"For Christ sakes Bo. You think the rest of us don't care about him? That you going off out there alone is any better than what he did?
Moretti is due to meet us at the safe house. He's probably at the fixers place now-we can put in a phone call better than you storming in to the night.".
Cotton felt exasperated. They were all tired, drained. But if Bo wanted to do his own thing then so be it. The others needed to understand what had been found under the Penhew Foundation.

In reply to Dr. Leonardo Elias (msg # 27):

Bo Bo stares into Leo's eyes for a long moment, then drops his gaze and takes a deep, shuddering breath. He nods.

"Okay, Leo, you win. I just... I don't want to leave another friend in the lurch.

"What about Avery and Milly? And our things. We're going to have to go back to the hotel. Avery can't handle everything."

He leans closer to his uncle, whispering, "It'll give Rosalie a chance to say good-bye to Stan. Tommy, too, for that matter. Sure it's a risk, but I doubt they're staking out the hotel. If they were, we'd all be dead right now."

He turns back to the others. "Thank you both."

"What about me?" she asked.

"I'll go where you lot go."

Leo pondered for a few moments then nodded. "Fine, we can all go back to the hotel to gather everything and then go to the safe house and plan what we're going to do next. We will need to be doubly cautious that we aren't tailed, however."

Bo gets behind the wheel of the car, prepared to drive Milly and Leo (and Rosalie, if she wants) back to the hotel.

Leo gave Bo a gesture indicating he should stay put for a moment, then headed back over to the others. "We can all go back to the hotel together. Presumably Stan's body is still there - you can both say goodbye, or we can figure out something better to do than leave him there. We can also collect Avery and our belongings before going to ground." He looked over at his niece and the reporter for any questions or comments they might have.

"Ok -it's your call Leo.".
He paused.
"I'm starting to think that if we all vanish from the hotel we will have the police and Penhew's cult on our tails. Maybe if we keep a tight watch tonight...make it through to tomorrow we can make a cleaner decision in the light of day.".

Tommy shifted the car in to gear with a determined look on his face.

"Especially since tomorrow night we are going to take the fight to them...".

ooc - over to the hotel together?
As soon as we arrive Tommy will seek to put in a call to Vincent's dentist to make sure he made it there ok. For simplicity, if Vincent happens to be there, Tommy will urge him to head back to the hotel so they can be together...it would be a shame for Moretti to miss out on our big debate.

If Moretti has NOT turned up to get his wound stitched up, then I imagine Bo and Tommy might be heading directly to the Blue Pyramid...

Returning to the hotel, they parked their cars inconspicuously so that the badly damaged one wouldn't draw the immediate attention of any of the hotel staff, and then proceeded towards their rooms in a silent procession, ending up in the hallway. It seemed that nobody wanted to go into any of the rooms just yet, as their eyes were drawn towards the door of Stanley's room. As the noise of their entry into the hall drew his ears, Avery opened the door to the room he shared with Dr. Elias.

"Good evening, sir," he said, eyeing the grim procession. "Would you all like to come in now?"

In reply to Lawrence Avery (msg # 36):

"Leo, I think I should go down and let the concierge know that someone hit the car while it was parked."

Leo nodded at Bo's suggestion. "Good thinking, Walter."

He turned a wan smile toward Avery. "And a good evening to you as well, Avery. Yes, I think we should all meet here briefly." He stood aside and gestured for the others to precede him.

"I think it a good idea. Mr. Moretti rang up a few moments ago to inform me that he was well, and had one more errand to take care of before meeting you all here, or at another location," he said, taking care to mention this before Walter left.
This message was last updated by the player at 19:25, Thu 04 May 2017.

Bo goes down to see the concierge and report that their leased car had been struck from behind while parked,

"Tell ya th' truth, pal," he slurs, "We din't r'ly notice 'til we got back here. Can't even tell ya where it happened."

Rosalie stared at the door to Stanley's room, brows drawn together in pain.  Now that she was here, so close, she wasn't sure she could walk through that door.  Closing her eyes, she looked to her uncle and then Avery.  Belatedly, her brain registered his words.  "Vincent called?"  Relief made her shoulders sag.  She looked to Stanley's door again and then turned away, moving into Avery's room so they could discuss the situation.

Leo wrapped an arm around Rosalie's shoulders as she looked over toward Stanley's room a couple times. "I'll go with you, Rosie. It will be best for you to say goodbye." He let her choose whether she wanted to do so before or after their planning session, releasing her from the half-embrace of support he had offered.

After he's done with the concierge, Bo goes into the hotel bar and gets a shot.

