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Well, can't say I was expecting that. Al-Saud is dead, and Lavoisier is apparently at the "Ground Street warehouse", at least as of the time the note was written. The only Ground Street Google Maps shows is Upper Ground Street, which is very small on the Sherlock map - so likely either 38 SE or 39 SE? 39 SE is the more likely candidate, since 38 SE could be on the next road over. 40 SE appears to be on Commercial Road, and also apparently would be the location of Thames Steamship Co., so I think that's unlikely our warehouse. My inclination is to continue following Miss Scarlet's path to see if we can narrow down which of those locations is the warehouse. However, that might not be the smartest move in terms of clue points, so if people want to try to find the warehouse first, I'm ok with switching. For now: 6 SE, 86 SE, 39 SE, 38 SE (if 39 SE is a dud) Also, of note, there's no Sam Hawk in the directory, so it doesn't look like we can find this mysterious sailor so easily.
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Jun 3, 2020 05:30
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This puts a new spin on the newspaper ad "Will trade FROG for the BIRD". Perhaps Sam "Hawk" is our bird? Abdullah Al-Saud would then be the poster, "A.A." Edit: Also throwing out the following possible suggestions:
TravelLog fucked around with this message at 14:06 on Jun 3, 2020 |
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Jun 3, 2020 06:17
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TravelLog posted:Central Carriage (5WC) - If we want to follow the Robert side of the trail, this one seems like our best bet We've been to Central Carriage already, so I don't think this would give us any new information. But I like Ellis and Porlock as ideas.
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Jun 3, 2020 16:53
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I'm pretty sure Sam Hawk=Sherlock Holmes. He's working the case incognito.
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Jun 3, 2020 17:26
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I can confirm, since I missed putting it in the post, that "Sam Hawk" has no directory listing. Neither does "Gertrude Lestrade, Duchess of Windsor". I'm also willing to combine the 'Ground Street addresses' into one vote, since there's no clear way to distinguish them. And don't be too concerned about the number of clue points. This is, after all, a 'twisted trail' so it's meant to be on the longer side of things.
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Jun 3, 2020 18:19
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Kangra posted:I can confirm, since I missed putting it in the post, that "Sam Hawk" has no directory listing. Neither does "Gertrude Lestrade, Duchess of Windsor".
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Jun 3, 2020 18:44
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Yvonmukluk posted:I'm pretty sure Sam Hawk=Sherlock Holmes. He's working the case incognito. I didn't even consider this, but now that you mention it, it makes perfect sense. Good catch! Based on the discussion thus far, I'll update my votes to 6 SE, 86 SE, Ground street addresses (39 SE, 38 SE), 30 EC (Henry Ellis), 18 NW (Fred Porlock)
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Jun 4, 2020 03:41
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Case 2, Clue Point 8 6 SE (Cummins & Goins) “We are to pick up any mail for Miss Engels or Mrs. Swellverly at the Metropole Hotel and take it to The Borough Boardinghouse at 86 Southwark Street. In fact, she was here just a little while ago. She wanted to know if we had any messages for her, which we hadn’t, and she gave us a letter to deliver to Abdullah Al-Saud, 19 Orsett Street.” So not much new, but at least we have a name for these places. As I've said, you don't actually get to know the name of the location just by visiting, but I was pretty sure that this was Cummins & Goins and confirmed by looking them up in the directory. Previously Visited Fribourg & Treyer (88SW) Treyer's office (67EC) Abdullah Al-Saud (19SE) Porky Shinwell (52EC) Central Carriage Stables (5WC) Akram Fahmi Residence (37WC) Bridge House Hotel (3SE) Current Votes 7 (Borough Boardinghouse) 86 SE 6 Henry Ellis (30EC) 5 Fred Porlock (18 NW) 3 Aberdeen Navigation (26EC) 3 Ground Street "Warehouses" (38/39 SE) 3 Office of Records (14WC) 2 Thames Steamship Co. (40SE) 2 Lloyd's Shipping Register(17EC) 1 Robert James Lee (53SW) 1 Somerset House (Audits, Inland Revenue)(17WC) Keep following this to the end or switch courses? ~24 hours to the next clue.
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Jun 4, 2020 03:55
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I'll toss in a vote for 38/39 SE and then 86 SE.
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Jun 4, 2020 03:59
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I'm also willing to switch tacks and go 38/39 SE (Ground street warehouse), 86 SE, 30 EC (Henry Ellis), 18 NW (Fred Porlock) instead.
