2014.09.08:Of Books and Burglaries pt2
| Of Books and Burglaries pt2 | |
|---|---|
| Tracking down the thief | |
| IC Date | Monday |
| IC Time | Just After Sundown |
| Players | Silvester (Storyteller), Silvana, Zeta, and Madeline |
| Location | Prospect |
| Prp/Tp | Of Books and Burglaries |
| Spheres | Vampire |
Log
Hey there Sil,
Which burglary were we talking about? I heard there was a break in just the other night too. I don't see how you could have known about that though so I'm guessing you're referring to the one two weeks ago. I can't say too much as it's an open investigation, but I'm not sure we'll ever be able to find anything.
I'll tell you what, considering how far we go back, I'll share a little info. It looks like a standard B&E job like we've seen a lot in that area recently as the new First Dates gang has attempted to expand its influence on Date street. The oddity about that burglary is the book. Normally, it's just jewelry which is easy to move on the street. Rare books are tricky and whoever did it will probably have a problem unloading it. I know the owner is checking auction sites personally. As far as local fences.. I know Mellow Jack has handled some weird stuff before over on Market St. and Harbor Dr. He's close enough that they might try him. We did check with him the day after the robbery, but found nothing at that time. I think I've given you more than I probably should have.. but remember this is an ongoing investigation, please keep the details under your hat.
Det. C
Carl coughs, then clears his throat. "The First Dates? well like I said they're new. One of the turf wars had some big casualties on both sides and the First Dates popped up to fill the void. The gang members tend to have a heart tattoo on one of their arms and their colors are usually pink, but the tattoo is more commonly used than the colors. We don't have a lot more information on them than that.. Like I said.. They're new.
Silvana nods her head "I'll find some stuff out and let you know what your up against then thanks Carl, what about Mr. Jack, what can you tell me about him?" she plays with his hair a little bit.
"Runs a pawn shop where I told you, keeps some odd hours, usually graveyard for the 'interesting people'."
Silvana nods "Alright, thank you Carl" she gives his cheek a kiss "Same place for dinner or are you taking me somewhere more special?" she teases
Carl laughs, "On a cop's salary, you know I can't afford better than the usual, you have a good one sweet heart. And don't get into too much trouble.. seriously, from the sounds of it you want to interfere in an ongoing investigation and I don't need to tell you what a bad idea that is..."
Silvana batts her eyes at Carl and smiles "I'll do my best not to get in your way." she blows a kiss and turns to head out "And i'm not interfering i'm just trying to get the same thing you are. I'll pass the info, the usual" she waves and with that she's gone to go pick up Zeta.
Silvana gets Zeta into her car and does the rund own "Two weeks ago a book was stolen from a collector from what is suspected to be this gang that we are going to find out about. It's a rather expensive book so it will be hard to get rid off where Mr. Jack will probably come into play. So we need to find out what this gang has done with the book if they have it or see if they have heard of it."
Silvana looks to Zeta "Do you have any suggestions?"
Zeta rubs his chin thoughtfully as he listens, "So what, we've got a bunch of highly literate gang-bangers, here?" That strikes him as odd, "My gut tells me these guys didn't just happen to luck into jacking this book. Could be pretty organized... maybe have someone above street level feeding 'em that kind of tip." He absently rubs the back of his neck still thinking, "I'm assuming, here, but if they're smart enough to take a rare book, they're probably smart enough not to try and pawn it off. So, if you know of any fences in town? Keeping tabs on them might be a good start. Barring that... I dunno, they might try and take it to another collector. Hell, book collectors are a strange breed... a rival collector might've even commissioned this whole deal."
Silvana nods "Well the guy broke in and the book with the invoice happen to be laying there and considering how much it was it was and obviouse choice to take. But good idea, we will have to see about any other collectors. Mr. Jack would be the local fencer that can move the books, so where do we start?" she grins at Zeta.
