View source for 5486/TGSBP: The Guilty Shall Be Punished

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2017/09/15
|Location=The Quilt
|Synopsis=Elites investigate a strange murder in a foreign world, and discover that it won't be easy to solve. Part of The Guilty Shall Be Punished mini-plot.
|Cast of Characters=1133, 1131, 705, 1132, 1084, 1011, 770, 1134, 290
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:1133|Dapper Avenger (1133)}} has posed:'''<br>The morning is starting to branch towards the afternoon, though the day's overcast, keeping the sun a bit at bay, if not entirely. The city of Hvergel is very obviously of a different time, though they have some places with electricity, and the warp gate has stuff such as a check-in booth, indicating that the world's been integrated and involved with the Multiverse for quite a while. The architecture is firmly old Germanic and Scandinavian, mainly leaning towards the 19th century, but ethnicially, there's all sorts, and one who is looking as they travel might even spot an obvious offworlder (such as an elf). Newspapers are printed in various languages, and the common languages here seem to be the same as Earth: German, English, Italian, and some sort of Norwegian-similar language primarily stand out.<br><br>The coordinates will lead through the city, towards a very large church in one of the outer boroughs: the Church of Yggdrasil. Built out of some sort of hard wood, polished and painted white, the church is currently a buzz. Journalists are being kept out by a very firm officer with a very large stick in front of crime tape, and inside, two men are arguing: one tall, clean-shaved, in a jacket and coat, and the other older, with a thick moustache, looking weary in what appears to be a local police uniform.<br><br>The actual crime scene isn't on the ground, or in the church, which instead of stuff such as large glass windows or murals, has several large 'branches' curling out of the sides of the building, apparently made out of ivory. One of them, hanging above a small window at the upper floors of the church, has a rope attached to it.<br><br>Attached to that rope is a man in a similar jacket, dead.<br><br>As the Elites approach, the clean-shaven man glances to them, and immediately moves to usher away the officer, who is likely threatening them with the baton. "Move away, they're the ones I talked about. SEE THAT, CHIEF IMPATIENT? I goddamn told you that I had help on the way, and you just wanted to cut down the body and disturb the crime scene." The man sighs, extending his hand briefly to any who will take it for a handshake. "Anders Larson. Private eye, I often work with police multiversally, been doing this for years. That up there is my partner, Josiah Vermond."<br><br>Anders points up to the corpse, sighing again as he bites his lip. "Cops think it's suicide. I convinced them to let me investigate thoroughly. It helps that they had trouble cutting down the body with how high it is, so I got to stop them from doing so. Time of death was sometime in the night, the priest's assistant found the body while cleaning before services, priest went around a different road, so he didn't notice the corpse. There's several parishoners inside the church with them to be talked to." Larson looks again up at the 'branch' with the man hanging, and shakes his head once more. "I think Elite perspectives would be best on this. Josiah wasn't local, and I don't know why the hell someone would kill him, so I want to see if your 'special abilities', as most of you have, can do anything."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1131|Yumiko Kojima (1131)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Well, this was certainly the farthest back world that Yumi had gone to. Not even any electronic records to worry about. It's suprising what an official looking PI's license gets you. She actually /does/ have one that she paid a decker well for on one of her identities, but it's not like this world's going to bother phoning home to check. <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The elf parks her monobike outside the crowd of journalists, the vehicle extending support legs to sustain itself with its gyro systems shut down, and weaves her way through the crowd. The cop also gets a flash of the ID papers, before she tucks the leather ID wallet back into her belt. "Call me Mokin. He hadn't been acting different lately, had he?" She peers up, cybereyes zooming in to get a good close-up look of the body 'in situ'.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''<br>Murder investigations are just one of those things that are right up the Paladin wheelhouse, especially when the Paladin in question is also techically an on-again-off-again representative for the Heaven and Hell Detective Agency. A man in a red jacket makes his way toward the crime scene and briefly offers the local criminal investigators a nod before moving to shake his contact's hand. "Reiji Arisu. I'm with the Paladins, and Heaven and Hell. My condolences for your loss- we're here to help."<br><br>He cants his head up to stare at the corpse and the noose tied around his neck. Reiji frowns, then looks back down to Anders. "I've got a couple of questions for you before we get started in earnest if you don't mind. I heard over the radio that you mentioned that you didn't think it was a suicide. Other than lack of motive, could you tell me why that is?"<br><br>"Secondly, if you could tell me anything about the case Josiah was investigating, it would help considerably."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1132|Kyoko Takada (1132)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyoko could possibly pass for a detective of some kind, if only this were a different country and a different era. As is, she's likely to stand out as much as anyone. She arrives, proceeds on foot or by taxi, as appropriate, introduces herself much as she did earlier (that is, without mention of her real name), and will offer to shake Anders' hand. She has only the hint of a smile while doing so. Smiles are for first meetings, but they're not for murder scenes. To that introduction, she adds, "consultant and analyst. I'll get straight to work examining the scene. Could you direct me to the room with that window?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1084|Seras Victoria (1084)}} has posed:'''<br>Seras Victoria is grateful for the cloud cover. The less direct sunlight she has to deal with, the better. She staggers lopsidedly shortly after leaving the warp gate, but pushes back to a full and healthy clip within a few seconds. The sun weakens her, but she can press on!<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And press on she does rather quickly, making her way to an odd church indeed. She pays the structure itself little mind though, for the crime scene draws her attention straight to the cordoned-off-zone where she gasps, horrified, up at the hanging body...<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Her expression evens as she forces down a gulp and focuses on Anders.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"S-...Seras Victoria, Paladin Chevalier. Anti-supernatural specialist! Vampires and ghouls, that sort of trouble. I'll have a look... sorry for your loss, sir." She knows well what it's like to lose comrades....<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And for a few moments, it shows on her face.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;But then Seras is chipper again and staring way up at the hanging body...<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''<br> A figure looking something like a cross between a mid-twentieth century detective and a burn victim emerges from a nearby manhole. He is covered from head to toe in clean, white gauze, so much so that none of his skin is visible. Dark sunglasses cover his eyes, and atop his head is a dull brown, wide-brimmed fedora. Though the gauze is wrapped tightly around him, his clothes hang loosely from him, hinting at a gaunt frame. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; His every move is sluggish, and once he's fully free of the city's sewer system, he produces an umbrella, opening it up and covering himself in a small circle of shade. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; He does indeed shake hands with Larson. "John Rizzo," says the tall, gaunt figure absently. "Private dick." Though his shake is firm, he's constantly glancing to his left and right, and seems eager to get some place with a roof over his head, even going so far as to edge past his fellow private eye to stand beneath the shade of the church's roof--all without closing his umbrella. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "I'll join Hibiki here, take a gander."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:770|Target Sparktail (770)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Warpgates, checkins, tons of people, not a whole lot of electricity, and as usual everyone is a hell of a lot taller than he is. Meh. Used to it. In fact, Target -almost- missed checking in at the local gate because of his height. Not everyday a kobold darkens the door of the area, likely, so the clerk was quick to call for him. