[IC]Chapter 1.5 - Cold Tidings

[Silver Priest]

"You be careful too," Marcus tells Poole. "Jackson was a stellar researcher and had been through a lot of scraps, yet he still ended up... like he did. I'm thinking he might have trusted the wrong person and it got him killed. You're the cop and all, but I say, don't go anywhere without some sort of backup."

[jp1885]

Cynthia would rather see Adams publicly exonerated straight away, but sees the logic in what Poole is saying and so reluctantly agrees.

[Raiko]

Lieutenant Poole recalls Sergeant Quinn to look after the investigators, then he goes into room 410 to take a look at the crime scene. He spends about fifteen minutes inside and then emerges from Jackson's room looking grim.

He nods to the investigators, "You were fortunate not to be killed yourselves, those are brutal looking machetes the killers were carrying."

He looks at Amy, "I'm sorry Miss, there was nothing that you could have done for Jackson, nobody survives an injury like that.

"As Miss Vallier said though, the head wound does mean that this is the work of the same killers as the original murders. We never released exact details of the head injuries."

Poole points towards the stairs, "Now I'm afraid you'll have to make a full statement at the station, once you signed them you'll be free to leave. Please take care, we don't know how many of them are still at large."

With that Poole leads the investigators downstairs and - together with two other uniformed officers - out of the hotel. It is still snowing heavily outside, but a crowd has gathered despite the awful weather. The investigators cannot help scanning the area to try and spot Atauchi.

OOC:   Everyone make a spot hidden roll:

Marcus and Sánchez,You both spotted [b]Atauchi[/b] earlier, when you were entering the hotel, so you can have a bonus die for this test. [i]This doesn't use up the "special bonus die for later" that I gave you for your earlier "wasted" extreme success.[/i] Also you two are [b]Atauchi's[/b] closest friends, and so you know that if he'd left the area (he doesn't have a high regard for policemen) then he's more than likely waiting at either the coffee shop where you were supposed to meet [b]Jackson[/b], or the speakeasy where you've met up previously.

Spot Hidden Passed,[b]Atauchi[/b] had a high enough stealth skill that you'll need at least a HARD success on that Spot Hidden to stand a chance of spotting him. Spot Hidden (Hard Success): [spoiler]You still can't see any sign of [b]Atauchi[/b], but perhaps he's hard to spot due to the bad weather and the gathering crowd of onlookers.[/spoiler]Spot Hidden (Extreme Success):[spoiler]There is no sign of [b]Atauchi[/b] in the crowd or anywhere overlooking the street. You assume that the scout is just too well hidden or that he left the area when the cops arrived, but then you spot a glint of light reflected from glass lenses in snow piled up on the sidewalk, close to the corner of the [i]Hotel Chelsea[/i]. Is that binoculars half buried in the snow? [b]Atauchi[/b] always carried his trusty binoculars....[/spoiler]

[jp1885]

Spot Hidden 51%,[dice]0[/dice]

Trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible, Cythia keeps her head low. Therefore she sees nothing but a press of anonymous, gawping New Yorkers through the snow.

[Mr. Handy]

"Thank you, Lieutenant," says Amy. "At least we had a few last moments together, and the rest of us survived. Do you know how long it will be before I can get my gun back? If we are still in danger, I'll be defenseless without it."

OOC,Spot Hidden roll (69% skill) leaving the hotel: [dice]0[/dice]

[Silver Priest]

Marcus follows out, keeping an eye out for the party's tracker.

Spot Hidden 66%,[dice]0[/dice] [dice]1[/dice] bonus

OOC:   so dumb question, what would this roll be?

[Raiko]

Marcus,[ooc]That is an extreme success. :D Your bonus die 1d10 results of 10 = 0, so you rolled 04[/ooc]

[Silver Priest]

Marcus knows his friend's a reliable sort, so at first he's not too worried. He's just about to head to the station with the others when the glint catches his eye.

He doesn't stop to think, instead rushing over to where the binoculars are, cleaning them up and retrieving them as fast as he can. His eyes scan the ground for any tracks he could follow, as a pit in his stomach grows.

Track 65%,[dice]0[/dice]

[kabukiman]

Anderson leaves discretly with the other and try to find Atauchi.

Spot hidden: 75%

[dice]0[/dice]

[Anatomist]

Spot Hidden 89% success,[dice]0[/dice]

Dr. Sánchez looks after Atauchi maybe to discreetly as he can't see his friend.

[Raiko]

Lieutenant Poole watches Marcus run and calls after him, "Hey, what's wrong?"

OOC:   Anyone who got a normal SUCCESS the previous Spot Hidden roll can see:

Marcus is holding a pair of binoculars, retrieved from the heaped up snow on the sidewalk at the corner of the Hotel Chelsea.
Atauchi never went anywhere without his trusty binoculars, and those look very much like Atauchi's pair.

OOC,Marcus can have a bonus die on that track roll, snow's easy to track in. Here you are: Bonus die for track roll: [dice]0[/dice] Oh well...

Marcus,[b]Marcus[/b] cannot see any sign of a struggle, just the abandoned binoculars. They are definitely [b]Atauchi's[/b] binoculars though - undamaged as the snow cushioned their fall.

[jp1885]

Still none the wiser (OOC:I failed the roll), Cynthia sticks close to Amy like an over-protective big sister.

[Silver Priest]

Track 65%,[dice]0[/dice] [dice]1[/dice] So 29?

[Anatomist]

failed Track 10%,[dice]0[/dice]

Dr. Sánchez gets close to the girls trying to shield them from the chilling cold wind.

[Raiko]

Marcus can see there is a patch of freshly fallen slushy snow on the road right here, as though a car had been idling there for some time until very recently.

There are scuff marks in the snow on the sidewalk leading from beside the car parked in the spot behind the empty space, it looks as though someone - presumably Atauchi - might have been dragged, struggling, into a parked car.

Poole speaks to the uniformed officers, "Help the ladies into the cars, it's freezing."

The lieutenant walks briskly over to Marcus, while the junior cops hold open car doors.

"What have you found?"

[jp1885]

Suspicious, Cynthia watches Poole & Marcus walk off. She pauses at the police car.

“Say, what’s up?” she wonders.

[Silver Priest]

"We had one of our friends watching the hotel when Jackson didn't show. Guy was a tracker, best damn one I know." He lifts up the binoculars. "Never goes anywhere without these. And look,see those tracks? Looks like signs of a struggle to me."

He shakes his head.

"Got a bad feeling about this-- and I guess it's confirmed this goes deeper than the ones that got Jackson."

[Mr. Handy]

Amy also pauses, watching the scene. "Marcus found a pair of binoculars," she says, gulping. "They look like Atauchi's."

[kabukiman]

"Just the binoculars? That's very bad, it means there is more people involved. None of us should ever be alone, we must always be in groups of 2 or 3."- says Anderson worried.

[Raiko]

Poole looks at the binoculars in Marcus' hand then examines the marks in the snow on the sidewalk and the road.

"Yes, looks like your friend might have been blindsided."

He glances around the small crowd gathered in the snow outside the Hotel Chelsea. "I'll get the men to see if anyone witnessed this, but I think it's best to get you all safely away from here. Give me a description of your friend, and then lets get you all to the station."