"Very well. I'll remain here, quiet as you please." The gentleman in the dapper black suit says. "Although if you are lacking in law enforcement gear, I just so happen to have something that will interest you."

He reaches into one of his pockets and pulls out three shiny pairs of handcuffs. He lays them out on the table.

"Here we are. The very latest in restraint technology. Absolutely guaranteed to hold even the strongest or most cunning criminal. Harry Houdini himself could not escape these locks, and they can be yours for the paltry sum of $1.75 per pair."

((OOC: None of you have heard of a "Harry Houdini"...he'd be about 5 years old as of 1879))

Alouette continues to gather Things whilst the priest and Danny discuss the latter's various spiritual burdens, oblivious. In addition to the hoe, gnome, bucket, broom, surplice, chicken, candles etc. it has managed to locate and comandeer:

- six tin cans
- a tin bath (rusted)
- a watering can
- a spittoon
- a rocking chair (complete with pillows and genteely snoring shawl-clad grandmother)
- a tin of half-congealed varnish
- some nice specimens of tumbleweed (two large, one small)
- a section of advertising hoarding
- one rather ripe dead mouse
- one rather chewed old bone
- one still-warm fruit pie
- two horseshoes
- a small wooden wheel
and
- $0.15 in small change

Remaining quiet, Jake spent his time observing the recently arrived sales man who was not there when left to head to the church just minutes earlier. His eyes occasionally shifted to look at whatever good the man had on display, but something didn't sit right with Jake about this magically appearing gent.

In reply to Wildcat Hawkins (msg #10):

Charging Bear smiles and holds up the various sticks of dynamite he's already found. "There are a few sticks to be found here Ranger. Not sure how they managed to rig up some much so quickly, but yeah I'll start looking around for more. At the rate I found it, we could start a mining company." Pointing to the rather nice gunbelt and pistol, he says, "If no one objects I'll be holding on to this, as they're far superior to the pistol I got at the general store."

"Well, then, Deputy Vega. Welcome to the force." Evans says, holding out his hand for the man to shake.

"Good lord." Evans mutters at the sight of CB's stack of dynamite. He glares at Jake. "You have not yet answered my question, Mr. Lawrence. You were entrusted with the vital task of searching the vault, specifically to prevent this very thing from happening. You were entrusted with a duty, which you have grossly failed at. How could you possibly think leaving these murderous criminals alone with a case of dynamite was in any way a good idea?"

"If I may interrupt..." The gentleman in the dapper suit says. "It seems to me that none of you could have known what was hidden in the vault downstairs. Just as none of you could have known that the gentleman with the long scarf had a key to one of those boxes. Recriminations are not helpful. Could any of you have broken into the safety deposit boxes downstairs? Perhaps you could have, given time. But time seems to be in short supply for you all, and I have a feeling that lack will only grow as you continually hop from one crisis to another. I could save you all some of that precious time, if you'd only ask."

In reply to The Amazing Evans (msg #15):

Giving the local marshal a look that told him you thought he was mad, loony, or bonkers probably wasn't the best thing to do, but that was exactly what Jake did. "I believe you never asked such a thing of me. You were using that vault to hold Running Badger here before I even knew you were the law in these parts." then the salesman rang in. Jakes eyes shifted to him and narrowed as the man went on about how they didn't know anything about what was hidden in the vault below.

"You're right. I didn't. Ranger Hawkins, however, did. And you can leave Deputy Charging Bear out of this. The charges against him are false, and I was simply holding him to forestall trouble. He is not a troublemaker, and as soon as we have some evidence to exonerate him he will be free to leave. The same cannot be said of the others, as they have already demonstrated."

It hit Jake like a ton of bricks, he had looked through the vault top to bottom end to end. He'd found mostly nothing, a few bits of coin and other what not but nothing that would've suggested dynamite was hiding behind those safe deposit doors.

"You're right Marshal, and I did search the vault. Found mostly dust and dirt, but six of the boxes were locked."

Evans nods. "Well, I suppose our strange new friend is right. A box like that wouldn't have been much of an issue...without a key. Which means two things. One, we need to figure out where he got that key from. And two, we need to get those other boxes open, so we don't have any more surprises."

