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Post by theleadingman on Jul 5, 2016 1:22:13 GMT
They left by the backstage exit together, into the alley behind the building. "June!" A portly, double-chinned man with white hair and a thick mustache sauntered after them into the alley. "I was going to offer to walk you home, but I see you've already found someone to help with that. Do I know this young gentleman?" "Al, this is Liam. Liam, this is Al B. Keith, the theater manager and my boss." "This is a good-looking fellow, June. You're theater people, aren't you, Liam?" "Liam is friends with Henri." "Oh! Well, any friend of Henri's is a friend of mine," Al said, shaking Liam's hand vigorously. "Henri is a generous patron of the arts. I'm actually glad he was not at tonight's show, though, as tragic as this evening turned out to be." They said their good-byes to Al and "Liam" and June returned to walking away together. "Liam" had to make up some largely generic, but still convincing lies about Henri to sate June's curiosity. Then he was able to get June talking again. "I've been to the Deselles' house a few times. No, twice, I guess. They hosted parties and invited everyone over from the theater. It's been awhile, though, probably not since before Howard Feinstein, The Cabalist, joined us. To be honest...I got the feeling that things weren't that good between Henri and Jeanne. They were never that affectionate with each other. And the French are supposed to be an affectionate people, aren't they? "Oh...I suppose Henri did flirt with me a little. I'm used to that. But he knew that I was seeing Sid, even back then, so he respected my boundaries..." she started to tear up again at the mention of Sid. Her sadness seemed genuine, but she could always be a great actress. The Leading Man took the opportunity, "Henri would probably like to know about Sid's passing. Besides his home, you know anywhere he might be?" "Liam" also thought he might try probing Sid's death a little but a savvy private dick would know to wait for a less emotional moment in the conversation. So he stuck with his main purpose even if the connection to a recently deceased man had him wondering what Deselles was up to.
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Post by dtspurrier on Jul 5, 2016 5:55:48 GMT
Howard comments " no I have not seen the stranger before. I do believe he is not the killed since he arrived after the crime occurred and i do think it would be difficult if he sneaked backstage in disguise, killed sid, and then changed into the nice suit, after all someone would have noticed. Anyway I am going to check on a couple of things before I leave. See u tomorrow. "
Howard goes outside and hands veronica the keys and says "please warm the car up I am going to try to go back to the scene of the crime I want another look. " As howard goes back inside he thinks about Roscoes comment about June. Could Roscoe be in love with June and to win her over he had to kill Sid?
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Post by Adminenkainen on Jul 5, 2016 17:01:06 GMT
As he hurried he drew his pistol from its holster. He then yelled "Freeze, FBI!" Rick had, by following the suspect outside, narrowed the gap between them to 10'. He had also decreased the number of bystanders who risked being hit to three by exiting the more crowded station. Now he yelled "Freeze, FBI!" The suspect spun half-around and looked like he was going to grab a hostage, but pushed past instead and ran into the street. The way was clear when the man ran into the street, but when Rick took off after him a bus narrowly managed to brake in time to keep from hitting him! Rick wasn't gaining, but keeping a steady 10' between them. They were now approaching a row of tenements of 3-5 stories in height with people in front of them, which meant more bystanders to get in the way soon. ((Rick has time for one shot now, if he wants to take it, or he can continue to chase. The gap will widen if he stops to take the shot.)) ((rolls: 15, 7, 1, 9))
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Post by majorvictory on Jul 5, 2016 17:14:49 GMT
Moving faster to shorten the distance between himself and the pursued Rick fired the gun up into the air with a hope of scaring the runner into quitting.