"Ah..." He grins, nodding, "That makes sense, then. Jesus Christ... I almost wish I could've been there to see the look on the mope's face when he realized his good luck." Chuckling, Zeta continues, "Jack sounds like the obvious lead. You think he'll talk to us, or are we better off staking out his place of business, see if our friends have the same idea on moving the book?"
Silvana taps her chin "I'd like to find out what we are up against, what this gang has as a club house maybe the book is still there but also see about the Jack and see what he has in his place. So should we do a steak out first or should we go asking questions?
"Well, if Jack's the go-to guy for moving what these guys got, and /they/ know that..." He grins, "Watching him'll probably be a better use of our time than trying to find a gang hideout. I mean, if these guys were into drugs, that'd be one thing... Visibility is big for drug dealers. But B&E boys, they're ghosts. Wouldn't be much good at what they do if they weren't." He sighs, "I dunno, could be a dead-end, but strikes me as the best first move here. Obviously, I'll take nights."
Silvana nods and smiles "Then to Mr. Jack we go"
The neighborhood is run down, filth litters the streets and graffiti litters the walls. There's a surprising number of pink hearts marring street signs and windows. The shops look mostly like old mom & pop shops where someone forgot to tell the owners to give up on their failed ventures. The pawn shop is easy to spot by the cage at the entrance and the large neon sign "CASH FOR GOLD"
Silvana looks at Zeta "Shall we go in and take a look around?"
Zeta shakes his head sadly, seeing the state of the neighborhood, "Well, this seems about right. This pretty much fits the profile for a breeding ground for street gangs... Property value's probably crap, people around here are living hand-to-mouth, paycheck to paycheck. The plus side, though, anyone starts flashing money around here, people are gonna notice. We turn up nothing watching Jack, looking for new cars, guys with too many gold chains, you know, that kind of thing, might be the next move." He looks toward the pawn shop, then back toward Silvana, pointing out the hearts graffitied around the street, "This looks promising, at any rate. Yeah, let's take a look around... couldn't hurt."
Silvana smiles and nods getting out of the car and waits for Zeta before taking his arm. She smiles at him "Lead on Sir"
Zeta stretches after getting out of the car, grinning as Silvana takes his arm, "It'll be my pleasure, Ma'am." He heads through the door of the pawnshop, takes a few paces past the threshold and makes a show of surveying the interior before turning to Silvana with a smile, "So, whatcha think? See anything you like?" He says, loudly enough to be heard by the staff.
Silvana leans against Zeta "Really I can pick whatever I want daddy?" she also looks around very carefully staking out the place only not being obvious about it
Various businesses are in the area, with only a few truly deserted buildings, others are staying open, and others should have been closed a long time ago. The smell of cheap fried chicken fills the air and there are more exotic smells coming from a grocery store, the hum of the laundromat is near constant. Within the cage door of the pawnshop you can see a kid of latino descent looking up. "Chu wan someeeng?" the kid asks.
"Sure thing, girl. Ain't nothin' in here gonna be too good for you." Zeta replies, playfully ruffling her hair with his free hand. When the kid speaks up, he turns toward him with a grin, "Yeah, man. Lemme see what you got as far as jewelry, yeah? And none of that fake shit, y'hear me? I ain't gonna buyin' no gold that's gonna turn her skin green, man." Looking to Silvana, he smiles brightly, "That'd be a crime against humanity, you know?"
Silvana blushes as Zeta as he says that and kisses his cheek "Oh daddy your too sweet to me" she seems excited as she looks around"
"Ya shr," the kid says from behind the bullet proof glass further in. He digs around in a couple drawers and pulls out a shelf of gold rings, earrings and necklaces. "We got dees." he says holding it up to the glass. "Wha chu wan?"
Zeta laughs at Silvana, "Don't I know it... gonna be the death of me /and/ my wallet, but you know you're worth it." He turns his attention back onto the kid, pursing his lips to the side as he makes a show of carefully inspecting the offerred jewelry. "Hmm..." He muses, rubbing his chin, "I dunno... what do you think?" Zeta asks Silvana, then takes a moment to gaze around the shop, "Cause I'm thinkin' you might be holding out on me, kid. You sure you're not hiding the best stuff you got?"
