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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Golden Bee" data-source="post: 9470381" data-attributes="member: 7041055">Death Laughs Last by Robin D Laws.“Oh my God!,” Ned cried. “You work for him, don’t you? I’ve gone straight, I swear! I never want to see those things again! Never! I kept all my promises to him! Don’t take my mind! Don’t take my mind!”In March 1935, the Big Easy was home to an impossible case. Local dilettante Addison Bright was dead, from a spear through the chest, in his own private study. As a relative to the Astors, discretion was required. The family hired Detective JP Diamond, Professor Winston Callahan, and “Steel Eagle” (Gyatso Tsering), the Tibetan spirit of Brooklyn. Yup, he’s back with a new player!)Although it started gory, the adventure had plenty of levity. JP, knowing a lead was in Baton Rouge, sent the other two in Callahan’s plane… Just so he could spend time with his girlfriend.In Baton Rouge, Callahan and Eagle investigated a waxworks. Unfortunately, only one employee was on duty, and the lonely man wanted to talk their ears off. After all that work, the lead was to a locksmith less than half a mile from their original location in New Orleans. Back to the Spectre.JP is a gentleman, even to his detriment. He was at his favorite neighborhood dive when he was approached by reporter Beatrice Piper. She seemed fascinated by his return to the city, his case… and only after lengthy conversation did he realize that he had spilled the beans, on the record. The police were absolutely furious, threatening to feed his PI license to alligators.Because the story was leaked to the press, Ava Astor, autistic prep-school snob, came to town, ready for revenge on her uncle’s killer. Just what the detective needed.Some more digging (and an autopsy) revealed that Addison had a secret identity as scourge of the criminal underworld, masked crimefighter The Penitent! The players expertly snuck into his lair, only to be rendered unconscious when they opened the canisters of his nightmare powder. It's a shame that Callahan was the designated burglar but also couldn’t keep his hands to himself, sending the entire group into a series of terrifying nightmares. They awoke to find Addison’s manservant Mr. Han and Ava standing over them. Addison had a variety of assistants supporting him. There was his on-again off-again girlfriend, Beatrice, theatrical director Brooks Belasco, a boxer… But the one the group gravitated to was Phil Roach, bush pilot. He and Callahan instantly bonded as ‘the people other people call naughty words because they’re smarter than them.’ The last piece of the puzzle was with an antiques dealer who was being hunted by a local gang. Hiram wanted to meet in public, and didn’t want to get stabbed. The players created a dragnet, leading around stalls, through alleys, constantly picking off the opposition with ”accidental” trips, carelessly thrown bricks, and falling roofing tiles. It turned out, the poison the Penitent was using on criminals slowly but surely made its way through his gas mask. He was convinced that he was his own arch-nemesis… and had tricked himself into a spear-assisted suicide.But who had sent him down this self-destructive path? It turns out Mr. Han was using Addison as a catspaw to eliminate all other crime in the city. The players found a creepy warehouse in the Bayou, a trail of blood leading in… And barred the doors. They set it on fire, funneling Mr. Han to one exit where he was beaten and arrested.Case closed, nearly. Phil Roach had been missing for a while, and his death hit the paper soon after. All that remained was his teeth, found in a burnt building. Detective Diamond found it most expedient to frame Addison’s suicide as a murder, getting Han sent to the chair for the one crime he didn’t commit. Callahan, who had proposed arson in the first place, couldn’t completely bury his feelings of despair.Although he was a Brooklyn boy at heart, Steel Eagle stayed in town a bit longer, fighting violent crime with his spin kicks and his sidearm. One crook said something to give him pause though…</blockquote>

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