Once again, they were bathed in complete darkness, with almost no light creeping in from the outside. If they were discovered, there was no sign at all - no noise, no commotion - nothing. In the tiny, cramped corridors of the shop, it would have been impossible for anyone to hide. No one other than Walter, Vincent, Rosalie, and Tommy was present in the room at the time.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:47, Wed 02 Sept 2015.

Moretti didn't say a word. He moved behind the counter, crouching to examine the trap door Cotton had spotted.

Something was wrong. Although there was nothing overtly threatening in the cramped shop, Moretti had long since learned to listen to his gut. Doing so had saved his life on more than one occasion. And now, as he crouched above the door, he couldn't ignore the uneasiness he felt.

Cupping his hand over his own flashlight, he ran the narrow beam over the surface of the trap door. Then, stooping closer, he listened, trying to discern any noise that might be heard below.

14:23, Today: Vincent Moretti rolled 8 using 1d100 with rolls of 8.  Listen. Listen 25%

Bo waited a moment or two until his eyes had readjusted. He began to move to his right slowly, keeping his back to the wall, until he reached the corner of the room.

[ooc - While Tommy's light was on, did we see any door that might lead to another room or any stairs to the upper floors?]

The narrow beam and closer examination revealed the inset steel handle and hinges of the trap door.

"Guess the cops did not look hard since me and Tommy spotted that trap door was walked in the place." Bishop said as the others focused on the odd entry.

"Might be nothing, but I bet we bust this case wide open with what we found down there."

While the others searches, Bishop glanced around the room to spot any threats and then looked back to the alley.

Moretti glanced back at the others. He kept his voice low, just above a whisper. "I can hear something down there, but I can't make it out. Some kind of activity." He gestured to the trap door. "It's not close. Not right on the other side of this. It's further away, but it's below."

He shrugged. "Makes sense. We knew this place was a front. You're in business you don't want other people to know about, you do it where you can't be seen. A basement's as good a choice as any."

He paused, considering. "We'll have to be careful. There may be a big space down there, the way it sounds. I can guarantee whoever's below doesn't want visitors. We'll need to watch out for each other."

"These savages are capable of committing horrible acts of violence. We can't hesitate." Bishop said. He remembered the horrors of combat of he had seen. He had grown callous to violence and even killing, but he knew some of the others had no such experience. If things turned ugly he would need to he would have to hit hard.

"Let's get that door open and see what they have hidden down there."  Bishop said preparing himself for what laid beyond.

"Maybe we should check out the rest of this level first," Bo whispers, "Remember, we're looking for evidence about what these guys've been up to and where N'Kwame hangs his hat."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:11, Thu 03 Sept 2015.

Rosalie joined the others at the trap door, waiting for them to open it.  Leaning close to Bo, she whispered.  "Did you find any other rooms off of this one?"

Tommy nodded agreement at the suggestion they figure out the rest of their surroundings before moving on.

With Rosa and Moretti covering the trapdoor he lifted from his squatting position to swiftly slip across the store to the entry that stood ajar. Carefully he swung it closed so that the outside world would think the place undisturbed, and allowed his torch to flick back into life. He shone its beam over shelves casting twisted shadows across the walls as tribal masks and African idols were illuminated, scanning for anything unusual, anything that stood out.

In reply to Dr. Leonardo Elias (msg # 34):


  This was a rather odd time to be psychoanalyzing her Annabel thought, it was probably something to get his mind off of the others being in danger, and probably Annabel's mind too, which she had to admit it was.

 She hesitated a moment before answering him, not sure how she would seem to him. "To be honest Dr. Elias, I am not sure if I would be that good of a mother, not having any experience in such matters." She then gave a slight shrug. "But in higher society, some women hand off the child raising duties to a nanny anyway and have little contact with their children; which I am sure is why we really don't think of our mothers with very much affection. I suppose Dr. Elias in her own way, my Mother does love me and her other children, but she really has a hard time expressing it. I do fear that I will end up the same way and it makes me worry for the poor child born of my womb."

    "As to your question about her, you might think ill of me for saying it, but I do think it is more about her and less about her daughters well bring and happiness." She did an imitation of her mother's voice, "'Marry well and raise our family's status.' It's all she cares about it seems any more and it really made her unhappy that her prettiest daughter has not done what is expected of her." She made a face at that and turned around again to look at the store.

"It's awfully quiet, a good thing I guess."

Leo smiled slightly at Annabel professing to not have experience in mothering, though the smile disappeared when she described her mother's consideration of her children. "No one really has experience being a parent until they've actually done so, Miss Ashcroft. While having younger siblings, cousins, nieces, and nephews might help a little, being the actual parent is far enough different that any person embarking on that wonderful and terrible journey is in roughly the same position. As for being able to express your love to your children, well, people learn from their parents in two ways - they either decide to emulate certain aspects of their parents or they decide they will do the opposite. That is probably overly simplified, but I assure you that you aren't doomed to repeat any mistakes of the previous generation. Good that you realize that your parents aren't infallible, but it also might help you to consider ways in which they have been a positive influence on you."

