((OOC: Ha-ha-ha. I read 'Dikke Rupps' as being the section of Amsterdam-Zuid where the coffeehouse was, rather than the actual name of the coffee house itself.))


"Really? It's a drug den? Are you sure about that?" Tyr responds.

"Maybe it's Grecocitto's home turf. Okay, that puts a whole new wrinkle on security."

"It's not a drug den, just a coffeehouse... which in my country means, well, a place to buy pot!
Well, I can start researching Tobias Brinkerhoff if you want. Can get onto that right now."

Galen snorts slightly, "All the same to me - where a bunch of druggies go to waste away their lives. Not my scene at all. On the upside we could turn up in full tactical kit and loaded for bear and it's not likely the clientele would even notice."

"I will get started then."

Unless his companions want him to wait, Rob would head off to the main library, in order to check their files on Tobias Brinkerhoff. Aiming to use the Net to see who the man writes for, and then find physical copies of the newspapers or magazines at the library, or use their databases to see digital versions of them.
Rob wants to read some to get an idea of how he writes and on what topics.
He will also see if there are any articles about the reporter.

Galen sees Rob head off with a wave of his hand and nods a goodbye to Tyr as he collects a sidearm and tucks it neatly into a subtle shoulder holster. He's not expecting trouble but that tends to be when it most often turns up.

Double checking the address he heads out to size up the Dikke Rups. Once nearby his first steps are to do a slow circuit of the area keeping an eye out for anyone who seems to be equally interested in the coffeeshop, especially if they're making a concerted effort not to look interested.

Once he's as sure as he can be that he's the only watcher he'll take up a perch, either loitering in a doorway or - preferably - a table at a nearby bar or cafe to keep a careful eye on coming or goings. Especially if the clientele are the type who look like they might cause trouble.

OOC: Took a cue from Rob and thought it's a good time to get things moving. If Tyr would rather case the joint then Galen can find something else to do and I can amend this!

As for which skills are in use I think Tradecraft probably fits best for identifying if there are any other people acting suspiciously nearby or any covert surveillance going on but could equally be Urban Survival or even Streetwise (if it's really grim!). Happy to go with GM decision on which is most appropriate - have points in all.

Rob's time at the library quickly turns up some basic info on Tobias Brinkerhoff.  He is a reporter for the Agence France Presse, covering political news around Europe.  About ten years ago he was awarded the Wächterpreis der Tagespresse for exposing a vote-rigging scheme in Bavaria.  More recently he covered the events transpiring in Transnistria, a small breakaway state in Moldova which (according to Brinkerhoff's articles) might be receiving covert support from Russia, even though the latter has not formally recognized their independence.  A few other outlets have mentioned this story as well, but it seems like no one had noticed it until Brinkerhoff brought it to light.

Rob - you may spend another hour and 1 point of Research to dig deeper if you'd like

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Galen heads over to the coffeeshop.  It's in a commercial neighborhood, a little bit off the main roads but hardly obscure.  In the middle of the afternoon on a Monday there isn't much foot traffic here, though there are a few people around.  None of them set off any alarms in your mind.

Dikke Rups is easy to spot - the big green caterpillar on the sign over the door is a giveaway, and if you didn't already know what this place was, his hookah would settle that quickly enough.  There is a green and white sticker in the door which signifies that they are a legally certified purveyors of cannabis.  The windows at the front of the building have a frosted finish, allowing light to pass through but obscuring any of the finer details inside.  The door is plain glass though, so you can at least get a glance without looking obvious.  What that shows you is a number of colorful leather couches arranged around small tables, and two or three customers currently inside.

Across the street is an actual coffee house with a few tables on the patio, so you are able to get a drink and sit comfortably for a while.  As you watch, you see two men walk out of the shop, laughing raucously at whatever joke they have just told each other, and then a short time later a man and woman walk in, saying something (in English) about wanting a snack before going to see the tulips.

Rob notes all the info' down.
Then goes to see a librarian at the desk, and ask for some more information.
Spending my Point in Research
"Hello!", Rob says, offering a tulip. "Have a great festival!"

The librarian smiles and thanks you, then gives you the information for accessing some more professional-level papers through the library's account.  Reading through these, you find that Brinkerhoff's reporting about Transnistria got a lot more attention from the Russians than you would have expected for an issue that seems... well, not unimportant exactly, but certainly less attention-grabbing than Chechnya or Crimea.  But no, you see multiple articles not only reporting Russian denials, but quite stern objections.  Maybe even veiled threats - after all, it's not every day that FSB officers allow themselves to be quoted in the news talking about the need to "respond to slanderous accusations."

