Martin Sorrell's House

[royya]

Whatever they looked for is still in the house and maybe relates to Martin's death
Joseph proposes
or maybe it is related to his last journey to south America. If the woman cursed a lot it means she did not found what she looked for.

[Cearlan]

(Written in the absence of Mr Handy)

David stares at her intently, not sure whether to believe her or not for whilst her story sounds plausible, there is somethig he cannot quite put his finger on that raises his suspicions.

[dice]0[/dice] psychology 34/55%

What is interesting to note however is the appearance of the odd looking man in her tale.

[royya]

Who was the man? Can you describe him for us please.
Joseph asks the Jemima as he tries to understand who was the man. Was it by any slightest chance Martin or the man with the bulgy eyes?

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes," says David, nodding, "what exactly was odd about him?"

[Priest]

"So", thinks Meredith, still holding station in the bedrooms doorway just in case, "Someone gained access to the house via the skylight? That would explain the water on the floor below, but how did this person get onto the roof without coming to the notice of a neighbour who missed nothing?"
However he says nothing simply content to listen.

[Cearlan]

(Written for DeeJ61 in her absence)

Jemima thinks for a moment. "The odd looking fellow, well come to think more about it, he walked kinda funny but his face was all covered up by the collar of his coat, trilby and a scarf, despite it being very hot and sticky out there. I caught a sight of him when I hid in the cloakroom downstairs as he walked by, and now that he was without his coat, hat v and scarf, and well frankly, he was the most ugly man I have ever seen, Big watery eyes, thin lips that were too wide and he was sweating a lot too. His sparse hair was lank and greasy and stuck to his head - he was simply the worst looking man I have ever seen.

So shall we start the search then - what are we looking for? I may have chanced upon it in my time here."

[Priest]

"Ha", says Meredith, "That sounds like half my class at the University", he chortles at the mental image. "Well as we're here shall we begin with this room?"

[royya]

So, it means that you will recognize him when you'll see him. That whould be helpfull for us I guess.
Joseph replies

[Cearlan]

Jemima snorts to herself "Yeah for sure ... couldn't be too many people THAT ugly." An expression of concentration crosses her face. "He must have been superstitious though. Never noticed it when he came in, but when he left I watched him from the upstairs bedroom window there. He took great care not to stand in the sun nor on cracks on the sidewalk which I thought odd at the time but paid it little heed at the time."

[royya]

Hmmm interesting. Maybe he suffers a disease of some sort that causing him pain when he expose himself to direct sunlight.
We can start Martin's room
Joseph says and goes inside, trying to search the place.

[Priest]

Meredith follows, deep in contemplation. At the doorway to Martin's room he pauses, "Seems odd that this strange looking fellow with such odd behaviour managed in broad daylight to avoid Mr Inman's relentless observations", he turns to the newly discovered young lady, "Are you sure of your facts, my dear?"

[Cearlan]

"Mr Inman? ... Oh you mean that old fusspot next door ... He had taken them two awful dogs of his out when the man entered. I followed almost straight away, but still only just got back before he came back." Jemima looks Meredith straight in the eye and continues, "They are the facts as they stand good sir, neither mine nor anyone else's. Unless ..." she raises her hand to her mouth in shock, "Unless you are doubting my word.

Either way, what are we looking for again?" Jemima busies herself looking through the bedroom.

[Mr. Handy]

"I'm not entirely sure," says David, "but I'm hoping we recognize it when we see it. It's whatever the previous visitors were seeking, and it's likely they didn't find it. I'd like to search the study when we're done with this room. From what I saw from the doorway, there had been a lot of rummaging in there, with books thrown on the floor. I'm familiar with Martin's area of research, so I'll know if something stands out or doesn't fit."

[Priest]

"My dear young lady, there is no need to take offence. I merely question your facts in an effort to elicite the whole picture. If there is a strange looking man with odd behavior lurking around with the ability to elude the notice of our over zealous neihbour, we need to be sure he won't suddenly appear."
He begins a search of the room, adding as he does so, "We have already had one encounter with a gun wielding maniac, I for one wouldn't want it to be twice."

Spoiler:

OOC: I'm rolling a Spot Hdden (65%) for anything 'odd' in the room. 1d100 → [80] = (80) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4128415/
If there is Meredith didn't see it.

[royya]

Let's check the study room. This is where we encountered the woman that attacked us.
Joseph says as he goes to there.

[Cearlan]

OOC,Just to clarify, Everyone is in or around the study on the second floor.

There are several sets of footprints on the floor and a few cigarette butts behind the door. In the north Eastern corner of the room is a bookcase with several tomes scattered on the floor. The books covered Sorrell's area of expertise, Mayan Epigraphy, or hieroglyphs. The books are marked and highlighted in several places, but nothing can be drawn from the books nor the sections that are selected.

[Mr. Handy]

"It looks like they didn't find what they were looking for," says David, "but it might have something to do with subject matter similar to the books strewn about the floor. The annotations are probably in Martin's own handwriting. I doubt the intruders would bother marking them up and then not take them even if they had the time to do it. Hmm...maybe the brand of cigarette could tell us something about whoever smoked them. The fact that there are more than one means that someone spent significant time in this room." He takes a closer look at the cigarette butts to see if he can identify them, or at least determine if they are more likely to be smoked by a man or a woman.

[royya]

Joseph helps David with the inspection of the butts before he goes to check the titles of the books that were throwen away on the floor.
Maybe Martin hid something around here. A vault or a loose floor board ?

[Cearlan]

The brands of cigarettes are indistinguishable from any cheap brand on the market, there is no lipstick on the stubs.

David,Idea roll please

In the middle of the room is a small desk that is lying on it's back. The drawers have been taken out and smashed on the floor so little more than tinderwood remains. There is nothing of note in amongst the desk either.

Jemima offers, "The access to the loft space is in the back bedroom closet, at least the one I used is. I'm not sure if there is another or not, but I don't think so."

By the SouthWest corner sits an easy chair with a small table beside it. There are a few books on Incan, Toltec and Mayan Mythology spread around this chair. The books are covered with the same crabbed handwritten notes and annotations as in the books at the other end of the room. From these it seems that Martin was drawing parallels between the differing culture's mythologies.

There is nothing else of note in the room

[Mr. Handy]

David is perplexed by the scene. "I think that's all we're going to find in this room," he says. "Shall we search the rest of this floor before heading to another?"