DiscoDude: ---BEGIN SESSION---
DiscoDude: Session logging commenced
GM: You eventually return to the Station. The sun is beginning its descent into the ocean, dying the sky orange. Since your examination of the crime scene, your lessers have "bagged" every physical thing worth grabbing and/or taking a sample of - you're presumably here to reexamine some Clues that you weren't quite done with before, hopefully to dig up something you don't already know.
Harry: "Right, so." Before he engages any of the other officers, he turns to <@!Andie> and <@!Norwick>. "Andie. Kid. Let's go over what we know so far, shall we?"
Norwick: Norwick looks over, "...Why do you call me kid, I'm not really a child." He says, looking at Harry, "But yeah, evidence, fun!"
Harry: "We got a dead man in a ditched rental. Murder weapon looks to be an icepick left on the scene. Victim was purportedly last seen alive talking to a local bigwig, likely regarding something highly lucrative and highly illicit; also, he was likely schtupping said bigwig's sister, who outranks him in the power structure. That sound about right to everyone?"
Norwick: "Yeah, it does, but that still doesn't answer my question..."
Andie: "And a driver that's still MIA."
Harry: Harry pointedly ignores Norwick's question. "Some of the facts, of course, come from a witness known to be unreliable, and if I remember Andie's hypothesis correctly, it's possible said witness might be the actual killer. We don't have a match on the fingerprints yet but they are human prints, and the witness is human. It's not a concrete connection yet, but it is what I'd call suggestive."
Harry: "That said, the witness did point the finger at someone else, so if we're gonna do our due diligence, we might as well investigate that lead as well. So, our list of tasks looks like this: have forensics look over the physical evidence, which is to say the fingerprints and blood; look into our missing driver; look into our possible perp; and look into our witness. Sound about right?"
Norwick: At this point Norwick folds his arms and turns his head, not responding to Harry until they answer why they call him 'kid'.
GM: (Hmm, I wonder if this is just a scene gag, or substantial enough for a Compel - dunno which party's getting Compelled, though.)
Harry: (i'll take a FATE Point for "Norwick Reminds Me Too Much of Me" XD)
GM: (To have them feuding too much to use Teamwork? That works. XD)
Harry: (Harry instinctively doesn't respect Norwick because he makes him think of his younger, dumber self)
GM: (Or perhaps even give Nor narrative permission to just goof off if he chooses. XD)
Norwick: (If only Harry knew about Nory's dark underground connections >w>)
Norwick: (I mean, that's already a given for my goofing off aha)
GM: (Well, how does that play out? Let's see some escalation. >:3)
Harry: "You're 'Kid' 'cause you act like a kid. Case in point." He doesn't spare Norwick a glance as he says this.
GM: (... Any response, <@!Norwick>?)
Norwick: "Oh? I'm the kid because I act like a kid? Well maybe being serious all the time is soul-sucking." He says, looking at him, "You probably never had a day of fun in your entire life."
Harry: "There's a dead man and his killer's still free. But by all means, talk about 'fun.'" He examines his notepad. "Here's a fun idea for you. Use those finely honed social skills of yours to dig up some info on the people of interest in this case. Andie, you and I will be taking care of the forensics angle."
Harry: He doesn't wait for a response before he begins heading for forensics.
Andie: Andie, supremely unsure of whose side she should take, silently follows Harry.
GM: (Alright, so I assume you two head to Andie's "main lab," while Norwick hits the desks?)
Norwick: Norwick silently broods a bit before going to do his job. I should have just stayed in the criminal side of things, this guy is a buzzkill. Norwick heads over to his desk and does some more research.
Harry: As soon as he's out of earshot, Harry says to Andie: "Kid's going places. But he needs to work on that attitude."
GM: (Pfft. XD)
Norwick: (I bet young Harry had an attitude >w>)
GM: It can be assumed Harry and Andie set off to visit the latter's "main" lab. Meanwhile, what does Norwick do for research? Or does he just goof off?
