It's 8 am. None of you got much sleep, but you're there at the City Hall meeting anyway.

All of you have children, and all of them are a bit peeved -- to greater or lesser extents, depending on their ages -- that you are busy with work instead of helping them get ready for Halloween.

DA Boulder, Dr. Conrad, Cpt. Matheson, Sgt. McGarnagle, and Dr. Gourdie are all at the meeting.

Cpt. Matheson is in a very bad mood.

When you come in, the first thing that he mentions isn't the body discovered last night. Instead, he throws a newspaper down on the table. "LOOK AT THIS CRAP!"

The newspaper is the Daily Eye, which is a tabloid.

The headline reads: "VAMPIRE KILLER STALKS SOHO -- POLICE USELESS!"

The byline is "Cole Shack."

OOC: give me your standard EDU roll here.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 20:20, Fri 10 Dec 2021.

Amara arrives with some time to spare, the same travel coffee mug in hand, but dressed much warmer. Clearly she has learned her lesson on that end last night. Over her jeans and baby blue pullover she wears a tan coat with fluffy, off-white lining and a white, knit scarf. Matching knit mittens and hat peak out from her purse. Maybe she'd gone a little overboard after last night, as winter is still long off.

"¡Ay no! Who would even think of a vampire with the victims hurt that way? Doesn't everyone know vampires drink blood from a bite? And they aren't even real. So who set the Daily Eye in this direction?" Amara looks genuinely frustrated, though nowhere near the furious the captain seems to be.


17:37, Today: Dr. Amara Perez rolled 18 using 1d100.  EDU <90 for newspaper.

Matheson practically roars with anger.

"SOMEBODY told him about the blood being taken out. I don't know who, but SOMEBODY. And from that we get to 'ooo a scary vampire is killing people' and... look here... 'The police have allowed three people to be killed so far.'

"Cole Shack is just SCUM."

DA Boulder gives Matheson a "calm down" expression, and Matheson does, slightly.

Matheson goes on.

"You were there last night, so you know about the body. Good thinking being in the area, by the way.

"Here's what else we call tell you.

"The vic is Nancy Hardy. Thirty-eight years old. She's got a husband, but we haven't talked to him yet -- just given him the news. He musta loved hearing that at 2 in the morning.

"She's a mystery writer. Goes under the pen name 'Randy Travis'."

OOC: if you make an EDU roll, you may know something about her.

"McGarnagle, give 'em her file."

McGarnagle does just that.

Victim #3: Nancy Hardy

Age 38. 5'5". 140 lbs.

Brunette hair dyed red. Blue eyes.

Endomorph.

Medical conditions: high blood pressure.

Married to Tommy Hardy. Three children, aged four, seven, and twelve.

Religion: Catholic.

Mystery writer under the name “Randy Travis”

No known enemies.

Criminal record: shoplifted during adolescence.

Hobby: gardening.

Personality: insightful, tough, well liked, tenacious.

She was heading home from an unknown location.

Her body was found off an alleyway leading from Wooster Street,
between Grand and Canal Streets.

He then adds.

"Oh yeah. We got the DNA analysis back from the tissue samples under the nails of the first two victims. Nothing that we didn't already know -- the same perp in both cases.

"Dr. Perez, we'll like you to do the autopsy on Hardy. Not that we don't trust Gourdie..."

Gourdie grimaces, his face looking remarkably doglike.

"...but for something this weird, we'd like another set of eyes. Gourdie will be there to help you."

"Yes, sir."

When there is a moment to address everyone Amara suggests, "Is it possible the perp is a Catholic and now hates Catholics? I'm not thinking specifically about this victim being Catholic, especially with Ms. Atkinson being a victim. But rather I wonder if the next two attacks are going to be east and west of the original attack to make a cross like a priest might with his hands. It's just a thought I had. X marks the spot just doesn't seem right to me, though that occurred to me, too."

Matheson shrugs.

Simon Magnus says,

"No. Very astute of you, but... I buried myself in my library last night, and this is not a Catholic vampire -- I mean, some killer inspired by Catholic folklore. This is a vrykolakas. That is a Greek Orthodox form of the vampire."

He peers over the frames of his sunglasses, certainly expecting you to ask him to go on.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:40, Sat 11 Dec 2021.

Vinnie was wearing the same clothes as last night. He’d been there when Mr. Hardy had been told. Guy took it better than some he’d seen. The 5 o’clock shadow had deepened and his eyes were bloodshot from sleeping in a 4th Precinct’s interrogation room.

He hadn’t reacted to Matheson’s rant. Sure, the journalist was a pest and not to be trusted, but hell, who’s gonna believe the tabloid saying Vampires are stalking the City? Leading up to Halloween? Downplay and stonewall. The DA seemed to get the idea.

