to do with that paper Gosshamm was working on," says Liz. "They've been trying to kill people who've read it - and people who happened to be at their homes at the wrong time. Maybe we should give the latest draft we've got some more scrutiny, see if anything jumps out at us now that we've seen the dig sites on Malta. I think the Verbetoi are trying to conceal their origins, and those origins point back to Malta. I don't think Westerlund has read it, or at least he wasn't copied on the email. When we do eventually return to the UK, we might want to speak to Westerlund in person, but while we're here we can see if he gives Andy any information that'll help us find out what we can on Malta."

[royya]

Unless Westelund was hired by the Verbetoi to excavate artifacts from the past. We do know that Gossham was killed since he hid the fragments and wrote the paper ... maybe Westerlund job was to find more of the fragments. I say we must find if the two professors were rivals ?
Jacob says as he ponders on the thickening plot

[BenTheRat]

Clay is flipping through the channels but there isn't a game on. "worthless TV. Hey Liz, has this Wusterland guy ever published anything on the verboti? Maybe he has something posted or was he referenced in Grossman's paper"
.

ooc,yes I know all the names are misspelled.

[Mr. Handy]

"Let me see," says Liz, ignoring Clay's mispronunciations. She goes online to search for biographical information on Westerlund, who he's worked with, and any papers that he's published.

[ghill]

OOC:   It doesn't take long to realise Westerlund and Gossham actually have pretty much diametrically opposed views of the Maltese fragments. Gossham says they are clear evidence of a written ur-language, Westerlund says they are simply pretty designs and don't originate from the date Gossham claims they come from. There is no name calling, and everything is civil. The BUGAS (pronounced buggers - Brichester University's Geography and Archaeology Society) website has photos last year of the end of dig party which shows Gossham and Westerlund sharing a drink (not news Liz was aware Gossham came over last summer) Liz seems to remember Shauna telling her something about the trip, about why she thought the prof came over*

"I remember one of the students saying Prof Gossham came over to Malta a couple of times" says Greg "I don't remembering him saying anything else about it though"

Liz/Clay wrack their memories,you can either go look through the notes and find what Shauna said, or failing that see if your memory serves you properly ([b]intx3 roll[/b])

[Mr. Handy]

"I recall Shauna saying that Gosshamm had a theory that some ethnic groups in Albania originated in Malta," says Liz. "Must be the Verbetoi, obviously. She also said he wasn't that interested in Malta any more and was keen to get back to Albania, which is where he would have gone next. He'd already bought a ticket and everything. I guess he already found whatever he needed to find on Malta." She also shares what she found online.

[BenTheRat]

"So was this a wild goose chase, maybe Albania is where we need to go?" Clay chimes in.

[Mr. Handy]

"I know we're going to end up going there eventually," says Liz, "but I think there may be something important going on here too that we need to be aware of. Gosshamm must have already discovered everything important here, which is why he was moving on."

[ghill]

"Has anyone actually read the paper end to end, I mean I've scanned it but I haven't really given it a thorough read. I understand the Prof thought the Verbti were descendants of these ancient people, but honestly I cant see that as being something you'd kill over." says Greg

[carnage_lee]

Andy Wade

Andy listens intently, makes notes to what he sees as important and recurring pieces of information.

"Liz, you did get contact details for that archaeologist you met at the site earlier, right? We could pump him for some information too... I expect that framing Westerlund was the culmination of an escalating series of incidents... aimed at getting the sites closed down... I mean they'd probably start by making things difficult, thefts... equipment breakdowns... that kind of harassment. If that's true, then it'd be common knowledge that they had problems at the dig-sites... and maybe, if we're lucky.. the activities might be focussed on one site... and that would pin-point the 'important' one." Andy chips in.

OOC:   Andy will volunteer to read any academic papers.