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Post by Adminenkainen on Jul 10, 2023 2:42:57 GMT
The Sikorsky S-42 flying boat had taken just Hour-Man and Captain Hawkman to Philadelphia, coming in for a 7 am landing at Philadelphia Municipal Airport. The Sandman was taking a slower route by train, but called ahead and promised they would have rooms waiting for them at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel downtown.
The first day in Philadelphia had been largely one of catching up on sleep.
Over the weekend, the Sandman, or Wesley Dodge, of Dodge Steel, as the Heroes now knew him to be, helped them get settled in. Hour-Man told him about the food varnish he had been working on for Bannerman Chemical and Wesley hired him to see if he could invent an application of it that would work on steel. And as for Captain Hawkman, there was plenty of work for a pilot able to make timely deliveries. "You can keep low profiles and not burn through your personal savings while you're here," the Sandman explained.
Captain Hawkman risked contacting Gabby by phone to find out what was going on. Gabby wasn't in the know anymore about what the Justice Society was up to now, but he got the script for the movie he was going to be in and it's called Dread Castle. Hobbs was leaving for Africa on Monday; Hobbs regretted that Captain Hawkman would not be there to see him off.
Hour-Man and Captain Hawkman(and Sandman) Monday May 22, 1940 Philadelphia
Before leaving for work, the two Heroes ate breakfast in the hotel lounge and checked today's newspapers. German forces were now just 60 miles from Paris. Thomas Dewey just won another GOP primary, this time in New Jersey. FDR vetoed the Rivers and Harbors bill and asked Congress to appropriate that money for defense. And...
Here in Philadelphia, an armored car was robbed last night. The driver and guard both found themselves paralyzed and were unable to stop the robbers who were then able to loot the car unhindered.
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Post by dtspurrier on Jul 10, 2023 15:38:48 GMT
(OOC hmm did not see this before I posted)
Anyway Rex gets dressed and thanks Sandman for the safehouse and the sub contract work. After reading the paper and listening to the news on the radio at lunch, Rex says, " hey want to look into these robberies. Make a little names in the paper? I know low profile but hero work is hero work."
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Post by Adminenkainen on Jul 12, 2023 3:31:14 GMT
((We can assume Rex, Desmo, and Wesley are meeting for lunch that day and discuss it.))
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Post by Tim_Fox1002 on Jul 12, 2023 23:49:53 GMT
"Sounds like our line of work Rex," said the Cap. "So let me get this straight..."
"Here's the armored car," he said pointing to his burger.
"And here are the two drivers," he said arranging two fries on top.
"Some guy with super mesmerism comes," he said moving another fry towards the burger. "Does his thing to the men. They can't move. This magic guy gets the money with a couple of armed men as back up. The whole operation is done 'pain free' with no victims, but a lot of mollah is stolen."
"Other armored cars are surely going to be a mark for this kind of robbery," said the Cap. "But the only way to get at the mesmerist is get him by surprise or....
"...we're gonzo too," said the Cap taking a larger than normal bite of his burger.
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Post by Adminenkainen on Jul 13, 2023 16:56:19 GMT
Hour-Man and Captain Hawkman(and Sandman)[/b] Monday May 22, 1940, 12:03 pm Philadelphia
"That's an interesting theory," Wesley said, "and certainly possible, if we're dealing with magic again. But how do we catch them?"
He offered ideas off the top of his head between bites of lunch.
"Ask Zatara to come here and track them?"
"Follow armored cars around town until they strike again?"
"Drive our own armored car?"
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Post by dtspurrier on Jul 13, 2023 17:17:51 GMT
Rex ponders, " if it is magic then we will need Zatarra. If it is technology based, such as sonic or sound then we should be prepared for that. Another option that is used at carnivals/circuses is hypnosis and in this case post hypnotic suggestion. While we have some options, we also need to look at if this is the only car that was robbed or is there a pattern. What bank or savings in loan did the car belong too. Could this be an inside job? Also is Sandman well recognized as a hero in this town?"
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Post by Adminenkainen on Jul 13, 2023 18:23:57 GMT
"I've been active as the Sandman for about 14 months now, but I try to keep a low profile. I'm more 'urban myth' than anything..." Wesley said, glad no one was near their booth in the diner to overhear them. "I want you two to stay at work this afternoon. I'll look into getting answers for your questions and we can discuss them all over dinner. Any more questions to consider?"
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Post by dtspurrier on Jul 13, 2023 18:29:20 GMT
Rex thinks, " if there is a pattern or several robberies were these trucks on the same route. Also any of your adversaries capable of pulling this job?"
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Post by Tim_Fox1002 on Jul 14, 2023 2:47:23 GMT
"No sure I follow all the difference between magic and science, Rex," said Desmo. "But I'll take your word for it. I guess we need an idea of the number involved, and how many vehicles they used to get away from the scene, as well as the time of day...."
