5580/TGSBP: Breaking News

TGSBP: Breaking News
Date of Scene:	21 November 2017
Location:	The Tapestry
Synopsis:	A killer has a conversation with a detective pursuing him. Part of the The Guilty Shall Be Punished mini-plot.
Cast of Characters:	1133, John Rizzo

---

Dapper Avenger (1133) has posed:
The apartment of Frederik Sturluson was good for a single-man, if not the best living space. He lived in a five floor building, situated next to an old office building that was currently closed for refurbishment - the perfect place to camp out. Sturluson's apartment hadn't been cleaned out completely despite how long it'd been since the murder, and while there were ads out for an 'open room', they were so old it'd appear they hadn't been updated, changed, or even taken off the walls. A distinct lack of interest in a dead traitor's house. Surveillance equipment would pick up nothing inside the apartment except for what sounds like a rat in the walls, and is much more likely to pick up the married couple the next floor down (Sturluson's apartment on the 4th floor). However, after the last night there, an investigator would have the distinct feeling that they're being trailed as they walk down the street...with no one behind them. Attempting to pierce that leaves a distinct image - a man in a ragged black aura wearing a hat, moving it over his face if he feels he's been spotted, before waving and disappearing into the alleyway.

Despite not being able to see the man's face, he was likely grinning. His movement and gestures are that of a cat playing with a mouse.

John Rizzo has posed:
(Background music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF43b38k0Mw )

     I knew as soon as I saw him. His aura was black, jagged--like flames licking at the night air. I didn't let on that I'd fingered him, and just turned around. But I knew two things: one, that was definitely the same wrong number that gave Sturluson the long goodbye. And two... if he was following me, it meant I was on the right track.

     Rizzo arrives at Sturluson's apartment, this time sans his surveillance equipment, or the 19th century getup. Pulling the collar of his trench coat up to obscure the sides of his face, he blends into the background, hands stuffed into his pockets, and enters the apartment building. The floorboards of the stairs barely so much as creak beneath the beanpole vampire's penny-loafered feet.

     Pulling his hand free of his coat pocket, he produces a handkerchief and tries the handle. If it's locked... well, he'll just have to use some of that Kindred strength to force the issue.

Dapper Avenger (1133) has posed:
His eyes are gold, and his hair a silver-gray. He was smiling. His face is familiar...but the distance and the lack of a long glance may make it a bit difficult to immediately recognize, and he's gone when Rizzo turns back for the apartment.

There's a man cleaning in the hallways moving up. From his expression and exhaustion, he seems to have been working all night. He doesn't notice Rizzo, too busy trying to clean a stain out, and Rizzo can easily reach the apartment. The door's locked, but it's trivial to force open, only made out of wood. The apartment's a mess - things are scattered all over the place, mostly close to the door, as if they were being cleaned out before someone just gave up. Furniture, hand-me-downs, old relics. From the dust, the place hasn't been touched in weeks, at first glance. Or atleast, not until further into the apartment, where the dust has been disturbed near the bedroom. The door is closed, and locked. There are no sounds coming in from the other side. The rest of the apartment is undisturbed, except for a single kitchen drawer. It's the left drawer of three on this part of the counter, but it's entirely empty, and appears to have been opened recently. Nothing appears to have been removed from it.

John Rizzo has posed:
When I stepped into Sturluson's cave, it looked like a trip for biscuits at first blush. But if I was right about who it was watching me, I figured he'd have left something. Seemed like his MO to leave breadcrumbs--his little hack-job with Sturluson's journal being the biggest. So I poked around.

     Rizzo shuts the door behind him, as if he were supposed to be there. That's the key to Obfuscate: you have to act as if you belong wherever you are, and usually, no one notices. From the inside pocket of his greatcoat, Rizzo produces a camera. He snaps pictures of the drawer, and the disturbane in the layer of dust.

     Someone else apparently had the same idea. Recently, too. Layer of dust disturbed near the bedroom door, and an open drawer in the kitchen. My first guess was, someone came in through the bedroom window, looking for something in the kitchen drawer. They locked the bedroom door on their way in--but why? Covering their tracks?