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Jun 4, 2020 23:00
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Case 2, Clue Point 9 86 SE Borough Boardinghouse “Yes, that description fits Miss Engels. She let a room from me yesterday, the one at the top of the stairs.” “Is she in now?” “I’m not sure. I haven’t seen her come in or out.” “May we go up and see if she’s in? We're friends.” “Alright, I'll take you up.” “No, we don’t want to trouble you. We can find our way.” “Okay, love, let me know if you need anything.” “Thanks.” Wiggins takes the lead up the stairs to the room let by Miss Engels. We knock, but get no response. Wiggins takes a small tool from his pocket and inserts it into the lock; a few twists and the door opens. “You're getting good at this, Wiggins." “Shh, get in here.” We all enter the room to have a look around. The room is furnished with a large bed, dresser, wardrobe and a small desk. On the bed we find the pale yellow dress that Scarlet Swellverly was wearing earlier in the day at Baker Street. Next to it is a small suitcase, empty with the exception of a few lace unmentionables and a wooden case. Wiggins opens the wooden case to find a chrome-plated revolver, one of a pair, the other of which is not in its place. A check of the wardrobe reveals it to be empty. The same is true of the dresser. On the desk we find a travelling secretary, a small wooden writing desk used by travellers for carrying stationery and writing instruments. The main compartment is locked. Wiggins again puts his handy tool to work and easily springs it open. He starts going through the papers he finds inside. “Take a look at these letters. What do you make of them?” asks Wiggins as he hands them to us. The first was posted in Cairo on 30 March, 1889. The second was sent from London on 10 April, less than a week ago. Apologies for not transcribing these, but the OCR choked on them and I had to spend some extra time for work today so this is already late. If it's hard to read I can put in the text later, but it seems to me Fahmi has remarkably good penmanship.   New names, lots of information. I liked that they clarify that we did not find a small human secretary sitting on the desk. Directory Look-up (Demetrius) Delphine, Marguerite.......11NW Denham, Lord Astley........27NW (Giraud) Giordano, Mario.............38S Giraud, Roger...............4EC Girdwood & Cole..............1S Previously Visited Fribourg & Treyer (88SW) Treyer's office (67EC) Abdullah Al-Saud (19SE) Porky Shinwell (52EC) Central Carriage Stables (5WC) Akram Fahmi Residence (37WC) Bridge House Hotel (3SE) Cummins & Goins (6SE) Current Votes (top vote determined by random chance) 10 Ground Street "Warehouses" (38/39 SE) 8 Henry Ellis (30EC) 6 Fred Porlock (18 NW) 3 Aberdeen Navigation (26EC) 3 Office of Records (14WC) 2 Thames Steamship Co. (40SE) 2 Lloyd's Shipping Register(17EC) 1 Robert James Lee (53SW) 1 Somerset House (Audits, Inland Revenue)(17WC) Also, I wasn't totally sure if Yvonmukluk's response was meant to be a vote for the Ground Street Warehouses and to follow the previous line of votes (if it wasn't, the Borough would have won by taking those votes out; if it was, Borough won the coin flip). It's probably slightly better that we went here first anyway, depending on where the trail leads to next. Kangra fucked around with this message at 04:52 on Jun 6, 2020 |
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Jun 5, 2020 05:44
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I remembered an off-hand comment from the start of the case, and I think I know what the bird is. It's the Maltese Falcon, or a non-copyrighted counterpart. To the warehouses!
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Jun 5, 2020 12:29
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Yvonmukluk posted:I remembered an off-hand comment from the start of the case, and I think I know what the bird is. What comment was that? Not doubting you, just curious. Apparently the Maltese Falcon film did start off with a woman claiming to be looking for a lost sibling under a false identity... so it'd certainly fit our story so far. My order thus far: 38/39 SE (Ground Street warehouses), 4 EC (Roger Giraud), 30 EC (Henry Ellis), 18 NW (Fred Porlock).
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Jun 5, 2020 23:01
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Case 2, Clue Point 10(combined) 38 SE We see a crowd of people and much commotion in the the street. 39 SE We come upon a hectic and confusing scene in this dingy warehouse district. The constable who has arrived only seconds before us is struggling to keep the gathering crowd away from the two men lying in puddles of blood in the street, apparently quite dead. “Most excitin’ thing I ever seen!” exclaims a youth nearby. “What happened, lad?” “These three blokes come walkin’ out of the warehouse there. As soon as they’re out the door, three other blokes jump out of a wagon and shout somethin’ that sounded like ‘the boss eats hay.’” The man in the middle of the group comin’ out of the building broke into a run and jumped into the wagon as the wagon blokes started shootin’ and killed those two. Then the strangest part of all—right before they drove off across Blackfriars they threw something at the bodies that looked like a small pouch of some sort. The copper’s got it now.” Previously Visited Fribourg & Treyer (88SW) Treyer's office (67EC) Abdullah Al-Saud (19SE) Porky Shinwell (52EC) Central Carriage Stables (5WC) Akram Fahmi Residence (37WC) Bridge House Hotel (3SE) Cummins & Goins (6SE) Borough Boardinghouse (86SE) Current Votes 7 Henry Ellis (30EC) 5 Fred Porlock (18 NW) 4 Roger Giraud (4EC) 3 Aberdeen Navigation (26EC) 3 Office of Records (14WC) 2 Thames Steamship Co. (40SE) 2 Lloyd's Shipping Register(17EC) 1 Robert James Lee (53SW) 1 Somerset House (Audits, Inland Revenue)(17WC) Something pretty exciting. What route do we follow now?
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Jun 6, 2020 05:02
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"The Boss eats hay" --> "Lavoisier"? Anyway, putting in votes for 4 EC (Roger Giraud), 18 NW (Fred Porlock) and 30 EC (Henry Ellis).
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Jun 6, 2020 05:54
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Case 2, Clue Point 11 4 EC Roger Giraud No Clue Point here. Perhaps this is not the Giraud we're looking for? 30 EC Henry Ellis, The Times “Wiggins, come in. What can I help you with today?” “Hello, Henry. We're following quite a twisted trail, and I don’t know if you can help us or not. Our case seems to involve some Frenchmen, and we thought you might be familiar with them.” “Perhaps, perhaps. What are their names?” “Robert Lavoisier and a Monsieur Giraud.” “You've hit the jackpot there, old boy. Giraud is reputedly the head of the French underworld. He is extremely powerful and very well-insulated from the law. My sources indicate that one of the people who helps to ensure that insulation is Robert Lavoisier, who acts as a very trusted lieutenant. They are not people to be trifled with, my friends.” That's probably the guy. Previously Visited Fribourg & Treyer (88SW) Treyer's office (67EC) Abdullah Al-Saud (19SE) Porky Shinwell (52EC) Central Carriage Stables (5WC) Akram Fahmi Residence (37WC) Bridge House Hotel (3SE) Cummins & Goins (6SE) Borough Boardinghouse (86SE) Ground Street "Warehouses" (38/39 SE) Current Votes 7 Fred Porlock (18 NW) 3 Aberdeen Navigation (26EC) 2 Thames Steamship Co. (40SE) 2 Office of Records (14WC) 2 Lloyd's Shipping Register(17EC) 1 Robert James Lee (53SW) Where to next? Place your votes.
