Play@YSDC

The address you got from Pizner for his office takes you to an ordinary three-storey white building in the middle of an ordinary street in the middle of an ordinary day of working activity. It's early afternoon, and the early spring's sun is warm and comfortable. People walk around carrying their coats on their arms, enjoying the pleasant weather after the morning's rain.

Further along the street, a couple of hundred meters away, preparations are underway for a movie shooting. A gregarious crew is hauling equipment around and you can hear them cracking jokes and laughing. That is somewhat reassuring - with these many people around, it's unlikely anyone would be willing to cause troubles.

You drive the car in front of the building on a first pass, then make a turn around the block and park not too far away.

Sense Trouble,[dice]0[/dice]

Clarence gets an uneasy feeling about this situation.

Holly is unaware of any potential trouble.

OOC,Sense Trouble roll (no points spent): [dice]0[/dice]

Perhaps the recent developments have made you nervous, but you are on edge. Is that black car following you? No, it just turned right, false alarm. And that man, watching you from a table in a cafè... is he spying on you? Perhaps it was risky coming here, or perhaps you're just being paranoid.
In the end, after having scanned your surroundings for ten long minutes, you can't pinpoint anything truly suspicious. You think you're safe, and the area is clear. All that's left is going inside and find the office.

carnage_lee,As Cearlan rolled a 6, I'm moving on as I don't think you're going to make a spend. If you wish, though, you can make it and roll. I'll tell you if you find anything strange.

Sense Trouble,I'm not going to spend, iirc Christoper is down to 1 pts in that pool.

Lay of the land,is this like a 'typical' office building, with a lobby? If so, Christopher will loiter in the lobby for a few minutes to make sure no-one is following us. If necessary Christoper can also keep the receptionist (in the lobby) busy, so the others can slip up to the floor that Pizner's office is on.

carnage_lee,You can check your sheet in "The Investigators" thread. Unless I made some mistake, you have 3 points left in Sense Trouble.

The building is a "typical" office building, but doesn't seem to have anyone working as a receptionist, probably to keep rents on the cheap side. As a matter of fact, the building looks like it could use some cleaning. In the lobby there's a large panel on a wall, on which is written a list of all the offices inside, and the relative floor. Pizner Investigations is on the third floor.

"Clarence, I think it's best if you check it out first," says Holly, "in case someone's there. Christopher and I are best off not having been seen here. If there's a secretary or something, you can pretend you want to hire Pizner. If it's clear, you can come get us."

"Yeah, no problem Holly." Clarence says before adding; "Most PI work involves peoples partners straying from home so I'll use that if I need to to arrange an appointment. That way if there's no-one there I can come and get you all."

Clarence gets to the third floor, looking around. There are many offices, mostly white collars and salesmen. After a quick search he finds Pizner's office. Clarence leans on the door as if checking the name, while listening for any noise from inside. There's none. He then knocks on the door, and waits one... two... three seconds. No answer.

Christopher Fontana

Christopher fights the urge to pace up and down and to keep checking his watch, it's only been a matter of minutes but seems like ages since Clarence disappeared up to the third floor. "I hate waiting around" he says to Holly giving in to one urge as he scratches at his arm, "mosquito bite" he adds "itches like the devil."

Clarence tries the door.

OOC:   Is my "attention" of the office door visible from anywhere, other workers or offices for example?

Clarence tries the door, but it's locked.

Cearlan,[ooc]If you want to pass by the door, you'll need to open it either by brute force or by picking the lock, that doesn't seem particularly good. At the moment, the corridor is empty and no one can see you.[/ooc]

I notice that I have lockpicking 4/4 so I think my course of action is plain. I'll spend one of my points I believe.

[dice]0[/dice]

Making sure that the coast is clear, Clarence kneels down and starts to work on the lock with his picks.

"Don't scratch it," says Holly, examining the bite, "you'll only make it worse. Are you okay, Christopher? If you need to talk, I'm here for you. Is that the same spot where you were bitten before?"

OOC,Locksmith is an investigative skill, so it just works without needing to roll. You may need to spend a point, if the Keeper says so. Probably not more than one in this case, though. This isn't Fort Knox.

Clarence kneels in front of the door and takes some simple lockpicking tools out of a pocket - a true PI can never go on his business without. The lock is relatively poor, and picking it is an easy task. Still, Clarence can hear the noise coming from the offices around, and fear that anyone might be coming out at any moment. The seconds pass one after the other, sweat forming on Clarence's brow, then finally there's a click - the door's open.

Christopher Fontana

"It's just a bite, I'll pick up a bottle of calamine lotion later. I'm a bit 'jumpy' I guess, this whole 'thing' seems to get more and more serious as we dig deeper and we've only just scratched the surface! We've already committed 'kidnapping' and now 'breaking and entering' if we're not careful we could have the authorities to worry about too not just the remnants of Echevarria's cult of lunatics. " he says glumly.

Clarence has a quick look round the office to ensure that there is nothing obvious to see. He then slips out of the building before anyone can notice his activities. He gets near to the car and attracts Christopher's attention and then waits a couple of doors down from the lobby where Pizner's office is. When Christopher joins him he leads the way to the office and slides inside - closing the door behind him, having instructed Christopher to do the same if the coast is clear.

The search begins

"I know," says Holly, looking down. "I'm practically a gun moll now. I can't help feeling guilty, but I knew we had to do it. These people play for keeps, and they won't hesitate to kill us if we give them a chance."

OOC,Is the mosquito bite on the same spot as the bite the mental patient gave him in Savannah?