(SK) Gathering At Reverence

[Martha Villiers]

Many apologies for the wall of text that follows!

Tiny Martha watched and listened. As Teo offers his view she smiles and seems genuinely pleased at his deduction. "Splendid, Brother! Splendid!" she nods again. [ Beej ]

"I shall help...if I can...with any examination. I wonder...what do we make of the coffin?"

She looked to Chris Wooding again. Her tie now ready for the tourniquet. "Are you sure you are well, sir?" she asks him, offer her tie for his aid. Her concern, though perhaps misplaced given his earlier rejection of aid, is nevertheless sincere.

"I wonder if there is a connection with this incident and the recent slayings of Kindred? The crimes committed by by Traitor Heathcliff Staley may or may not be connected too...though it is my belief they aren't as he seems to have suffered from some malevolent and internal corruption of his own design."

"Now...Miss Sarah LaFleur and Mr Thomas O'Connor were slain during the autumn...er...Fall...last year. Miss LaFleur slew Mr O'Conner...but...well, the Deputy cadre at the time investigated the matter and..."

As she speaks Martha hobbled back over to the Flip-chart and begins to write out bullet points to clarify the facts she then outlines what she recalled of the report given to her by the then Deputy Grigoriev;

"...Dr Swift , please...if you recall anything I have missed from what I'm about to summarize, please do not hesitate to let me know!" she smiles respectfully to the Doctor before adding,

"...the crime scene was in extreme disarray. The blood spatter was analyzed by Doctors Powell and Swift, and they identified two separate encounters had occurred, one panicked and uncontrolled, and the other efficient. Mr. Heinz proceeded to use the Sight, and was able to identify that O'Connor was killed by LaFleur, using a lamp from the room. Afterwards, LaFleur was killed by a second attacker - an individual who more than likely wielded a sword. The Deputies were certain that it was a double edged sword designed for beheading. No further notable marks. No particular fighting signature. It was done with a single blow. The interval between the two incidents was not long. Miss LaFleur seemed to be expecting someone, which does not preclude a concealed attacker. The investigation of the room was thorough. there was no obvious footprints, trace scents or other physical evidence. Dr Powell and others did and retrieve other items. A journal...two passports. A firearm. Cheque books and credit cards. A cellular telephonic device was known to be missing."

"Further investigation revealed that an object was removed from the Hotel - an object concealed within a handwritten copy of Grimm's 'Fairy Tales'. Unfortunately, we have as yet been unable to identify this missing object. It is unlikely it was the telephonic device...though Mr. Heinz could not get a clear view of it from the Sight."

"Now...in addition, Grand Wyrm Heinz reported during an earlier investigation that he had two visions that illuminated the crime. During these he saw Miss LaFleur and Mr O'Conner engaged in a heated argument, though the cause of it was unclear. Sometime later Miss LaFleur used a lamp to kill Mr O'Conner. Once she had murdered him she made her way over to a safe and opened it. She was looking for something before hearing a noise and looked back towards the bathroom door. She replaced the journal back inside the safe. Closed the safe and left the room."

"Once she was back in the bedroom area of the hotel room, she meet her attacker. She seemed to recognize him, calling out 'No...Not you...No...Please...' and then screamed. She was then beheaded by the figure with the short sword." tiny Martha blinked and silently gripped her pen for a moment before continuing,

"Whatever our attacker was after was concealed inside the journal. Miss LaFleur had cut out a hiding place within it's pages. Mr O'Conner ripped the hollowed pages out and tossed them under one of the beds to hide them."

Martha continued to make notes on the charts;

"Grand Wyrm Heinz wasn't able to get a clear view of what that object was. The best description supplied was that of a metal object, rectangular with rounded corners with...if I recall correctly...holes punched out of it in different locations. Nothing matching that description was found at the time so it was concluded that it went missing along with a cellular telephonic device. It was also concluded that the room was in disarray as, not only was there a struggle between Miss LaFleur and Mr O'Connor, but that the room had been searched by her murderer. Someone known to her."

"Now..." she gestures with the felt-tipped pen she was using to write on the chart as a pointer to identify the Journal over with other items of evidence she had brought along, "...turning to the Journal we identified an acrostic code in text. It read: 'T...H....I...S... T...O... B... A... R... E... S ... P...A...I...N' It revealed itself as the letters are a slightly different design...uppercase in strange places...oddly coloured ink...that sort of thing."

"Now...after giving the matter thought earlier investigation showed that this acrostic cryptogram pointed to the Invictus Ventrue, former Lord of this Domain, Tobias Straiphen."