Silvana ooos softly as she looks at the necklaces and earings looking for something cute possibly as she also keeps watching the place trying to find out how many camera's this places has and all "Don't you have something with a bling bling? something that shines" she kisses Zeta's cheek "Get me something sparkly pleeeease" she batts her eyes rather cutely before she steps away letting Zeta do the talking as she keeps looking around at the other things they have for sale.
Dark eyes look up at Zeta, "Wha chu see is wha chu ge'" His eyes then turn towards Silvana. There's a few cameras, Watching the caged door, and watching the counter both infront and behind. The kid's eyebrows draw together, but unceremoniously he shoves the gold drawer back and pulls out another one, holding up a drawer with diamond stock, though how many of them are legit is a very valid question.. "Shiney." he says.
Silvana continues to look around she picks up a stuff animal a cute one and turns to look over "Daddy can we get this one too?"
"That so?" Zeta replies, seeming unconvinced. He looks at the diamond stock briefly, but apparently nothing catches his eye, as he turns back to Silvana, shaking his head curtly, "Nah, sugar. I don't think we wanna buy any of this junk... no way any of those stones are real." His eyes fix a brief glare on the kid behind the cage before he moves closer to Silvana, "Tell ya what, maybe in a couple of weeks, we'll go uptown, get you some REAL jewelry, from a real jewelry store." He hooks his arm with hers and starts to head toward the door, fixing a big smile on the woman, "How's that sound, huh? A real diamond for my diamond, yeah?"
The kid just shrugs and pushes away the drawer reclaiming a seat on a stool behind the glass and staring blankly after the two.. A salesman he is not...
Silvana pouts at Zeta when he tells her no and turns her back to the two of then to put the bear back but not before giving it a hug as she looks sadden awww taking the opportunty to slip a small camer on the stuff animal it's tiny it's one of them spy camera's as she tries to do it all without having the kid take notice or having the camera's take notice all with a slip of the wrist really it's and easy move before putting the thing down and leading against Zeta "Aww alright daddy, and here I heard this place was the finest, that guy with the heart was a total lier we should tell him so next time we see him"
The kid watches the two suspiciously, but shrugs as they leave. Apparently not noticing the camera, and if he catches her comment, he seems to give it little thought.
"Oh, we'll tell him more than that..." Zeta comments idly before heading out the door and briskly moving back into Silvana's car. "Well. Doesn't seem like much out of the ordinary there. Typical ghetto pawn shop." He runs a hand through his hair absently, hand then sliding down as he rubs at his chin thoughtfully, "I mean, I obviously didn't expect to see the book on display..." He laughs, shaking his head, "If it's there, it's in the back, probably in a safe would be my guess. And if it's not there yet... I guess sitting on the place for a few days is what we're gonna have to do." That said, he turns toward Silvana, "How 'bout you, what'd you see?"
Silvana nods her head "He will have to owe us for such a like right daddy?" she snugglus close to him as they head to the car then turns to look at the shop as she picks up her phone and hits a few things on it and the store comes on. She shows Zeta though she seems to be waiting to see if the kid will be coming out.
Nope, the kid has a shift to cover.. Swing. So he just keeps sitting on his stool protected by the cage at the front door and the bullet proof glass inside.. He looks utterly bored, but still kind of surly even by himself.
Zeta takes a look at the phone, grinning broadly when he realizes what he's seeing, "Clever. Well, that's great, now we got an eye on anyone coming through the front..." He too, takes a cautious glance back at the pawn shop, just to see if anything happens, "Let's find an alley or something nearby, but out of the way. I'm guessing the place has a back door, so we oughta find a place where we can post up and watch it. Dunno if we'll be lucky enough for our guys to come waltzing through the front door with a hot item on their hands."
