El SkidThe frozen white northRegistered Userregular
"Just zat ze Doctor asked about a Dr. Appleton. Perhaps you 'ave heard of him...?" he said, looking dubiously at the reporter. He didn't want her remembering this conversation, all in all, but trusted Todt to know whether that was a danger....mostly.
"Did you happen to look for any of the medications I advised?" Javier said, checking over the girl's vitals.
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Captain Marcusnow arrives the hour of actionRegistered Userregular
"Dr. Morgan received a new heart. Dr. Appleton's the coroner. He deleted where the heart came from in the files."
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El SkidThe frozen white northRegistered Userregular
"Not really, Javier" said Guy, looking down at some Tylenol he'd found. "There was some Tylenol in the cupboard, but I'm not so good at working wiz unconscious people's throats." He decided that he wouldn't extrapolate on that remark given the seriousness of Amanda's condition.
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rucdocCrazy guy in the cornerClassifiedRegistered Userregular
Ensuring that he has the do not disturbe sign on the handle on the outside of the door. Mathew enters his room then locks the door and then puts on the catch lock. Sitting down at the keyboard he places his glock on the table next to it and began to check all the work he had done the night before. "One can never be to careful, when the code your about to run you wrote while very tired."
[rucdoc]
Your program begins to chug away, establishing a connection first with the home office, then with the nearby branch. A slow moving progress bar marks the progress as data slowly transfers over to reserved servers in Virginia. Given the vast size of the database and the connection speed, you expect to be finished transferring with a few days of incremental progress.
[Peff, Marcus and Skid]
As Cubilla moves to help von Todt move the woman into the bath, he glances at the strange pool of blue vomit. Almost as if it is responding to the attention, the vomit shifts hues, changing to purple and then a lighter shade of green before his eyes. A chill runs down his neck, and he can feel sweat break out on his brow. The other investigators seem not to notice.
Peff loses one Sanity point
After a feverish hour of work, and some pills borrowed from the medicine cabinet, the pair of you are able to stabilize the girl and get her core temperature down to a healthy level. Thankfully, she's not likely to die in the next few minutes. You're worried about her full recovery however. Without the proper medication (unavailable outside of a well stocked pharmacy or hospital) and a monitored detox program, there is a concern about lasting damage.
While you discuss your next step, von Todt takes samples of both the oddly colored vomit and the powdered drug and makes a quick analysis of each. The powder appears to be a combination of remarkably pure cocaine and some sort of foreign substance you can't immediately identify. When exposed to the test solution, the foreign substance fizzles away with a distinctly acrid smell. The sample of vomit seems to involve a reaction to the drug, but without a more careful analysis and lab equipment, you're not sure how to determine what exactly is the matter.
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Captain Marcusnow arrives the hour of actionRegistered Userregular
edited March 2012
"Huh. Something's weird with both the cocaine and the vomit, but it looks like we're going to need a lab to find out exactly what. Perhaps we can rent lab space from a company somewhere."
Todt takes more samples of both cocaine and vomit, and then quickly begins cleaning up both.
"No sense in leaving pure cocaine in an apartment where someone almost died. Javier, hand me that bleach, would you?"
He talks as he cleans.
"So what do we do with the reporter? She's not going to die soon, but without a hospital's equipment and drugs her body won't be able to purge itself. Any thoughts on how we explain this? I'm sure plenty of people saw you with her last night, Guy, so that rules out 'dumping her in front of Our Lady of Charity with a note'."
"The what? Right, bleach...sorry I was a little distracted with our patient here...Yeah, I'll get it." Javier looks at Todt for a second and becomes more unnerved when his colleague appears to be unshaken by the strange behavior of the substance.
He HAD to have seen that...right? I mean it was right in front of him.
Grabbing the bleach from under the bathroom sink and returning it to Todt, "I, I guess we could ask Mason to drop her off at the ER? Say maybe he found her distraught but the side of the road or something?" The problem with that is I don't know how much attention we want drawn to our driver."
Looking at Todt with a slight sense of panic, "Kris...you...you didn't notice anything strange about that vomit when you were taking a sample, did you?"
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Captain Marcusnow arrives the hour of actionRegistered Userregular
"That's an idea. Or lying on the ground in a shady part of town. We'd have to pick a different hospital than Albuquerque General- everyone there has seen us. Maybe there's one of those 24/hr emergency clinics around here."
Todt finishes cleaning up and puts the cleaning supplies back.