She gulped. the name carried such power...such threat. She rubbed harder at her crippled hip before adding;

"Former Prince Tobias was later removed from power by various elements in the Domain after a period of chaos and ruthlessness under the rule of Nosferatu Prince Freddrick. At least 70 Kindred were killed under his rule. He himself fell to the rampage of Elder Eric the Ancient...a terrible creature who slew a great many Elders and Officers of Court in the City. It was after that this terror was quelled, a new, brighter, age later followed...Duke Alder Clarke, thankfully, becoming Prince in 2009. I understand that Duke Clarke took an important role in quelling this terror."

"You see, ladies and gentlemen, I applied some examination using Auspex. During this I saw Sarah...Miss LaFleur, wrestling with an inner void of despair...and fear. Sarah worked so very hard to write those clues in a book...to leave the T and S initials...there was some outer force trying to compel her to stop. To struggle against this, it cost her a great deal in Blood and Will. Some other force, it seemed to be causing an outer inertia of despair and...fear...trying to prevent her work." her voice trails off now.

Tiny Martha sags a little. Still troubled by the sorrow of losing her friend, she looked glumly around in silent for a moment before adding;

"Now...there is more...in September last year there was a theft at a retail outlet involving a book written in Hungarian. This other matter was, at the time, being explored by Mr Calloway and..." with a respectful nod to Chris, "...Hierophant Wooding."

"At the time Mr Calloway hinted at Herr Von Schutsen...Herr Von Schutsen once openly boasted of being an assassin to the Mekhet in this Domain. What if he is responsible for all this? He has the lethal skills...he knew all the victims well, or donned the guise of the appearance to that effect."

"Now...I wonder: did the earlier investigation overlook anything? Are there more codes concealed in the Hungarian text?" she nodded to Teo at this, clearly looking to see if he can help before looking to the rest of those gathered, adding;

"So, in addition to the corpse we have here and the lady in pursuit of it, are we faced with the return of former Prince Fredderick...Eric...or some other Elder threat, perhaps related to them, perhaps not? Can anyone supply insight from the clues in the coffin or texts..." she waves her pen again to the books, nodding to Teo and everyone, "...to seeing what we may now face?"

[Chris Wooding]

When Martha asks if he's okay, Chris nods again. The tie is not necessary since his hand is healed. She of all Kindred could know that losing body parts is not something to be entirely beaten by. And it has already grown back. Why wouldn't he be okay? Focusing on the matters at hand makes him forget the recent pain he suffered. He relaxes his just clenched teeth and listens.

''Wha-' he exclaims in shock, then shutting himself to let Martha continue. Two Kindred he had personally known turned to ash apparently. As if that is not shocking enough, a terrible history - however not too long ago - is told.

A moment he doesn't know what to say, so he just speaks his mind out loud, 'Something rectangular was cut out of the book?! That is just like one of the books I found. Could there be something "big" hidden in multiple books? In which language was the Grimm Fairy Tales written? And...' he grabs his own mysterious journal from his bag and hands it to Teodor Raluca, 'Before you fully focus on the box, could you perhaps take a look at this? It is Hungarian. I suppose there's a link between the journals.'

Chris then quickly looks at the Torpid body. 'And... I'm not saying this is a good idea, but maybe it brings you to other ideas. We can simply wake the Kindred. Even the strongest Elder cannot possibly beat a small army of Kindred like us. And an awakened mind offers so many options. We could beforehand constrain him. Then ask His Grace for permission and revive the body. Then... ask nicely or otherwise extract information from the mind.'

[Swift]

Dr. Swift pays close attention to Herald Villier's presentation. While he was there for most of the investigation, hearing it reviewed from another perspective was refreshing, and potentially enlightening. "Herald Villiers, your summary was quite thorough and accurate. I would only add that the copy of Grimm's Fairytales appeared at first to be a copy of the first edition, but upon further examination the text was altered in meaningful ways -- as noted in the presentation. It is possible that the text contained further information or clues, but I spent many hours going through what we had of the text and was unable to turn up anything further."

The doctor's attention is further caught by the Hierophant's statement that he had found a similarly mangled book. "Indeed? Then perhaps this is part of a larger conspiracy. The similarities are compelling." He looks back to the Herald, "I too wondered if the case might be connected to these artifacts and their retrieval, but I do not see a direct connection yet."

