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AGELESS Campaign Episode 2 - Temple of the Cat-Goddess
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<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 4825480" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>Chapter Thirty-one, “The Interrogation", September 3rd, 1882, 7:30 P.M.</strong></p><p></p><p>The County Sheriff asks each person for any relevant information that they have about the unwanted visitors. Hardin shares the information on the "cannonball" ammunition used by Charlie Webb's son, showing the damaged porch pillar as proof. He neglects to mention that the remaining ammo from that gun is now in their possession. Hardin says, "Sheriff, I could have easily taken down both Webbs at several point during this confrontation...especially after Mr. Parker was shot down...but I stayed my hand. I don't want any more blood being spilled, but if I see the younger Webb or Henry around these parts again, I reckon I am likely to shoot first and ask questions second." </p><p></p><p>Ruby relates her tale, leaving out the part of casting illegal spells. "They swore they were aiming for Mr. Hardin but I don't believe that. James was shot twice, once by each of them then apparently they again shot my grandmother twice. That certainly doesn't seem like accidentally missing Mr. Hardin twice. And that explosive he had was just crazy. That would have killed a lot of people if it went off near the house." </p><p></p><p>Luiz says, "Miss West is correct, they were lying about Hardin. The dead one had these in his coat." Luiz hands the Sheriff two photographs, one of James the other of Mina. Each are blow-ups of just the face, but Ruby also sees that in the photograph behind them is Bella's Restaurant in Tarrytown, New York, meaning that the photograph was taken during her visit with them in June. </p><p></p><p>Ruby says, "Ack! This photo is when they were following us up in New York! They lied about me and my companion at the time, saying we were Deadeye Douglas and Mae Clark so that we would be apprehended and they could go through our stuff. George is the one who got us out of that jam." She looked at him adoringly for a moment but then turned grim again. "I could just..." She balled her fists and tried to stay calm. "James, maybe it's time we get some of the information out, once it's out, then the face that you have this information will be not as important anymore and they will leave us alone." </p><p></p><p>George says, "Well, in theory that could be a good idea Ruby, but until James is ready, until we can put something concrete out there it may only force them to attack harder. Now James the Pinkertons have a pretty good reputation by and large across the company. Who ever is hiring the Pinkerons must be feeding them so very skewed information. So I think we need to interrogate our detective here while we can, see what he has been told about the Parkers. Someone will be coming after us. Even if we release what we have, they may think we have more and still come after us. We need to trace this back. And our best source right now is the Pinkerton." </p><p></p><p>Sheriff Holtzburn agrees with George's suggestion and says that they should separate him from the other bring him inside for questioning. James interjects, "No, Sol was right keeping them outside. I don't want any of them knowing the inside layout of this building. Let's bring him to the barn instead." The Sheriff and some of the others take the Pinkerton to the barn, being sure to leave James and Mina in the house so that the Pinkersons will think them dead. </p><p></p><p>The first fifteen minutes of questioning proves unremarkable, with the man insisting that John Wesley Hardin was their target and they only fired after he drew a weapon on Fred Webb. He claims that the client was a man in Virginia named Randall Van Osterbridge, whose son was a soldier that Hardin killed eight years earlier. Fish knows a thing or two about intimidation. He moves purposefully toward Ruby, with his back toward the prisoner. "Miss West, if this mook thinks he killed your grandmother, your threat to remove his manhood with a dull blade might sound especially convincing..."</p><p></p><p>Hardin, who has tagged along for the questioning, snorts in derision. "Well you should refund that man all his money and then some, since you are either the world's worst shot or the world's biggest liar, Mr. Holt. I think the dime store novelists and newspaper men that keep coming around to pester me will be very eager to hear about you." </p><p></p><p>He pauses for a second and smirks. "I can see the headlines now...'Incompetent Pinkertons with Clear Shots at John Wesley Hardin Shoot Down Old Woman'...yep...that will make for some might fine ink. Of course, we can add in the teaser that you were captured by a young girl. That will make for some mighty fine reading. Come to think of it...we have a reporter staying here with us. I am sure he could have something in the Tallahassee papers by tomorrow and pull some strings to get the wire services to pick it up. </p><p></p><p>In two days, the entire country will know that Lyndon Holt is a yellow-bellied assassin that shoots down old women in cold blood and let's his self get picked off by a twig of a girl.” Fish snickers, "A pretty twig, too! She'll photograph well." Ruby frowned. "Hey I'm no twig!" She crossed her arms but secretly she was enjoying all the interrogation of this prisoner. Hardin continues, “ What do you think about THAT, Mr. Holt? Think anyone else will hire your sorry rump after that? I think I will go fetch Lawrence right now so he can get to work." A crooked grin spreads across the gun fighter's face and he starts walking out, whistling on off-key tune...