Play@YSDC

A week after the San Carlos case is solved Elaine Braverman's body is found. To the media, it's the final victim of Emmanuel Santana. Already the man is among the most infamous serial killers America has ever known. Only the agents know the truth, that he was just as much of a victim.

Phenomen-X, The shifty television program that Stanyard and Edmund had investigated, publishes a final report on the murder spree that had spread across America. Amazingly the reports actually connect many of the former carriers of the virus. But the program links all these separate murders tot he work of a satanic cult, and it attracts no mainstream attention. The fact that the next "news report" is an Elvis sighting does not help matters.

Other than that the next few months pass largely uneventfully. Delta Green does not contact them, and the agents are distracted enough with their own work. Life is not normal, precisely, but it has settled back into routine. The routine breaks.

It's a Saturday, and all three of the agents are off. They each receive a phone call from a blocked number.

Nik,"[color=#008000]Hi, is this Stanley Green? The package you're looking for is down at the Phoenix bus terminal. Locker 245. Pick it up as soon as you can." Click.[/color]

Edmund,[color=#008000]"Hi is this Scott Green? The package you're looking for is down at the mainstreet Phoenix bus terminal. Locker 245. Pick it up as soon as you can[/color]." Click.

Vanessa,"[color=#008000]Hi, Stacey Green? The package you're looking for is down at the mainstreet Phoenix bus terminal. Locker 245. Pick it up as soon as you can[/color]. Click. When Vanessa leaves her home, she spies a small package at her front door. Inside is an unlabeled key.

OOC:   Feel free to elaborate on what you were doing when you received the call. If you were with someone and needed to make an excuse to get away, roll persuade. On a crit success, the bond understands completely and you can add one to it. On a crit failure, the bond is offended and it's reduced by one. A normal success/failure can just have the reaction roleplayed out.

Vanessa pockets the key, certain that it's for locker 245 at the Phoenix bus terminal. She gets in her car and drives there.

OOC,I actually played Last Things Last a few weeks ago, at a convention. I'll avoid giving anything away, and my character is very different from the one I played there. My decisions were effective then, but [b]Vanessa[/b] may not make the same ones. Do I need to roll Persuade for Rex?

Nik has returned from his morning run and is busy fixing breakfast. He is in a cheerful mood, humming to himself as he fixes his eggs. He plans to catch up briefly on some outstanding reports before meeting his girlfriend Debbie in the afternoon. Pretty soon he thinks, it will be time to pop the question. They'll have to start looking for a place to live together. But he'll need to take her up to Oregon to meet his parents. He's long overdue for a visit anyway.

The phone rings and his plans evaporate.

He changes and jumps in his car to head out for the bus terminal.

Edmund was out for the day with his friend Martin Watson and some of his old army buddies, but as soon as he got the mysterious message he returned home to get changed for work, having claimed a migraine.

On the way to the bus terminal he manages to park the car fairly close by and walks the two or three blocks to the station.

The bus station is busy, crowds coming and going. But the agents find each other with minimal trouble. After that it's a simple matter to reach the lockers. Located in a separate room off the main terminal, there are a few hundred of them. With a number it takes them little time to find locker 245. It's locked, but Vanessa's key opens it easily.

Inside is another manila folder. A Green Triangle has been stamped on it. Though the room is considerably quieter than the rest of the station, there are a few people around, so the team retreats and opens the folder in a more private environment. Inside is a sheet of papers stapled together. The only other item of note is a key.

The envelope,[i]Clyde Baughman( SEE ATTACHMENT A) Was an agent of DG. He served in active cell duty from 1957 to 1972, participating in 13 separate field assignments. After that he provided bureaucratic support for the organization semi-regularly until 1994. Agent Baughman has recently passed away. In keeping with DG's desire for secrecy, your cell has been tasked with inspecting his residence for any evidence of his involvement with the organization. (ADDRESS LISTED BELOW) If any evidence is found, remove it. His heirs are expected to arrive within 48 hours. Once you have either sufficiently confirmed Agent Baughman's home is clear or removed the evidence, call the number listed below. Instructions will be given to return the evidence to a secure facility[/i].

Below is Baughman's address. It's located in a working-class area of town. A phone number is also listed.

Attachment A turns out to be a mini dossier on Baughman, and confirms much of the information the agents already have:

Dossier,Clyde Baughman Born: 8/20/1928 Family: Wife, Marlene, (Born 2/8/28, married 3/28/1946 to death,11/22/1993.) Daughter, Sharon (9/12/1951) Son, Jack (1/11/1962) Occupation: Bureau of Internal Revenue(Later IRS) 1946-1989. Retired as Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Financial Support. Affiliation: Active with group from 1957 to 1972. Participated in 13 different operations, most notably (REDACTED) After 1972, provided consultations with a specialty in taxation and property consultation. No affiliation with group after 1994.

