Thread #6272

Last time:
The team was sent to Florida to pick up a book in the everglades.
The national guard was sealing it off and the FBI was investigating a murder. The team was roped into investigating the murder for them so they can focus on what is going on in the Everglades.
the team is off to Orangetown to check shit out

(What's the setting of Orangetown like?)

Orangetown is a small town with a population of about 2000 people. It lies close to the everglades and is in fact built on some of the first land that was drained in the late 1800s when the Everglades were drained.
There is a business/government district where all the shops and city hall lie in the center of the town and outside of that are the neighborhoods where houses are built. Originally the town was founded to help with draining the Everglades but has persisted despite that being done. The town is fairly poor and has no real economic worth.
Higgensworth's home is located on the outskirts of town. The Jail is in the center, next to the police station near City Hall.

"Okay, so let us review what we know about the case."

Is it safe to assume for convenience purposes that we're either already in transit or at orangetown

yeah you have arrived at Orangetown
probably should have mentioned that
National Guardsman-kun has dropped you guys off at city hall.

"Well VV, we heard about an old guy from Archie before coming here and now he's dead and a nice tome was taken. It's probable that the mafia did him in since he apparently had their help getting that book in the first place."

"For a scientist, you sure don't keep track of the details very well.
"Higgensworth, the man Hamlin mentioned to us would be in possession of one of the tomes he's looking for, was found murdered shortly before we arrived. He was killed by a switchblade to the back of the head. The weapon was disposed of but recovered and is now in police custody. The FBI and National Guard we were with earlier are convinced it was a burglary, but contrary to Thomas' babbling, there is no evidence a tome was lifted from his body.
"We have three leads to work with, a member of the local mafia by the name of Beyer Chansky. He runs a number of casinos and seems to be in the business of loaning people money. There's a possibility he may killed Higgensworth to take the book, since he loaned him money to help Higgensworth obtain a rare book--which may hav been the tome. It may have just been a manner of recollecting the expenses Chansky paid out to Higgensworth.
"Secondly we have Anderson Olbrich, a bartender here in Orangetown that worked at Higgensworth's favourite watering hole. Shortly before Higgensworth's death, the two of them had some manner of large fight, which the man from the FBI was convinced it may have been enough to merit Olbrich a suspect.
"Finally, and the reason we're heading to the police station right now, there was a homeless man the police collected who claims to be a witness of some sort--again, the FBI was rather vague on what sort of witness he is."

"It's too humid for me to think well."

"I guess there isn't any immediate evidence that someone took the book but if we think about it for a moment someone PROBABLY took the book."

"Oh yes, thank you for the thorough review of the case. You're a good assistant! I do think that the police station is a good first stop."

Luckily for the team, the police station and jail is only a few minutes from City Hall where they are currently located.
And even more luckily, they have Smith's forged Dan signature to get them access to anything they need.

"I suppose afterwards we could try visiting his old home to comb over anything, though I'd worry if we managed to find something the FBI didn't."

Thomas suddenly remembers that the FBI did not investigate more than the body and only had a few leads due to lack of time. Their leads came from police questioning.

Thomas suddenly marks down in his memory that the FBI is full of strange people that do // make questionable workplace decisions.

There is a friendly looking police officer outside the station just waiting around for visitors. You can see him from City Hall where you are currently located.

"Well, might as well get started then." Thomas makes his way over to that friendly looking officer.
"Excuse me, we're here to ask some questions here and there, maybe question a witness, about a recent murder." He says as he flashes the signature, whether he has the signature currently or has to borrow it momentarily from probably Felicity.

The officer squints his eyes at the man standing before him. It's clear that he can't see the signature. He moves his face closer, then farther away, but the confusion on his face doesn't change. After a moment, the confusion finally fades and he looks dismayed. "G-go on on." He steps aside to open the door to the station for Thomas and his friends.

"So we just need to interrogate this homeless guy?"

"It wouldn't be the first time."

