A possibly necessary location.

When the two arrive at the apartment Mae Ha Rga will put on some gloves and start looking around for Holly's current state of mind.  When he finds the diary he will drop it into an evidence bag without touching it as much as possible.  Then he'll spill the contents of her purse on the kitchen counter (making sure to check for any secret/hidden pockets).

Senor Garcia begins to take pictures of the entire apartment. At the same time, he looks for any hidden cameras, or if there may be additional that could be tied to a different security system.

Wearing gloves as well, he checks for anything that may be written down in Russian.

[Private to GM: I see this post as pretty much RP of the die rolls I made the other day.  ]

Then he calls up the Team on the Secure LESP Communication...
[Private to group LESPradio: +"Justicar here. Hey Team, there is definitely something fishy about this 'Madame Barpofsky', who runs Caveat Allure.  She has no records older than five years when she migrated here from Ukraine to the States... and bought Caveat Allure, whole cloth, for a little under a hundred million and then made regular multi-million upgrades beyond her profits to improve the business with no record of where this money came from.  I can find not records with 'Madame Barpofsky' actual first name.  This SCREAMS a fake Id, and could have ties to Russian Criminal Oligarchs ~ Dirty Money!  Be VERY careful around her and her company as it could easily be a front for something else... sinister.  I'm running 'Madame Barpofsky' Id through INTERPOL... we'll see what they uncover.  If you could potentially get me a partial print of her finger prints that might help. Will keep you informed."+]

Hikari will put in a call to the Team across the Secure LESP channel...
[Private to group LESPradio: +"Justicar here, got some... disturbing news about 'Madame Barpofsky'."

"Interpol matches her photo with Zinaida Navokov, wife of the notorious mobster Valentin Navokov. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Valentin Navokov went from being a mid-level facilitator for the KGB to eventually running several major illegal operations from gambling houses and human trafficking to the transport and sale of consumer goods knock-offs.
Navokov was eliminated in a very public and messy way. In a series of incidents resulting from the transfer of his prior responsibilities, virtually all of Navokov’s close associates were later also killed. Zinaida was deeply investigated, and appears to have nothing to do with any of Valentin's business."

"I think Valentin was a very Bad boy to his criminal underworld bosses..which likely means he stole from them... in a big way. Enough that they felt an example of him and EVERYONE he worked with needed to be publicly and messily eliminated to show their displeasure and warn anyone who might repeat whatever Valentine did to piss them Royally Off! Not sure how his 'wife' escaped their wrath but funny she shows up in America 5 years later new ID with near 100 million in cash to buy a Modeling agency.  Suspicious?"

"Now she might be perfectly legit, so please show discretion in your investigations... we would not want to ruin a good woman's name and business ~ But personally, I smell something rotten."

"Be Very Careful!"+]

{ooc: Gah, sorry about the double post.. I Hate that!}
This message was last edited by the player at 14:31, Sun 12 June 2022.

To Señor Garcia, "I'll go down to talk to the apartment manager.  I'll be right back."
Mae Ha Rga goes down to whichever floor the superintendent lives on and knocks on his door.
"Pardon me, sir."  And he gives his standard bow.  "I'm part of the team investigating Ms. Cook's disappearance.  You had let us into her penthouse a little while ago.  I need to ask you if you ever saw her boss, Madame Barpofsky come to Ms. Cook's apartment?  She's the owner of the Caveat Allure modeling agency."

With Mae Ha Rga gone, Senor Garcia looks around for any sort of powder products (baby powder, make up etc), and thinking to himself that he should have brought soem sort of fingerprint kit. If he finds some, he will begin dusting common areas for fingerprints. Using the flashlight on his phone he will see if he gets any fingerprints then takes pictures of them.

It was a long shot, but if Madame Barpofsky (formerly known as Zinaida Navokov) had visited the apartment, finger-prints might be there.

If he does find any computers or other electronic items he also dusts their keyboards, or if a touch screen device the screen itself. Last, without turning the computer type devices on he takes pictures of any visible serial code, or service numbers.


[Private to GM: 18:02, Today: Secret Roll: Senor Garcia rolled 66 using 1d100.  Military Intelligence 101% (Zinaida Navokov prior dealing with?)).
66 PASS, trying to determine if he's heard the name before, maybe the ex CIA assassin has a contact in the CIA or Stat Dept that can provide non-publicly known info. The two organizations do work together.

18:02, Today: Secret Roll: Senor Garcia rolled 29 using 1d100.  Military Intelligence 101% (Valentin Navokov prior dealing with?)).
29 PASS, trying to determine if he's heard the name before, maybe the ex CIA assassin has a contact in the CIA or Stat Dept that can provide non-publicly known info.  The two organizations do work together.]