Silvana nods her head and drives off to find a near by alley to watch the back door and be able to watch the video "Sometimes we get lucky and it picks up the voices but I'm not holding my breath on that." she winks at Zeta and gets comfortable after they park "Let's see how much fun this becomes"
Zeta smirks, "Hell, if our boys show up tonight I'm buying every lotto ticket in the world. No way my luck's that good." He laughs, "Though hey, maybe yours is." Stretching, he sinks down in the car seat, "In any case, better get comfortable, we might be here for awhile."
There is a back door but the term rarely used seems to fail to do it justice. Rusted shut seems to be the applicable term. In the front of the shop, minutes turn to hours, with only a few people stopping by.. usually folks selling a treasured heirloom for rent, or buying it back when their fortunes change. No one really supsicious shows up as the hours tick on by.
Silvana gets comfortable as she can in such a place she even has snacks in the back.
Silvana grins "I say we capture one of them heart freaks and get all kinds of questions " she wiggles her brows as she teases
Around midnight, the kid gets a text message, and reading it, shrugs and hops off his stool, he uses a door to get around the bullet proof glass and then steps out through the cage, leaving out the front. Then a man comes into the room from the back, yawning. he's tall and blonde and looks out of it.. like he's baked out of his gorde or something. He shuts the door to the bullet proof area and takes up a spot on the stool, bobbing his head to music only he can hear.
Zeta shifts restlessly in his seat, turning toward Silvana as she speaks up, "Heh... we could do that. It'd be more fun than sitting on our hands here..." Catching movement on the camera feed, he leans in closer, "Huh, looks like we've got a shift change here. What the..." He begins, "If that's not suspicious, I dunno what is. Tall, blonde guy working a ghetto pawn shop? You know what Jack looks like? That him?"
Silvana hmmms a little bit as the kid gets up and goes out the door "Wonder where he went" she shakes her head "No, no clue what this Jack looks like
A few more hours tick by. But this time someone comes in wearing a bit of pink. The new person eyeballs blondey then starts bringing out what looks like a fine set of jewelry. The white boy smiles, looking over the stuff. He has the kid slip it through the slot and he picks up each piece, looking at it. He says an amount and the kid nods, and cash is produced and slid back through the slot.
Silvana hmmms softly "Maybe we should follow those pinks?"
"Alright well, dollars to donuts, that's him... and if that's the case, we just might see our boys roll by." He reaches into the pocket of his jacket, pulls out a notepad and pen, and starts scribbling a few things down, taking note of the time. "And if not tonight, I'm thinking we're gonna want to keep our eyes peeled whenever blondie here's in the shop." When the kid in pink walks in, he mutters quietly to himself, "Mmm... alright, so this kid might be a gang member here. Long on bling but short on cash..." This info is also written down, along with a brief description of the seller. Looking to Silvana, he nods, "Seems like as good a lead as any."
Silvana nods her head "the footage is being saved so if we need to call them later it will be possible" she smiles and hmms "you up for a follow then?"
Zeta grins, nodding, "You know it. If you wanna stay here on blondie, I can follow him on foot. Dunno if it'd be a good idea to take the risk of trying to tail him in the car."
Silvana looks at you "ARe you sure? I can stay or you can stay and I can trail them the choice is yours.
Zeta laughs, "I got it, don't worry. I mean, you put the camera in there, I figure I oughta carry my share of the weight here."
Silvana leans and gives you a kiss "Alright good l uck then. I'll be here waiting for you then"
Zeta chuckles, "Well, my fate's been sealed by the kiss of a beautiful woman. How could I fail?" Winking, he opens the car door and gets out, looking to move to the darkest spot nearby, eyes peeled to make sure there's no one within sight.
Well, the kid in pink is passing by the front of the alley. And he happens to look over at Zeta stepping out of the car and Silvana still inside. He arches a brow, but keeps walking. Nice thing about the ghetto... just keep walking.
Zeta waits until the kid has passed by, takes one more long, paranoid look around, and then fades out of sight.
The kid does look back on occasion but sees and hears nothing. Eventually he turns up Date street and runs into two more kids these ones wearing heart tattoos on their arms. The first kid discreetly shows the cash and gets some high fives from the others as they buddy up and start moving as a group together.
