IC: The Runaway [Jacob Vrees]

[Captain Impossible]

Dutch decides to head back to the police station. He gives everything he knows, including that he intends to talk with Judith. He presumes he can get Jean's information from the police report. After some rest, he will wrangle the witnesses and close the case. Vrees is not as confident about the case as he wished to be. When he was a beat cop, he broke up the kidnapping ring, those men shouting peculiar chants. Chants that made Dutch question why children always disappeared around Halloween. Arkham was fully invested in the abnormal being swept under the carpet.

After the craziness, Dutch decides that this case will answer others. He requests ownership of it, and requests a list of witnesses.

[Kadael]

The police report, as it currently stands, provides the following information:

Last night, around three o'clock in the morning, residents of the Simpson Apartments on Walnut Street were awakened by cacophonous shrieking. The source of the disturbance was a 26 year-old man named Michael Farr, residing in Apartment 5. Police were called immediately and upon their arrival, they forced the door open and found Farr screaming and engaged in bloody self-mutilation, specifically scratching at his face and gouging out his eyes. At this point a young woman, Judith Taylor, attempted to push past officers into the apartment and had to be removed from the scene.

Farr was transported by ambulance to St. Mary's Hospital for immediate medical treatment, and was to be delivered to the Sanitarium as he was completely incoherent. However, shortly after the ambulance departed the hospital, Farr somehow tore through his straitjacket and escaped on foot. Officers were notified and set out to recapture him.

He was found outside the Miskatonic University at around eight o'clock by students Dean Goodwin and Eliza Cooper. According to the former, they were on a walk and witnessed Farr smashing flowerpots and further injuring himself. Others present at the scene by the time officers arrived were Brewster Cushing, university groundskeeper, librarian Peter Walton, Professor Henry Witherspoon, detective Jacob Vrees, Jean Ross, and Dr. Andrew Morrison, who provided limited medical treatment.

Farr was apprehended by officers and is currently being transported by ambulance to the Sanitarium.

[Captain Impossible]

Dutch reviews the names of the witnesses and looks up their addresses and phone numbers. He writes down the contact information and lets the station chief know that the detective is heading out to interview Judith Taylor. That done, Vrees gets into his car and drives over the the Simpson Apartments on Walnut Street. He parks his car on the side of the road, and waits a moment. Arkham was a place of secrets, and the detective was wary of this woman whom the news vendor gave warnings, if only vaguely. Dutch removes the paper containing the contact information of the witnesses tucks it under his seat. He heads into the apartments.

[Kadael]

Southside is a part of the city that has been badly neglected over the years, and Walnut Street is no exception. The buildings are old and ill-maintained, and the road is littered with potholes and cracks.

Despite the squalor, the people who live on Walnut Street seem cheerful. Little Italian children play games of marbles with each other and bounce on Pogo sticks, and several women go about their domestic duties with bright smiles. None of those women could be Judith, though--they're certainly too old to conceivably be Marcus's sister.

The atmosphere is similarly pleasant inside the Simpson Apartments. It helps that the door to Apartment 1 is ajar, allowing Dutch to smell something delicious cooking.

[royya]

Peter parks his bicycle outside the building and puts the bundle of notes he took from the historical society building under his arm. He scans the building from the outside before stepping inside.

[Captain Impossible]

Vrees continues on his path. Seeing the children and housewives going about their business brings a smile to the detective's face, reminding him of when he was a simple beat cop. Dutch walks up a stairwell, remembering the apartment is supposed to be on the second floor. His gaze briefly goes to the door of Apartment 5, where Farr had his breakdown. He then heads to Apartment 6 and knocks on the door.

[Kadael]

Inside the building, Peter can see the door to Apartment 1 is open. A strong, zesty smell indicates something tasty cooking inside. Apartments 2, 3, and 4 are all closed. The stairs creak under the detective's feet as he disappears up to the next floor.

