[IC - MEXICO CITY] Brooks's House

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,[b]Holly[/b] would also be willing to spend a point of Bargain. It depends on which of us is better suited for your plan and for entering [b]Brooks[/b]'s apartment, which sounds like it would be [b]Holly[/b].

[Overlord87]

OOC:   Fine by me. Play the scene

[HelplessBystander]

Huang Yan walked out of the car after a while to after seeing the concierge being uncooperative, and decided to talk to Christopher for a minute, "So, uh, what's happening there, amigo? The nice man over there doesn't seem to be very cooperative, need some help?"

[Mr. Handy]

Holly waits behind the wheel of her car, keeping the engine running in case they have to make a fast getaway.

[HelplessBystander]

OOC:   Good Idea.

[ShyberKryst]

OOC:   I have no bargain skill. Sorry, its all you, Huang

[HelplessBystander]

OOC:   Alright, Chris, explain the IC situation and Huang Yan will take it away from there.

[carnage_lee]

Christopher Fontana

Christopher returns to the concierge, "As I was saying, it's very important that my colleague" he indicates Yan "meet with Mr Brooks ... we have been engaged to locate a missing item, somehting of a very ... shall we say delicate nature left by our client at one of Brooks parties.." Christopher stresses Brooks' name trying to convey a note of disataste. "It is entirel likely that Brooks is out, perhaps there's some way we could ask you to take us up in the elevator to find out?" Christopher slides over a folded note over the counter.

[HelplessBystander]

“As you would know, high-profile deals are being made at the moment and, if I were you, I would cooperate. In fact, we could even made it worth your while if you do what we ask.”. Huang yan followed up, revealing a fat wallet and a fancy pen. He winked at the man.

[Overlord87]

The concierge licks his lips and seems to think for a second, before taking the money. "If Mr. Brooks needs to receive this... item... urgently, then it would be bad to make him wait, yes?" He then lets you into the lift and up to the last floor. He unlocks the door to the apartment and says: "Just don't break anything, all right?", and then he leaves, returning to the ground floor.

You grin with satisfaction, before walking into the lion's den. You are now in a large living room, with little furniture: just a couple of sofas, a cabinet radio and a a high-end record player cabinet. The impression is not of someone who prefers a spartan lifestyle, but rather someone who just failed to decorate his house properly. On your left, you see a closed door, while right in front of you a small hallway seems to lead to a kitchen.

Evidence Collection or Forensics,There are orange stains on the living room carpet. It seems to be Nectar, but it looks like it was spritzed into the air. To what purpose, you can't imagine.

[HelplessBystander]

Huang Yan covered his mouth with a handkerchief and wrinkled his nose. "I don't think there's any more residue side effects there, but better safe than sorry."

[ShyberKryst]

Professor Cornwall looks quickly around the room for anything notable.
"Tell me again what we're looking for here?" as the Professor pulls his handgun out of his jacket pocket and moves to the door...

[leonardolad]

Ian Morin

Outside, Ian is waiting by the car with Holly. As the time passes, he start to become concerned with their safety. He lights a cigarette and looks around, looking for any possible threat. "This is taking too long, Holly. They probably have this place guarded, if not always, at least from time to time. Even more if Brooks and our friend Trammel aren't in the best of terms." He looks around again before continuing. "I'm telling you, after this episode at Victor's... I need a gun."

[Mr. Handy]

"That's a good idea, Ian," says Holly. "I got mine after Savannah, and I'm sure glad I did. If I hadn't had it back there..." She shivers. "Let's keep an eye out for anyone else watching the place - and be ready in case Brooks comes home suddenly."

[carnage_lee]

Christopher Fontana

Christopher nods his thanks to the concierge and look around the spartan room which was somehow at odds with the fact that this is the penthouse.

"We're looking for anything that might tell us where Brooks is, or what his plans are and if there's anything linking him with the 'folks' back in Los Angeles; we know there's more than one group active in this 'cult'. " Christopher replies to Cornwall.

Christopher sets his briefcase on a convenient tabletop and takes out come cotton gloves which he hands out to his companions, "Wear these, don't touch anything directly... there's Nectar around here and we don't want to get dosed up. There's bags and jars in here too, if you find anything use those to keep things separated and safe."

