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Arthur Adams Arthur sets down the telephone in the hotel cafe, weathering the heat in a smart seersucker suit. "The gentlemen at the historical society were quite friendly. Useless, but friendly." He withdraws a Gaulois Bleu from an ostentatious green-and-gold cigarette case, waving it around to offer one to his companions. "Which feels a little close to home, at the moment. I'm not entirely sure why Mrs. Winston-Rogers took me on. I'm no detective. "Of course, I understand the value of discretion, because I understand the value of a name. The sorts of things her father might have been mixed up in, whether it was witchcraft or murder or just running moonshine to Canada, it stains like blood. It'll fade with time, and a great deal of money--a library here, a park there. But mainly time. And you can't buy that." "I suppose there's nothing left to do but head out to the peninsula. I'll hire a car. At the very least, a look at old Henslowe's mental state might give us something to go on. What do you think, Dr. Shaw?" I'll not trouble you with an investigative spend since we know the scene is tapped out. quote:
Halloween Jack fucked around with this message at 15:26 on Sep 15, 2017 |
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Sep 12, 2017 21:59
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Arthur Adams "Shall I?" Arthur opens the car door and tests his shoes against the marshy soil. He tries the bell, shrugging and rolling his eyes as if to say that the gesture is as obligatory as it is futile.
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Sep 14, 2017 23:23
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Arthur Adams Arthur can barely hold his tongue as he takes in the grounds, the house, and all of its...aromas with ghastly fascination. In a certain light--say, a sickly light shining through the branches of ill-kept trees to reflect off the pale green moss eating away at it--the house is beautiful in its decay. But as he passes inside, he finds what passes for living quarters frankly squalid. But Arthur knows how to talk to a certain kind of Southerner. Speak fondly of the good old days through a haze of polite lies. "Mr. Curuthers, I believe this is the grandest old house I've seen in the Southern United States. A lesser man would have allowed the estate to crumble, as it seems you have no one to help you. Have you been managing all by yourself for some years now? Let's see where Flattery gets me. Not to mention an Architecture spend, if that's helpful! And if I get little or no reply from the groundskeeper, I'll wander through to the study on the lookout for anything of interest to an Art Historian.
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Sep 25, 2017 21:35
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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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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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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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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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