Statement 3: Tea at the Folly

[Philulhu]

Des blushed and looked down at her hands. She’d never heard of cockfighting before and until Skipper mentioned birds, she’d had an entirely different idea in mind…

[SaintMeerkat]

OOC:   Did I discover anything on my success at researching what other things have been at that location?

[jp1885]

OOC:   Argh, sorry - missed that!

Looking up various old trade directories going back to the 1800’s, Leo discovers that the building has played host to ordinary shops and offices.

Until last night’s book throwing incident, he can find no reports of any strange phenomena or weird goings-on.

[SaintMeerkat]

DC Leo Dansby.jpg (16.73 KiB) Viewed 367 times

OOC:   No worries. Thank you!

When Leo saw Molly go to do a load of laundry, he slipped into the kitchen to grab a sausage. Although he was undetected by Molly, Toby totally busted him, and he was forced to share in order to prevent the Folly's mascot and magic detector from becoming a sausage thief detector. After carefully wiping the grease from his mouth and thoroughly washing his hands, he slipped into the Atrium (once he'd finished chewing).

He pulled his PNB out of his jacket pocket and, once it was his turn, he shared what he'd found out about the history. "Nothing unusual in the businesses that occupied the space. No occult bookstores or Needful Things type stores. To the best of my ability to tell from the records, everything's on the level."

[jp1885]

Oh I’m not letting you get away with it that easily. Please make a luck roll.

[SaintMeerkat]

Totally deserved...

Luck (61): 1d100

Whew...

[jp1885]

Leo’s sausage-stealing antics appear to go unnoticed by Molly. At least, when she glides by a few minutes later with a feather duster, she seems to bear him no malice, or indeed acknowledge his presence at all.

[Trivun]

As the group convene in the atrium, Izzy thinks she can smell something vaguely meaty and pork-like, and gives Leo a funny look, but doesn't say a word. After her own egg and bacon sandwich the same morning, she can hardly rat him out to Molly, anyway. She then spots Des' blush at the mention of cockfighting and hides a smirk herself.

"Sad to say, pitting animals against each other for fun was all the rage back in the Tudor days, and even later. Personally, I'd have happily tossed the punters into the ring instead and let the fighting animals have their own way with them." It's clear that this is a point Izzy feels very strongly about. "My last partner actually worked for a horse sanctuary, you know. Actually, she dumped me to spend more time with the horses..." she trails off awkwardly.

Quickly changing the subject, she decides to answer Skipper's question. "Do you remember from, like, GCSE science or anything? The scientific method - you come up with a theory, or hypothesis, then set up a research method or experiment to quantifiably measure the theory from relevant phenomena. Either you support or disprove the theory from the measurements, or you can use the results to guide further routes of study. In this case, we would come up with theories on what we saw and heard in the bookstore, do our research here, and use whatever information we've found to then determine how we go about investigating later this evening."

In Izzy's case, she reasons, taking along a dog and watching for changes in behaviour might be a useful detection method. Such a shame for Toby to be busy today...

[Snapper]

"Right, I got that. We say what we think is happening then we try to back it up with a test. Like trying to prove someone's not-so-better half is going over the side with the gym instructor. As we say in the PI game, photos or it didn't happen."

"But what do we think is happening? Ghost of an angry bird? And how do we test that?"

[Mr. Handy]

"Well, he did mention the possibility of using a stronger werelight," says Jordan. "We can also camp out in the lower level and observe, see what happens. Maybe we could reenact what the victim did and see if we get attacked, but that's risky."

Oh, you're right! I'm sure it wasn't like that when I copied the skills to my character sheet. Maybe it got updated somehow. I'll have to update my character sheet after I've had some sleep.

[Philulhu]

”You fink we should sleep der overnight?” asked Des. ”Can’t see dat happenin’!” Sleeping on the floor wouldn’t be a problem - it was indoors and dry and she’d slept in far worse places - but she couldn’t imagine for a second that the woman at Stonewaters would want them bedding down for the night.

[jp1885]

“As it happens, I’ve taken the liberty of speaking to Miss Jackson,”

Nightingale emerges from one of the many doors leading to the atrium.

“She will let you in at eight, show you how to lock up and operate the alarm system. Molly will provide some sustenance for the night.”

