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Post by Krakenbox on Mar 6, 2021 16:10:10 GMT -8
The building was painfully unassuming, without any money wasted on pretending the location was anything more than a nest for product. There wasn't a flash of green or snappy signage, just rocks to stop a check for grounds keeping the weeds and a large parking lot for the daily in-and-out of delivery. The parking lot was wrapped around, past the main office building with plastic taped over windows awaiting renovations. Police tape had since been removed, but there was still the occasional ribbon stuck in a shrub or rolling along the empty lot with the breeze with no incentive to clean it up. Shutters for several loading docks lined the sides of the windowless industrial storage; still locked with construction markers and pending renovations. A few of the loading docks are burnt shells with lined scaffolding to assist in construction. The employee exit further down the lot in one of these husks is lined off with brittle police tape.
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Post by Rowan on Mar 7, 2021 15:43:55 GMT -8
To get in, Rowan will use Boon of the Scuttling Spider, looking for a creepy crawly to eat to accommodate the loophole. He will use the scaffolding the help get in though any of the holes left by whatever caused the fire. Once inside, he'll unlock the doors for the others.
Rowan is going use his Kenning to ping any trace of supernatural activity, as he usually does as a starting point. He will also use Walls Have Ears on any relevant evidence the group uncovers.
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Post by Agrippa on Mar 8, 2021 5:01:04 GMT -8
Agrippa dived- they weren't quite sure if they would find anything that was uniquely past the veil, but it was worth it to take a peak. At the very least they could stick their head through all the walls and floors to see if there was any places hidden from sight. Besides, it afforded them some protection from the mundane hazards a deteriorating building presented, and it wasn't as if being on the other side of the veil prevented them from seeing the side that everyone else was looking at...
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2021 19:39:06 GMT -8
Detective Archie was on the job - he offered to get them some extra hands on the job and it was up to the group as a whole if they chose to take that route. Sure the place was a disaster! But there had to be something. Despite being dressed for a meeting Archie would rummage around with the crew, he spent his time trying to find the remnants of any office space space. File cabinets, safes, or fire proof boxes may have survived or even some charred or smoked out papers. He was thinking about where he would keep his official documents or hidden laptops if he was a crook. Strong King - ArchieToday at 7:35 PM
The Crucible
Detective Archie (Int +Inv)
@dicecord-CoD roll 4
Dicecord-CoD
BOT
Today at 7:35 PM
@strong King - Archie rolled 4 dice and got 1 success. 1 9 1 7
Strong King - ArchieToday at 7:35 PM
@dicecord-CoD roll 4
Dicecord-CoD
BOT
Today at 7:35 PM
@strong King - Archie rolled 4 dice and got 1 success. 1 9 2 7
Strong King - ArchieToday at 7:35 PM
@dicecord-CoD roll 4
Dicecord-CoD
BOT
Today at 7:35 PM
@strong King - Archie rolled 4 dice and got 2 successes. 9 3 9 3
Strong King - ArchieToday at 7:35 PM
@dicecord-CoD roll 4
Dicecord-CoD
BOT
Today at 7:35 PM
@strong King - Archie rolled 4 dice and got 0 successes. 2 3 3 3
That was just a practice roll, right @strong King - Archie?
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Post by Krakenbox on Mar 13, 2021 22:00:21 GMT -8
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Finn
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Played by Swift
Posts: 139
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Post by Finn on Mar 14, 2021 2:06:33 GMT -8
Finn spends what time he has between the meeting at the apartment and when the group meets at the warehouse tapping his resources at the station. He calls in any information on the site as well as looking up incident reports and any arrests related to the Rose Water situation, as much as the mundy police bureaucracy can find in any case. Once they're on site he gets to work. He sets up a makeshift check in space and gives the group a quick and dirty run down on scene protocol. Contamination doesn't matter here from a chain of custody stand point, but magic could sometimes be just as finicky as forensic science, and he wasn't taking any chances. He takes a quick group survey on skill sets on offering then doles out assignments to best utilize those skills. Then he sets his eye to the scene in its entirety, searching for evidence on the basis of his own experience and the support of the crew.