</p><p></p><p>George squats down by Holt. "Come now Mr. Holt. If you think that we can believ that you were here to shoot Mr. Hardin yet carried no picture of him. BUT did carry a picture of the two people you DID unlawfully shoot, well, there isn't a jury in these United States that won't send you to the gallows. Especially in the state of Florida. Of course, that assuumes that you GET to a courthouse. These folks down here take justice pretty strongly, lynch mobs are not unheard of. Do you know what happens to a man who is tarred and feathered? It is a nasty thing. The boiling tar burns and blisters the skin making it red and raw. The pain of that is doubled by the tar that is now heat seared onto the skin. It is a horrible painful experience. And that may happen to liars, before they ever even reach a courthouse." says George calmly staring the man in the eyes. George stands up. "Just don't break any bones before you are done boys" he says to Hardin and Fish as he walks out. </p><p></p><p>The guy looks up and says, "Okay, don't kill me, I'll spill it. It wasn't Von Osterbridge who hired us, he's just some poor guy whose soldier-boy son you killed Hardin. He had sent a deposition to your trial, and Henry Webb wrote him a thank you letter for that. They corresponded with each other since then. Webb easily bought into the story that Van Osterbridge fell into some money and wanted revenge so was financing this. Webb had kept contract with other victim families too, so with his help we soon assembled the group. We were notified by telegram on Friday where you were. We loaded up us and our horses onto a train and got into Jacksonville late last night. </p><p></p><p>I wasn't the one who met the contact here though, that was Haskins. I stayed with Webb and the boys at the hotel while he went alone to met the contact at some fancy restaurant downtown. Haskins returned from that meeting with the directions here, a diagram of the house and property so we could pick the best spot to shot from, ammunition for our two rifles and the blankets the same color as the soil. Webb probably still has that map with him. The plan was simple, and Webb didn't know anything about it, he thought we were just after Hardin. In the chaos with the gunfight with you Hardin both of the Parkers were to get shot too. Would have worked too if you hadn't turned yellow. And the Pinkerton Agency won't back us now that we failed, the two of us were officially on vacation, that was all part of the deal."</p><p></p><p>Hardin's eyes go flat at the slur and he takes a long stride forward, a Lightening appearing in his hand as if by magic. Even though the pistol is a double-action, he thumbs the hammer back with exquisite care so Holt can see the cylinder rotating, the deadly black hole of the barrel a mere inch from his right eye. "I would be happy to untie you long enough to see if I have gone yellow, you gutless cur," he says in a deathly quiet voice. "You are fit to drink the piss out of my chamber pot, you..." </p><p></p><p>He trails off, remembering Ruby is standing there. He doesn't glance away from Holt and the barrel remains perfectly still. "Apologies, Miss Ruby...I forgot myself for a moment. So shall I make arrangements for you to slap leather with someone who can fire back, instead of defenseless old women?" He remains motionless, unblinking, his lips a thin, angry line...</p><p></p><p>Holt looks up and says, "Brave words coming from an armed man standing there surrounded by his buddies while I'm lying here wounded and helpless. That kid almost killed your lady friend, hell, he almost brought down that whole porch on top of you all. And you just stood there and let it happen. Admit it, that prison broke you, you're now as yellow as the color of the rising sun. " Fish sees Hardin's trigger finger twitch, but expected 'crack' of the .32 doesn't come. Instead, Hardin eases off the trigger and raises the barrel.</p><p></p><p>The Lightening disappears back into the vest holster as Hardin spins and starts stalking out. He stops before he reaches the door and turns again. "You won't always be wounded and helpless, Holt, so you better spend the rest of your days being ready. If we see each other on the street...no matter who else is around and no matter what else is going on...I will kill you." </p><p></p><p>Hardin exits the barn and finds Lawrence. "Have I got a story for you..." Fish strides after Hardin, and once they're out of earshot, he says, "Mr. Hardin! That mook is right about one thing: whoever supplied the Pinkertons with enchanted bullets probably supplied the Webbs too -- and having seen what a poor shot Fred proved makes me wonder if it wasn't Henry didn't load the boy's gun!" Sheriff Holtzbrun leaves Deputy Star, Enoch, Obie and Jasper to continue to watch the prisoners as he heads inside to confer with James, John and Lawrence. He tells them "I'm inclinded to believe that guy. Seems to me he was trying to get your ire up John. Based upon your response I can say that I no longer have any reservations about you serving as a Deputy. Well done Sir."