Scene Two - Veronica's Flat

[Priest]

Veronica's Room.
This room is drafty and small. There is a single bed with extremely fine bedclothes. There is a small desk with a few pens and a clean desk pad with leather bindings that looks extremely expensive. An incongrously fine waste paper basket stands next to the wall beside the desk.

Looking quickly beneath the bed Ted spots something, he almost bangs his head on the bedsprings as he retrieves a picture post card from betwwen the springs and the mattress.

Francis looks at a collection of books on the desk, but they appear to be little more than standard text books on English composition and Geometry, her courses at the university.

For those searching the room please give a location for your search e.g; Desk drawers, waste paper basket etc.
Also could everyone make a Spot Hidden +20% regardless of your chosen search area.

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During your search the apartment door opens and a plain looking young woman enters, from the manner of her dress she gives the impression of student, an impression further advanced by a group of various sized books held together by string.
For a few moments she observes you all over her thick rimmed glasses, "Yes?"

[Mr. Handy]

Tony gives the wastebasket a good going over. Maybe I'll find something she wrote while she was still in her right mind that'll give me a clue in here, he thinks. She could have thrown it away in a fit of madness. It's a good thing she never got around to emptying the basket.

Tony straightens up when the young woman walks into the room, but not too much - he is careful not to bump his head on the ceiling, as there isn't much room for his massive frame in this place. "You must be Veronica's roommate," he says. "I'm Tony Esposito. I work for Veronica's family. This is her cousin Tilda." He indicates her. "We and our associates are looking for her. She's gone missing, and her family is worried."

[Priest]

Tony Esporito (Mr H),The waste basket is full of crumpled sheets of paper. Probably attempts at her studies as some are bad attempts at poetry while other contain the odd mathematical notation or geometric problem solving. To your eyes they are boring and totaly uninteresting. However, one of the crumpled pieces is an invoice from [i]Maritime East Shipping Agents. Arkham. MA.[/i]. The invoice for unspecified goods or services is for $186. The date on the invoice is from several weeks ago and corresponds with the letter that Veronica had written to her aunt.

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The young woman nods. "Paula Deveroux. I haven't seen Ronnie for a couple of weeks now, as I told the last person who asked, not since she started acting 'spooky'".

[BenTheRat]

Ted Nelson
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Ted hands the post card off to Tilda. "Do you recognize the sender?"
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"Good morning Miss Deveroux, Ted Nelson Private Investigator." Ted smiles and nods at the young lady, "The previous investigation failed to produce any results, so Veronica's aunt hired a team in hopes a deeper investigation might turn up some results. Can you expand a bit on by what you mean by spooky? Was she seeing anyone or joined any clubs you are aware of?"

[Priest]

Tilda Smith-Chadwick (Cearlan),Although you have never met her, you know that [b]Veronica[/b] has a friend, [b]Maria Sicilia[/b] currently at university in Cambridge. England.

Paula turns from Tony to Ted,
"Hi. As I told the other man, Mr Myers I think his name was. I am certain that Ronnie was not 'seeing anyone', she had no time for boys, or had joined a group or something. As for her 'spookiness', it began about a month ago, up until then her behaviour was normal. Then suddenly she started staying in her room all the time, ignoring any attempts at conversation, even refusing to eat" she shrugs, "I remember one night, maybe three weeks ago, I awoke to find Ronnie just staring out the window at nothing. When I asked her if she was okay, she said it didn't matter as nothing mattered anymore and returned to her room, Then she stopped coming back to the rooms, and I haven't seen her for the past two weeks at all".
She looks around at all the people searching the room, "Please find her safe, I miss her"

Ted,Please roll a Spot Hidden + 20%

[BenTheRat]

Ted Nelson
.

Spot Hidden,[dice]0[/dice]

.
Ted notices something.

[Mr. Handy]

"Miss Deveroux, I shall do everything in my power to bring her home," says Tony, smoothing out the paper he salvaged from the wastebasket. "Do you know if she received or sent any packages some weeks ago?" He gives her the exact date on the invoice.

[kabukiman]

Francis didn't saw any weird book, but he found something else...
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4550341/

[Priest]

Previously Tony Esposito said:   "Do you know if she received or sent any packages some weeks ago?"

Paula thinks for a moment, her eyebrows drawn in concentration, "No, I don't think so and I would know if she had received anything. Anyway those dates correspond with her spookiest"

As Francis makes his way over to the desk with the pile of books, he notices something odd and quickly draws the attention of the others towards the window pane closest to the desk. A closer examination reveals that it has some greasy markings on it, noticeable in the sunlight.

[PatGrillo]

Professor Krugman looks casually around the rest of the house, any common areas etc. and does his best to occupy the landlady.

[kabukiman]

-It seems there is something here, what is it?

