Atticus G. 2012/07/10(Tue)22:58 No. 431152 ID: d872c5
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Barns Steps over to the blood.

"Well with the amount of spacing between the smaller pools it could be about 8 points?"

Sterling looks towards Barns "Well it could mean something or it could just be a distraction from the real motive, we gotta keep an open mind."

Inspect the scuff mark more closely. It looks like it got dragged, whatever it was! Barns should examine the perimeter to see if anything pops up from an odd angle.

Atticus G. 2012/07/11(Wed)00:02 No. 431171 ID: d872c5
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Barns walks back over to Sterling.

"We still need to tie some one to the scene" She looks around the room. "What now?"

Ļook up, the blood pool is awfully small and there are no drag marks for the actual body.

Otherwise I'm stumped so 'Look for clues'

Atticus G. 2012/07/11(Wed)00:13 No. 431176 ID: d872c5
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Sterling looks at the drag marks.

"Something with a green tint to it some what aged, They dug it a little then picked it up. It almost looks like whatever it is could have been rusty.
Well ether way I'm looking for something with a circular base that has a green luster."

Barns begins pacing around the room.

Is there anything in/ around the boxes? Anything in the drain? See anything green? Anything significant about the victim?

Atticus G. 2012/07/11(Wed)00:33 No. 431178 ID: d872c5
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Barns Gets up against the wall

"HOLLY CRAP! There's a whole door behind these boxes! Her face begins to light up.

Sterling riffles through the card board boxes.
"Hey I think I found something too!"
Barns starts speed walking over to him.

Atticus G. 2012/07/11(Wed)00:55 No. 431182 ID: d872c5
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Sterling picks up a small peace of metal.

"An arrow head maybe" He turns to Barns "Umm maybe is there any blood on it" Sterling roles it around in his hand not that I can see it might have been cleaned... This is only half of whatever it is."

Barns stops and thinks for a second.
"What do we know about the vic?"

Sterling still looking at the peace of metal "Nothing he or she is no where to be found."

Barns scratches the back of her head.
"I'll go check the storm drain"

Atticus G. 2012/07/11(Wed)01:25 No. 431186 ID: 19efb5
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Barns takes of the already loose drain cover and shoves her gloved hand down into the drain.

"Hey look what turned out to be completely gross and completely useful at the same time!" She yell's to Sterling.
"Hey my metal peace has a name on it. 'PHANES' would the criminal be dumb enough to put his own name on there?"

Sterling walks over "Its hard to say for sure, maybe we can find some store that sells and engraves arrow heads?"

Barns starts getting ahead of her self "Maybe, Hey we are on a roll, so what now call in and see if 'PHANES' might be some mass producer of these or look around a bit more?"

see where the door goes first.

See what's behind door number 3! (let's find out *why* it was hidden) If PHANES is a mass producer, they would be sold to many people, which would make it very hard to pin down a specific user. No body means it will be hard to tell the cause of death. How old is the blood?

If there is no body, do we even know that the victim is dead rather than kidnapped somewhere?

Atticus G. 2012/07/11(Wed)17:21 No. 431342 ID: 87bb57
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>>431282

Barns examines the blood,

"It's darker looks pretty dry."
She says watching Sterling move boxes.

"Well I'm not to good with that stuff either but my guess would be its been there since... approximately 10pm." He finishes moving the boxes.

Atticus G. 2012/07/11(Wed)17:25 No. 431346 ID: 87bb57
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Both Sterling and Barns poke there heads through the door Barns squatting to reenact a classic comedy bit.

Barns after glancing back and forth, "A secret hallway? Wanna dig around in here a bit more or what?"

what's that panel and the thing under it? and where does the next door go?

First look at the discolored brick on the wall and the thing below it. Put a crate in the doorway; make sure that you won't get locked in here. Then proceed to the other door.

Atticus G. 2012/07/11(Wed)18:49 No. 431360 ID: 87bb57
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Sterling walks in and immediately begins to mess with the brick. Barns before she even enters the room grabs a crate a blocks the door off to avoid that disaster.

Sterling bulls the brick out of the wall.
"Wow this thing just came straight out."

