Amadeus, Anatoly, Evelyn
The three of you drive back to the hotel where Dr. Udko has been putting together a record of what you've found, Amadeus cradling the stone mouth in its burlap sack.
After keying into the room, you find that Doctor Udko has dragged the desk to the end of the twin beds and turned it over as makeshift cover. You stop in surprise as he jumps out from behind it, his pistol pointed at the door!
"Ah! It's you three! Thank goodness!", the alienist says, lowering the pistol.
"That Pizner character payed me a visit while you were out! Truly a thug, most likely a misanthrope with antisocial tendencies! Once I secured my weapon, he took off!"
Doctor Udko seems quite shaken from the encounter, his glasses crooked on his face. He sports no visible bruises, at least from what you can see.
Freddy
Keeper screen:
Freddy is walking back to the car, tucking his notepad away into his jacket pocket. He's almost to the car when he feels that prickly sensation on the back of his neck that he always got back in the trenches, when things were getting ugly. He turns on his heel, but too slowly to keep the two thugs off of him! The first slashes Freddy with a switchblade, while his pal smacks him with a lead pipe- pipe boy was aiming for the head, but Freddy's sudden movement spoiled the swing and he dings up the rental car. The switchblade hits home, though, going straight between Freddy's ribs!
Stability check.
"Be careful there. You made me piddle myself a bit. What did he have to say? How did he know where we were"?
Anatoly is a bit shaken up, but he calms down after a moment.
Doctor Udko adjusts his glasses, making them more askew than before.
"He jumped me when I came back from the bank- he was waiting here for me, or for one of us at least! He wanted to know what we're doing down here, who hired us- why we care what happened in '24. Naturally, I kept my composure despite his assault-", Udko winces, holding his side. " and when I challenged him with questions of my own, he simply beat me more. An absolute brute, this Pizner character. Once I felt that his guard was down, I pulled my revolver- that's when he backed off and made his exit."
Eve jumps back a bit at the weapon but then laughs a bit and says My word you gave me a start!
She then looks around and says Yes tell us what happened.
Amadeus clutches the mouth-statue and screams like a girl.
"Ugh!" Freddy grunts as the blade scrapes his rib.
Freddy is no stranger to hostility though and draws his Colt .45.
"Think you've got the jump on me, huh?"
The PI fires a shot straight at the thugs chest!
Will spend three points.
Plus one for being heavy, plus and additional two for being point blank range.
At the hotel-
"He beat me with a blackjack is what happened! I thought we should take a page from Henslowe and get ourselves a secure safe deposit box- at a working bank, mind you- and this thug was waiting for me in the room! I think he was trying to scare us off the case."
Dr. Udko opens one of the drawers on the nightstand and puts the revolver inside.
After midnight, somewhere in East LA-
Freddy's shot is on target, taking the thug in the chest. His assailant crumples to the ground, the switchblade falling out of his hand.
The other attacker runs back between the apartment buildings, seeking to escape. Some lights have come on in the apartments; somewhere a dog starts barking.
Evelyn nods and says That must mean we are on the right track then...he's feeling the pressure of our investigation.
"I'm a bit worried about Freddy. He's by himself, and if they know about us, they know about him. Anybody want to go with me to look for him"?
"I will stay here with the statue. I um, need to study it further." Amadeus says, his eyes never leaving it.
Freddy hops back in the car and heads back to the hotel straight away. He'll put his camera in front of his knife as he heads into their room, to avoid the attention of the other hotel patrons.
Back at the hotel, the investigators calm Dr. Udko enough that he isn't a threat to them and split up to their respective rooms. For the time being, they decide that waiting a few more hours for Freddy to return is the wisest course of action and retire for the night.
Freddy returns to the hotel around 1 AM, quietly entering the suite with his weapon concealed.