18:03, Today: Secret Roll: Senor Garcia rolled 21 using 1d100.  Detect Concealment 110% (looks for CPU's hidden or out in the open).
21 PASS, he wants to dust the key boards for prints.

18:01, Today: Secret Roll: Senor Garcia rolled 15 using 1d100.  Detect Concealment 110% (find common areas with finger prints).
15 pass, dusting areas with prints

18:00, Today: Secret Roll: Senor Garcia rolled 85 using 1d100.  Detect Concealment 110% (find powder products).
85 pass, find some sort of powder product.

[Private to The Maharaja: While the post did get buried, I replied to Mae Ha Rga on the drive up.]
This message was last edited by the player at 01:25, Mon 13 June 2022.

The apartment manager explains that he's paid good money to be available but unseen. He barely sees the tenants, much less their guests.
[Private to Senor Garcia: None of your contacts know more than JUSTICAR discovered, however, several of them suggest that Navokov lost a large shipment of laundered money.]

After sending a few texts to a few contacts he has, and getting some replies, Senor Garcia sends gets on the LESP secure radio frequency and hopes its actually a secure channel.

[Private to group LESPradio:
"All teams be advised; I've made some inquires of my own and there is some suggestion that Valentin Navokov lost a large shipment of laundered currency which what may have been why he was killed."

"This is just speculation and is not to be confirmed intel. But if true, it is possible that Zinaida Navokov, now Madame Barpofsky used that laundered currency to purchase Caveat Allure."

"JUSTICAR, is Madame Barpofsky married or has any male or female companion? If so, said companion may be former KGB or GRU and if so Zinaida Navokov may have had a hand in her husband's death."

"Also be advised that if Madame Barpofsky has any bodyguards in their mid to late fifties they may be former Spetsnaz operators. Some of whom could be augmented."]

[Private to GM:
Has Senor Garcia finding any finger prints he can send to JUSTICAR? He knows fully well that until processed, the prints could just be Holly, her friends, and boyfriends.]

In reply to SSOGM (msg # 8):

Mae Ha Rga pulls $100 out of the wallet he keeps in a zippered pocket on his pants and waves it in front of the superintendant's face.  (FYI - There's nothing but petty cash in there just for occasions like this.)
"A good building manager such as yourself would certainly have only the most reliable gossip regarding his tenants."

The apartment manager defers from taking the money. He explains that part of the lease agreement is that he doesn't gossip, and he's been tested before.
[Private to Senor Garcia: Yes, there are numerous prints that can be sent to LESP Offices.]

Justicar triggered the LESP Secure channel in reply to Senor Garcia...
[Private to group LESPradio: +"Thank you for the Intel Senor Garcia.  I did not see any mention of 'Madame Barpofsky' being married again.. but I'll check for such.  I agree she probably bought Cavaet Allure with the stolen laundered money of her husband's ill gotten gains... that is not necessarily 'illegal' and who knows it could have been her husband's idea to 'get out' of the criminal lifestyle and go legit state-side."

"It IS shady... and I'm certain her husband's criminal former associates would want to have some serious... perhaps even fatal conversations with Zinaida Navokov about the source of her business funds. So we must be careful not to reveal her for risk of her life."

"However, her husband was a former KGB Mid-level facilitator and then went into major Illegal gambling houses and Human trafficking, I don't think one does that and then steals blatantly from self-same criminal moguls and comes away with the 'best intentions' or a desire to change from what they know and what has worked for them for decades!"

"Same goes for Zinaida Navokov, her husband was a information espionage spy and criminal thug and vice peddler.. I'm better she does not fall far from that tree.  I'm going to see if there are and unexplained thefts, corporate espionage reports, or even deaths centered around appearances of the Cavaet Allure models public appearances or presence in their shoots or activities.  These are the stock and trade of Russian Intelligence and typical Russian Mob practices."

"I'm also going to provision the Shadowhawk to be ready to come to New York rapidly with the rest of the Team to assist you as you are correct Senor Garcia if Zinaida Navokov is following her husband's play book ...just more subtly, former Spetsnaz operators could indeed be an asset in her employ and the team will need to be ready with backup."+]
This message was last edited by the player at 12:53, Mon 13 June 2022.

In reply to SSOGM (msg # 11):

Mae Ha Rga is surprised and it shows on his face.
He bows again and quickly puts the money away.
"I am sorry for the insult.  Thank you for your time."
He hurries back to the elevator to go back to the penthouse with his head hung low, absolutely mortified.

[Private to SSOGM: (OOC:  Are there any other apartments/penthouses on the same floor as Holly Cook's or does she have the whole floor to herself?)]

As there are no other tenants in the penthouse, there may no undiscovered clues remaining.