Not knowing where Galen was going of what he was doing, Tyr grabs his camera and also heads out and makes a bit of a circuitous route to Dikke Rups, making a mental note of the streets and alleys leading to the place. He's also paying attention to the roofs, to vantage points for a sniper, potential climbing places if he needed to get up to the roofs. He's also going to try and assess the potential traffic routes... street lights, traffic congestion, choke points, narrow streets, places motorcycle could go but a car couldn't. Traffic isn't his forte but he'll take photographs of everything to show the others.

When he reaches Dikke Rups, he continues take pictures of the entrance, adjacent shops, etc. If he doesn't notice Galen, it's more likely that Galen will notice him.

In any case, Tyr will use Tradecraft just to gather the intel. Don't see any reason to spend a point right now.

Since Galen had specifically been looking out for anyone else that might also be scoping out the location, he immediately notices Tyr's activities.  But he also recognizes his teammate quickly enough to avoid any kind of confusion.

As far as his own observations go, Tyr does get a good sense of how to navigate the streets immediately around the shop.  Most of them are wide enough to accommodate a single lane of traffic in each direction, but there are also a few picturesque single-lane cobblestone streets in the neighborhood.  He also notices that there are narrow alleys in between buildings every so often to allow access to utilities, emergency exits, or what have you, and that there is one of these alleys on the side of the coffeeshop.

I don't think Tradecraft would be the right skill to use in this instance.  It might give you an idea of where would be a good location for a dead drop or a clandestine meeting, or something along those lines, but the info you're looking for would probably fit better with something like Urban Survival and/or Streetwise.  But you do have those, and you're not spending points out of anything right now, so it's not especially important to make the distinction at this moment.

Rob will report all this to his comrades when he meets up with them later on.
Sharing the intel' he got with all
"Maybe we can whack this Tobias Brinkerhoff and get a bounty from the Russians!"

In the meantime he will keep on working at the library.
Well, first he has a coffee, and stretches, and then gets back to the research.
This time looking into two things: Andre Grecocitto ; and anything catchy or fishy about Malta right now.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:25, Sun 30 Aug 2020.

Rob doesn't find quite as much this time.  Grecocitto's LinkedIn page says that he is a mid-ranking official in Malta's Ministry of Finance.  You are able to find a couple other sites that confirm this, and whatever photos you see do look like the same man you met earlier today.  As for Malta itself, there are occasional stories of individual crooked politicians, but the only recent news that stands out is some questionable government contracts with various foreign businesses.

Rob tries to see if the nationality of those foreign businesses can be determined - and if any have ties to Russia - before heading home.

Galen sees Tyr also checking out the area and catches his eye before beckoning him over to the table he occupies over the way sipping at a cappuchino. He gets straight down to business, "I've been watching for the while now and it looks like the normal crowd you would expect - nothing too fishy. Am thinking I might go in and check out the inside; see what we're dealing with by way of entrances and exits. You want to join or were you planning to do more on the street?"

The only one which is identified by name is Emirates Capital Growth, from the UAE.  There is also brief mention of other companies based in Russia, Turkey, Italy, and other unspecified countries.

Rob will try to see what information is available about Emirates Capital Growth, and maybe what dealings it has with Malta.

The only info you can get from this search is a very bland corporate website (available in multiple languages, including Russian among others) about their investment services, with a lot of boilerplate language about diversified portfolios, international markets, investing in both new and established businesses, etc, and some stock photos of various impressive buildings in (presumably) Dubai.  You are able to find general contact info (no specific names) if you want it.

Getting more info about Emirates Capital Growth is going to require a different Investigative ability, depending on what you are trying to find - Research covers info that would be available to the general public, and there is very little of that here

Intrigued by the fact there is not much there, Rob will try to access some legal databases, to see what kind of lawsuits ECG might be involved in-- or is there nothing? He wonders: is it a flat ECG?
Okay, okay, time for another coffee!
He looks into any lawsuits or condemnations or such, to see if there some pattern of illegal activities--
Criminology
--while also looking into corporate registration databases, or merger reports, or investor meetings and such, where information might transpire as to what they are up to.
Bureaucracy

Galen finishes his coffee and heads into the shop, attempting to look as much like a tourist as possible. Once inside he orders a brownie, or at least something edible, and another coffee  and takes a seat with his back to the wall and facing as much of the room as possible. There he casually casts his eyes around the building to see if he can get an idea of the size of the place, entrances, exits etc.