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With proper paperwork taken care of, and a bit of advice on how to reach the church, Ziv (don't even dare call him that) makes his way through the streets with practiced ease. A low whistle announces his arrival, though it's one of those 'would you look at that' whistles as he wanders up. "Well that's no good," he comments mostly to himself before producing his Paladin papers, taking note of the other Paladins that decided to show up. "helluva lotta work to get a man strung up like that. If'n it's a murder the jerk putta lot'a thought into it.." <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He noticed how everyone else was asking a lot of questions, so he leaves all the talking to them. For now, he's moving in the same direction as Kyoko, wanting to get a closer look, and possibly even up to where the rope is tied. If there's one thing a kobold can do well, it is climbing all over things they shouldn't be. "Lets go'n take a look, then. Let the talkin' folk do their talkin'."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1134|Mei Hatsume (1134)}} has posed:'''<br> Pink hair flaps in the wind dramatically as Mei glides along on a pair of oversized hover boots, making sure her appearance at the crime scene is as hard to ignore as possible without much actual movement. She needs to be subtle about her attention grabbing, after all, and she slows to a stop before touching down not far from where Anders starts to introduce himself. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; She waits until ater the others are finished with their handshakes before moving in for her own. "Mei Hatsume, new Paladin and hero-in-training here to help, too." She keeps her tone a little more even than usual, but it's still on the louder side. As Anders gives them the rundown, she looks up towards the corpse and grimaces. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It becomes rather apparent she's not used to looking at corpses. After steadying herself, though, Mei looks back up towards the corpse and slips her goggles on, then activates her Zoom quirk to get a much closer look at Josiah from afar. She zeroes in on the rope he's hanging on, staring at it carefully while standing in place. "That's way too high for a regular person to get to alone without tools or being able to fly. There'd have to be a ladder around unless he did..."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''<br>Rebecca could easily be considered a detective in some ways. Namely because she's investigated quite a few murders in her lifetime, and not just the ones that were caused by the Umbrella Corporation either. Nor anything relating to a certain man who's last name unfortunately happens to be 'Boddy.'<br><br>The girl may look more like a soldier or something based on her vest and tactical attire, but that's just standard attire for Rebecca. Upon arriving, she stops to salute Larson. "Officer Rebecca Chambers," She says formally, before noticing Mei looking upwards at the body, and Rebecca takes out her binoculars for a moment to check as well, before confirming what Mei said.<br><br>"There's no way any person would go to such extreme lengths to commit suicide," Rebecca says, shaking her head. "I seriously think we're looking at an elaborate murder here."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1133|Dapper Avenger (1133)}} has posed:'''<br>As the various Elites greet him, some accepting his hand shake, Anders shakes his head at Yumiko. "Same as always. Found something that interested him, went off to investigate it. He'd been here about a week and a half - I've had another case, so I didn't join him." There's very clear guilt in those words, as if he wishes he had. At Reiji's question, Anders looks up at the 'branch' again, and nods to Mei. "Other than the fact that I've known this man for a decade and know what he's like, she's got it exactly. Only roof access would have to be a ladder, and that was the first thing that was checked for. None, and no traces of one being dragged along. He's as human as I am, so he can't fly, and he wasn't a climbing type. If he was to off himself, he would have gotten a gun." The man bites his lip the minute the words come out, but sticks to them anyways.<br><br>It's when Hibiki speaks that Anders puzzles for a moment, "The window...?", before going to sudden realization. "Ah, shit, I overlooked it!" There's a silent smirk from the police officer, who seems far too happy to let the detective just talk himself into a corner. "It'd be in the attic space, based off what I've seen of the building. I don't have a key, though, we'd have to get one from the priest. Vladimir Edda, I haven't talked to him yet." Anders starts moving to enter the church, answering Reiji's other question as he does so.<br><br>"He never really shares what he's working on until he's absolutely sure he has something. He heads off on wild goose chases because stuff interests-...interested him. But he was good at his job. There /was/ a murder two weeks back, though. Disgraced cop killed in an alleyway? I didn't look too much at it, was busy as I said." The other officers just mutter something under their breath at this, clearly in disdain.<br><br>Those looking at the body with binoculars or superpowers can get a good look at it - there's no super obvious signs of trauma, no blood, nothing that indicates a disguised murder. Mei's Zoom would help her notice that the man's left hand is balled up tight into a fist - as if he was clutching something. Yumiko's optics would catch something else - light burn marks on that hand, faint but there.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1133|Dapper Avenger (1133)}} has posed:'''<br>The Church of Yggdrasil...is pretty much just a church. Pews, an altar, confessional boothes. There's several side rooms, like an office, and a set of stairs going down. There's also a small staircase going upwards, spiraling up high towards what must be attic space. Sitting at a table near the entrance are four people, with a fifth kneeling, holding a crying woman's hands and speaking to her firmly. "Lillian, the police will find out who defiled the hall of Yggdrasil. Please, you'll be safe. This church is a sanctum, and all of you are safe here." The kneeling man has short blonde hair, clean-shaven face, and piercing blue eyes, wearing the frock of a priest as he speaks to a young woman with bright white hair. Another man is holding her arm, and has a wedding wing - matching hers, his beard thick and black. Another woman sits away from them, staring at a wall, bright red hair curled into a ponytail, as a young man, no older than 19, in what appears to be a similar but less elaborate uniform to the priest's mutters words that sound like some sort of reassuring psalms, whispering them to the girl.<br><br>As various people walk in, the kneeling man takes a moment to continue reassuring Lillian, before standing. "And Jonathan will protect you either way. Please, find the Lord's strength inside you, both of you." A nod to the bearded man, before the priest turns to the group. "Ah, detective." A glance at Target most specifically, as the priest nods. "Father Vladimir Edda. How can I help all of you? It's been such a nightmare, Margot hasn't talked since she saw the body. My assistant, Marco, has been trying to comfort her." Josiah nods to Edda, walking up. "Well, a few of us would probably like to talk to you, but for now, we need the key to the attic space." "The attic space? ...Of course. One second." Edda replies, moving over to the office for several moments before he returns with a key, handing it to whoever'll take it. "Please, investigate as you see fit. This church is one of protection, one that denies the evil and sin of the outside world for those who take sanctum. One who has violated that sanctum must be punished."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1131|Yumiko Kojima (1131)}} has posed:'''<br>Yumiko Kojima relays what she saw, including the burnmarks on his hands, before starting to pull things out of her pockets. She unfolds what at first looks like a piece of paper, a few quick finger gestures linking it to her commlink, the flexible display now displaying a view from Yumi's perspective. Handing that over to Reiji, she pulls out a new pair of gloves along with a set of kneepads, their surfaces covered in what look like fine wavy ridges. "Gecko-Tape's pretty wiz stuff. Good thing it's not raining though." She straps on the gloves and kneepads, approaching the base of the wall. Short curved claws slip out of the toes of her feet, and combined with the stickiness of the gloves and kneepads, she starts to go up the side of the building. Sure, the stairs are probably faster, but then she'd need to set up a rapelling rig... &lt;&lt;Hope none of you get vertigo from screens!&gt;&gt; Once she's up there, she'll be taking a closer look at the body, slowly scanning the man from head to toe. If Reiji and Kyoko notice anything, she'll look back at that. 50x zoom is even better from up high than the ground.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''<br>'A disgraced cop?' Reiji's brows rise at that. He glances meaningfully over towards the officers and their... Jeering expressions. His expression darkens slightly. "I see, alright. Thanks. I'm going to go around and ask our friends in blue a few questions too."