DiscoDude: ---BEGIN SESSION---
DiscoDude: Session logging commenced
GM: (<@!Norwick>, come to think of it, if you're asking about the limo, I had that planned as a separate Clue; I don't think you need to roll for it.)
Norwick: (Well, okay then, I guess just, write your post out then.)
GM: (<@!Andie>, you're using a stunt to help discover an aspect on one of the clues; if you'll draw your attention to the notes, I think ???'s Body and Blood Splatters would be the two that stunt's context might make sense for, correct? If so, which are you targeting?)
Andie: (Blood Splatters. Didn't realize I didn't name it during last session. XP)
Harry: (i'm gonna hang back a bit till the kids dig up something i can comment on)
Norwick: (also, Norwick texted you a message during all this, Harry, didn't know if you spotted that in a post I made. )
Harry: (ah, whoop)
GM: "Ah, yes..." Lang seems to think for a moment. "I'm not sure, really. In fact, with the state it was found in, our limos are actually less than ideal - our office received a notice this morning. The limo we sent out earlier pinged an alarm at precisely 9:05 am that it had left our service area. If it were a non-service vehicle, I'm sure it would have sped along unmolested until it ran out of fuel and crashed into the wake, never to surface. Furthermore..." He looks uncomfortable, and doesn't continue.
Harry: Harry frowns as he examines his phone. (Can I look up in the name in a police database via my phone while Nor and Andie continue their respective lines of inquiry?)
GM: New Clue: The Limo
Left Service Area at 9:05am | ??? | ???
GM: (Hmm... Don't think that requires a roll.)
Norwick: (You forgot my last one, GM)
Norwick: ( Jonah Called for a Limo at 6:45am )
GM: (Part of a different Clue. Look at the notes.)
Harry: Harry fires up a search query for "Jonah Wheeler."
GM: (Alright, <@!Andie>. Roll against Fair (+2) as per usual. Should be CLEVER plus your stunt, right?)
Norwick: Norwick presses Lang, "...And?" He looks at him, "We're doing an investigation, sir. We need to know everything, no matter how uncomfortable you may feel. A man was murdered. That can't be changed. But we can bring the person who did this to justice." He gives Lang a cold gaze.
Andie: !f 5 (Clever + stunt)
DiscoDude: <@Andie> rolled 4dF+5 for 4 [4dF = [+][-][-][ ]]
GM: (To be clear, you're using persuasion to discover an aspect on The Limo rather than Lang's Testimony? If there was no specific plan, that's how I'll interpret it.)
Norwick: (I'm persuading Lang to cough up what's he is uncomfortable with. What that is, I don't know.)
GM: (Alright.)
"I'm only being polite to a trusted member of the Lang family; I always give the benefit of the doubt..."
GM: !f 2 (STAYING POLITE)
DiscoDude: <@GM> rolled 4dF+2 for 2 [4dF = [+][-][ ][ ]]
GM: "... Oh whatever. If you must know, the limo is Registered to Kol Mosro, one of our drivers. He was the one who drove the limo Mr. Wheeler ordered. I have no idea where he is, and I fear the worst!"
GM: (<@!Andie>, meanwhile, that's a success. Since the blood has no "planned" aspects, I'll let you describe what 'trace substances' you discover.)
Norwick: "Okay, thank you Mr. Lang for revealing that for us. If we find Kol, do you want us to contact you?" He asks, bringing out his phone to also have Harry look up a: Kol Mosro.
Harry: Harry sighs as the message comes up on his phone. He's still waiting for info on Jonah Wheeler. He punches in the request for info on Kol Mosro as well.
GM: <@!Harry>: Assuming you took even a cursory look at the body, the top Qoogle result profile should be recognizable; your victim appears to be one Jonah Wheeler, though you'd need physical evidence or confirmation from a close relation to be sure.
Harry: He nods. "Andie, take a look at this." He shows her the profile. "Looks like our John DOA."
GM: Clue Updated: Jonah's Body
Died Between 8:00 and 8:30 am | ??? | ???