I go up to the front desk of the station. "We're here at the request of the FBI and National Guard to investigate the murder of a Higgensworth. They said you collected a witness on the murder?"

There is a man at the //// a woman at the front desk, she looks half-asleep. She ignores Felicity, but another cop heads over. "We heard you was comin'." He sounds like he is from New York.
"Just this way." He leads the group to a small room. There is a window looking into the room where a man wearing rags sits on the floor despite the chair in the room. In the room with him is a large, extremely muscular man that might look more at home outside of a nightclub than wearing a police uniform, but his uniform clearly indicates that he is an officer. "This is a one-way window. You can watch him if you want. He don't do much, though. If you wanna go in, just head in through that door." He points to a door that clearly leads into the room. He sits down in a chair in front of the one-way window and begins to read a magazine.

"Okay, you two be the good cop. I'll be the bad cop."
VV opens the door, and goes and slams her hands on the table and yells "OKAY, WHERE IS THE STUFF?"

Thomas stumbles slightly stifling his laughter.

The homeless man jumps. He's shaking terribly. "W-what stuff?!"

"Sir, we're investigating a murder that took place around here recently, to a citizen of Orangetown. We were informed you witnessed something relevant to the case?"

"You know what you say! If you don't tell us, we're going to have the police here haul you down to the old bailey and you won't be homeless anymore. Because your home will be jail!"

The homeless man looks at the musclehead officer in the room. Musclehead shakes his head and the homeless man looks down at the floor.

"Okay, fine. You win. You're more resilient than you look. Just tell us what you saw and I'll stop yelling."
(spend 1 flattery to get him to talk)

[He won't talk even if you spend flattery]
He curls into a ball. It's clear that he doesn't intend to talk.

VV looks incredulous.
"After I go to the trouble of being nice, he still doesn't want to talk? What do you do now? Something with cattle prods?"

"I imagine part of the reason he doesn't want to talk is that um, well..." Thomas thinks a little harder for a second. He then whispers to Felicity "I think meatboy in the corner there spooked him."

Musclehead Beefwall watches the team closely.

>>6427
"I kind of got that picture too." I whisper back.
I turn to the police officer in the room. "Sir can we have a few minutes alone with this man? You can watch us from the room outside if it's too concerning."

He grunts. The homeless man avoids looking at him.
Hardfist Muscleshirt heads out of the room without a word.

I smile politely at the homeless man. "Is that more comfortable, sir? We only want to know what it was you witnessed, and then we'll be on our way."

He looks at Felicity and whispers. "They can hear us."

I lean in closely and whisper back. "If we're very quiet and brief about it, can that suffice? It may be difficult to convince them to turn off the microphones for the room."

VV takes a look around the room for listening devices.

The homeless man suddenly begins to shout "I DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING! LEAVE ME ALONE!"
As he shouts, he crawls along the floor, attempting to put the team in-between himself and the window.

Thomas shrugs.

With the team in between him and the window, he begins to whisper. "Look for Eddie Vernon at the Crooked Mouth."
Realizing the homeless man was out of sight, Big McLargeHuge bursts back into the room.

Thomas reaches into his bag and places a candy bar on the table.

VV glares at the man bursting into the room. "Can we get a bit of privacy, please?"

"Hello again officer."

Slab Bulkhead grabs the candy bar off the table. "Visiting hours are over. "

"That's fine sir, this man has been completely useless anyway. Just whimpers, no matter what I ask him. Are you even sure he's a witness?"
"Come on, Miss Vale, Thomas. We should go back to the National Guard camp."

Thomas is visibly displeased at beefboy taking the candy.

He grunts as he unwraps the candy bar and starts to eat it.

"Yeah, let's head out." Thomas says as he suppresses his fury and leaves the room, and presumably the building.

VV yells at him as she leaves. "I'm going to report you! You're supposed to cooperate with our investigation!"

The cop that led you to the room has vanished.
There are some other officers standing around the area but they ignore you.

