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[IC] Arkham Detective Tales
Neaden
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
You've come to this small apartment building in the Bronx at the request of Detective Thomas Talby. The Detective had a reputation for being the go-to man for cases like these back in the Twenties, but after a particularly vicious case he retired from active investigations. A young uniformed officer stands at the door of apartment 3 on the second floor.
"This is the first one, Geoffrey Hill" The policeman at the door says as he begins to unlock it. "Nasty in there sirs. Nastiest thing I've seen yet I mean. I know you have. You've got experience with these sorts of things right?"
He opens the door to the cramped apartment. As soon as the door is open your nose is hit by the smell of blood, urine, and ash that makes you want to gag. A cramped and cluttered living room, a tiny dirty kitchen, and the door open to a small bedroom with two beds. Between the living room and kitchen is a dining room table that has been knocked over. There are two coffee cups smashed on the floor next to the table, and behind it you can see a pair of legs sticking out. Taking a few steps forward you see the body.
Laying on the floor is the late Mr. Hill. A young man dressed nicely though cheaply. He is wearing a light jacket, dress shirt, and a bow-tie and his hair is cut short. His head is at an unnatural angle and the front of his neck has been cut open and blood has puddled around his head and splattered on his clean shaven face. His eyes have been crudely gouged out, the sockets have filled with blood and vitreous humor.
The young officer coughs to attract your attention. "Landlady discovered the body. She's downstairs. Flatmate is missing, we have a man looking for him. If you have any other questions I'll be outside if you don't mind." He glances one last time at the body before walking back into the hallway and closing the door.
@dresdenphile @Chrysis
"This is the first one, Geoffrey Hill" The policeman at the door says as he begins to unlock it. "Nasty in there sirs. Nastiest thing I've seen yet I mean. I know you have. You've got experience with these sorts of things right?"
He opens the door to the cramped apartment. As soon as the door is open your nose is hit by the smell of blood, urine, and ash that makes you want to gag. A cramped and cluttered living room, a tiny dirty kitchen, and the door open to a small bedroom with two beds. Between the living room and kitchen is a dining room table that has been knocked over. There are two coffee cups smashed on the floor next to the table, and behind it you can see a pair of legs sticking out. Taking a few steps forward you see the body.
Laying on the floor is the late Mr. Hill. A young man dressed nicely though cheaply. He is wearing a light jacket, dress shirt, and a bow-tie and his hair is cut short. His head is at an unnatural angle and the front of his neck has been cut open and blood has puddled around his head and splattered on his clean shaven face. His eyes have been crudely gouged out, the sockets have filled with blood and vitreous humor.
The young officer coughs to attract your attention. "Landlady discovered the body. She's downstairs. Flatmate is missing, we have a man looking for him. If you have any other questions I'll be outside if you don't mind." He glances one last time at the body before walking back into the hallway and closing the door.
@dresdenphile @Chrysis
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"No doubt a perfectly fine gent, simply gone to waste" he mutters to no one in particular as he squats near the man's body.
After a quick search of the man's jacket and pants pockets, he examines the neck wound with small pair of forceps and gloved hands and curiously spies what remained of his eyes.
I'd like to use a point of forensics to examine the scene if there is a clue that requires is. Not sure if we get to know that before spending one but will do so blindly if not.
Jack, stoically unmoved by the gruesome scene, moves to stop Joszef before he messes up the crime scene too much. "Whoa there buddy. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I'm going to do a thorough sweep of the crime scene and take a few pictures before you go messing with anything. Running in and messing with things might destroy evidence we need for later. Trust me, this isn't my first rodeo- you can tinker with the evidence once I've identified it and written some stuff down."
Jack would like to offer a point (or even two, if the situation warrants it) of evidence collection to try to see what clues are scattered around the room
While the doc starts his exam, Floyd prepares his camera and starts taking photos of the body and the area around it.
One point Evidence Collection spent
After Jack is done Jozef moves in to inspect the body. The cause of death is obvious. His neck was broken and his throat was cut and he died quickly after, he wasn't alive long enough to bleed much. His eyes were gouged out post-mortem, and there are some small fragments of coffee cup in the sockets. The neck seems to have been broken by hand, and there is no sign of defensive wounds on the body. Whoever killed Geoffery was strong and had the element of surprise on his side.
Checking his pockets you find his wallet with $19.12 inside. There is also a folded up letter in the pocket addressed to him from Gollam & Sons Rare Books, Westiminster St. Providence Rhode Island.
One point Forensics spent.