"Yeah, I did actually. The vomit itself had some reaction with the mystery cocaine. Given that vomit is a mixture of partially-digested stomach contents and acid, it reacting with the cocaine really shouldn't be possible. We'll have to check it out along with the drug when we get lab space. Oh, and it's blue.
Why, notice anything unusual, aside from that creepy cocaine design that used to be on the dresser?"
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El SkidThe frozen white northRegistered Userregular
Guy pondered a moment. "Well, we need to get her some medical attention without drawing attention to ourselves. Playing it safe, we could just drop her off at a hospital and clean up in here so nobody looks to us. We could alzo try to stir ze pot a bit and try to link ze mob to zis case, and maybe hint zat she was not a willing participant in ze drugs, but zat would be risky." he sighed. "Best to drop her off at anozer hospital and be done with zis, though I hate to lose her as a contact..."
Poor girl would probably lose her job over this... which was too bad. She had definite potential, if someone could have steered her the right way...
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Captain Marcusnow arrives the hour of actionRegistered Userregular
edited March 2012
"Well, we've already cleaned up. And what? The mob? Guy, this is New Mexico, not New Jersey; they have the cartels here. I agree, blaming organized crime would be really risky, especially considering that A, we're separated because Matthew's at the hotel right now, and B, they have no compunctions about shooting any of us, and C, blaming shit on the mob would really not look good with EON. At all. It'd probably look worse than Dr. Morgan's disappearance.
But, you don't have to lose her as a contact. If we're only talking short-term, drugs-out-of-the-system detoxification, in-patient that's only a week. Granted it appears she does need help with her addiction, so if she heads off into a compound somewhere in the desert you're SOL for about 3-9 months or so.
Actually, I just thought of something."
Todt begins speaking more animatedly, using hand gestures to get his point across.
"For maximum not-getting-dragged-into-the-police-station time, we could lean her against a wall somewhere. Then we call 911, observing the situation from down the street, and making sure nothing bad happens to her. In fact, we could even slip a baggie of cocaine into her pocket so the EMTs know what they're dealing with. Yeah! And if you're worried about her losing her job, we take a cab to a gas station somewhere and put in an anonymous call to the TV station, letting them know that one of their employees partied a bit too hard last night, and that it wasn't her fault.
They won't fire her. Tom Brokaw probably hits the nose candy every night, and NBC doesn't care. Besides, 'Local News Anchor Caught with Cocaine' would be a PR disaster for them."
[Peff, El Skid, and Captain Marcus]
While Cubilla and von Todt look after the girl, Guy heads back to the pay phone and calls Mason. "Hey, where have you guys been? I sat in the hotel parking lot for over an hour!" As briefly as possible, you explain the situation and give him the address. "Shit, sounds like you made a night of it. I'll be there as fast as I can, it's not too far." Twenty minutes later, Mason's truck pulls in and he steps out with a grim look on his face. "Alright, let's get this over with. We need to get her in the car without the neighbors noticing."
[rucdoc]
After a few hours of idly skimming a paperback you had brought along and reacquainting yourself with the Gideon's Bible, you hear the low beep that notifies you that the first batch of files has successfully transferred over.
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Captain Marcusnow arrives the hour of actionRegistered Userregular
"Is there a rug around here? What, I was just joking- we'd look like mobsters.
Maybe we can support her, one on each side, and put her arms around our shoulders."
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rucdocCrazy guy in the cornerClassifiedRegistered Userregular
Mathew hearing the computer sets down Gideon's Bible he had found in the bedside table and decides to go and get some food before he dove into the data.
[Rucdoc]
While the hotel's dining areas have closed for the afternoon, there are a number of promising looking restaurants within walking distance. You set off for a promising looking Mexican restaurant called Luchadores.
[Peff, El Skid and Captain Marcus]
With Mason on on side of her and Guy on the other, you take Amanda out to the truck, checking carefully for any possible witnesses and doing your best to appear jovial and somewhat inebriated as part of the act. Mason drives you to a neighborhood near the University of New Mexico's medical center, where you deposit your charge with the sample of the drug and retreat to a safe distance. Mason runs to the nearest payphone to make the call and you all wait in the truck for ten minutes until an ambulance arrives and the EMTs take her away.
Mason's stony face melts into a wide smile. "Crises avoided! Reminds me of my time in school...well guys, what are we up to next? Got any policemen you want to murder, or maybe a bank that needs to be robbed?"