Anything behind it?

Atticus G. 2012/07/11(Wed)19:01 No. 431362 ID: 87bb57
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Sterling pulls more bricks out.

"Wow it leads straight out side, I'm gonna guess this is how they got into the building."
Barns picks up a random peace of dark blue cloth.

"This could belong to someone of interest."
The two of them walk to the next door.

Atticus G. 2012/07/11(Wed)19:06 No. 431365 ID: 87bb57
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As they open the door the room is quickly saturated with light. It appears you have wandered into some kinda factory.
Several confused workers in hard hats give you the eye.

Barns looks to Sterling "Possible suspects?

Sterling looks back and simply replies "Where do you wanna start?"

That would be a slow way to enter the building...

Ask if anyone didn't show up for work today or didn't clock out last night. Ask who was here last night.(to question personally) Check to see if door is hidden from that side. Ask if they've heard of PHANES.

Better find the foreman.

Atticus G. 2012/07/12(Thu)22:13 No. 431803 ID: 31163e
File 134215643992.jpg - (99.93KB , 640x480 , Part 17.jpg )

>>431435
>>431451

Sterling and barns ask where the foreman can be found the closest worker to them points up the stairs and casually goes back to work.
Sterling knocks on the door, after a few short seconds the foreman answers.

"Hey what brings y'all to my still mill?"

Barns looks at him and replies,
"We were investigating a possible murder in the building right behind yours, there was this odd stack of boxes that hid a door that lead to this very building. Care to explain why?"

The foreman looks back at her.
"No reason to give me the third degree. That use to be a distribution wing for the ingots, but we had a serious termite problem. It was eventually gassed, but thats more a secondary wing now. Eventually, I got lazy and just left the lock and chain on the inside of that room and the passage way from here to there. I don't know what happened to the locks, though."

Barns waits until he finishes and asks another question,
"Ever here of PHANES?"

The foreman thinks for a second.
"Can't say I have."

Sterling finally get his turn to ask something,
"Who all showed up for work today and who didn't show up yesterday?"

The foreman starts walking to a filing cabinet and grabs a folder labeled September,
"I have some pretty poor memory these days. Here's the punch cards for all the boys that are suppose to show up this week. Oh and if it helps we are closed Mondays and Sundays."
The foreman turns around looks at his calender and turns back.
"Today is Friday."

Atticus G. 2012/07/12(Thu)22:17 No. 431809 ID: 31163e
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The foreman lays the punch-in cards out evenly.
"Tell me if something of interest comes up. If you need to know what position whoever fills just ask."

master's wasn't here yesterday but laning isn't here now. both are suspicious.

Lets talk to the who worked today and yesterday to confirm the sheets match up to what they say. Since its self administratered it'd be easy for one guy to clip two sheets.

Ask what time the shift/day ends, get the addresses of Jacob Lancer and Sam Masters. Ask around to make sure the punch cards are right. Ask if anyone heard anything at around 10pm last night.(unlikely) Take a quick look around for any blood, especially on anything green or heavy machinery.(unlikely)

[I love these types of games/quests!]

Atticus G. 2012/07/13(Fri)20:43 No. 432170 ID: efbb86
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Barns and Sterling look over the Clock-In cards.

Barns looks up from the cards and at the foreman, "How come Lancing nor Masters are here today?"

The foreman looks back at Barns while he walks back to the filing cabinet,
"Well Masters called in sick a couple of days ago. As far as Lancing, he didn't call in."

Sterling looks at the foreman and asks,
"Is there anyway these could be incorrect or punched in by someone else?"

The foreman was quick to reply, "Actually, no. The actual clock-in machine is over by the door. I keep the cards on-file, so they can't clock in or out without coming into here first."

Barns further asked, "What time do you close?"

The foreman answers, "At 8. Weelll, with the exception of Fridays. That's at 7:30."

Sterling asks, "Can we have Mr. Lancing and Mr. Master's addresses?"

The foreman replies, "Jacob lives on 1114 Gobals Ave, here in town. Sam lives out on 2896 Goslings Blvd."

Barns asks, "Did you hear anything around ten o'clock, if you were by any chance here?"

