IC: Chapter 1 - NEW YORK, Starts 12th Jan 1925

[Grafster]

"If she's half as well off as her brother it may be difficult to make an approach," Johnny's voice is low, but he speaks during a lull in theconversation making it easy to hear him. "She may be able to shake off her grief to talk about the subject if someone had something interesting to tell her about what happened to her brother though." His English is mostly unaccented though it had a bit of New York flavor (but not New Yawk level).

(If the brothers ultimately decide to approach the sister he'll go with. Otherwise...)
Johnny is going to pick up a copy of Elias' Sons of Death and accompany Miss Downing & Andrei to the publishers (if they leaveimmediately he goes with and gets the book after they're done, if not then he steps out for a minute, picks up a copy and comes back).

[warhammer]

"Hold on a second there. Keep your pants on, everyone." interrupts Thomas as everyone is already making plans and getting ready to leave. "What are we going to bother Carlyle's sister for? We don't know anything about her, and as of now we don't know much about him either, or about what Ms Downing's friend, who sent the telegram, wants exactly." (OOC - Thomas purposely uses "Ms Downing" in response to "Mr Allan")

"I'll go to the NY library and look up the Carlyle expedition in old papers to collect more info. I've done this countless times to find archive material for my cases, so this should be a quick and easy job. But I reckon someone could do the same for Erica Carlyle, and I say we learn a tad more about this whole thing before we already go and bother her."

What are all these people so eager about? Thomas thinks. Is there something I don't know? Liz sure seems to know more than she lets on. Perhaps I should attempt to get some time alone with her.

[Laraqua]

Maksim smiles. Everyone was always so nervous about contacting complete strangers for redundant reasons. To him, it was a game but if the others wanted to be so serious about it, he might as well find out just why Elizabeth wanted to speak to her. Perhaps he and Elizabeth were kindred souls...

He sidled up to her, leaning against the nearest object, hands thrust deep in his pockets, in a slightly flirtatious way, subtle enough to not get himself into any trouble, but obvious enough that it would at the very least unsettle Andrei. Best to keep one's motivates mysterious.

"Well, well, I think everyone here wants to know what your great interest in the whole thing is. Is there something up your sleeve? Something we don't already know? Or are you just as keen for some excitement on such a cold, lonely day as I am?" He looked around. "Don't worry, to me it sounds like fun."

[imme]

"What are we going to bother Carlyle's sister for? We don't know anything about her, and as of now we don't know much about him either, or about what Ms Downing's friend, who sent the telegram, wants exactly."

"That's a good point, Thomas, but if the Rukov twins go to meet her now, they can at least get an impression of her, and then if they want to go back later once we know more, that'll be fine, too." Elizabeth's voice has a bit of a questioning tone to it, as if she's almost asking if her idea is actually a good one.

"Well, well, I think everyone here wants to know what your great interest in the whole thing is. Is there something up your sleeve? Something we don't already know? Or are you just as keen for some excitement on such a cold, lonely day as I am?"

Elizabeth smiles back at Maksim. "No, I don't know anything more than you do. Well, I do know Jackson, and that he's always running around investigating interesting mysteries, but I don't know anything more about this case, specifically." Her smile widens. "I guess I also just enjoy whatever chance for excitement I can find."

[Raiko]

After spending an interesting morning at Elizabeth’s luxurious apartment discussing her “adventure” the investigators split up and head their separate ways.

New York Public Library
12:35pm – Tuesday 13th January 1925

Thomas and Caroline soon arrive at New York’s massive and famous Public Library and after making their way up the huge main reading room above the library’s towering stacks, they begin to work their way through the extensive collection of old newspapers, seeking information about what exactly became of the Carlyle Expedition.

Prospero House, New York
12:40pm – Tuesday 13th January 1925

Elizabeth and Andrei, feeling a little better now that he finally has his belle to himself, travel to Prospero House, publishers of all of Jackson’s books.