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El SkidThe frozen white northRegistered Userregular
Guy shook his head sadly, "She was a good girl, it's sad that she ended up like zis... Knowing what is going to be said on ze news- and better being able to have a say in it would have been helpful too."
Shrugging, Guy turned to the rest of the group. "Well, we have a few leads- we can go after ze Doctor that found zis heart for Monsieur Morgan. We can pay a delicate visit to ze family of ze girl. Or we can talk with Monsieur Morgan's wife and work colleagues to see if they know where he would go. I prefer ze Doctor first, on a hunch." he said, looking to the others for comment.
Grinning at Mason's suggestions, "Nothing like a good bank job to raise the spirits, eh Mason?"
However, after noting Guy's tone, Javier quickly changes gears, "I think we're pretty much done with Mrs. Morgan, she was torn up about his degrading condition and disappearance but I don't think she'll have much more for us. She was quite cooperative. I think our best lead is going after the heart, so Southwest Medical Associates and a Dr. Appleton."
Looking at Todt, "Objections?"
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Captain Marcusnow arrives the hour of actionRegistered Userregular
"No objections. The girl's fine, she'll be alright. I doubt her family would be happy with us showing up and telling them about her. The hospital'll call them. Like Javier said, Mrs. Morgan's a dead end for us. We have two places to head off to- Southwest Medical Associates, the organ bank, and the morgue, where Dr. Appleton works. Where should we go first?"
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rucdocCrazy guy in the cornerClassifiedRegistered Userregular
Mathew perks up at the sight of the restaurant, he had always enjoyed mexican wrestling, and a good burrito would never go amiss. He picks up his pace heading straight inside to order himself a burrito and possibly a second to have latter tonight.
[Rucdoc]
With a delicious smelling beef and bean burrito and some sort of pineapple soda in tow, you head back to the hotel. As you step into the lobby, you notice two fairly burly men in suits speaking to the woman at the front desk.
[Peff, Captain Marcus and El Skid]
After a quick check on the map, Mason drives you across town to Southwest Medical Associates. The clinic itself is fairly nondescript: a small brick building isolated on the edge of town, with only a handful of cars in the parking lot. It is flanked by two office blocks, both advertising a number of vacant units for lease. Across the street is a liquor distribution warehouse.
The three of you make your way inside. The lobby is almost aggressively beige, with a wilting plant in one corner. A young women with a blank expression on her face looks over as you walk in. "Can I help you?"
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rucdocCrazy guy in the cornerClassifiedRegistered Userregular
Mathew not missing a stride, it took them a bit longer than he had expected, walked straight up to the desk.
"Hi, I have a delivery for Mathew Stay.. Stayd.. Stadler." He said with a smile.
El SkidThe frozen white northRegistered Userregular
"Hello zere miss!" said Guy, looking around the office and then settling his eyes on the woman, doing a #2 double take (amazed-I-didn't-see-you-before-and-taken-offguard-by-her-presence). "I...I'm sorry, what was I going to say? Ah yes... I apologize for my rudeness, but I must see whoever is in charge here urgently." gazing deeply into her eyes, he continued. "though believe me when I say zat I wish I had more time. Your...office...here is simply beautiful."
[Peff, El Skid and Captain Marcus]
After an almost uncomfortably long pause, during which the girl's expression never changed, she leans over and thumbs the intercom. "Da-Dr. Tharpe, Dr. Tharpe. Some... doctors are here to see you."
After another minute, a portly man bearing a striking resemblance to the girl at the desk steps into the lobby. "Thank you Janine. Gentlemen, gentlemen, please follow me to my office. I'm afraid I must have misplaced our appointment, but not to worry. You've caught me at a free moment." He leads you to a poorly kept office, crowded with medical magazines and textbooks that look almost entirely untouched. "Now, what can we do for you?
[Rucdoc]
One of the men stares at you for a long moment, checks something cupped in his hand, then stares at you some more. The other man seems to take no notice at all and continues to speak softly with the woman at the desk. The first man reaches into his jacket and pulls out an envelope with your name written on it. With a razor thin smile, he offers the envelope to you. "Say, you're heading up to Stadler's room too? Do me a favor, throw this in with the food. You can tell him it's from work. He's got a meeting coming up." After a second of thought, he pulls a $20 bill from his pocket and thrusts it into your hand along with the envelope. "In case Mr. Stadler forgets the tip."
