Vinnie makes his calls. Mrs. DiCicco is not happy -- she's already made dinner!!!! -- but she is used to your work demanding this kind of thing. After some grumbling, she forgives you.

Within half an hour, you are at Hob's Court, in a pizzeria.

Hob's Court is a series of shops, all festooned with Halloween decorations, surrounding a small park. At one end of the park stands a Greek Orthodox Church. The park itself is dominated by statues of real and imagined discoverers of the New World -- Spanish explorers, Vikings, and others -- each of which is next to a large stone globe depicting the route that they took.

Vinnie and Amara sit in the pizzeria, eating. You can look out at the semi-darkness of the park from here.

As they travel Amara finishes her coffee, which wasn't warm anymore anyway. "Shoot. It's starting to get cold, and I didn't plan for the nighttime when I went to work today. The subway's a lot warmer than the street." She continues to walk along with a smile, but her arms wrapped around to hold her tan cardigan closed with her hands hidden beneath it prove she's trying not to let on how cold she is. Fortunately the files are in her purse, so she doesn't need to keep a hand on them. As they go she asks, "Who was your call to?"

She looks so much happier after a while inside the pizzeria, not hiding at all that she's warming her hands with her plate. She seems happy enough to be eating, but the warmth of the inside and the food is better than the taste. Quietly enough not to be heard at an adjoining table she says, "So, this is my first stakeout. I've been to a number of crime scenes and suicides. But I'm always there after the fact."

The pizzeria just contains a couple of pairs of young people, involved in their own conversation. Nobody pays any attention to you.

He was a big man and didn't feel the cold like Perez. Besides, he was wearing the near-universal NYPD detective sport jacket. While buttoned it kept his sidearm from being printed by those curious enough to look but naïve enough not to recognize a cop, and it also helped against the wind. By the time they walked to Hob's Court he could feel sweat down his back beginning to soak his undershirt.


"Nevvie." The detective holds up his left hand with a gold band on his ring finger. "Got her hands full. But she's used to it. Just wants to know when it happens."

This wasn't Vinnie's part of town, but you could hardly go wrong with a slice of sausage and olives anywhere in the City. They walked into "Sal's" and up to the red-and-white tiled counter. He pointed at the sausage slice under the warmer, put a $5 on the counter, and nodded to the guy that he was covering both slices.


He shrugged. "Not too different; we both just pick up the pieces. Even beat cops only make perps walk the other way, do their stuff somewhere else; doesn't stop nuthin. You want to stop crime? They gotta be scared of what'll happen before they step out their door."

He gestured at the park in front of them. "Guarantee it. Right now there's a couple kids swapping cash for dope, a crack head coming down off a high who don't even know he's looking to mug a stockbroker so he can score more smack. Wait an hour and there'll be assholes in trechcoats and nuthin else. Findin crime ain't hard; it's finding the crime the DA wants to be found. That's the ticket."

Vinnie grunted, crossed himself, and took a big bite.

In response to Vinnie holding up his left hand Amara says, "I didn't get one of those. Ma's got her hands full instead."

"I've seen plenty show up on my table because of drugs. And there's no lack of crime. But do you remember how bad the 80s were? It's so much better now. NYPD's cleaned the City up a lot. Even better when we catch this guy and lock him up."

With her eyes on the park, she tries to get a good angle to cut down on glare. "It'd be a lot easier if it were dark inside and light outside instead of the opposite." Eventually she finds a position that works better and settles in as she eats more to satisfy her stomach now that her hands are warmer.

The detective grimaced. “Rudy got the tramps outta Penn Station an thats about it. Everything else is spin.” He grew quiet after that.

When Perez said she’d like to see better, Vinnie was stuffing the last of the crust in his mouth. He chewed a bit and wiped the corners of his mouth with a balled-up napkin.

“Oh, we’re gonna get a better view. Hope you got a scarf in that bag somewheres. Tonight’s a night for a walk. Hopefully this is one of the stupid polite perps, and we got 2 hours to know the neighborhood before he decides three midnight … jumps… seem like a good idea.”