Harry: "Nor's been grilling the man over there for details and apparently this is the guy who rented the limo this morning. The vehicle's registered to a Kol Mosro, who's looking a lot like our prime suspect at this point."
Harry: A thought comes to mind. He punches in a message for <@!Norwick>:
Harry: "Ask him what one would need to drive one of these vehicles. Do they just need a key, or is some biometric involved, or what? Could anyone other than Kol Mosro have driven the vehicle and set it to autopilot with the victim's body?"
GM: Meanwhile, no search results for Kol Mosro on the Internet, though a baby name website link implies it's a Grey name.
Harry: Harry frowns. "Kol doesn't seem to have a record, or any kind of online footprint," he says to Andie. "Could be an assumed name."
GM: (... It's possible that I underestimated one's ability to search people of little note on Google.)
Norwick: Norwick looks at the text and replies with one of his own, "Gotcha, also check up on Jonah's company he worked for, something to do with Construction, that'll probably be the place to go to see if any of his coworkers know about anybody who would want to kill him." He looks at Lang. "Do your Limos require anything to start them up? Keys, Biometrics, anything else that would be added security?"
GM: (Another question about the limo, I see. Meanwhile, <@!Andie>, you still need to describe your success with the blood. Again, since it's not a "planned" aspect intended to act as a direct lead, you get to decide what it is.)
Harry: (i think she might be stuck)
Harry: Harry receives Nor's text and punches in a query regarding Wheeler Construction.
GM: "It uses keys, of course - we're top of the line, of course, but not that top-line. Only privately owned vehicles can afford that level of personalization."
Norwick: Norwick takes note of that and sends Harry a message, "Only keys, nothing else."
Harry: Harry sends back a curt acknowledgment: "Noted." Kol is still on top of his list of suspects, but he's written a "?" next to the name, along with a note regarding the limo: "keys could have been borrowed/stolen"
Andie: "Mm." Andie hums, acknowledging the new information Harry's put forth. She begins to examine the Blood-Splatters more closely. Luckily, she had recently refreshed herself with a book on blood pattern analysis, and so she finds it really easy to make sense of the markings here, well, all of it except for...
GM: (Oh, you consider splatter patterns a part of "trace evidence?" I... Hmm... I guess that counts?)
Andie: (Well, I was thinking whatever out-of-place thing she notices is something pretty small/minute)
GM: (Fair point.)
Except for how they don't seem to originate from the body at all. The various splatters are haphazard, seemingly Flicked On After the Fact, perhaps with a bloodied cloth. Like someone wanted to make it look like blood sprayed out right there in his limo seat.
Harry: (stabbed, not shot?)
GM: (Now that you mention it, I suppose one couldn't tell just by the wound's outside appearance.)
GM: (<@!Andie>, up to you to decide what you do with that info.)
Norwick: (Blood splatter is a science btw, you can tell a lot from blood splatters)
GM: (I was aware, but I didn't consider it part of the classification of "trace evidence" until now.)
Andie: "Huuuuuh~" she had to tell Harry about this, but she had to examine Jonah's body even more. (And I just roll [some skill] to try and get an aspect of Jonah's Body, right?)
GM: (Like, physically searching his effects? Ascertaining cause of death? What's your game here?)
Andie: (Cause of death seems most appropriate here.)
GM: (Also, I decided that "autopsy" stuff is only Average (+1) in the autopsy room; doing it on the crime scene would be Fair (+2).)
GM: (Go ahead and roll it.)
Andie: !f 3 (Clever)
DiscoDude: <@Andie> rolled 4dF+3 for 2 [4dF = [+][-][-][ ]]
GM: (Another tie, unless you want to boost.)
GM: (<@!Andie>?)
Andie: (I'll stick with the tie)
GM: It doesn't take a forensic genius to ascertain that the punctured eye-socket probably had something to do with how Jonah died, but it doesn't hurt to double check. Judging by the surprisingly intact socket (save for a pin-prick hole and a mangled eyeball), it wasn't a bullet that did this. Even still, his vitals indicate a sudden death from some kind of brain trauma. From this, you deduce the Cause of Death: Penetrating Head Trauma through the eye-socket with a stabbing weapon.