The foreman, "... Yeah, actually. I was looking for some of keys that went missing. I heard some screaming, but I didn't bother cuz I value my skin."

Sterling, "Thanks for your help. Do you mind if we look around, Mr.."

The foreman replies, "Willy. Willy Foreman. And yes you may."

Barns arches her eyebrow, but doesn't make a comment on it.

After a half an hour of looking, they didn't turn up any additional evidence.

Sterling turns to Barns and asks, "Who's house you wanna go to first?"

Ok; looks like we've got our victim's identity, our time of death, assurance of method of entry (he would have mentioned someone coming through the factory after hours), and a lead to follow.

Go to the Lancing's (sorry, mistyped) house. Make sure you bring a weapon. Have you tried fitting the two metal pieces together yet?

Atticus G. 2012/07/15(Sun)17:10 No. 433140 ID: 5796a5
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Barns while off in her own head peaces together the arrow head like object. The arrow head like object from the beginning of the case.
"Hey they fit!"

Sterling still waiting for an answer to his question fakes a loud cough. Barns finally noticing him snaps back into the conversation.

"I dunno Lancing's I guess. He just plain didn't call or give any warning about not showing up seems suspicions."
Sterling wholeheartedly agrees with Barns.
The two of them grab there service guns, and drive to "1114 Gobals Ave."

Atticus G. 2012/07/15(Sun)17:12 No. 433143 ID: 5796a5
File 134239753097.jpg - (117.94KB , 640x480 , Part 21.jpg )

On there way!

1114 Gobals Ave.

>>433140
Does the metal object still look like an arrowhead? (sorry, since we found both metal bits at pretty much the same time I thought we already tried to put them together, just realized we never saw the combined)

Atticus G. 2012/07/15(Sun)17:48 No. 433184 ID: 5796a5
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Barns and Sterling arrive at the Lancing residence. They walk to the front door and knock a female voice coming from the inside replies.

"Coming!"
Her face light up as she opens the door, but as her eyes focuses on the insignia on top of Sterling's hat her expression withers into a frown. Barns steps a little closer.

"Mrs. Lancing your husband hasn't shown up for work today and is a possible suspect in a current murder case. Is he home?"

Mrs. Lancing's eyes begin to tear up.
"No... I thought, when I heard you knock just now he had came home finally, he's been gone all night."

Sterling places his hand on Mrs. Lancings sholder.
"Mrs. Lancing what time did he leave last night?"

Mrs. Lancing sniffles and continues to talk.
"Ummm pretty much as soon as he got home he got here and some one in a red truck picked him up around 8:45."

Barns takes a deep breath before her turn.
"Mrs. Did you see who he left with?"

"Not really, he was a bigger guy I think they worked together." She managed to whimper out.

Sterling taps Barns on the shoulder, she turns around after telling Mrs. Lancing to hold on a second.

Sterling leans in to whisper to Barns
"I don't know what to think about her story.
This is almost too much."

"Could be, Masters didn't show up to work the past few days either? Do you wanna go interrogate him? Well and also we are N.W.P.D. if we found it necessary we don't actually need a warrant to search the lancing home stead. SO it's up to you I'm game for anything."

N.W.P.D. The New World Police Department, one of many police departments in New America, due to the over bearing necessity for people with law and order know how, the few detectives they do have, have certain immunity to various laws. (Sounds odd, but it all comes to fruition later in the quest.)

I think we might be looking at a murder victim and not our murder suspect. We should head back to the factory and ask around who owns a red truck. A larger man then our missing guy.

>>433148

Yeah the blank metal peace and the PHANES metal peace fit together. It was essentially two halves of what appears to be a whole arrow head. Might have been good to give a physical visual of that.

>>433184
Lancing is the victim, I was thinking that maybe the culprit might be in the house. (searching for an object of his, eliminating evidence; we haven't found a motive yet)

Ask if she has seen the man/truck around their house often, ask if she remembers what color clothes her husband or the man were wearing(dark blue cloth), ask about PHANES.
Did her husband take anything specific back with him?(tools, containers, extra clothes)
Is her necklace the same shape as the arrowhead thing? Ask around at the workplace for the truck owner.