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Jun 7, 2020 06:27
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Thanks, Henry. Let's go with 18 NW (Fred Porlock) and 13 SW (Scotland Yard) to see if we can find out what was in the pouch.
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Jun 7, 2020 19:45
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differentiating posted:What comment was that? Not doubting you, just curious. Kangra saying something about this case being a copy of fictional history. I think he also mentioned back in thread #1 there was a case that featured the Falcon and built off one from the original game, which seems to fit this to a tee. So it seems Lavoisier has sprung the coop. Where could he be? I feel like going to the Yard will be counterproductive, since Lestrade probably won't have been informed of the developing situation. The constable will probably take the pouch to the nearest station (either Lambeth - 53 EC, if he's staying within the postal district, or the Old Bailey, 36EC, if he goes to the geographically closest).
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Jun 7, 2020 21:15
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Case 2, Clue Point 12 18 NW Parsons Toy Shoppe (Fred Porlock) “I was told to give you this,” says Parsons as we enter his shop. He hands us a box which contains a small hand-carved wooden bird painted black. In its beak is a rolled up paper, which, when unrolled, reads: Giraud and Moriarty Answer to no others. Lavoisier and Treyer Act as their brothers. Misfortune to those Who answer to another. For Porlock, that's remarkably cogent. Is it helpful? Previously Visited Fribourg & Treyer (88SW) Treyer's office (67EC) Abdullah Al-Saud (19SE) Porky Shinwell (52EC) Central Carriage Stables (5WC) Akram Fahmi Residence (37WC) Bridge House Hotel (3SE) Cummins & Goins (6SE) Borough Boardinghouse (86SE) Ground Street "Warehouses" (38/39 SE) Roger Giraud (4EC) NO CLUE Henry Ellis (30EC) Current Votes 5 Lambeth Police Station (53EC) 4 Old Bailey (36 EC) 4 Scotland Yard (13 SW) 3 Aberdeen Navigation (26EC) 2 Thames Steamship Co. (40SE) 2 Office of Records (14WC) 2 Lloyd's Shipping Register(17EC) 1 Robert James Lee (53SW) 1 Somerset House (Audits, Inland Revenue)(17WC) Place or update your votes on where to head next. A little more than 24 hours to the next clue point.
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Jun 8, 2020 03:40
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Case 2, Clue Point 13 53 SE “It is true that a pouch containing thirty Roman coins was thrown at the bodies by the perpetrators of the Ground Street murders. We are making no further comment at this time.” That's kind of perplexing. Not the coins, but that they apparently had a pouch at the ready. Previously Visited Fribourg & Treyer (88SW) Treyer's office (67EC) Abdullah Al-Saud (19SE) Porky Shinwell (52EC) Central Carriage Stables (5WC) Akram Fahmi Residence (37WC) Bridge House Hotel (3SE) Cummins & Goins (6SE) Borough Boardinghouse (86SE) Ground Street "Warehouses" (38/39 SE) Roger Giraud (4EC) NO CLUE Henry Ellis (30EC) Fred Porlock (18 NW) Current Votes 4 Old Bailey (36 EC) 4 Scotland Yard (13 SW) 3 Aberdeen Navigation (26EC) 2 Thames Steamship Co. (40SE) 2 Office of Records (14WC) 2 Lloyd's Shipping Register(17EC) 1 Robert James Lee (53SW) 1 Somerset House (Audits, Inland Revenue)(17WC) The trail is twisted, but the tale is not yet over. Submit your votes on where to look.
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Jun 9, 2020 06:10
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I think I know what the significance of the coins is, but it's from playing some of the other cases we didn't cover in this LP. Is it OK for me to share that information?
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Jun 9, 2020 10:15
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That'd be fine. That particular detail doesn't really lead any further in this case as far as I can see.
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Jun 9, 2020 17:30
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Oh, OK. So the Roman coins are basically Moriarty's calling card, which adds a whole other layer onto this clusterfuck. So he's sprung Lavoisier, but I've no idea where he might be.
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Jun 9, 2020 19:32
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Case 2, Clue Point 14 36 EC Old Bailey We manage to catch Edward Hall in his office and ask him if he knows anything about the people involved in our investigations. “Treyer, Fribourg, Swellverly, Lavoisier, Giraud,” Hall reads from the list we show him. “I can’t say that I'm familiar with any of these names. Oh, yes, I believe there is a tobacco shop near my club called Fribourg and Treyer. The others sound a bit French. Have you checked with Henry Ellis at The Times? He’s a friend of yours, isn’t he? Perhaps he has come across them during his visits to Paris.” Maybe could have helped us earlier, but not now. At least Edward wasn't too busy to talk to us today! Previously Visited Fribourg & Treyer (88SW) Treyer's office (67EC) Abdullah Al-Saud (19SE) Porky Shinwell (52EC) Central Carriage Stables (5WC) Akram Fahmi Residence (37WC) Bridge House Hotel (3SE) Cummins & Goins (6SE) Borough Boardinghouse (86SE) Ground Street "Warehouses" (38/39 SE) Roger Giraud (4EC) NO CLUE Henry Ellis (30EC) Fred Porlock (18 NW) Lambeth Police Station (53EC) Current Votes 4 Scotland Yard (13 SW) 3 Aberdeen Navigation (26EC) 2 Thames Steamship Co. (40SE) 2 Office of Records (14WC) 2 Lloyd's Shipping Register(17EC) 1 Robert James Lee (53SW) 1 Somerset House (Audits, Inland Revenue)(17WC) Here's a free hint - at least one of the clues that already has a vote for it will yield helpful results.
