Ch.7 Déjà Vu

[Philulhu]

Friday, February 28th, 1930 7.50pm.
Arkham Police Station, 302 E Armitage Street, Arkham, Mass.

A few months have passed since events at Squatter’s Lake and things have not gone well for those involved. Mr Fraser Snr. had called upon them soon after leaving the hospital and had been furious at their inability to account for his son’s whereabouts. He had withheld the offered payment and then gone out of his way to make life difficult for the young men.

Howard found his professors at Arkham University suddenly more demanding and critical of his work, while Lawrence’s family farm found sources of credit all but drying up, which was doubly hard as the recession started to bite. Thomas found himself near-permanently on the night shift, patrolling Arkham alone in the dark, and William was allocated whatever menial tasks his employers could find for him, keeping him busy with the most mind-numbing jobs available.

On the evening of Friday, 28th February, as Thomas arrived at the headquarters of Arkham PD to report for duty, he bumped in Trooper Dan de Vries, whom he had first met in training.

“Hey, Tom,” Dan said, “Pulled another night shift, eh?” He patted his fellow officer on the shoulder and made to walk past him, but then paused. He looked around to see if anyone was around and then said quietly, “You were involved in that business up at Squatters Lake, weren’t you? The chief hasn’t said anything about it but I know you copped for whatever went down. We’ve been told to stay away but the word is that there were some people up there the other night, and there were sounds of gun shots...”

[peper757]

"What kind of people?" Thomas asked, suddenly intrigued. "Did anybody go up there to investigate? Surely somebody must have if there were gunshots."

[Philulhu]

“A couple of the guys were out on patrol up that way, when they picked up some kids for cruising,” said Dan. “One of them apparently mentioned it, but you know the Chief said no-one’s to go up to that old hotel so I presume no-one’s done anything about it.”

Dan clocked Thomas’s reaction and grinned, wryly. “It’s probably just some rubes messing around. I shouldn’t have mentioned it.”

[peper757]

"Or it could be our old friends with some unfinished business..." Thomas thinks to himself.
"If there's gunshots then we can't just ignore them, damn what the Chief says. I'll check the place out as soon as I get a chance." he says aloud.

[Philulhu]

“Ok, you go steady,” replied Dan. “I won’t say nothing to no-one. If you need anything though, you just need to ask.”

Dan said goodnight and headed towards his car, leaving Thomas stood in the doorway to the police station.

[peper757]

”Thanks for the heads-up, Dan.” Thomas says, barely noticing that Dan had already left. He decides that he’ll call his friends first thing in the morning, to tell them what he’d heard and to ask them if they want to investigate it.

[Philulhu]

Saturday, March 1st, 1930 11.00am.
Anton's Restaurant, 689 S Powder Mill Street, Arkham, Mass.

Thomas phoned the others as soon as his shift ended and arranged to meet them later that morning. He had pulled in a favour from Anton, a restaurateur who he regularly called to see on his night shift, who said they could meet up at his restaurant, provided they didn’t mind his staff prepping for the lunchtime crowd.

Thomas had managed to get a couple of hours sleep and despite being tired, he was still first to Anton’s. As the kitchen staff bustled around behind him, preparing for the day ahead, Thomas sat at a table and nursed a glass of milk as he waited for the others to arrive.

[Mr. Handy]

William is the first to arrive, punctual as always. He doffs his hat as he enters the restaurant. Ever since the incident at the lake, he has a pistol on his person at all times, just in case. "Good morning, Thomas," he says.

[Philulhu]

Mr. Handy,What type of gun is William carrying? Just for the record, obviously. I’m sure he’ll never find a reason to use it... ... ;)

[HoneyDog]

Howard enters, looking around. He wonders if he can afford to eat here with his limited finances. He greets the other two warily.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,I'll have a .32 revolver, small and concealable. It gets three shots per round, each of which does 1D8 damage.

[Philulhu]

Mr Handy,Ok, that will be fine. Do you want to add it to your character description?

[peper757]

Thomas greets Howard and William, before saying "I called us together here because a coworker of mine within the police has told me that there's been some suspicious activity up at Squatter's Lake." He takes a drink from his glass before continuing; "A couple of officers were patrolling the other night when they heard gunshots, but our Chief has ordered that nobody is to investigate or go anywhere near the place, so they didn't find out who it was."

"Knowing what we know, I thought you guys might want to check it out." he adds.

[HoneyDog]

Howard looks uncomfortable but he nods.

"We’d better be properly equipped though. And by that I mean armed to the teeth.”

[Mr. Handy]

"I agree," says William. "I always carry a small pistol since the last time we were there, but we'll want some long guns too for the additional range and firepower."

OOC,I added it to my character sheet. I decided to go with a .32 automatic rather than a revolver.

[Philulhu]

Guns & Ammo,Parrington’s on Main Street is the only gun shop in Arkham. Failing that you have Abercrombie & Fitch in Boston or you can mail order, although that will take a couple of days.

[peper757]

"Then perhaps we should head to the local gun shop, Parrington's. Hopefully they can supply us with what we need." Thomas says. He finishes his drink, and looks at the others, waiting to see what they want to do.

[HoneyDog]

“I don’t have a lot of money” admits Howard. “But I’ll come along. To be honest, I’m thinking of something a little different to firearms. Gasoline doesn’t cost too much, and there are always empty bottles to be found.”

[Mr. Handy]

"Good idea," says William. "Let's go to Parrington's. That's where I bought my piece. I took some losses in the crash before I was able to cash out, but I still have a decent amount of money."

[Philulhu]

Saturday, March 1st, 1930 11.45am.
E.Parrington (Gunsmith), 417 W Main Street, Arkham, Mass.

Parrington’s was just a short ride away and there was space to park outside. Inside the shop, racks of rifles and shotguns lined the walls, albeit behind glass doors. In front of those, glass display cabinets showed a range of handguns - everything from Derringers to revolvers and automatic pistols. Lamps in the ceiling above the guns, caused light to reflect from their dully-oiled services.

Behind the one of the cabinets stood Edward Parrington, a sharply-dressed gentlemen in his fifties, with his hair oiled neatly in place. He looked up as the three men entered and greeted them with a curious nod.

“What can I do for you gentlemen today?” he said.