</p><p></p><p>He tells James "They think you're dead, we may want to leave it that way." James replies, "Mina and I were planning to attend the ball in town tomorrow." Holtzbrun replies, "Well, if you do, don't show up until just before or maybe even a little late, you'll all be safer in the short run if they think they succeeded. Not sure if I believe what he said about the Pinkerton's disowning him, seems too convenient, I will have to send some telegrams about that."</p><p></p><p>The Sheriff tells Alan MacKinnon that he won't be charging him with the trampling death of the other Pinkerton, it was clearly self defense since he had already shot Alan once and was threatening the women. Not wanting to head off alone with a pair of prisoners the Sheriff asks both Deputy Star and Alan to accompany him back to Jacksonville with the prisoners, offering to put them both up overnight. Alan agrees and is then deputized by the Sheriff, the older man swelling with pride over the honor.</p><p></p><p>Ruby congratulated Mr. MacKinnon for helping keep her and Autumn safe and commended him on his riding skills. She head inside to the bar area and slipped behind it, pondering just how drunk she needed to get to feel better about the day. She decided on whiskey and poured herself one. "Anyone else need a drink?" "I do," Abby said from the chair where she had secreted herself. "This is not exactly how I expected the day to go." </p><p></p><p>Ruby poured a half glass for Abby and carried it over to her. "Not how I pictured my time down here either. Seems we will always be in danger, these men are not going to give up until they get what they want. But what they want is not here and they will never find it on their own." "No, and as soon as they figure out that others among us have access to any part of it, our lives will be in as much danger. I think I need to send a telegram to the Pinkerton main office. But I think these boys were running this on the side anyway, so it won't matter much." adds George </p><p></p><p>Ruby says, "I agree that you should send the telegram, I don't think it can hurt to let them know about this conspiracy. However, it should be clear by now that no one here knows how to access the papers. Not even James or Mina know where it is. You don't even know George and it's better that way." Abby states, "Must be some hiding place. Sometimes the better something is hidden the harder people will search. I hope these men aren't like that or you might have only painted a target on your back." </p><p></p><p>Ruby replies, "Perhaps. These men don't know who does or doesn't know. I find it odd though that they were willing to kill the people they think knows where it is without they themselves finding it. You know what I mean? If you kill the person who knows, then you will never find it but that doesn't mean the information can't get out. Anyway, I do think it's time for James to get some this information out. But in the end it's up to him," Ruby shrugged.</p><p></p><p>James returns as they are speaking and says, "I've given that some thought. They actually don't think the information is 'out of reach'. For the last several months I have had my lawyers speaking to the Brown family Estate's lawyers regarding the potential sale of the information. They've communicated that the crate is in storage and under seal.</p><p></p><p>That was a stalling tactic, but in hindsight I think I made a mistake. I guess I always accepted that they might try to kill me, but I've been asking myself the last two hours as to why they would intentionally try to kill Mina. The answer I've come to is that while she's my heir she wouldn't sell, but if we are both dead they would then have to deal with my estranged daughter instead. She knows none of this, and as long as it appears that I began this as a legal transaction there is no reason why she wouldn't just conclude it. Think about it, why wouldn't she sell them a crate of old papers for a book that I'll never write if I'm dead?" </p><p></p><p>Ruby tapped her lips while she thought on the issue. "It's not acceptable for either of you to be the target like this. I would be devastated if something happened to Nana OR you. What if... what if through your contacts, through the Estate, you communicated that you sold it to a third party? Would that at least partially get them off your back? As for your daughter... that is a tricky issue." </p><p></p><p>George suddenly grins. "Oh I have an idea. When we get into town, I can wire the paper back home. Give them an exclusive. George Eastman to establish history museum in Philadelphia. Eastman has been collecting historical documents from all