Harry: (he and his brother were definitely involved in criminal shenanigans before he became a cop)
Harry: (Schumit "Mitch" Hazuth was the brains of the pair; Harry himself was the face)
Harry: (they got in over their heads and pissed off a bigger fish in the criminal underworld and they barely escaped with their lives, though neither knows what happened to the other)
Norwick: (Norwick is definitely just gonna search the databases for anything before doing some internet searches)
GM: (Who does he research?)
GM: (Meanwhile, <@!Andie>, do you want to describe your "main" laboratory as the two of you enter?)
Harry: (i'm still here, just FYI; not sure what's up with the others)
Norwick: (I'm here, but like, the names of the people that are involved, I can't remember their names.)
GM: (One moment while I retrieve the names...)
GM: (Haffner Heffa is the Gaoran that was looking in on the conversation. Jonah Wheeler is the victim, though you already know a lot about him. Cola Maishiki is the executive he met with, and his sister Akaia Maishiki is the CEO (as well as Jonah's lover). Kol Mosro is the missing driver. Candy Calhoun is the waitress.)
Andie: (Sorry, younger relative demanded my attention for a moment there, and then I looked up pics of actual forensic labs to get an idea of what I could type)
GM: (Oh, and David Wheeler, Jonah's brother, is the foreman of their construction company - Jonah was the owner.)
GM: (It's all good, Athens.)
Andie: (Where did we learn about his brother? Or is that part of what Norwick finds?)
GM: (It was part of the initial web-search of Jonah.)
Andie: (Gotcha)
Norwick: Norwick takes a seat and begins looking up Haffner Heffa in the database just to see if he has any criminal records.
Harry: (it'll be interesting if his criminal record, or lack thereof, doesn't line up with what Candy implied about him)
GM: (I think Harry already looked up his record, but maybe a more dedicated search will turn up something interesting; what approach are you rolling, <@!Norwick>?)
GM: (Since this is a new Clue, it'll be Overcome.)
Norwick: (A Careful, prudent search? Like, basically checking off anything and everything.)
Norwick: (Oop, I gotta help my dude with a tree problem rn, I'll make my roll and I'll be back)
Norwick: !f 2
DiscoDude: <@Norwick> rolled 4dF+2 for 4 [4dF = [ ][+][ ][+]]
GM: (Normal success.)
Yeah, the local militia have clearance to write up reports just like the police that arrived after them, but they aren't nearly so clear about it - like Harry saw earlier, his convictions include charges of "roughhousing" and "suspicion of shanking a guy." Unlike Harry, however, you sit back and actually read the arrest reports. They include some juicy stuff - the guy that got shanked was heard begging for time and saying something about how "he'll have the money soon." Similar stuff was heard during the "roughhousing" incidents, too - doesn't take a genius to put 2 and 2 together.
New Clue: Haffner's Background
Wolf Among Loan Sharks | ???
Andie: The lab looks pretty shabby. It's obvious it's a converted office space, just going off the fact that none of the tables are actually attached to floor. Still, it's relatively clean and has all the machines and implements she's used to, so it's home for her.
"I feel like blood is the easier of the two to examine, so I'll be one to sit down with the ice pick's fingerprints." she says, waving Harry off.
Harry: "Sure you don't need an extra pair of hands in here?" He's reasonably certain she doesn't, but he's asking anyway.
Andie: She's already pulling out the icepick. "You can look at the blood if want, I can't imagine you could mess that one up enough that I can't salvage it afterwards."
Harry: "Fair enough." He grabs a pair of disposable gloves, takes the icepick from Andie, scrapes a few flakes of blood into a sample container, then inserts it into the DNA sequencer.
Harry: (i'm going to presume that is a thing)
Harry: (that we have a sci-fi gadget that can give us a "fingerprint" off a blood sample that we can match at least partially)
GM: (Yeah. So wait, is it the blood samples from the limo you're examining, or are you trying to reveal an aspect on the ice pick?)
Harry: (the blood on the icepick)
Harry: (there was blood on the icepick, right?)
GM: (Yeah.)
Andie: (I thought you were referring to the Blood-splatters in the limo and that the icepick had nothing but fingerprints on it because it got washed off in the semi-melted ice)
Andie: (Unless I'm remembering wrong?)
