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The Henslow Estate. "I'm not rightly sure what happened with Mr Henslow, He went off for a while, 'came back broken. They didn't really discuss matters like that with the help. All I know is that Mr. Henslowe, if you’ll pardon me sayin’, has always been an odd one. Artist. Distracted by a butterfly, he’d be, and no head for the work he’d had to do. Except when he come back from the hospital the first time, in ‘32 — he was real focused then, on that book he was making. And then he’d wander the grounds with that camera of his." He replies to Dr Peyton. When Arthur speaks a small smile crosses his face. "Thanking you sir. Its not been easy, being the only member of staff and all. But I love this house, and keep it good for Mrs Henslow, I'll keep the grounds for Mr Heslowe, should he ever come home, but I guess that I'll die here one day, and that's jus' fine." The Study Tom enters the study, and wanders over to the desk. The thing that jumps out immediately are a number of items out of place, a shovel caked in long dried mud, a flashlight likewise covered in mud, a camera, a ball of twine, a jar of blue ink, and a brush stained with blue ink. The walls are lined with books, most of them covering anthropology, archaeology, business and finance, art history and the occult. As Tom runs his eyes across the titles, one jumps out at him - Communion rites of Victorian Death Cults by Francis J Hickering. The spine typeface shows this is the watered down 1912 version, no the rarer and more grotesque 1909 edition. The book is concerned with rituals for communion with powerful spirits and ritual sacrifice. Sorry about that - I went visiting family and time and internet was less than desired!
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Oct 4, 2017 08:10
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E. Thomas "Tom" Shaw Since the book, Communion rites of Victorian Death Cults, caught his attention; Tom picks up the book and looks at it. He thumbs through it trying to find out if there is any spot in the book that looks like it was looked at more than other parts of the book. Besides glancing at the pages, he also checks the spine to see if the book was laying open to a certain spot long enough for the spine to be bent. After he's done checking the book, he puts it in his satchel for later perusal. He didn't worry about taking the book, since no one here would notice it going missing. He then goes over to the items caked in mud. Seeing the blue ink, he checks to see if there is any of that blue ink on either the flashlight or the shovel. After checking the shovel and the flashlight, he grabs the camera. He checks to see if there's film still in the camera. If we're lucky, there's some pictures to be developed on the camera. Checking the book. library use if need be. Also Occult studies on anything that jumps out in the book. Looking for signs of blue ink on the shovel and the flashlight to see if any of the ink got splattered on them. Checking the camera to see if there's any film yet to be developed on it.
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Oct 5, 2017 20:54
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Arthur Adams "You mentioned Mr. Henslow was unable to attend to his business. Maybe we can help each other. You see, Mrs. Winston-Rogers has asked us to take care of her late husband's business dealings because she can't make head or tail of the whole thing. We'd like to just tie off all the loose ends, quietly, without bringing any outside parties into it. Detective Petris is helping us take care of this without making this difficult for Mrs. Winston-Rogers. Or Mrs. Henslow, for that matter. "Like Dr. Westlake said, we'd be glad to pay you for your time. You've got your hands full taking care of the estate, without being a clerk on top of everything else." Arthur dropped his fancified city-boy talk but he's got the Flattery, he's got the Bargain, he's got the Credit Rating. And if this squalid troglodyte lets us have a look at Henslow's records, he's got Accounting.
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Oct 5, 2017 22:38
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John Larkin John stands behind Arthur, waiting to see what the groundskeeper has to say. He's willing to let the man talk, but he's not sure how much of the truth they'll get out of him. Servants can be unusually loyal to their employers, after all. Using Assess Honesty to get a read on him. Is he lying? Is there anything we're not being told?
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Oct 6, 2017 02:27
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Det. Morgan Petris Cryptography 0/1 Oh, great, the house is a mess, too. What I wouldn't give for cool rooms and cold...well! The groundskeeper made mention of a camera? Well, there it is, right in the study. Let's see if Mr. Henslow conveniently "forgot' to develop something incriminating... I've got Photography, let's use it!
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Oct 6, 2017 02:33
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E. Thomas "Tom" Shaw A search of the shovel and flashlight show no sign of blue ink, but looking at the ball of twine Tom can see some blue sections on that, As Tom opens the copy of Communion Rites of Victorian Death Cults, a photograph falls out of the inside cover. The image is of the Henslowe estate and is a low contrast image. scratched into the image is "#1"  The book itself has no marking or notation in it, and looks to be a good quality copy. Det. Morgan Petris The camera is empty, and of mid quality, with little else of note about it. Arthur Adams "Mrs who? I ain't never heard of no Mrs Whatsit Rogers. Mrs Henslow is to old to look after the fiances, so I just keep things ticking along. The books in the parlor if you want to look at it. As for pay, I gets what I needs from the Henslows, and I an't about to take a bribe from some out of towner. I just wan you lot out as quick as possible and to make sure Mrs Henslow ain't bothered by anything her son has dragged down on the family." An open barrel-top desk in the parlor has a ledger in plain sight, covering the years 1930 to present. Accounting recognizes that the Henslowe fortune has been badly hit in recent years, with almost no attempts made to restructure investments or recoup losses. In about five years, the Henslowes will be out of money. John Larkin Curuthers seems to be telling the truth - It seems he just wants you to find what you want and get out of the house.