"So Felicity," Thomas starts, preferably once they're not in direct earshot of any police for security's sake, "Are we heading back to the camp or should we pay a visit to Higgen-fellow's home first?"

"Or I suppose we could look into the other leads first."

"We go on what the good man just mentioned to us first.
The Crooked Mouth is also where the bartender that got into a fight with Higgensworth works. I'm hesitant to consider a fight of most any magnitude responsible for a murder by knife to the back of the head, but we should cover all the bases if we can.

"Oh that's a pretty good point, right."

"It's the best lead we have, so we should follow up on it."

"At least if things go south we can bail and try our other options. I don't think I'd handle a knife-guy too well , definitely not up-close."

So are you headed to the Crooked Mouth?

(Yeah. What are we looking at here?)

Fortunately for the group, they saw the Crooked Mouth as they were driven into town and don't have to waste time asking for directions! What good fortune!
And it's only a ten minute walk away!
From the outside, it appears to be a fairly reputable bar. Upon entry, however, the /// that judgment may change as the bar is full of dangerous-looking men, many of which are open carrying firearms.
It is quickly apparent that the bartender at the moment is not Olbrich, as the current bartender is a young lady.

Thomas wonders what Phillip would do in this situation

VV pushes Thomas on the back.
"Nowhere to go but forward! Go ask."

Thomas sighs and approaches the bartender, or at least he would, but he isn't even sure of what he's asking until he remembers.
So he approaches the bartender and mentally braces for impact upon asking, "Good aftermorning, ma'am, could you point me in the direction of an 'Eddie Vernon'?"

The bartender looks visibly angry. "The fuck do you need him for? He owe you some money?"

"No, but a very kind fellow told me he'd be able to assist me with something."

"With what? He gonna hook you up with drugs or something? " She appears to be very angry about being asked about Eddie.

"Information, actually. I take it you're not a big fan of this Eddie?"

"He's a deadbeat, drug-addled, piece of shit. Good for nothing." She sighs and centers herself. "You one of Chansky's guys or something? Are you here to collect?"

"No, it's a more personal matter."

Thomas is definitely not going to disclose more than he has to, especially not being here for purposes related to the national guard or FBI.

I push Thomas aside. "Excuse this bookworm buffoon miss. We're here for Vernon and that's it. He might be some drug-addled piece of shit, but he's the piece of shit we're looking for. And if we get him, then Chansky doesn't have to deal with what'll probably be an unpleasant evening for him. Point us where we can find him and we can fucking leave you alone."

Thomas sulks back towards // back away from the bar.

The bartender glares at Felicity. "Whatever the fuck you need him for is gonna come back and bite me in the ass so tell me what it fuckin' is."

Occasionally, she glares at VV out of the corner of her eye.

VV is pleasantly standing near the door.

I glare back at her. "Listen here, our fucking matters are our own. We'll even do our damn best to keep...whoever the fuck you are out the picture if it makes you sleep better at night. But if you're really worried about your ass in -getting in the fire, here." I slide across some bills towards her. "Think of it as compensation."
(Spend one Credit Rating)

Thomas sweats a bit and hopes that Felicity doesn't somehow get guns aimed our way.

The people in the bar don't seem to care what is going on with you.
>>6597
She sighs and takes the money off the counter. "I'll tell you on one condition. Tell him his goddaughter said to get a real fuckin' job. Or put a bullet in his head. Either works." She pockets the money. "Art gallery down the street, about ten minutes north of here on foot. Fuckin' loser fancies himself an artist ever since he got that book.
"

Thomas' ears perk up at "book".

I turn and glare at Thomas, before jerking my head in an exaggerated fashion towards the door.
Turning back to the bartender, I smile thinly. "Much obliged. Also if you see Ol...Ol...oh what was it, Olbrich? I've got a message from a man named Higgensworth. Ol' bloke says he's willing to extend an olive branch. I don't know what Olbrich would want with a twig or whatnot though."

Thomas gives Felicity a "what did I do" expression and heads towards the door.