Anatoly had been pacing the room, draining cup after cup of coffee waiting for the missing Freddy to appear. Several times he picked up his hat, and coat and started to go look for him, once even making it down to street level, but each time common sense intervened and reminded him that not only did he really not know where to look but he didn't have a vehicle.
He almost jumped out of his skin when Freddy finally made an appearance, at first excited then a bit angry.
"Where have you been? What happened? We've all been worried about you"!
He'll put his camera in front of his knife as he heads into their room, to avoid the attention of the other hotel patrons.
Freddy moves the camera from in front of his bloodied shirt. "I tailed a guard that left the mansion and followed him back to his apartment. I didn't get much in the way of info, but some of his buddies sure got me. Everything seemed fine in the building, but they must have made me on the way out." Freddy sits down on a nearby chair with a groan.
There were two of them. The one that put the switch blade in my ribs caught a .45 bullet for his troubles. The other took off. Not sure what condition the guy left on the ground was in. I just wanted to get out of there." Freddy leans back and starts to unbutton his collared shirt.
"So, any of you good with a needle and thread?"
Anatoly rushes to the door to Dr. Malley's Room.
"Hey Doc!. Better get out here! We might need a sawbones".
Evelyn hears Anatoly and rushes over. Lie down on the table Freddy. I need to see the wound properly. She begins by cleaning off the dried blood with a clean towel and water. She talks, obviously some sort of mnemonic device in order to stay focused, as she works saying Most people don't realize but wounds like this aren't just a matter of sewing them shut again. That can lead to serious infection and death. First you must make sure the the wound is clear of all foreign bodies. Dirt, cloth, bits of metal from the blade hitting bone, all of these things can cause infection if not removed prior to suturing the wound closed. They can form a cyst or cause sepsis or any number of horrible things.
She continues talking while working, probing the wound after anesthetizing Freddy with a shot of morphine from her kit.
Amadeus continues cradling his statue, ignoring the world.
Anatoly is finally ready to fall asleep after he is assured that everyone is safe, and passes out in a chair in the corner, fully clothed, and needing a shave... and a shower. Finally when the morning comes around, he stands, stretches and takes his turn in the lavatory.
"Well we must be getting to close for comfort to someone. I suggest we try to keep from splitting up until we make better sense of the situation. What do you think we should do next? Seems like we've got several choices".
"Maybe we should make a move as well, as we appear to have been made here, and I don't relish more ruffian attacks".
"Thanks for sewing me up Doc. A little rest and I'll be good as new."
Freddy nods to Anatoly."Good thinking. I'm not looking for a scrap again any time soon. The PI's hand gently pats his freshly stitched wound.
"So, did you all find anything interesting whilst I was out getting stabbed?"
"So Doc. A little more than you had bargained for"?
Evelyn looks up from stuffing the bloody bandages and other medical supplies into a shopping bag for disposal in a different dumpster.
"You can tell, huh? I'm afraid I am having second thoughts... researching hereditary defects is my true passion and I'm starting to feel out of my depth. Perhaps it's best I fly back to the northeast before things get any worse."
Dr. Udko shakes his head.
"Unfortunate that you feel that way, Doctor, but we shall have to manage without you. I for one believe that relocating to a new hotel is a smart plan, though we have to be careful that we aren't followed. Perhaps Dr. Malley and I should take a train out of town... I'll see Evelyn onto a plane back East and return to Los Angeles in a few days. That way it looks like I've been intimidated to drop the case and I can find you at our new lodgings."
"So, did you all find anything interesting whilst I was out getting stabbed?"
