Scene Three. The Maritime East Shipping Agents

[Priest]

Scene three: Maritime East Shipping Agents. Arkham MA

To the sound of a jingling bell, the door of Maritime East Shipping Agents opens to reveal a small, cramped office. A few chairs are set before a tiny, paper strewn desk while the walls are adorned with posters of far-away places – Egypt, Africa, and the Swiss Alps feature prominently.
Every surface is stacked with folders, brochures, and mementos of foreign travel. On the wall behind the desk is a particularly gruesome African mask, and wherever you go in the tiny room it seems to look down on you with smoldering hate. Soon after the bell rings, an elderly man in an extremely well-tailored Italian suit comes out from a back room, beaming.

"Welcome, welcome. Alfred Noble. How may we be of service to you?"

As the door closes too behind him you are aware of another, much younger man sitting at another desk within the room.

[jbibblesworth]

The atmosphere of the claustrophobic room is positively stifling, but nevertheless Bridget steps to the forefront of the group her swelling fascination with the story now getting the better of her decorum.

"How do you do Mr. Noble?" she says warmly, extending a hand to the primly dressed proprietor. "I'm Bridget Barrett. We're here to inquire about a friend of ours we believe may have done some business with your company recently. Do you remember the name Veronica Chadwick by any chance?"

[Priest]

Noble sinks heavilly into a swivel chair that has seen better days behind the desk, he makes a show of consideration of your question, "I might have" he sucks pensively on a hollow tooth, "But client confidentiality is something I place great store on. Now if I was to break that confidentiality, and word was to get round that Alfred Noble couldn't be trusted to keep his yap shut, I'd lose business. And who can afford to lose business in these times"

From the look of the office, it hardly looks like business is booming.

Ted Nelson smiles, he recognises someone on the make when he sees them.

[jbibblesworth]

Bridget's eyes narrow slightly at Noble's not-so-subtle request for a bribe. However, it isn't the first time she'd run across such seedy types in her days. She slips a deft hand into her clutch purse and fishes out a twenty dollar bill which she discreetly folds in half and slides across the desktop towards him.

"Mr. Noble, I can assure you that my associates and I are fully capable of the utmost discretion. We ask only out of concern for our dear friend Veronica."

Spoiler:

Fast Talk Target 55% 1d100 → [6] = (6) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4567174/

[Mr. Handy]

Tony stands near the door and keeps an eye on the proceedings, content to let Bridget do the talking and ready with the invoice if it's needed. The food at Luigi's smelled good, he thinks. Maybe we can eat there afterwards.

[Priest]

Almost as discreetly, but with extra haste, Noble takes the twenty and slips it into a pocket.

“Yeah, I remember her. She came in a few weeks ago asking for information about foreign travel arrangements. She wanted passage to Japan.
Yeah that was it, to Japan, but not one of the major cities. A village called…. oh, it’s on the tip of my tongue. Oh yes, Naushua, I believe. Yes, I’m certain it was Naushua. I was only most helpful with the lovely young lady, as my assistant Mr Wellington can verify” With a slight movement of his head he indicates the pale faced young man watching interestedly from the back room.

“We discussed timetables and routes, and it seemed money was of little object. Strange, though. I asked her why such a young girl would possibly want to make such a long and… arduous journey... I ask for professional reasons only, you understand? However, she stared off into nothing as if looking at something which wasn’t there for quite some time, so long that I finally had to ask her if everything was all right. When she spoke again she took me by surprise, she spoke to me in what I am certain is Japanese. I speak five languages, you realize, have travelled all over the world, but it’s not a language I’ve mastered to any extent, unlike Mr Wellington, I know a few phrases and am familiar with its sound, but only in a limited fashion, understand?.”

He pauses and his brow furrows in thought, “As I remember it the young lady had no trace of an accent. Well, one can only presume that she is an enthusiast of their fascinating culture, whatever her reason, I booked her passage myself. Would you like a copy of her itinerary? I could provide one, certainly. However there is a nominal charge of $10…to cover expenses etc” He shuffles a few sheets of paper, pointedly...

[jbibblesworth]

Bridget listens as the agent recounts his dealings with Veronica, his answers only further complicating the mystery. Another inevitable request for a payoff sends Bridget's hand rummaging through her purse, almost without her realization of doing so. As she flips through the assorted bills her eyes remain glued to Mr. Noble.

"Thank you Mr. Noble, her itinerary would be extremely helpful!" she says, depositing another tightly folded bill onto the desk before him. "And she said nothing else? She didn't mention if she knew anyone there or what intentions, if any, she had?"

Over her shoulder she addresses the others.

"Well fellas, our little investigation just became a whole lot more involved. We should let Ms. Chadwick know straight away." she suggests. A thought seems to momentarily lighten her delicate features and she directs her attention towards Mr. Noble's silent associate.

"Mr...Wellington was it?" she says, offering him a practiced smile. "Your colleague Mr. Noble mentioned that when Veronica was here she said something in Japanese. I don't suppose you overheard it and would be willing to relay it's meaning to us?"

'When does a full-time student of mathematics have time to become fluent in Japanese?' she wonders to herself.

[Priest]

Noble shakes his head, "No, she said nothing else about her intentions once she'd got to her destination and she never mentioned anyone else" he turns to the young man he had earlier identified as Mr Wellington, who had appeared beside him, "Did you get any more information, Paul?"

