"You look like an angel
Walk like an angel
Talk like an angel
But I got wise

You're the devil in disguise
Oh yes you are
Devil in disguise..."

--Elvis Presley, "The Devil in Disguise"

Mid Afternoon, April 10th, 1879

Continue on from the last thread...
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:37, Thu 14 Oct 2010.

Robert looks at Even's, confused fora  moment, then comprehension dawns.  "It wasn't him, it was the judge.  Hizzoner Melvin Blume.  At least that's one thing we've figured out, what happened to him." He shakes his head and corrects himself.  "No, we know where he is, but we don't know what happened to him.  Him and the other fella, someone did it to them, right?"

[Private to GM: Do I have to start eating bugs?
I would totally have fun playing a renfield.
I'll assume that I utterly believe and trust her, and might even be an old fool thinking he's in love with a young women.  I think Robert, beind something of a gentleman and loyal to the memory of his wife, would only reluctantly dishoner her memory, but it has been a few years, and she pretty attractive, even without the Charm.

The only real question is, would I want to stay close all the time, or get twitch if she weren't in sight?  I could probalby play that as above, the old man making a fool of himself with a young women old enough to be his daughter, which he of course will protest is more a fatherly feeling of protectivness
]

"That's what I'm thinking, yes. I believe his Honor may have run afoul of the blonde gentleman in between the time he arrived and the time we encountered him, and then our Dust Adder friend was taken last night. Roland said he hadn't seen the man return to his room at the Grand Bull last night. We should probably make a check of the rest of the building, just to be sure, before staking out his room at the Saloon."

[[OOC: Does Wildcat have anything she wants to interject?]]

[Private to Robert Micklethwait: Not unless you want to. The whole bug thing was Renfield's particular crazy, not anything imposed by the Count.

That's what I was going for, yes. Utter belief and trust, possibly believing you're in love.

As for that, you aren't compelled to stay by her side, just follow her commands. However you want to RP it works for me.

Heh. "old enough to be her father..." That's funny, as in reality she's old enough to be his grandmother...]

OOC:  Nope, I'm quite happy with that, I just wanted Robert to answer the question before I said anything. 

Evans was running a useful bluff, and Wildcat let it go although she wasn't sure what he was referencing.  Regardless, the end effect was worth it.

Oh hell, who did I just stake?  she thought as Robert answered.  But she didn't show it, this was time to act routine.

"We have a lot more ground to cover.  We need to finish the sweep of the building and testimony from any witnesses."

"Sounds good to me." Evans nods. "Miss Hawkins and I can take the search of the upstairs, while Robert can question the girls further. Is that acceptable?"

He gives Wildcat a grim look, and superstitiously points to his Indicator thingamabob.

"Sounds like a plan Marshal."  Wildcat acquiesces.  "I need to take that chair the suspect broke with us though... evidence."

If there's no objection, she follows Evans upstairs with the demolished chair.  Once they reach a slightly more discrete spot, she stops him and wittles very crude stakes out of the three remaining legs, just in case.

These'll hafta do fer now.  She thinks, and then asks Evans discretely.

"Who or what the hell did I just kill?"

Robert says, "Ladies, if we could all be seated here..." leading them to a table.  "Now, let me summarize.  Miz Marina, that box he was in, it's one of the boxes you use for your, your props and the like?
Do you recall, do any of you recall the last time you saw the judge?
Which room was his?
Did he have any visitors, or did you see him talking with anyone"

OOC: I figure he'll pause in between questions, I just figured I'd put them all in one post.

"That is a complicated question. Robert mentioned him by name, and before becoming my deputy he served as a lawyer on the local judicial circuit. He also referred to the deceased as 'his honor.' This leads me to believe that we have had the misfortune of learning just what has befallen The Honorable Melvin K. Blume, judge for the 19th Texas Circuit." Evans replies. "However, Mr. Blume has also apparently been in the habit of skipping Blackthorn on his round of the circuit, as this would be the first time he's set foot, rotten or otherwise, in town since I was elected Marshal, and I'm mystified as to what prompted him to break that habit. And frankly, I do not believe the madam's story of the events of his arrival."

"I reckon some 'un wit' a vested interest in th' status quo made arrangements fer that, Marshal.  I'd nominate the 'ward boss' of yer local road agents."  Kat says with contempt.

She'd not gotten a proper chance to snap her cuffs on any Dust Adders' wrists today.  Ever since the rustler Deputy Hawkins dumped the outhouse on had gotten off due to her being in the wrong county, she'd taken their antics personally.  Ranger Hawkins didn't have any such problems however.  However Kat forgot about that once her brain realized what probably just happened.

Damn.  Was all Kat could think.  She'd killed the judge, she just knew it.  It was too big of a coincidence to be anything else.  Granted he was a horrible abomination, but she didn't want to take credit for it.  It was one thing to let the floozy attribute the kill to Mr. Mickle-fwate, that was just good damage control to not call attention to herself, but Austin would have to know it was her.