over the country to start his new museum. Eastman's collection received a large boost by the recent acquisition of the entire collection of noted historian James Parker. That kind of story should keep them looking in Philadelphia for my papers for a while. That should at least buy us a little time to get AGELESS going in peace. What do you think James? It would keep your daughter safe for a while as well since it would transfer the danger to me since it would seem I have the papers." </p><p></p><p>James says, "An excellent suggestion, let's do it. You, Mina and Ruby are acquainted with the Greek/Roman Church's Archbishop in that city, so he could help get the museum actually established. Personally, I would love to see an entire wing dedicated to the work of the Abolitionist movement. And the Archbishop is somebody with enough power, both physically and politically, that the Pinkerton Detective Agency won't mess with him. The AGELESS ship Frolic will be docking here in the next day or two, we could load some cargo for Philadelphia on it to add to the wild goose chase. I may also send Roy along with it to deliver a message to my daughter in person, she knows and trusts him." </p><p></p><p>Ruby exclaims, "Wait. Wouldn't that just send them off after George instead of James then? Unless we are saying the Archbishop has charge of them, then we might be a little safer..." "Well, yes, In a way it would send them after me. But that is why it is implied in the story that all their papers are being gathered in Philadelphia. If I said New York they would ransack my house. If I say it's in Philadelphia they will search every warehouse in that city looking for papers that aren't there." says George with a smile. </p><p></p><p>"But James, I wasn't intending to actually start a museum necessarily, merely to provide a false trail. Not that I am against it necessarily though. A little big of seed money would let the Archbishop begin the process, put him on the board of trustees and head caretaker for the moment." muses George. James says, "Ah, but the best way to promote a lie is to base it on truth. We'll start to lay the groundwork for an actual museum, and if in another two or three years we actually have one, all the better. But for the time being that will keep them distracted for a good long time." Ruby was hesitant. "I don't know... I'm still worried about trading one loved one's safety for another’s. But if you think this is the right thing to do and we can get the Arch Bishop involved then perhaps that will buy us some time." </p><p></p><p>Ruby finished her whiskey then excused herself. Though it was early her scratches were bothering her, not so much the pain of them but the look of them. So she wished everyone a good evening and returned to her room to stay there for the remainder of the night.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 4825480, member: 8530"] [B]Chapter Thirty-one, “The Interrogation", September 3rd, 1882, 7:30 P.M.[/B] The County Sheriff asks each person for any relevant information that they have about the unwanted visitors. Hardin shares the information on the "cannonball" ammunition used by Charlie Webb's son, showing the damaged porch pillar as proof. He neglects to mention that the remaining ammo from that gun is now in their possession. Hardin says, "Sheriff, I could have easily taken down both Webbs at several point during this confrontation...especially after Mr. Parker was shot down...but I stayed my hand. I don't want any more blood being spilled, but if I see the younger Webb or Henry around these parts again, I reckon I am likely to shoot first and ask questions second." Ruby relates her tale, leaving out the part of casting illegal spells. "They swore they were aiming for Mr. Hardin but I don't believe that. James was shot twice, once by each of them then apparently they again shot my grandmother twice. That certainly doesn't seem like accidentally missing Mr. Hardin twice. And that explosive he had was just crazy. That would have killed a lot of people if it went off near the house." Luiz says, "Miss West is correct, they were lying about Hardin. The dead one had these in his coat." Luiz hands the Sheriff two photographs, one of James the other of Mina. Each are blow-ups of just the face, but Ruby also sees that in the photograph behind them is Bella's Restaurant in Tarrytown, New York, meaning that the photograph was taken during her visit with them in June. Ruby says, "Ack! This photo is when they were following us up in New York! They lied about me and my companion at the time, saying we were Deadeye Douglas and Mae Clark so that we would be apprehended and they could go through our stuff. George is the one who got us out of that jam." She looked at him adoringly for a moment but then turned grim again. "I could just..." She balled her fists and tried to stay calm. "James, maybe it's time we get some of the information out, once it's out, then the face that you have this information will be not as important anymore and they will leave us alone." George says, "Well, in theory that could be a good idea Ruby, but until James is ready, until we can put something concrete out