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Captain Marcusnow arrives the hour of actionRegistered Userregular
"Hello, Dr. Thorpe. My name is Dr. Todt and this is my colleague, Dr. Cubillo. We're doctors from Dr. Morgan's company, EON, and we're trying to find the poor guy and get him some help. While at the hospital, we noticed the donor ID for his new organs was missing. Probably some bureaucratic mix-up on their part; you know how disorganized hospitals can be.
Anyways we'd like to take a look at the donor information for his heart and pancreas- we have his compatibility information on file and we'd like to make sure the hospital didn't mess up and send for the wrong organs.
Who knows? Maybe if they got the heart right and the pancreas wrong, his unbalanced level of hormones would have made him leave the hospital."
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rucdocCrazy guy in the cornerClassifiedRegistered Userregular
"Thank you sir, I'll make sure he gets it." Smiling at both men he nods to the women and heads for the elevator. Once out of sight Mathew debates dumping the note over reading it.
El SkidThe frozen white northRegistered Userregular
Guy stood to the side (for once), speechless (for once). Something was definitely odd about that receptionist. Sure, his come-ons don't always work- he'd been slapped, laughed at, yelled at... but he'd never had no reaction at all. He shook his head, trying to figure out what that meant. Was she hypnotized? Drugged? Was this some kind of body snatchers scenario? Absorbed in his reflections, he barely listened to the conversation going on...
Javier interjects, giving Todt a sideways glance. "Cubilla actually and the pancreas was for a young girl, Louisa Hernandez...you'll have to forgive my associate, we had an early morning."
Turning his attention back to Dr. Thorpe, Javier continues "Our priority is regarding Dr. Jerry Morgan's heart but if you have any information regarding the pancreas as well, it would be appreciated as we understand there has been some 'complications' with the girl as well."
[Rucdoc]
You can tell that the envelope is too heavy to contain just some paper, and as you tap the center you can feel something solid and thin.
[Peff, El Skid and Captain Marcus]
The man seems visibly disappointed when he hears what you're asking for, though it's unclear why. He sighs. "Ah, that mess over at the hospital. I saw it on the news. Look, I hope you're not suggesting we had anything to do with that! We just supply donor organs! I assure you all of the paperwork on our end is in order! Just...just give me a minute to find them..." He turns and begins to scrawl through file cabinet behind him, then another, pulling a folder out eventually.
"Here, you see. One approved heart, blood type A-. Received from Abq. General Hospital, donor JG, removed by Jackson Appleton MD. Returned to Abq.GH for transplant. Recipient Jeremiah Morgan, approved by Jackson Appleton MD..." He skims through the files with a growing look of concern on his face. He notes something from the file on an index card and pulls another file from the cabinet. He continues to read information out loud, but it is now more of a mutter, as he speaks to himself. "One approved pancreas, blood type A-. Received from Abq.GH, donor JG. Returned to Abq.GH for transplant. Recipient Louisa Hernandez, approved by Jackson Appleton MD. Dammit." He searches once again and pulls two further files.
"One pair kidneys...A-...donor, fuck, removed by Jackson Appleton MD. Routed to Phoenix Living Bank to cover need...One liver...A-...donor J god why G, removed by Jackson Appleton MD. Emergency release to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Jacksonville. Recipient Michael Worth...Jackson Appleton..." Dr. Thorpe is flushed now and a bead of sweat has formed on his temple.
"Gentlemen, please, I assure you, we take our documentation very seriously here. We have to, a poor audit would...well. This is an incredible occurrence, I just don't understand what happened. Look!" He turns the four folders toward you. "Someone has marked out the name of the donor in every file! A-and you say the hospital lost that as well? Why would anyone...it was a corpse! An 83 year old man! And Appleton, he removed the organs and approved the transplants. That's totally illegal and an incredible violation of medical ethics. He works in a morgue!" With a glazed look, Dr. Thorpe pulls a bottle of scotch from his desk and takes a lengthy draw.
PsychoLarry1 on
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Captain Marcusnow arrives the hour of actionRegistered Userregular
"Don't worry, there doesn't appear to be any wrongdoing on your part Dr. Thorpe. In fact, we found out that Dr. Appleton deleted the files at the hospital. We're going to pay him a visit later today. Is there anything else you can tell us about the donor? And if it's possible, could we have a copy of those files? We don't want to accost Appleton about his illegal and unethical activities without any proof."
"We can be quite discrete, Dr. Thorpe and it's very clear that this is the work of an individual, not your organization. If you can provide the copies we've requested, we will ensure that any investigations are aimed toward Dr. Appleton."