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Post by Krakenbox on Mar 16, 2021 10:16:41 GMT -8
Finn reviews his reports, giving the investigation team a general overview of the mundane context of the crime scene, which opened a few months ago.
The forensic report indicated a vicious display of Cartel violence, with the bodies of seven males having been strung up and beheaded. The details of the torture before the building was doused were unknown, and only two of the men had been identified from missing persons reports; one being seventeen. The motive for the show of force was traced back to an assault on one of the Cartel's supply caches at a trailer park that had since been swept for evidence; confiscating thousands of dollars worth of drug paraphernalia. The two bodies had been identified as having previous associations with the local Crips, but were not well known to police.
Since then, both gangs have largely left each other to their own devices, with no suspected retaliation in sight. No security footage was recovered, with someone having purged the CCTV footage given it was a cheap, older system that uploaded to the local network. Archie finds that the system had been physically destroyed with water damage and the hard drive physically removed on top of that.
With direction from Finn, Agrippa tracks that the fallen carcasses of the warehouse racks meant that the building had cut corners with safety installation, voicing their shock that that would be able to happen. The forklift was completely burned out, not providing any details. They are surprised there are no bullet casings by the described violence.
Smelling some shady business practices, the Chatelaine also does some of his own digging with the property manager, and offers some names for Finn to run, rapidly connecting the renter to be an old associate of the Crips that never directly involved himself. Archie also finds that a there had been two vehicles that approached the direction of the complex just before 3 AM; one sedan and later a truck. Both plates for were stolen. This was not on the police file; either they didn't care enough to dig that deeply, or someone hadn't thought to check.
Rowan notes what caused the fire was a very purposeful dousing of chemicals, judging by how the burns pools from multiple points and not having a scientific background to do a proper analysis of the building's structural integrity and arson forensics. Using his abilities, Rowan detects something is amiss with the cameras, actually bothers to physically check. He finds them broken, the lens having expanded and warped the mechanism that allowed it to adjust and focus. It might have been heat pressure, as the individual made sure to douse the points where they were located. He also finds a Hedge gate in the shell of the complex, but it's overgrown with the Thorns and useless to travel.
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Finn
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Played by Swift
Posts: 139
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Post by Finn on Mar 17, 2021 23:23:43 GMT -8
"Hmm..." Finn muses going through the compiled evidence while they survey the scene. "The Hedge Gate confirms the Lost are involved, or at least something Fae-related, but that's not a surprise. Rowan already told us as much." He pauses, thinking about the most glaring detail for a moment. "No bullet casings, and the report says it was violent. Sounds to me like they were tortured. There are a few reasons to employ torture. Interrogation, of course, though it's not really reliable that doesn't stop people from trying. Then there's to inflict pain, either for retaliation or because the torturer gets their jollies off of it. Either way, that's personal and seems less likely here. And finally, to make a point or an example so that others don't do whatever it is that got them tortured in the first place." He taps his report and adjusts his reading glasses.
"The evidence here suggests it was that last one. A display of force. But given what we know from Rowan's information, there's a non-zero chance they were being interrogated, or even Harvested." That thought sparks an idea. "Do you think the torture is part of the manufacturing process?" The question is generally voiced, but he glances at Rowan as the expert in the room.
"Also, something like this leaves a mark. A stain. Violent and messy deaths leave ghosts, right? Rowan, could you do that thing you did back in the desert and see if there's anyone lurking around who might tell us what happened?"
There was another detail that scratched at the back of Finn's mind. He turns to Archie. "They clearly used arson to cover the scene. But someone removed the hard drive from the surveillance system? They wanted to cover their tracks for sure, but what are the chances they took that data with them? If a record of the torture and possible interrogation exists, and someone thought it important enough to remove, we want to see what is on that tape."
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Post by Agrippa on Mar 18, 2021 3:14:08 GMT -8
Agrippa re-emerged from the veil, shaking their head at Finn.
"No, ghosts aren't lurking around in the immediate vicinity. At least, not from what I saw."
