IC: Maksim, Thomas, Andrei & Caroline Drive to Harlem.

[warhammer]

"Fascinating stuff." says Thomas, still looking at all the items around the shop.

Thomas waits for an opportunity to be alone in the room for a bit. If/as soon as the other customers leave the shop, he will mention to the shopkeeper that all the Kenyan items are very interesting, but not quite what he's looking for, and will ask if there are perhaps a few other items not displayed in the main room, in the hope that the shopkeeper will disappear in the storeroom for a short while.

If no such opportunity presents itself after a reasonable amount of time, Thomas will simply say he can't make up his mind and will promise to come back later, after asking about the shop's opening days and hours.

[Decrepit]

Caroline starts to get a bit fidgety. Thomas seems to know what he's about, and Maksim's hanging about with the couple who were trapped in his web of reputedly irresistable charm, spouting forth the Russian equivalent of blarney in the hopes of God-knows-what--liberating the woman from her companion, as like as anything. Nothing much for Caroline herself to do but nod, smile, giggle once in a while, and generally follow the men's leads, as uncoordinated as they seemed to be.

[coffee demon]

Andrei is starting to get impatient.

Maybe I should walk to the courtyard. No, I'll give them another minute.

[Raiko]

Warhammer: Please make a fast talk roll for Thomas, and an extra d100 roll for me.
Laraqua: Maksim has the joint lowest Luck here (and he thinks that he’s the most unlucky of all) so please make a luck roll for Maks.
Coffee Demon: I’ll deal with Andrei by PM from now, until he meets up with the others again. So please stop reading now.

Please could everybody copy the full dice roll result to here, I’m at work at the moment so I can’t access invisible castle myself.

[Laraqua]

http://invisiblecastle.com/rolldice.py? ... l+the+dice

22. An exceptional success. But I'll bet this Luck roll is to get the customers outta the shop. Which Maks isn't gonna view as lucky. He's gonna see it as a sad sign that nobody likes him. *cue sad music*

[warhammer]

Thomas succeeds with his Fast Talk (3, Fast Talk score=40%).

The other d100 result is 62.

[Raiko]

Silas N’Kwane says, “Ah yes I do have a few more items, if you wait here I’ll take a look in the back room.”

He starts walking towards the storeroom.

At the same time the young couple excuse themselves from their conversation with Maksim, “It was nice talking, but I really have to get going now. If you like you can pop around to my offices anytime and see my collection.”

“It’s just around the corner.”

He hands Maksim his business card:

Ellington & Associates
Private and Corporate Legal Aid
401 West 137th Street
Harlem
New York

HAR 2376

[NOTE: While this is happening Andrei was still outside the alleyway, I later added this thread containing transcipts of the PMs that detailed exactly what happened to Andrei]

[warhammer]

"That's really nice, pal. Thank you." says Thomas with a smile.

As soon as the other customers are out, and as soon as he is out of the shopkeeper's eyesight, Thomas will quickly search the shop for any hidden exits, focusing his attention on the areas that could possibly conceal them. He will make gestures for Maksim to join him in the task and be as efficient and quick as possible.

[Decrepit]

[OOC: Uh-oh. No witnesses. ]

[Raiko]

All three investigators quickly see that the only place in the shop that could possibly conceal any kind of door is a dusty rug that lies on the floor immediately in front of Silas' counter counter.

They can hear Silas rummaging through the contents of the small storeroom.

[warhammer]

Thomas slightly lifts one corner of the rug with his foot... Just enough to reveal whether there is a trapdoor underneath or not.

[Decrepit]

Caroline shifts around anxiously, looking from Maksim to Thomas, not really sure what to do with herself.

[Raiko]

As Thomas suspected there apears to be a heavy wooden trapdoor under the rug.

[Decrepit]

(OOC: Can we tell if the door is secured from this side? I presume it opens downward?)

[warhammer]

(OOC: I was actually waiting to give Maksim a chance to post something)

[Raiko]

Laraqua is sorting out some real-life stuff, so don't wait around yet.

If the situation becomes life threatening for Maksim I'll wait until she can post.

Regarding the trapdoor, Thomas hasn't pulled the rug back far enough to tell whether the trapdoor is locked or not. It is hinged to swing upwards, and presumably covers an entrance to the shop's basement.

I'll delete my previous post, there is still probably enough time to move the rug fully out of the way and examine the trapdoor more closely.

[warhammer]

Thomas moves the rug aside a bit more with his foot, still keeping an eye out for the shopkeeper. If there is a genuine risk of being caught checking out the trapdoor, he will opt not to take it at this point, having already received satisfying information for now.

Does the trapdoor look like it could be broken easily if it's locked and if we don't have the key? Or does it look like it would be a very difficult task, or that it would make way too much noise, etc.?

[Raiko]

Thomas pulls aside the rug while Silas is still rooting in the storeroom. The trapdoor is locked and requires a key to open. The door itself is quite solid. It looks like it could easily be broken open though with the aid of a crowbar or large screwdriver, but it would probably by noisy.

[warhammer]

Thomas saw what he wanted to see. He puts the rug back in place and waits for Silas to come back.

[Raiko]

Silas spends a minute or two rummaging in the storeroom, when he reappears he is smiling and carrying several other African artefacts.

At that exact moment a single gunshot can be heard in the distance, somewhere outside the shop. The sound is quite distinctive, not at all like a common .38. It is the sound of Andrei’s powerful .44 Russian Officer’s Revolver being fired.

Silas N’Kwane freezes on the spot, looking straight at his visitors, his hands are still full of the African trinkets.