Play@YSDC

You meet back at the hotel and, after a quick lunch, get back in the cars to drive out of town, to the old farm where Echavarria and many others lost their lives in that deadly summer of 1924. You feel your mind is already wandering to the coming journey to Mexico, and whatever danger might await you there. In contrast, this short trip to a long-forgotten farm doesn't really fuel your enthusiasm - but you feel you can't afford to let anything slip by.

You follow the main road until you reach the farm's address, then turn to take a dirt road leading into the countryside for a couple hundred meters. Finally, the small trail dies off as you stop the car in front of some barely visible remnants of two burned down buildings.

Holly examines the dirt road for tracks to see if there's been any recent traffic. "I didn't find out much from the sample," she says, "only that it seems to be organic in part. It's almost as though it's alive. It felt like it was actively trying to hide its true nature from me, and just trying to figure it out made my head hurt and my stomach churn. Any luck with Olivia Clarendon?"

Cameron

Holly's description, combined with the heat and the pain in his shoulder, make Cameron feel ill. He gets out of the car before he answers her question.

"She didn't have much to say that we didn't already know. We can quite certain that her involvement was casual, and she wasn't involved with the major players. She just wanted to forget the whole thing."

He looks around. "Shall we have a little look at what's left of the buildings?"

He heads toward them.

Cam,Searching the buildings doesn't reveal much. There were clearly two large buildings here, that burned down quite some time ago. Since then, grass has grown on the ruins, and all around, unchecked.

Holly,There are indeed signs of movement. You find tracks that could be left by a truck or something of the sort. More than that, there are signs of recent digging.

Cameron kicks at the dirt.

"There's nothing to see here" he calls to the others.

"I wouldn't be so sure," says Holly, studying the dirt. "There are tracks here, recent ones. Looks like a truck's been through here, and there's evidence of recent digging too. Everyone stay alert. We might not be alone here." Once again, the weight of her concealed gun against her thigh is reassuring, though she hopes she doesn't need to use it.

Cameron comes over and bends down to look at the site of the digging more closely.

OOC,How extensive is the site of the digging Overlord?

The digging site is about 15 meters away from the ruins, and it's not small, although it is sort of hidden by the tall grass and it's not strange you couldn't immediately notice it. Anyway, it seems they are - were? - digging a hole several meters long on each side, and more than one meter of depth.

Cameron

"What on earth could they have been looking for?" muses Cameron. "And have they even finished?"

He looks around him anxiously. "Whoever did this might be back."

Ian Morin

Ian crouches at the edge of the digging, analyzing the floor without jumping in. "Maybe they are, or were, building something."

"I don't see any construction equipment here," says Holly. "Maybe they were searching for something. Perhaps they've found it, perhaps not. It might be worth our while to continue digging there in case we find it first. Maybe there's a shovel around this place, in a tool shed or a barn or something. Of course, it is a rather wide hole, but they might not know too precisely where whatever it is is buried. Could be dead bodies, maybe. Or maybe they are planning to build something and have only dug the foundation hole so far."

OOC,[b]Christopher[/b] has Architecture. It might be a good idea to use it here.

While you move around, talking and inspecting the site, Cam feels a sudden burst of pain from his leg, near the calf. His hands instinctively runs at his gun, but looking down, it's just a brown cat. A feral cat, relatively large in size, biting Cam's leg. A quick kick is enough to send it flying a few meters away. The animal hisses back at you before disappearing in the tall grass.

Cam,You lose 1 Health.

Cameron

“Goddammit!” shouts Cameron. He rubs his leg where it was bitten. “What the hell was that about? Goddam cat!”

OOC,This is some kind of evil cultist cat, no doubt?

Holly bends down to examine and treat Cam's bite. "Are you okay?" she asks. "It looks like it broke the skin, but it's not too bad. I just hope the mangy thing wasn't diseased." She doesn't mention rabies so as not to alarm him, but that's foremost in her thoughts.

Cameron

“I’ve had my shots, but… I wonder why he did that? Cats don’t usually attack without provocation.”

Christopher Fontana

"That's true... you must have startled it... they lash out if they're surprised." Christopher offers a clean handkerchief as a makeshift dressing. "Let's keep an eye out for any more feral animals..."

OOC:,Are the old farm building totally ruined or do some parts survive intact enough that we could investigate?

Cameron nods his thanks and takes the handkerchief. “Well at least it wasn’t a cougar” he says.

As he applies the dressing, he addresses Christopher. “What do you make of this digging?”