The publishing house is a small affair located on Lexington Avenue, close to 35th Street. When they enter they find that it is a welcoming and informal place with only a handful of staff. They are warmly greeted by the owner Jonah Kensington, a studious looking man of average build, he is slightly overweight, and has grey hair and a thick beard. Elizabeth has met him once or twice in the past, but they have ever really got to know each other.

Nonetheless he recognises the beautiful young lady at once, and crosses the office to greet her, “Ellie, what an unexpected surprise, what can I do to help you and your friend. Mr….?”

He offers his hand for Andrei to shake.

Outside Carlyle House, Westchester County, New York State
1:30pm – Tuesday 13th January 1925

Although none of the investigators knew the exact location of Erica Carlyle’s residence, it didn’t take much effort at all to find out, Maksim is soon sat beside his brother in Timour’s big Studebaker touring car heading north towards the Bronx, with Johnny Wong sat intently in the back.

Carlyle House, is located about 25 miles north of the city, in Westchester County on the bank of the Hudson River. The infamous Sing Sing prison can be seen a few miles further upstream.

Conditions are icy, and there is still a lot of patchy mist and fog, so the journey takes a little over an hour in all, but eventually Timour pulls up his car in sight of the gates of Carlyle House. The three investigators can see two gatekeepers stood outside the huge iron gates. Each man is in uniform and has a holstered handgun.

The estate’s five acre grounds are surrounded on three sides by a twelve foot high iron fence, topped with sharpened finials. The grounds are quite heavily wooded, but the season means that the towering trees are leafless, and there is little undergrowth, so it is still possible to see the house itself from the road.

From where they sit in Timour’s car, the investigators can see several other guards patrolling the grounds in pairs, each of these guards appears to be carrying a Thomson submachinegun slung over their shoulder, and each pair is accompanied by a large German Shepherd dog.

The whole scene appears quite creepy with the old, old house heavily guarded, and surrounded by towering gnarled trees, and patches of freezing mist.

[OOC: I’ll have to wait till I get home to post pictures (oops), and make some dice throws, but you should all be able to post something now, even if you just chat]

[Decrepit]

"So, Mr. Allan, why do you suppose Elizabeth wanted us in particular on this little adventure of hers?" Caroline asks bemusedly as the two head into the New York Public Library.

[Laraqua]

"Suddenly, I feel like I'm back in Russia again," Maksim says. "I'm expecting chekists at any moment to come ask for my papers. Do people really choose to live like this in the land of the free?" He shakes his head, confused. "I don't get a good feeling from this."

[thewhatchamacallit]

Timour looked from the driver’s seat at the yard and the house, searching for anything out of place or possibly dangerous beyond the gun toting goons and their leashed-razorblades.

Instinctively he slid his pistol from under his armpit and concealed it on his lap while quietly chambering the first round and making sure the safety was on before returning the .45 automatic to its holster.

“Maksim, from now on you drive,” he said in Russian, “I need to concentrate on our environment as much as possible.”

He then got out of the car and said in English to Johnny and his brother, “be ready for trouble.”

Timour would remain quiet and alert throughout the meeting and their tour through the mansion. Diplomacy was for diplomats and his job was being ready when diplomacy failed.

[warhammer]

"I'm not quite sure, Mrs Ward." answers Thomas, as he pockets his car keys and lights another cigarette, after offering one to Caroline.

"How well do you know Elizabeth? Her friend is arriving in just a couple of days so we'll find out soon. I've got other things to take care of, but I admit feeling a bit of curiosity."

Thomas will work on getting information about the Carlyle expedition, while he suggests Caroline investigates the Carlyle family itself, more specifically Roger and Erica.

"Care to go for a drink afterwards?" Thomas also asks in an attempt to be friendly, understanding he may have to be social with Caroline for at least the few upcoming days.