     Rizzo decides that the bedroom door is the more pressing concern. Using the same method as before, he simply breaks the lock, making sure to cover his hand with the handkerchief. Once inside, he looks for any obvious signs of tampering. Disturbed dust, marks where something once sat, scrape marks... and, of course, to test his theory, he looks for a window, and signs of forced entry.

Dapper Avenger (1133) has posed:
As a note, there's no real electronics. This is very 19th century, and so there's no alarms or anything set up. Once Rizzo opens past the door, he'll see the bedroom. The bed is still there, completely undisturbed. The closet is also undisturbed, as is most everything in the room save one exception. In regards to the window, at the far wall: it hasn't been touched. There's a fine layer of dust that would have been dispersed if it had been opened any time in the last few months. The window is also the only alternative entrance from the front door. Dust trails are very fine, and seem to be /very smooth/, as if clearly kicked up to lead somewhere...

The exception aforementioned is a dresser not far from the window. There is no dust covering it anywhere except for at the legs, indicating it has been here the whole time. The dust on the dresser has not just been kicked up, it's been /cleaned/, including around the back where it doesn't touch the wall, where it's been meticulously brushed off. On top of the dresser is a copy of Sturluson's journal, in the form of a stack of papers.

The dresser additionally has three drawers, side by side, left-center-right. Each has a handle facing upwards, where the gravity of the handles should have them facing downwards - they've been propped into place manually.

John Rizzo has posed:
The window hadn't been touched--but that didn't mean my hunch was wrong. Even back home, things that go bump in the night get to cheat--like I do. It takes a cheater to know a cheater. And seeing how the dust in the room had been deliberately kicked up to lead to a dresser, I'd say there was definitely cheating involved.

     The handles on each of the dresser's drawers were turned up, pointing towards a copy of Sturluson's journal. Now, I was almost sure of it. The guy watching me was the Old Norse Killer, and he wanted me to find this. I'd play ball. But there was something I wanted to see before I put on my catcher's mitt. What if the drawer in the kitchen had been left open for a reason, too?

     Again using the handkerchief, Rizzo opens the left drawer, and takes a brief look inside of it.

     Whether there's anything inside or not, Rizzo then touches the back of his hand to the stack of papers, so as not to leave prints. Still, his bare skin does touch them, and he taps into Malkav's gifts to search them for any lingering psychic impressions. Could this be the 'first draft' of the forged version of Sturluson's journal?

Dapper Avenger (1133) has posed:
After opening the drawer, Rizzo may not have as much interest in the papers above. As the left drawer is opened, there is a click of some sort of mechanical device. Nothing happens, but if the drawer is inspected after that, it seems to be tied to some sort of incendiary that would have triggered had either of the other two drawers been opened. Inside the left journal is a small leather-bound journal, recently placed. It is ascribed to one Frederik Sturluson, in his handwriting.

The stack is indeed the first copy. With how many times Rizzo's seen the killer in his visions, he will immediately recognize him and that hatred that seems to seep through him. There is a prominent thought of what he was intending to do with it, though - condemn without revealing the full picture. It's not an intent to frame, but instead /conceal/ a crime, to further a scheme that can only be associated with the word 'vengeance'. The placement of it here tonight was for a different reason - a test. A game. A /challenge/.

If the forgery and the original are compared, the text is not different in most places. None of Sturluson's words were changed, but it WAS forged - there are several pages with different dates, fitting where the dates had been forged in the fake. These pages are likely to stand out immediately...because they've been chopped up in the original. Their dates are present, as well as slips of the page at various parts, but the vast majority of the content is gone. The words 'Edda', 'Hardhaft', 'documents', and 'the prince' are all that are left behind, with no context. As the journal's gone through, a slip of paper spills out. The handwriting is the same as the note on the detective's body at the church. It's very brief.

'Turn around.'

John Rizzo has posed:
I was batting a thousand. The click I heard as I opened the drawer told me I'd made the right choice. A quick peek under the dresser showed a little jury-rigged firestarter that would've torched the left drawer if I'd opened the wrong drawer. And what did I find in that drawer, but the real McCoy: Sturluson's journal. Not a copy, or a copy of a copy, but the honest to goodness real thing. Which meant the papers on top were probably the 'original' copy.

