Track 7:San Francisco-Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Tony sighs with relief when he sees that everyone is uninjured in the explosion. Leaving Liz to look after the girl and Zara and Lew to berate the teens, he turns his attention to the driver of the Rolls.

"Okay Sonny Jim, out you get," he says, ordering him out of the car. "Would you care to explain yourself?"

The driver emerges slowly and carefully, hands kept in sight.

"I'm just the wheelman, OK? I didn't even know this was gonna be a snatch job. Thought we were just gonna run some hash up to 'Frisco. When Tony grabbed the dame . . . well, you don't argue with a gun, am I right?"

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"We're here to rescue you," says Liz in a reassuring tone. "We were on our way to San Francisco when we saw you trying to escape, and we stopped to help you. My name is Liz. What's yours?"

"Monique van der Maas, but most people just call me Mo."

By this time, an ambulance and a fire engine have managed to make their way to the site of the accident. In all the confusion, the fellow called Tony manages to escape from sight, somewhere in the rough brushland near the highway.

When they arrive, Mo grabs Liz's arm and says desperately "Don't tell them who I am! Say I was with you all the time. Please!"

Before there's a chance to ask any questions, the emergency personnel not actively fighting the fire and treating injuries show up and take statements from everyone. Mo is noticeably reticent.

[jp1885]

Tony accepts the driver’s story, and bids him stand aside while he searches the Rolls for anything of interest.

When the authorities arrive, he notices how Mo keeps schtum. Therefore he tells a limited version of the truth, to wit how they witnessed the hot-rod crash and rushed to attend. Presumably the occupants of the Roller did the same - in the heat of the moment it was all very confusing.

[SunlessNick]

Zara has no idea what happened at the Rolls, but gives an accurate account of the crash, including the bit where the other two ignored her when she got stuck. Despite telling Lew she was cool, she gets visibly shakier as she goes on as she realises how close to death she came. (Unless anyone stops her, she tales some swigs from her gin flask).

[Starspawn338]

Lew will answer any questions that he is asked. Only when they are again in their van in private will he ask about the girl.
"Do you need a ride anywhere? We were heading to San Francisco."

[Mr. Handy]

Liz confirms her friends' accounts, keeping Mo's identity secret and pretending she had been with them as requested.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Tony accepts the driver’s story, and bids him stand aside while he searches the Rolls for anything of interest.

Spoiler:

WIS = 11[dice]0[/dice]

On the floor of the back seat is a crumpled sheet of paper, which proves to be a torn portion of a road map of the city of Palo Alto, located between San Jose and San Francisco, and famed as an area for the wealthy. There are four red crosses marked at various places on the map.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Lew will answer any questions that he is asked. Only when they are again in their van in private will he ask about the girl.
"Do you need a ride anywhere? We were heading to San Francisco."

"Oh, that would be fine. I know some fab people there."

After her ordeal, Mo seems surprisingly chipper.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Satisfied with their stories, the emergency personnel convey the injured young men to the nearest hospital and get the fire under control. There's still a big, tangled mess blocking the road to San Francisco, and it will take a fair amount of time for wreckers to show up to clear it out of the way. There's also the driver of the Rolls, looking like he'd rather be anyplace else.

[jp1885]

Pocketing the scrap of paper, Tony lets the driver go, allowing him to drive the Roller away if he wishes to.

While the road is being cleared, he shows the map to Mo.

"I assume one of these crosses marks your address, or wherever you were kidnapped from miss?"

[Mr. Handy]

Before they let the driver go, Liz asks him what he knows about this other Tony, particularly his full name and how he recruited him, using her charm to loosen his tongue.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Pocketing the scrap of paper, Tony lets the driver go, allowing him to drive the Roller away if he wishes to.

While the road is being cleared, he shows the map to Mo.

"I assume one of these crosses marks your address, or wherever you were kidnapped from miss?"

"That's Daddy's mansion, for sure. I was there at a party for his fourth wife --" she rolls her eyes -- "she's younger than I am. Anyway, the last thing I remember, I was having another champagne when everything went dark. The next thing I knew, I was in that car with those two creeps. What a blast!"

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Before they let the driver go, Liz asks him what he knows about this other Tony, particularly his full name and how he recruited him, using her charm to loosen his tongue.

"Hey, lady, you don't use full names in this business, you know what I mean? Word gets out on the street somebody needs a wheelman for a dope run, you don't ask questions, you just count the cash. Shoulda known this job would go wrong, once we showed up at that ritzy joint. Didn't smell right, dig? But I wasn't gonna put up a stink, not with the look that guy gave me. Hell, I don't even know if his name is really Tony."

[SunlessNick]

Zara offers Mo some of her gin if it will steady her (she keeps drinking herself).

[jp1885]

Tony mulls over Mo's words, politely declining the gin if it is offered.

"We must assume then that the other crosses mark other kidnappings. Do you recognise any of the addresses Mo? Some of your pals perhaps? I wonder if they've already been snatched and are kept somewhere..."

He turns to look at the drive-in.

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, we should go to the other three places indicated on the map and make sure the people there are safe," says Liz. "We can take them in order, starting with the nearest. They're on the way to San Francisco from here anyway."

[SunlessNick]

Zara's probably drunk too much to be safe driving, but a glance at the map will let her direct whoever is driving while everyone else can check it for any additional clues.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Zara offers Mo some of her gin if it will steady her (she keeps drinking herself).

With a grin, Mo says "You're my kind of girl, sister!" She quickly ingests sufficient gin to render her quite under the influence, completely unable to answer any inquiries in a coherent manner.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Tony mulls over Mo's words, politely declining the gin if it is offered.

"We must assume then that the other crosses mark other kidnappings. Do you recognise any of the addresses Mo? Some of your pals perhaps? I wonder if they've already been snatched and are kept somewhere..."

He turns to look at the drive-in.

"Kids napping? Where? Don't like kids. Noisy li'l brats. Let 'em sleep. Good idea, that. Sleepy . . ."

After this less then helpful response to Tony's inquiries, she throws her arms around him, falls like a dead weight in his embrace, and is soon snoring loudly.

While pondering how to deal with this burden, the subject of searching the drive-in comes to mind. It would take some time to explore the place completely. There's the ticket booth, the parking spots, the screen, the snack bar and restrooms, the kiddie play area, the projectionist booth, and so on. The investigators need to decide whether to take the time to look over these places, and who should do the looking.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"Yes, we should go to the other three places indicated on the map and make sure the people there are safe," says Liz. "We can take them in order, starting with the nearest. They're on the way to San Francisco from here anyway."

A quick glance at a street map of Palo Alto -- one of many such badly creased and torn road maps, no doubt given away by gas stations, found in the VW van -- reveals that all four places on the map are located near the campus of Stanford University, an historic and noted center of higher education.