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Post by Adminenkainen on Jul 6, 2016 19:35:22 GMT
The Leading Man took the opportunity, "Henri would probably like to know about Sid's passing. Besides his home, you know anywhere he might be?" "Liam" also thought he might try probing Sid's death a little but a savvy private dick would know to wait for a less emotional moment in the conversation. So he stuck with his main purpose even if the connection to a recently deceased man had him wondering what Deselles was up to. June thought about it for a minute. Her face was streaked with smeared make-up from her tears, but she still tried to be helpful. "Maybe try the Minneapolis Club. On Second Avenue," she suggested. Once The Leading Man was alone, he pondered the situation. It was not too late for a night club, unless Minneapolis' social scene was nothing like in Los Angeles. He took a stroll past the four-story, ivy-covered mansion on Second that was the Minneapolis Club. It looked busy, with a couple in night club garb (obvious even under their winter layers) arriving just now. ((Does Lee want to get inside any particular way?)) ((http://www.circavista.com/virtualtour/mnclub/floor1/lobby.html))
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Post by Adminenkainen on Jul 6, 2016 21:06:24 GMT
Howard comments " no I have not seen the stranger before. I do believe he is not the killed since he arrived after the crime occurred and i do think it would be difficult if he sneaked backstage in disguise, killed sid, and then changed into the nice suit, after all someone would have noticed. Anyway I am going to check on a couple of things before I leave. See u tomorrow. " Howard goes outside and hands veronica the keys and says "please warm the car up I am going to try to go back to the scene of the crime I want another look. " As howard goes back inside he thinks about Roscoes comment about June. Could Roscoe be in love with June and to win her over he had to kill Sid? Back inside, Howard realized he had limited options. To investigate the crime scene more, he would need to get through a locked door into a windowless room. He could either search Al's office for Al's keys (Al never locked his office), try to force the lock (without alerting the night watchman), or persuade the night watchman, Chris, into letting him into the locked room.
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Post by dtspurrier on Jul 7, 2016 5:31:13 GMT
Howard will try to enter Al room and get the keys quietly. If he sees Chris in the area then he will try persuasion. If that fails then using magic on the watchmen in the final trick.
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Post by Adminenkainen on Jul 7, 2016 18:22:46 GMT
Moving faster to shorten the distance between himself and the pursued Rick fired the gun up into the air with a hope of scaring the runner into quitting. Even though the sound of the gunshot was muffled from the train station by a passing truck backfiring, the fleeing man heard the shot and finally threw up his hands, just before trying to lose himself among a bunch of bystanders up ahead. "Okay, don't shoot!" the man said, keeping his hands in the air. "I confess, I didn't tip the paperboy! I'll go back quietly and give him another nickel..." Rick patted the man down and found his wallet in his back pocket, a set of keys and a pack of gum in his front pocket, a loaded Derringer, a pencil, and the crossword puzzle torn from the newspaper in the trench coat pockets. The wallet's drivers license said he was Kevin Dufour from here in Minneapolis. Rick was about to say something when he noticed a man walking up the street towards them from the north spotted the arrest taking place and suddenly had a look of fearful recognition on his face. Trying to look casual, the man moved his hat down over his face, turned around, and started to walk away quickly (he was about 40' away, with more bystanders between them). ((I checked and Rick isn't carrying handcuffs.)) (( rolls: 4, 4, 1))
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Post by majorvictory on Jul 7, 2016 23:13:41 GMT
Rick mumbled an apology quickly telling Kevin to move along. He then walked fast towards the frightened man hoping to tail him without being too obvious.
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Post by theleadingman on Jul 8, 2016 2:53:27 GMT
June thought about it for a minute. Her face was streaked with smeared make-up from her tears, but she still tried to be helpful. "Maybe try the Minneapolis Club. On Second Avenue," she suggested. Once The Leading Man was alone, he pondered the situation. It was not too late for a night club, unless Minneapolis' social scene was nothing like in Los Angeles. He took a stroll past the four-story, ivy-covered mansion on Second that was the Minneapolis Club. It looked busy, with a couple in night club garb (obvious even under their winter layers) arriving just now. ((Does Lee want to get inside any particular way?)) ((http://www.circavista.com/virtualtour/mnclub/floor1/lobby.html)) Liam decided to just try the front entrance. He would even try dropping Deselles name to get in if it seemed likely to work.