there it may only force them to attack harder. Now James the Pinkertons have a pretty good reputation by and large across the company. Who ever is hiring the Pinkerons must be feeding them so very skewed information. So I think we need to interrogate our detective here while we can, see what he has been told about the Parkers. Someone will be coming after us. Even if we release what we have, they may think we have more and still come after us. We need to trace this back. And our best source right now is the Pinkerton." Sheriff Holtzburn agrees with George's suggestion and says that they should separate him from the other bring him inside for questioning. James interjects, "No, Sol was right keeping them outside. I don't want any of them knowing the inside layout of this building. Let's bring him to the barn instead." The Sheriff and some of the others take the Pinkerton to the barn, being sure to leave James and Mina in the house so that the Pinkersons will think them dead. The first fifteen minutes of questioning proves unremarkable, with the man insisting that John Wesley Hardin was their target and they only fired after he drew a weapon on Fred Webb. He claims that the client was a man in Virginia named Randall Van Osterbridge, whose son was a soldier that Hardin killed eight years earlier. Fish knows a thing or two about intimidation. He moves purposefully toward Ruby, with his back toward the prisoner. "Miss West, if this mook thinks he killed your grandmother, your threat to remove his manhood with a dull blade might sound especially convincing..." Hardin, who has tagged along for the questioning, snorts in derision. "Well you should refund that man all his money and then some, since you are either the world's worst shot or the world's biggest liar, Mr. Holt. I think the dime store novelists and newspaper men that keep coming around to pester me will be very eager to hear about you." He pauses for a second and smirks. "I can see the headlines now...'Incompetent Pinkertons with Clear Shots at John Wesley Hardin Shoot Down Old Woman'...yep...that will make for some might fine ink. Of course, we can add in the teaser that you were captured by a young girl. That will make for some mighty fine reading. Come to think of it...we have a reporter staying here with us. I am sure he could have something in the Tallahassee papers by tomorrow and pull some strings to get the wire services to pick it up. In two days, the entire country will know that Lyndon Holt is a yellow-bellied assassin that shoots down old women in cold blood and let's his self get picked off by a twig of a girl.” Fish snickers, "A pretty twig, too! She'll photograph well." Ruby frowned. "Hey I'm no twig!" She crossed her arms but secretly she was enjoying all the interrogation of this prisoner. Hardin continues, “ What do you think about THAT, Mr. Holt? Think anyone else will hire your sorry rump after that? I think I will go fetch Lawrence right now so he can get to work." A crooked grin spreads across the gun fighter's face and he starts walking out, whistling on off-key tune... George squats down by Holt. "Come now Mr. Holt. If you think that we can believ that you were here to shoot Mr. Hardin yet carried no picture of him. BUT did carry a picture of the two people you DID unlawfully shoot, well, there isn't a jury in these United States that won't send you to the gallows. Especially in the state of Florida. Of course, that assuumes that you GET to a courthouse. These folks down here take justice pretty strongly, lynch mobs are not unheard of. Do you know what happens to a man who is tarred and feathered? It is a nasty thing. The boiling tar burns and blisters the skin making it red and raw. The pain of that is doubled by the tar that is now heat seared onto the skin. It is a horrible painful experience. And that may happen to liars, before they ever even reach a courthouse." says George calmly staring the man in the eyes. George stands up. "Just don't break any bones before you are done boys" he says to Hardin and Fish as he walks out. The guy looks up and says, "Okay, don't kill me, I'll spill it. It wasn't Von Osterbridge who hired us, he's just some poor guy whose soldier-boy son you killed Hardin. He had sent a deposition to your trial, and Henry Webb wrote him a thank you letter for that. They corresponded with each other since then. Webb easily bought into the story that Van Osterbridge fell into some money and wanted revenge so was financing this. Webb had kept contract with other victim families too, so with his help we soon assembled the group. We were notified by telegram on Friday where you were. We loaded up us and our horses onto a train and got into Jacksonville late last night. I wasn't the one who met the contact here though, that was Haskins. I stayed with Webb and the boys at the hotel while he went alone to met the contact at some fancy restaurant downtown. Haskins returned from that meeting with the directions here, a diagram of the house and property so we could pick the best spot to shot from, ammunition for our two rifles and the blankets the same color as the soil. Webb probably still has that map with him. The plan