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Post by Adminenkainen on Jul 15, 2023 0:45:23 GMT
Hour-Man and Captain Hawkman(and Sandman) Monday May 22, 1940, 5:30 pm Philadelphia Dodge Manor
During work, both Rex and Desmo received invitations to their boss' home, Dodge Manor, after work. A car came to pick each of them off and drop them off.
A butler showed them into the den, where Wesley was waiting, Sandman paraphernalia out on the table. Wesley, in a smoking jacket, was reading tickertape feeding out of a machine.
"Looks like Dodge Steel lost $20,000 today while I was busy with research, but I'm intrigued by the problem of this newest armored car caper - and let's face it, boys, we could use a win to shore up our morale..."
He turned to the table with a folder containing just a few clipped newspaper articles. "The facts are these, such as I've gathered so far...
"The armored car belonges to the Davis Bancorp company, a company with a sterling reputation. It was taking money to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia - again, a business above suspicion. This was the first armored car robbery so far this year, so it doesn't seem to belong to a pattern yet - unless the crooks are very longterm planners. The robbery took place at about 5:45 am.
"Now, here's the interesting part - the driver and the guard never saw the robbers, because of the paralysis, and the robbers were careful to stay clear of the rearview mirrors. They broke open the truck from the back, assumedly with a crowbar, and made off with $40,000. If the paralysis was done with hypnotism, the hypnotizer must have made them forget seeing him and implanted the false memories of seeing no one.
"There's a $1,000 reward for information already, but expect that to go up the longer the police have no leads. Unfortunately, all we have is a theory, and one that's going to be devilishly hard to prove.
"Do you boys want to wait for Zatara? Search the scene of the crime? Search the armored car? Interview the driver or guard?"
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Post by Tim_Fox1002 on Jul 18, 2023 12:52:28 GMT
"We better get started snooping around," said the Cap. "Zatara be along soon enough. And we can hold off on things if we run into anything science can't explain. Let's start with the scene of the crime, and then move onto the armored car."
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Post by Adminenkainen on Jul 18, 2023 17:17:45 GMT
((While waiting for Hour-Man's input, I also need to know if you're investigating in full costume, or snooping around in plainclothes.))
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Post by dtspurrier on Jul 18, 2023 18:23:11 GMT
Hour-man says, " lets look at the scene of the crime but the challenge is that it was 12 hours ago and the police should have any evidence that is left behind. IF we do full search probably should do this in costume and probably at night. As we don't have fake identification and neither of us work for the bank or are police officers ourselves they will not let us pass the tape. Lets start in plain clothes and stow the costumes in the trunk and walk around like we are tourists and see how far we can get. We will also need a vehicle."
Rex thinks and has an idea, "Wesley you are millionaire but are you a celebrity. Meaning when you show up to the women and other fame seekers want to take pictures with you meet you? we could use this as a distraction?"
(OOC like when Bruce Wayne would show up to a public function)
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Post by Adminenkainen on Jul 20, 2023 14:37:59 GMT
"Well..." The Sandman said, sounding a little embarassed by Hour-Man's compliment, "I'm known around town, but it's not like people mob me whereever I go. If we created too large a diversion, there would be no controlling what direction people came from and it might inadvertantly route traffic through the area we wanted to search...
"I think we should just go check it out without the diversion. It seems unlikely to me that the street would still be roped off as a crime scene. Let me get dressed..."
Hour-Man and Captain Hawkman(and Sandman) Monday May 22, 1940, 6:00 pm Philadelphia Corner of S 21st Street and Lombard Street
The Sandman had been right - more than 12 hours past the time of the robbery, the street was no longer being cordoned off as a crime scene. It was a busy street, with lots of automobile traffic and light pedestrian traffic. All three men took turns combing the area where the armored car had stopped (there was a stop sign at the intersection), and the road leading up to it. All three men came up empty; there had either been no clues left behind, or the police had already found them.
"Let's not lose hope," Sandman said. "We can come back, in costume, after dark. Captain Hawkman can even reconnoiter aerially..."
Monday May 22, 1940, 10:00 pm Philadelphia Corner of S 21st Street and Lombard Street
Under a waxing crescent moon and light clouds, the three Heroes, in full costume, returned to the scene of the crime. Car traffic was lighter now and pedestrian traffic was practically nonexistent, with all the local businesses closed.
Again, the Heroes were turning up nothing...until they noticed something odd going on through the third floor windows of a four-story abandoned building at the intersection. It was bright flashes of light for a few seconds. The windows were facing in the direction of where the driver and guard would have sat at the stop sign at the time of the robbery.
"Well...that looks suspicious..." The Sandman said.
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Post by dtspurrier on Jul 20, 2023 17:02:07 GMT
Hour-man think and says, " maybe those flashes of light might have temporary blinded or distracted our guards somehow. I know early stages of psychology experiments used flashing lights or different types of lights as means of testing patients. Anyway lets circle around and find a back entrance to that building or maybe Hawkman fly up and see if there is an entrance on the roof. The same trick we used with Hawkgirl earlier in our adventures."
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