<br><br>And with that, Reiji moves away, his hands hooked into his pockets, to engage with the local police. "Officers," Reiji inclines his head. "Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1134|Mei Hatsume (1134)}} has posed:'''<br> Mei squints as she gets a better look at the rope, eventually trailing over to catch that oddly-gripped fist. "His hand's tight. He might have something in that fist if we can pry it open." She pauses for a moment, keeping her expression mostly neutral-ish before looking over at that branch pillar again. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "That window, too... There might be some leftover stuff near there if there was a struggle." She comments, then turns to the detective and officer. "Is there any kind of procedure to getting... Uh... Dead people's hands open?" She's clearly holding back an uncomfortable noise just thinking about it. "I know the last thing we want to do is disturb the scene, but there might be something in there that could give us a lead."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''<br>Given that she's not spotting anything obvious just yet, Rebecca shakes her head. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to need to go up there to get a better look at it." She frowns a little. "Vladimir Edda, huh? I'll go talk to him." She proceeds to do this in hopes of getting the key.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1084|Seras Victoria (1084)}} has posed:'''<br>Without anything more to see from outside besides a lack of any obvious signs of harm, Seras decides to head inwards. The others - as usual - have already started taking their own paths. She's a bit nervous about stepping foot in a church - for a few reasons - but she does so...<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Only to pause a bit briefly at the antiquated slang being hurled about by John Rizzo... and then spotting the fact that he's wrapped up like a-- "Mummy?" Blink blink blink.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She doesn't linger any gaze on him for long though. Plenty of weird things in the Multiverse. Just slightly weirded out by the detective, she decides to take a few shuffle-steps away to distance... and heads on in.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Well... I'm hoping that there'll be some clues left in the rooms leading up to that... end of the line spot."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And this is indeed what the Draculina will look for, though she's already got her eyes peeled for anything out of place or disturbed. And nose, for that matter. If blood was shed here recently, she might sniff it out.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''<br> Rizzo closes the umbrella, setting it down beside the entrance to the church. He quickly steps inside, as if leery of being outside without it. Hovering in the doorway, he reaches into his trench coat and produces a notepad, jotting down details in shorthand with a pencil. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Josiah Vermond. Experienced private detective, found dead--looks like elaborate suicide, partner Anders Larson suspects murder. Body hanging from marble tree branch on second story; no way to access this without a ladder or attic access. Vladimir Edda--priest. Larson hasn't spoken to him yet. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The next bit is supposition on his part: May have spoken to Vermond before death. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; He begins to draw a rough sketch of Edda, but his scrawling, and his train of thought, is interrupted first by a supposition from Seras. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Severe sunlight allergy," he replies, without looking up from his notepad. Don't want to throw around the v-word with a vampire hunter on the loose. Besides, it's not... untrue. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On another note, it seems the local flatfoots don't like the mention of one of their own. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The chief was eager to cut the body down and wrap things up. Perhaps there's a connection there? Slowly, sluggishly, he turns around. The daytime hours aren't kind to him or his kindred, but he perseveres, for the sake of the innocent. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Focusing his gaze on Chief Impatient (as Anders called him) the vampire begins probing the policeman's mind, searching for any thoughts or feelings related to the slain policeman from two weeks back.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:770|Target Sparktail (770)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Slipping inside, the Loadstar Ranger takes a long look around the church, just considering a lot of different options. Options a smaller sort of person would make. Things like vents and crawlspaces. Why? They wanted the help of elites from offworld, and this is just his standard methods, so, it may not end up important, but it is something he will still check. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;When the priest introduces himself, the kobold gives a nod of greeting before remembering to tuck his hat away. Gotta respect other folks beliefs too! "Nice meetin' ya, father, wish it coulda been on better terms." When Edda returns with the key, the ranger will accept it if no one else does, "Much obliged. Question for ya, though. Anyone else have access to the upstairs? Other keys? ... anyone else that'd know where ya keep this one?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1133|Dapper Avenger (1133)}} has posed:'''<br>The attic is locked, as is the reason needed for the key. Once the door is open, the attic is visible - a large space, full of various storage for the church, but walkable. A lot of this stuff is covered in dust, as if it hasn't been touched in forever. However, most of the ground isn't - as if someone's walked up here recently. Following the trail that has no dust leads to the far back part of the attic, where the window is, closed. Vermond's body is entirely more visible, as is the fact that his left hand (the one somewhat closer with how he's angled) is clutched and has light burn marks on it. They look recent. There's no light in the attic outside the faint sunlight outside the window, though, but there's an oil lamp nearby that can be activated to illuminate the room. Investigators of the attic - where do you want to start?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1132|Kyoko Takada (1132)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyoko snaps a photo on the way in. Her phone has a weird sort of flash, but that's easily ignored, especially outside. Once inside, she gives a nod to Edda, but doesn't engage once they have the key. She's still aiming for that attic. Rather, she's aiming to get close enough to the body to work her magic, and not particularly minding the strange company she's keeping on the way there. She does look around, and waves a finger over her phone, which is somehow a fine enough motion to accurately jot down several lines of notes.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She does give Rizzo a look at "sunlight allergy," but doesn't comment. They'll be splitting up in a moment, anyway, if he's got business with the police. She heads on up.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Her phone does have a flashlight, but there are more convenient methods for this particular problem. With a practiced snap of her fingers, Kyoko burns a bit of aether, incandescentally. The space around her lights up with a cool white, and she gives the room a second once-over, snapping pictures of the floor, before proceeding over to the window. On the one hand, she'd like to open it up and reach outside. On the other hand, she's not brought the tools to check it for prints before getting her own all over it. She settles for doing her thing from here.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Her "thing," in this case, is opening up her passive senses, feeling for any nearby source of active, magical signature. She's producing her own, of course, though a lamp spell is a trickle compared to what would really set off her senses at that level. If nothing pops out, she switches over to active scanning. Holograph-like displays start popping around her in the room, and anyone else who can detect magic will feel like they just got hit by a sonar ping.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ping. Ping. Are you there? Ping.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''<br>Meanwhile, Rebecca decides to check the floor for clues. Her primary area of interest is the 'trail' of no dust, checking with her flashlight to check for footprints or something similar. She's also focused on the dust beside the trail as well, as there might be something there as well. She crouches down and proceeds to examine the trail very carefully, starting from the beginning and sweeping from side to side with her flashlight and slowly advancing to the end. "No such thing as a perfect crime," Rebecca mutters. "Who or whatever did this had to have left something more than their ability to dust the floor with their feet."