"Yeah, sure," Tom answers. He already had the feeling this wouldn't be a completely ordinary task, so he was happy not to have to go alone.
Using his phone's GPS, he leads the way to Emmet Nibbi's house.
The Nibbis live in the nicer side of town. A squad car is parked outside of their house, but not the full crime scene squad that you’d expect if Emmet Nibbi came home elderly.
Well, We're wondering if 4 kids stopped in here last night. She gives a brief description of the group, and their car.
She clicks her tongue. Yeah, yeah. Karen and her friends. They’re here all the time! They came in around nine, had a bunch of junkfood. They were giggling about some scary stories or something, wanted to go “ghost hunting” like those funny gals in that movie.
Sunny returns that night hoping to sneak in without having to punch any cops. It would be incredibly inconvenient for him to end up in jail again. He pictures many scenarios where he gains access to the morgue, and it doesn't phase him at all that neither is terribly likely. He's got a jar.
Whichever you pick, give me a roll and tell me what the magic looks like.
Tom knocks on the door to the house.
Ghost-hunting, huh? Allison says Sounds like my college days. did you hear which ghost they were gonna go look for?
A lanky man in his early 40s throws open the door. His eyes are puffy and red. When he doesn’t recognize you, his face flits rapidly between disappointment and relief. No news...but no BAD news.
Emmet isn’t here...who are you? What do you want with my son?
You’re awful curious about a buncha kids...is Karen in some kind of trouble?
Sean smiles at the waitress. "Not that we know of. Do you have reason to think otherwise? You got to that conclusion pretty quickly from two questions."
She gives you a sidelong glance. Two questions from two shady-looking characters who know what car Jessie drives and can describe Karen but don’t know that I’m her mom. You don’t look like cops, and you... she jabs a finger at Sean You I’ve seen out with my cousin Duncan, so I KNOW you’re bad news. If the likes of you are looking for my Karen, either she’s in trouble or she’s gunna be.
If Karen is missing or dead, Alison clearly doesn’t know.
As Sunny approaches the officer manning the station across from the morgue, he pulls the sticky notes off of the gently rattling jar he's been carrying. "Hey there officer, you sure no one's slipped you any drugs this evening?" Holding the jar under one arm and his cane in the crook of the other, Sunny traces the figures embossed around the rim with two fingers of the other hand. "I mean, who's going to believe a homeless man in a gold suit sicked a ravenous pixie on you. The mess is going to be hard to explain." Pulling the top off the jar with an audible pop, Sunny points the jar at the slot at the edge of the officer's window.
You open the jar and nothing happens. It’s just an empty jar. The officer looks up at you. You’re not supposed to be here, buddy. Move along, ok?
"I'm a reporter, and your son's friend, Jessie, passed away. I wanted to ask him what he knows about the circumstances of the death, and interview him for Jessie's obituary," Tom replies.
Mr. Nibbi looks stricken Jessie is dead? Oh god...did they...did they find the others, or...maybe he’s still out there?
From inside the house you hear Who is out there? and a man built like a brick wall and crammed into a cheap navy suit gently pushes him aside. Oh no, no no no. Follie, I’m not letting your cage liner get anywhere near this one.
Standing before you is Detective Rowe. You’ve had some...run ins with each other, as he seems to wind up on the strangest cases in Spinethorn. He’s a diehard skeptic and has accused you more than once of tampering with a crime scene to make it look “more spooky.”
This is an ongoing missing persons investigation. Stay out of our way on this one.
Sean gives Sue a s%!teating grin. "Ah, Duncan! How is the lad, anyways? Been a while." He pauses for a moment. "Straight truth, my hand to God. We don't know for sure if the kids are in trouble, but they could be. We're trying to help, believe it or not. You're right, we're not cops. But we've... done this sort of thing before. If you don't want to tell us anything, we'll pay for our meals and leave. But if you do, I promise you we're doing what we can for those kids."
"Sir, I'm just trying to speak with him!" Tom says with some exasperation, then pleads with Arianne with his eyes for some support, before turning back to Mr. Nibbi. "Mr. Nibbi, what did you mean by that? Who's still out there?" Tom asks in an attempt to get as much explanation as possible before Detective Rowe took over.
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She looks conflicted, but then relents. They we’re going out to Ashby Manor. I know I should have discouraged it, trespassing and all, but I went out there when I was their age, soooooo...
Ashby Manor is an abandoned house on the outskirts of town. It’s said to be haunted and it’s a bit of a rite of passage to try to spend the night inside. In all your time monster hunting in Spinethorn, you’ve never found evidence of anything supernatural. It’s just a creepy old house.
As Rowe tries to shut the door in your face, Mr. Nibbi shouts My boy’s still out there. He never came home. None of them did.