With Freddy all bandaged up, you all hit the hay for the night. In the morning, you cook up the plan to throw Pizner off your case and regroup: you check out of your hotel in Glendale, stopping to send a telegram to Janet back in Providence. From there, you all drive to the train station and drop off your rental cars. Boarding the train North toward San Francisco, everyone but Dr. Udko and Dr. Malley get off at the first stop and head back into Los Angeles, with Dr. Udko planning to join you again once Dr. Malley has flown back East. From there you rent a new car and get a different hotel, this one in Hollywood near all of the tourist destinations. Anatoly calls to check in with Janet and keep here up to date and she relays that an old "Midwestern associate" of her father's from back during Prohibition is flying out- a man named Ralph Capone- formerly one of the Hoover's most wanted. Kearns is flying back from Chicago as you speak to Janet on the phone, with the businessman in tow. They should arrive in the morning to join the investigation.
Bottles had received the call a few days ago- the daughter of his old business associate, Walter Winston, wanted to see if he was free now that his sentence was over, maybe do a little "private consulting". Nothing strictly illegal, of course, just looking into whatever racket drove her old man nutty in the last years of his life.
So here he is, flown out from Chicago by Frank Kearns, Janet's personal pilot and given an address to a hotel in Hollywood. A tourist joint, lots of coming and going- but maybe lots of witnesses wouldn't be such a bad thing as long as you don't s+$@ where you eat. Bottles knocks on the door of suite 403 at the Palm Villa hotel in Hollywood, looking for an Anatoly Dudko, an "Amadeus Ra" and a palooka named Freddy Elliot.
You see before you a massive wall of a man. He wears a smart pin striped suite with a carnation in the lapel. His fat round face smiles at you. He shrugs his right shoulder and begins to animate his hands as he speaks. So, I hear you guys are havin' some sort of predicaments. I have been retained to assists ya in your current endeavors. Tell me, how can I help?
Anatoly is a bit taken aback by the mans mannerisms and speech. He wonders how this obviously "connected" man is tied to Miss Winston-Rogers, but stranger things have happened.
Anatoly opens the door. "Is that so. Forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical, but we've been shot at, attacked, and spied upon for the past few weeks, and I'm not willing to trust so easily. Do you have any proof that your're here to help us"?
Ralph laughs. Proof, Get this guy. He says pointing his thumb at him. If I wanted to shoot ya or beat ya, this would be a very different conversation. He says while striding into the room as if he owns it. Sounds like the problems you got, is exactly the kind I solve
Anatoly looks again at the man, suspecting that he is indeed the help promised by Janet... since he hasn't reached for a weapon yet. He then looks at Freddy's recently patched ribs, and opens the door letting the man it.
"Perhaps a little "casualty insurance" would be welcome after all. I'm Anatoly, Janet mentioned that we might be getting some help. Come in... this is Freddy, and the one over there cooing to his statue is Amadeus".
Anatoly nervously stretches out his hand in greeting.
Amadeus seems to come to himself and lowers the statue to the ground, gingerly. "Indeed. My apologies, this...icon, it had me entranced. I am Amadeus Ra, conduit to the spirit realms and seer of great portents. Pleased, I'm sure." He smiles with smarmy charm.
A bruiser of a man with a slight southern accent rises to give Bottles a firm handshake.
"Public enemy #3, I presume? Freddy Elliot, P.I. Can't imagine the look on Hoover's face if he found out you were out here. Come on in."
You all catch up Mr. Capone on the goings-on in L.A.: how you're tracking down what may be the remnants of a cult of perverts and drug addicts that drove Walter Winston and Douglas Henslowe into paranoia, how the P.I. Jack Pizner had been keeping an eye on matters related to Winston's '24 investigations and that lead you to Samson Trammel, who has a number of odd occurrences around his house including a mouth growing in the dirt next door and two thugs that attacked Freddy after the P.I. tailed one of Trammel's household staff.
"I guess our next step is, well, to figure out what our next step is. Samson Trammel seems like the logical next step, but he has surrounded himself with some dangerous people. I could stake the place out another night or two, see what I can find without risking getting too close. Jack Pizner is the other option. We probably got him off of our case temporarily by leaving town and covering our tracks, but it won't be long before he finds us again. Maybe we find him before he finds us? I'm sure he has a good bit of information that he could share."