[BenTheRat]

Ted Nelson
.
"Spookiest?" Ted asks, "What do you mean by that, did she get worse and better, or just kept getting worse?"
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Ted starts searching the desk while talking, looking uder the desk pad, then through each drawer.
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priest,fyi, you asked for a spot hidden and I passed that. But you didn't indicate I saw anything. My base is 65, you gave +20, so target was 85 and I rolled an 80. Thanks.

[Priest]

Ted Nelson (Ben),On the desk you find a desk pad the top sheet of which seems to have been torn off, light indentations can be seen where the top sheet had been written on. In the very rear of the bottom drawer you find a fancy address book. Looking within you notice that each name and address has been methodicaly blotted out - some in black ink, some in blue, others in pencil. Make an Idea Roll. The Spot Hidden you made earlier was to see who would spot the window mark, it happened that Francis made the lowest roll so he spotted it, the scenario would have all six of you making the roll but I don't think any of us wants to wait that long. Since many hardly post at all. How you respond to it is up to you.

As you search Paula considers your question for a moment or two, "I don't recall whether she got worse, certainly not better, just well you know, spookier"

[BenTheRat]

Ted Nelson
.

priest,ah, no problem.

.

idea roll,target = 75% [dice]0[/dice]

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"Hmmm, looks like she wrote something on this notepad here. And this address book she has gone through to remove the names, like she is erasing any connections she has had with her former life." Ted speaks out loud more to himself than anyone in particular. "This old trick might just work though."
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Ted also looks through the address book to see if there are any names, not blotted out, or anything tucked into the book cover or pages.
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"So besides being strange, is there anything else you feel might be useful to us? Any small tidbit? She got a strange phone call or a visitor? Found some strange artifact? Anything at all might be useful." Ted asks.

[Mr. Handy]

"Oh, yeah, I've heard of that trick!" says Tony. "If you rub the top sheet of the notepad with a pencil, you can read the words that were written on the one above it that was torn off because the impressions become visible."

[PatGrillo]

Professor Krugman continues wandering about the house. He's very quietly humming a tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE5IfIkl_oA

[Priest]

Professor Krugman (Pat),It quickly becomes obvious that there is nothing to be found of any relevance elsewhere in the house, and that [b]Miss Hickman[/b] knows nothing of any use.

Ted Nelson (Ben),The way the names have been blotted out using different colours suggests that [b]Veronica[/b] did this at different times.There is nothing of any use elsewhere in the address book

E Francis Hardy (kabukiman),Please roll [b]Idea[/b]. In regards to the window.

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Previously Ted Nelson said:   "So besides being strange, is there anything else you feel might be useful to us? Any small tidbit? She got a strange phone call or a visitor? Found some strange artifact? Anything at all might be useful."

Trying to see what Ted was doing with the desk pad and a pencil, Paula shakes her head, "Other than her behaviour there was nothing untoward"

Using the pencil trick Ted quickly reveals the subject indented upon the page.
A couple of innocuous doodles and scribbled notes appear on the page, the kind you might do if you were doing something else.
However most of the page has been given over to frighteningly realistic drawings, images out of a nightmare. Included are frighteningly lifelike pictures of bodies hanging from trees; what appears to be some sort of shadowy-faced woman with long hair and a flowing gown; pictures of skulls; and a mountain rising up out over a forest.

All of these images have the disjointed appearance of visions from a nightmare and any one, Ted and Tony currently, viewing them calls for a SAN Roll (+10%) (0/1).
Also Ted and Tony please Roll Know

[PatGrillo]

Professor Krugman appears in the bedroom door: Found anything useful?

[BenTheRat]

Ted Nelson
.
"Thank you miss, you've been very help..." Ted's voice falls off as the images appear on the pad in front of him.
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Sanity,target = 55+10 = 65, [dice]0[/dice] ooc: fail -1 sanity, I assume you will be record keeper priest.

.

Know,target = 80, [dice]1[/dice] pass.

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"My God," crossing himself without thinking of what he is doing. "Such disturbing images from such a young girl." Ted quickly crumples up the paper once he realizes he has remembered what was itching out of the back of his mind. Noticing Tony looking over his shoulder for the first time, "did you recognize it?"

[Priest]

Ted Nelson (Ben),[center][img]http://i421.photobucket.com/albums/pp292/priest_019/RPG%20Stuff/RPG3/chadwickDoodle_zps78aa249f.jpg[/img][/center] The image is one you have seen before as an illustation in the book [i]A Dream of Japan[/i]. It would appear to be a drawing of the creature called a [b]Yurei[/b]. As you crumple the paper and notice [b]Tony[/b] looking over your shoulder you also notice the professor suddenly standing in the doorway to the room.

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Startled by the cool professional investigators sudden devotional action and the, equally sudden, paling of his face. Paula steps back a pace almost coliding with professor Krugman in the doorway, "Wwwwhat is it? What have you found?"