Katja takes three breaths to calm herself, then proceeds to take all the pix Kenny suggested. She can't believe she's actually aboard the troubled ship, taking pictures. This afternoon (was it just this afternoon?) it all seemed so improbable...
Now here she is on the set of some occult crime scene... With some freak who just jumped into the ocean to escape...
Taking pix inside the Bouncing Skipper. (1d20+7=13)
Sensing that she didn't get particularly great shots -not ones worthy of the locale, anyway - Katja pauses, deep-breathes again, and takes some more shots.
As Katja races to the side and peers over at the ocean below, the dark surface of the ocean appears unbroken. There is no sign of the diver.
Inside the ship, bloodstains fill many of the rooms. There is also a lingering odor in many of the rooms. Blood and the smell of rotting fish.
Once she calms down, Katja feels satisfied that her pictures are worthy.
As Katja takes her pictures in the Captain's Quarters, Kenny notices a framed photograph on the floor. It shows two men, standing together at the bottom of the ship's ramp. One of them is Grip. The other, a bigger man with a broad smile and a bushy beard, is wearing a Captain's hat.
"I think we should look around a little bit for more information then we should get out of here."
Harvey
The minutes tick slowly by as you wait alone on the dock. The policeman still appears engrossed in his book and does not appear to be a fast reader. Every now and then he does however look at the ship and the dock, but as of yet, you don't think he has really seen you.
Kenny and Katja
Was there anywhere in particular you wanted to search on the ship?
Kenny and Katja
Was there anywhere in particular you wanted to search on the ship?
I think we should look at the crew cabin and the cargo hold. We should check out the bridge too.
"Damn, Kenny, this whole place is weirdness personified. For starters, did whoever it was who just jumped in the water ever COME UP FOR AIR? WTF? Did we just watch someone drown? What is going ON, here?
"By the way, did you notice the framed picture of Dagon? I'm telling you, Grip is in this up to his mucus-encrusted eyeballs. I'm gonna take shots of EVERYTHING here, by the way. I don't think it will take much hype to make this story weird enough for even our editor's taste.
"Why don't you guide us around the ship, Maze Guy? I'll go wherever. Just be careful! People here are clearly willing to KILL themselves rather than being found out, if that last Aquaman reject was any example. ~Well, kill themselves, or kill OTHERS."
I round the room for any papers or electronic media. If I find nothing I will try to find a path to the bridge or cargo hold.
[/ooc]Is there a close we can look in, a bed we can look under or a desk to check out here?[/ooc]
*Harvey lights another cigarette and thinks about what a crock of sh*t objectivism is*
The police seem to have done a pretty good job of hauling off anything that might have been a clue for Kenny and Katja. Though they look under beds, in closets, on the bridge, in the kitchen, and even down in the engine room and the hold, they find nothing - no logs, no notes, no computers. They find nothing... nothing except blood. The ship is covered with blood stains. In addition to the Captian's Quarters, there is dried blood on the walls and floors of two of the other cabins. There are blood stains in the kitchen (both the stove and the floor), and all over the large cargo bay.
After they have seen several of these stains, it dawns on them that there are no chalk or tape outlines indicating bodies. It seems fairly obvious there was violence done on the ship but no indication of who did it to who, except for the blood.
After what seems like an hour of searching, the two are forced to admit that they have nothing. Nothing except some pictures that Katja hopes will please Hugh Rogers enough to pay her.
"Katja, let's get out of here. Just please make sure you get a shot of the boat as a whole with the name on it. This will help establish that we were on the ship."
"Maybe we can approach the cop car and take pictures as if we were just arriving on the scene instead of leaving. He will probably just tell us to beat it."
"I think there is something up with that ship next dock over."
A long, low creak sounds down the hull of the ship. It's probably nothing but in the dim near darkness, the sound is enough to make both Kenny and Katja jump, especially with their nerves as taut as they are.
On the dock, two old men can be seen by Harvey, walking near the dock offices. They seem perhaps a little intoxicated for their steps are just a little unsteady.
