Sleuth Home - Message Boards - Role Playing Stage

Oct-24-2009 18:47

October 24, 1938- Heimlich VonVIctor felt a chill run down his spine. Autumn always had that effect on him. He looked up at the multitude of colors adorning the trees and placed his hands in his coat pockets. The pungent aroma in the air told him that, somewhere, leaves were being burnt. He took a deep breath and looked down, to the place he had visited as many times as he could in the past two years. The cold hard stone hadn’t changed a bit, and never would. It would always be a testament to the man resting under it.

RICHARD CAMBRIDGE
FEBRUARY 10, 1892-
JUNE 15, 1936
“Justice for all. Above all else.”

He took a deep sigh. He never left anything behind, nor did he suspect that Richard would want anything left for him. He leaned down and placed his hand on the stone, “I’m doing alright Richard. Eric and I started up another agency. We’re doing it right this time, and Sergei is getting better at English every day. He’s even solving cases now; you wouldn’t believe how well he’s doing.”

“Excuse me, detective VonVictor?” a voice called behind him

Heim whirled around to find himself face to face with a young uniformed officer, “What do you want?” he demanded, “Can’t you see I’m in a cemetery?”

“Yes sir,” he responded, “and I’m terribly sorry to disturb you, but I’ve been asked to fetch you right away, it’s a matter of life and death!”

Heimlich let out a sigh, and leaned down to touch the stone again, “It never ends Richard, it never ends. I have to go now, but I’ll be back real soon.”

May-7-2010 08:17

Just then, her visions before she died came back to her full force. Weeping, she clung harder to her second child, and shook with the force of her sobs.

Joseph was instantly there, drawing Anais and his daughter close and holding them, looking worriedly at the group. He said nothing, just held them, at a loss of what else he could do to stench the flow of tears.

Josèe kissed her mother's cheek, murmuring "It's ok, Mummy, it's ok now."

"I know, sweetie. I know," Anais managed through her sobs. "I got to say goodbye. I got to say goodbye!"

May-13-2010 03:53

"Uhm..." Vulkie began, "Guys... the water... it's still rising..." Vulkie said, as she began to stand up and lean against a pole.

Vulkie pointed towards the other end of the room, where Socrates had fallen down and saw that the water began to flood the floor.

"Hurry!" Joseph shouted and dragged Anais and Josèe away. Everyone else present left the room. Vulkie was still left with Marc, who decided to drag her away. Albert took care of Mayor Hollis, making sure he was secured and barricaded by the detectives, so he had nowhere else to flee to. As the detectives ran up the stairs, they could hear the sound of water rising up the stairs and the thundering sound of the room collapsing under the pressure the water made by rising.

***5 minutes later***

"I'm so tired..." Vulkie murmered and kneeled down on the stairs. Marc looked at her, just before Vulkie had a small vision of Acemaster.

"Don't give up.... Your friends count on you... I'm waiting here...." Acemaster said and immediately disappeared. Vulkie fainted afterwards

"Is she ok?" Vulkie heard softly. "She's been through a lot today... And she suffers from blood loss also. Thanks to that rifleman... " the other voice explained.

As Vulkie opened her eyes closely, she saw the face of Charlie above her.

"Charlie?" Vulkie murmered. "I thought you stayed back in New York..." she added.

"I just got here... I couldn't leave you guys alone on the job... But I'm here, for you, now..." Charlie said and he gave a small kiss.

Molly gave a small sigh and said dramatically : "Get a room you two...". Molly raised her eyebrow afterwards

Vulkie laughed. Everyone laughed.

As she was seated straight up in the sand, she looked back and noticed that the ruins disappeared. "Where did the ruins go?" Vulkie asked.

May-13-2010 10:39

Rolling her shoulders and squinting back at the absent ruins, Molly gave a deep sigh. She was just happy that everyone was all right, especially the children.

"Alright. Bad guy vanquished, heroine brought back to life, children to be home in time for supper..." she ran a hand through her damp red hair. "After everything thats happened, everything we've seen, I just have one question."

Everyone turned to look at her expectantly, and she pointed to Charlie and Vulkie, who had just shared a kiss.

"Where can I get one of those?" she asked petulantly, and despite the general exhaustion, everyone chuckled.

May-24-2010 16:57

--Two Weeks Later�"

Heimlich lifted his glass to his lips and felt the cool frosty ale slide down his throat. The bar was surrounded with the usual characters, but was unusually empty. It was 3 pm, and the mayor was holding a press conference at City Hall. Heimlich knew exactly what he would say, but didn’t want to dignify him with his presence.

“Cyrus,” he called, “turn up the radio! I want to hear the mayor’s address.” Heimlich had spoken to O’Boyle days before and had known exactly what was about to play out. Despite their venerable leader being destroyed, the order still held power in town, and in many circles, the mayor’s power was still absolute. Still he could tell from the look in O’Boyle’s eyes that the order had not come from him, but rather from above.