Holly,Judging by the wound, it seems the cat's teeth are in very bad shape, ingrown and crooked. There's nothing else strange about the wound.

Christopher,You judge the burned buildings to be what remains of a barn and a farm, but there's nothing more to be learned from them. Regarding the recent digging, considering the size and shape, it seems to be the groundwork for a new building - another farm, maybe, or a mansion. In any case, the work efforts were abandoned a few months ago.

"The bite isn't too bad," says Holly, cleaning and dressing the wound. "The cat's teeth are in terrible shape. I guess it never got to the dentist out here," she adds with a grin. "Maybe it used to live here back when the farm was a going concern, and it attacked because this is its territory. I wonder how old the cat is. It's possible it could have been here in August 1924."

Cameron

“Maybe he knows something”. Cameron heads towards where the cat disappeared in the grass.

Cam walks through the tall grass, looking around. There's no trace of the cat and, probably, no hope of ever finding it again in such a large and open space. There's a small hill up ahead, no more than forty-fifty meters high. Still, it might give a better view of the farm area.

Cameron

Finding no trace of his assailant, Cameron looks at the hill. He is unable to resist climbing it to get a better view of the area, a familiar weakness from his boyhood.

I'll have a look he decides, and then will suggest leaving.

Cam reaches the top of the hill, and as soon as he can extend his view to the other side, he stops and scratches his head. There's work going on there, construction work. On the adjacent parcel of land, barely a few hundred meters away, at least half a dozen houses are being built. There are men moving around even as he watches, busy with their work.

Cameron

The sight of the construction surprises Cameron. The area seemed a little remote for house building, but then, he is a country boy. He retreats down the slope and calls for the others to join him. He’d particularly like Christopher’s opinion on the building work.

Holly ascends the hill and takes a look at the construction site. "That's the adjacent property," says Holly. "We're going to want to find out who owns it. There could be a connection with Trammel's organization, as there's clearly work being done on this property too."

Cameron

“They probably have a site office. We can go down and have a look. I wonder if they’re planning to build here too.”

Christopher Fontana

"Let's go back and collect the car and drive around, after all we're probably done here, so no need to traipse all the way back..." Christopher suggests.

Ian Morin

Ok, then. Let's get the car and talk to these fellas. If they are not building here, they must have at least saw if there was movement here in the last months.

"Good idea," says Holly. "Let's go."

You jump back in the car and drive back to the main road, then a few hundred meters in the direction of LA, until finally you cross another dirt road that leads you right to where the construction work is going on. The men from the construction crew show some moderate curiosity, but in general keep working without seeming to care too much.
A big man in his forties, red hair and green eyes, comes to meet you. He introduces himself as John Kavanah , head of the construction crew. "Aye, been working on these houses for a few months now. Big plan, they say, a new residential area. You know, in the green, but near the big city. People are willing to pay for that", he shrugs, "and that's good work for us. In these days we are living in...", he wipes his forehead as his voice trails off.

"Yes, it's a good thing that this project is providing work for you and all these men," says Holly. "How big is this residential area going to be? It looks like some work has been started on the adjacent property too." She points towards the abandoned farm.

The man scratches his head, looking in the direction Holly's pointing at: "Aye, we did start working there, but we ran into some troubles. A couple of snakebites, a wild rabid dog", he shrugs, "We were falling behind. So we decided to begin here instead", he concludes looking around.

"It must be lonely working all the way out here," says Holly. "Is it just animals around, or have other people come up this way?"

Christopher Fontana

Christopher frowns hearing the reason for the workers to re-locate their works, it felt odd... yes they might have had problems but surely they also had to work to a plan, a schedule. He didn't think it would be up to the head of the construction crew to decide where to start building. He carefully looked about him, noting their surroundings* trying to see if anything is 'off'.

"Yes, this does look like it could be a fine place to live, away from the city... say, who are the developers? I may be taking up a position at the University..." Christopher adds the last part, thinking on his feet. "... and it would be nicer not to have to live in the city." he plays up his East Coast accent a bit.

OOC:,*I'll use a point of Sense Trouble, **1 pt Credit Rating spend.

"Well, mister, it'll take some time to finish up the work here. Perhaps they'll be on sale six months from now. You can check at the offices of Red Rock Estates, back in LA", the man answers, then turns towards Holly. "Not many visitors around here, miss. You are the first new faces we see around here since we began our work".

Christopher,There is nothing out of order around, but the man has a strange vibe around him. You get the feeling he might be withholding something.

Holly waits to see if her companions have anything further to ask.