"Where's th' guy was on duty earli-er?" he asks the bartender with a hiccup, acting like a man somewhat the worse for drink, "He started us off right, lemme tell ya. M'cousin Stan-ley got comple'ely loaded, I mean completelely. Hadda prac'icly carry 'im up t'his room. An' then he gets all belger-- beliery-- pissed-off an' threw us out. Ha-ha-ha! Demon rum, hah? Here's to it!" He tosses back the shot and goes upstairs to Leo's suite.

"Later," she told her uncle.  "I'll see him later.  Let's talk first, while I still have a voice."  She moved into Avery's room and took a seat in one of the chairs.  She was weary, tired, dragged down by grief.  Her body felt heavy and her limbs clumsy.  Resting was a relief, but a very small one.

Tommy glanced toward Stanley's door feeling a sense of fear and mortality. Bishop had been dogged, hardy. Yet now he lay there cold and stiff.
Alone.

The thought made the reporter shiver. The Elias group was close knit, built on a loyalty that Stanley had fiercely defended. It seemed somehow wrong that they were not with him, so when Rosalie faltered from saying goodbye Tommy swallowed his reservations and cleared his throat.
"I'll go.".

With a stern nod Avery moved to unlock the ominous door in silence and Tommy slowly entered the simple room. He hadn't known Bishop well but he shouldn't be left alone.

"What happened big man?".

The body lay there cold, motionless. Difficult to expect any different he supposed and yet Tommy couldn't help but watch for some sign of life; the gentle rise and fall of Stanley's chest or flicker of the eye. Perhaps even a stern glare or rebuke. Nothing.

Without thinking Tommy paced toward the curtained windows to peer out and spoke to clear the silence.
"I don't think they know what's hit 'em buddy. Bo's all mixed up and poor Rosalie...
Leo's tough though. He'll keep the family together.".

He let the curtain fall closed and looked back to the pallid body. "Remember when we first met? I thought you were a grumpy bugger. But I didn't realize what you were protecting back then. I think I get it now. Well, am starting to get it.". He paused as if waiting for a response.

"Vincent has hurt himself too. We really could have used you right now.".
Tommy sighed, lost for words.
"Anyway. Where ever you are, keep an eye out for us ok? And I'll keep that promise 'bout the interview. I'll do right by you. We all will.".

The pair lingered in silence for a while. Cotton wasn't sure how long it took, but when the time felt right he stood, straightened his shirt and nodded to Bishop one final time.
"Miss 'ya big man.".

Quietly he slipped from the room to join the others in conversation.

Bo steps off the elevator and turns the corner toward Leo's rooms. He sees Avery in the corridor and Tommy coming out of Stan's room. As Avery opens the door to the suite, Bo lays a hand on Tommy's shoulder in what he trusts is a comforting manner.

Inside the sitting room he looks at Rosalie, lost in her own thoughts.

"Maybe some coffee, Avery, if you can manage it."

The hotel employees below had patiently listened to Walter's story, promising to investigate the car, but informing him that unfortunately there would be charges for the damage placed to the room.

The barman looked concerned at Walter's drunken tale, but more because the American might cause a scene in the bar. He looked very relieved when Bo left to return upstairs.

---

"Very good, sir," replied Avery at the request for coffee. He set about sending down for some to be brought up. When it came up a short while later, he took care of the whole matter and sent the waiter back down with minimal interaction necessary but all due politeness.

"Right. What are we doing?"
The group had been sat in silence-tiredness and loss sapping at their willl. But as Avery busied himself serving the fresh coffee they stirred to action. One of them had to start the tale somewhere.

"So. We made it to the Foundation just like we planned.". Cotton began his report on what they'd found.
"Started looking around and to be honest we didn't find much at first. Not until the guard heard us.

He caught Rosalie.". Tommy glanced at her, worried she was still angry at the whole thing, that Bishops loss had made her frustration more acute.
"Vincent and I...maybe we were wrong but we took him out. That's where Vincent got shot before I...". His voice trailed off as he remembered the sickening limpness of the body as his shoulder slammed in to it.
"Anyway, the wound ain't too bad. Needs patching up for sure but Moretti will be ok. It's what we found next that is most worrying.

Gavigan had a secret basement. It was full of...I don't know how to describe it. The pictures, the statue...".
He felt his skin crawl at the memory.
"It was wrong. We took what we could; some books and stuff; but we found his notes. That's what stands out most. Gavigan knows 'the Americans' are on to him. We figured that meant Bo and Bishop had been made when they revisited the spice merchants place and Gavigan meant to do something about it.". Tommy felt a cold tug, a call to glance toward Bishops room. They all knew Gavigan's revenge had already taken a heavy price.
"The notes mentioned a place. 'Misr House' AND had tomorrow circled. Something is going to happen there and we have to stop it. Before then Vincent thought we should hide. Use a safe house. But with what's happened...I don't know if that's the best call any more.