GM: (Only the blood on the metal part washed off - there's still blood on the handle.)
Andie: (Ah)
Harry: (basically i am trying to verify, 100%, that the icepick was the weapon)
GM: (But that does raise the question of what Andie will examine, if Harry took the last detail on the pick that could be further elaborated on.)
Harry: (maybe further details on the fingerprints? or possibly she could examine the napkin note further)
GM: (Alright, so, what approach are you rolling?)
Harry: (careful)
Harry: !f 3 (Careful)
DiscoDude: <@Harry> rolled 4dF+3 for 1 [4dF = [ ][ ][-][-]]
Harry: (OOF)
Harry: (i'll uh. spend that FATE Point from earlier on [Grizzled Veteran Cop], if that's needed?)
GM: (Will that help with operating a forensic machine?)
Harry: (i mean, he's likely used a machine like this before, though he's not an expert at it)
GM: (Has he, though? The place he was before coming here probably had a whole forensic team; "cops" didn't touch that stuff. (Er, sorry if it turns out I'm being unreasonable; considering you're all detectives by necessity, I wanted to avoid having the High Concept be an auto-boost button like it was in UC.))
Harry: (oh, all right, then)
GM: ((I can take back my assertion if you want, but I do think it's a bit of a stretch.))
Harry: (i'll keep the FATE Point and take the L, or the tie)
GM: (Straight loss, or success at a cost?)
Harry: (mmm...let's take the latter option)
GM: Now this can't be right - the Blood Is an Indecipherable Mix [?] from more than one source. All you can tell is that this pick was used on more than one person, but you can't even say for sure if Jonah was one of them.
(He totally was, between you the Players and me the GM, but you couldn't really prove it with the ice-pick alone anymore.)
Harry: "Well. It's a good thing I checked." Harry mutters, angrily scribbling something in his notepad. "There's more than one victim here. There's blood on this icepick from multiple people."
Andie: "That can't be right," She takes a moment to look at the readout, ready to chastise Harry, but sighs, "The machine doesn't lie though..."
"I should see if the Blood-Splatters match any of these." (And I can roll Clever here to try and get another aspect out of this clue?)
GM: (Out of the blood-splatters?)
Andie: (Yeah, I was thinking either that or the napkin would be the only options Andie would have here)
Harry: Harry nods. "If the icepick was used to kill more than one victim, the car itself might've been the site of more than one murder. Could explain the 'faked' blood traces at the site - they were real, but not from the same victim."
GM: (Then yeah, roll it - I also think your Keen Eye for Residue stunt applies here.)
Andie: !f roll 5 (Clever + Keen Eye for Residue)
DiscoDude: <@Andie> rolled 4dF for 0 [4dF = [-][+][ ][ ]]
GM: (Ah, you included a word between "!f" and "5.")
Andie: (oof, I meant:)
Andie: !f 5 (Clever + Keen Eye for Residue)
DiscoDude: <@Andie> rolled 4dF+5 for 2 [4dF = [ ][-][-][-]]
GM: (I mean, we usually just do the math ourselves in the case of formatting errors, but if you insist on rerolling, I won't stop you.)
Harry: (yeah, you woulda gotten a 5 if you kept the first roll XD)
Andie: (That second roll is a real kick in the head, but I'll just stick with it lol)
GM: It seems Harry's "the scene of a different murder" theory is unfounded; the blood Came from Jonah Wheeler. Now that is what due diligence looks like.
GM: (Honestly, this sort of revelation isn't even aspect-worthy normally, but when there's an alternate theory to rule out...)
Andie: "You sure you weren't practicing sterile technique or something? Because these only have Wheeler's blood."
Norwick: Norwick takes note about the Loan Shark business of Haffner Heffa and now turns his attention to Candy Calhoun in the database.
Harry: Harry holds up his gloved hands by way of affirmation.
Harry: "Could be someone used the machine earlier and forgot to clean it."
GM: (In this case, you'd be Creating Advantage to discover a Hidden Aspect on Candy's stats, which... aren't Clues? Ah well, it counts for now - only have to suffer the Clue system until the end of the case.)
Norwick: (So, can I roll Careful again?)