[imme]

In the car ride to Prospero House Elizabeth put her arm through Andrei's and her head on his shoulder, going on and on about Egypt and Africa, and how exciting this adventure was surely going to be.

...

"Mr. Kensington, let me introduce my beau, Andrei Zatisov. I found him in France." She grins up at Andrei and turns to Mr. Kensington. "How's business? Any new books you could recommend?" Elizabeth will start a conversation, waiting for Kensington to invite them to come sit in his office before turning the conversation to Jackson, if he's had any new books, and what he's been up to recently.

[Laraqua]

Maksim nods and slides behind the wheel. "If they ask what you've got," he says to Timour in Russian, "give it to them without a fuss."

"Good day," he says, attempting to sound as English as possible to the gate keepers. "I would like to see Erica Carlyle just for a few minutes, if that's at all possible." He flashes them his most disarming smile. "The name's Max Rook." If they ask to see his papers, he shrugs and says that Rook is merely short for Rukov, he wasn't trying to cause any trouble.

If they don't seem like they want to let him through, he'll attempt to persuade them.

[Raiko]

Outside Carlyle House, Westchester County, New York State
1:32pm – Tuesday 13th January 1925

The gatekeepers each move to opposite sides of the Studebaker, one speaks to Maksim, the other stands around the back of the car, on the passenger side.

“Miss Carlyle isn’t expecting any visitors today, what is your business with her?”

[Laraqua]

"I know a friend of a friend of the family," Maksim says, annoyed that Elizabeth didn't at least have the decency to call ahead and try to arrange something. She would have had a lot more clout over here than he did. Fancy sending a couple of foreignors to a military-type compound. Why didn't she tell him about this? Why didn't she give him any clue of what was going on here?

"A Miss Elizabeth Downing and a Mister Jackson?" he says, hoping either name will ring a bell. "I'm afraid they couldn't come down in person so they sent me in their stead. Couldn't I just get to see her for a little of her time? Perhaps even if I could speak to her over the telephone? I do have something I rather need to ask her."

He hopes they won't make his message seem too urgent. He'd been given no real message to pass on and didn't want to lie too much. Otherwise, even if he got in, she'd likely send him on her way.

If the guards continue to refuse to let him pass, he'll say that he is collaborating on a novel documenting the heroic and brilliant tales of interesting men like her brother, and if only he could speak to her to make sure he got some of the details correct. He would never want to do such an honorable man a disservice.

OOC: I'm going to bed now. If the guards still won't let him pass or even let him telephone her, he'll slink off sulkily, fresh out of ideas.

[Decrepit]

"I've known Elizabeth for quite some time now," Caroline says. "And, please, call me Caroline. In any case, I'm not married, so no need to call me 'Mrs.'"

She declines the proferred cigarette. "It's no secret, I guess, that she helped sponsor me through the last years of my medical program. I'm still not sure how I came to her attention, but she and I became friends sometime after that.

"I don't recall meeting Jackson Elias before, and I really don't know anything more about what's going on than you do, I suspect.

"I think your plan of dividing up the work makes good sense. I'd also like to find out some more information about Elias as well, time permitting. ... And by the time we're done, I may need a drink, if only to clear the dust from my throat," she says ruefully.

[coffee demon]

On the way to Prospero House, Andrei tries to mirror Elizabeths excitement about the adventure. He almost gets caught up in the thought that this -will- be an adventure, but quickly dismisses it.

. . .

At the Prospero House, Andrei shakes Jonah's hand firmly and nods while Elizabeth introduces them. He is polite, if a little formal, and lets Elizabeth do most of the talking.

I wish I could sound as smooth as Ellie, he thinks while listening to her polite banter. A background in russian nobility doesn't always help in the modern streets of New York, but he is learning to act "cooler" every day.

Andrei lets Elizabeth bring up Jackson's message, but may ask a few questions, depending on what we find out.