Harry: "You're looking pretty closely at that head wound, Andie. Got an eye on the ballistics?" Harry, obviously, assumes the cause of death was a bullet.
Andie: "It's a stab wound, actually, but," she says, crossing her arms, "the stains on the seats were definitely added after the fact. Do we know where the limo was picked up? Because he didn't get stabbed here."
Harry: "We already went over this. They found the car hovering over the middle of the ocean.." He crosses his own arms and studies the car. "So what you're saying is, this could've been staged. The victim was killed, put in the passenger's seat, and then the car put on autopilot. So whoever did this knew the car had a good chance of being found. Sound about right to you?"
Harry: He shakes his head. "The choice of murder weapon, though. It's possible they weren't trying to make it look like a gunshot wound, but what kind of weapon would leave a hole like this?" He squints, as if trying to discern any details that might not be obvious, though such a feat would be beyond his limited forensic ability. "Any chance of the death being accidental?"
GM: (Hmm... That question he's asking himself... If I believe your character could guess at a contextual answer based on my earlier descriptions, would it be appropriate to ask for a roll (assuming you don't figure it out yourself)?)
Harry: (sure, i don't mind rolling for a hint)
Harry: !f 2 (Clever)
DiscoDude: <@Harry> rolled 4dF+2 for 1 [4dF = [-][-][ ][+]]
GM: (That's overcome, BTW; since you're "trying to find a new physical Clue," technically, I believe your Detective Senses apply.)
GM: (That sound right?)
Harry: (yeah, let's roll with that)
GM: 'Something sharp... and thin... a syringe? No... But wait, if this was staged then... that thing stands out - the Champaign in a bucket of ice on the table!'
(Go see what you find~ For the record, you would have gotten this next Clue for free if you thought to manually check this detail - though if you totally forgot about that bit about the bucket of ice, I honestly don't blame you. ^^;)
Harry: (...it's a good thing you misspell it consistently, or else i would never have found the paragraph)
Harry: (champagne)
GM: (Whoops. XD)
Harry: "...champagne bottle. Could a corkscrew have done this?"
GM: As you peer into the bucket, you notice a second object alongside the champagne, buried in ice up to its wooden, blood-splattered hilt.
Harry: He points. "Andie, take a look at that."
GM: (<@!Norwick>, is there anything else you wanted to ask Mr. Lang about what happened that morning, or is that all? I suppose you could also ask even further details about the limo, but at this point, it might be more efficient to just examine it for anything a company manager's knowledge might miss.)
Andie: "Ok, what's actually going on here?" she wonders aloud before pulling the object out carefully with gloved hands, "I mean, this entire scene seems to be staged at this point, so I get the feeling whatever prints I find on this thing are whoever the perp's trying to frame-- if this is even the actual weapon they used." Maybe this was much simpler than that, but she couldn't help letting her imagination run wild with these new details.
Harry: "Improvised weapon implies a crime of passion, spur-of-the-moment impulse killing, to be sure. But we can't rule out anything at this point. The perpetrator could've killed the victim in the heat of the moment, then faked the crime scene to throw us off. The question now is, was the car set up to look like the scene of the crime to take the heat off the perp, or point the finger at the driver?"
GM: It comes out much smoother than a corkscrew, that's for sure; straight, narrow, and perfect for picking ice. The melted water in the bucket's washed the metal part clean, but the outward splatter wrapping around the handle looks legit. If the splatter wasn't stopped - presumably by the hand that held it - the logo belonging to the bar it came from would have been covered up.
GM: New Clue: Bloody Icepick
Belongs to the Hot Flamingos Bar | ???
GM: (Err... Sorry if you were really hoping for it to be a corkscrew. XP)
GM: (This was one of my "planned" Clues.)
Harry: (it's fine XD)
Harry: "...Icepick, then. An icepick is good too." He nods. "And now we have another lead."
GM: (I kinda like the running gag of Harry almost calling stuff before the reveal. XD)
Harry: (XD)
Andie: (pfff, I dig it as well)
Harry: ("Whoa! How did you almost know who the perp was?" "I have approximate knowledge of many things, kid!")