I found th' judge an' kilt him cuz he were a vampire.  It sounded like a face saving lie even to her.  Are they even going to believe a Non Commissioned Ranger?  Well, there was one man who would believe Buster Hawkins' little girl.  God, please let Mr. Armstrong be in Austin when I make that telegraph...

She should have gone to the undertaker and the telegraph office before coming here instead of after, but hindsight always wins out, unless maybe you're Idjit, who can't seem to see nothin' forward or backwards.  That would just have to wait, there could be more of those things holed up in here.

"Well come on, let's raise sand up here.  What's that... thing telling ya anyway?"

In reply to Robert Micklethwait (msg #7):

marina and her girls eagerly surround Robert, favoring him with slightly hungry smiles as he asks his questions.



"Indeed it is, sugar. I couldn't tell you which props off the top of my head...I'd have to see the box again." She frowns. "Though I'm not overly eager to go back downstairs, if you don't mind me saying so."



The girls take turns arguing for a few minutes.

"I think he had a 'private show' with Darla."

"Naw, I wasn't there long...he had kind of a short fuse, if you know what I mean."

"What about Lucy? He seemed to favor her."

"Yeah! And come to think of it, where is she, anyway? She hasn't come down all day!"



"You'd have to ask Horace, the clerk. He'd have that information."



"Well, there was Lucy. I think he may also have had words with Nickolas, the stagehand. Other than that, I can't recall seeing anyone else with him. You'd have to ask Horace the clerk about that."

In reply to Wildcat Hawkins (msg #9):

"The same thing it was telling me earlier...not a damn thing. I checked it after our encounter with his honor. Whatever is dampening the aetheric patterns, it's still in operation." Evans says, frowning. "Also, I wanted to talk about a...delicate matter."

[[OOC: How do you plan to proceed with your investigation? Give me an idea of what you're going to do, and I'll let you know what you need to roll.]]

It seems we've been following a cleaned up trail, I'm going to continue with the assumption I'm looking for that.  Even if I see no sign of it however, I want to know if there's anybody up here so I'm checking every room.  I suppose I'll take point and Evans can cover me.

"Delicate?"  Wildcat asks with slight incredulity.

The first two rooms Wildcat tries are empty. The third is locked.

"Er, yes. I...want to get your opinion on the possible existence of, erm...'feminine wiles.'" Evans replies.

[[OOC: Notice/Tracking to search through the rooms for clues, and lockpicking if you want to get through the locked door without a key/brute force.]]

OOC: hungry?  Robert is oddly reminded of social events long ago, when mothers would parade their daughters as wife material before the wealth young scions of family fortunes.



Robert nods.  "As long as we can get another lantern, I can go down.  There might be evidence down there as to what happened."


Robert perks up at this comment.  "Wait, one of you young ladies is missing?  Well, what go the judge might have gotten t'her as well?  Which way is her room?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:22, Thu 14 Oct 2010.

OOC: I'll go ask for a key momentarily.  I'm going to call out to whoever

17:06, Today: Wildcat Hawkins rolled 9,1 using 1d6,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+3)9,1. tracking roll.

Wildcat chuckles at Evans apparent awkwardness.  "I'm not sure I know what yer referring to exactly, Marshal, if'n it's what them, colorful, ladies down there are all about or somethin' else.  That subtle stuff works purty good fer you an' Mr. Mickle-fwate on account of yer privileged ed-you-cashuns, but I'm from Bastrop County where we just let it all hang on the fence."

In reply to Wildcat Hawkins (msg #15):

Evans grimaces. "I'm not sure I needed that mental image dancing around in my head right now..."

He clears his throat and starts again.

"I mean in the form of autohypnotic suggestion. You know, mesmerism? There's something about those ladies which, I think, is more...polished than the typical smile-and-wink of your average dove. It's...hard to explain, but when I was in their presence I felt...powerless. Like there was something telling me to relax, give in, and surrender myself. It was...disconcerting."

Wildcat seems impressed with Evans' speculation.

"It's a hell of an ideer Marshal.  But I thin' there's more to it than that, because they sure didn't impress me much.  Matter of fact if'n ya could mess with sum-un like that, why would ya hafta, you know, act like that?"  Kat thinks about it for a second and has a small epiphany.  "But by gum, I bet that one that was actin' queer sure tried to make it work on me.  But then why didn't it work on all of us?  Mr. Mickle-fwate didn't seem to get too hot and bothered neither, really.  You seem to be the only one who needed a time out."

In reply to Wildcat Hawkins (msg #17):

"Perhaps it's due to his age. Perhaps he's just a more reserved gentleman than I. Or perhaps he has been affected, but isn't showing all the effects of it. After all, he seemed quite quick to go off with the madam alone. Perhaps he did react, but we were too wrapped up in our own investigation to notice." Evans sighs. "There's too many variables, and perhaps I'm just grasping at straws because I'm embarrassed at my behavior. But it's something to keep a watch for."

The rooms are clean, but there doesn't seem to be any evidence of any recent thorough cleaning, at least in the two rooms Evans and Wildcat pick through.