GM: (Yeah, go ahead.)
Norwick: !f 2
DiscoDude: <@Norwick> rolled 4dF+2 for 1 [4dF = [ ][-][ ][ ]]
GM: (Failure, Success at Cost, or boost it?)
Norwick: (Welp...I can't see anything I can use to reroll this...)
Norwick: (Or boost)
Norwick: (So...Success at a Cost)
GM: Candy doesn't seem to have much of a record on the database - she was just questioned for a few barfights - but she does have a mild social media presence. You notice that there's one other account that's following everything she follows, and leaves a like or dislike on every post she's made in the past three years - most of them retroactive. It seems Someone Is Stalking Her Online [?].
Norwick: "Hmm...Interesting..."
GM: (I'm hoping to wrap soon for tonight - getting late on my end. <@&730993990769573898>, anything else you want to check before that?)
Norwick: (I'm good for now)
Andie: (Nothing I can think of)
Harry: (can I double-check the DNA sequencer, see if the "mixed blood sample" result was a false positive?)
GM: (You can. I assume this is an attempt to Create Advantage to overturn the negative aspect?)
Harry: (yeah)
Harry: Harry gives the machine a careful once-over, then, if he finds any evidence of old blood in the machine, reruns the test.
Harry: !f 3 (Careful)
DiscoDude: <@Harry> rolled 4dF+3 for 4 [4dF = [ ][ ][+][ ]]
GM: (And I'll use the invoke on it to boost the Opposition to Great (+4). That's a tie - nothing changes about the aspect, but it doesn't get worse either.)
Harry: (whoof)
Harry: (so, how's it shake out? does Harry find there's old blood in the machine, yes, but the sample is still mixed? or...?)
GM: (Sure. You can describe it.)
GM: (Also, you ate its bad invoke, whoo!)
Harry: Harry grumbles as he cleans out the machine thoroughly. He then scrapes another sample off the icepick and runs it - same result.
Harry: "Just double-checked, <@!Andie>. The blood on the icepick's from multiple people."
Harry: "Makes it inconclusive as far as evidence goes, but opens up one hell of a rabbit hole for us to go down."
Andie: "Well... the machine doesn't lie. And I did watch you do that time... Hmmm...."
GM: (Everybody good now?)
Andie: (Mhm)
GM: <@!Norwick>, before you can look up another name, your phone rings. It's one of the "contact" numbers from your "friends."
GM: (<@!Norwick>?)
Norwick: (Oh uh)
Norwick: Norwick looks and picks up the phone, "Yello, Nory speaking."
Harry: "We're gonna find another body before this is all done," Harry says, grimly.
GM: (Hang on, lemme dig up what we actually named this guy...)
GM: "Uh-huh, hey... This is Biff - 'the Holepunch' - speakin'. So, I follows the lady D'wall says you says to follow, and we're atta bar - the flo-mango place - an' this guy comes in; big puppy. Da girlie's gettin' scared, boss, tryin' to stay in the back. Do I do somethin' or what?"
Harry: ("flo-mango" XD)
Harry: (if it's not clear, sounds like Hef's shown up and Candy's freaking out)
Norwick: Norwick pauses, then responds, "Yeah, I want you to protect her, you hear? If anything bad comes to her...I swear." He says, getting a bit serious, "Just make sure that doesn't happen, yeah?"
GM: "O-kee." Biff hangs up. Hopefully, he can protect Candy. In the meantime, you now know exactly where a major suspect is located.
GM: (Do you tell the others?)
Norwick: Norwick sends a text over to Andie, "Grab Harry, we're going to the Flamingo Bar, Heffy boy is over there. We need to go, now."
Andie: "Hopefully's it
Andie: "Hopefully it's not Candy's, she mumbles, half to herself as she reads Norwick's message, "Haffner's at Hot Flamingo right now." she says, already making her way out.
Harry: "Could be the break we need," Harry says, following.
GM: (Those good for last lines?)
Harry: (yes)
GM: (<@!Andie>? <@!Norwick>?)
Andie: (yep)
Norwick: (Yup)
GM: (Then let us...)
GM: !end