As far as spends go, I'll generally try to find something beneficial to use it on, if I can't then I'll refund the point.
Meanwhile the sound of a woman weeping downstairs starts to become audible in the apartment.
"It appears that we are dealing with a rather disturbing individual. The graphic wounds you observe were inflicted post-mortem. There appears to be no sign of a struggle, either, so the flipped table seems to have been staged."
As he says this he opens and skims the letter.
Steeling himself a bit, he walked out to interview the witness. Trying to comfort people who were in shock was probably one of the worst parts of his job, but it had to be done, and well. They were light on leads so far...
She is unable to answer questions right now and it will take a two point spend of Reassurnace or three points of Cop Talk to calm her down.
You could also come back tommorow and see if she is better or proceed to the other crime scene.
Pulling his handkerchief out of his pocket, he offers it to the landlady. "Now, now, ma'am. Dry your eyes and calms yourself. We're here to help find the bastard who did this to Mr. Hill. Do you think we could ask you a few questions? Anything you might have seen or heard might help us catch this fiend all the quicker."
I'll spend 2 points of Reassurance.
If it's convenient, Jozsef would like to stop by the telegraph office on the way and send the following to Gollam & Sons (others can help with the wording):
GEOFFREY HILL FOUND MURDERED STOP
BOOKS POSSIBLY RELATED STOP
ABOUT WHICH BOOK DID HE INQUIRE XU (Get Answer)
The boarding house was a poor place, but it was the respectable poor of students, low income workers, and pensioners living off their meager savings. The tenemant you arrive at in Brooklyn is in contrast a place of squalor. The neighborhood is filthy, overcrowded, and smells like human waste. The police officer you meet at the door informs you that rooms here are let by the week and you can see whole families peaking out from one room apartments as you walk by. A heavyset man is standing beside the door, talking to a police officer and introduces himself as Sullivan, the building's manager.
The room is threadbare. A dead body lies in the center of it, and the stench is awful, rising above the already horrid smell of the building. Only in a place like this could the body go undiscovered for this long. The man has had his throat cut and his eyes gouged out, like Geoffery.
Elsewhere in the room is a small unmade bed, with two suitcases underneath. There is a single gas cooker on one wall with several cans of beans, empty and full, next to it. There is a sink with a waste-bin that you can see has bloddy scraps of cloth thrown away in it.
The manager coughs to get your attention. "Paid the rent for two weeks, besides that I didn't really talk to the man." He shuffles his feet uncomfortably. "Never had anything like this before, you have any questions well, I'm your man."
Upon getting the name Jack asks the man to wait outside and starts to comb through the crime scene, searching for evidence meticulously while trying not to disturb anything that could prove useful later. He'll go through the suitcases, go through the man's pockets and generally look for anything out of the ordinary, paying special attention to any books he might find.
Jack will spend another point of evidence collection
The first suitcase contains cheap clothing, a few suit, shirts, ties. Nothing stained, but frayed on the endges and not well made to begin with. The second suitcase you open is more interesting. It has an expensive and obviously very well cared for bespoke suit, along with a matching shirt and pair of shoes. Beneath these is a set of lockpicks, knives, and other tools that you recognize well from dealing with burglars and safecrackers. A folded map of Providence Rhode Island on top of a pair of very old looking books. The first is titled "The Thaumaturgical Prodigies in the New England Canaan" dated 181. It has a bookplate identifying it as the property of the Holland Collection, Providence, Rhode Island. The second is a book titled "De Vermis Mysteries" translated by someone named Legget. This one doesn't have a bookplate, but there is a faded mark where one might have been before being removed.
Besides that there is nothing of interest in the room, everything else here besides the beans was here when the man moved in.
Jack approaches the corpse and checks the pockets. There is a wallet with $2.13, and in his jacket pocket is a bus ticket from Providence to New York from two weeks ago. Besides that there is no identification or identifying marks.
He does so, using a point of forensics
"The victim had clearly had some kind of altercation the week before the murder, but given that he was both shot and survived a melee, my guess is that he was not up against the foe we're after. Both victims had their neck snapped as easily as a breadstick. What about you, did you find anything of interest in his things?"
Am I to assume that in the first corpse that the eyes were gouged out by hand, instead of with an instrument?
Let me know if you guys want me to keep things moving when it slows things down or not.
@MrTLicious @dresdenphile @El Skid
SHOCKED TO HEAR STOP
YOUNG MAN ASKED ABOUT THE INVISIBLE PATH STOP
WE HAVE NO COPIES BUT RESEARCHED ALL AVAILABLE STOP
WILL SEND LIST MOST COPIES OWNED BY LEWIS HOLLAND STOP
Jozsef reads the telegram and ponders for a moment the possible implications.