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rucdocCrazy guy in the cornerClassifiedRegistered Userregular
Getting back to his room, Mathew tosses the envelope on the dresser and goes over to sit on the bed and stare at it. There is more than a note in there, but it could also be a trap. Maybe I should call the head office, Mathew thought as looked over at his computer. "I would need to go back out to do that of course." He said out loud then sighed deeply.
[Captain Marcus, Peff and El Skid]
The doctor's demeanor becomes more guarded, as he closes the files and pulls them from the desk. "No, no, I'm sorry. Perhaps you're discrete, but I've never met you men before, and I won't expose us to any more liability. Thank you gentlemen for bringing this to my attention, but I'm afraid I can't help you in that regard."
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El SkidThe frozen white northRegistered Userregular
"Of course, if it starts to look as though you are defending the good Doctor and impeded our investigation, then I think we have a very different problem on our hands" said Guy in a friendly-but-also-deadly-serious tone of voice. "At that point we would need to investigate how you may have aided this madman in breaking the law..."
[Peff, Captain Marcus and El Skid]
Dr. Thorpe's face hardens a bit further. "I'm afraid I don't appreciate your tone, sir. I'm sure that the police and my lawyer can handle any complaints you might have. Now, if you'll excuse me?" He makes a gesture towards the door, implying that you should go.
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Captain Marcusnow arrives the hour of actionRegistered Userregular
"We don't have any complaints. My colleagues were being... unusual today. My sincerest apologies, and I'll inform you of anything fishy after we talk to Appleton. All this is his fault, and I'd hate to see him try to pin the blame on an innocent third party.
Thank you very much for your time, you've been a big help."
Todt smiles at Thorpe and nods to the receptionist as he walks out. Once outside, though-
"What was that?!" he hisses. "We were here to make sure nothing was suspect with the organ bank. They were in the clear! If they didn't want to give us copies of potentially-ruining information based on our word, well I can't blame them. There's no reason to threaten to call the police over copies!"
He calms down a bit.
"Copies that aren't necessary. Yes, they would be useful, but not necessary in the long run. Remember, we do have proof that Appleton's up to no good. The records on the hospital mainframe prove this, as well as the files in the organ bank. Appleton knows this. We know it. That's a good thing- there's no reason to get a lawyer involved when both parties know the facts. EON Corp doesn't need to be throwing around subpeonas; that will draw attention fast and attention, especially attention on us, is bad. We really don't want people finding out we don't have any proof we're on the Morgan case. I suspect we don't have official records of employment with EON either. Let's try to keep this as quiet as possible.
A tip- politeness goes a long way. You catch a lot more flies with honey than vinegar.
Appleton won't take our accusations lying down. I hope he has a good reason for all this, but if he's nuts then we've got to be able to defend ourselves.
Did you bring your guns, or should we stop by the hotel? We could also check in on Matthew at the hotel when we're there."
"Dr. Thorpe, your title should mean something to you. We swore an Oath, '...do no harm...' and if one of our colleagues did something to sully that, I'd like to think any of us would do everything we could to correct that."
Giving the doctor a polite, if sarcastic, nod and turning on his heel, Javier follows Todt out.
"Well we were clearly making him nervous, I thought if we could reassure him and get a little out of it, it'd work...so much for that line of thought though. Do you really think we'll have to worry about Appleton going off the deep end? You don't think its more likely he's being paid off or something?"
Javier takes a minute to think about what he just said "Then again...what is there to be gained from harvesting a a couple of organs and then trying to cover it up? It's not like Dr. Morgan couldn't afford the operation or get on the donor list, right? I don't know, I think before we go grabbing for the guns we need more information on the 'why'. "
Peff on
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Captain Marcusnow arrives the hour of actionRegistered Userregular
"The organs might've been diseased. Thorpe said they were from a 73-year old man. You can be on a donor list for years, and you pay out the nose when you finally get your transplant. Appleton could be running an illegal organ-harvesting ring on the side, without Thorpe's knowledge. "
[El Skid, Captain Marcus and Peff]
Mason steps out of the car, looking a bit concerned. "Hey guys, everything go o-well hello there ma'am." Janine, the girl from the front desk has walked out into the parking lot. In a fluid motion she draws out a cigarette, lights it, and hands a business card to Mason. "My dad said to give this to you...or something." With a shrug she meanders off around the corner of the building.
Mason examines the card for a moment. "Hey, it's that guy Appleton's card! Address written on the back too!"