Leo briefly considered Annabel's thoughts on whether her mother loves her or not while looking about for anything happening in the dark, and then lightly shook his head. "It's a shame that she equates happiness with status and places the burden of helping your status on you. I can assure you, after a certain point there is little correlation with wealth and happiness. There are only different stresses and problems. Most of the time, the most important factor in a person's happiness is how well they get along with their spouse - I've heard much about your mother, but what about your father?"

In reply to Rosalie Elias (msg # 48):

"Nope," he whispers in reply, "Looks like this is all there is."

Stepping quietly over to Stanley, he asks: "Who's going down there first? Me, You, or Vince?"

Bishop had already worked things out in his mind.

"We will want to sneak down and try to take a good look before we kick over a hornets nest. This doesn't seem like a speak easy, so might be anyone's guess as to what's down there."

"Vance and you are probably sneakier than I am, so I will go down third. If the shit hits the fan move to the side or get down and I will play a tune on my piano." Bishop said patting his Tommy gun.

Moretti nodded. Reaching down, he tested the handle on the trap door to get a sense of any resistance it might offer. Then, as quietly as possible, he pulled it open.

As soon as the hatch is open, Bo finds the ladder/stair and descends as quickly and quietly as possible in the faint glow of the light from above.

In reply to Dr. Leonardo Elias (msg # 51):


    Listening to Dr. Elias speak, Annabel didn't know if she liked what she was hearing. Once again he mentioned the difficultly with raising children; maybe being a spinster was not so bad after all. As long as she had some kind of career to keep her busy, maybe she could deal with the social stigma of the title.

   At the mention of her father, Annabel thought for a moment on what she would say, then answered.

  "My father? Well, I would say he provides for his family well, as you know, he is in the shipping business. It keeps him quite busy though and sometimes we don't see him for days. Sometimes though," she said in an amused tone, "I wonder if it is more to be away from mother than that busy at work. Oh don't get me wrong Dr. Elias, I am sure he loves her in his own way, but you would understand if you are around her for any length of time. My mother can get on the nerves of the most patient of people if she is in one of her moods." She gave a small laugh at that.

  Getting back to the subject, she continued, "As for his children, I would say he is affectionate enough to us, at least he cares about our well being enough to keep mother in line when he can. I am sure he wants to see his daughters happily married, but sadly, does not get involved with making that happen, preferring to leave it to my mother."

 She gave a sigh thinking about all of this. "Honestly Dr. Elias, it's all a real mess sometimes; makes me glad for this investigation to get my mind off of it." She thought a moment. "You know, maybe I should just try for Mr. Grey. He seems kind enough, and is quite successful, though I suspect Miss Carlyle keeps him awfully busy."
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:21, Wed 09 Sept 2015.

Lifting the trap door and laying it back on its hinges revealed a set of stairs barely wide enough for one person. The steep stairs led downward into the black darkness below, though the faint glow of the flashlight above illuminated the first few steps.

---

OOC:

Are they going to be going down in complete darkness?

Bo goes slowly, carefully down the steps.

Feeling his way along the walls, Bo makes his way down the steep staircase in all but complete darkness, going down below some twenty feet until the stairs end and he finds himself in a hallway. There isn't much light filtering down from above, such that even when his eyes adjust, it isn't much different from pitch black. The walls he can feel to either side are stone, and something seems to be carved into them, but in the darkness he can't tell what it might be.

---

OOC:

Remember, the only light source in the above room is perhaps one flashlight that isn't focused near or on the trapdoor entrance, instead generally moving about the room.

Moretti followed Brandon down the steps, moving quietly, his pistol in one hand, his unlit flashlight in the other.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:42, Wed 09 Sept 2015.

As Vince descends toward him, Bo takes a slow, inching step forward and to his left, putting that shoulder up against the wall on that side, shotgun pointed away from the stair..

"Tommy follow us with the flash light, but keep it pointed down at your feet. Keep it off of us." Bishop send to the young reporter before heading down the stairs.

OOC any sounds from down below.

Walter continued to feel a wall along his left side as he stepped forward, and he could see a brief flicker of light, followed by another flicker. After a couple of flickers, he noticed what appeared to be a malfunctioning electric lantern hanging from the ceiling in the center of the passageway.

As he stepped closer to it, each brief flicker gave enough light to add some details to his perception of the area around him, though the flickering back and forth from light to darkness was disconcerting. The walls of the hallway seemed covered in strange pictographic symbols. The hallway is about fifteen feet long, and stops at a closed door that seems made of a heavy wood that is reinforced with metal. At either side of the door is a pocket of darkness that can't be made out from a distance, the flickers of light not sufficient to illuminate these areas.

Moretti moved to the right side of the hall, taking a few steps forward to distance himself from Brandon. Crossing his left hand over his right, his turned his flashlight on, keeping the beam just below chest level, and swept it over the areas of thick darkness ahead.