Ch.11. First Arkham Bank (Ivy)

[Silver Priest]

Alex assists Ivy while filling her in on what he learned from Mr. Fraser.

"I believe we have a prime suspect in this matter: Emily Livingstone, his son's girlfriend. Mr. Fraser ordered the relationship terminated and pressured her family to send Ms. Livingstone upcountry to live with relatives. She also had been working as a housemaid, so fits what I learned about the poor penmanship and lack of education."

[Philulhu]

Fuelled by coffee, Ivy continued to search through the bank’s records for anyone who might have held a grudge against Mr Fraser. Despite lunchtime coming and going, Alex felt obliged to match her work rate and spent the time talking to the tellers and chief cashier about any cases they might be aware of.

It seemed that Fraser had antagonised a number of customers over the years, but in most cases, copies of written correspondence had been retained on file and an examination of the handwriting was sufficient to dispel any further suspicions.

Finally, it had started to get dark outside and the loud rumblings from Alex’s stomach were getting hard to ignore. Ivy closed the last of the files with a snap - it seemed unlikely that the attempted murderer would be found within the bank’s customers.

OOC,It is late afternoon.Any other actions you wish to take?

[jp1885]

OOC,I guess all we can do is wait for the results to come back from the lab and for the photos to be developed.

[Silver Priest]

OOC:   Alex will volunteer to grab something to eat for both him and Ivy.

[Philulhu]

OOC,You’re ahead of William & Lawrence, time-wise. Please bear with me while they catch up.

[jp1885]

OOC,No worries; happy to bimble along until you’re ready.

Ivy decides that it would be prudent to call her boss and keep him appraised of developments. She recommends warning all staff (both at the mansion and the bank) to be extremely wary of handling mail.

In fact, it occurs to her to find out who exactly handled the bundle of mail the deadly letter came in. Have they been affected?

She will also try to recall what the strange man looked like, his build, facial features and accent.

[Philulhu]

While Alex went out to find a sandwich, Ivy phoned her boss. Fraser himself picked up the phone and heard out Ivy’s recommendations before telling her that Captain Keats had already given the same advice.

When Ivy went to talk to the other staff, they said that all the mail had been taken through to her office as per Mr Fraser’s standing instructions. He insisted on seeing every piece of mail that entered the building and often annotated the letters with his recommended course of action before distributing the letters to staff so they could draft their reply. It appeared that the letters had just been bundled up and left for Ivy to open for Mr Fraser.

Back at her desk, Ivy tried to recall details of the man she had seen in her vision. He was older, perhaps in his sixties or seventies, with a bald head and lined face. He’d been wearing coveralls, with reading classes on a chain around his neck.

[jp1885]

Ivy jots down her recollections, just in case Alex might have a similar person on file.

[Silver Priest]

Alex takes the recollections. "I'll look into this, though I'm not expecting much. Hallucinations don't exactly hold up in court." He chuckles, which develops into a sheepish look if Ivy glares at him.

[jp1885]

Ivy does indeed glare, although she's well aware of how strange she sounds.

"Humour me, if you please. Maybe I've seen the fellow in real life and subconsciously thought him suspicious."

[Silver Priest]

Alex softens, and nods. "I'll look into it for you, certainly." He takes down the description."

[Philulhu]

Ivy’s reading of the files found little in the way of evidence that suggested any of the bank’s customers had any direct relationship with Mr Fraser and less still any reason to do him harm. Despite his reputation, it seemed the bank’s lending committee were more level-headed and relations with customers were generally positive.

The telephone rang and when Ivy picked up the receiver, she found herself talking to Captain Keats, who relayed Mr Fraser’s request that they meet at his mansion at 9.00am the following day to update him on the progress they had made.

OOC,Go here: https://www.callofcthulhu.org.uk/pbp/viewtopic.php?f=438&t=7293#p244536