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

[coffee demon]

Spending an entire day reading Jackson Elias' papers helps overcome Andrei's scepticism about what seemed to actually happen. By the end of the day, Andrei has a hard time not believing everything Jackson has written, and he's coming to his own conclusions.

In a dark and serious mood, Andrei takes the train back to the Downings with his book of notes. The potential severity of Jackson's situation sends shivers up Andrei's spine.

On the train ride, he flips through the book - did he really read those things?

"coming for me.." it read.

If they're coming for Jackson, what will it take for them to come to us?

Andrei will be distracted all night until they start talking about their findings again.

[warhammer]

Thomas goes back to Elizabeth's place while attempting to chat with Johnny. He knew it was the man's job to be discreet and he had not been surprised that he had kept rather quiet so far. However, he still wanted to learn more about Johnny, who seemed to be a man of surprises.

"My associate had more luck than we did, though I didn't think we'd find much at the library." he says while puffing smoke from his cigarette. "Brady was almost sentenced for murder, but Carlyle stepped in at the last minute and bought his freedom through lawyers who might be less scrupulous than I am. How they met, and why Carlyle did this, remains a mystery at the moment. But it's understandable that they became close friends afterwards."

"That still doesn't get us very far." he adds with a frown after a brief pause. "How did you come to work for Ms Downing?"

[imme]

"Look at this great hat I just found! <blahblahblah> Raoul? Who was he? <blahblahblah>" Elizabeth tries to wade through the flood of information coming from Olivia for anything that could possibly be useful.

[Grafster]

After getting the information about Brady "Fairly typical. Except for the beginning. I would like to find out what attracted him to Brady in the first place. Did he see the attack? Did he have some reason to dislike the man Brady killed?"
"There should be something about who Brady was attacking in the library. Unless Carlyle was in the habit of visiting people he didn't know in jail something should have sparked his interest."

Johnny tends to be fairly quiet, but spending a day with him does tease out information (as do direct questions on the subject). He knows, for example, his way around the New York Public Library, "from when I was a student". In terms of searching for information he seems to focus on certain kinds of information, trying to find things like police reports instead of more regular searches (i.e. news papers).

"I've known Miss Downing's father since I was a boy in San Francisco. In a sense he was my patron, he sponsored me to come out here and study after I wasn't allowed into college in California. I was very fortunate that he did not hold it against me after stopped communicating properly after college. When one of his agents looked me up I was unemployed. We came to anarrangement and I've been with them ever since."

[coffee demon]

Andrei eventually shows up at the Downings. He steps into the room where Johnny and Thomas are talking, looking emotionally drained and exhausted.

"Would anyone care for a drink?"

He leaves the room to get whatever drinks the two would like, and pours himself a Scotch. Then he returns, dropping himself into a chair. He feels comfortable with these two men, who both seem quiet and level-headed.

He relates the day's discoveries:

"...the most significant thing is that Jackson Elias thinks he's having the same dreams as Carlyle. How would he know that? It all sounds so strange and...dark, and I can't help but believe that he's telling the truth.. or at least, he thinks he is. After reading so many of his notes, I'm really looking forward to speaking to him in person."

"His most recent correspondences speak about wanting to find Mr Carlyle's psychoanalyst's files. Maybe Caroline found them today. That might help piece this whole thing together."

After they speak for a while longer, Andrei asks,

"So... how.. risky do you two think this situation is for us? Do you have the feeling that we're getting into something dangerous?"

Andrei definitely feels like something ominous is approaching, and wants to know if its just him.

[warhammer]

"Yeah, give me a stiff one." answers Thomas as he is offered a drink. He drinks it fairly quickly, frustrated that he only managed to learn trivial bits and pieces so far.

"The psychoanalyst's files are of the utmost importance." he says. "Without them, we can't get a good grasp on Carlyle's state of mind, although he already seems pretty unstable to me. I sincerely hope Ms Ward won't come home empty-handed."

Thomas finishes his drink.

"Another one, please... Thanks. I don't know, Mr... I mean, Andrei. Perhaps we can drop the formality? We'll see how dangerous it all is once we learn a little more and once we finally get to talk to Jackson Elias. This might all be the delusions of a couple of deranged minds. We'll find out soon, that's for sure."

[Raiko]

Bloomingdale’s – 59th Street & Lexington Avenue, New York
2:30pm – Wednesday, 14th January 1925

“<blahblahblah>Oh Raoul, well Hypatia was quite taken by him, he was a student at City College. He came from Honduras and thought of himself a bit of a freedom fighter fighter you see. Very dashing and scandalous.<blahblahblah>I think his full name was Raoul Luis Piñera, but I haven’t really seen him since Hypatia left.<blahblahblah> I never really liked Roger<blahblah>I mean he was ok, but that Jack Brady was scary<blahblah>heard he saved Roger’s life in a bar fight in California.<blahblahblah>”

[coffee demon]

We'll see how dangerous it all is once we learn a little more and once we finally get to talk to Jackson Elias. This might all be the delusions of a couple of deranged minds. We'll find out soon, that's for sure."

Andrei swirls his drink around in the glass, considering Thomas' words.. he doesn't mind silences in a conversation.

"Yes. But if they're both deranged... doesn't that prove something? Most of Jackon Elias' notes are very coherent, up until recently. What would make someone become so frantic? And, in Mr. Carlyle's case, require a doctor to travel with him?"

Andrei lets these thoughts sink in with Johnny and Thomas.

"You're correct, though - we'll find out soon enough. Would you like a game of billiards? I could use a bit of a distraction from this whole thing."