The timing checks out for the stuff (30ish min to get home, they get back at factory at like 9:30, murder at 10)

Atticus G. 2012/07/15(Sun)21:35 No. 433331 ID: 5796a5
File 134241330428.jpg - (153.62KB , 640x480 , Part 23.jpg )

>>433186
>>433206

Sterling still leaning in and talking to Barns.
"Here put a ribbon on this I'll get the car started."

Barns nods before turning back to Mrs. Lancing
"I only have a few more questions before I'm on my way Mrs. Lancing. Have you ever seen that man or the truck before?"

She stops and thinks for a moment.
"Some times when the car was broke down he'd have that guy come pick him up Jacob has always said he was a friend and as soon as I seen it wasn't a girl I just lost interest in snooping."

Barns nods thought the entirety of the conversation.
"Ever here of Phanes?"

She simply nods no, Barns bights her bottom lip.
"Ok, last few questions and we will be on our way. When he left last night what was he wearing, did he take anything and lastly what a nice peace of jewelry you got."

Mrs. Lancing holds on to her necklace.
"It was the promise ring he got me in high school, it don't fit my finger any more so I where it as a necklace. As far as what he left with a solid dark blue jump suit and a duffel bag."

Barns smiles very apathetically,
"We will find your husband Mrs. Lancing"

Barns begins walking down the the steps and back to the car before she hears.
"Thank you" followed by the door shutting.

Atticus G. 2012/07/15(Sun)21:57 No. 433348 ID: 5796a5
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Upon arriving back at the factory Sterling and Barns immediately take to asking various questions.
No one had heard of PHANES but every one began to talk the moment a large man driving a red truck came up.

"Oh! That guy thats Sam I wouldn't say he's tall but he is big."

"Oh! Haha Big Sam yeah he's pretty wide he sure liked fish like three square mills a day."

When asked if he had any problems with any body here a few people had something to say about that too.

"Well it was weird, it was like he had some sorta love hate relationship with Ol' Lanc."

"You ever see his old women?"

"Damn I know."

"But no, Lance and Masters argued like an old married couple."

"Bunch of half wits if you ask me."

Sterling turns to Barns
"I don't know if that counts for a motive, wanna try and find one or just hope Masters gives us one?"

>>433348
Ask them why they seem to like Masters so much, ask what they(L&M) normally argued about, ask if/where they(L&M) usually hung out, ask the workers what they think/thought about Lanceing. What do they mean by "You ever see his old woman"?(the context in which they phrased it made it sound like it was related to Lance and Master's relationship)

The hole in the brick wall was pretty small right? Too small for someone nicknamed "Big Sam" to fit through, right? Come to think of it, I'm not sure if we ever looked at the outside of the hole, can we do that now? Just a sec to see if there is like a bag of tools with someone's name on them or something.

Atticus G. 2012/07/17(Tue)19:08 No. 434029 ID: b94125
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Sterling thinks it would be wise to see just where the hole in the secret hallway goes. He tells Barns to continue asking questions as he walks outside. Barns continues here questioning.

"So it seams like you guys liked Masters, how come?"

Construction worker 1 begins scratching his chin.
"Well I dunno if you can say we liked him... He was funny in kinda a pathetic way. He was the kind guy who looked like he was gonna live with his mother until she dies and never make an effort to leave. He believed he was some kinda other worldly Shaman."

Barns thinks back to the crime scene after hearing that.

"That explains a lot. Ummm what did Lancing and masters argue about?"

Construction worker 1 replies with.
"Every damn thing; whether it was gonna rain or not, the proper way to cook a turkey, fork or spoon. The odd thing is though they have been talking quite a bit about who owes who money which hasn't really been a problem with them until recently."

Barns smiles then looks towards construction worker 2.

"What did you mean earlier when you where talking about Lance's old lady?"

Construction worker 2 grins ear to ear.
"That's just an old expression, I was talking about Lancing's wife she's a pretty little thing."

"What did you think about Lancing"

"Average in every way, I never really got to talk to him no one but Masters did."

Barns asks the group if they knew where the two of them hung out, every body just said no.