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1133|Dapper Avenger (1133)}} has posed:'''<br>Seras would find no scent of blood inside the church, in the attic, or up near the body. None outside the normal a body has inside it, anyways. Mei turns to the officers, talking to them and asking about how to open the hand. The officers glance among each other, and then shrug at Anders, who slowly just sighs. "Slowly pry open his fingers. Don't...worry if you accidentally injure him, he'd want you to find whatever clue is in there." Anders is going to stay down on the ground floor, as Reiji goes up to talk to the officers. The chief sighs, but it's the officer with the stick who speaks up. "Yeah, what do you want? Your outsider detective buddy can't answer the questions for you?" He is not in a very good mood, but seems willing to talk regardless. Rizzo scans the Chief, whose thoughts about the 'officer'...'TRAITOR'. Anger, betrayal, 'I wish I could have been the one to do him in myself'. There's also one thought that seems relevant to the current area, 'How does a church faithful like him go rotten?'.<br><br>Yumiko would, as she climbs, be close enough to get a full look at the man. There is no signs of injury outside his neck being very visibly snapped, and the burns on his hands. His fingers on both sides have light scuffs, indicating something happened there, some sort of struggle? The officers are just /staring/ at her as Anders tries to smooth it over with the captain.<br><br>Target, meanwhile, talks to Edda. Edda seems entirely willing to answer his questions, if in low spirits. All of those inside seem so, actually, as he speaks. "Only one key, never saw a point for more. It's in my office, which only I can access - I lock it at night - but Marco would know where the key is, he's seen me get it." Marco turns to nod, a brief glimpse of his vermillion eyes before he moves to continue reassuring Margot unless questioned directly. "I have no idea how someone could have even gotten into the attic, though. No other entrances, and I heard there was no ladder?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1133|Dapper Avenger (1133)}} has posed:'''<br>Yumiko would notice one additional thing: what seems to be a strip of paper in Vermond's right jacket pocket.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1133|Dapper Avenger (1133)}} has posed:'''<br>Kyoko's passive senses pick up almost nothing but a hint of /something/ that isn't her, but it's too ill-focused to really pinpoint. The active sensors, however, are able to make it out. Faint traces of magic all over the room...and all over the rope. In fact, the entirety of the rope - it's reading clearly magical, as would the burn scars on Vermond's hands if she further investigates the body with her scans.<br><br>Rebecca, meanwhile, will notice that from the entrance, it's a thin walking path, for a single person. It then starts to spread out, either because there were multiple people, or because someone moved around quite a bit. Footwork is hard to make out, but if two people, it seems they were across from each other for a bit. The path of 'no dust' leading to the window is very odd, dust kicked up all over the place. Running, possibly?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''<br>You don't have to be a mind-reader to know that these cops are not at all bothered by this man's death. Reiji can identify that much from this guy's attitude. "Well, you know how it is. When you want to know something about somewhere, you ask the people who live there, not the ones who're just... breezing through." Reiji pulls his hands from his pockets and briefly flashes a badge indicating his alignment with law enforcement. "I heard you boys had tragedy of your own happen lately. We lost a few of our own not long ago; I know how it can be."<br><br>"Is there anything you all can tell me about this whole mess?" Reiji looks pointedly up at the body hanging from the corpse. "This guy snooping around somewhere he shouldn't have?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1084|Seras Victoria (1084)}} has posed:'''<br>'Sunlight allergy' huh? Seras makes a face. One that almost asks 'are you serious?' But given her own situation... she can't really press, now can she?<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Not that she wants to. The matter at hand - investigating the attic - has her attention. She doesn't mind the dust much, and is quick to pull out a flashlight...<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With no obvious blood scents, she focuses instead on hunting around the attic for any signs of anything disturbed or knocked over.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's dusty in here, so if there was some kind of struggle... perhaps it left a mark?<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"No sign of violence so far. I'm pretty sure this isn't a suicide though... because... because he's hanging from a church, from very high up. If it was a murder... you'd do that to send a message, right?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''<br> Rizzo sees a series of brief images, impressions, feels emotions. Anger, betrayal. He knows those feelings--knows the 'us-and-them' game all too well when it comes to cops. The pang of anger sympathetically feeds back into him, the vampire feeling it almost as if he's the one from whom the thought originates. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Ugh..." The need to slumber, to hide away in some dark place and wait for night to come, claws briefly at him. His knees bend, and a hand reaches out to grasp a pew. Taking a seat, he jots down more notes. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Cop murdered two weeks ago. Dark alley. Crooked. Chief feels personally betrayed; possibly more than just vice. His head nods forward slightly. The hat, falling into his lap and revealing his gauze-wrapped head, is what rouses him. He leaves it off, since it's only polite to do so indoors. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Victim from two weeks ago was a regular church-goer Rizzo's pencil stops as inspiration pierces through his tired mind. He flips back a page. Vladimir Edda--priest. Rising from his seat, he joins Sparktail, shuffling up to the priest and offering a hand. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Father Edda? John Rizzo, private dick." Giving the priest a moment to shake his hand, he continues. "Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. Lost in thought." The bandaged detective poses a question. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Two weeks ago, a member of your congregation was killed. What was his name? Did Josiah Vermond come by asking about him?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1132|Kyoko Takada (1132)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyoko lets the wide-area scan tell her of anything significant in the area (possibly picking up on the other "outside help" that came along with her), then refines her search area to just the trail leading out and the body. She passes over the rope again, and the burns, but there's no guarantee that she'll get anything past "this is definitely magical." It's another world's magic, and she doesn't have enough data to even say which world's. Not yet, at least. The data she is getting is getting dumped to her server cluster back home to be run through a long series of fine-toothed combs, to be squished back together myriad ways and matched against everything she does know about. If it's something she could figure out just by thinking about it, she'll get an answer, eventually. If not, then at least she'll know it's something she can't answer.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Unless she sets it off. There's always that route. She keys back into the local chat frequency, to get her present employer in the loop. "I have something. The rope's got a spell on it. There's enough left that it might still be active. And the whole room up here has traces of it."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1131|Yumiko Kojima (1131)}} has posed:'''<br>Yumiko Kojima gets up to the saim altitude as the body, pulling herself onto the 'branch' he's hanging on, claws retracting. She stays in a crouch, careful to keep her kneepads and gloves in contact with the surface, keeping at least three limbs on the surface, her tail sticking out straight to keep her balanced. &lt;&lt;"...Magic, huh? ...Maybe I shouldn't touch it then. ...Don't know how we can get him down otherwise though. I've got some microwire and a reel I can use to lower him. He definitely dropped hard though. Broken neck, and definite signs of a struggle."&gt;&gt;<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1134|Mei Hatsume (1134)}} has posed:'''<br> "Just like... Hmm. Alright, I'll sort that out, then." Mei gives Anders a firm nod before looking back up towards the corpse,, looking over the side of the church rapidly to figure out a good way up. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; About five seconds later, she adjusts her harness, then takes off into the sky! She's not quite flying, though, but just jumping really high with the aid of her jump pack conveniently fitted onto the back of the harness. The inventor lets out an excited whooping noise at the speed, of course, reveling in the height and how well the jump pack is working before settling back down. Instead of landing hard on the branch, though, she wobbles and hovers a few inches over it, her boots kicking in to keep her from landing directly on it. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "This might be a little tricky, but... Not something I can't handle!" As she edges towards the hanging corpse, Mei aims upwards and fires two wires from each side of her hip harness before grabbing them, then ties them around the branch to get them secured. Once she's satisfied, she dangles off said wires to start trying to get Josiah's clenched hand open. She's doing it carefully with the palm turned upwards so as to mitigate the risk of potential spillage, and she's doing it lightly at first out of respect for the dead and also because IT'S A CORPSE. Still, if it proves to be too difficult, though, she can only be so gentle before she'll just have to end up forcing the hand!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''<br>Getting a look at the dust and how it's positioned makes Rebecca stop and think for a moment. "One person... or maybe one following behind the other?" She hmms a little as she follows it to the end. "And now, the dust is all kicked up? More than likely whoever was here was trying to get away in a hurry." She looks closer to see if there's any type of pattern to the kicked-up dust, like if it's in one specific spot or scattered.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:770|Target Sparktail (770)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Thank ya kindly, father. I'll see 'bout the rest of the place. Thank ya fer yer time," Target offers, taking a glance at the others headed up to the attic. Eh. Let'em. He has his own little lead to look into.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;After catching eyes with Marco, the ranger meanders his way through the folk toward the man. "Now, I reckon ya know what I'm 'bout to ask you, so, lets be done with it, eh? Where were ya last night, and do ya have anyone kin verify whatcher' gonna tell me?" The ranger's gonna go through the paces, about the key, at least. If Marcus was the only one with access, evidence or not, it was about now he'd need an alibi. ... That gives him a second thought that makes him mentally wince. He'll get to that after he's done with Marco.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1133|Dapper Avenger (1133)}} has posed:'''<br>The officer just grumphs at Reiji, but accepts the badge and allows the investigator to come over and talk to him...and then immediately growls, as Reiji says 'tragedy of your own'. The chief glares at the officer, but he ignores it. "Tragedy? The only goddamn tragedy was what Sturluson was doing to us, backstabbing us this whole damn time! Thought he was my friend, we'd go drinking together, but the bastard'd been selling evidence straight from the lockers, taking bribes, the lowest he could be." After a moment of his outburst, and another glare from the chief, the officer just shakes his head. "Said too much. You want to know more, look at the papers. They have all about what happened there. Regarding this, though? No clue. He'd asked some questions, been poking his nose around, but nobody filed any complaints or anything. Told us to our face that he thought the corpse was interesting when he saw the pictures." The officer doesn't elaborate, not seeing the importance or need of doing so.<br><br>Rizzo talks to Edda, who nods as the vampire introduces himself, shaking his hand. "It's fine. We all are. It's unthinkable, that someone would die in a Church of Yggdrasil. The Great Tree wouldn't want this." A sigh, as Rizzo asks questions, and Edda thinks for a moment - he looks confused on why he's being asked. "Yes, Frederik Sturuluson. A long time regular, was a police officer. It was a shame when the news broke, but even having betrayed his badge, I still had faith that he could have turned to brighter pastures. Sadly, his life was snuffed too soon. Such a grisly death, too." Edda just shakes his head, as Marco cringes, seemingly just in thought of it. Edda then goes to the next question. "The detective? I never met him...oh, but he came by yesterday, I remember now. I saw him, but was unable to greet him. I was assisting Margot, trying to help her open up. She has anxieties. He talked to some of the parishioners and my assistant for a bit, and then left."<br><br>When Target approaches Marco and speaks to him, the young man takes a second to finish whatever he was reciting, before moving over to stand up and talk to the ranger. "I'm sorry, but I don't. I'd be happy to answer your questions either way, sir." Marco seems genuinely confused, as he tilts his head, and then bows it down, shaking it. "No, I apologize, but I don't have any verification. I live in the church, and sleep in a bedroom in the basement. The father leaves at night, humbly granting me this abode. I can only give you my word that I never left my room, but part of me fears that will not be enough." There's a pause, as the young man smiles, eyes full of hope. "But I can hold on with the other having faith in the Great Tree that even if I am a suspect, the truth will come out. I will answer any questions you have for me truthfully."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1132|Kyoko Takada (1132)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyoko does carry a camera, in the form of her cell phone, because of course it has one. Carrying a proper camera on the off-chance she'd need it, on the other hand, isn't all that practical. Not for her, at least, since "scanning reflected light and recording it as transferrable information" is covered under "things you're better off using an aetheric construct for in the pinch you need it." This might seem less sensible to people who aren't from her world.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;After warning of it, she opens up the window, and leans out to get a better view. Oh, definitely wouldn't want to fall from here. But it's enough, she just has to reach a hand out, and she's close enough to construct her "camera" as a glowing, arcane pattern surrounding the late victim, and get this more specific type of scanning done ahead of anyone taking the body down.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:770|Target Sparktail (770)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Hrm. Well I reckon that may be a problem, but iffin ya didn't do this, I'm sure we'll be able ta figure this out, Marco. I wouldn't worry too much 'bout it. If you was the only one here last night, did ya hear anything wanderin around? See anythin' that may have been odd? Anythin' at all would be useful if you can remember." <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Honestly, Target didn't think Marco had anything to do with it, but with him unable to really give an excuse for where he was? Well, the ranger had to keep him on the short list. "The only other thing I wanna ask is what yer normal day 'round here is like?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1131|Yumiko Kojima (1131)}} has posed:'''<br>Yumiko Kojima waits until all the scanning is done, before pulling out some more gear. This time, it's a large disk, about six inches in diameter, its flat surface covered in the same ridges as her kneepads and gloves, She presses it against the surface of the branch, where it sticks, before unspooling some microwire from her belt and hooking it onto the pad. The motorized winch lowers her to be level with the dead detective, where she plucks the strip of paper out, taking a look before pocketing it, and then improvising another harness under his arms with a length of webbing that also gets hooked to her own harness. "Okay, ready to get him down. Anyone mind if I cut the rope, are we going to try to unty it in case it's cursed or something?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''<br> Vermond came by the church yesterday, the vampire jots down with a notation of yesterday's date in multiversal format. Spoke to Marco, Edda's assistant. Also spoke to some parishioners and left. Should check local newspapers for obituary, etc. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The parishioners are one potential lead for clues on what Vermond was up to. He's got a name on the other deceased--Frederik Sturluson. Rizzo jots that down, too, on a separate page. "Thank you, Father." <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Then, he pauses. The kobold next to him is asking good leading questions. He listens in and jots down any relevant information, his pencil hurriedly scrawling across the paper as Marco speaks. Hey... that's Italian. Memories from a lifetime ago briefly swim through his mind. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Once Sparktail has answers to his questions, Rizzo takes a few steps towards him and poses one of his own. "Marco, what did you and Josiah Vermond talk about when he came by yesterday?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''<br>"Well, the tragedy's that he didn't properly face justice," Reiji explains with an understanding nod. "For someone who betrays the public trust, and the trust of his brethren, death is an easy way out. He should have been tried and properly punished for what he did. But that's neither here nor there."