OOC: If it's an option I'll use Architecture to try and get an idea of the layout of the place. Mainly any entrances/exits which might not be immediately obvious from the front.

"I was going to go in and scout the interior, but not sure I'd fit in, now that I see it," Tyr replies to Galen.

"I'll stay here and keep a watch on it a bit more."

Rob continues digging for anything interesting about Emirates Capital Growth and finds alarmingly little.  The only public record he can dig up is a government site stating that the company was legally established in 2002, and he can't find any record of lawsuits, civil or criminal penalties, or anything else of the sort.  If there is more out there, it's not something he's going to be able to find sitting on a computer in a public library.

Bureaucracy could also be used to obtain records from a government office, whether online or in person, but you would have to wait for a human being over there to put everything together for you - definitely nothing that's going to happen tonight, and even to get it before the meeting on Thursday would take a lot of maneuvering.

If you really want to speed things up, good old Digital Intrusion is always an option, but that's a General skill rather than Investigative, so you would need to roll for it.  And you probably don't want to be seen doing it out here in public view.

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Galen walks into the shop.  There are two people behind the counter, a man and a woman, both probably in their mid 20s.  They both wear dark green t-shirts with the shop's logo printed in white.  You spot a door behind them, off to the side, such that whatever is behind it goes along the long side of the shop.  Storeroom and office, most likely.  You also notice that getting behind the counter requires going through a door with an electronic keypad.  The prices for snacks are a little high, but that's probably because of the extra ingredient (you notice that there are "with" and "without" options on the menu).  The coffee might be decent under normal circumstances, but after the drink you just had across the street, this one tastes like gasoline.  Modern pop music plays over the shop's speakers, loud enough to hear it easily but not so loud that you have to raise your voice when speaking.  The atmosphere is only lightly smoky, since you are here during off-peak hours.  If you've ever smelled pot smoke before, you can definitely recognize it again now.

The layout of the shop is comfortable.  As you saw through the door earlier, colorful couches arranged around small tables, with enough space in between to walk without difficulty (though running would be more of a problem).  You notice that the couches and tables are all movable, not secured to the floor; they slide easily enough, but if for some reason you wanted to actually lift one you would probably need someone else to help.  With your focus on the setup of the building, you see three doors in the back - men's and women's bathrooms, and one labeled "Tobacco*."  That last one also has a glowing "Exit" sign above it.

And of course, in a real emergency, there are the front windows.  They might make it hard to see in and out, but they look like they would break easily enough if you needed them to.

*Local law is stricter about tobacco than marijuana, so it can only be smoked in a designated room away from everyone else.  This is something you would all know in-character.

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Out in the street, Tyr sees one customer leave the shop (yes, Galen sees that one too), but no one else goes in for now.  A few random people stop and glance inside, presumably out of curiosity, but then continue walking to wherever they were actually headed.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:51, Sat 05 Sept 2020.

Rob has a look at the local press before leaving, to have a look at anything big or seemingly odd that is going on these days--
--before heading back to the group's base.

Nothing odd exactly, although there is an article from last week about a shootout in broad daylight, between rival gangs of Albanian and Yugoslav smugglers, in an industrial area in Westpoort.

Seeing only one person exit the shop and none entering, it occurs to Tyr that it might be the wrong time of the day for much business. Stopping at a pub for a beer after work might translate into smoking pot here. It was a subculture he was not familiar with.

Likewise, he considered the windows. They looked vulnerable, but who would bother breaking it to steal pot when you could just buy it anywhere. There did not seem to be any value to stealing it. Besides, it was probably all locked up after hours anyway.

He looked at the doors and windows to see if hours of operation were listed.

While the windows wouldn't need to be tempered glass, they were probably double-paned against the cold of winter.

Taking in every detail he can memorize about the location at the same time he takes in the sub-standard coffee Galen finishes his drink with a slight grimace and heads towards the door marked 'tobacco' and 'exit'. As he goes he pats his pocket like a man looking for his cigarettes, just in case the staff are paying enough attention to wonder what he might be doing.