[imme]

Elizabeth comes flying in the front door with many bags full of clothes and a new hat on her head. She walks into the room where Andrei, Johnny, and Thomas have gathered, pulling off her gloves. "Oh, good, most everyone is back. Caroline has yet to appear, but Timour is outside testing his new gun. Did you all have productive days? I ended up finding Olivia at Bloomingdale's--do you like my new hat? Trying to get information from her was like drinking from a fire hose, but I did manage to learn that Hypatia was involved with some communist named Raoul before the Expedition, was probably went to get away from him. I also heard that Jack Brady saved Roger's life in a bar fight, but I'm not sure if that's worth believing.

"Oh! I also had Maksim start teaching me how to drive! What a blast! He says, if I practice enough, soon I should be able to make a bootlegger turn!

"Is there anything I should know before Erica calls this evening and I explain that the Rukov twins aren't conmen?"

[Decrepit]

Caroline comes back, finally, to Elizabeth's place. Her attempt at a stoic look fails rather miserably, and it's clear to anyone watching that she's frustrated.

"Well, that was a bust," she says. "I could see Huston's papers were there, all boxed up, but for the life of me I couldn't get the clerk to leave me alone with them or even leave the room for a second.

"I guess we're just going to have to steal them," she deadpans.

[Laraqua]

"She's an untrained natural," Maksim responds, not seeming to notice Andrei's suddenly surly demeanor. "But I wouldn't be expecting to do a proper bootlegger's turn until at least halfway through your second lesson."

"How are we going to steal them?"

[Timour Rukov]

"Steal what now?" asks Timour coming back after storing his machine gun in the trunk of his vehicle.

[Decrepit]

"Wait, are we really going to steal them?" Caroline asks with a nervous laugh. "I was just joking." She glances around nervously, trying to gauge whether she's stepped into something really risky.

[Laraqua]

"The good doctor wants us to steal some documents," Maksim says with a smile, folding his arms in front of his chest.

[Timour Rukov]

"I'm in," replies Maksim's twin without hesistation. "If the doctor says we need to steal them, then obviously there is no other way."

[warhammer]

Thomas plays billiards with Andrei for a short bit. He perceived Andrei as a nice guy, albeit one who might let other people walk all over him at times. Although he did nothing to display his opinion, he spent a good deal of the game wondering whether this assumption was correct or not.

Before they can finish, Thomas and Andrei are interrupted by the arrival of the rest of the group.

Thomas mentions what he managed to learn about Jack Brady and confirms the story about the bar fight. "So that's why Carlyle helped him to begin with.", he nods. He greets the news of Caroline coming empty-handed with a few words of common courtesy followed by a disappointed (and slightly harsh) silence.


Thomas stands up and instantly reacts when he hears the rest of the group considering burglary.

"Woah, woah, woah, hold your horses." he says with a firm voice. "It's a pity Ms Ward did not bring the file back. "But we aren't, I repeat, we aren't going to commit burglary. I will not get you out of this if you get caught. And anyway you won't get caught, since you're not going to do it."

[Laraqua]

Maksim smiles and holds out his hands. "You thought I was serious? Have a little faith in me. I was only teasing the good doctor."

[Grafster]

Johnny has politely, but silently, refused all offers of drink; though is volume of smoking almost doubles.

He doesn't respond significantly to the questions intially broached by Thomas and Andrei and becomes even more quiet as the number of people in the room increases.

"Certainly stealing those files would be a difficult, possibly dangerous and certainly illegal. I actually may know someone who works in that area. They may know of a sympathetic individual who could be persuaded to allow us to see the files, or at least give us an idea if there is a legal route."

"I'll need to be fairly specific about what we're looking for. He's not the brightest apple. Where did you say they were located again?"

[Raiko]

Downing House – Bayside, Long Island, New York
8:30pm – Wednesday 14th January, 1925

The clear winter skies have slowly given way to heavy cloud during the day, and now outside the windows of Downing House the first flakes of snow can be seen tumbling down onto the lawns. The snowfall is only likely to be light here, and across the bay in Manhattan, the areas further inland will likely bear the brunt of the wintry weather.

This is nothing that the New Yorkers and Russians haven’t seen many times before, and they continue talking and drinking in the warmth of Downing House’s cosy billiards room.

Outside in the hallway the telephone rings, and a few moments later Jeffery the butler enters the room, “Miss Elizabeth, there is a Mr Corey calling for you.”

Disappointed that it isn’t Erica herself, Elizabeth takes the call:

“Good evening Miss Downing, it’s Mr Corey from Carlyle House. I apologise, but Miss Carlyle had to leave tonight on urgent business.”

“She sends her utmost apologies, and hopes that you will be able to attend her dinner dance on Friday evening. She is looking forward to meeting you.”

[OOC: I’ve added this part as problems with the board stopped Imme continuing the conversation before things moved on]

Elizabeth explains to Mr Corey that it was all a big mix-up; the Rukov twins are actually friends of a friend, not conmen and it was all a big misunderstanding. They were trying to find Elizabeth, and somehow thought Erica could help them.

“Oh well at least that’s sorted out now, no harm done. Perhaps your Russian friends would like to join you at the dance. I’d particularly like to meet the one who was driving their car.”

“See you on Friday, assuming we’re not snowed in here of course.”

Mr Corey chuckles and hangs up.

[coffee demon]

Andrei has also been quiet, drinking Scotches at a quicker-than-casual rate.

Finally he speaks up - he's speaking a little more loudly than he needs to, and his voice is tinged with aggression.

"Don't get so worked up, people. There's no need to steal anything, or contact shady individuals, if that's what your talking about.. Just wait until Jackson arrives tommorrow. Perhaps he can convince Mrs. Carlyle to retrieve the records instead. Don't risk yourselves over this thing, when you don't even know what's happening yet."

He turns away and fills his glass with scotch. Then he turns back to the group, about to ask a question:

"When.. oh, nevermind."

He shakes his head like he's clearing his mind, and leaves the room.