Play@YSDC

Ian Morin

"It's settled then. Let's go."

You drive back to Buchwald's office and exit the car, walking across the street to reach the building. You walk up the stairs to the second floor and enter the office. The secretary looks at you, surprised, then recognizes Clarence: "Oh, Mister... Porter... I thought you had chosen the appointment at four p.m.".

Cameron thinks of his grandmother, his most precious and meaningful relationship, and tries to direct the peace and comfort he feels to the secretary. He looks her straight in the eyes and smiles gently.

"We're all very sorry, but we got into town early and we hoped we could see Mr. Buchwald as soon as possible, as we're on a tight schedule and we'd like to return to San Diego this evening if we can. Myself and Mr. Part are Mr. Porter's business partners. If you could fit us in we'd be so grateful".

"I see... wait a second please", the woman says, getting up and entering an adjacent room. She returns a few moments later: "Mr. Buchwald will meet you now", she says, smiling.

You enter the other room to see a small working space, clean and organized. There's a desk on your right, with some simple chairs, and two file cabinets on the wall opposite from the door. There's another door on the left, but it's closed. On the desk there are are a couple of black notebooks, and a typewriter. A man walks towards you as you enter the room, extending his hand.



"Good morning, I'm Abraham Buchwald. How can I help you?", he says with a smile.

Assess Honesty,He doesn't seem to have recognized [b]Ian[/b].

Clarence steps forward with a big smile and takes Buchwald's hand firmly looking him straight in the eye as he does so.

"Hello Mr. Buchwald, I am Francis Porter and this is Mr. Part my business associate and this is Mr. Jerry;" he adds indicating Ian and Cam respectively. "Thank you for agreeing to speak with us at such short notice and ahead of my scheduled appointment. Due to a last minute change of plans we have less time here in town than anticipated before we have to return to San Diego, unfortunately by close of play tonight. I'm sure you are well acquainted with how fluid business can be. We need to discuss a delicate matter with you if you could spare the time. May we sit?"

"Yes, yes, certainly, take a seat", he says, while returning behind the desk and sitting himself, "What can I do for you gentlemen?"

Cameron fixes Buchwald with an icy glare. "Mr. Buchwald, we have information regarding your involvement in a narcotics smuggling network. I’m sure the name Nectar is familiar to you”. He stops to see how Buchwald will react.

OOC:   Can I use Intimidate on him Overlord?

Buchwald looks surprised for a second, then shocked, his face going white. "I-I-I'm afraid you mistake me for someone else... I don't know anything about a Nectar or anything l-like that", he says with a trembling voice.

Assess Honesty,He's clearly lying.

Cameron,You surely can intimidate him, but you'll need a 1-point spend to crack him. And do your best to write a colorful description of your Intimidation :D

Cameron

OOC,In that case I'll wait on the Intimidation and see how easily he gives up the info. I'll save it for the end of the questioning.

“We all know that ain’t true Mr. Buchwald. See, us and our associates recently came into possession of a ledger containing the accounts of said network. And your name is all over it.”

He pauses and leans back. “Interesting new drug, this Nectar. I’m sure that the Bureau of Narcotics would like to know more about it. And about your involvement with it.”

Clarence sighs deeply and lowers his voice a tone or two. "Now we had hoped that you would come clean about this but it looks as though it's time to play a little hardball Mr Buchwald, or perhaps you would prefer to be called 'Boxcar.' After all it was the name you were identified by, along with another individual code-named 'Black' Now what was his name again ...?"

Clarence looks up to the ceiling, his brow seemingly creased in concentration whilst brushing some imaginary lint off his trousers he continues; "That was it, a Mr. Echevaria, that's what it was, wasn't it? Now I'm certain that the authorities would be more than interested in our story and your involvement in it. It certainly wouldn't do your business any good now would it?" Fixing Buchwald with his friendly smile and cold eyes Clarence delivers his coup de grace.

"But after all we are all civilised and reasonable people here Mr. Buchwald and I'm sure that some arrangement ... some middle ground may be found. Don't worry sir - we are not out to hurt either you or your business in any way shape or form, that is unless ..."

Clarence leaves the threat hanging in the air.

Buchwald covers his face with his hands, and remains like that for a few seconds. Then he says weakly: "Fine, you got me. After all these years, I would not have thought... Echavarria is dead, you know that?" He exhales deeply, then adds: "What do you want to know?"

Cameron

Cameron wonders if this man simply got in over his head. Maybe he wants to unburden himself?

"Why don't you start at the beginning Mr. Buchwald? You don’t seem like the criminal type, and I would know. How did you get involved in all this?”

Clarence takes out his notebook and prepares to make notes of whatever Buchwald says.

Buchwald starts talking, slowly: "I worked for Mr. Echavarria from 1918 when I opened my business until his death in 1924. He was a wealthy man, and keeping his accounts was the lion's share of my business. I took care of the legal side of his money, taxes and things like that, and also of his other... activities, shall I say".

He pauses for a few seconds, then continues: "Mr. Echavarria was the leader of a... I guess you'd call it a church. They worshipped an old-world god they called Gol-Goroth. It was very... druidic. There was a man from the university, George Ayers, a professor. He was an expert about these old religions."

"Mr. Echavarria hosted orgies. That's the plain truth. That was how they, you know, worshipped. He had a drug they all called Nectar that was worth more by weight than gold. They sold it, to people in the cult and to a few really jaded outsiders. I kept record of Mr. Echavarria's Nectar trade. It was the source of most of his money. He had inherited some money, but the lion's share was from Nectar".

Cameron is fascinated. "And when did your involvement end? Or is this network still active in any way? Answer carefully, Mr. Buchwald."

Ian feels somewhat disappointed when the he notices the man doesn't recognizes him. Deep down he thought that maybe Buchwald could have some answers about whatever happened to him two years ago. When Cameron asks about the recent activities of the network Ian holds his breath waiting for the answer.

OOC:   Is Holly's sketch of the man in my dream with any of us?

"It was the summer of 1924. One day Mr. Echavarria called me up to the house, and when I showed he was raving. He said that there was a police investigation trying to bring him down. He told me if the police came around asking questions that I wasn't supposed to talk about them. Pardon my French, but no shit".

He continues, speaking more quickly now: "There was a big ceremony a few weeks after that. I was involved in their... parties, just enough to get the business, you see. But I begged out of that one. I don't mind admitting that I was frightened by the police investigation. Thank goodnees I stayed away, because that was the night the whole thing blew up. I think it wasn't the police investigating after all, but still, that investigation brought about that disaster. I don't know what really happened that night, and I don't want to know. I'm just glad that none of it blew up on me, and frankly speaking, I'm glad I could get out of it. I have a family now. Children. You understand?

He joins his hands as if praying: "You're not going to drag any of this into the open, are you? Nothing good can come of it. Let sleeping dogs lie".

OOC:   Yes, you can have the sketch with you.

Ian Morin

"It looks like you got really lucky, didn't you, Mr. Buchwald?" He says in a sarcastic tone. "Tell me..." He takes Holly's sketch from his pocket, puts it over the table and looks directly in the man's eyes. "Do you know this man?"

Buchwald looks at the sketch with a pensive expression, then says: "I'm not entirely sure, but I think this might be Trammel. Samson Trammel. But he looks older... did he survive after all? How did you get this?", he asks, then quickly adds. "Never mind, I don't want to know. He was part of Echavarria's inner circle, at least I think he did. Creeped me out, this one, but then again, many of them did. I haven't seen him since 1924, thought he died in the incident honestly".

Cameron

"What do you know about Trammel's role? What did he do for Echavarria?