(Reliquary) Case Reopened?

[Yumyumcrow]

Chris' search doesn't bring anything new. The door however, is a new witness...

...There is little depth to the doors secrets. With so little emotion expended upon it there is only a catalogue of blurry images and a pattern of opening and closing. And that is precisely why the image he seeks is so easy to find: -

Sated hunger. Pent up energy. Spike of envy, mixed with awe and tinged with fear. A short, barrel chested, hairy man handles the door. Pale skin peeks through a thick mat of hair. Shirtless, bare feet black with dirt; torn jeans. Through the murk a red haired woman in a corset passes. So does another figure, all the crisper for the emotional energy the hairy man invests in him: a man in a trench coat with long hair and van dyke beard; a man with hands that are too warped and too large to be anything buy monstrous.

[Chris Wooding]

Fionn McAlister Gerald Baker

It's a good thing they're working outside, so they see Julian immediately upon arrival. No reason to be paranoid when hearing a vehicle approach.

'Good evening, Mr Durand, thank you for joining us.' Chris steps away from the bay door and towards the Haunt. 'Let's wait for one more person to arrive, then we don't have to waste time repeating ourselves.'

Fionn and he had been looking outside for a while already, looking for clues. Gerald could arrive any minute. I hope.

[Gerald Baker]

Perhaps by fate, chance or some simple coincidence Gerald arrives soon after. A taxi drives off in the opposite direction as the Sea King makes his way towards the warehouse and the three others. He carries his crystal-topped cane in one hand until he draws close, then rests it on the ground as though it serves some purpose other than a decoration - which technically it does.

"Gentlemen. A beautiful evening, is it not?" Recognizing two of them, Gerald takes stock of the one who can only be Sacramento's Reeve. He gives Chris a polite nod. "Good to meet you in person. What is this trouble you're having, then?" he asks, leaning slightly and peeking in the general direction of the closest door.

[Chris Wooding]

Chris is glad that they don't have to wait too long before Gerald arrives. He can spend only so much time looking at nothing. He notices the taxi, wondering what kind of a man would come out. First a man he wants to destroy, his Beast wants to break out, encouraged by darkness and dirt surrounding them. Foremost, someone who can help.

'Mr. Baker? Yes, wonderful,' there's only a subtle hint of sarcasm when the Reeve greets the man. 'Have you all already met? Julian Durand just arrived to help as wel, and Fionn McAlister was the one who discovered the scene.' There's a short pauze, awaiting some sort of a reaction. 'A crime scene, we could call it, inside the warehouse. Two deaths, ritually mutilated and drained, by three people. Although I can almost certainly assume that at least two of them are Kindred.'

Now why are they outside? Chris turns to the door. 'They used this door to come in. I got an impression from it, we're looking for a short hairy man, dirty wearing ragged clothing. There's a red haired woman with a corset involved, and the leader seems to be a Kindred with long hair and a van dyke beard. That is, he is something with claws. He wasn't at the scene inside the warehouse, so there's a total of four.*'

He looks at Fionn, wondering if the mas has anything else to add.

'The bodies and dirt inside need to be cleaned. A nasty job I'm afraid. But then the more interesting part begins, these Kindred are squatting and breaking our Traditions.' He looks at the nature that surrounds the industrial area. 'My first thought it that there may be footprints... considering the dirt one man had on his bare feet. But I haven't given our next step a lot of thought yet, since you may have questions first?'

* or am I reading things wrong? there are 4 different characters involved, right?

[Yumyumcrow]

OOC Dark Passenger 4-5 approx given what Chris has assensed himself and from the evidence of Fionn's collected materials.

There is little to no further evidence to be found. A dark stain is suggestive of a parked car close to the doors. A twisted kink in the mesh of the back fence suggests at a point of entry from the wilderness beyond the industrial estate - and it is close to the back doors of the building.

But that is all.

It seems that all there is left are the decaying bodies and the brutal scene within the warehouse.