---

OOC:
V will wait on A as long as she likes, but is keen to set out. Will look for beat cops and walk up to them, asking name, badge number, sorta stuff. Ask directions to dormitory and gym where basketball game was; also the design firm hq.

Amara? You cool with that?

"Everyone I knew had been mugged. Nearly no one I know gets mugged these days. That's not spin. I'm sure there is plenty that continues with the mob and all, though."

When Vinnie looks ready Amara finishes quickly. "Tonights' really going to suck no matter what. I never had a chance to go home to get prepared for a night outside. I'll make sure I walk around with plenty of coffee." She orders a coffee to go and is then ready to head out.

You walk onto the street. You see Hob's Court with its trees and statuary ahead of you, and shops lining the street on each side of the pizzeria, covered with Halloween decorations. The shadow of the church can barely be made out at one end of the park. One or two people walk up the road.

You know that the first victim -- Wendy Hughes -- was murdered here in the park night somewhere before last, witnessed by Horace Cobb.

Do you turn the police radio on? It will keep you informed of police activity, but might cause a reaction with people you speak with.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:15, Tue 07 Dec 2021.

Amara takes Vinnie's lead. She doesn't know this end of things at all. She is sure to stick close to him, seeing as there is a serial killer who likes to kill lone women in this area.

Vinnie looked at the park for obvious spots the patrolmen might malinger: near coffee and donut shops; in the lee of large statues; any shop attractive women might be "helped". He decided the cat-and-mouse game wasn't worth it at this stage, thumbed the dial of his radio on, and put it up to the side of his mouth.

"10-75-P: SoHo, Hob's Court, request assistance."

"Officer Beacon here. Who is this? What can I help you with?"

"Detective DiCicco, Staten Island NYPD, Officer. Near Sal's and the Greek church. Looking for a face-to-face."

"Ha, I'm just a bit from you. Let's meet at the church."

In a minute, you are there in front of the Church of the Savior. It's a small Greek Orthodox church. No one stands near it.

A couple of uniformed cops show up.

One says,

"Detective DiCicco! It's an honor to meet the guy that caught the Wolf."

He nods at Amanda.

"What's going on? You need assistance? They put you on this new case?"

DiCicco half smiles and half grimaces, shaking the hand of the officer who mentioned the Wolf; he wasn't comfortable with his fame, even if he knew the guy didn't mean anything by it.

"Figured you boys walking the beat would be more helpful than... you know." You never wanted to say the Sergeants and Captains on the force were full of shit, even if every cop knew it. "How many badges around the park and Hob's tonight?"

---

OOC:
I'll look at their names and badge numbers, trying to remember them to write them down later.

"About double the usual. Not much happening yet. Just the usual bums there in the park."

He nods in the direction of Hob's Court.

"So... you don't need support? Just want some news? I see you've got your radio on."

Vinnie smiled. “This *is* support, officer, and radios have ears. You know how civilians are. Never too careful when the administration wants things calm…

“How many patrolmen is, ‘the usual’? Any recent transfers from the Island I might know?

“Is Horace Cobb one of the usual bums? Seen him around tonight? And who’s the head-bum-in-charge of this park? Gonna want to talk to him.”

Give me a Luck roll.

16:47, Today: Secret Roll: Detective Vinnie DiCicco rolled 27 using 1d100.  Luck <51.

"Yeah, we saw Cobb. He's drinking in the park as usual..."

At that point, the radio starts to sqwuak.

"We've got a body. It's an in alleyway off Wooster Street, between Grand and Canal. Repeat: we've got a body."

Sirens immediately begin to split the night.

"That's three blocks from here!," shouts the officer, as he and his partner turn around and start running to their squad car.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:50, Wed 08 Dec 2021.

"See you there!" Vinnie turned to Perez. "Short stakeout, Doc. Hope you brought shoes you can run in!"

Beat feet to Grand and Canal.

"I'll do my best." She isn't wearing really high heels, but the low, more comfortable heels from work won't be the best for running in. "Let's go!"

Closing this thread and starting a new one