Posts
http://www.dust514stats.com
Your program begins to chug away, establishing a connection first with the home office, then with the nearby branch. A slow moving progress bar marks the progress as data slowly transfers over to reserved servers in Virginia. Given the vast size of the database and the connection speed, you expect to be finished transferring with a few days of incremental progress.
[Peff, Marcus and Skid]
As Cubilla moves to help von Todt move the woman into the bath, he glances at the strange pool of blue vomit. Almost as if it is responding to the attention, the vomit shifts hues, changing to purple and then a lighter shade of green before his eyes. A chill runs down his neck, and he can feel sweat break out on his brow. The other investigators seem not to notice.
While you discuss your next step, von Todt takes samples of both the oddly colored vomit and the powdered drug and makes a quick analysis of each. The powder appears to be a combination of remarkably pure cocaine and some sort of foreign substance you can't immediately identify. When exposed to the test solution, the foreign substance fizzles away with a distinctly acrid smell. The sample of vomit seems to involve a reaction to the drug, but without a more careful analysis and lab equipment, you're not sure how to determine what exactly is the matter.
Todt takes more samples of both cocaine and vomit, and then quickly begins cleaning up both.
"No sense in leaving pure cocaine in an apartment where someone almost died. Javier, hand me that bleach, would you?"
He talks as he cleans.
"So what do we do with the reporter? She's not going to die soon, but without a hospital's equipment and drugs her body won't be able to purge itself. Any thoughts on how we explain this? I'm sure plenty of people saw you with her last night, Guy, so that rules out 'dumping her in front of Our Lady of Charity with a note'."
He HAD to have seen that...right? I mean it was right in front of him.
Grabbing the bleach from under the bathroom sink and returning it to Todt, "I, I guess we could ask Mason to drop her off at the ER? Say maybe he found her distraught but the side of the road or something?" The problem with that is I don't know how much attention we want drawn to our driver."
Looking at Todt with a slight sense of panic, "Kris...you...you didn't notice anything strange about that vomit when you were taking a sample, did you?"
Todt finishes cleaning up and puts the cleaning supplies back.
"Yeah, I did actually. The vomit itself had some reaction with the mystery cocaine. Given that vomit is a mixture of partially-digested stomach contents and acid, it reacting with the cocaine really shouldn't be possible. We'll have to check it out along with the drug when we get lab space. Oh, and it's blue.
Why, notice anything unusual, aside from that creepy cocaine design that used to be on the dresser?"
Poor girl would probably lose her job over this... which was too bad. She had definite potential, if someone could have steered her the right way...
But, you don't have to lose her as a contact. If we're only talking short-term, drugs-out-of-the-system detoxification, in-patient that's only a week. Granted it appears she does need help with her addiction, so if she heads off into a compound somewhere in the desert you're SOL for about 3-9 months or so.
Actually, I just thought of something."
Todt begins speaking more animatedly, using hand gestures to get his point across.
"For maximum not-getting-dragged-into-the-police-station time, we could lean her against a wall somewhere. Then we call 911, observing the situation from down the street, and making sure nothing bad happens to her. In fact, we could even slip a baggie of cocaine into her pocket so the EMTs know what they're dealing with. Yeah! And if you're worried about her losing her job, we take a cab to a gas station somewhere and put in an anonymous call to the TV station, letting them know that one of their employees partied a bit too hard last night, and that it wasn't her fault.
They won't fire her. Tom Brokaw probably hits the nose candy every night, and NBC doesn't care. Besides, 'Local News Anchor Caught with Cocaine' would be a PR disaster for them."
While Cubilla and von Todt look after the girl, Guy heads back to the pay phone and calls Mason. "Hey, where have you guys been? I sat in the hotel parking lot for over an hour!" As briefly as possible, you explain the situation and give him the address. "Shit, sounds like you made a night of it. I'll be there as fast as I can, it's not too far." Twenty minutes later, Mason's truck pulls in and he steps out with a grim look on his face. "Alright, let's get this over with. We need to get her in the car without the neighbors noticing."
[rucdoc]
After a few hours of idly skimming a paperback you had brought along and reacquainting yourself with the Gideon's Bible, you hear the low beep that notifies you that the first batch of files has successfully transferred over.
Maybe we can support her, one on each side, and put her arms around our shoulders."
http://www.dust514stats.com
While the hotel's dining areas have closed for the afternoon, there are a number of promising looking restaurants within walking distance. You set off for a promising looking Mexican restaurant called Luchadores.