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Jun 10, 2020 05:45
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Ok, finally able to catch up on what I've missed so far. So, basically, we know that Lavoisier is actually working for the French crime boss Giraud. Moriarty appears to be at least aligned with them, as Treyer has been searching for Lavoisier and his calling card was left at the warehouse. Fahmi was trying to sell Lavoisier the bird, and Engels was his lover, but he was killed by Al-Saud who presumably wants the bird for some reason. That being said, it doesn't really give much to go on in terms of where to go next. I'm not sure if the French Embassy would be of much use, since our French friends aren't exactly above-board. We could still go to the Metropole, but I doubt Engels is going to give much up herself. I don't think we can question Sherlock about his Sam Hawk alias. And we don't have a great way of figuring out where Lavoisier got to, since Central Carriage only reported on Engels's movements. The only thing I can think of right now is trying to track down the ships involved in all of this - I'm not 100% sure how it could help our investigation, but we gave up on that line of inquiry a little while back before completing it, so maybe we'll have some luck there. Now that we have an item to focus on, I agree with starting with Lloyd's, and I'm interested in starting with Thames over Aberdeen just given the proximity to the warehouse murders. 17 EC (Lloyd's), 40 SE (Thames Steamship Co.), 26 EC (Aberdeen Navigation) Interested to hear others' thoughts as to where we ought to go.
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Jun 10, 2020 17:57
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differentiating posted:Ok, finally able to catch up on what I've missed so far. I'll second all these for now.
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Jun 10, 2020 19:43
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Case 2, Clue Point 15 17 EC Lloyd's Shipping Register No clue here, sorry. 40 SE Thames Steamship Co. “Yes, our passenger list for the Le Havre ferry includes the name of a Robert Lavoisier. He arrived yesterday, and we sent his bags to the Piccadilly Hotel.” Directory Look-up Picadilly Hotel..............26NW Previously Visited Fribourg & Treyer (88SW) Treyer's office (67EC) Abdullah Al-Saud (19SE) Porky Shinwell (52EC) Central Carriage Stables (5WC) Akram Fahmi Residence (37WC) Bridge House Hotel (3SE) Cummins & Goins (6SE) Borough Boardinghouse (86SE) Ground Street "Warehouses" (38/39 SE) Roger Giraud (4EC) NO CLUE Henry Ellis (30EC) Fred Porlock (18 NW) Lambeth Police Station (53EC) Old Bailey (36 EC) Current Votes 9 Aberdeen Navigation (26EC) 4 Scotland Yard (13 SW) 2 Office of Records (14WC) 1 Robert James Lee (53SW) 1 Somerset House (Audits, Inland Revenue)(17WC)
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Jun 11, 2020 05:23
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Well, thank goodness Engels wasn't lying about that. Though what I mentioned earlier about the newspapers was regarding this: apparently the newer edition of the newspapers in the downloadable set actually has one additional ad, that for the Le Havre route via Thames Steamship Co. Teaches me not to assume the relevant articles will be the same, so have been sticking to the posted set since. Given the fact that people could definitely find this before everything else, I doubt he'll be at the hotel, but it's still worth checking it out regardless. To 26 NW (Picadilly Hotel), post-haste!
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Jun 11, 2020 05:52
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What are we even trying to find out still? This case has been so convoluted I've lost track. But sure, 26 NW, let's go.
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Jun 11, 2020 20:58
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Case 2, Clue Point 16 26 NW Picadilly Hotel “Yes, we have a Robert Lavoisier registered here,” responds the desk clerk to our question. “Is he in?" asks Wiggins. “No,” answers the clerk as he looks over the room keys hanging on their hooks. “It’s very strange.” “What's that?” “Right after I came on duty last night, a large man, a Turk, asked for Lavoisier. Lavoisier had a reservation, so we were expecting him, but he had not yet arrived. The Turk told me he would wait for Lavoisier in the bar and asked me to inform Lavoisier of this when he arrived. “Monsieur Lavoisier appeared within an hour of the Turk’s arrival. After he signed in and paid for a week’s stay, he asked me to change some francs into pounds, which I did, a normal service of the hotel. I then told him that someone was waiting for him in the bar. He went into the bar and stayed there for about half an hour. Minutes before Lavoisier came out of the bar, a letter was delivered for him. “I gave the letter to Monsieur Lavoisier and he read it immediately. He said, more to himself that to me, 'I thought he was to meet me here. Oh, well.' He then asked how he could get to Charles Street. I told him and he left. That's the last I saw him. His luggage arrived and was put in his room, but he has not returned. Very strange.” “Do you know who the Turk was?” “No, no idea. He was a big ugly man with a scar over his left eye. He had a Vandyke beard and wore a fez. Quite a sight.” “Did anyone else talk to Lavoisier?” “No, but you might talk to Jack, the bartender.” We enter the Piccadilly bar through the lobby door. Jack is busy shining an already sparkling bar, but we can see that there are not many customers to occupy his attention. We order a pint of ale and engage Jack in conversation. “Yeah, I remember the Frenchman.” “Well, he’s really an American,” says Wiggins. ““Na, he was a frog. He accent was so thick you could cut it with a knife. When he and the A-rab were arguing, they were speaking French. No, I'm sure he was French.” “You're sure it was Lavoisier?” “Yes! Look, he signed his bar bill, Robert Lavoisier, Room 234.” “What were Lavoisier and the Arab arguing about?” “I don’t know. I don’t understand French. All I know is that the A-rab came in, sat down at that table over there, ordered a vodka and just sat there. After about a half-hour, Lavoisier came in. the A-rab waved him over to the table. They talked, the talk turned into an argument and the A-rab stormed out the door. Lavoisier ordered a brandy, drank it and left. That’s all that happened.” “Thanks, Jack,” we say, leaving a generous tip on the polished bar. “Anytime.” We follow Wiggins back into the lobby. He suggests that we take a look upstairs and make sure that Lavoisier has not been to his room. We make our way up the stairs and to the door of room 234. Wiggins tries the knob, but the room is locked. As we watch the corridor for unwelcome visitors, Wiggins removes a long, thin metal hook from his coat pocket and inserts it into the keyhole. A few twists and turns and the door comes open. We all slide into the room and close the door behind us. The light from the window allows us to see that the room has not been used recently. Inside the door are two suitcases, one large, one small. Wiggins bends down and opens the larger case and quickly goes through it. “Nothing but clothes,” he informs us. Wiggins closes the larger case and opens the smaller one. It contains a book and a revolver. Wiggins lifts the book from the case. “The title of the book is Treasures of the Conquerors by General Farnsworth Armstead,” says Wiggins as he opens the book. “There’s a bookmark here. The page shows a drawing of a bird, a statue. It’s labeled ‘Maltese Falcon.' The caption reads ‘A solid gold falcon inlaid with jewels of the highest value.’ “There is also a letter,” Wiggins shows it to us. quote:Robert, “We should leave.” Wiggins replaces the book and letter in the suitcase and leads us out of the room. As we are making our way down the stairs we hear the desk clerk call out to us. “Hey, wait!” he cries. Not sure if our little breaking and entering has been found out, we move hesitantly towards the desk. “I forgot to tell you something that might be of interest to you. Minutes after Lavoisier left another man showed up looking for him. He seemed annoyed that he had gone out. He waited for about thirty minutes, pacing up and down in the lobby and then left. Before leaving he gave me his card to give to Lavoisier. Here it is.” Printed on one side is: Macaulay Treyer, nothing more. On the other side is written:  We return the card to the desk clerk and thank him. “Let me know what happened to Lavoisier; I'm curious,” says the desk clerk as we leave. We'd tell you, but we're not all that sure ourselves at this point. Also, yes, that is the bird. So much for being a football in the gutter. Previously Visited Fribourg & Treyer (88SW) Treyer's office (67EC) Abdullah Al-Saud (19SE) Porky Shinwell (52EC) Central Carriage Stables (5WC) Akram Fahmi Residence (37WC) Bridge House Hotel (3SE) Cummins & Goins (6SE) Borough Boardinghouse (86SE) Ground Street "Warehouses" (38/39 SE) Roger Giraud (4EC) NO CLUE Henry Ellis (30EC) Fred Porlock (18 NW) Lambeth Police Station (53EC) Old Bailey (36 EC) Lloyd's Shipping Register(17EC) Thames Steamship Co. (40SE) Current Votes 9 Aberdeen Navigation (26EC) 4 Scotland Yard (13 SW) 2 Office of Records (14WC) 1 Robert James Lee (53SW) 1 Somerset House (Audits, Inland Revenue)(17WC) So we've managed to figure out a lot so far. Do we keep on looking?
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Jun 12, 2020 05:01
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The French is "check the statue and compare with your book. If it seems okay [ailes] transfer the money." Ailes means wings, it may be alles for "go transfer the money" or it may be some clue I can't parse with high school-level French that I haven't used in 20 years.
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Jun 12, 2020 05:23
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Bruceski posted:The French is "check the statue and compare with your book. If it seems okay [ailes] transfer the money." Ailes means wings, it may be alles for "go transfer the money" or it may be some clue I can't parse with high school-level French that I haven't used in 20 years. Ailes was probably meant to be either ailles or a les - either "go transfer the money" (in the subjunctive) or "transfer the money to them". Otherwise the French translation fits with my own memories of high school French. I'm inclined to stop things here, if only because I think we've solved a lot of the key mysteries, and the one remaining - where exactly is Lavoisier - isn't one we're likely to get much of an answer to. We have no way of following where he's gone after his escape.
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Jun 12, 2020 06:04
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I can confirm that it does say 'ailes' in the book. I always guessed that maybe it meant something like 'wire the money' but I don't really know French. It could well be a typo, since we've seen a few of those already. Even in this case, the printed directory listing spelled Fribourg incorrectly. differentiating posted:Well, thank goodness Engels wasn't lying about that. Though what I mentioned earlier about the newspapers was regarding this: apparently the newer edition of the newspapers in the downloadable set actually has one additional ad, that for the Le Havre route via Thames Steamship Co. Teaches me not to assume the relevant articles will be the same, so have been sticking to the posted set since. The remakes tended to add 'fixes' and while I appreciate the times when typos and wrong labels are fixed, the adjustment mentioned in the spoiler is the sort of thing I like a bit less. I prefer the experience of having to just sit down and go through a list of companies sometimes, just because there is no way of knowing until you exhaust it. I recognize that it makes the game more frustrating, and probably more people would enjoy it if it's a more complete game, but I'd rather not have there necessarily be a clue for everything.
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Jun 12, 2020 18:06
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Since "ailes" means "wings" and this case revolves around the Maltese Falcon, maybe it's deliberately spelled wrong as some kind of secret code  ... but it's probably just a typo.
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Jun 12, 2020 19:59
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Kangra posted:The remakes tended to add 'fixes' and while I appreciate the times when typos and wrong labels are fixed, the adjustment mentioned in the spoiler is the sort of thing I like a bit less. I prefer the experience of having to just sit down and go through a list of companies sometimes, just because there is no way of knowing until you exhaust it. I recognize that it makes the game more frustrating, and probably more people would enjoy it if it's a more complete game, but I'd rather not have there necessarily be a clue for everything. Yeah, makes sense. That's why I decided to pretend like I'd never seen it and wait until we had other information to help with narrowing down the options, to be fair to the intended spirit of the game. Kangra posted:I can confirm that it does say 'ailes' in the book. I always guessed that maybe it meant something like 'wire the money' but I don't really know French. It could well be a typo, since we've seen a few of those already. Even in this case, the printed directory listing spelled Fribourg incorrectly. Also googling has revealed that "ailer" is the verb "to do" in French and conjugates regularly, so it could just be "do the money transfer" after all. The more you know!