>>6604
The bartender sneers. "Higgensworth is dead. Didn't you hear?"

"Fuck, really? How long? It's only been a couple weeks since I met him."

"Found out he got done in 'bout a week and a half ago. Found his ass in the swamp." She glares at VV. "Rich fucker got what was comin' to him if you ask me."

"Feh, swamp you say. What a shitty final resting place. Fit him like a glove I figure?"

She shrugs. "He was one of those fuckers that hung around Chansky. Probably crossed him the wrong way. Used to come in here and get fuckin' pissed, started talkin' shit about a casino in the 'glades."

"Drunken layabouts come from all sorts of classes in the end, don't they." I push myself away from the bar. "I'll pass your message on to Eddie. Promise to -not to sugarcoat it or nothing. C'mon Vane, let's be on our way."

"And stay away from Chansky unless you wanna get hurt! Come back if you wanna drink!" she calls after you as you leave.

"I might need one at this rate." Thomas quietly says to himself.

VV sticks her tongue out as she leaves.
"We got what we wanted, so on to the next lead!"

The bartender makes a mental note of that.
[She will remember that!]

"Art museum, ten minutes north." I say outside. "It's only a short walk."

A warm breeze blows.

It's too hot for warm breezes!

yeah but are you going to the art gallery

"If this Eddie fellow has started painting from reading one of those books, I wonder what kind of crazy stuff he's painting."

Yes the art gallery seems like the best bet.
We have other options but there is a mysterious book at that one in particular.

(I'd like to.)

As the team walks to the art gallery, storm clouds start to gather around. They arrive at their destination without any rain, but it's still incredibly hot.
The art gallery is rather humble in appearance. While it does not appear to be high-end, it does have a small selection of paintings from local artists.
One local artist in particular is there right now. And he's arguing with the owner of the gallery over prices. He does not look much different from a homeless man - the sole difference is that the artist, Eddie, has a crazier look in his eyes.

Thomas notes that this is very ominous

"One shouldn't be too surprised that there's no discernible difference between an artist and a homeless man. Especially here. Who would come here to pursue a career in art?"

Thomas tries to listen in on the conversation.
(I imagine it's something along the lines of Eddie wanting more money for his work or something)

That is exactly what you hear.
And it is clear that Eddie is a poor negotiator.

He is holding one of his paintings, however. It's a beautiful painting of the White House covered in tentacles. It's a bit warped and certainly something no one would want to buy.

VV walks up to him "You painted that?"

Thomas was so busy thinking about talking to Eddie that he is completely shocked to see that VV has started instead.

He turns slowly to see VV. "You bet yer sweet ass I did, little lady! Ain't it nice? I'm a bit of a artist-o. That's, uhh, French for artist." He puffs up his chest proudly.

Thomas quickly but reasonably makes his way closer in order to join the conversation.

"I'm quite rich, you know? I'm a bit of a patron of the arts. Could you show us your studio?"

"Shucks, a rich doll like you likes my paintings? 'Course you do, I'm an amazing paintingist." He turns away. "Idiot, it's painter! Gah!" He stomps his foot on the ground. The owner of the building steps back and tries to pretend this isn't happening. Eddie turns back to VV. "You wanna see where I paint, lady?"

"I would also like to see more of your art, sir. The one you have with you is quite fascinating."

"Yes, that's right. You should always see an artist's workspace before you invest in him."

"Y-yeah, a'course I knew that. I'm a paintisto after all. That's, err, no, STUPID!, it's y-y'know, German for painter." He's pretty tweaky. It's hard to tell if he's drugged out or just insane.
"Let's go right now!" He reaches out to grab VV's hand to lead her to his home.

"That's okay, you don't need to touch me."
She beckons to the others.
"My assistants and I will follow you and inspect your workspace."

"Damn, you's gota assistants, too." He turns away and growls. "Follow me." He starts to walk out of the store, flashing dirty looks at VV's two assistants.