When Perez suggested a “Catholic vampire” Vinnie rolled his eyes. No such fuckin thing. Then the Alchemist — Vinnie had long since linked the guy’s name to Simon Magus from Acts of the Apostles — said he was Greek Orthodox. “Then the next one is gonna be two blocks West. Orthos cross themselves backwards,” he explained dryly, and finished his paper cup of cheap hallway Nescafé coffee.

Waiting to see if Pascal has something to say here.

Pascal winced a bit with Matheson's tirade.  He remembered Magnus yelling for Perez to 'check for bite marks on the neck'.  Ridiculous.  He thought about throwing Magnus under the bus right then and there, but chose not to.

Ignoring Magnus's latest input, he raised his voice to ask, "Do we know where Hardy was coming from?  And did they ever find anyone last night who saw anything?  Any witnesses at all?"

Matheson says,

"The Detective here spoke with her husband, but he didn't get much out of him as far as details. What with the tears and the screaming children and all."

Dr. Conrad (the FBI consultant) says to Magnus,

"Mr. Magnus, you are here because of your specialty and because the perpetrator appears to have some obsession with vampirism. What were you going to say?"

Magnus returns his sunglasses to their former position and says.

"The murderer is likely a Greek revenant known as the vrykolakas.  The history of these creatures dates back to the time of the Roman Emperor Hadrian.

"To become a vrykolakas, one had to be cursed, die a violent death, do a dishonorable act, or be excommunicated from the Greek Orthodox Church. Such vampires usually return to complete some unfinished business in their lives.

"The word 'vrykolakas' means “wolf-pelt wearer.” I connects this to the witnesses reporting the wolfish look of the killer. I also noted that the witnesses said that the attacker seemed to be constantly changing. Werewolves, after death, were thought to become vampires.

"The method of destroying them usually was with fire. Crosses and sunlight are not mentioned as being effective. Neither are stakes; many accounts describe vrykolakas being impaled over and over, beheaded and so on, and still returning to haunt the living.

"I suggest that the police arm themselves with holy water, flame-throwers, and flare guns."

Dr. Conrad, DA Boulder, Cpt. Matheson, Sgt McGarnagle, and Dr. Gourdie all look at Magnus as if he were completely insane.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:04, Tue 14 Dec 2021.

Pascal, too, looks at Magnus as if he were completely insane.

He walks to where the others are standing, speaking to Dr. Perez first.  "So, you're doing the autopsy and Ghourdie's gonna assist?  Bet he's gonna love that."

He turns to Vinnie.  "I'm gonna skip the autopsy.  Where are you headed?"

The detective didn’t flinch at the Alchemists’ bizarre claims. There wasn’t enough coffee in Manhattan to make him care about the usual crazy, much less this nonsense.

“Talk to the living,” he said to Pascal with little enthusiasm. “Husband won’t be any help for a few hours, so follow up on the first two, probably the way to start. Get some sleep this afternoon, meet at Sal’s for a slice and a real stakeout?”

He turned to Matheson. “How many badges walking tonight, Captain?”

"Double the usual number. We've declared a curfew, but we can't enforce it."

Where do you want to go? Simon Magnus will tag along.

“Is Mr. Hughes available for that interview, Sergeant? Guys got enough on his mind, don’t want to keep him waiting if he’s ready.”

"He'll be waiting."

An hour later Vinnie, Pascal, and Simon Magnus are at the Hughes residence, a nice condo in the West Village.

You are greeted by a friendly German Shepherd  and a very unhappy looking Mr. John Hughes. The daughter is nowhere in evidence.

He invites you in. He doesn't offer you anything. He just stares off into space, uttering a few words.

"I spoke to the police before. I don't know what I can tell you know."

The dog looks up at John Hughes with big sad eyes, sensing that his master is upset.

NOTE: so you don't get confused, this is the husband of victim 1, Wendy Hughes. I would also like Psychology rolls for Vinnie and Pascal; I'll make one for Magnus.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:33, Wed 15 Dec 2021.

Vinnie sat down on the living room couch and kept his eyes on the fucking dog. "Thank you for seeing us, Mr. Hughes. This is purely standard procedure; over the course of an investigation new questions come to mind. I'm sure you understand."

He took a paper napkin out of his jacket pocket and wiped the sweat that started to blossom on his forehead. "Can you recall thinking your wife was acting strangely, or was less engaged than usual at home over the last week?"

The fucking dog looked at Vinnie and he flinched. "Would you please put the animal in a different room, sir?" he said with urgency in his voice.

---

OOC:
09:51, Today: Detective Vinnie DiCicco rolled 68 using 1d100.  Psychology <11.