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Oct 6, 2017 10:02
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E. Thomas "Tom" Shaw He picks up the photo and looks at it. After giving it a thorough examination, he says, "Hey, Petris. Found a photo. There's some stuff written on the back, but I'm not sure what the names are supposed to signify. Any thoughts?" He hands the photo over.
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Oct 9, 2017 19:48
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Looking at the photo it is clear to Petris that the photo was taken at sunset and could well have been taken with the camera in the study.
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Oct 11, 2017 11:32
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Arthur Adams Arthur sidles up next to Tom, whispering. He indicates the ledger. "In a few years the estate will be as bankrupt as it appears. And no evidence of racketeering--whatever old Walters was up to with Henslowe, it wasn't anything so mundane as liquor or fraud. Didn't think so, but I had to check." He flips through the ledger. "Mostly this is just lousy accounting. I do wonder if he doled out any big payments, say for moldy old books, or seance-holding charlatans. Or for all this junk. Believe me, this sort of bad taste is expensive." Looking around the study, the parlor, and dining room, perhaps a knowledge of Art History tells me something? There's got to be a squat, primitive-yet-incongruously-intricate idol, right? There always is. Halloween Jack fucked around with this message at 19:14 on Oct 11, 2017 |
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Oct 11, 2017 18:53
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Dr. Peyton Westlake Peyton shows the photograph to Curuthers. "Sir, do you happen to recognize any of the names on this list, or are you able to tell us anything about the photo itself?"
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Oct 11, 2017 22:07
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Det. Morgan Petris Cryptography 0/1 "Thanks, Tom." Oh, there's the picture. And it appears to match the camera. The number and the names on the back...do they come from the same family, maybe? Maybe multiple angles on the same target? I wonder if the people named are still alive... maybe the other pictures in the set would have been taken from their graves... "Hey, Tom, weird question. You think the study has a family tree?"
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Oct 13, 2017 03:50
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The Henslow Estate. The walls are covered in watercolours and oils, the kind of thing an old family pick up over the years - there is the occiasional portrait, but nothing out of the ordinary springs to mind - one or two of the paintings may have some value to them, if properly restored, but no lost masters or strange tribal art adornes the walls. This is the house of southern gentlemen and women, and appears as such. Curuthers looks at the photo and says "I don't rightly know. It's the house of course, but I don't know any of the names on the list - Mr Henslow never did bring anyone around the house after he left and came back."
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Oct 13, 2017 07:53
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E. Thomas "Tom" Shaw "I think it would be worth it to look around and see if there's a family tree or some kind of record of the family. Hmm, perhaps there's a family bible. Some families record histories in them." As Petris looks at the photo, Tom asks him,' "Any idea how old the photo is?" He then whispers to Adams, "Good that we can eliminate that angle. He might have been involved in the antiquities market. If you know the right buyers, you can make a lot of money." Someone with accounting might be able to find some evidence of where Henslow's money came from and went to. DocBubonic fucked around with this message at 20:52 on Oct 13, 2017 |
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Oct 13, 2017 20:50
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Arthur Adams "I want to say that if Henslowe had any valuable artifacts, they'd be here. His taste in art is that dull sense of the grandiose one finds in Southern gentlemen. But Ms. Winston-Rogers mentioned her father owning and, ah, burning a great many old books. It's possible Henslowe was the dealer. "Curuthers says he doesn't know anything about their relationship, and I believe him. He wouldn't be my first choice for a clerk, that's for sure. It might be worth talking to Mrs. Henslowe--but he'll never allow it." Does Accounting reveal anything more about Henslowe's business dealings? I'll begin rifling through other documents in the study if need be.
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Oct 13, 2017 21:52
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The Henslow accounts. A look through the accounts shows nothing of interest - some property, but mostly stock investments that are not optimally invested. Some companies were good bets ten years ago, but now its a portfolio past its prime.
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Oct 14, 2017 05:08
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E. Thomas "Tom" Shaw "I'm thinking that we should check the names we have against any records this town might have. Like the newspaper morgue and Register of Deeds. If there's a local museum in the area, I might check that out. How does that sound?"
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Oct 25, 2017 20:41
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Arthur Adams "I certainly think it's worth the effort. But do we know what we're looking for? It's one thing to dig through lists of names, but I fear we may miss the forest for the trees, so to speak. Sooner or later we're going to have to go the asylum, rattle the old fellow a bit and see what shakes loose."
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Oct 26, 2017 03:04
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