They didn't sound particularly happy to be saying what they were
"When I dive, I go to the same place they would have been loitering about, if they were there. From experience, the smart ones don't even always hang around, and the ones who can be relied on to stay in place aren't always very talkative. There is a chance one might be hiding, but I checked this place up and down as thoroughly as the rest of you. Even stuck my head in the walls and floors."
Though it was not much different from the view they had from the other side, the beast threw a look about the ruins. They shuddered- somehow, they were even less comfortable with it in the flesh
"Would it be unreasonable to assume that this gate here is the whimsical equivalent to an abandoned getaway vehicle? Say our culprit nabbed the hard drive and drenched this place in gasoline before opening the gate and throwing a match on their way out? If that is the case I somehow doubt that hard drive is still in a single piece- we aren't dealing with amateurs here, and holding on to incriminating evidence like that is about as careless as returning to the scene of the crime..."
A single brow rose as a glimmer of hope that broke the beast's increasingly pessimistic frown. They turned to Rowan
"But if the trick you did with that sample would also work on what's left of this surveillance equipment here, we could have another face to attach to this at least. Or if not the surveillance equipment, maybe the gate?"
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Post by Rowan on Mar 18, 2021 19:16:54 GMT -8
Agrippa's comment made Rowan wonder. It had extensive damage, a missing hard drive. Seemed a little overkill.
"There's a Contract to fix things. Whoever did this might have known about it." He paused, putting his thoughts in order. "The fire was artificial, strategically placed. The work of a professional. This could be the warehouse Fawkes scrubbed."
He shook his head at Agrippa and shrugs. "I can try looking around some more, but we would have found something by now. We have seven bodies, all male. No trace of Ambrosia. Maybe she managed to flee through the Gate and spin it shut?"
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Finn
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Played by Swift
Posts: 139
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Post by Finn on Mar 18, 2021 19:34:38 GMT -8
Finn raises his eyebrows, pleasantly surprised by Agrippa's answer. "Well, that's handy to know. Thank you." He nods further as Rowan voices his own thoughts. "My thoughts exactly, Rowan. It seems a bit much. I had assumed that they took it because they had a need for whatever record the drive contained, but given what you've said it could also be an over-abundance of caution against magical means of seeing what happened." He considers, running fingers down his thick beard. "Agrippa has a good suggestion. Can you do what you did with that vial on these damaged cameras? And would that possibly give you a chance to see what happened here?"
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Post by Krakenbox on Mar 21, 2021 15:56:09 GMT -8
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Post by Rowan on Mar 23, 2021 15:55:14 GMT -8
"Agrippa, can you get Fawkes on the line? I'm curious to know exactly how much he knows about this place. If we mention his motley..." He didn't bother finishing his thought as he approached the forklift. He was hoping the jingling keys in front of the Torrent, and reminding him his duty to his mates would be enough to influence his sense of self.
Approaching the burnt out husk of machinery, Rowan tried to coax some secrets out of it by sharing his own. Eyes in the sky, jaws at his heels.
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Post by Agrippa on Mar 23, 2021 18:19:15 GMT -8
Agrippa nodded, patting themselves down to figure out which pocket their phone was hiding in
"Can do. If this was the place Fawkes scrubbed, I can't imagine he's too much in the dark about all of this..."
The unicorn retrieved a rose-gold smartphone and scrolled through their contacts
"We can't let on that we are investigating into this, can we? I need to be obfuscative about all of this?"
It was technically a question, though it didn't sound like they expected an answer to the negative- an assumption made all the more clear as they barely waited for an answer before tapping Fawke's contact and pressing the phone to their ear.
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Post by Krakenbox on Mar 23, 2021 22:35:31 GMT -8
As Agrippa politely introduces themself, the line is silent for an uncomfortable amount of time. Undaunted, the Unicorn continues, before a quiet monotone starts responding. Slowly, they dangle the hooks to try and get Fawkes to come down to the crime scene, but the Sun Banisher seems to be ignoring half of what they are saying and asking straight forward questions for clarification. Agrippa seems reluctant at first, or maybe just flustered at the Elemental's relentlessly calm interrogation; it was like talking to a wall. Finally, Agrippa offers more, and that's when the Sun Banisher starts firing off more questions in rapid succession.
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