Cameron tries not to think too much about the animal bites. Although considering all he’s been through and done, perhaps going out by cat bite is what he deserves.

He addresses the foreman. “You couldn’t tell us who the owner of Red Rock is, could you sir? We’re looking to do some land speculating.”

"Well, you could talk with Thomas Robinson, at the LA office. Red Rock is a big one, they have offices all around the state, and some more over in Nevada and Arizona. I think the big boss is called Kenneth Turner, but I have never met him in person, or even seen him. i doubt you can simply walk up and get an appointment", he shrugs at the end of the phrase.

"Thank you," says Holly. "We'll be sure to see Mr. Robinson."

Cameron sighs. "Back to LA then?" he asks the others.

"Yes, let's go," says Holly.

Christopher Fontana

Sitting back in his seat on the ride back to their hotel, Christopher ponders the situation ... "So, what now? Collect our stuff and head back to Boston?" he asks.

"We should talk to Thomas Robinson first," says Holly. "We need to find out who sold him the farm. We could search the ruins while we're here, but we may be subject to more animal attacks."

Simply checking the land records is a relatively quick business. The property was first sold in 1924, a few weeks after Echavarria's death. After that, it has changed ownership rather frequently, seven times in total over the last twelve years. On four occasions, building plans involving the area were presented and approved, sometimes to rebuild the farm, in other cases for residential purposes. None of these projects was concluded - in fact, construction works were barely started before abruptly ending. The last of these plans was submitted by Red Rock about 9 months ago, and approved 3 months ago. The plan involves the land that was once part of Echavarria's farm, plus half a dozen similar parcels of land surrounding it. The plan foresees a relatively large residential district in the area.

"Should we still go see Mr. Robinson now?" asks Holly. "He might not be able to tell us anything we don't already know."

Cameron

"That's what I think. And the longer we hang around here, the sooner Trammel's goons will catch up with us. Let's get to Mexico City."

Ian Morin

"Ok, but we'll just let Trammel be? Shouldn't we at least report him to the authorities?"

"We're not going to just let him get away with it," says Holly, "but we're not prepared to take him on directly yet. We could report him to the police, but we don't have the evidence we need to convince them, and Trammel has at least one cop on his payroll. That's how he was alerted to our presence in Los Angeles in the first place."

Cameron

"The Doctor's right. We"ve nothing that would stick. We'll find something more concrete if we can find the place where he produces the drug."

Christopher Fontana

"I agree that we need to get out of LA as quickly as possible, we've stood on too many toes and it's only a matter of time before we're accosted by someone like Pizner or those damn thugs from Savannah. I don't think we can head onto another location without informing Mrs Winston-Rogers though; I guess we al have a personal stake in this now... but we're spending her money..."

Cameron shrugs.

"Let's call her and update her then."

Clarence has been quiet for some time. He adjusted his hat and looked unto his colleagues:

"Mexico City, it is."

Holly nods. "Let's place the call and go, while we still can," she says.

You reach the airport and get the preparations going to depart on the airplane as soon as possible. Meanwhile, you send through a call to Boston, and after a wait of a few minutes, manage to speak with Mrs. Winston-Rogers. She listens in silence as you tell the story of your investigation in Los Angeles, then says: "I understand. It seems that my fears have turned into reality. A reality perhaps worse than I imagined. Still, this organization... this cult... must be destroyed. My father's memory demands it. If you feel that the drug is coming from Mexico City, then I encourage you to pursue the investigation there, if you feel up to the task. These people must be stopped, and if we can find proof of their criminal activities, perhaps we can unleash the authorities on them. In any case, I'll be waiting for another report soon. If you need more money or any kind of support, consider that you can count on the full power of my personal resources".

"Thank you," says Holly. "We'll let you know once we reach Mexico City and get settled in, and if we need more money wired to us, we'll ask for it then. For now we'll just need enough to cover our expenses, and the dollar is king in Mexico from what I hear. I'm hoping we can find evidence there, and if we can shut down their production, that will hurt them financially and stop this drug from spreading until they can find a new source. One thing we'll probably need is a translator. None of us speak Spanish, and we needed to hire someone off the street to translate something for us here in L.A. If you can get a local guide for us who can be trusted, that would be a big help."

"I understand. Contact me again as soon as you settle down in Mexico City and provide me with your address... a telegram will be fine. I'll send you more money, and will try to locate someone trustworthy to act as translator. Good luck, and try to stay safe".

OOC:   Continues here: viewtopic.php?f=352&t=6139&p=199312#p199312