<br><br>He turns his head to peer vaguely in the direction of the corpse again. This man was an analytical sort. Probably someone who saw no limit to how evidence was obtained, only that evidence served as part of a greater puzzle.<br><br>But... The corpse was interesting, was it?<br><br>"I wonder," Reiji says curiously, "If someone wanted to cover their tracks. Officer," He looks to the Chief. "Would you mind if we arranged a meeting to discuss the possibility of examining the evidence in the Sturluson case? I'm somewhat interested if we can find a tie between the murders. It's pretty suspicious for someone to turn up dead while he's in the middle of investigating a dead cop, dirty or not."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1133|Dapper Avenger (1133)}} has posed:'''<br>Mei 'flies' to the top of the church, causing more stares from below, especially from the crowd (who are furiously jotting down what they see). As Mei moves over to the clutched hand, she'll have a bit of trouble opening it at first, rigor mortis having set in, but eventually be able to pry the fingers, revealing a scrap of paper inside his palms. It seems to be journal paper, about half of a pocketbook page, and has been torn carelessly, sharp corners. The text is English, and is a list of names.<br><br>'Bjorn Hardhaft - Banker, several meetings with PoI - Suspicious, no new leads, check back up on'<br>'Vladimir Edda - Priest, friend of banker, contact with PoI via church. See notes above - INVESTIGATING'<br><br>Said notes, however, are separate from the page, torn off at the top. Kyoko, meanwhile, begins taking pictures of the body, investigating it. Matching it to various crime scene pictures, she gets a match - the neck would indicate probable cause of death as 'snapped neck', akin to what happens when someone got sudden, tight pressure on their neck. Angle indicates that it had to have been upward pressure...such as from sudden hanging. On the trail, that faint magical signature hits most of it, and there seems to be small specks of soot with a careful glance at the ground, easily overlooked.<br><br>Also, when Kyoko opens the window, she'd notice how smoothly it opens, but also that there's been no forced opening or damage - the hinges work cleanly and smoothly, and likely have been used recently.<br><br>Yumiko moves to lower the body. The rope, if messed with, isn't magical besides existence - it can be removed like any rope. As she removes the paper, she'll see the words, written in German, clearly. "Punished, thy third, a blaze of redemption for all thy guilty, all thy sinners. Thy punishment be his, thy root of the sin be not that of the Tree. III/V" The body is otherwise clean of clues.<br><br>Seras decides to see if anything was knocked over, and during that search...she'll find something in a small nook, not far from the window, in between two boxes. It appears to be...a pocketbook?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1131|Yumiko Kojima (1131)}} has posed:'''<br>Yumiko Kojima finally manages to get the rope loose, and she drops a few feet, the winch's brakes whining as it takes up the slack. She coils the rope around one arm, before the winch whirrs again and starts lowering, the body supported by the cable, her harness clipped on a few feet higher. Once they hit the ground she undoes the body's harness, wirelessly disabling the gecko grip pad above, snagging it out of the air as it falls, the winch letting out a high pitched whine as it retracts. All the climbing gear is stored back in her gear harness. "Hey Anders, you knew him better than me. Take a closer look, see if you notice anything."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1134|Mei Hatsume (1134)}} has posed:'''<br> Mei lets out a relieved sigh when she finally gets that hand open, slipping the scraps of paper out and closing the hand back up shortly afterwards. She takes a moment to read the words over the radio while she inspects the scrap itself, then follows Yumiko downwards with the body. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Once she's safely on the ground, Mei unwraps the wires from the branch and retracts them into her harness before moving over to the detective. "This, too. This PoI... Maybe they're connected to all this. But... He didn't leave many clues about who this PoI might have been, did he?" <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Mei pauses to look back at the body, then turns to Yumiko. "Does yours match this one? If they do, wherever they came from might still be around here."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1084|Seras Victoria (1084)}} has posed:'''<br>Shove-shove-shove! Seras is making a bit of a mess of her own to hunt around the place and peek around obstacles... but eventually something catches her eye...<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She wastes little time snooping a hand out to snag the book by an edge to avoid ruining any fingerprints... and takes a looksie at it! What does it contain?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1133|Dapper Avenger (1133)}} has posed:'''<br>Marco nods slowly, keeping that hope in his eyes as he replies, trying to rack his brain for information. "I sleep in the basement, so I didn't hear much...wait, ah! I had a nightmare last night. A man was screaming, and then abruptly, it ended. I woke up soon after, but..." As the realization dawns on his face, Marco's becomes one of horror. "Oh, no, no, I'm so sorry...I could have possibly gotten his identity, but I failed. Please forgive me." A deep bow, one of repentance, before Marco attempts to answer the rest of Target's questions. "My...normal day. Well, I wake up first and check if anything needs to be cleaned. I slide any notes I need to give to Father Edda underneath his door if he hasn't arrived yet. Next, it depends...if it's just Father Edda, we look over any work we have to do, and I occasionally go out for errands. If there's members of the church, I'm here to help the Father with any services he may need. The father is a good man. He believes every soul can be redeemed."<br><br>When Rizzo comes up, Marco's still a bit spooked, but nods to the mummy-man, who spooks him a bit too. "The detective? He wanted to speak with Father Edda, but the father was in private session with Miss Margot. When I told him this, he asked to come that night, but I told him that I would be the only one there, and advised him to come by the next morning. At that point, he just asked me a few questions about the church and the father - what he was like, what the church was like. I thought he might be wanting to convert, but wasn't sure." Marco then looks over to the office door. "As the father was busy, and I had to run off for errands, I left a note underneath the office door about what has happened." Edda overhears this, and moves over, looking shameful. "Ah, I apologize, Marco. I didn't see the note until this morning. It had been brushed into the corner by the door. Yes, I can confirm he left such a note, about meeting Mr. Vermond today...but it was all for nothing in the end."<br><br>Outside, Reiji gets a sigh from the angry officer, and then the chief shrugs and thinks over his request for a few moments. "Fine, fine. Two murders in two weeks is going to get the press everywhere, but there's not much. Just transcripts and copies of a journal he wrote, which traced everything together."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1133|Dapper Avenger (1133)}} has posed:'''<br>As the body is lowered to the ground, Anders slowly moves over to it, checking the hand, the pockets, and the neck. He'll also move to check the pocketbook Mei's holding if she lets him, confirming that the writing is Vermond's. "I don't see anything you guys didn't figure out, sadly, but...the scrapes on his fingers, he probably tried to defend himself?"<br><br>As Seras picks up the little pocketbook, she'll find that several pages have been torn out, ripped up in what appears to be a struggle. Additionally, the book is slightly singed on the edges, scuffs of burn marks. The first page that is visible is the bottom half of a torn page, and reads as follows.<br><br>'Frederik Sturluson (PoI): Local police officer, corruption scandal led to resigination of badge. Found dead in alleyway, third degree burns on several parts of the body. Corpse already cremated, no chance of investigation - leads below'<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1131|Yumiko Kojima (1131)}} has posed:'''<br>Yumiko Kojima also hands over the strip of paper. "I tend to lean more towards the Surveillance and investigation side than forensics... This isn't really my specialty. But yeah... It would've been pretty hard without someone without climbing gear to tie the rope around that branch..."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''<br>Unfortunately, Rebecca has found little else notable about the dust, so when she hears the body has been lowered to the ground, she perks up. "This is my chance to shine!" Rebecca says as she quickly goes back downstairs and outside to where the body is. "I know what I'm doing, don't worry," Rebecca comments to any onlookers who might be surprised.<br><br>Rebecca kneels down by the body and proceeds to check it over, looking for any possible signs of trauma or a struggle. There are the burns on the hand, yes, but Rebecca wants to look for other possible clues.