“I take it your research proved fruitful. Cockfighting was indeed a truly barbaric sport - attaching sharp metal blades to the creatures’ hind claws and watching them slash each other to death…”

He shudders, as if suppressing an unpleasant memory.

“DC Grant would normally take Toby along on cases like this, but seeing as both are otherwise occupied, perhaps our neighbour Mr. Fitzroy could lend you Ernie for the night. The poor fellow isn’t as mobile as he used to be, and will welcome the chance for Ernie to get some exercise.”

[Snapper]

Skipper looks at Des. "Not really sleeping there overnight then. I think we're going to be wide awake."

"Ah, sorry Boss, Toby and Ernie are who?"

[jp1885]

“Apologies - I must remind myself that not all of you are familiar with our ways,” Nightingale replies.

“Toby is our resident ghost detecting dog - a small terrier who is, I suspect, 10% canine and 90% sausage.”

“Ernie belongs to Mr. Fitzroy, who lives two doors down. He’s our occasional standby ghost detector. Ernie that is, not Mr. Fitzroy.”

[Philulhu]

Des rolled her eyes at Skipper. It wasn’t a hotel room but it was warm, dry and above all safe. There was no chance she wasn’t going to sleep!

[Trivun]

"Great, we have a plan then, I hope. Might be worth both myself and Leo working on the magic side to try and lure something out, if you think a stronger werelight will help. I... um, I'd rather not risk pushing it too hard. Seeing Jen... um, Dr Vaughn's slides of cauliflower brains was a bit sobering. Still, I did have a hangover that morning and it really cleared it up..."

She pauses, not sure if revealing that she turned up to a medical examination hungover once is a great thing to admit to her boss. Still, that was another morning where she hadn't expected to be working if not for a very last minute call from Peter to observe an autopsy...

"Anyway, better to be on the safe side, right?" As if to head off the inevitable questions from the laypersons of the group, Izzy quickly explains. "Um... cauliflower brain just means someone who's used magic too much and basically given themselves severe brain damage. Usually it's fatal. I mentioned it earlier, hyperthaumaturgical degradation. Or HTD for short. I mean, you have to use a lot of magic over a long period of time to really feel the effects, it's a bit like how drinking every so often is fine but if you keep going out on a binge then your liver will hate you for it."

Izzy suddenly gets a worried look on her face that is impossible to ignore. "Actually... it's not just the person casting the magic at risk. It can also affect you if you're too close to a strong source of magic, something really intense. Just like Le..." she trails off, and darts a sharp look at Nightingale, not sure if she should continue.

She remembers Lesley May, though they didn't know each other all that well, they had worked together a little on cases back when Izzy was with the murder team. She knows that Seawoll had been eager to recruit her to the squad before all the 'weird bollocks' had started up again, and truth be told, Izzy remembers that she'd always found Lesley to be rather attractive, even if she'd never quite made a move, assuming the Essex girl was even that way inclined to begin with.

However, what Izzy remembers the most is what Peter and Nightingale told her about sequestration - when Lesley, and others, were possessed by Mr Punch, and how it led to Lesley's permanent disfigurement. Sequestration being a highly intense magical effect, and how it could easily lead to HTD even if one survived the initial possession, and the 'face falling off' bit...

[Mr. Handy]

"So, it's like radiation, then?" asks Jordan. "Is there any way to protect against it? Does lead block it?"

[Snapper]

"Or the Petronus spell?" Skipper says this with no apparent expression on his face.

[Philulhu]

’Brain damage?’ thought Des. ’Yeah, dat explains a lot!’

[jp1885]

OOC:   FYI, in game terms, you suffer HTD if you fumble a Magic roll, fail a pushed Magic roll or cast a spell when you've run out of Magic points.

"Yes, well let's not dwell on hyperthaumaturgical degradation too much. Anyone who decides to become a practitioner will receive the necessary safety training - cauliflower brain slides and all," says Nightingale, shooting a warning glance at Izzy.

"Alas, Dr. Schneider, lead is no protection. While one can remove the batteries from ones electronic devices, one cannot do the same for one's brain."

"I've never heard of a Patronus spell Mr. Pearson," he continues, looking at the detective quizzically. "Does it hail from some kind of non-Newtonian magic tradition?"

OOC:   Is there anything else you want to do before returning to the bookshop?