[/i]

Nik

“Hopefully this won’t take long” Nik says to the others. “I’ll call the house, just in case someone’s home”. He walks over to a phone booth.

OOC:   What time is it now SP?

"Marlene couldn't have been Sharon's mother, and I seriously doubt she was Jack's," says Vanessa. "She was barely older than they are. They must have been children from a previous marriage or something."

OOC info,Oops, I made a mistake. The dates associated with Marlene are the time she and Clyde were married. I'll edit accordingly, but assume she was born in the 20's like her husband. Though the image made me laugh. Clyde was a cradle robber, apparently. :D It's around 1:30 in the afternoon currently.

There's no phone number for Clyde Baughman included in the documents. But if Nik wanted to look it up a phone book might have it.

OOC:   Go ahead and make a luck roll. Luck in DG is straight 50/50, but honestly I prefer the old system, so unless there's objection we'll be sticking with that. Roll POW*5 for luck.Pass and you can find him, fail and he's unlisted.

Silver Priest wrote: Below is Baughman's address. It's located in a working-class area of town. A phone number is also listed.

OOC:   Sorry SP - number or no?

Nik

Luck,Thanks SP! POW 11 x5 55: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/493929]Power[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]46[/b]

Nik finds a listing for Baughman and rings the number.

Rue scowls and mutters loud enough to be heard by the group;

"I know we all know to value secrecy here, but sending us out on a housekeeping errand whilst redacting information seems a trifle OTT don't you think? However lets see what we can find!"

The phone rings several times before an answering machine picks up.

You know who this is, and you know what to do. I'll get back to you eventually. The voice is male and sounds old and tired.

As a matter of fact, Rue and anyone else considering the notion get the distinct impression this mission is a low priority one. Considering Baughman lived in Phoenix,they were probably the closest agents available to assist.

Nik returns to the others.

“It just goes to messages. We’d better case the place before we go in though. Shall I drive?”

OOC:   What time is it SP? Nik will have to call his girlfriend if this takes a while.

"Sure," says Vanessa. "The sooner we get going, the sooner we get the job done."

OOC,It was 1:30 PM several posts ago.

OOC:   Thanks - I missed that before.

Persuade,Persuade 70: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/494363]Persuade[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]81[/b]

On the way to the car Nik calls his girlfriend.

“I’m sorry baby, something work-related came up, but it shouldn’t take more than a few hours. It means I’m gonna be late though”.

“Aw Nik, not again. I’m fucking tired of this. You’d better decide where your loyalties lie.”

“Look honey, you know I’m good for it. It won’t be long I swear. But you know how this job is, and you knew that before we got together.”

Silence. “Okay, call me later. Be careful”.

They get to the car and set off to Baughman’s.

Clyde Baughman lives( or lived) in a working class area of town, in a modest apartment building. Much like the neighborhood itself, it has seen better days but has avoided collapsing into total squalor.

There are four floors of apartments in the building. A quick glimpse at their notes reminds the agents that Baughman's apartment is on the third floor, apartment 303. Taking either the elevator or the stairs, they reach the apartment unmolested. The door itself is locked, but frankly it looks weak enough to be easily forced if it came to it. Thankfully the agents have a key, and they can get inside the apartment easily.

The first thing they observe is the heavy smell of cigarette smoke. It seems to cling to every part of the entrance. The interior itself is spartan, with few possessions or personal touches. A hook for various jackets is directly to the right of the entrance, but is mostly empty. A set of keys does hang from one of the hooks. There seem to be about six or seven separate ones.

Going slightly further in, an ugly beige carpet covers the floor. Seeming to be from the early 70's there are various stains on it, not all of them immediately identifiable. A couch sits in the middle of the room, it too stained with various foods and fluids. A small coffee table is in front of the couch, several crossword books cluttered on it. The one currently open seems half completed. There's also an open box of powdered doughnuts, and several ants enjoying one of them. Directly in front of that is a small TV an old model by the looks of it. Other than that, the living room apparently contains nothing of interest.

An adjacent kitchen can be spied further in, and a hallway leads off to the east.

Nik is depressed by the squalor of the place. "Is something like this what I have to look forward to?" he wonders.

"I'll check the kitchen" he tells the others.

Edmund thinks about where he would likely conceal something amidst this squalour as he dons his gloves

"It could either be in plain sight or cleverly concealed." I ruminate before continuing, "Remember that this guy was no low-level schmuck, he was pretty high up the food chain so try and think outside the box here people."

I move the sofa back off the carpet and lift the carpet on that side

If there is nothing there then I will replace the carpet and sofa before moving the table and repeating the process on the other side of the carpet.

OOC:   Anything to see on the floor, loose floorboards etc?