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:770|Target Sparktail (770)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A lot of information gets filed away. "Thank ya much, Marco. Don't worry about whatcha dreamt. Could be something, may not be somethin. Just try to think on it and if we need to ask ya about it some more, we'll talk to ya later." He really doesn't think Marco did it, but between attic access and the note? Time to speak to the priest again.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Stepping away from Rezzo and Marco, the kobold slips toward the priest again, once he spots him. "I'm sorry father, but I gotta cover everythin' and that means askin ya a few things too."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1132|Kyoko Takada (1132)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyoko heads back down while continuing to go through the evidence on her screens and speak to the radio. There's nothing much more she can do up there, though there isn't much more she can do with the corpse, either. "Soot? From the burning paper? He wouldn't be burning it, though. Burns in the wrong place." She pauses awhile back at the ground floor, muttering to herself as she works and shifting data around with twitches of her fingers.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1134|Mei Hatsume (1134)}} has posed:'''<br> Mei forks over the paper to Anders, and then she goes back to the body. "Most likely. That does mean it couldn't have happened too suddenly if he had time to struggle, so..." The inventor still looks rattled by the corpse, but she's getting better! <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Slowly. "Should get turn him over to forensics yet? My field is more preventing death than investigating one, so they might be able to uncover more clues on him at this point."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''<br> One benefit of wearing sunglasses is that the lenses are often dark enough to hide the eyes. Behind the shades and the gauze, Rizzo's brow furrows, his eyes narrow slightly. Vermond had an interest in speaking with Edda, according to Marco. Didn't get to--Edda busy speaking with Margot. Member of congregation. It's looking like Vermond was indeed here to get details about Sturloson, probably hoping to talk to Edda about him. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Rizzo turns slightly and gestures with his pencil to the other members of Edda's congregation--the married couple and the young woman. "Names, please," he says somewhat curtly. Realizing his slightly rude approach, he clears his throat. "Sorry. Didn't sleep so good." Haven't slept /yet/ is more accurate, but the green's too thin to pass up a chance to keep the lights on. Ahem. "Vermond also spoke to you three yesterday. What about?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1133|Dapper Avenger (1133)}} has posed:'''<br>Rebecca, with her medical training, would be able to confirm that the cause of death was likely his neck snapping, and the signs of a struggle on his fingers - they appear as if they were tightly gripping something, but so much pressure was put on them to leave marks? Otherwise, there's no signs of a confrontation.<br><br>Anders looks over the scraps of paper. "This," he refers to the notebook page, "is Josiah's handwriting. But this slip..." A glance at Yumiko's. "Definitely isn't. Josiah wasn't overly religious, he wouldn't write this shit either, and I mean, there's no motive to do so."<br><br>Marco nods slowly as Target breaks away to the father, who glances at him. "Of course, ...sir." Another squint at Target's strange physiology, before a nod. "Please, ask me any questions. This crime is, as I've said before, most foul. The guilty shall be punished." Marco glances at the father when he says that, but otherwise moves over to grab a broom and start some sweeping.<br><br>As Rizzo turns to the rest of the congregation, Lillian is still trying to choke up her fear and tears. "Lillian Fergoz, and my husband, Jonathan." Jonathan grabs her shoulder, as Margot takes a moment, staring at Rizzo's bandages, before finally speaking up, a bit quietly. "Margot Hermann." She replies to the question first, looking to Marco. "What he asked Marco, questions about the father." It's Jonathan who speaks up after a moment, nodding. "Yeah. He also took me aside after talking to me and my wife...I had told him I was at the congregation for several years, so he asked me about Officer Sturluson, if I met him. I told him I'd only spoken to him a few times, we weren't really friends." Hmm. Not too much of a lead here? All their stories might seem to match up well.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:770|Target Sparktail (770)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Now this is the same things I asked Marco over there, and s'just me coverin bases. Meanin' no offense'n all that, alright?" Target begins with the priest before moving onto the questions. "First things first, where were ya last night and is there anyone that can verify where ya was? I'd like to rule ya out of this whole messy affair so you can take care of the folks in your church here.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''<br>"Excuse me," Reiji says, having broken away from the crowd of law enforcement officers to come up to the priest and his assistant. Especially his assistant. "Yes. Excuse me, Marco, right?" Reiji frowns, flipping his notebook open. "I've heard you had a few... Interesting dreams lately?"<br><br>"You up for sharing a bit about what you saw?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''<br>Rebecca finishes her examination, and with a sad look, shakes her head. "Definitely his neck snapped, but whether it was the noose or something else I don't know. We'd need to do an autopsy." She stands up and dusts herself off before taking out her notebook and writing down what she's found so far. "Still, I'm more than certain this wasn't a suicide..."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1131|Yumiko Kojima (1131)}} has posed:'''<br>Yumiko Kojima gives a one shouldered shrug, pulling an energy bar from a pocket and nomfing. "Yeah... You see too much drek in this kind of work to still believe in a higher power." Omnomnom. Yeah... She's reeeeeally feeling out of place right now. "Sooooo... What do we do next?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''<br>Rizzo nods as Lillian, Jonathan and Margot give their stories. That, and the note that Seras found, confirms it. Vermond was here investigating Sturluson. And since Vermond was an outsider, the motive for his murder is probably something to do with that. Did he get too close? He scribbles down a few thoughts: <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sturluson's body covered in third degree burns. Pocketbook found by hunter upstairs is singed. Killer likely has some ability or weapon involving fire. Proceed with caution. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Thank you," he says after a moment of pensive silence. He then raises his watch to his mouth to make a request over the radio. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; When Marco steps aside to sweep the floor, Rizzo lowers his wrist and reaches out mentally, searching for the assistant's mind in particular. Finding a specific memory is much preferred to just rifling through thoughts aimlessly. Did Marco really have a nightmare? And how vivid are the memories thereof?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1132|Kyoko Takada (1132)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;While Kyoko is there and no one seems bothered by her magic computer running, she starts repeating her scanning magic. The target, this time, is Marco. She's not exactly stealthy about what she's doing, but given that her magic barely interacts with organics, it's unlikely that he'll feel anything if he doesn't have some magical attunement. If he does, then, oh well! She's being rude for the sake of expediency in a murder investigation.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;If that goes smoothly and she finds nothing, she'll repeat it on each of the other locals, one at a time.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1133|Dapper Avenger (1133)}} has posed:'''<br>Father Edda turns to Target, nodding at his question. "I left the church at roughly seven last night. I got home, was greeted by my landlord, and then spent the rest of the evening working in my at-home office until I turned in for bed. I live alone." He seems confident in his alibi, even if it might be lacking. "Anything else?"<br><br>Reiji approaches Marco, and begins asking about the nightmare. "Yes, last night. Though I'm not entirely sure it was a real nightmare...there was the smell of fire. Burning all around me. I forgot that part until recently, when the officer asked me to rack my brain...and then, there was screaming. A man, loud, until it suddenly got cut off. At that point, I woke up."<br><br>Rizzo has trouble getting anything out of Marco. He can't focus on his memories or find anything, though he gets surface thoughts - thoughts of the nightmare, visualizing it, reinforcing it so he can accurately tell the story.