Front and Centre

Jun 2nd, 2012 02:41 PM

Sidor waited in the conference room he had borrowed for the other three Kindred to present themselves. He was relatively pleased with whom he had chosen. Certainly, in his experience, the others possessed the skills necessary.

His mind clicked over, calm, tranquil notes of blued steel and ice.

A savage attack on two recent returnees. Neither was popular when they left- often from the circumstances in which they left.

Savagery is either a sign of the Beast being close or something extremely personal.

How interesting.

He didn't move, sat at the head of the table with his fingers steepled. The scar on the back of his left hand caught the light, a pallid stripe between his fingerbones. His stillness was disturbing, making him somehow seem to stand out more than blend into the background.

He waited.

Jun 2nd, 2012 02:46 PM

Josephine paused in the doorway to the Conference room, for as long as it took to acknowledge Deputy Grigoriev. She gave a quick smile, familiar but not overly so considering this was an official summons. A quick scan of the room told the Haunt that she was the first arrival, and she moved further into the room to take a seat.

"Good evening," she greeted, once she was closer. The Haunt gave her Beast a firm kick into the back of beyond, but it did not take much. Sidor was rather familiar enough by now that her darker side grumbled more than desired to outright savage.

**Swift** · Jun 3rd, 2012 02:51 AM

Dr. Swift arrived as quickly as he was able. As he approaches the conference room his mind is racing. I wonder what Deputy Grigoriev wishes to see me about. Last time I was here it went much more smoothly than I feared.... I hope this instance proves similar.

He arrives at the conference room and knocks politely to announce his presence before entering the room. His beast begins snarling within as it confronts both the Deputy's formidable beast and a brand new presence. Dr. Swift stifles the urge to either pounce or flee quickly, but his smile appears a bit forced through the effort. He nods first in respect to Sidor, the gesture is nearly an actual bow. "Deputy Grigoriev. I came as soon as I could. I do hope I am not late."

Dr. Swift then turns and offers a nod of his head to the other Kindred present. "My apologies if I am interrupting. I do not believe I have had the opportunity to be introduced. I am Dr. Robert Swift."

**Max Heinz** · Jun 3rd, 2012 08:08 PM

*Max was the last of the three to arrive, a few minutes behind Robert. As the thin Mekhet makes his way to the conference room, he wonders what the Bishop needed him for. It was most probably city business since they were meeting in Avalon; though that wasn't a reassuring thought given the recent troubles in the city.

As he enters the room, he's surprised to feel the crush of more than one Beast pressing against his own. He recognized the Bishop, of course, and the female in the room. But the other man was unknown to Max, his own Beast grumbling softly in Max's ear. He bows his head softly to Grigoriev first.*

Deputy Grigoriev... *He says simply in greeting. He knew the Nosferatu had little use for flowery words, best to keep introductions short. He then looks to Josephine, a much shorter nod to the other Haunt.* Dr Powell...

*He then looks to Robert, smiling politely as he holds a hand out to the Gangrel.* Good evening, Dr Swift. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Maximilian Heinz...

Jun 5th, 2012 08:59 PM

Sidor's gaze moved over the three of them. It wasn't comforting in the slightest, even if he had meant it to be. His stillness and the darkness saw to that, keeping his intentions cold and inscrutable.

He felt the familiar Beast of Dr. Powell challenging him, and then backing away almost as swiftly as his own rose in response, lashing against the ice. Swift's recieved a longer, more vicious challenge. And of course, Max was a void, as he always had been.

"Good evening to the three of you," the Deputy said politely. "I have called you here because I require your assistance on an urgent matter in the Domain. You may or may not know that the Kindred Thomas O'Connor and Sarah La Fleur recently returned to Sacramento. They have been murdered. I have been tasked with finding out why, and most importantly, who. You all possess both the intelligence to assist me in this matter and the physical prowess to defend yourselves. I am told that the attack was particularly savage in nature. Questions?"

Sidor didn't really beat about the bush when it came to instructions.