Rowe closes the door and steps out onto the porch. If I catch a glimpse of you anywhere near this investigation, I’ll have you locked up for obstruction. And tell that no good cousin of yours it goes double for him.
Sunny buries his face in the jar like a particular red-clad bear, then gives the officer a bleak look. "Would you believe there was something meant to be in there? Sharp teeth, nasty attitude, smells like the number four? I was sure it was a pixie, but now I'm... less sure." He scratches his head, picks something out of his hair, considers it, then eyes the officer before slowly stuffing it into his pocket. "I'll, er... be on my way."
Sunny totters off.
After being sent out, Tom turns to Arianne. "We could speak with the other parents, but I doubt they'll know any more than this one. Why don't we go meet the others before Detective Rowe gets to the crime scene?" he suggests. "Oh, and we also need to warn Sean about him."
The fairy erupts from the jar and kicks you surprisingly hard in the face before flying through the glass at the cop. It strikes him a few times in the face before he loses consciousness.
Are you joining Sean at the diner or are you proposing a new meeting place? Do you have a base of operations?
Sunny grunts in consternation. "Hey, listen! Don't press your luck. I've got admirers to impress. I bottled you once before, and I'll do it again!" Brandishing his cane, Sunny looks over the unconscious officer, searching for one of the cards he saw someone swipe at the door. As he searches, he'll get a glimpse of the officer's place of work.
Of course there are security cameras! By luck, the pixie doesn’t show up in the camera, but you’ll have to be careful. One wrong move and you’ll show up on camera.
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"What's this?" Sunny looks at the monitors displaying dozens of empty halls on repeat, timestamps, the recognizable view of the parking lot, and the 'rec' icon in the corner. "Nazi boxes? Didn't they lose the war? I thought this was the land of the free. Why does everyone have these? How is a self-respecting supreme being supposed to break and enter for the greater good when every backwater outfit has an army of perfect witnesses?" He grunts. "No silent watchman is catching this monkey's paw."
Finding no badge to gain access through the door (and lacking enough understanding of electronic locks to try and spoon-bend the door open) Sunny finds a quiet place near the morgue to meditate, hoping to astroproject through the walls.
I'm the best. I'm the best. I'm the best. I'm the best. I'm the best. I'm the best. I'm the best. I'm the best. I'm the best. I'm the best.
You magically pass through the wall. Jessie’s body is unattended on the slab. If you didn’t know better, you’d swear he was 100 years old.
You can do a investigate a mystery roll, but you can’t do anything that involves touching or moving the body.
Tom sends a note to Sean and Allison to tell them they would come meet them. Will we see you at Glimmershine mini golf or some other place? P.S. Sean, don't let Rowe see you.
I can't take you anywhere. Allison smirks and tells Sean, as the woman mentions her cousin.
Sounds like we have your next lead, though. He phone chirps, and she checks her phone.
Or not. looks like we're going Mini-golfing. Apparently Rowe is working this one, so... she doesn't finish, just gives Sean a knowing look
"Ah, perhaps I'll bring the good detective some coffee. I'm sure he'll have his own donuts."
Sean grins at Allison. "Mini-golf, huh? Sounds like a grand time."
Sean reaches for his wallet, and leaves $30 on the table, telling Sue to keep the change. As they walk out, he sends a group text. Kids were going to Ashby Manor. Check later?
I think we should go to the Manor. sounds like a creep hangout. Hope Arianne has something protective
Sunny is incapable of an inner monologue while astroprojecting.
Y'see, on the field of battle, as on the naked steppes, you might never see the enemy before she's breathing down your neck. So when you see the carnage left in her wake... If you choose the truly enlightened path to hunt the hunters that hunt the hunted rather than hunting the hunted because they're really not that much of a challenge even with one arm tied behind my back...
My point is, fancy illustrations don't need to be put in books if they're not of the bodies left behind. Like a manual on diseases, the only thing anyone needs to recall when they recognize that carnage, is what kills what did it. Other than me, though. Because Beanpole needs to warm it up for me.
Wow, kid's looking old.
From the other room, you hear the unconscious cop start to stir. In a few moments, he’ll be awake and call for help
Ashby Manor sits on a hilltop, at the end of a winding drive. Thick chains block the road, a sign (vandalized countless times by Spinethorn’s teens) warns off trespassers.
By the time you reach the manor, the sun is just dipping below the horizon. The house itself is an imposing Victorian, three stories of rotting black wood. The windows on the first floor are all broken, but are covered over by heavy blankets, blocking all view inside.
What do you do?
Sunny stands up from behind a hedgerow, dusting his hands off on his pants. He sucks his teeth and looks around, spotting Tom. "So, uh, what'cha up to?"
Tell me about the last time you visited Ashby Manor (as your angel wing powers require you to travel to places you’ve been before)