He looks at the Generous Salesman. "And I find it curious that you have so much knowledge on this subject. Where are you from, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Oh, I'm from here and there, now and then." The salesman says airily.

"That isn't an answer."

"I'm here to do business, and I've passed through Blackthorn before. Does that answer your question?"

James smirked, it was a wicked looking thing upon his face but it suited him well. "Charging Bear, could I please borrow one of those ticks of dynamite for a moment? I promise to return it ... unharmed." Charging Bear agreed and handed Jake a stick. The huckster took a moment and looked over the deadly little stick.

OOC: Oh why not, hunch time!
15:22, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 7,1 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,1. SpellCasting (Hunch).

Meanwhile, Alouette has added an old (fortunately empty) hornets' nest, what looks like a coffin handle, a somewhat perished rubber ball, a solitary rollerskate and a collection of various-sized rocks and bits of brick it presumably considers interesting to its gathering of Things.

[[just so's you know.]]

OOC:  I'm lost, did the rest of us go search the building or are we all still standing in the same room?

Jake fiddles with his cards, laying them out on the table.


((OOC: I'm assuming we've moved the prisoners to a different room, but are now discussing things amongst ourselves before the search begins.))

"Ah don't want nothin' you got there, feller.  But yer deduction is right on th' money."  Wildcat informs the salesman.

"Well Marshal, that page ah gave ya ought to exonerate Deputy Bear from any reasonable accusation.  Puttin' it all together, th' only question is who done come and give 'em the key?" Wildcat shows it in her hand.

"Of course if that Tugger feller had it the whole time, it could explain why they came 'long wit' me 'stead of fightin'."

He shook the Marshal's hand. Deputy Vega. Has a good sound to it, he thought, looking over the scene. Of all things, he was most intrigued by the man who seemed to be a salesman.

"Well, what now, Marshal?" he asked. "We got all them folks as was shootin' up the town. I s'pose we should be haulin' them off to the lock up." He then remembered the decimated ruins of the jail that he had hidden in.  "We still got one o' them?"

"Fellah, yer in th' lockup.  That there vault downstairs is all we done got fer it."

"I'm not so certain of that, Miss Hawkins." The salesman says. Was he ever formally introduced to her? "You may come to regret not looking at what I have to offer when the opportunity was there." He smiles languidly. "I have that feeling."

"Unfortunately, one piece of paper is not enough to convince a town whipped into a frenzy by unscrupulous folk. There are some prejudices that go too deep, and fear of the savage Indian is one of them. I fear we'll need to find an alternate target for their ire before they'll accept Charging Bear with open arms." Evans muses. "We aren't dealing with 'reasonable people' but mob mentality. It is a sad fact that reasonable arguments do not always translate into exoneration. I am living proof of that. My own reputation was heavily besmirched by a jealous rival. I won my case but lost respectability. It's why I went on the road in the first place and, ultimately, how I ended up here."

The two keys in Wildcat's hand are very similar...so similar that one could surmise they go to differnet locks in the same building.

Evans turns to Adrian. "I'm afraid Miss Hawkins has the right of it. And until we can be sure that it is entirely secure this time, we dare not put them back there."

"I can help with that." The salesman says. "I have among my wares some very specific items which will aid any such attempt immeasurably, if only you would ask."

"Look feller, you done admitted ya'll sell anything ta anyone under any circumstances.  Ya come out of nowhere, in a place that don't make no sense, doin' weird things that ain't should be did, somethin' ain't right here.

"Now I ain't sayin' that anyone who sells anythin' dangerous is liable for his cust'mers, especially if they lie about their intent, but by gum, ah seen an' talked to these three an' they don't never make no bones 'bout what it is they do, hell's bells, they's proud of it!  But ya done 'sold' this feller dynamite anyhow, and th' fact ah can't prove it means ya'll get ben'fit of the doubt, but ya have un uphill climb tryin' ta convince me ya didn't good and well know what you was doin'.

"An' that dynamite turned out useless when he really needed it, ah believe th' fact it worked out like it did fer me is just his bad luck.  Ya done 'sold' me help in th' scrape, a free sample ah reckon, an' while I can't deny ya delivered, it damn near scairt me out of th' fight!  Then ah mention a shortage of handcuffs, and looky there, ya done got 'em, how conveen-ent.