Pulling his gloves on Christopher starts to check the sofas, planning on searching the living room first. "Brooks isn't here but let's not take too long."

[HelplessBystander]

“Indeed. LETS NOT STICK AROUND!” Huang Yan said, yelling slightly.

[Overlord87]

Any effort to move with subtlety probably made useless by Huang Yan's loud voice, Jonathan sighs as he opens the door, discovering that it leads to a large bedroom, with an adjacent bathroom. A quick exploration of these rooms doesn't reveal much of interest: fragments of paper, dirty with Nectar, and weeks-old used condoms. You find a small bottle half-filled with an unidentified clear liquid in the medicine cabinet. Apart from this, nothing else catches your interest.

Pharmacy,The liquid is a strong sleeping aid. A single does should put an adult to sleep within 30 minutes for about 10 hours. An overdose of the medicine could easily kill.

[ShyberKryst]

Professor Cornwall grabs the bottle from the medicine cabinet and pockets it.

OOC:   anything written on those scraps of paper?

Since nothing else in the room catches his attention, Prof Cornwall heads back to the main room with the others.
Jonathan whispers:
"I didn't find much, a bottle in the medicine cabinet and some nectar."

[carnage_lee]

Christopher Fontana

Christopher nods to Cornwall "Better keep that bottle safe and let Dr. Chastain take a look at it, she will be able to identify what it is." Christopher indicates the hallway "Lets continue the search."

OOC:   Previously indicated that this led to the kitchen - so will continue to search there.

[Overlord87]

You walk along the hallway and into the kitchen. The place is in order, but it looks like it hasn't been used for some time. There's mold growing on some bread left on the table. A quick search here doesn't reveal anything of interest, so you move your attention to another door, leading to a rooftop patio. You walk outside under the sun, and are met by a horrible smell, and it doesn't take long to recognize its source. This is a large space - you judge it's about a quarter of the whole surface of the penthouse. Almost the entire space of the patio is dedicated to a collection of coops and pens for birds, made of simple unfinished wood and chicken wire. Each coop contains a latched door that has been left open - and as a matter of fact, there's no trace of any bird in sight. The floor of the patio is dirty and shit-stained, causing the horrible smell that pervades all the area. On the other end, you can see the iron fittings of the emergency fire escape.

Biology on the bread in the kitchen,The mold is 12 to 14 days old.

Forensics or Biology on the coops,The birds kept here were roughly crow-sized.

1-point Biology spend,You pick up a few feathers around the patio area. Some feathers belong to a species of grackle, probably the greattailed grackle common to the area, often mistaken for a kind of crow, and typically regarded as a noisy pest bird. The males are iridescent black-feathered birds, up to 17 inches, with tails almost as long as their bodies. Females are brown and a bit smaller. Other feathers belong to something about half that size, probably the red-footed blackbird, a breed of sonorous blackbird, known for its pleasing song, which would be at the Southern edge of its habitat in Mexico City. Neither of these species are typically kept as pets. Both are omnivorous seed and insect eaters that occasionally eat carrion. By the looks of their habitats, some 50 or so birds may have been kept here, and perhaps not happily — they’ve been pecking and scratching at their cages. Worse than that, it appears that the birds have been fed fresh carrion. You find uneaten fingernails and finger bones stripped of their flesh, lying amid the bird shit and broken seed shells at the bottom of the cages. At least twelve fingers turn up, harvested from three or more different people — two men and one woman — all within the last month.

Occult,You recognize symbols carved into the coops’ wooden portions, underneath the stains and random markings. It’s possible that someone was (or thought they were) casting spells upon the birds contained within.

1-point Chemistry or Pharmacy spend,A strange, but now somewhat familiar lingering scent catches your attention. After a quick search, you discover your hunch was right. There are traces of Nectar in the bird feed, which consists of tightly packed seeds and canvas sacks of dead, dried bugs.

Architecture or Craft,There's something strange here. After a few seconds, you recognize the building is missing space. the outer wall of the penthouse suggests a room may be hidden across the hall from the kitchen, adjacent to the outer wall by the patio. Now that you've realized that, you notice what must be a bricked door on the wall. Once spotted, it’s easy to see that the fittings between bricks there are not tight enough. Additional inspection allows you to notice metal in three spots around the bricked-up portal — probably hinges and a latch.