[Raiko]

Prospero House, New York
12:41pm – Tuesday 13th January 1925

After showing Elizabeth and Andrei the latest books that Prospero have published – there are only a few, as they are very small - Jonah invites them both to sit own at his deck at the back of the room:

“Would you both like a coffee?”

He smiles warmly as he pours the coffees, and continues, “Tell me what really brings you both here, I’m sure you haven’t travelled here in this cold weather just to take a look at my modest selection of new books.”


Outside Carlyle House, Westchester County, New York State
1:32pm – Tuesday 13th January 1925

The armed gatekeeper seems to take an instant dislike to the good looking Russian adventurer (he’s obviously either jealous, or an insane cultist).

“Look buddy, I don’t know who your talking about, stop wasting my time trying to hustle your way in here.”

“Now get out of here now, or I’m callin’ the cops!”


Main Reading Room, New York Public Library
2:45pm – Tuesday 13th January 1925


The Main Reading Room at the New York Public Library

Between the two of them, if takes Caroline and Thomas only a couple of hours to uncover a series of newspaper articles following the Carlyle expedition, from the initial surprise news of his imminent departure, to the aftermath of the Carlyle Expedition Massacre, and the trial of the perpetrators.

[OOC: I’ll be posting the articles in the player handouts thread once everybody is back together, for now I’ve just PM’d them to Decrepit & warhammer]

[Decrepit]

"We've made a fair start, Mr. Allan," Caroline says, "but I think we could squeeze a bit more research in before meeting back up with the others.

"I'm assuming Elizabeth can tell us something about Hypatia Masters since they doubtless traveled in the same social circles. We could look for more information about Erica, as we'd planned to do, but as she wasn't there and there's no reason at this point to suspect she had anything to do with the deaths, it *might* be more useful to read up on Aubrey Penhew or maybe Jack Brady. I'm sure there's a good deal on the former, as Penhew was prominent. I'm less sure what we could find about Brady. We could also look into Elias, but there now seem more urgent things to do, and he is, after all, Elizabeth's friend, so he's probably an alright fellow."

Caroline smiles. "But I'm open to suggestions."

[thewhatchamacallit]

Timour scowls as the man's attitude suddenly turns hostile, he had hoped this would all go more smoothly and dreaded the thought of an hour drive back to the Downing estate to ask Elizabeth to make the proper arangements.

"Look my friend," he said turning on the charm, "there is no need for all that. We were sent here at the personal request of Elizabeth Downing. So please, just inform your employer that we are here and we'll be able to clear up this whole misunderstanding."

OOC Timour is trying to Persuade <crosses fingers> them now

[imme]

"Coffee, sounds good." Elizabeth gladly accepts a cup. "Well, Mr. Kensington, to tell the truth, I'm here to ask you about Jackson. I can tell he doesn't have any new books out, since I'm sure you would have told me. Are there any in the works? He's always investigating such interesting things."

[warhammer]

As hours pass and he is starting to learn more about the whole Carlyle affair, Thomas's interest in Elizabeth's request for assistance is quickly rising. From what he can read in the old newspapers, it appears as though the case was never really solved, and furthermore, the last articles he found seem to indicate random lives were sacrificed in a "mock-trial" whose sole aim was to protect the real perpetrators.

Thomas, having found a lot of information, carefully writes it all down on his own sheets of paper so that he can keep the articles for further use.

He walks up to Caroline and they share what they've learned.

"This bothers me more than a bit." he says to her after they shared their info. He is getting angry and has to struggle not to talk louder (being in a library, he has no choice but to whisper). "Obviously, we don't know what really happened and there are people out there with blood on their hands and a big smile on their face, just waiting for me to come and kick them in the a**. I'm all for getting on this case."

Thomas checks his watch and notices they still have time to do some research.

"I'm going to look up Aubrey Penhew myself." he adds. "How about you try Dr Huston? We can look up the rest later. I doubt we need to research Jackson Elias, when we can probably just ask Elizabeth."