Paul Wellington watches as Noble hastily stuffs the ten dollar bill in his pocket along with the earlier twenty, you can see the disgust on his face.

"She said two words one was forest and the other geisha, it was hard to get the gist of most of what she was saying as she spoke so fast and a lot of it was some old form of Japanese to high brow for me" he steps around the still seated Noble.
"I remember Miss Chadwick, pretty girl, nice manners. I spoke to her first but what she was after was beyond me, so I handed her on to Mr Noble" he smiles at Noble, but you can see its nothing more than formality.

"Is she in some sort of trouble? I'd like to help if I can. Like I said she seemed real nice, if a little too distant"

[jbibblesworth]

As the young Wellington speaks, Bridget whips out her notebook to the page with the copy of the Japanese character and jots down the word 'geisha'.

"We don't have any evidence that causes us to think she's in trouble per se..." she states slowly, "...other than her unusual behavior, that is."

She motions towards her associates in an inclusive manner.

"We'd be more than appreciative to any assistance or insight you could offer us." she briefly considers asking him about the Yueri but quickly decides against it in light of Noble's unscrupulous nature. "Mr. Noble, is there any additional information you can think of or any unmentioned detail that you can recall that you think may be of note? If not, I'll take the itinerary and leave you to your business..."

"...unless one of my companions has something they wish to ask." she adds.

She takes a step closer to Paul, hoping to speak a bit more discreetly.

"Paul, I've no experience with Japanese culture. Can't even hold chopsticks."['/color] she smiles sweetly, "Would you be willing to share your insight on a few matters over a cup of coffee? Maybe we can grab something next door at the little Italian place? My treat!"

[PatGrillo]

Professor Krugman : Did you show no concern for such a young girl expressing the desire to travel alone? Or was there some second person?

[Mr. Handy]

"Yeah, Luigi's sure smells good," comments Tony, almost salivating. "There's nothing like fine Italian cooking."

[kabukiman]

-Funny, nobody mentioned that she knew that language. Or she had some classes. This is getting stranger- Francis is already getting ideas to his book. Maybe a case of possession?

[Priest]

Noble opens a desk drawer and retrieves several sheets of typewritten paper, "This is the itinery I produced for Miss Chadwick. As you can see it involved her travelling overland to Frisco, and then by ship to Mito then inland to Naushua."

You can see the paper is dated two weeks ago, and coresponds with her abrupt disapearance.

As he releases the sheets he looks up at the question from Professor Krugman, " Yeah I was concerned, but she seemed very competent and it's bad buisness to interfere in a clients wishes. As I said she was alone when she came in, and alone when she picked up her tickets. If there was anyone else, they sure didn't travel with her"

Wellington takes an overcoat from the nearby stand, "Just popping out for a bit, back soon" to Bridget he smiles and says, "Luigi's is good"

[jbibblesworth]

Bridget accompanies Wellington to the Italian eatery next door and selects a table near the rear of the restaurant. There, as they wait on their respective orders, she diligently goes over the case's pertinent facts being certain to bring to to his attention any detail that pertains specifically to Japan.

Finally, having shown him her transcribed character, she takes her coffee cup in hand and looks at Paul thoughtfully.

"So what do you think Paul?" she asks, motioning towards the notebook. "Does anything jump out at you?"

[BenTheRat]

Ted Nelson
.
Ted sat back watching Bridgett take the lead. "not bad, maybe there is hope for this group," he thought to himself, though he thought the 20 spot was way too much for information. A small threat of a beating would have gotten the same results, but the rich are use to buying what they want.
.
Addressing Noble, "We may need to book the same passage, how much was it for Ms. Chadwick? and I am unfamiliar with Naushua, how far is it from Mito?" Ted asks.
.

book,didn't we borrow the book? I thought we had it with us, maybe I'm wrong. need to go back and check.

[Priest]

OOC:   Welcome back Ben.

Noble opens another desk drawer and pulls out a folded map of Japan, studies it for a moment and then points out the port of Mito with a nail that shows evidence of chewing, "Here's Mito and Naushau village is some sixty miles inland, just about here I believe"
You can see nothing on the map, obviously a village is too small to have been noted. Noble seems to be pointing to a forested area near the foothills of Fuji. The name of the forest is written in on the map just where the crease has marked it, it looks like Aokigahara, but you cant be sure.

Noble looks up from the map, "I could arrange for you to travel to Japan for a reasonable price. Of course travel to that Country is...difficult, but it happens that I have some freight booked on a cargo ship out of Frisco next Tuesday and I may be able to extend the booking to accomodate some of you. But I will need to know as quick as possible for the paperwork"

[Mr. Handy]

"I think we'd better make the arrangements now," suggests Tony. "It's been too long already, and we don't want the trail to grow colder. That notepad rubbing we took also mentioned Aokigahara Forest. That's a topic we'll want to research."

[kabukiman]

-Did see make any question concerning the area she was going? Even something that you didn't know?

[Priest]

Kabukiman,Who are you directing the question at?

OOC:   As far as I can tell the last person to have the book 'A Dream of Japan' was Ted. There is no mention of him putting it back, so I presume he still has it.

[kabukiman]

OOC,to Noble