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Jun 12, 2020 21:30
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Case 2 CLOSED An actual location won the top vote (Aberdeen Navigation) but it does not have a clue point, so we will end it here. The big question is what are we expected to know from all of this. I'll post the quiz questions below and put the answers up in a couple of days, as I'll be fairly busy tomorrow and it'll be good to leave the discussion open anyways. Previously Visited Fribourg & Treyer (88SW) Treyer's office (67EC) Abdullah Al-Saud (19SE) Porky Shinwell (52EC) Central Carriage Stables (5WC) Akram Fahmi Residence (37WC) Bridge House Hotel (3SE) Cummins & Goins (6SE) Borough Boardinghouse (86SE) Ground Street "Warehouses" (38/39 SE) Roger Giraud (4EC) NO CLUE Henry Ellis (30EC) Fred Porlock (18 NW) Lambeth Police Station (53EC) Old Bailey (36 EC) Lloyd's Shipping Register(17EC) NO CLUE Thames Steamship Co. (40SE) Picadilly Hotel (26 NW) Current Votes 5 *Close Case * Quiz Questions, Case 2 Part 1 1. Who killed Abdullah Al-Saud? (50) 2. Why was he killed? (25) 3. Who now has the Black Bird? (25) Part 2 1. Who does Macaulay Treyer work for? (20) 2. Who does Lavoisier work for? (20) 3. Who is Giraud? (10)
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Jun 13, 2020 07:09
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My answers to the questions: Part 1 1. Who killed Abdullah Al-Saud? Treyer 2. Why was he killed? Because he'd kidnapped Lavoisier in an effort to obtain the Maltese Falcon, thereby interfering with the sale 3. Who now has the Black Bird? Not sure on this one. I'm assuming Treyer? Fahmi was to meet with him to make the sale, and Al-Saud kidnapped Lavoisier to force the trade of the bird, so he probably had it. Unless Engels grabbed it from his home after he died... but I doubt the police would have allowed that. Part 2 1. Who does Macaulay Treyer work for? Moriarty 2. Who does Lavoisier work for? Giraud 3. Who is Giraud? Head of the French underworld
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Jun 13, 2020 09:00
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Case 2 Solution Here are the answers to the quiz. Part 1 1. Who killed Abdullah Al-Saud? (50) Scarlet Swellverly (aka Winifred Engels) 2. Why was he killed? (25) He had killed Engels' lover, Akram Fahmi. 3. Who now has the Black Bird? (25) Lavoisier, who is taking it to Giraud. Part 2 1. Who does Macaulay Treyer work for? (20) Moriarty 2. Who does Lavoisier work for? (20) Giraud 3. Who is Giraud? (10) Moriarty's counterpart in Paris. As for the identity of the killer, we had a description of Treyer when we met him, and the 'sailor' certainly wasn't him - the small hands were specifically called out as noteworthy. The motive falls into place from there. Knowing who specifically has the Black Bird is guesswork, though, since Treyer must have had it prior to Lavoisier's being kidnapped. I think putting it with the Treyer/Moriarty/Giraud camp would be worth 20 points. I mentioned that this case was odd before, and one of the ways is that there is no score for the route. No 'optimal' path for Holmes, either; as the book says, 'the chase itself is the thing!' So I hope the convoluted route was at least enjoyable. I'll have more to say in a later post, when I go over the few clues we didn't get. For now, we can find out what Holmes was up to and get the straight story from him.  Case 12 “What is the meaning of this, Holmes?" shouts Lestrade as he comes charging through the door at 221B Baker Street waving a telegram in his hand. Lestrade’s question goes unanswered as Holmes has not yet returned to his familiar abode. We are present along with Dr. Watson, but, unlike Inspector Lestrade, we have had no word from Holmes since his novel and unexpected departure this morning. “Holmes has not yet returned,” says Wiggins to Lestrade once the latter has come to a stop in the centre of the room. “Be seated. I am sure Holmes will return any moment now.” “Yes, Lestrade, take a seat and I will be right with you.” As if responding to Wiggins’ cue, Holmes now enters the room through the door Lestrade had left open. Holmes is dressed in the garb of a seaman: heavy peacoat, seaman’s cap and well-worn blue trousers. On his left cheek 1s a long scar and over his right eye is a black patch. “Holmes, I demand—" Before Lestrade can state his demand, Holmes has entered his bedroom and closed the door behind him. Lestrade drops into the wicker chair and sighs in frustration. “What does the telegram say, Inspector?” asks Watson. Without answering, Lestrade hands the telegram to Watson who reads it aloud. “Come to Baker Street and I will clear up the murder of Abdullah Al-Saud, Holmes.” “Who’s Abdullah Al-Saud?” asks Watson. “All in due time, Watson. All in due time,” says Holmes as he re-enters the room, attired now in his mouse-coloured dressing gown. Gone are the scar and eye-patch. He walks over to the fireplace, removes a cigar from the coal scuttle and lights it. “Holmes, I am a busy man, so if you have any information it is your duty to give it to me,” states Lestrade. Holmes savours the first puff of his cigar and seems to concentrate all of his attention on the cloud of smoke that he has sent sailing towards Inspector Lestrade. “Inspector, it was I who called you here to give you the name of the murderer, and so I will.” “Well?” “I'll start from the beginning. Earlier today a woman called on us requesting our help in locating her so-called ‘brother.’ I did not find the woman'’s story credible. To begin with she claimed to be from the southern United States, yet she stated that Robert E. Lee, that great son of Virginia, came from Georgia — a mistake that raised great doubts in my mind that she was indeed a native daughter of the American South.” Another cloud of smoke is sent on its journey across the room as Holmes turns his attention towards Lestrade. “There was one other thing that increased my doubts. There are certain cases that the professional police are better equipped to handle than I, and this was one of them. Why did she come to me for advice? And then when I gave it to her she chose to ignore it. Why?” “About time you admitted that the Yard is the right place to go,” beams Lestrade. “I always have, Lestrade. When it comes to ferreting out a missing person or providing protection to an endangered person, the Yard is the place to go. My talents lie in other directions, that of thinking problems through to their logical conclusions and, at other times, that of defining the problem to be solved. “The problem that Mrs. Swellverly presented to us was why would a client lie to us if she wanted our help? Obviously, she wanted us to find something or somebody, without our knowing what or who.” “You must admit that she must have had a great deal of faith in your