Play@YSDC

"May I ask how long the body has been there? The tracks outside the window are not fresh, they are nearly a day old"says François

"It will take an autopsy to determine the time of death," says Jacques, "but he's clearly been dead for hours, at least. He could have been left here at any time after he died. Are we absolutely sure this is Monsieur Dupont? The clothes and wallet may be his, but there remains the possibility that someone has kept him alive and deposited a different body here to make us think he's dead. Does he have any distinguishing scars or birthmarks? In any case, the address found in his wallet seems to be our best lead at the moment."

Jean-Luc steps out of the room still covering his mouth with a small handkerchief and stumbles into the Library hoping to get away from the whole ordeal. He is nauseous but manages to point towards the books Andre is looking through and ask: "Are those relevant to our current predicament?"

Jean-Luc enters the room somewhat unsteadily on his feet, his face ashen and asks about the relevance of the books Andre is perusing. Smiling ruefully Andre replies, "Hardly the evening anyone was hoping for I'm afraid. As to these books and their relevance, well some of them are a bit ... shall I say outre, but with the rise of spiritualism at the end of the last century with the likes of Madame Blatavsky, nothing too untoward I deem. That being said ...;" Andre nods towards a certain section of the bookcases before continuing; "... there seem to be a fair few texts that deal with cults associated with death and the afterlife. There are some markings on some of them but I'll be damned if I can recall having seen them before. Do you have any ideas Jean-Luc?"

"Une collection formidable" says Jean-Luc as he looks at the books. His nausea finally subsides.

OOC:   Can I use `occult' here?

"Que magnifique! One could spend hours here" says Jean-Juc going through the books. "An old man might give his soul for some of those gems." he adds as he tries to get as much info as possible from the extensive collection. "An old man like me" he thinks to himself which fills him with sudden fear.

He opens one of the books with some handwritten notes on the margins. "Here - those remind me of La Rose-Croix, a type of freemasonry organization that supposedly uses arcane and ancient knowledge to obtain deep understanding of the spiritual plane and..." he pauses to look at André and then adds "I think it's safe to say that the owner of this collection have a morbid interest in the occult." as he closes the book.

"One could spend hours here..."

"Jesus Christ... Sebastien and his love for occult stuff. I told him to stay away from... those people", Julien sounds clearly annoyed. "I'll go look for Madeleine, she should be able to identify beyond doubt if this is Sebastien's body... or not. I think the police will be here soon, as well. I'll ask for your cooperation, Colonel".

"Sebastien ..." Andre calls before his friend leaves the room, "... Do you think this terrible terrible occurrence could be connected to this masonic group, this Rose-Croix that Jean-Luc refers to. And how can they be contacted or called to account if they were somehow connected."

"You have it," Jacques assures Julien. "When the police arrive, I'll tell them that the gendarmerie has taken charge of the investigation for reasons of national security. If they object, I can tell them to take it up with General Gallieni. If you do find Madeleine, I'd very much like to ask her some questions myself." He has his doubts about whether she will be found, and further doubts about whether she can be trusted, "I had a conversation earlier with Monsieur Bissette. He had told me, among other things, about rumors that Monsieur Dupont was a Freemason. It seems those rumors may be true. He warned me of the dangers they pose, and he may very well have a point."

Cearlan wrote: "Sebastien ..." Andre calls before his friend leaves the room, "... Do you think this terrible terrible occurrence could be connected to this masonic group, this Rose-Croix that Jean-Luc refers to. And how can they be contacted or called to account if they were somehow connected."

"At this point, we cannot exclude anything. I would surely like to avoid dealing with a society of occult freaks, but I guess better them than the Germans... I don't know how we could get in touch with them, but perhaps you might have heard something at one of those seances and paranormal shows we sometimes happen to participate to, Jean-Luc?"

Jean-Luc,You don't personally know any of these freemasons, particularly because it's hard to know for sure if someone is a freemason or not, unless you're part of their society yourself. But you do remember hearing something about a fortuneteller and tarot reader living in Montmartre, a certain [b]Marcel Helmut[/b], that is supposed to be an important member of the organization. It might be true or just another rumor, but it's the best you can come up with.

"Well" says Jean-Luc "it would be extremely hard to pin-point anyone as a Freemason due to their clandestine nature. I can only forward rumors that sometimes come my way. Frankly... " he adds with a bit of shame "I only know one name, a certain Marcel Helmut, that is a very renowned fortune teller. Some say he's a part of some occult organization, but that may be just a rumor started by him. That is, unfortunately, the extent of my knowledge."

"Freemasons have secret ways to identify each other, from what I've heard," says Jacques. "Special handshakes and gestures. I don't know what they are, and even if we knew a Mason, he would never divulge their secrets. We also have another lead: the Sunflower Tea Rooms. I found that address in the dead man's wallet. It might be worth researching that building before actually going there. We need to find out who owns the property, maybe find the floor plans. All of this should be in public records."

Perhaps it would be an idea Colonel Jacques to take a walk past these tea rooms, to get a feel for the area if you see what I mean. Also Jean-Luc, do you know how to find out the whereabouts of this Marcel Helmut?

OOC:   Does anyone have any idea about the area the tea rooms is situated in? something like a Know roll perhaps?

Standing in the doorway François eyes each of his companions in turn "No one here is likely to admit they are a mason, but if they were, perhaps they can make some discreet enquiries"

OOC:   Wierdly enough we're all probably suitable candidates for the French masons.

Jean-Luc,The fortune teller lives and "works" in Montmartre. You are confident you can find him once you get there.

The Tea House,The card reports both the name and the address of the tea house, Avenue de Saint James 17. It's not far from here, in the centre of Paris, a rich area of the city.

Jean-Luc thinks for a while and against his better judgment adds hesitantly "Montmartre is where I would start my search."

OOC:   If anyone hasn't thought of me as a Freemason, this should seal it

"Excellent," says Jacques. "We won't ask how you obtain any information you unearth. Strolling past the tea rooms and doing a little reconnaissance is an excellent idea as well, Andre."

More or less ten minutes later, the police is on site. Jacques takes the situation into his own hands and after some resistance, the police accepts to let the investigation pass on to the Gendarmerie. As somewhat expected, Madeleine is nowhere to be found in the house. The last one to see her was the house servant that found the body. She reported that Madeleine herself asked her to go check on Mr. Dupont in her room. No one saw her after that. Julien asks you to take care of the investigation while he handles the matter linked to the funeral and the economic affairs of Dupont's industries in this particularly critic moment.

OOC:   Ok, let's move things along. How do you want to proceed?