The blonde continues to sit there humming to himself, other people come into the shop, almost all of them WEIRD.. just bizarre after bizarre. They look like crack addicts, meth-heads and circus freaks.. Obviously the graveyard shift gets the most interesting people, but the vast majority of the time is... nothing.. very boring.
Zeta silently notes the tattoos and figures he might be onto something, so he stays close to the group. His attention, however, is divided between the group of gangers and the ground in front of him, taking great care to avoid stepping on or in anything noisy.
Silvana raises a brow at the weirness that comes in. She looks thoughtful about going in again
After about a block during which it looks like money was exchanged, the gangers split into three directions. Each taking a separate path.
In the wee hours of the morning a young mousy woman comes in and the blonde retreats into the back. She takes over the spot as clerk.
Madeline has made sure she is well fed, rested and ready as she lays herself down upon the sofa in Jax's office with the Seneschal and several guards nearby. Centering herself she goes within and then when she is ready, projects herself across space
It feels like.. freedom. Terrible, terrible freedom, no body, no form, no substance.. No sooner are you out of your body than the world is blurring by you, the street sign of these shadowlands showing your destination. The shop is there, darker around the edges than the wasting stores and businesses around it. With a thought you're inside. The items that surround the shop hang with a feeling of abandonment, outcasts, refuse, left behind. You can perceive a teen sitting behind the bulletproof glass looking board.
Madeline drifts carefully through the place, alert for any threat, any glimmer of something out of place, or someone
The silver thread is still very much intact. As you go deeper in, you find the back area is filled with junk, all of it having the surreal substance of this shadowy realm, a weird and warped reflection of what is on the other side. You can make out ominous storage cupboards (one looking particularly menacing) and grisly objects, and at a computer sits a man clicking away... wait two men.. one man.. two men... It's like there's two people overlaid ontop of one another
Madeline drifts around behind the man to see what he is typing and to get a better look at the duality of his person
He seems to be surfing the internet, looking currently at the website of a dance club called the Core. He pauses, looking backwards, looking through you. He turns back to the computer. "He can't see you, you know.. At least.. I don't think he can..." the voice comes from behind you.
Madeline shifts quickly around the other side of the desk so as not to be stuck between the man and the speaker
That's weird... Sitting at the desk, is a tall blond man, occasionally overlaid with a what looks like a pacific islander. Behind him 'stands' a spectral tall blond man, who very much looks at home in these wasting lands.
Madeline has learned when astral it is best to be polite. She dips a polite curtsey "I would be surprised if he could see me monseiur"
"I wouldn't..." the spectre says.. looking so much like the overlaying form on the other. He motions towards the ominous cupboard going towards it.. Inviting you to look inside.
Madeline tips her head and gazes at the spectre and the man "How are you in two places at once.. it is not the same as the skill I posess monseiur?" she smiles, seeking to be non-threatening then steals a quick glance inside the cupboard
Inside you see a tall blond man's corpse that seems to fit the spectre and one of the two forms sitting at the desk, looking especially lifeless in these Shadowlands, "That's because I'm not.. And that's why I wouldn't be surprised... Not since he killed me and took my form.. Odd thing is, I'm not even angry about that.. I'm not the type to get angry you know, and the store is actually doing pretty well without me... I'm just upset I never got to say goodbye to my mom.. She's ill you know and we had a fight the last time we talked.. Oh, by the way.. the name's Jack.
Madeline has no lungs to gasp but her body on the sofa woud likely draw in a quick breath. Lovely brows furrow and she nods to the spirit "Jack.. tell me where to find her and I shall try to tell her when I can, who is this man? how did he become you?"
Jack relays the information Mother Mellow in the hospital for her galbladder, "Thanks... Sure it's the least I can do. I don't know who he is really. I do know I met him at the Core. He had headphones on despite the blaring music. He was.. weird... I left and came here, he followed me and stopped me at the door... Said I looked 'mellow' it's my nickname so I turned back. He offered me the headphones and asked if I could hear the music.. I didn't hear any music and when I told him, that's when he cut my throat and moved me into the shop...