"Jack, did you say that find a library card in the chimney, even though his wallet was still on his person? Seems like a good place to start before we head all the way to Providence to sort this out."
Is traveling to Providence a reasonable option? I'm just not sure what kind of time frame this game usually entails.
"Hello" He says with a nod "I'm Mr. Jones, I'm sure I don't know what the police have to do with a library, I assure you there are no crimes here besides plagiarism, and you don't look the sort to be interested in that.
You could reach Providence in about a day's travel each way, so it's possible but not something you want to do casually
"I found the book in our records, only one copy. A book of poetry written by a Mr. Martin Bellgrave. 1870, private printing. I can't tell you anything more then that, no one here seems to have read it. There is one other book by the same author, A Journey Into Lonely Places but I'm afraid it's marked as missing, probably just mishelved though. I wish I could tell you more, but I do recall Geoffrey mentioning Professor Drew in our English Department. He might know the poet."
It's a one point Library Use spend to find the misshelved book.
"98 pages, so a bit thin... going by the age it'll be an older book, worn by age but probably in fairly good condition since not many would want to read it. Let's start searching in the same area as the book belongs and fan out from there."
Spend a point of library use
Skimming the book you find it is a mixture of poetry and very short stories. The two themes seem to be how hard it is to be an artist, and how bad abolition was. The rhymes are forced and the imagery ranges from clunky to oddly specific. The librarians permit you to check it out as an official act of police business and seem unconcerned about the prospect of you returning it.
Did we get a copy of the Invisible Path? When he said "one copy" was it clear where that copy was?
Mr. Jones thinks for a moment. "Holland, Holland. Ah yes, out of Providence? Mostly the sort of thing that you wouldn't find in a Catholic institution like this. Books on the occult and bosh like that.
Mr Jones waits for any other questions you have before saying his goodbyes and instructions on how to contact him if you need to.
Prof. Drew is located in the English department, not far from the Library. Fortunately, after making some inquiries with students you are able to find Dr. Drew's office without much of a delay. Fortunately he is in his office at the moment, and doesn't have a class schedules for an hour. Professor Drew smiles warmly when he sees the group of you enter his office. He is a somewhat rotund middle aged man wearing a suit and bowtie. His face is beginning to show wrinkles but his smile is bright and seems genuine.
"Hello!" He says, gesturing to the chairs in his office. "Now you look like an eclectic group. I'm afraid I am quite tired of explaining Alexander Pope to bored undergraduates, I'm guessing you are here to add some interest to my day!"
"I found the book in our records, only one copy. A book of poetry written by a Mr. Martin Bellgrave. 1870, private printing. I can't tell you anything more then that, no one here seems to have read it."
That seems to be about Invisible Path.
He holds up a hand at you for a moment and takes off his glasses, sitting in silence as he composes himself.
"This is just so shocking. I did recommend Geoffrey read Bellgrave, a few months ago. He was studying Modern American Literature and Journalism, he wanted to be a book critic. The Invisible Path is, well unique. It made an impression on me when I read it. I thought Geoffrey would enjoy it, and it would help him become more well rounded." Here he starts to calm down, his cadence becomes steady and he slips into his professorial lecture. "Bellgrave was a providence writer, he came from a respectable family and managed to squander a small fortune without working a day in his life. Just wrote two books. A Journey Into Lonely places is totally without value, just an awful piece of literature. We used to read from it for a laugh when I was a student myself. The Invisible Path on the other hand is more mature, still not a great work mind you. His metaphors are still stretched, his prose laboured, but there is something there. Something that gave me nightmares when I read it. I think if Bellgrave hadn't died in that fire, his third work might have won him some acclaim. After Geoffrey read it though, he thought Martin was a genius. He was going to rescue Bellgrave from obscurity he said. Put him back in his rightful place."
Reading from his notebook, Floyd continues. "Are you familiar with either The Thaumaturgical Prodigies in the New England Canaan or De Vermis Mysteries? Any idea where we could find a copy of The Invisible Path, doc? And, you wouldn't happen to have his parents' address by chance, would you?
He sighs in comtemplation for a moment before answering your final question. "As for the poor boys parents, no I'm not sure. Geoffrey is from Iowa though, I can't remember the name of the town. It could be Idaho too. I'm afraid I don't leave the East Coast much, they all tend to blend together."