abilities, Mr. Holmes.” “Perhaps, Wiggins, but she did not accurately predict my response. When I realized that her story was not straightforward, I excused myself and went into my room to change into a disguise. I then exited through the window and waited for Mrs. Swellverly to leave. I followed her from Baker Street to the Metropole Hotel, where I found out that she also used the name Winifred Engels. She checked out of the Metropole and took a hansom to 37 Bloomsbury Way, an address that should be familiar to you, Wiggins.” “Yes, that’s where we found the body of Akram Fahmi on Friday.” *A footnote in the text here indicates this happened in Case 5 (The Mummy's Curse) from the original set. “Right, and it seems that our Mrs. Swellverly, or Miss Engels as I will refer to her, was an acquaintance of Mr. Fahmi and was looking for something that he had. That corresponds with what you found out when checking the passengers of the Eastern Empress last week. She then went to the Bow Street Police Station, hoping to find something that might have been left by Fahmi; again, no luck. The next stop was the Bridge House Hotel. I watched her pay some money to the clerk and leave. Shen then went by the Cummins and Goins messenger service and gave them a letter to deliver. As the messenger came out, I learned that the letter was going to Abdullah Al-Saud. What do you think of that, Wiggins?” “Interesting, since we came to the conclusion last week that Al-Saud murdered Fahmi.” “Last week!” shouts Lestrade, who has been quietly taking notes during Holmes’s dissertation. “Why wasn’t I informed?” “We had no hard evidence, Inspector, just something we came across while we were investigating the mummy murders.” “Was Swellverly working with Al-Saud?” asks Wiggins. “No. Her next stop was at her boarding house on Southwark Street. While she was taking a bath down the hall, I entered her room and went through the luggage there. I found some letters from Fahmi that left little doubt that Fahmi and Engels were working together as well as being more than good friends. It seems they were involved in smuggling something referred to as the ‘black bird’ into London.” “Yes, that tallies with what we found,” interjects Wiggins. “Our prey then left her boarding house, dressed as a man, a sailor — a rather appropriate choice of disguise considering my own. She walked from her boarding house to the Bridge House Hotel where she checked into a room under the name of Macaulay Treyer. I signed in as Sam Hawk right after her.” “I knew I could smell your hand in this!” exclaims Lestrade. “You're a hard man to fool, Inspector. I got the room across the hall from hers and waited. I didn’t have long to wait, for within minutes a large man came charging down the hall and through the open door of Engels’ room. She was standing there waiting, with a gun in her hand. She had removed her cap, so there was no doubt of her identity. She shouted “This is for Akram!" A knife appeared in his hand out of nowhere, but before he could use it, three shots hit him in the chest, causing him to collapse to the floor. She was immediately on her way out of the room and down the hall towards the back door. After seeing that the man was beyond help, I followed her. “She led me to the Cunard Line’s ship Caronia where she had registered as Mary O’Shaughnessy. I confronted her and asked the reason for her visit to us this morning. She gave me the following story. She and Akram Fahmi had stolen the Maltese Falcon from a private collector in France. A collector, as it turns out, who had connections with the French underworld which is controlled by Giraud. They made it out of France one step ahead of Giraud’s men. “Their next stop was Egypt. They had a potential buyer in Alexandria, but once they got there things began to go awry. They discovered that their buyer did not have much potential after all and that one Abdullah Al-Saud had found out about the treasure that they carried. “Al-Saud was a Palestinian in the pay of the Turkish court, more specifically Mustafa Aziz, the Sultan’s cousin. Mustafa Aziz is a fanatical art collector who likes to pay as little as possible for the valuable objects in his collection. Al-Saud offered two thousand pounds for the bird, not the figure Fahmi and Engels had in mind. “In the meantime, Giraud had contacted Macauley Treyer requesting his help in getting the bird back. Giraud knew that Treyer, a high lieutenant in the Moriarty organization, has many contacts in the Mid-East. Treyer used his network to locate Fahmi and offered him twenty thousand pounds for the bird if delivered to London. It was still less money than they had orginally planned to get for the bird, but they also knew it was only a matter of time before one of the parties stopped offering money and turned to murder to get what they wanted. “Fahmi brought the bird to London and turned it over to Treyer for twenty thousand pounds. Winifred Engels arrived a day later to find Fahmi dead and no trace of the money. There was no doubt in Miss Engel’s mind that Al-Saud was responsible for Fahmi’s death and the disappearance of the twenty thousand pounds. “Lavoisier had arrived from Paris to pick up the bird, but he was picked up by Al-Saud instead. Not only had Al-Saud kidnapped Giraud’s most trusted lieutenant, he had also defied and embarrassed Moriarty on his home turf. Treyer was turning London upside down looking for Lavoisier. “At this point Miss Engels entered our lives with her fanciful story, hoping for us to find Lavoisier so that she could sell that information to Treyer and take her revenge on Al-Saud. She also set into motion her own plan for the murder of Al-Saud, her final revenge of Fahmi.” Holmes pauses for the first time since he started his long narrative and takes another puff on his cigar. “Where is this Swellverly, Engels, O’Shaughnessy, whatever her name is, now?” demands Lestrade. “I think the Caronia’s first port of call is Cherbourg.” “You mean you let her get away?” cries Lestrade as he jumps from his chair. “I saw no reason to detain her. I would only have to testify that I saw her shoot Al-Saud in self-defense.” “You ...” Lestrade thinks better of adding the expletive, but makes his feelings known by charging out of the room. “Poor Lestrade, he’ll now run down to the dock and yell at the ship to return,” laughs Holmes. “That’s too bad,” says Wiggins. “I had two more murders to tell him about. It seems that Treyer discovered where Al-Saud was keeping Lavoisier and freed him, killing two of Al-Saud’s men at a Ground Street warehouse in the process.”’ “If my guess is right, Lavoisier should have the bird and be on his way back to France.” “I can’t believe it, Holmes,” sighs Watson. ‘“What could that bird be made of that would be worth the lives of four men?” “The stuff that dreams are made of, Watson. Men have always killed for their dreams.” 