Sterling finally gets to the back of the building.

"Hmmm I guess the hole was a bit bigger than I thought, it appears there was an entrance back here at some point and it was poorly bricked in I don't even see any mortar the bricks are just stacked on top of each other!"

He looks in the alleyway for anything interesting nothing shows up.

Look in the trash, and down the grate.

Search the grate, bins, and eventually the door.

The people above me seem to most of it covered. Two Final questions though, then I'm done with the workers. Did they ever get in fistfights/was Sam violent tempered? (premeditated vs heat of passion murder even though he will probable get off with insanity; also lets us know how he will react to being taken in) and the most important one; Does Sam own a gun?

Atticus G. 2012/07/18(Wed)17:57 No. 434351 ID: cafde7
File 134265945412.jpg - (133.24KB , 640x480 , Part 26.jpg )

>>434052
>>434204
>>434275

"Did Sam ever hit Jacob, was he physically violent?" Barns asks.

Construction worker 2 shrugs slightly,
"Masters would get boiling mad sometimes but if he ever hit any one on shift Willy would have to give him the ax."

"OK this should be my last question, do you know if Masters owns a gun?"

"To my best knowledge no. I always thought he was scared of technology."

The other two workers share a hardy laugh, before construction worker one responds.

"Yeah! I know he was scared of water!"

Sterling still in the back alley walks up to the door. He takes out a few bricks before remembering that it leads to the hallway behind factory no need to go back in there. He walks over the storm grate and looks down.

"Just trash. Nothing of interest."
He walks to the trash cans he lifts the lid on the first one.

"Empty, by the looks of it these have been empty for quite some time."
He opens the second one, his notices something in the very bottom. He reaches down into the can his arm outstretched as far as it will go. He grabs it between his pinkie and ring finger before pulling it out of the can for further examination.

Its one of those games of skill like you get from a cereal box or with your hard earned arcade tickets. It is completely irrelevant to the case. It looks like its been here for a while. Its plastic screen covered in dust, after a quick whip down its pinball none the less. The hours wasted trying to get all of your balls into the 500point slot. Sterling's mind slips away from the rest of the world as he is torn between his duty and his every growing need to goof straight the hell off.

We're done here, so goofing off in the car while Barns does the driving to Masters seems ok.

(if you want[or are getting bored yourself], take a break for a while [a week max], I'll be fine waiting so long as we finish this case later)

Atticus G. 2012/07/19(Thu)19:33 No. 434775 ID: 22d454
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Sterling while playing hand pinball rethinks the case thus far.

"Lancing is who we believe to be dead, Willy's keys where missing which means that they had a way in... Hell they had two ways in actually?
There was a peace of dark blue cloth placing lancing to the scene. Then there is this whole cult angle too. I still wonder what that green scuff mark was or for that matter who is Phanes? Even with all that said all we really need now is motive, but I'm just placing my bets on bat shit insane."

After a half hour of driving Barns and Sterling arrive at the Masters residence.

The pinball game wasn't me hinting at needing a brake it was more an ester egg than anything.

That's a very nice house. Check the cab and the bed of the truck for anything odd (Lancing's bag, drops of blood, green paint from whatever it was that they stole/container that held blood, weird candles that were used in some sort of ritual, you know, those sorts of things) Make it so that he wouldn't be able to escape in his truck if he wanted to(pop a tire or disconnect the battery or something), take your car keys with you. I'll leave dealing with Sam to someone else.
[sorry that I read too much into the pinball game, but this is a investigation game where every item can have a hidden meaning]

Atticus G. 2012/07/25(Wed)00:39 No. 436072 ID: 72427a
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Sterling, thinking ahead, avoids a vehicular chase by removing the car battery. Barns searches the cabin and the bed of the truck.

"Ingots! Speaks to motive if you ask me. He must have been in a hurry to leave these here. Makes you wonder what happened to Lancing." She says with a smile and a bead of anxious sweat falling from her forehead.

Sterling smiles back "Yeah...Ok, lets go in."
He says after a large inhale.

Ignore the jarring change in medium. Blah Computers old, Blah blah lame economy.