Session Six - 03/21/2021

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Elijah Tanner, following the trail of his fellow investigators, comes around the corner in view of the Corbitt House just in time to hear the sound of breaking glass and see Detective McQuaid fall from the second story window. He races past a confused Mr. Dooley toward where he saw the McQuaid fall, noting Monte's empty wheelchair on the way. Elijah arrives just as Delia, Ophelia, Lotte, and Samuel come racing out of the house toward the same alley. Reunited for a brief time, Elijah provides First Aid to McQuaid, with the help of Lotte, and determines that not only is McQuaid alive but that he's stable as well, though covered in lacerations from broken glass and experiencing incredible pain. Lotte and Sam offer to take McQuaid to the nearest hospital. She notes that their vehicle, though not an ambulance, has basic medical equipment and they can treat McQuaid on the way. With the agreement of the rest of the group, Sam slings McQuaid over his shoulder, puts him in their car, and they drive off.

Elijah asks if Delia and Ophelia knew anything about Monte's empty wheelchair. Ophelia fears that the house may have gotten him. Delia looks closer and notes Monte's still burning cigar on the ground, his shotgun broken open and ammunition removed, and that the bag that had contained the Liber Ivonis, Secrets of Ancient Egypt, and Corbitt's Diary, was now missing. They see Mr. Dooley eyeing them from across the road and go over to speak with him. He admits he didn't see what happened to Monte, only that one moment Monte was there in his wheelchair and then the next minute there was only an empty wheelchair. Dooley asks about the loud crash from earlier and wishes McQuaid a speedy recovery.

They return to the wheelchair and assess their situation, with Ophelia looking through the crowd in a vain attempt to try to spot Monte. Further down the block, she sees him standing near an alley entrance, back to them. Delia and Elijah watch as Ophelia bolts off down the street, and they follow close after. Ophelia zeroes in on Monte, getting closer and closer, and his back is still turned away. She pulls back a fist just as Monte turns around. She then sees, all too late, that although this man is wearing Monte's hat and coat, he's definitely not Monte. Her running punch connects with the side of the man's face and he is instantly laid out unconscious in the alley. Elijah and Delia arrive and provide cover in case any passersby get too curious, as Ophelia goes through the man's pockets. Judging by the smell, the grime on his face, and the ratty clothes underneath Monte's coat, they guess that this was simply a homeless man who had come across Monte's clothing and put it on. A bit further into the alley, Delia notices Monte's bag on the ground behind a trashcan. She searches through it, not finding any of the books it had previously contained. But she does find a receipt for a hotel of some sort - The Landing Tree Inn.

Any further investigation is interrupted by the sound of a ragged automobile motor approaching. They watch as a rusted jalopy trundles past at walking speed, backfiring and belching smoke. It eventually stops just past the Corbitt house, and a large man gets out. Standing in the middle of the road, oblivious to traffic, the man compares something from a small piece of paper to the addresses of the houses in front of him. Abandoning the still-running car in the street, the man makes his way up the steps of the Corbitt house and enters. The group cautiously returns to the sidewalk in front of the Corbitt house, wondering who this person is and if he's connected to anything. Ophelia rummages through his rusty car, finding junk stashed and piled everywhere, but nothing that would identify the man. Elijah climbs the steps to the porch and looks into the house, but isn't able to see the man somewhere inside. The red ball from earlier comes rolling out of the house by itself and bounces down the steps before halting unnaturally as soon as it hits the sidewalk. Ophelia and Delia give the ball a wide berth as they join Elijah on the porch, with Delia noticing a passerby pick up the ball and continue down the sidewalk with it.

They all take turns calling into the house to get the stranger's attention and warn him of the dangers, with Delia's words strangely not echoing like the others' did. Eventually, they hear a stumbling sound and cursing, then watch as the large man comes down the stairs into view. The man throws up his hands in exasperation and asks them "Where's the body?". They tell him there's no body, that one of their colleagues fell from the second story window outside, but was on his way to the hospital. The man tells them that "Captain Franklins" told him to go pick up the body, so he plans to do so. He runs past them and turns down the other alley to look for the body. They run after him just in time to see him go around the corner into the backyard. They chase him around the perimeter of the house, watching as he runs right past the area where McQuaid had fallen. They catch up to him on the front porch. Ophelia takes his hand and leads him back to where McQuaid had fallen, however they see no blood, no broken glass, and when they look up, no broken window. The only sign that anything had happened was the slight indentation McQuaid had left in the grass when he landed.

The man introduces himself as Vincent Porter, a mortician, and reveals that he's often sent on fruitless ventures to gather non-existent bodies as a prank from various officers at Central Police Station, often from from Captain Franklins. They question Vincent about his job and connections, and he mentions he works at a "gray" building. He offers to take them there to look into this Captain Franklins and any relation he may have with McQuaid. Without waiting for an answer, he runs down to his car and begins clearing all the trash out of it, tossing the junk onto the road around him, apparently ignorant of the beeps and curses of passing traffic. The rest of the group walks toward the car, briefly discussing trusting Vincent. Delia and Ophelia both notice the red ball has reappeared, motionless, at the bottom of the steps. Impulsively, Ophelia pulls out a dagger and attempts to stab the ball. She misjudges a bit and instead sends it rolling down the sidewalk where it trips up an older man who falls to the ground hard. The group provides brief First Aid, determining that the man, though he took a spill, was not hurt and was able to walk. Ophelia waits for any onlookers to disperse and stabs the ball again, this time successfully deflating it. They return to Vincent's vehicle, climb in and drive off. As they go around the corner, Ophelia looks back at the house just in time to see that same red ball come rolling out the front door and bouncing down the steps again.