GM: (I'll say there's just one "planned" base Clue left, which should make itself apparent even if you don't look in the right place before you get the body carted. Other than that, it's your show; decide what other sorts of Clues you want to find in the places you choose, assuming you don't want to be done with this scene already.)
Norwick: ( Sorry, was taking a shower )
Andie: Andie carefully sets the pick down and dusts the hilt for fingerprints.
GM: (Using your stunt again?)
Andie: (Sure actually nah)
GM: (Oh?)
Andie: !f 3 (Clever)
DiscoDude: <@Andie> rolled 4dF+3 for 1 [4dF = [-][ ][-][ ]]
GM: (Why leave off the stunt?)
Harry: (yeah, there's no penalty for using it)
Andie: (I was feeling good about my roll, but I wanna add it now if you'd let me lol)
GM: (So it was literally just cockiness that made you leave it off? XD)
Andie: (Eeeeyup)
GM: (Add it back in. I'll forgive you. This time. >:3)
GM: (So that's a success. You're checking for fingerprints, right?)
Andie: (Thank you lmao 🙏 and yes)
Harry: While Andie sets to work with the forensics, Harry begins checking the victim's clothes for clues. A wallet, an ID, keys, anything.
GM: (Hmm... Come to think of it, fingerprints - even narrowing it down to the species - would be one heck of a smoking gun this early. Then again, I guess there's a way of explaining it away if their owner turns out to be innocent.)
Harry: (oh my god. are you...are you saying we broke your case just by dusting for prints? ^^;)
GM: (No, I just explained how you didn't - just had to think on my feet for a bit.)
GM: The handle's mostly too wet with condensation to get anything conclusive, but enough fingerprint fragments appear that you can tell by the bunching of lines; the handle Has Human Fingerprints [!] on it.
GM: (Discovering the last hidden aspect on Jonah's Body, eh Harry? Which approach are you using?)
Harry: (Careful)
Harry: !f 3 (Careful)
DiscoDude: <@Harry> rolled 4dF+3 for 6 [4dF = [+][ ][+][+]]
GM: (SWS! Hmm... As for what you actually find...)
GM: (Hmm... My idea seems kinda lackluster for a SWS. Oh! Maybe...)
GM: Funny enough, after searching his pockets, careful not to disturb the body too much, you do find a wallet. Not only does it confirm Jonah's identity, you open it up only for a string of photos to fall down. They depict a humanoid bird; a Miiki, if you were guess on the specific plumage and body shape - not the native species of this planet. Most likely female, based on the muted colors. Some with Jonah, all of them seemingly happy... and some of them suggestive? It seems he kept Photos of a Miiki Lover In His Wallet [!!].
Harry: Harry whistles. "Well, here's either motive...or a suspect. Or both."
GM: (Hmm... Are the <@&730993990769573898> done with this scene, or is there more they want to check before deciding which lead they want to follow first?)
Harry: (did we find everything worth finding?)
Andie: (I think Andie's raring to find the actual crime scene at this point.)
GM: (Well, there's that one Clue that'll become apparent when the body gets bagged, and a few undiscovered aspects on existing clues, but you can come back to this place if you think the undiscovered aspects will be vital. This scene has been dragging on a bit.)
Harry: (sure, let's continue)
GM: (Alright. Will one of you call it, or shall I narrate it?)
Harry: Harry calls out: "Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Lang. My associates and I will be leaving now." He turns to Andie: "Looks like we have a date with a Hot Flamingo."
Harry: He waves at Norwick: "Kid, get in the van. We're leaving."
GM: (First scene of next session will be the Flamingo bar, by executive cat order.)
Harry: (👍)
Andie: (roger that)
GM: (Alright, then I suppose it's time for last lines, <@&730993990769573898>!)
Andie: "Lets hit it!" she says with a slam of the van door.
Harry: Harry says nothing, just nods to Andie.
Harry: ( <@!Norwick>?)
GM: (If <@!Norwick> doesn't provide a last line within 5 minutes, I'll just call it there.)
GM: (Alright, let us...)
GM: !end