A long, low creak sounds down the hull of the ship. It's probably nothing but in the dim near darkness, the sound is enough to make both Kenny and Katja jump, especially with their nerves as taut as they are.
"Katja, did you hear that? Let's go check it out."
*lights another cigarette and keeps a keen eye on the two men (while trying to not look too suspicious)*
"Let's get back to the dock and see how the pictures look."
A few minutes later and Kenny and Katja are back with Harvey on the dock.
Harvey
"Let's head back to the hotel and compare notes."
Katja jumps at the noise of the hull contracting...or whatever the frick it was. God only knows, at this point.
"Yeah, Kenny let's get out of here. Maybe Harv has some ideas, or saw something, or...I don't know, wrote a scurrilous poem about this whole biz-nass. Dang! I'm supposed to meet Grip tomorrow at the shore for some high priest pictures. Hope I can sleep tonight."
"Yeah, comparing notes sounds good. Harvey, old son, what did you see?"
"I saw a whole lot of nuthin. Well, I did see two men leave the ship right when you two boarded. You guys see anything? Get pictures?"
"You guys see anything?"
"Hemoglobin. Lots of it. But no trace of its former owners."
@Harvey:
"DUDE! We saw EVERYTHING. Blood galore, all over the inside of the ship, but no body parts or anything. We saw some more Dagon-cult stuff - like a framed picture- plus a photo of Captain Long John Silver - or whatever his name is - and the Grip-man himself. Oh- and get this! Some freak jumped overboard while we were on the ship, and as far as we know, whoever it was drowned. I mean, maybe they somehow swam away, but we never saw anyone resurface, let's put it that way. Someone was THAT scared by our presence, can you imagine? So, clearly something BIG is going on, but I guess we knew that already. Thoughts, anyone?"
"Oh hey, Harvey- totally off-subject but -I gather you're into poetry, huh? Do you like Gerard Manley Hopkins' stuff? He's the greatest! I used to memorize his stuff by heart, back when I was living on the streets. How does that one poem go?
"THE WORLD is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
"And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
"I mean, I'm not really religious like that, but still- ya got admit- it's pretty wicked huh?
"Damn- where did THAT come from? I'm totally gabbling, huh? I must have my nerves on speed-dial. Still...love that poem!"
"There must be something important still on the ship. Why would someone else be creeping around on it after it has been brought in? I think that someone left something on the ship that could connect them with the disappearance of the crew. That someone either came back for it or sent a lackey to get it."
"Oh hey, Harvey- totally off-subject but -I gather you're into poetry, huh? Do you like Gerard Manley Hopkins' stuff? He's the greatest! I used to memorize his stuff by heart, back when I was living on the streets. How does that one poem go?
"There must be something important still on the ship. Why would someone else be creeping around on it after it has been brought in? I think that someone left something on the ship that could connect them with the disappearance of the crew. That someone either came back for it or sent a lackey to get it."
"That makes sense. But you know, is it really our job to solve the mystery? I mean, we're not cops or judges, right? Seems like our job is to get the most boffo story we can, and pix too of course, and screw the truth, right? I mean, The Sunlight Scoop is basically a tabloid. We could spend 30 bucks and buy some monster costumes, and I could take shots of you and Harvey cavorting round, and we'd still be getting paid the same, right? Possibly even more? Plus much less risk to life and limb. I'm sure there's a Classical Japanese poem that expresses what I'm getting at, hold on, let me see if I can remember it..."
Seeing the horrified look on our comrades' faces: "Naw, dudes, I was just kidding! No more poems... for now. ~But seriously, WHY do we have to figure out the truth, here? Do our readers even WANT the truth? Does anyone really buy The Sunlight Scoop 'cause they want to stay up on Current Events? No! They want to read about wild batboys and alien incest and Satan changing the formula of New Coke."
Please, someone, look after Katja's daughter, after Mommy turns on the carbon monoxide...
As they talk, a fog horn sounds in the distance, out across the ocean. The night air is beginning to feel cool, almost unseasonably so. Cold air must be blowing in from the ocean.
"Do you two want to talk to the cop to see if he has any information or do you want to try our luck elsewhere."