[Peff, El Skid and Captain Marcus]
With Mason on on side of her and Guy on the other, you take Amanda out to the truck, checking carefully for any possible witnesses and doing your best to appear jovial and somewhat inebriated as part of the act. Mason drives you to a neighborhood near the University of New Mexico's medical center, where you deposit your charge with the sample of the drug and retreat to a safe distance. Mason runs to the nearest payphone to make the call and you all wait in the truck for ten minutes until an ambulance arrives and the EMTs take her away.
Mason's stony face melts into a wide smile. "Crises avoided! Reminds me of my time in school...well guys, what are we up to next? Got any policemen you want to murder, or maybe a bank that needs to be robbed?"
Shrugging, Guy turned to the rest of the group. "Well, we have a few leads- we can go after ze Doctor that found zis heart for Monsieur Morgan. We can pay a delicate visit to ze family of ze girl. Or we can talk with Monsieur Morgan's wife and work colleagues to see if they know where he would go. I prefer ze Doctor first, on a hunch." he said, looking to the others for comment.
However, after noting Guy's tone, Javier quickly changes gears, "I think we're pretty much done with Mrs. Morgan, she was torn up about his degrading condition and disappearance but I don't think she'll have much more for us. She was quite cooperative. I think our best lead is going after the heart, so Southwest Medical Associates and a Dr. Appleton."
Looking at Todt, "Objections?"
http://www.dust514stats.com
With a delicious smelling beef and bean burrito and some sort of pineapple soda in tow, you head back to the hotel. As you step into the lobby, you notice two fairly burly men in suits speaking to the woman at the front desk.
[Peff, Captain Marcus and El Skid]
After a quick check on the map, Mason drives you across town to Southwest Medical Associates. The clinic itself is fairly nondescript: a small brick building isolated on the edge of town, with only a handful of cars in the parking lot. It is flanked by two office blocks, both advertising a number of vacant units for lease. Across the street is a liquor distribution warehouse.
The three of you make your way inside. The lobby is almost aggressively beige, with a wilting plant in one corner. A young women with a blank expression on her face looks over as you walk in. "Can I help you?"
"Hi, I have a delivery for Mathew Stay.. Stayd.. Stadler." He said with a smile.
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Todt flashes some doctor ID.
After an almost uncomfortably long pause, during which the girl's expression never changed, she leans over and thumbs the intercom. "Da-Dr. Tharpe, Dr. Tharpe. Some... doctors are here to see you."
After another minute, a portly man bearing a striking resemblance to the girl at the desk steps into the lobby. "Thank you Janine. Gentlemen, gentlemen, please follow me to my office. I'm afraid I must have misplaced our appointment, but not to worry. You've caught me at a free moment." He leads you to a poorly kept office, crowded with medical magazines and textbooks that look almost entirely untouched. "Now, what can we do for you?
[Rucdoc]
One of the men stares at you for a long moment, checks something cupped in his hand, then stares at you some more. The other man seems to take no notice at all and continues to speak softly with the woman at the desk. The first man reaches into his jacket and pulls out an envelope with your name written on it. With a razor thin smile, he offers the envelope to you. "Say, you're heading up to Stadler's room too? Do me a favor, throw this in with the food. You can tell him it's from work. He's got a meeting coming up." After a second of thought, he pulls a $20 bill from his pocket and thrusts it into your hand along with the envelope. "In case Mr. Stadler forgets the tip."
Anyways we'd like to take a look at the donor information for his heart and pancreas- we have his compatibility information on file and we'd like to make sure the hospital didn't mess up and send for the wrong organs.
Who knows? Maybe if they got the heart right and the pancreas wrong, his unbalanced level of hormones would have made him leave the hospital."
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Turning his attention back to Dr. Thorpe, Javier continues "Our priority is regarding Dr. Jerry Morgan's heart but if you have any information regarding the pancreas as well, it would be appreciated as we understand there has been some 'complications' with the girl as well."
You can tell that the envelope is too heavy to contain just some paper, and as you tap the center you can feel something solid and thin.
[Peff, El Skid and Captain Marcus]
The man seems visibly disappointed when he hears what you're asking for, though it's unclear why. He sighs. "Ah, that mess over at the hospital. I saw it on the news. Look, I hope you're not suggesting we had anything to do with that! We just supply donor organs! I assure you all of the paperwork on our end is in order! Just...just give me a minute to find them..." He turns and begins to scrawl through file cabinet behind him, then another, pulling a folder out eventually.
