Play@YSDC

"That's an awful lot of keys," says Vanessa, examining the keys on the ring. "They can't all be for this place or for a vehicle. Maybe there's a safe deposit box key or something." She tries to assess what they are by their shapes and sizes, and she compares the apartment key they were given to see if it is identical to any of the ones on the ring.

Edmund finds nothing under the carpet but more dust. To the best of his knowledge there seem to be no loose floorboards either. Nothing jumps out at him, anyway.

Vanessa examines the keys. One does seem to be to this apartment, and another is shaped similarly, suggesting another apartment. The others are not readily identifiable, and there are no tags on them providing any clues.

Nik enters the kitchen, finding it disorganized. While there is thankfully no food left out, several used posts and pans are scattered on the counters and in the sink. The refrigerator is mostly bare, an expired carton of milk and some cheese the only things within. The refrigerator itself has two notes pinned to it. The first is a crude drawing of two stick figures. They seem to be embracing. The title reads By Cassie, age 4. A gold star hangs above it. The other note shows a smiling sun and reads I love my Grandpa. These are the first truly human touches Nik has seen inside this place.

The rest of the kitchen seems uninteresting.

“Oh well” says Nik. He gives the kitchen a thorough search, looking inside every cupboard and the fridge and freezer, feeling for packages taped under drawers, beneath the sink etc. He doesn't find anything of interest. Lastly he takes the drawings off the fridge door and looks at them more closely, turning them over.

Search,Search 41: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/494972]Search[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]94[/b]

"It looks like there's another apartment key on this ring," says Vanessa, "but I have no idea which one. Let's check down the hall. We should find his bedroom that way."

The kitchen cabinets are equally Spartan. It seems as though Clyde rarely put anything away after he used it, and so much of his equipment is already out. Nik does find a half used jar of peanut butter and a bag of chips, but that's about it.

The notes themselves contain nothing interesting. Disappointed, he returns to the living room just as Vanessa suggests heading down the hall
.
The first door is a linen closet that has been left slightly open. Much like the rest of the house, it seems to be more built for utility than excess. It may take a few minutes to search, but nothing jumps out immediately.
Down further in the hallway is another door, this one closed. Then two more doors at the end of the hall. Both of them are closed as well.

As the agents decide what to do next, the sound of a key turning in the front door can be heard, and it creaks open. Footsteps can be heard entering the apartment.

OOC:   You're all partway down the hallway, out of view of the front door. No one can see you but you can't see them either.

Nik slips his ID out of his pocket ready to identify himself. His right hand goes to the butt of his sidearm in its hip holster. He stands ready to move if ordered.

"If his family's here already," whispers Vanessa, "I can do the talking. We'll just explain that we're here from the FBI to make sure that there's no classified materials here, and to remove them if there are, as Clyde was a former IRS agent and consultant and was assisting in some classified work."

Nik nods assent. As Marchand moves out to meet the newcomer, he will draw his pistol and release the safety catch, but keep it hidden by his side and blocked from view.

Vanessa moves out of the hallway and finds the newcomer to be an older woman. She looks to be in her seventies with wispy white hair and dated dress. At her feet is a small dog, a Yorshire Terrier perhaps. It does not look all that interested in Vanessa.

The woman however is. She lets out a little gasp of surprise when she sees Vanessa, and her eyes widen as she takes in her jacket. Regaining herself, she quickly smiles. "Oh, hello there. I heard someone going into Mr. Baughman's apartment and thought I'd come over and see if it was his family. Are you his daughter? I must say, you don't look alike."

OOC:   Vanessa can make a HUMINT roll if she likes.

Nik safeties his weapon and returns it to his holster, but doesn't announce himself.

"No, ma'am," says Vanessa, "I'm with the federal government. Mr. Baughman has done some work for the government in the past involving classified materials, and we're just doing a routine check to see if any of them are in his apartment. If we find any, we'll remove them, but I don't expect we will. Government employees aren't supposed to keep classified materials in their homes, but from what I've heard Mr. Baughman was a conscientious employee. Still, we're required to check." She smiles at the dog. "I've got a dog too, a German Shepherd named Rex. What's this little one's name?"

OOC,HUMINT roll (51% skill) about the old woman: [dice]0[/dice]

As far as Vanessa can tell the woman appears to just be an old neighbor.

"Oh, I see. Yes, right, he did work for the government if I'm remembering correctly, though that's not been for quite a few years now."

When asked about the dog she beams. "Oh, this is Mitzi. Say hello, Mitzi!" Mitzi chooses to remain silent, curled up at her owner's feet. "She's a darling little girl! Friendly once you get to know her."

"Poor Mr. Baughman. He always kept to himself, especially since his wife's passing. She's the one who gave me the key. We used to have tea twice a week. I'd see him in the hall and try to invite him for some company, but he always refused. The poor dear was always so very reserved. I doubt he ever truly recovered from his wife's death. It is hard to lose a spouse mind. I lost my Franklin a decade and a half ago.It still hurts, but Mitzi and my friends keep me from being alone. Poor Mr. Baughman did not seem to have anything like that.

"Now, I don't mean to gossip," she says, in a tone that poorly hides her desire to, "But I think that's why he wasn't found for three days. No one knew to go looking for him. Such a terrible tragedy, my my."

Nik

As the old lady seems content with their presence, Nik decides to search the linen closet.

"Oh, that's so sad," says Vanessaa with sympathy. "Didn't Mr. Baughman receive any visitors? I would have thought his family would have come to see him, at least."

Nik gets to work ruffling through the closet. It's largely full of spare pillows and towels, with nothing else of much interest. It may take a few minutes to fully go through every part of the small closet, but so far he finds nothing that would suggest anything particularly special was hidden inside here.

"No," Says the old woman. "It's a real shame. Back when Marlene was alive, that's his wife, his children would come visit now and then, or they'd go away to visit them. After she passed they gradually stopped coming by. He used to have a dog as well, a Golden Retriever named... oh, what was its name? But it got sick and he had to put it down, oh a few years back. After that, he was alone.

"He was never rude, you understand, more reserved. Even when Marlene was alive he kept to himself. But he adored her. I think when she died, so did he. I'd say hello to him in the hall and offered to have him over a few times for tea, but he always deflected." She sadly tut tuts. "I often went days without seeing him. It wasn't until the police came and forced his door open that I realized something terrible had happened. Apparently, his son tried calling him and called the police when he received no answer."

Nik

Giving up on the linen closet, Nik goes to investigate the next closed door in the hallway.

As the woman drones on, Nik enters the next room. It's obviously a small bathroom, though one that has been disturbed. There's a broken towel rack on the outside of the shower. The shower door itself has a rather large crack running through it. The remains of a ceramic toothbrush holder have been swept into the garbage can, which remains otherwise empty. The rest of the room looks typical for a bathroom, if a touch dirty.

In addition, there's a faint smell that seems to be centered within this room.

OOC:   Nik can try a Forensics roll if he likes to figure out what the smell could possibly be.

Nik wonders why the bathroom is in such a state. Did something happen here?

Forensics,Forensics 10: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/496068]Forensics[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]87[/b]

The smell bothers him, but he can’t identify it. He attempts to search the bathroom anyway, examining the floor and looking at the shower and the shower door.

Search,Search 41: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/496069]Search[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]72[/b]

He can find nothing. Perhaps Rue will know what the smell is. He leaves the bathroom and heads to the doors at the end of the hall.