"It don't matter if'n I bought yer whole stock feller, you'll just come 'round an' sell th' next set ah put in th' clink whatever they need to get out, long as they're willing ta pay fer it, won't ya!?  Like you sell me th' handcuffs, but ya sell them the keys later, or somethin' like that.  An' along th' way, ennyone who trades with ya'll is gonna suffer fer gettin' mixed up in it!  Am ah wrong!?"

"Ranger, " James said as he picked up his cards and returned the stick of dynamite to Charging Bear, "You might not want to yell at the salesman just yet. Seems that Mr. Baker got that dynamite in the vault some time ago... four or five years I figure. I would be vastly interested in why he put it in this particular location."

After having deposited the criminals with the higher ups of the law - namely Ranger Wildkitten and Marshal Evans - and having getting back the dynamite from Lawrence, Charging Bear sets out to check the rest of the building for explosives seeing as that's what Wildkitten said he should do.

OOC: Starting at the back door and working in a counter-clockwise fashion.

11:55, Today: Charging Bear rolled 1,3 using 1d6,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,3. Notice.
Well crap... red chip to reroll
11:56, Today: Charging Bear rolled 4,1 using 1d6,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,1. Notice (Red Chip Reroll).

"I hear very little 'benefit of the doubt' in your tone, Miss." The salesman says placidly. "I sell items to those who could use them. I have methods for getting to customers that my competition can't easily match. Can I be faulted for having an entrepreneurial spirit? And you don't need to worry about me selling to folks in jail cells. Though I allow potential customers to inspect my wares, I don't take it on faith that they 'will pay me back later.' I don't lend credit. With my margins I can't afford to. If someone wants something I happen to have, they can pay for it right then or not at all. People in jail cells do not tend to have ready access to cash."

He picks up the handcuffs and squirrels them away into his pockets. "And you wound me. Ask anyone I've done business with. They will all tell you they were perfectly happy with my wares. You can't hold me liable for any misfortune that should result in the misuse of my products--that's the fault of the buyer."

He sighs. "But, as I can see you're not willing to do business, then may I ask your leave to go? I have a business to run and other customers to court, and I weary of trying to convince you of my good intentions."

Wildcat was surprised he answered as he did.

"All right mebbe I'm a bit unfair here lately.  And at mah wit's end wit' everyone.  Ya ain't done nothin' bad, but it sure does look bad from my end.  Ah just want the truth, why were ya there when it happened, what did ya see, and what all are you sellin' exactly.  That's all ah reckon ah need, ya ain't done nothin' illegal."

In reply to Charging Bear (msg #30):

((OOC: Thanks for the chip! }:D))

The only dynamite he finds on the first floor is a satchel filled with 9 sticks of dynamite, just sitting open on the floor. It looked like it was just left there...probably when Wildcat took down Rum Tum Tugger.

That's not the most interesting thing he finds, however.

Charging Bear opens the door to what should be a storage room...and finds himself face to face with a large black horse, hitched to a big black peddler's wagon with the legend "The Generous Salesman!" emblazoned on the side. The horse and cart take up quite a bit of space, and the door is far too small for either the horse or the wagon to get through...
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:19, Wed 19 Oct 2011.

In reply to Wildcat Hawkins (msg #32):

"I can understand your concerns, Miss Hawkins. I've found a good stiff drink helps relax the soul once in a while." He pulls a flask from his pocket and takes a quick sip, as if to prove his point. He sets it aside. "Well, let me answer you as best as I can. I arrived where you met me. My...conveyance has a peculiar habit of dropping me into interesting situations without warning. It's a Type-40, rather old and unreliable, but it gets me where I need to be. So to be perfectly honest, you were the first person I saw, being attacked by a former customer of mine. As for what I'm selling, well, I have a vast inventory, and it's embarrassingly easy for me to find strange and unique items. For instance, I happen to have with me four keys that fit locks in some safety deposit boxes in this very building. I only know what one of those boxes contains, but I figured someone in town could use those keys more than I."

"Fella, yer a strange one.  Let's say ah believe ya.  How do ya know so much 'bout me, ain't never met before."