Madeline winces a bit and nods "I hope you passed without any pain Jack" she says. Despite her age the kindred is still on a path of humanity. She looks again at the man "What has he done since being here?"
"He drank my blood as I realized I was dying and knew my mom would be worried." he shakes his head, "He took my keys and moved my body into the back.. Then.. his form shifted and he was me.. I don't know how he did it." He looks up from his memories, "What? Oh, not a lot actually.. He's usually humming to himself, some tune only he can hear.. He pretty much took over.. He got to Cathy though, that I know.. He drinks from her and feeds her his blood sometimes too."
Madeline nods and looks at the man closely again, seeking to determin if it is Obfuscate or an illusionary power she can never remember the name of "I see"
Madeline makes careful note of Jack and the polynesian's appearances so as to be able to describe them "Jack.. I dont have to tell you to stay here" she smiles a little "Watch him please.. I will come back as soon as I am able. Tell me, where can I find Cathy
Jack frowns a little, "I don't know.. I was never really serious about rules and stuff, ya know? I never made my employees show IDs or what not, sorry... Like I said though, I'm not big on the vengeance thing..."
Madeline nods "Would you like me to make sure this man doesnt hurt Cathy any longer?" she asks, examining the typist very closely
Jack shrugs, "I dunno, she seems pretty happy.. she always was kind of a lonely heart and now she seems to actually look forward to coming to work, you know? Live and let live... well.. I guess live and let die... Huh, you know that might have been the song he was humming when he stuffed my body in the cupboard.
Madeline studies the typist then asks "Jack.. where is the book that was taken, do you know anything about it?
"Book? what book?" Jack looks confused. "We aren't really a library.. we don't often deal in books.. Thought I bought one or two interesting things when I was alive, maybe a book or two, weird stuff mostly..."
Madeline says, "A tale of two cities? perhaps?"
Jack starts to shake his head, then ohs, "Wait.. I remember a kid coming in and trying to sell it I think. It wasn't long after I died, and I was still trying to get a grip on things so I wasn't paying that close attentiong... But I -think- He said he wouldn't buy something like that.. too hot.. He bought stuff though.. It looked weird here.. glowy and not.. not normal... He gave those to Cathy.."
Madeline nods thoughtfully "And you died how many nights ago cheri?" she asks "WHen does Cathy come to work?"
"Like glowy jewelry..." he comments, then shakes his head at the questions, "Like around three weeks so I guess the kid came in a little more than two weeks ago. She comes in about 4-5am..."
Madeline nods "glowing jewelry.. you died 3 weeks ago, the book and other items were offered a little more than two weeks ago" she says then nods "Very well.. what does Cathy look like please Jack?:
"Mousy, brown-hair, glasses.." he explains. "Are you curious about the kid at all?" he asks trying to be helpful, especially if Madie can let his mom knows he loved her and says goodbye for him.
Madeline manages to chuckle and nods "yes, please tell me everything you can" she asks
"Well, I -think- I recognized him from when I was alive... His name is Bobby Baller.. You might want to check with his friends, the 'First Dates' but I think he hangs out over on Broadway and Date.. Is that helpful? As for the jewelry I'm not sure what was up with it... I haven't really seen things do that since.. and I assumed things just kinda do that when your dead so I didn't pay too much attention, but I -think- there was a ring and a stone.. and something else.. like a glass figure or something, a key maybe." He shakes his head, "Sorry, can't remember."
Madeline is careful to remember each detail, repeating it silently to herself "Jack that was wonderfully helpful" she turns to the wraith "I will find your mother and tell her what you wanted to say to her, also the bills she has from the hospital, I will pay them" she smiles gently then looks once more to the keyboard and screen of the polynesian kindred "Thank you jack"
The Kindred tilts his head suddenly and hmms, "The song just shifted..." he says and his head starts bobbing to a new beat. Otherwise he keeps clicking, now through online newsarticles seemingly at random.