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Post by Adminenkainen on Jul 8, 2016 23:43:57 GMT
Howard will try to enter Al room and get the keys quietly. If he sees Chris in the area then he will try persuasion. If that fails then using magic on the watchmen in the final trick. Howard moved cautiously down the hall and into Al's office without encountering anyone. He knew better than to turn on the lights and had to wait for his eyes to adjust to the dim light coming in through the blinds on the window. He looked through Howard's desk and found his spare key ring. He was moving around the desk towards the door when a light shone on him from outside the room. Chris the Night Watchman -- a man of about 50 years of age, with a short white beard, bald head, and glasses -- shone a flashlight in his face. "Oh, Mr. Feinstein, it's you!" Chris said. "You just about gave me a heart attack. Did you forget something in Al's office tonight?" Howard tried persuasion. Chris listened attentively, but took on a pained look as it became clear what Howard was asking for. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Mr. Feinstein! I think your act is just the best, you know. Big fan. But -- orders are orders, and my orders were to let no one into Sid's dressing room." So Howard offered to show him a special trick, just for him. Chris naively watched Howard cast a sleeping spell ("Sleep! Sleeeeeep!") -- and then Howard watched with surprise when Chris failed to fall asleep! "That would be a good trick, but I drink so much coffee, I won't sleep a wink until 9 am!" Chris laughed. (( rolls: 1, 4, 6, 3, 2, 11, 20))
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Post by Adminenkainen on Jul 9, 2016 2:27:46 GMT
Liam decided to just try the front entrance. He would even try dropping Deselles name to get in if it seemed likely to work. "Hmm..." the man at the door seemed really uncertain about The Leading Man, but eventually agreed to go inside and see if Henri Deselles was there. "He is," the doorman said when he returned. Behind him was a man matching the photos of Henri Deselles. " Salut..." Henri said with curiosity as The Leading Man came into the lobby to meet him. "I do not think we have met. Mr...?" (( roll: 5))
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Post by dtspurrier on Jul 9, 2016 3:51:02 GMT
Realizing that spell failed howard says "wow that trick normally works for kids. I am sorry to ask this but Veronica, my assistant was a little embarrased to ask this but she lost one of her eerings in Sid's dressing room. I am sorry for the subterfuge but it was her grandmothers and she really want it found. If you just escort me in and help me look we can be out in no time. Help me out and I will include in the show tomorrow night."
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Post by theleadingman on Jul 9, 2016 15:12:50 GMT
"We have mutual friends and they sent me to talk to you," The Leading Man said. "Perhaps we could find a table...?"
The Leading Man stepped through the doorway and conspicuously did not give his overcoat to the check girl; a private eye did not care or know about such niceties.
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Post by Adminenkainen on Jul 9, 2016 17:06:56 GMT
Rick mumbled an apology quickly telling Kevin to move along. He then walked fast towards the frightened man hoping to tail him without being too obvious. Rick let Kevin go and trailed the new man. The new man was clearly watching the street for a taxi, but none happened to be around, so he kept walking briskly. Rick's mark didn't look like he knew he was being trailed, but was determined to make good time somewhere anyway. They crossed the Hennepin Avenue Bridge over the Mississippi on foot. They crossed Main Street and reached 5th Street before the man succeeded in finally hailing a taxi. Luckily, there were two! Rick hailed the other and followed by cab. They drove up Central Avenue for 3 miles, past some residential tenements, and back into commercial zoning. The first taxi parked beside the first 4-story office building on the right and the man got out. He had been smoking in the cab, paused to toss his spent cig on the sidewalk, and looked around. He spotted Rick, exiting his cab, just 50' away. He had a look of "Where do I know that guy from...?" on his face and was probably just about to make Rick as the arresting officer back near the train station. At least this time the neighborhood was less crowded with bystanders. (( rolls: 3, 6, 3, 4, 4, 4, 1, 1))
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