     I knew that was what I was meant to find. But I also knew there could be valuable information, psychic imprints left on the copy. So I got a load of that, first. Sure enough, they were the first copy--and undoubtedly written by the Old Norse Killer. I could feel his hate eating away at me. This was important to him. So important, I got a glimpse of his angle. When he wrote it, he wanted to throw Sturluson under the bus for what he'd done, without telling the whole story. But when he left it here, he did it just so I'd get my mitts on it. He wanted me to find it.

     Flipping through the journal made my earlier use of 'hack job' into a literal truth. He'd taken an Exacto to the pages matching the forged dates, just to leave me more breadcrumbs. Only, he wanted to be there to see me following them. Turns out, I was right about him 'cheating,' too. Sometimes, I hate being right.

     An oppressively silent, infinitely stretched second passes as the note is revealed to Rizzo. An eternal second, in which he has more than enough time to read it, and contemplate the weight of the message. Finally, he turns, slowly, his face a stone mask.

     Surely, he wouldn't have laid such a complex trail of clues just to attack. So, Rizzo is the first to speak. "Lay it on me," he says plainly.

Dapper Avenger (1133) has posed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sNgB-j3fd0
There had been no footsteps until the very last second, a creak as the killer materialized. The long and thick dark coat with the large gilded button, and the hat with one of silver. Hair down to his neck, a silver-gray-white, and his eyes red...not gold, not right now. Based on the distance, he could be easily recognized, even if his demeanor, tone, and even language were entirely different from the church assistant Rizzo had met before. His voice was confident, one of a man who knew exactly what he was doing and why. His lips were curled up slightly, as he spoke out in fluent English, even if the translation effect would have rendered that moot. "You possess a knack for investigation, Mr. Rizzo, even if the puzzle I laid out could be solved by a clever child. Though that alone is an insult to the local police, who would not have the same fortitude." He steps to the side, kicking up dust as he does so, before turning back. "Even better than Vermond, though you have been gifted with such that a man such as he had not. Or cursed, perhaps? Perhaps the pharoah had been unkind to you that day." His smile grows wider. "There was nothing here for you to find, so I made something, so that we can support the boat into harbor. For there was not enough wind, and for the locals, not enough inspiration to do much. The traitor was dead, and the day of celebration has not come yet. For the guilty, they believe that day is their salvation. But the guilty shall be punished."

His tone is pleasant, and his movements are calm, non-hostile, but the word 'traitor' has deep anger attached to it. Hatred more profound than one should have in conversation. "I shall not reveal much, but by now, you must have gandered. The question is not who or how, but why. I will not spoil the mystery for the man who weaves the fabric of truth away from the fabric of lies, but I'll tell you that before I struck to seek vengeance on these men, I knew not who they were. What do you figure of our crime, detective who walks the night? Or do you have no words?"

He steps closer. He has no fear. "The avenger has shown his visage instead of killing you like the last who dug too deep, and if he were to kill you, he would not say all of this. For why does he do such a thing?"

John Rizzo has posed:
So, there was nothing here after all. The journal was planted here, just so he'd have something to find. It fits the killer's MO--he probably got impatient with the rate things were going. Hence the 'boat' and 'wind' analogies.

     He'd mentioned a celebration, too. He's not too familiar with Norse customs, but he knows the Irish used to celebrate the life of the deceased at their wakes. Maybe Sturluson will have something similar. Or, maybe, there's going to be a celebration of a different sort. The fact that he's mentioned it at all means the clock is ticking for Bjorn Hardhaft, Vladimir Edda, and whoever 'the prince' is.

     His opinion on the crime also comes with a clarification--just so that the killer knows where he stands. "Curse is the right word," says the vampire in response to Avenger. His tone is even, calm. Conversational, if distant. Businesslike. "But don't start the waterworks on my account. It's deserved."

     "That said, it's not my place, or yours, to say what someone else deserves." Rizzo looks the Servant up and down as he steps closer. The killer had left scripture on one of the men he'd killed. So, Rizzo recites some of his own. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."

Dapper Avenger (1133) has posed:
"For this your crime, or the punishment? For all men are guilty, so I shed no tears." Avenger's flowery prose seems...almost kind of forced, but subtly. He raises his hands, palms facing upwards, as Rizzo responds that it's not his place. The mood becomes dangerous, as his eyes lock on to the vampire's. But, with Rizzo's scripture, the Avenger instead just laughs, his grin toothy as he raises a hand to the ceiling. His response is left unclarified.