<br><br>Kyoko scans Marco, and finds magic, alright, passive magical signatures that are pretty bright. However, Marco doesn't seem to notice her reading him, going on with his sweeping and talking to Reiji.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''<br>Reiji nods slowly as Marco elaborates on the details of his dream. To have a nightmare so focused on fire, with details so close to that of the crime, it's... Almost eerie. "I see," Reiji says, then frowns and gently lays a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Hold on for just a moment, Marco. There's something I want to check."<br><br>With that, Reiji focuses his senses and sight and tries to see about what exactly the deal with this young man's magical aura is. His spirit sense is keen, after all.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:770|Target Sparktail (770)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The kobold nods, "Thank ya, the only other thing I wanna ask is who yer landlord is and the address, iff'n ya don't mind," he asks. Of course he's passing along the information he's getting. Other than that, it doesn't seem Target has much else to ask unless someone else mentions something on the radio.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1133|Dapper Avenger (1133)}} has posed:'''<br>"Of course." Father Edda shares that information with Target, and then tips his head to the man, before moving over to his parishioners. Meanwhile, Reiji places his hand on Marco's shoulder, who nods. He'll get an instant answer - Marco is incredibly spiritual, and has a vast amount of magical energy. Possibly even some sort of spirit himself? After a few moments, Marco pulls away, staring at Reiji. "What...did you just do?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''<br> Rizzo frowns as the desired effect eludes him. There could be a lot of reasons why it didn't work, as his gifts are always more art than science--Malkav doesn't give freebies. It could be his fatigue, or it could be the nightmare's buried deeper than he'd be able to find with just cursory poking around. It could even be that Marco's lying about having a nightmare at all, and his surface thoughts are just his conscious mind thinking up suitably descriptive fabrications. Telepathy's easy to get sucked into, a kind of rabbit hole that can take up hours of time. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Rizzo, and probably everyone else, doesn't have the necessary hours to pursue info on that front. So, instead, he takes a more direct approach. Picking up his hat and putting it back on his head, he blearily shuffles outside, leaning on the doorway for support. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The lowered body of Josiah Vermond is outside waiting for him, as is his umbrella, which he promptly wields to protect himself from the morning light. Better safe than sorry. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; His hands are wrapped in gauze, which means to get an accurate reading he'd have to remove it. To do so in sunlight would be... bad. So, he loosens the murder weapon and brings it inside, of course leaving the umbrella behind once he steps back into the chuch. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Once safely away from the sun, he unwraps the gauze and touches the rope with the palm of his hand so as not to leave prints. What do we have here?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1133|Dapper Avenger (1133)}} has posed:'''<br>As Rizzo brings the rope inside, and begins his investigation, he'll get a flash of images and emotions. The last person to have touched the rope is Josiah Vermond - there's falling, screaming, fear, anger, and then suddenly, he's on the rope, his neck snapping as goes out the open window. The last thing he sees - and the only clue on his perpetrator - are black flames through the window. Time is roughly 4AM.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''<br>Reiji's eyes flash with sudden recognition and his hand snaps back away as if he had just touched something screamingly white hot. His lips draw into a thin line. "You..." He cants his head, his hand falling towards his side. "Marco. Your power is... Incredible."<br><br>"...I think we have much more to discuss. Would you mind coming along with us to answer a few questions?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''<br> Rizzo very discreetly wraps his hand again. He takes a position by the door and leans against it. Activating the discipline of Obfuscate, he simply... fades from view, still very much able to be seen, just seeming somehow too mundane to pay too much attention to. In this state, he slowly sticks his foot in front of the doorway, hoping his Discipline will obscure this little deception. If Marco tries to run through the front door, he'll have to be wary of the vampire trying to trip him.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1131|Yumiko Kojima (1131)}} has posed:'''<br>Yumiko Kojima stuffs the energy bar wrapper into a pocket, hand dropping to her thigh and grabbing a compact machine pistol, (https://i.imgur.com/41y2FjG.png), checking the readout on her HUD to confirm it's loaded with non-lethal Stick'N'Shock rounds. She doesn't aim it yet, but she's not causally leaning more, her movements suddenly smooth and fluid, none of the occasional twitching she had earlier either. She's ready.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1133|Dapper Avenger (1133)}} has posed:'''<br>As Reiji's expression changes and he reacts strangely, Marco steps back again - he's spooked. "What's...what? My power? What are you talking about?" At this point, Father Edda chips in as well, moving up next to Marco. "Is something the matter here? ...You don't think Marco did it, do you? It couldn't have been him. Come on, this is ridiculous." The other parishioners cast glances, clearly confused by what's happening with Reiji and Marco.<br><br>But Marco just takes a breath, sighs, and smiles at Father Edda, waving a hand. "It's alright, Father. I'll go with them, if it'll help solve this crime." There's a look of that hope in his eyes, as Marco nods to Reiji. "Of course. Will I still be able to make it back to finish cleaning by tomorrow? I'm not sure I know exactly what you're talking about...but I believe that this is important." Marco will move over to Reiji, waiting for him to lead him off.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''<br>"I'm not going to jump to conclusions," Reiji explains. "But there are some interesting coincidences, and I believe that one way or another, Marco is key to solving this case," he explains to the other parishioners and gently takes the young sweeper's shoulder. "As long as everything goes well, you'll be back in no time. If we do have to keep you overnight, then I'll be sure to send one of my men over to clean this whole place top to bottom."<br><br>"In my world," Reiji explains as he leads away, "Dreams like yours can be... seen as prophetic, after a fashion. And I don't think it's a coincidence that you saw what you did in your nightmare. We'll get to the bottom of this, I promise you that; and if necessary, we can provide training to help guide your talents."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1133|Dapper Avenger (1133)}} has posed:'''<br>Despite Edda's worries and those of the parishioners, Marco just smiles at them. "Please, do not worry. I'll be back soon. If he's right, and if I have such abilities, like those of the heroes of Yggdrasil, then I hope to be able to put them to use." The parishioners nod, Margot kind of just staring. Edda stares, his eyes sort of...cold, even if he's smiling reassuringly at Marco now. Marco just turns to Reiji. "I thank you for your kind words. I will help you all that I can."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1131|Yumiko Kojima (1131)}} has posed:'''<br>Yumiko Kojima yawns. "Well... This took longer than I thought. If you don't need me any more... I think I'm gonna head home. And Anders...? No fee. I didn't use any supplies, and I had more fun than sitting around my apartment. You have a good one." She taps two fingers against her eyebrow in a lazy salute, replacing the pistol on her thigh before heading over to her Monobike, climbing on and pulling on her helmet, and zooming off towards the warpgate.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''<br> With a notebook full of hurried scrawlings, Rizzo takes his silent leave of the church of Yggdrasil, disappearing into a manhole a few blocks away from the church. Dark, hidden places like these are safe places for those with 'severe sunlight allergies,' and make good spots to get some rest. The smell is unfortunate, of course--but it's better than trying to navigate the warpgate system (and San Fran traffic) on no sleep.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1133|Dapper Avenger (1133)}} has posed:'''<br>In the end, a suspect, or atleast a lead, has been found - Marco, the church boy with a powerful spirit. But there's other clues, and other suspects. What does the murder have to do with Sturluson? What does Edda? What do the others? The investigation today may be over, but not the case. And in the end...<br><br>The guilty shall be punished.<br> <br>
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