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

[Raiko]

Prospero House – Lexington Avenue, New York
1:00pm - Tuesday 13th January 1925

Hearing what Elizabeth says, Jonah looks quite concerned, “Unfortunately I think your fears may be correct. Jackson’s last Telegram seemed quite excitable, and he’s been out of touch for quite some time.”

“I really can’t tell you to much about what he’s working on without consulting him first, but it concerns that Carlyle Expedition that disappeared in Kenya five or six years ago. Jackson is convinced that there was a cover up, and that the massacre involved a death cult. He often been right about these things in the past, but this time he’s become quite obsessed.”

“He thinks that the real perpetrators escaped justice; not only that, but he is also convinced that some or all of the expedition principles are still alive. It all seems quite extraordinary to me, and I’ll afraid that each time Jackson gets in touch with me his obsession and paranoia seems to be getting worse.”

Jonah stops for a second and shakes his head, “I’m quite sure that his involving you in this is all a mistake Ellie. Once you meet him you’ll see that his work with all of these dangerous cults has just become too much for him.”


On the road – Westchester County, New York State.
1:55pm - – Tuesday 13th January 1925

Looking in the rear view mirror of his touring car Maksim sees that Johnny is correct; a black Ford is keeping a discrete distance, but is definitely following them. There are at least four men in the Ford.

EDIT: I had thought that Timour was driving again, but I've corrected my post now, thanks What.

[thewhatchamacallit]

"Pull over and see what they do," scoffs Timour in English. "It's likely just some of those fat guards we ran into at the Carlyle place, or even more likely policemen come to see what we're up to. If they really want to be our friends so badly then let's stop and get to know them better."

[coffee demon]

Jonah stops for a second and shakes his head, “I’m quite sure that his involving you in this is all a mistake Ellie. Once you meet him you’ll see that his work with all of these dangerous cults has just become too much for him.”

Andrei clears his throat and leans forward, entering the circle of the conversaton. In his best English, he says:

"I must say, sir, that I have the same concerns. If we're going to enter an agreement with Mr. Jackson, we should do so with caution. The last thing I want is for people to get hurt, especially you." He gives Elizabeth a warm look.

"Mr. Kensington, already we're indebted to you for providing us with this information. Thank you kindly for your help. I wonder, do you still have the latest telegrams from Mr. Jackson? Anything that might help us decide what to do would be helpful."

(If Jonah looks like he's going to decline, Andrei says):

"I'd hate to join Mr. Jackson on his adventure, and have someone get hurt because of it. We're both excited about the prospect of adventure, but..."

[OC: I know persuade is a longterm skill, but I'll try to sound/act as honest, innocent, and forthcoming as possible.]

[Laraqua]

Maksim gets an evil look in his eye, partly since his memories of machine guns and Russia makes him loathe to stop a car when followed by the heavily armed, and partly because he's in an extremely bad mood.

He'll attempt a boot legger's turn, even on the ice, to see exactly what the others are in possession of, their license plate for their dear friend, and also to startle the bastards. If they look likely to play chicken with his car, he'll attempt to turn into the nearest street or driveway and let the others pass, hopefully with the enemy at high speeds, and then either reverse out of the driveway and head the opposite way, or continue on down the street.

[imme]

Elizabeth is no longer smiling, and looks genuinely concerned. She lets Andrei take over the conversation.

[Raiko]

On the road – Westchester County, New York State.
1:55pm – Tuesday 13th January 1925

Accelerating a little to ensure that he has enough speed to pull off his planned stunt, Maksim waits for a convenient bend in the road to mask him from the tailing Ford for a few seconds. Pulling on the handbrake and wrenching the wheel around, Maksim attempts to fling the big touring car though a daring bootleg-reverse; but although he brings the car around he looses control of the turn, leaving the Studebaker sliding dangerously backwards toward a lamppost...

Luckily Maksim brings the car to a halt with inches to spare, his pride the only thing that is damaged. As the pursuing Ford comes around the corner, Maksim wrenches the Studebaker back into gear and drives straight at it. The driver of the Ford is in no mood to play chicken and his car mounts the sidewalk to avoid the Studebaker, as it roars past.

Breathing a sign of relief Maksim is too busy watching the road to get a good look at the other car, but Timour and Johnny get a glimpse of a very big bald-headed man in the passenger seat, and two guys with pump-action shotguns in the back.

Regaining the road the Ford roars away round the next bend, their cover blown.

[Laraqua]

Maksim lets out a whoop and grins confidantly at Johnny in the rear-view mirror. "This is what I'm good for," he says brightly. "Wonder why they wanted to follow us for? Is that woman well-guarded or is she just well-kept? It makes me wonder ... but then, maybe I am thinking too much like what the American magazines think of as a Soviet."