"Here, you see. One approved heart, blood type A-. Received from Abq. General Hospital, donor JG, removed by Jackson Appleton MD. Returned to Abq.GH for transplant. Recipient Jeremiah Morgan, approved by Jackson Appleton MD..." He skims through the files with a growing look of concern on his face. He notes something from the file on an index card and pulls another file from the cabinet. He continues to read information out loud, but it is now more of a mutter, as he speaks to himself. "One approved pancreas, blood type A-. Received from Abq.GH, donor JG. Returned to Abq.GH for transplant. Recipient Louisa Hernandez, approved by Jackson Appleton MD. Dammit." He searches once again and pulls two further files.
"One pair kidneys...A-...donor, fuck, removed by Jackson Appleton MD. Routed to Phoenix Living Bank to cover need...One liver...A-...donor J god why G, removed by Jackson Appleton MD. Emergency release to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Jacksonville. Recipient Michael Worth...Jackson Appleton..." Dr. Thorpe is flushed now and a bead of sweat has formed on his temple.
"Gentlemen, please, I assure you, we take our documentation very seriously here. We have to, a poor audit would...well. This is an incredible occurrence, I just don't understand what happened. Look!" He turns the four folders toward you. "Someone has marked out the name of the donor in every file! A-and you say the hospital lost that as well? Why would anyone...it was a corpse! An 83 year old man! And Appleton, he removed the organs and approved the transplants. That's totally illegal and an incredible violation of medical ethics. He works in a morgue!" With a glazed look, Dr. Thorpe pulls a bottle of scotch from his desk and takes a lengthy draw.
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The doctor's demeanor becomes more guarded, as he closes the files and pulls them from the desk. "No, no, I'm sorry. Perhaps you're discrete, but I've never met you men before, and I won't expose us to any more liability. Thank you gentlemen for bringing this to my attention, but I'm afraid I can't help you in that regard."
Dr. Thorpe's face hardens a bit further. "I'm afraid I don't appreciate your tone, sir. I'm sure that the police and my lawyer can handle any complaints you might have. Now, if you'll excuse me?" He makes a gesture towards the door, implying that you should go.
Thank you very much for your time, you've been a big help."
Todt smiles at Thorpe and nods to the receptionist as he walks out. Once outside, though-
"What was that?!" he hisses. "We were here to make sure nothing was suspect with the organ bank. They were in the clear! If they didn't want to give us copies of potentially-ruining information based on our word, well I can't blame them. There's no reason to threaten to call the police over copies!"
He calms down a bit.
"Copies that aren't necessary. Yes, they would be useful, but not necessary in the long run. Remember, we do have proof that Appleton's up to no good. The records on the hospital mainframe prove this, as well as the files in the organ bank. Appleton knows this. We know it. That's a good thing- there's no reason to get a lawyer involved when both parties know the facts. EON Corp doesn't need to be throwing around subpeonas; that will draw attention fast and attention, especially attention on us, is bad. We really don't want people finding out we don't have any proof we're on the Morgan case. I suspect we don't have official records of employment with EON either. Let's try to keep this as quiet as possible.
A tip- politeness goes a long way. You catch a lot more flies with honey than vinegar.
Appleton won't take our accusations lying down. I hope he has a good reason for all this, but if he's nuts then we've got to be able to defend ourselves.
Did you bring your guns, or should we stop by the hotel? We could also check in on Matthew at the hotel when we're there."
Medicine as part of Hippocratic Oath (1d100=63) Pass vs 80
Giving the doctor a polite, if sarcastic, nod and turning on his heel, Javier follows Todt out.
"Well we were clearly making him nervous, I thought if we could reassure him and get a little out of it, it'd work...so much for that line of thought though. Do you really think we'll have to worry about Appleton going off the deep end? You don't think its more likely he's being paid off or something?"
Javier takes a minute to think about what he just said "Then again...what is there to be gained from harvesting a a couple of organs and then trying to cover it up? It's not like Dr. Morgan couldn't afford the operation or get on the donor list, right? I don't know, I think before we go grabbing for the guns we need more information on the 'why'. "
Mason steps out of the car, looking a bit concerned. "Hey guys, everything go o-well hello there ma'am." Janine, the girl from the front desk has walked out into the parking lot. In a fluid motion she draws out a cigarette, lights it, and hands a business card to Mason. "My dad said to give this to you...or something." With a shrug she meanders off around the corner of the building.
Mason examines the card for a moment. "Hey, it's that guy Appleton's card! Address written on the back too!"