Behind the door to Apartment 6, Dutch can hear the sound of clattering dishes. At his knock, the noise stops suddenly. Nobody comes to answer the door.

[royya]

Peter's stomach growl as he inhale the smell, he shakes the feeling and refocus his senses. Seeing that door no. 5 is on the second floor he goes up with caution.

[Captain Impossible]

Hearing the apartment go silent, Dutch quietly takes out his pistol, and begins to turn the door knob. In bad neighborhoods like this, people frequently locked their doors, but there was always the chance Judith Taylor either didn't or had forgotten. As he attempts to open the door, he says, "Miss Taylor, Arkham Police Department!" If the door opens, the detective will enter the apartment. Otherwise, he knocks again before trying anything more aggressive.

[Kadael]

Peter approaches the door to Apartment 5.

Dutch finds that Apartment 6 is locked up tight, but there's a rush of footsteps in response to his words. The door opens just enough to reveal the face and figure of a pale, bedraggled young lady. Her brown hair hangs loose around her face and there are deep, dark shadows under her eyes. The wrinkles and lines developing on her face make it difficult to tell just how old she might be.

"What's this all about, sir?" she asks in a shaky voice.

[Captain Impossible]

"I just had a few questions regarding the incident in Apartment 5," Dutch says as he quietly reholsters his pistol. "May I come inside, Miss Taylor?"

[royya]

Peter stops as he reach the floor. he eyes the detective that speaks to the young lady in apartment 6.
He understands that the man is a police man, he tries to remember if he saw the man earlier in the university.

[Kadael]

Peter remembers the detective from earlier in the morning. He was outside the Physics Department, with Peter and the others.

Judith hesitates, sadness flickering on her face when Dutch mentions 'the incident.' She sighs heavily and tugs the door open all the way. "S-sure. Come in. Shut the door behind you. Please." She steps back to let him in.

[Captain Impossible]

Dutch enters the apartment, closing the door behind him. "I know this must be difficult, but you were in Farr's apartment when he ... lost it." Dutch wishes he knew a more diplomatic way to put it. "What was he doing before he harmed himself?"

[royya]

Peter stands for several moments and eyes the door where the two vanished, he then shift his gaze to apartment no. 5 and knocks on the door before trying the door knob.

[Kadael]

"It's open," hollers a male voice in response to Peter's knocking. The door is not locked and Peter enters.

Peter,Return to your own thread: [url=http://www.callofcthulhu.org.uk/pbp/viewtopic.php?f=224&t=3186&p=154927#p154927]In Crumbling Pages[/url]

Apartment 6 is as run-down as the rest of Walnut Street, but at least it's clean. Judith gestures toward the threadbare sofa as she moves toward the kitchenette. She freezes up mid-stride and looks over her shoulder at Dutch, flushing hotly. "I-- I wasn't in his apartment, sir, I don't know what he was doing."

With a sigh, she turns around, rubs her eyes, and blinks at him. "I woke up in the middle of the night and Michael was screaming. I guess the landlord called the police because they were there before I really knew what was happening. When I did, they'd got his door open and I tried to get in, but they wouldn't let me."

"I... saw blood. B-but not much else. And he's gone somewhere. He's-- he was my friend, sir."

[Captain Impossible]

Dutch listens to to woman's tale, waiting for the Judith to sit before taking a seat himself. "You need not worry. He was found near the university, and taken to St. Mary's. You said Michaelwas screaming. Was he saying anything when he screamed?"

[Kadael]

Judith relaxes a little, and seats herself at the far end of the sofa. "Not much... 'no' and 'please' were all I heard. Mostly he was just crying..."

[Captain Impossible]

Dutch listens as Judith talks. He tries to put two and two together. "Was Michael going through anything traumatic beforehand? A recent tragedy or may be some trouble at work?"

[Kadael]

"Not anything he told me about." Judith folds her hands under her chin, looking thoughtful. "We... hadn't seen much of each other before last night. Not for any real reason, he was just too busy with his telescope."