"Or, the rifles were stored in the same consignment as the whiskey," Louis suggests, "not necessarily in the whiskey shipment itself."

Robert nods slowly.  "True... guns and liquor are the life blood of smugglers."  He shuffled back through the papers.  "So what stands out among these five shipments that would tell us something odd was going on?"

"I don't know. They're all shipments of a hundred pieces or so." Louis sits down and pores over the paperwork. "Robert," she says at length, look at this." She points to the declarations page of a shipment. The shipment was received from a Clyde McDermott, and Robert also notes, the shipment contained a diplomatic pouch for the German Embassy that, of course, bypassed any Customs inspection.

"A hundred pieces or so... that would put an upper limit on the size of the crates and volume of the shipment."  Robert leans over the desk, his hand brushing lightly along Louis' shoulder.  He reads the document and nods and then pulls out their notes.

500- RMM McD

"So... maybe our Mr. McDermot is the 'McD'.  And that would be 500 Reminingtons?  Let's see where else our friend is mentioned."  He starts to stack the shipping documents over the last few weeks or month to sort for the name.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:56, Sun 07 May 2017.

"Pounds, more likely," Louis comments. "These entries seem to involve transactions. Four thousand in, twenty and fifteen for clothing, five hundred to our elusive friend, and then a hundred to P-O-L, whatever that is."

She digs in to help Robert look for McDermott. The only Clyde McDermott they find is the chief officer of the RMS Windsong, a ship based in Hong Kong, but is a frequent visitor to Syrtis Major. Their prior visit was three months ago, and they left for Earth two days ago.

"It looks like our bird has flown the coop.  We could get a naval vessel to chase them down.  As the first officer he may be doing this smuggling on the side."

Louis chews her lip as she thinks. "We will need to tie this shipment to Gelber, though. Otherwise, all we have is circumstantial evidence of McDermott's involvement." She taps the paperwork. "I think this shipment with the diplomatic pouch is the best place to start. It would be a bold move to so obviously tie the Germans to the smuggled weapons, but Gelber may have been foolish enough to assay it."

Robert considers the options and slowly nods.  "We'll be breaking the law going after the diplomatic pouch but I'm confident we'll find the smoking gun so to speak.  There isn't much that the authorities can do to a diplomat other than expel him but the evidence can be used to hang McDermot."  He paused and considered.  "We should also look into other pouches addressed to Gelber as well.  They man lead to other conspirators."

"Hm." Louis looks through the documents for a few minutes. "Here," she says at last. "On Windsong's last visit, there was also a German diplomatic pouch, and it was signed for by one of Gelber's men. i recognized his name from the list of those killed in the fight."

Robert nods.  "That shipment then as well should be checked.  It may lead to other smugglers.  On either shipment who were the consignees for the cargo?"

Louis flips the pages, comparing the entries. "There are four consignees," she says as she brings out a small notebook and a pencil. "Devin Webster, Karl van Dorson, Charles Englemann, and Errol Givens. The first two men took the prior shipment, and the last two the most recent one."

Robert takes the names and regards them.  "Let's see what the files say about these men."

OOC: is there information about the people who took the cargo or will we need to ask the staff here?

The files list their addresses as Warehouses 32A, 34A, 37A and 40A in the nearby warehouse district. There is no other information about them.

Robert looks at the notes.  "37A, that was one of the places listed in the diary."

"Yes, and where we met the German soldiers," Louis affirms. "Perhaps we should visit the other warehouses?"

Robert rose and began to put the records back.  "It's a start, more than we've had before."

After a few minutes, the files are back in their proper places, and Louis has a page of notes in her neat handwriting. "Where shall we go first?"

"Let's start with 32A and work our way up systematically.  Let's ask the manager if he has any information on the owners of these places.  He may have other files than these."

Louis nods. "She might, at that." Robert and Louis step out of the file room, and immediately spot Ms. Duvall. She is standing a few feet away, speaking to a trio of customs inspectors beside their station.

"Mrs. Duvall, excuse me if I might have a word with you at your leisure."  Robert waited until she was free and then asked if she might have information on the other locations such as owners and even shipments that had gone to them.  He'll explain that they might contain clues to their search.

Duvall takes a minute longer with her staff, and then steps over to Robert and Louis. "I'm sorry, we don't keep separate records of where goods go after they leave our facility. I do know that many of the larger shippers have the nearer warehouses."

She thinks for a moment. "If I wanted to know about a building owner, I would ask the local fire brigade. They had some trouble with fires a few years back, and the city council passed some fairly strict inspection protocols. With your credentials, they would probably give you the owners' information."

Robert considers their options and then nods.  "Thank you Ms. Duvall, you and your staff have been most helpful.  I think we have several leads that may allow us to track down some of the criminals."  With suitable thanks and directions to the fire brigade he departs with Louis.

As they walk toward the station he speaks up.  "The fire brigade should have a very good feel not only for the actual owners but perhaps something about their habits and certainly an idea of the internal layouts."

The nearest fire brigade station is three blocks from the Customs warehouse. When Robert and Louis arrive, the station's doors are open, and the crew has rolled out one of the pumpers to wash it. Three men are engaged in this task as the pair approaches. One of the men, a solidly built, dark-skinned man, looks in their direction, and then peers more closely at Louis.

The former frontierswoman's look had changed significantly since her nuptials. Gone were the rough shirts, mannish pants and the short hairstyle. Now, her red hair fell down over her shoulders in a natural wave, and she wore a ladies blouse and tailored trousers that left no doubt as to her gender. To be sure, such an outfit would have drawn attention on Earth, but in the colonies, it was considered a practical mode of dress.

His eyes widen, and he stands straight, the dripping cloth in his hand forgotten, as she approaches. "Hullo, how may we help ye?"

Robert notes the attention that Louis garners but says nothing.  He's happy with his wife and confident of their relationship.  "Good morning, I'm Robert Darlington and this is my wife Louis.  We are working for the crown colony and wish to speak to you about a few of the warehouses around here that may be involved in illegal activities."

Two more firefighters step around the apparatus and gather next to their comrades. They are all wearing undershirts, heavy canvas pants held up by suspenders, and firefighting boots. The silent pair also sneak glances at Louis as they listen.

"Good morning, sir, and," he bowed slightly in Louis' direction, "madam." He frowned thoughtfully at Robert's statement. "We've seen contraband during fire calls, since some things are not allowed because they are flammable," he muses. "Other than that, we fair much keep to ourselves." The others nod in agreement at their apparent leader's statement.