What did happen?".

"I don't think Stan was a deliberate target. If someone was after 'The Americans' meaning me and Stan or even including Leo and Milly, they could have made a play for all four of us when...

"Let me start at the beginning." He describes how they began their plan with Leo and Milly as decoys while he and Stan approached, but there was a gang of workers at the warehouse. Stan was spotted and faded, then Leo and Milly went back to the car. Bo had lingered, unseen in the shadows, but had some bad luck trying to get in close and went back to the car as well. Stan didn't turn up at the car. Then they heard gunshots.

"I figure Stan circled back for another try. When I went in to scout, everything was closed up. I figured they had captured Stan, so we decided on a rescue. Leo and I were ready with shotguns by the loading doors and Milly backed the car in and smashed them open.

"But we spotted Stan on the ground behind the warehouse. When we got him back to the car... Leo says he somehow suffocated. Not drowned but smothered somehow. We couldn't leave him on the street so we brought him back here and put him in his bed."

He's silent for a few moments, gnawing at his lip, staring at nothing.

"Anyway, if they knew who Stan was, I think we wouldn't have found the body. The river's right there and they had a ship. Easy as pie to just deep six him out at sea. Why they left him lying in the open right next to their building, I don't know. I can't explain how he was killed either. Leo?"

"Maybe you scared them off, maybe they didn't care about the body or left it as a warning.".
The reporter frowned, listening to hear if Leo or Millicent had another idea.
Bishop was a big man to suffocate-he'd have fought back hard. Yet the corpse hadn't shown signs of violence.

Tommy didn't want to hurt Rosalie with lingering details of Stanleys murder but they had to find an answer. Else one of them could be next.
 "Do you think they drugged him, or poisoned him somehow? Would that explain it?

Whatever happened we need to decide quick if we are heading to the safe house or entrenching ourselves here for an attack. If Gavigan was behind it they could be coming for us even now.
If we run though it's gonna look real suspicious. Barrington will hunt for us and we lose our credibility-we might need that if...when...we take the fight to the enemy tomorrow night at Misr House.".

"Whoa, Tommy! What fight are we going to take where? We don't even know how to find Meezer House, let alone what we might walk into with a couple of pistols and some shotguns.

"Why do we even want to attack this cult? My advice is to pack up and get out of England before the cops yank our passports. Tonight. Get to the continent and regroup, figure out our next move."

Leo listened as the tales started being exchanged, nodding in time to the statements that were made. He frowned at the final exchange between Tommy and Bo, then considered for a few moments. He interjected with some of what he knew about Stanley's death. "Stan was asphyxiated, of that I'm certain. And while there aren't any obvious signs of struggle, when I examined him it was apparent that his mouth had been forced open wider than it should have been. I believe his pistol was also discharged, though I didn't exam his firearm as closely as his body."

The physician mulled over what was being discussed about the Misr House. His first question was for Tommy and Rosie. "You said you took what you could - can we see what you got away with? Also, I assume it will now be obvious to Gavigan that someone was in the room where he had that calendar and the information about the Misr House? If so, it's  a good bet they will either lay a trap for us, or at the very least know that it's likely we'll be trying to get to the Misr House tomorrow. Which makes it extra-dangerous."

Leo stopped short of making any sort of recommendation, instead looking to his niece for her opinion.

"We won't get very far," she replied to Bo, her voice distant and small.  She closed her eyes as Leo described Stanley's death, pressing her fingers to her forehead.

At Leo's question, she wearily handed over her satchel for his inspection.  "Thomas and I took books and scrolls, mostly, but Vincent found a couple of relics that might be of interest.  He left the guard in the basement room.  If Gavigan returns there, he'll find him.  It is possible that they might change the location of the ritual, but we don't even know where the mirror is now, so Misr House is the only thing we have to go on at this point."

"The letter I found was one that Gavigan, presumably, was writing to someone named Omar Shakil.  He mentioned the death of the spice merchant and that he'd be taking control of the two branches of the Brotherhood.  He also mentioned two American men that were seen loitering in the area of the spice shop and that he suspected they were associated with another pair of Americans, a man and a woman, that had visited him.  That is, of course, Uncle Leo and myself.  He mentioned Jackson, as well, and the man named Mukunga that murdered him."

"He pointedly stated that he would be disposing of us before the next ritual.  The ritual at the Misr House.  If they have the mirror, and it is some sort of mystical artifact as most believe it to be, then they could very well kill us all with its magic."