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Jun 15, 2020 05:59
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Kangra posted:Case 2 Solution Ehh - I thought about that small hands thing, but his hand size wasn't at all discussed when we met him, so concluding that it wasn't him based on that alone seems like a pretty big stretch. What I should have noticed, I'm realizing, is that the handwriting was different than that on Treyer's note for Lavoisier. I kept thinking the handwriting was important, but I didn't see any notes in the Treyer clue and completely forgot about our later find. I also thought about Lavoisier getting the bird, but it seemed like he'd just been rescued, so I figured that wasn't super likely yet. Oh well! It was a fun and interesting case regardless.
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Jun 16, 2020 02:22
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So this case is unusual in that it isn't really about solving the crime so much as it is about tracking down what the crime even is, and trying to follow people around. Initially I was unsure about running it, but I realized that it's actually kind of a fun one, because it is so open-ended. It is also different in that it tries to have 'events' happen in order while sticking to the static nature of the game, and it kind of pulls it off. I think it highlights one of the best elements of this game, where you don't really have an idea of where you are supposed to go next but can find clues of varying helpfulness if you simply start looking. As it was, we found just about every pertinent clue in this case. You can get a little more detail about Lavoisier's kidnapping if you poke around near the Picadilly Hotel. If you do go to the Metropole, you'll only find out about the Swellverly-Engels connection (she told them Swellverly was her married name). Checking other sources can give you more about Fahmi's death, and you'll discover that Anthony Uruburu (another passenger on the ship) was a friend as well and attended the funeral. In fact, that is how you can get Winifred Engels's signature, but notably she apparently made an attempt to disguise her handwriting when signing as Treyer. Speaking of handwriting, I was trying to see if the 'Sam Hawk' signature could be matched to anything else, and finally found it: In the original set's Case 4 ("The Case of the Lionized Lions"), Holmes leaves a note on the door to start things off.  The records office only tells you that Treyer has kept a clean nose and no criminal record. Most of the lecture sources give you little to nothing, or point you in the directon of Henry Ellis, who gives the clearest clue about Giraud. There isn't anything more to find out about Lavoisier's travels. You can go to the Customs House and find that Fahmi declared the value of the bird at £3. There is also one amusing note (another reference to The Mummy's Curse) if you decide to check the telegraph office: quote:37 EC But Philip Travis was already arrested after his ritual to revive the dead, so he couldn't have faked that, which means... The last major thread to follow is to get more on the Maltese Falcon. The book mentioned in the search of Lavoisier's room can be followed up on. If you head to Lomax at the library you find out that Treyer's Irish henchman was there already (and you get his name, Mike O'Flaherty) to check it out. But you can head directly to the author, General Farnsworth Armstead. General Armstead was actually a victim in one of the cases from the original ("The Case of the Tin Soldier"), but at the time of this one he's still alive. If you visit him, you get the history of the Maltese Falcon that is lifted almost in its entirety from The Maltese Falcon, the book by Dashiell Hammett. So, if you're not familiar with The Maltese Falcon (either the book or the movie adaptations), it's a classic of the detective stories that came a generation after Doyle. The main character is Sam Spade, who works in San Francisco as a private detective. He is approached by a woman calling herself 'Ruth Wonderly' who is trying to find her sister. Later in the story it's discovered that her real name is Brigid O'Shaughnessy, and she had made up the story about her sister, and eventually we find that she actually committed several of the murders in the case. Along the way Spade encounters some other characters who it turns out are all after the Maltese Falcon, an incredibly valuable jewel-encrusted statuette of a bird (which has been covered in black enamel to hide its value). In the end the Maltese Falcon has slipped through their fingers, but Spade turns over O'Shaughnessy to the police, unlike Holmes in this case. You might be wondering, if they wanted to have a Sam Spade mystery so badly, why not set a case in his world instead of inserting it into a Sherlock Holmes story? Well, of course they did, or at least tried. One of the other games Sleuth Publications released was Gumshoe. It's the same gameplay as this, but set in 1930s San Francisco. Unfortunately it had a lot of bugs in the text, and from what I've read it overcomplicated the system. Instead of a sequence of cases, you had a set number of days and new cases that came in each day. But what wasn't clear is that you could not solve them one case at a time; instead you were supposed to play through all the days and try to solve all the cases given. The original game is now incredibly rare, and I don't think I saw it for sale even back when I bought these editions. There's a pretty good write-up on it (as well as the Consulting Detective games) at this site. That's it for this case. The next case is the one that doesn't mess with the formula so much, but has issues that make it work not as well, so we may go through it kind of quickly.
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Jun 16, 2020 18:30
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