[Grafster]

Johnny’s shocked expression greets Maksim’s gaze as the Russian glances back through the mirror. After a long pause the Chinese man looks away, releases his deathgrip on the door and begins retrieving his hat and cane from where they were cast to the floorboards by the sudden automotive acrobatics. When his face returns into view he seems to be fighting to keep the sides of his mouth from turning up.

“It certainly does seem like the young lady Carlyle is protected by a rather improbably impressive and aggressive security force. Why, I can not imagine,” Johnny seems to be struggling a bit to keep his normal level tone of voice.

[Laraqua]

"Well, whatever the case, that was a fun ride and I hope to do it again," says Maksim. "I am suddenly and deeply in love with Lizzie darling for putting us on this case. This is going to be so much fun. I mean, machine guns, being tailed, that lovely lady doctor..." He casts a long, sideways look at Timour. "That Doctor Caroline Ward whose heart I will no doubt soon win."

[thewhatchamacallit]

"I apologize for my brother's driving Mr. Johnny," says Timour after failing to recall the bodyguard's surname. "Sometimes he forgets he's not flying a bi-plane any longer and thinks the laws of physics between cars and aircraft are the exact same."

"And as for your fascination with this doctor woman," he says to Maksim in Russian, "I would forget about it. Smart women are more troublesome than they are worth. You should come with me to the bar where we can find some dynamite dames that won't require any more effort than a refill on their drinks."

"So," Timour breaths once more in English, "let's get back to the city, the others will be wondering where we got to and now I'm five more minutes away from getting some food in me."

[Laraqua]

"You never understood the value of a good stunt," Maksim says with a teasing smile. "And Johnny, if I were really the show off he thinks I am, I would attempt to drift around this corner instead of slowing down and turning gently. I've got more sense than that though I can't say I'm tempted. Besides, I saw that half-smile. I bet you loved it."

"And what's the point of an easy time with a girl? People were made to be complicated. Life was made to be complicated. Pretending that it isn't is an attempt to live a boring, half-lived life. The good doctor's got my interest hooked on more levels than one. I'm damn sure she'll drag me through the cobblestones just to see what'll happen and to tell you the truth, I'll be disappointed if she doesn't."

"And what is with your obssession with food and pub drinks, Timour? At this rate, you won't be finding a dynamite dame anywhere because you'll be too large to fit through one of the doors."

[Raiko]

Prospero House – Lexington Avenue, New York
1:01pm - Tuesday 13th January 1925

“Of course you are right.”

Jonah stands up and calls across the office to his secretary, “Mary! Please could you fetch the Elias correspondence file!”

A minute or so later Jonah’s attractive young assistant walks over carrying a large box file, which she places on his desk.

“Thank you Mary,” Kensington opens the file and takes out a neatly handwritten letter, which he passes to Elizabeth. “This is the first correspondence that I received from Jackson regarding his new project, although I had spoken to him before he departed. As you can see the letter was sent from Kenya.”

“I received his notes through the mail as promised,” he takes several sets of neatly bound handwritten notes from the folder, and places them all on the table, “and then a wire from Hong Kong requesting the advance. I sent it immediately of course.”

Opening the bound notes, Elizabeth and Andrei see that they contain extensive notes taken by Jackson during his time in Kenya. They appear quite detailed and would take a while to read through.

“Then that was it, I didn’t hear another thing until this rather excitable wire arrived from London in the middle of last month,” Jonah passes the telegram to Elizabeth.

“I didn’t know quite what to make of it, but as it turned out that wasn’t the worst of it, just this morning I received another package, this time containing a second set of notes. I don’t really like to show them to anyone, but since you’re a good friend of Jackson’s, and he’s asked for your help I suppose that I should show you. But you must promise not to let anyone know the state of poor Jackson’s mind.”

Jonah hands Elizabeth the second set of notes, these couldn’t be more different to the first set. There are at least a hundred loosely bound, tattered pieces of handwritten paper. Opening them up and looking inside Elizabeth and Andrei see that they are clearly written by the hand of a madman. The scrawled handwriting appears to be totally unreadable, although on clearer examination the crazy handwriting does indeed share enough features to suggest that it was written by the same hand as the letter from Nairobi. It would take hours to make any sense at all of the scribbled notes, and would no doubt cause the reader a serious headache.

“You are welcome to take a look through both sets of notes, and make of them as you will, but I can’t leave them unattended and I have to leave the office soon, perhaps you could return tomorrow to look through them at your leisure? Although I doubt that anyone could make any sense of the second set.”

[thewhatchamacallit]

"Nyet," beams Timour smacking his belly loudly, "I eat and drink all I want and my meta-bol-ilism(he stutters trying to pronounce this one) takes care of everything!"