Quick note - Coming up on a month

[Cameron]

"Good to see you, Gerald. A pleasure, Mr McAlister" remarked the Haunt, dispensing with the pleasantries. He'd listened attentively, and nodded along when appropriate. "Is this the first such scene we've found? Unless this was some act of revenge, I can't imagine it'll be a once-off..."

A moments pause as he glanced off into the surrounding territory "Well, how would you like me to help? Want me to start cleaning up, while you guys scan the surrounding area for tracks?" he offered with a grimace on his lips. Playing janitor wasn't a particularly glorified role, but in the short term getting rid of the evidence was just as important as finding some tracks - particularly when the dawn wasn't all that far off.

[Gerald Baker]

Gerald nods in affirmation. "Yes. I'm acquainted with both of them." Eager Fionn who wants to travel the world and the Horror novel aficionado with the charming accent. He gives each of them a quick glance and smile in greeting, then turns his attention back to the Reeve.

The description certainly suggests something supernatural. One of them clearly wasn't human, for one. Then there was the mutilation and ritual sacrifice. Occult knowledge would have been necessary. Or, at least, whoever performed the ritual likely thought they possessed that knowledge. Gerald rubs at his chin.

"You mentioned rituals... and that these miscreants are likely Kindred. Would these rituals belong to the Lancea et Sanctum? Perhaps The Circle?" The Ventrue wouldn't know, either way, but perhaps one of them might. "If we can identify what rituals were performed we might be able to glimpse their goal. Surely they aren't just trying to get themselves..." He pauses, smiling wickedly. "Killed."

A sideways glance is given towards Julian's suggestion. Yet, for all his riches, Gerald doesn't mind the proposal of cleanup. Much. "I will help you with that. I have three other suits just like this one." he adds, pulling off his grey outer jacket.

[Chris Wooding]

Chris is happy that Julian and Gerald immediately get to the point, after a moment to think, he replies. 'Yes, this is the first scene we found like this one. But it didn't really seem like a thing of revenge. To me it appeared as if these Kindred reveled in the murder of these supposedly random victims.' That is not something the Circle does. Not even the Lancea Sanctum. So he directs his attention towards Gerald, 'If anything, this seems like The Brood. Although without knowledge of the actual ritual performed, it could be a darker faction of the Circle I suppose.'

He grins, 'In the case of the Brood, they are just trying to get themselves killed.' Belial philosophies may be debatable, but their actions are simply insane.

Now how to continue? They could look for tracks, but chances they find something there seem small. The Hierophant could try to get another clue from "the forces above", so to speak, but that's his last resort.

'Would it be alright if you clean up, Mr McAlister, while we see if there are more clues in the nearby area?' After all, he has all the cleaning supplies.*

*

Seems like a way to have him leave the scene, while we continue the investigation in a new scene?
I guess I'll stay with this plot, after all

[Cameron]

A thin smile graced the lips of the Haunt. Looks like he wasn't going to have to clean up the mess, and that was a win in his books. That the Brood might be tied to this? Suddenly became much less of a win. He hadn't encountered them himself, but the stories he'd heard...

He shook his head lightly, removing the miscreant thought from mind. "Alright - want me to go see if there are any tracks, or something? Isn't really my forte, but I can see if they left us a nice breadcrumb trail?" he said, humor coloring his tone. He had promoted himself as a rent-a-crowd, after all - not as Julian Durand; ace detective. He was perfectly willing to help, but how they were going to track down a bunch of vampire who presumably did not want to be found by the lawful authorities was well beyond the scope of his expertise.

OOC

Yumyumcrow - if I were to investigate the surrounding area for tracks/signs of passage, what sort of roll would you like?

[Yumyumcrow]

@Cameron Julian Durand the roll would be [Wits + Investigation - 2 penalty reflecting the time since the event]
Chris Wooding Dark Passenger give me a [Intelligence + Composure] check.