was simple, and Webb didn't know anything about it, he thought we were just after Hardin. In the chaos with the gunfight with you Hardin both of the Parkers were to get shot too. Would have worked too if you hadn't turned yellow. And the Pinkerton Agency won't back us now that we failed, the two of us were officially on vacation, that was all part of the deal." Hardin's eyes go flat at the slur and he takes a long stride forward, a Lightening appearing in his hand as if by magic. Even though the pistol is a double-action, he thumbs the hammer back with exquisite care so Holt can see the cylinder rotating, the deadly black hole of the barrel a mere inch from his right eye. "I would be happy to untie you long enough to see if I have gone yellow, you gutless cur," he says in a deathly quiet voice. "You are fit to drink the piss out of my chamber pot, you..." He trails off, remembering Ruby is standing there. He doesn't glance away from Holt and the barrel remains perfectly still. "Apologies, Miss Ruby...I forgot myself for a moment. So shall I make arrangements for you to slap leather with someone who can fire back, instead of defenseless old women?" He remains motionless, unblinking, his lips a thin, angry line... Holt looks up and says, "Brave words coming from an armed man standing there surrounded by his buddies while I'm lying here wounded and helpless. That kid almost killed your lady friend, hell, he almost brought down that whole porch on top of you all. And you just stood there and let it happen. Admit it, that prison broke you, you're now as yellow as the color of the rising sun. " Fish sees Hardin's trigger finger twitch, but expected 'crack' of the .32 doesn't come. Instead, Hardin eases off the trigger and raises the barrel. The Lightening disappears back into the vest holster as Hardin spins and starts stalking out. He stops before he reaches the door and turns again. "You won't always be wounded and helpless, Holt, so you better spend the rest of your days being ready. If we see each other on the street...no matter who else is around and no matter what else is going on...I will kill you." Hardin exits the barn and finds Lawrence. "Have I got a story for you..." Fish strides after Hardin, and once they're out of earshot, he says, "Mr. Hardin! That mook is right about one thing: whoever supplied the Pinkertons with enchanted bullets probably supplied the Webbs too -- and having seen what a poor shot Fred proved makes me wonder if it wasn't Henry didn't load the boy's gun!" Sheriff Holtzbrun leaves Deputy Star, Enoch, Obie and Jasper to continue to watch the prisoners as he heads inside to confer with James, John and Lawrence. He tells them "I'm inclinded to believe that guy. Seems to me he was trying to get your ire up John. Based upon your response I can say that I no longer have any reservations about you serving as a Deputy. Well done Sir." He tells James "They think you're dead, we may want to leave it that way." James replies, "Mina and I were planning to attend the ball in town tomorrow." Holtzbrun replies, "Well, if you do, don't show up until just before or maybe even a little late, you'll all be safer in the short run if they think they succeeded. Not sure if I believe what he said about the Pinkerton's disowning him, seems too convenient, I will have to send some telegrams about that." The Sheriff tells Alan MacKinnon that he won't be charging him with the trampling death of the other Pinkerton, it was clearly self defense since he had already shot Alan once and was threatening the women. Not wanting to head off alone with a pair of prisoners the Sheriff asks both Deputy Star and Alan to accompany him back to Jacksonville with the prisoners, offering to put them both up overnight. Alan agrees and is then deputized by the Sheriff, the older man swelling with pride over the honor. Ruby congratulated Mr. MacKinnon for helping keep her and Autumn safe and commended him on his riding skills. She head inside to the bar area and slipped behind it, pondering just how drunk she needed to get to feel better about the day. She decided on whiskey and poured herself one. "Anyone else need a drink?" "I do," Abby said from the chair where she had secreted herself. "This is not exactly how I expected the day to go." Ruby poured a half glass for Abby and carried it over to her. "Not how I pictured my time down here either. Seems we will always be in danger, these men are not going to give up until they get what they want. But what they want is not here and they will never find it on their own." "No, and as soon as they figure out that others among us have access to any part of it, our lives will be in as much danger. I think I need to send a telegram to the Pinkerton main office. But I think these boys were running this on the side anyway, so it won't matter much." adds George Ruby says, "I agree that you should send the telegram, I don't think it can hurt to let them know about this conspiracy. However, it should be clear by now that no one here knows how to access the papers. Not even James or Mina know where it is. You don't even know George and it's better that way." Abby states, "Must be some hiding