Gameplay Thread

George's cheeks suddenly felt like they were burning, a warmth spreading across his face like wildfire. His skin tingled with embarrassment, and he could feel the flush rising from his neck to his temples.

It doesn't get any better with the arrival of Officer Gray.
George stands up quickly, holding his arms slightly spread trying to drip as little as possible there is a look of utter embarrassment plastered on his face.

Ah, yes....Hello Officer Gray...I um, I know this looks bad, I was (George makes a vague fumbling motion with his hands) I was trying to give Mr. Gardiner some dignity and I seems to have made quite a mess of things...

George furrows his brow and shifts his gaze towards the floor.

Jack shuts the secret compartment and the drawer, noting to check it out later when the situation calms down. He stands up and nods along with George: "We rolled Mr. Gardiner to his back, but it seems the blood was more slippery than George expected." He says this with a slight chuckle, trying to ease the tension a bit.

The cop glances at the others to the left before moving toward the body, crouching to take a look, "What's with the candles?"

Lettie can't help herself, the situation is just so bizarre that it doesn't feel real, she continues investigating even though the cop has arrived and she should let him do his job. She isn't sure if she can trust the man, but he's here now and any more sneaking around could land her in trouble.

"Some sort of ritual," she says to James, thinking that maybe if she sounds confident enough, he won't laugh in her face. "There may be some answers in this journal?"

"Who found him? And did you find him like this?," he inspects the wounds though you can tell he's not used to seeing this kind of scene.

Jack's had about enough weirdness for now, and trouble with the law could jeopardize his family in a number of ways, so, for now at least, he's done with the snooping around. He heads towards the door and leans against the wall between it and the wardrobe, crossing his arms. "We all came in together. Nobody had heard from Mr. Gardiner in a few days, it became clear why as soon as Rosana opened the door."

Officer Grey stands and steps from the body, "George, clean yourself up," he indicates the kitchen sink, stepping over to Lettie, "A journal?"

"Here it is" Lettie says, pointing to the drawer. "It might have some answers, or at the very least tell us a little about his state of mind before he died."

"Look, I'll be straight with you," he looks at the body, "I'm no homicide cop, but this, this," he gestures to the body, "This could get me to detective. If I call it in, someone else will get over here, take it out of my hands, so if you can, you know, help me out, well, friendships go a long way in this district."

One wouldn't be sure by looking if Nora's eyes were narrowed in judgement while she grimaced, or if the crinkled with an uncomfortable smile. "You know, you remind me of my son, Walter, Officer Gray. Always wanting to be the winner. I'll hold my peace for now. But something feels...off about this whole thing. Like there's more to it than meets the eye. I swear I've heard Mr. Gardiner reciting some strange poetry through the walls, but in no language I've yet heard. But again, maybe he was just desperate and down on his luck." Nora pulls our the letter detailing Mr. Gardiner's bank information and the ledger he was tasked to complete by Mr. Bugbee and hands it to Officer Grey.

Elated that I'm not being dragged off for questioning, I clean up my hands and forearms in the kitchen sink, "My lips are sealed offic....DETECTIVE Grey!"

"Poetry eh?" the officer slips the letter into a pocket as he looks at the journal, skimming through it for a few minutes, "Dreamlands..Looks like he was obsessed with something called the Dreamlands. He talks about it like its a place. Bar maybe? Not one I've heard of." he reads some more, "No, he talks about travelling there when he's asleep and was struggling to get there. Pages and pages of 'No dreams again'"

He flips through a few more pages, "He describes more deams and talks about meeting a 'powerful being' who promised him a path into the land of dream if certain rituals are performed. He also talks of 'the Tome' and says these dreams make it easier to understand. Any of you seen a 'Tome'," he glances paste Lettie and over at the bookshelf.

---

James is right, having a friend in the department could prove to be very helpful, especially if Konstantinas runs into any trouble with the speakeasy. Though he had hoped to check out the drawer on his own later, he says: "This is all over my head, but there’s a secret compartment in that drawer in the bookcase. It’s got a few books and some other things that don’t make much sense."

"Show me," Officer Grey looks to the drawer Jack indicates who presses the button , flipping open the false bottom.

Reaching in he pulls out a book, Primer in Greek Vocabulary, "doesn't look like a tome," he tosses it onto the bed and pulls out two accounting ledgers and an envelope stuffed with receipts. Tossing them onto the bed he pulls out a black bladed knife, "Huh! The murder weapon? If so, how did it get in here. What material is that?"

Lettie breathes a sigh of relief that they aren't all being arrested for meddling with the crime scene. The words in Mr. Gardiner's journal cause her stomach to twist. What was he mixed up in? she thinks to herself, worried that she helped or encouraged this somehow by lending him the books.

She tries to think of what he could be referring to as 'the Tome'... Certainly none of the books in her shop...