"To me belongeth vengeance and recompence," he speaks confidently, practically self-aggrandizingly, "their foot shall slide in due time, for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste." He's now speaking Italian instead of English as he recites, and for a moment, he seems to be looking at Rizzo yet looking straight past him, his gaze distant. When he speaks again, it is English. "The lord exacts His vengeance through His Will. But, ah, a man does know know the form until it is too late, and he must answer to Him."

Avenger takes another step forward. "For you know who is the killer, you can reveal him. But for that, you allow the guilty to be free. I shall not tell you how to act, only that crushing a butterfly may drastically change what will come. It is for a man to decide with his will how he will approach the future. This will not be the last time we meet. But, before I depart..."

His eyes become focused, as his smile fades. The Avenger places a shoulder on Rizzo's hand. His grip is firm, and his reaction time is /fast/. "To whom do you owe loyalty? From whom is trust placed into you? And to what do you owe conviction?"

John Rizzo has posed:
In Rizzo's eyes, Avenger will find a lingering sadness which might also answer his question. This is the look of a prisoner, atoning for his crime with every passing day. Those gray eyes are hungry, not for food, but for meaningful company. At the same time, they are consigned to the fact that he will never, ever have it. When Avenger laughs, that sadness is buried away, as if brought to the surface specifically so that he might have an answer. No other part of his face so much as moved upon being asked after the nature of his curse.

     Rizzo takes a step forward, too. The two men stand mere inches from each other. His thin lips turn downward, into a frown, and his storm-cloud eyes roil not with sadness... but with pity. "I'm loyal to the innocent and the guilty alike. /Especially/ the guilty." He holds up a hand, a gesture of good intentions, as if to say 'trust me.' His other hand reaches beneath the neckline of his dress shirt to reveal a small silver medallion. Saint Jude, patron saint of lost causes.

     Rizzo puts the medallion away, just as calmly. "I don't deserve trust. But I have it." He looks upwards, as one does when discussing spiritual matters. "I have it even though I'm unclean in His eyes. And from my friends, who stick by me knowing I'm a powder keg and a wrong number besides."

     "As for conviction, well... I'm going to clean this place up. But unlike you..." Rizzo's frown becomes more stern. "I'm gonna do it without a wooden kimono for every Tom, Dick, and Harry that ever slipped up. And if you decide you wanna help me with that, I'll show you the ropes anytime."

     Rizzo wraps his arms around Avenger and hugs the servant. He doesn't have to have Auspex to sense the hatred that brims within the man. Perhaps some compassion might cool those black flames. "Until then, pal..." Stepping back from the brief, but sincere embrace, the vampire fixes Avenger's coat, straightening it briefly. One final pat on the shoulder is given. "You and me'll be at odds, I guess. See you around."

Dapper Avenger (1133) has posed:
Avenger is entirely quiet as Rizzo responds, taking in all of his words. His gaze is cold, judging. But he does not grow angry at any point. He starts to turn as if he's going to just leave, when Rizzo hugs him. This is entirely unexpected, and it shows on his face. For a minute, he frowns, and the room grows very, very still.

And then, the Avenger breaks away, his gaze melancholic as he stares at Rizzo. His mood has changed, even if he has not - a hug cannot calm a man who is fueled by hate. Dantes' stare at Rizzo is like before, as if he is disengaged in some way, except it lingers the whole time. "Your only sin, Abbe, was being a wiser man than the rest. You retain your compassion, even when the man you entrusted your mind is different than the one you left. But I do not hate the innocent, the same as before." He turns, moving for the door of the room. "I am not the man you once knew, friend, for the world took him. I am an Avenger. And I cannot stray from the path that I /am/. May you remain innocent until the end of this, so I may not need to strike you down like the foul beast of the rest."

Avenger leaves, closing the door behind him. If followed, he's gone. The front door has not been disturbed whatsoever since Rizzo entered, and if Rizzo decides to check any other rooms to see if they are his entrance, they are undisturbed as well. He did not enter via human means.