"I think the other potential source of information is the ship next to the Bouncing Skipper."
Everything is pretty quiet, townward. There is not a lot of traffic and one gets the feeling this is a pretty sleepy town come nightfall.
"Any objections to me talking to the cop about the ship?"
If not, I try to talk to the cop on the scene.
"Yeah, lets talk to the cop. I can even pull a cop-name-drop, if necessary. Uh, let's see- what was that chick's name? Oh yeah, Officer Sonya Red...no, Green. She and I are like this." Katja holds up her hand, index finger and shooting-a-birdy finger side-by-side, like old chums. "I bonded with her on the docks earlier today, in the midst of the morgue-arazzi feeding frenzy."
True to form, Katja doesn't bother to slow down to explain her personal slang or neologisms to anyone...
The officer, once the three ‘reporters’ wake him up, seems more than happy for the company and a little embarrassed about being caught asleep. His name is Smith, Daniel Smith, and though he cautions them that they are not allowed aboard the ship, he tells them what he knows.
The ship was discovered empty this morning. It had pulled into docks the morning before, several of the crew made trips into town, but they were all sleeping aboard ship last night. There is evidence of ‘foul play’ but he will not elaborate what that evidence is. The divers, who worked for several hours, could find no evidence of any bodies in the water. The Captain is not a suspect and he is believed to possibly be a victim. Blood and DNA tests (no elaboration) will provide further answers in a day or two. Officer Smith will not elaborate on any leads or suspects, though he hints that inquiries are being made in specific directions.
The officer, once the three ‘reporters’ wake him up, seems more than happy for the company and a little embarrassed about being caught asleep. His name is Smith, Daniel Smith, and though he cautions them that they are not allowed aboard the ship, he tells them what he knows.
The ship was discovered empty this morning. It had pulled into docks the morning before, several of the crew made trips into town, but they were all sleeping aboard ship last night. There is evidence of ‘foul play’ but he will not elaborate what that evidence is. The divers, who worked for several hours, could find no evidence of any bodies in the water. The Captain is not a suspect and he is believed to possibly be a victim. Blood and DNA tests (no elaboration) will provide further answers in a day or two. Officer Smith will not elaborate on any leads or suspects, though he hints that inquiries are being made in specific directions.
I ask the following questions in the course of the conversation:
-Were any of the crew locals?
-Did you know any of them?
-Do you know what the ship was carrying or where it arrived from?
-Was the ship next to the 'Skipper there last night?
*all the sudden, Harvey pipes in interuptting the cop and Kenny*
(TO KATJA)
"Yeah, that poem reminds me of something Whitman would have wrote on some soul haunted day when he didn't have the nature smell on him."
(TO THE COP)
"What novel are you reading there?"
After everything has gone down:
"Well, so, well, the cops think the captains dead, but we know that isn't true. What do you two think about going to that old sea goats house?"
"And we could always go back to Grip's to see if we can get a little more story out of this."
Most of the crew was local and officer Smith seems to have known several of them including the Captain. Inquiries were still being made, but it appeared that the Bouncing Skipper had shipped out of Boston. It did not appear to have been carrying much cargo. The second ship in the dock had also arrived the day before, though later in the day. The police were still tracing the movement of the crew. Both Captain and crew had left the ship the day before, many of them had visited local bars and stores throughout the day. The three sense that Smith doesn’t seem to know much more than he is telling.
The novel the man is reading is 'North to the Rails', by Louis L'amour. “Are you a fan?," Smith asks Harvey, “I love his work. Makes you feel just like you’re there.”
"I think we should head over to the Captain's house to see what we can find there."
"I think we should head over to the Captain's house to see what we can find there."
"Let's roll."
As the three intrepid newshounds decide to make their way straight to the Captain's house they are presented with two problems. They don't know where it is and they only have transportation for one of them.
As the three intrepid newshounds decide to make their way straight to the Captain's house they are presented with two problems. They don't know where it is and they only have transportation for one of them.
Looks like we need a cab or else we have to walk.
I ask the cop if he knows where Walter lives. If he does not or says not to go there I will look up Walter's residence in the city hall tax records office.