“Citizens of New York,” Hollis’ voice crackled through the radio, “I stand before you today to speak of great tragedy in our city.”

“Are these seats taken?” a voice asked. Heimlich looked up to see Joseph and Eric standing next to him.

“It’s a free country.” Heimlich said, but secretly was glad to have his friends nearby. As they each took a seat on either side of him, he downed the rest of his beer. He hadn’t told anyone the truth about what he knew.

“Several weeks ago,” Hollis continued, “there was a robbery at the museum. During that robbery, museum guard John Kincaid was murdered. My heart goes out to Mr. Kincaid’s family during this difficult time.”

“Son of a bitch!” Eric spat, “His heart goes out? The bloody bastard probably ordered it!”

“Shortly after the robbery, we arrested Captain Graham Barnes, and acting on the best evidence available, we believed that he was the guilty party. Unfortunately, new evidence has come to light, that has proven damning against another individual. That individual has been identified as Officer John Louis Marsh.” Hollis said calmly.

Zeo spit out his beer. “What!” he demanded, “Marsh! They’re sticking it on Marsh?”

May-24-2010 16:58

“Our investigation has shown that Officer Marsh, unbeknownst to his superiors, was a low level member of the Order of Socrates. After locating several members through community outreach projects, we have determined that Officer Marsh acted independently of the Order, and without their knowledge. We just received word hours ago that Officer Marsh was killed in Cairo while trying to fence the jewel that he stole.” Hollis continued.

Eric gripped his glass so hard his knuckles began to turn white. “What about this is fair?” he demanded, “Where does this bastard get off?”

“This is a mark on our fair city, and a reflection on all of us,” Hollis continued, “but we must persevere. We must carry on, trust our neighbors, reach out our hands in friendship, and be an example for the world.”

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Eric scoffed.

“In light of this evidence,” Hollis said, “I have asked Prosecutor O’Boyle to dismiss any and all charges against Captain Barnes, and to begin the process of having him released and reinstated to his former rank and honor within our police force. I am proud to have such fine men as Captain Barnes serving our city.”

“Okay now I’m going to be sick.” Zeo said sarcastically.

“As much as I love this city,” Hollis said with a note of sadness, “I must do what is best for it. During a recent automobile accident, I sustained massive injuries as I’m sure many of you can see. My doctors have told me it will take several months for me to heal completely, and I do not feel that I can continue to serve the city on a part time basis. Therefore I will be resigning as mayor of New York City effective at 9:00 am tomorrow. I will be appointing deputy sheriff Frank Williams to serve out the remainder of my term until the 1940 election. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve the people of New York, the greatest city on the earth for as long as I have. God bless you all!”

May-24-2010 16:59

“Son of a bitch!” Eric shouted as he slammed his glass on the bar shattering it into thousands of pieces, “What kind of sweetheart deal did he get? What do you know Heimlich?”

Heimlich sighed, “He pled guilty to corruption. Agreed to exonerate Graham Barnes and name the guilty party. He resigned his office, and will be under house arrest for a year.”

“Mr. Mayor,” a woman’s voice came over the radio, “Nellie McKinzey, New York Post, will you be a candidate for the office of Mayor of New York City in 1940?”

“Well Nellie,” Hollis chuckled, “we’ll have to see how my health is by that point, but I’d say that it’s a safe bet that you haven’t seen the last of old Joseph Hollis.”

Cyrus turned the radio off. “I never could stand that guy.” he sighed.

Zeo shook his head. “It’s not fair Heimlich. The man is a war criminal, he deserves to fry for what he’s done.” he lamented.

“I know,” Heimlich said, “and it kills me that he’s making a hero and martyr out of himself and the order. Unfortunately it happened, and there’s nothing that any of us can do about it anymore.”

“Nothing?” Eric snarled, “I’ll go down there right now and put a hole right through that piece of garbage. I’ll make him wish he had gone down in that pool along with his god.”

“We can’t do that Eric.” Zeo said, “As much as we want to. As much as our blood boils, and as much as we know it’s injustice, we can’t do it.”

“Why?” Eric demanded, “Why not?”

“Because we’re better than that!” Zeo shouted, “Don’t you think I want to see him die for what he did? Don’t you think I want to see him pay for his crimes? We are not vigilantes. We are good people who make the right choices. Sometimes people die because of it, but we always make the right decision in the end.”

May-24-2010 16:59

Eric stood up. “For as long as I can subscribe to that Zeo,” he said, “because one day it may not be enough. We all have our tipping point. There’s always something. Maybe if you had seen him murder that little boy, or maybe if it had been your little girl lying there as a pile of dust and bones, you would be the one howling for blood right now, but your day will come Joseph Zeo. It always does.” As he finished, his face was tear-stained, and he turned and walked out the door.