In answer to the Chris' question about the book, "Oh, and the book was written in English, not the original German. It was also hand-written and appears to be fairly old. I would require access to academic equipment to make a full analysis on the age and authenticity of the book, binding, and ink. I have it with me." He draws the old book out of his satchel and then looks around the room, including everyone present in his next statement. "Reeve Connery has asked me to continue looking into the matter of Mr. O'Conner and Miss LaFleur's murders. I would like to try to draw upon my contacts among the local academia to further the investigation. Anyone with knowledge, information, or contacts that they'd like to contribute to the investigation would be very welcome."

He pauses and then nods. "If the murders are indeed linked to the other problems that have occurred around town then it will likely take the combined efforts of many Kindred to get to the bottom of it all. And, quite frankly, I don't believe in coincidences. I would be surprised to find out that these events weren't linked in some way."

[West]

Small note -- we're sliding over the month mark, and that's where it's best to limit threads, both for the purpose of keeping the Scene = hour limit as well as continuity purposes. Let's start winding down. You are absolutely free to start a new thread/Scene and continue, or disperse.

[Martha Villiers]

-nods- as we wind down this part of the thread we can move to a Part B

Martha nods in agreement with everything Dr Swift says. "Quite so, sir...quite so..." as she makes extra notes on the board to reflect the Doctor's remarks, she nods also to Chris as he reassures and makes his remarks too. Her agreement is soon conveyed by nods to Teo for his plan.

"Splendid, Brother! We shall all benefit from the work you and Dr Swift will be carrying out! I have already alerted His Grace to the potential dangers we face. Doubtless he is as alert as ever! In the meantime...what can the rest of us be best doing to help with the investigation? We all have skills. How can we best turn out investigative firepower to a successful conclusion and remove the threat we face?" she looks to the others present as if inviting their ideas.

Her pen is poised at the chart, ready to take notes and outline action points.

[Swift]

Dr. Swift nods to the suggestion. "The Avalon, in two nights. That will work for me. Anyone who wants to help is welcome. We can delve deeper into the book and pool our contacts and resources among the academic institutions to possibly examine this lead more closely." He turns his focus to the Chris, "Hierophant, if you have another book in a similar state that I would ask that we take the opportunity to examine both together. Perhaps we can find some common links that shed light on both cases. And any other texts we might have from these cases should be included. Also, if we include at least the puzzle box in this inquiry perhaps we can use the variety of artifacts as a sort of disguise if and when we take them to be examined. Items of curiosity as it were."

Considering Herald Villier's question from a more general standpoint he adds, "If we have possible suspects perhaps an effort to track them down and interview them would be a good next step, for any of these situations. I would recommend a team of Kindred, of course, as they may not be willing to come along quietly."

[Chris Wooding]

'Very well,' Chris nods to Robert Swift, but then the Hierophant continues on the same line. 'We have the books, the puzzle box and a mystery woman that needs to be found. I suppose we leave the coffin and the torpid Kindred at ease for now. Who knows what we find out during the coming two days. Is the coffin safe here, or should it be brought to Avalon, Herald Villiers?'

Then he speaks to Dr Swift personally, 'I can help with the books, I have some academic skills that might be useful, however, finding the woman is also a hard task. We should divide our skills and resources.' He looks at everyone in the group, one by one. Chris is good at doing research and such, but he expects many others do have similar skills. The physical capacities of the team are more an unknown factor.

'Of course I don't know where all of your capabilities lie, but this is what I have in mind now. Herald Villiers, Mr Raluca, Dr Swift... and Miss McFarlane? I believe you four make a most capable team of investigators when it comes to both books, the puzzle and any other materials that need examination. Then Deputy McCann, Bailiff Sage and I can try to find the woman, or the one that killed Thomas O'Connor and Sarah LaFleur.'

A final look around has the expression that asks: objections?

[Martha Villiers]

With a nod Martha charts the names into two teams on her busy Flip-sheet.

"Excellent...Deputy...Bailiff...please make certain you report this project and investigation to the Reeve. I daresay you might wish to recruit others to help too. Identifying the killer of our friends is equally vital. There are some new arrivals to the Domain who may be able to help...for example: there's a newly arrived Gangrel called Jack...there's also Herr Ostermann with his combat skills. Others come to mind, but I urge you to speak with them and see what help you can obtain." she nods.

She writes down the new date of the next meeting too, nodding to Chris and Dr Swift.

"As to this coffin...I agree. We should, as you say, move it to the Avalon. The hearse is not far away...I can make those arrangements with Dr French. We should all exchange telephonic address codes..."

By way of example, Martha carefully writes out her own number on the chart for others to copy and add to, she offers another nod.

"Good luck, ladies and gentlemen!" she nods with fervour as the meeting seems to draw to a close.

...and close scene, I guess! Good luck with the hunting!