place. Sometimes the better something is hidden the harder people will search. I hope these men aren't like that or you might have only painted a target on your back." Ruby replies, "Perhaps. These men don't know who does or doesn't know. I find it odd though that they were willing to kill the people they think knows where it is without they themselves finding it. You know what I mean? If you kill the person who knows, then you will never find it but that doesn't mean the information can't get out. Anyway, I do think it's time for James to get some this information out. But in the end it's up to him," Ruby shrugged. James returns as they are speaking and says, "I've given that some thought. They actually don't think the information is 'out of reach'. For the last several months I have had my lawyers speaking to the Brown family Estate's lawyers regarding the potential sale of the information. They've communicated that the crate is in storage and under seal. That was a stalling tactic, but in hindsight I think I made a mistake. I guess I always accepted that they might try to kill me, but I've been asking myself the last two hours as to why they would intentionally try to kill Mina. The answer I've come to is that while she's my heir she wouldn't sell, but if we are both dead they would then have to deal with my estranged daughter instead. She knows none of this, and as long as it appears that I began this as a legal transaction there is no reason why she wouldn't just conclude it. Think about it, why wouldn't she sell them a crate of old papers for a book that I'll never write if I'm dead?" Ruby tapped her lips while she thought on the issue. "It's not acceptable for either of you to be the target like this. I would be devastated if something happened to Nana OR you. What if... what if through your contacts, through the Estate, you communicated that you sold it to a third party? Would that at least partially get them off your back? As for your daughter... that is a tricky issue." George suddenly grins. "Oh I have an idea. When we get into town, I can wire the paper back home. Give them an exclusive. George Eastman to establish history museum in Philadelphia. Eastman has been collecting historical documents from all over the country to start his new museum. Eastman's collection received a large boost by the recent acquisition of the entire collection of noted historian James Parker. That kind of story should keep them looking in Philadelphia for my papers for a while. That should at least buy us a little time to get AGELESS going in peace. What do you think James? It would keep your daughter safe for a while as well since it would transfer the danger to me since it would seem I have the papers." James says, "An excellent suggestion, let's do it. You, Mina and Ruby are acquainted with the Greek/Roman Church's Archbishop in that city, so he could help get the museum actually established. Personally, I would love to see an entire wing dedicated to the work of the Abolitionist movement. And the Archbishop is somebody with enough power, both physically and politically, that the Pinkerton Detective Agency won't mess with him. The AGELESS ship Frolic will be docking here in the next day or two, we could load some cargo for Philadelphia on it to add to the wild goose chase. I may also send Roy along with it to deliver a message to my daughter in person, she knows and trusts him." Ruby exclaims, "Wait. Wouldn't that just send them off after George instead of James then? Unless we are saying the Archbishop has charge of them, then we might be a little safer..." "Well, yes, In a way it would send them after me. But that is why it is implied in the story that all their papers are being gathered in Philadelphia. If I said New York they would ransack my house. If I say it's in Philadelphia they will search every warehouse in that city looking for papers that aren't there." says George with a smile. "But James, I wasn't intending to actually start a museum necessarily, merely to provide a false trail. Not that I am against it necessarily though. A little big of seed money would let the Archbishop begin the process, put him on the board of trustees and head caretaker for the moment." muses George. James says, "Ah, but the best way to promote a lie is to base it on truth. We'll start to lay the groundwork for an actual museum, and if in another two or three years we actually have one, all the better. But for the time being that will keep them distracted for a good long time." Ruby was hesitant. "I don't know... I'm still worried about trading one loved one's safety for another’s. But if you think this is the right thing to do and we can get the Arch Bishop involved then perhaps that will buy us some time." Ruby finished her whiskey then excused herself. Though it was early her scratches were bothering her, not so much the pain of them but the look of them. So she wished everyone a good evening and returned to her room to stay there for the remainder of the night. [/QUOTE]
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AGELESS Campaign Episode 2 - Temple of the Cat-Goddess
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