“Let him go,” Heimlich said, “he needs to think.”

Joseph sighed heavily and took a large gulp of his beer. “Frank Williams is an Order of Socrates member. The Bureau has a file on him. Hollis will be pulling the puppet strings until he’s swept back into office in two years. What was all this for Heimlich?” he said sadly.

“There was another part of the deal.” Heimlich said, “Hollis gave up information about the heist. As it turns out, this goes much larger than the Order of Socrates itself. Two years ago, Hollis was contacted by a woman. She said she had a job on behalf of an organization, and in return they would arrange for the Eye to be on loan in New York.”

“What was the job?” Joseph asked.

Heimlich let out a sigh. “The job was to kill Josèe and Valerie.” he said solemnly.

“What?” Joseph demanded, “Who ordered it? Who did she work for? I’ll kill her!”

“That’s going to be a bit hard,” Heimlich said softly as he touched Zeo’s arm, “her name was Natasha Kozerskaia. She contacted him from prison, and these events prove without a doubt that this incident is linked to the assassination attempt on President Roosevelt two years ago.”

“The NKVD?” Joseph demanded, “They ordered a hit on our daughters? Why would they do that?”

May-24-2010 17:00

Heimlich shook his head. “It wasn’t them,” he said, “the investigation proved that Leon was working independently of the NKVD. My guess is that it was revenge for saving Sergei, preventing the assassination of President Roosevelt, and causing Leon to be executed. Whoever they were working for is still out there plotting revenge; someone very powerful.”

“Well then let’s go!” Zeo said standing up, “We can get over to the prison before it closes and question Eunice or Natasha or whatever her name is. This isn’t over yet Heimlich.”

Heimlich nodded sadly. “Yes,” he said, “it is Joseph. If you want to talk to Natasha, you had better go through Thomas. She’s no longer with us.”

“What do you mean?” Joseph demanded, his eyes wide with horror.

“She died.” Heimlich said sadly, “On August 29, 1936, she attempted to escape. She killed three guards in the process, but was shot five times while trying to run. It was the first place that Eric checked when he searched for Yelena Bjarkhov. He gave me the bad news shortly after. The trail is cold Joseph.”

“Then we can check the visitor log!” Joseph said defiantly, “Come on! Someone has to have told her to place that hit. She couldn’t have just known about Valerie and Josèe on her own. You can’t quit on me now!”

“Yes I can,” Heimlich said with a smile, “and that’s precisely what I intend to do.”

“What?” Joseph asked in surprise.

“I’m retiring Mr. Zeo. On my own terms. Oh I won’t be hanging up my PI license for good. No, I’ll still retain my office and my doors will always be open, but I think it’s time I left the mysteries to a younger group. I shall remain as a consultant, and ever-present, but I do not feel that my inclusion will be an asset to this group any longer.” he said.

“Heimlich…” Joseph started, not sure what to say next, “are you still coming tonight?”

May-24-2010 17:01

Heimlich picked up his hat, placed it on his head, and smiled. “Of course, although I may run a bit late. I do have another appointment to keep. Just tell them I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” he said with a wink as he walked towards the door.

May-24-2010 18:03

“It’s delicious Mr. VonVictor.” Elias Marie said, “Where did you learn to brew tea like this?”

Heimlich smiled at the woman sitting across from him. “It was a gift from the Prince actually. Along with some very special herbal tea, he gave me an antique tea set for tracking down a villain many years ago.” he said.

“The prince wishes for me to extend his gratitude for your assistance with the Socrates issue,” Elias Marie said, “although he does wish we had been able to retrieve all three jewels. He was quite disturbed that one was destroyed, and even moreso that Socrates was killed rather than captured. The things that man could have taught us with his centuries of life…” she trailed off shaking her head.

“Given the same position,” Heimlich said, “I would have done the same thing Anais did. He had to be stopped, and it was the only way to save her daughter.”

Elias Marie nodded. “Indeed, there is something quite special about that girl. I do not know if she quite realizes the purpose she will serve.” She said with a mystical gaze.

“You know already?” Heimlich asked quizzically, finishing his tea.

“I know many things.” Elias Marie said, “For example, congratulations on your retirement. I’m sorry to say that it’s not going to last.”

“What?” Heimlich shouted startled, “How could you know that? I’ve only told Joseph and come straight home afterwards!”

“I know you will retire because it is in your cards Mr. VonVictor.” Elias Marie said with a knowing smile, “I know it will not last, because you are Heimlich VonVictor, the man who lives for others. You value people in this world above all else. The reason you were able to understand Anais Nin’s decision so well when I did not is because she is the same as you. Excellent in many ways, but only defining yourselves through the eyes and hearts of those around you. Now let me read your tea leaves.”