Jun 5th, 2012 09:05 PM

Josephine nodded to Max as he entered, and to Dr. Swift made the quick and simple introduction of: "Doctor Josephine Powell. It's pleasant... To meet you," before her attention swept back to Deputy Grigoriev.

She remained standing as the other Haunt spoke, her cold gaze intense as she listened to his swift but brief explanation. The good Doctor was, of course, far more used to his mannerisms than the other Kindred by now. Her attention rested on the shadows, where she naturally assumed his eyes would be, were it possible to penetrate the encompassing darkness.

"Are there any... Leads at all, so... far?" the Haunt questioned calmly. "Witnesses, perhaps?"

**Swift** · Jun 6th, 2012 11:38 AM

Dr. Swift gives both Dr. Powell and Mr. Heinz a brief nod to recognize their introductions before Deputy Grigoriev explains the situation. He listens intently and the formulates his questions before asking.

"Do we know when the murders took place, and where? Also, forgive my ignorance, but being new to the domain I do not recognize these names. You mentioned they had returned, so I assume they were individuals of some note here in the past. What enemies did they leave behind? And do we have any evidence to indicate whether this was a targeted, and thus isolated incident, or was it random and thus possibly the start of several violent incidents?"

**Max Heinz** · Jun 6th, 2012 09:53 PM

*The news of the two deaths takes Max by surprise. He hadn't heard about the murders, the fact he had seen O'Conner recently only added to the surprise. He vaguely remembered Sarah. Actually, he remembered certain parts of Sarah.

He nods his head softly as the Bishop asks for questions, Max keeping his short and to the point.* Do we have their remains, and do we know where they were killed?

Jun 7th, 2012 01:03 PM

"To answer your question first, Dr. Swift, Thomas O'Connor was a Mekhet, a former Deputy of the Domain and a Soldier in the Invictus. He departed suddenly, which may well have lead to certain resentments, but the Kindred who yet remember him are particularly few on the ground due to Sacramento's unusual frequency of Vampiric foot-traffic. Sarah LaFleur was a Daeva of no alignment, who departed shortly after attending a Carthian Meeting. Even fewer of her associates remain," Sidor replied, hia voice perfectly level. He didn't even twitch in order to straighten his clothing. Glaciers were marginally more active.

"We currently have little information. O'Connor called the Reeve, and insisted that he had important information and must meet with him. The Reeve dispatched his Ghoul, who discovered a hotel room covered in blood, and two piles of ashes. While it is likely that this murder is connected to the information O'Connor intended to pass on, we have no facts to support this, and other motives must be considered. The hotel room was secured by the Ghoul, and we will head there shortly. And no, Doctor. We have no witnesses. It seems that the murder was contained inside the Hotel room, although it is possible that one of the staff may have seen something."

The details should make it eminantly obvious why the three of them had been chosen, if he had not been clear enough already, Sidor considered. He did not add anything else, letting them consider what he had said. The floor was open for further questions if they needed to ask them. So far, they had proved as astute as he had hoped.

**Swift** · Jun 8th, 2012 12:49 AM

Dr. Swift considers for a moment before inquiring for a few more details. "Were these two at all connected to each other previously in the domain? On another line of thought, two piles of ash were found, but was their any solid evidence indicating that they were in fact Mr. O'Conner and Ms. LaFleur? While finding the ash in his room is a compelling piece of circumstantial evidence, it is by itself only that. Perhaps they were set upon by Kindred wishing to do them harm and got the upper hand? Or even one Kindred assassin who succeeded with one before succumbing to the other. Without solid bodies it's frighteningly easy for a Kindred to fake their own destruction." Dr. Swift leave the obvious question unasked for now, assuming its answer will become equally obvious.

O'Conner called, so that's why one is assumed to be him. Buy why even assume LaFleur is back in town? Likely this was deduced from the contents of the phone conversation. Of course, if the attack occurred in the day then it is almost certainly not a Kindred who did the deed, and thus very likely the ash is whom we suspect. Somehow this sounds like everything from the call to the discovery was in the same night, though. A Kindred would only set up a meeting with another at night, of course, and important information rarely gains use from delay. We will have to wait and see what the crime scene holds.

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