[Laraqua]

Maksim snorts. "Then why is it that the car tilts when you are in it and only manages to right itself when you leave, hmm? You think it's only muscle but I'll bet you're hiding a rather curved belly..." He switches to Russian. "So I take it you aren't interested in either Elizabeth or Caroline Ward? How rather dull of you!"

[thewhatchamacallit]

Timour laughs uproariously and merely winks at his brother. Thinking it best to keep the young lad guessing for now.

[coffee demon]

Andrei silently sifts through the notes, first reading the two letters, then shuffling through the rest of the papers. As he reaches the most recent documents, his forehead creases with lines of concern. Tingles of excitement run up his spine.

If this Jackson man isn't mad... well, he IS mad, there's no doubt about that.

He glances at Eizabeth, trying to read her reaction.

"Mr. Kensington, you're quite right. Something is not right here. We're going to meet with Mr. Elias in a few days, and.." Andrei's mind is spinning, he looks back down at the papers.

"..And yes, perhaps we could come back tomorrow? I think it would be... (Andrei looks for the right word) ...negligent... for us to agree to anything without reading through these papers."

He helps put the papers back in the file, and dons his hat while Elizabeth and the publisher exchange goodbyes. He shakes Jonas' hand firmly and thanks him again.

...

Once outside, he hails a cab and follows Elizabeth inside.

"Eliie, how well did you.. do you.. know this man, Jackson? How did you meet him?"

After reading the letter, Andrei is almost certain Jackson wants money from the Downing family, but these thoughts are eclipsed by his curiousity about this strange man and his recent adventures.

It's starting to feel like a big dark pool, that you can jump into and get lost in, or stay away from and forget about. Andrei is undecided, and will wait and see who else wants to jump.

[OC: Elizabeth should still feel free to ask more questions, I wanted to get us on the road just in case, though...]

[coffee demon]

Andrei also asks Elizabeth,

"Lets please wait until after dinner to discuss our findings with the others. I would hate to disturb your parents with talk of Death-Cults and madness."

[imme]

As Elizabeth looks through the papers, a crease appears between her brows and her lips form an uncharacteristic frown. From these notes, it sounds like Jackson's onto something huge, far bigger than anything he's uncovered before. And far more dangerous ...

Elizabeth merely nods agreement when Andrei suggests that they return tomorrow. As she is taking her leave she says, "Thank you so much for your help, Mr. Kensington. We must see what we can do for Jackson when he arrives."

...

Once inside the cab, Elizabeth leans on Andrei again, this time in a much less jovial manner. "I'm so worried for Jackson. That second set of notes were so unlike him. He's normally such a careful, thorough researcher. I can't remember how I met him, must have been at some party, but I've known him for quite awhile. His work has always interested me, how he carefully and skeptically works to uncover death cults. It's hard to believe that there's a 'massive worldwide conspiracy' behind the Carlyle expedition, but I can't imagine Jackson making that claim if he wasn't convinced of it by ample evidence."

She sighs and turns to look out the window. "I must admit, when I received his telegram all I thought of was adventures in exotic locations and exciting mysteries to be solved. It didn't occur to me that serious issues and possible danger would be involved. I only said that to Mr. Kensington to see what he knew. If what Jackson's saying is true, it must be dealt with, and will not be easy, I imagine." She turns back to Andrei. "Yes, let's wait until after dinner to discuss this with everyone. I wouldn't want my parents to worry. Now how about we go get some lunch?"

Elizabeth will be subdued during lunch and while they prepare to leave for her estate. She will steer the conversation away from anything related to Jackson or his mystery, although her mind seems to be still processing what she's learned.

[coffee demon]

Andrei falls silent in the cab, chewing his lip, thinking about what Elizabeth said.

Skeptic? This guy is a careful researcher and a skeptic, and he's talking about a worldwide conspiracy?

He looks out the opposite window, his hand on Ellie's lap.

Now I HOPE the poor guy has gone mad. Worldwide conspiracy?

His mind reels, trying to imagine what a 'worldwide conspiracy' could even be about. High-up political spies or something? What would that have to do with this Carlyle Expedition?

Throughout lunch, and the train ride to the Downing Manor, Andrei is also silent and thoughtful.

He tries to cheer up the mood by saying things like: "I can't wait to see the looks on the others' faces when we tell them!" and "You know, Ellie, no one can force us to do something if its too dangerous. Lets not get too worried yet."

"And lets not jump into this without getting all the facts and having a serious talk with Mr. Jackson Elias."

[Raiko]

Downing House – Long Island, New York
8:00pm – Tuesday 13th January 1925

It is another clear and frosty winter evening in Long Island. Outside Downing House the icy waters of Long Island Sound lap against the shore, while inside in the warm candlelit dining hall the staff have now made their final preparations for the evening meal of Miss Elizabeth and her unusual mixture of guests.