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[SingularByte]

Seeing Joe come in, Terrence gave a quick wave then turned to Liz. "Would you be able to see if Joe wants anything?"

Turning back to Mister Edwards, he then said "I suppose I'd better look at the paperwork. How about you leave it with me today and if I have any more questions after reading it, I'll let you know. After that, I can actually consider buying it."

He was considering selling it fairly quickly after buying it, but first he'd have to solve the mystery of the deaths or at least prove that they're all just coincidences. If he didn't, then potential buyers would probably be few and far between. Plus, as much as he didn't want to admit it to himself, if it did all turn out to be true, he wouldn't want it on his conscience.

[Deep Waters]

I want to shift uneasily, maybe pull my hand out of the old woman's grip, but I find myself frozen. It was like a less terrifying and more bewildering rendition of what had happened at that nightclub weeks ago, except nearly everything was in reverse- instead of a crowded room, I'm in an open street, and instead of locking eyes with a young, attractive woman across a dance floor, I'm looking at an old woman right in front of me, her eyes decidedly turned away from mine. In spite of the differences, the chill that ran down my spine when I saw that ring is the same exact feeling I had just before I saw those eyes.

I wondered, with a brief flash of insight, if this feeling was trying to tell me something, and it's this thought that keeps me bolted in place as surely as the terror that had kept me frozen before, disallowing myself simply rolling my eyes and leaving as I desperately wanted to do. After all, no one I knew had died recently, let alone someone with an 'M' in their name. Surely this was, as Annie had said, complete and utter bullshit.

Then I heard the hissing, and real fear began to creep into my mind. I could hand off the phone incident as a bad connection, maybe, but this- it wasn't the buzzing, but it was too close for comfort, and I desperately hoped that I wasn't going to go through an episode anytime soon. Or worse.

[thatkid]

+-- Robert Herriman (McClay) --+
(7460604(2),2761(0),36914(1),19(1),32737(0))

You slowly reach out your hand, grasping the handle of a butcher's knife and pulling it closer as you speak, hoping your question will distract the two men from your movements. Evidently it does, as neither have shot you yet, or even pulled a gun.
"Guy's boss got his hand on some of the...eh..." Ricky pauses, spreading his hands, "product. The stuff we were moving through you."

He pauses, and then adds: "Listen, you and me, we've been working together for a while now. I'd hate to see you get caught up in this, if you tell us anything you know, we can just walk right back outta here and go back to business as normal. How's that sound?"
Something in his voice leads you to believe he may not be entirely sincere.

+-- Michael "Angel" Raguel (Filiusenox) --+
(502615(1))
Health: /______

After a short goodbye to Duncan, you head to the gym on the second floor and get changed with little incident. It's on your way to the break room, on the other side of the floor, that something does happen, though. One of the other orderlies, whom you never learned the name of, rushes up to you. "Hey! Hey, help us out here, yeah? Clear the way, we've got some med staff coming through. Someone's blue coded."

It takes you a moment to realize what he's saying, but then you notice the room behind him: A doctor makes several notes on his clipboard, while talking to a grim, hatchet-faced man in a security uniform. Behind them, two nurses cover up what would appear to be a sleeping woman. Though you know she isn't sleeping. She's dead.

It's only after a double-take that you notice a black cat standing by the corpse, apparently unnoticed by the nurses. It would appear to be completely identical to the one you saw earlier, except for one little difference. It has no white splotch of fur anywhere on its body, and especially not on its head.

+-- Terrence Kennard (SingularByte) --+
(073088(4),44972(1))

Joe waves to you and Liz, and gives Mr.Edwards a curt nod before sauntering over to examine the painting. "Iiinteresting...you lookin' to get into the art trade, Terrence? I hear there's a gallery opening up just down the street from here on Friday..."

Mr.Edwards, for his part, ignores the police officer instead focusing on you. "The painting and the papers?" Mr.Edwards replies, and you get the feeling he's almost a little to eager to comply, "Why of course. Why don't I leave it with you till Friday, hm? You can regale visitors with stories of its haunting, even if you don't choose to buy it. And who knows, perhaps it will grow on you."
He grins, and once again you get the feeling that he's just made some sort of joke.

+-- Charlene "Charlie" Tanner (Deep Waters) --+

"Cheetah?" you hear Annie ask, her voice worried though distant and faint beneath the hissing.

Suddenly it stops. The Old Lady speaks again. "Mmm...Mary? Maurice? I am sensing..." She pauses again, and the hissing returns for only a moment before becoming a full blown mad chattering. It lasts a moment, and then it is gone. "No...it is Mary."
Another chill runs down your spine, and the chattering returns once more. Your head pounds, it feels as if it's about to split open. And then silence, save for the woman's voice. She is looking directly at you, now. "You must return to where it all began, child..."

She releases your hand, and you instinctively recoil. Annie raises both her hands, and begins to protest a reading when a young man in scrubs jogs up, a shopping bag containing a box of cat food hanging from his arm. "Luludjka! There you are. I know you don't like it, but you know I can get fired if I lose you while we're out on these trips together. Come on, now, we better get back to Hillcrest..." He doesn't seem to have even noticed Annie and yourself yet, but the Old Woman turns away from Annie to pay attention to him as he speaks, all the same.

+-- Elizabeth "Liz" Karsten (Hailfire) --+
(8(0))
You don't notice anything about Mr.Edward's mannerisms.

+-- Noemi Schor (RogueArchivist) --+

(000066144(4(6accumulated)),990926(4(5accumulated),78751(1))

For a moment, it doesn't look as if you're going to lose the men. Then, however, at the last minute you glance behind you and realize that they are gone. Perhaps you outpaced them, perhaps you lost them in a crowd, or perhaps they gave up. In any case, you are pursued no longer.
However, you also realize something else: You haven't got a clue where you are, and this area of the city seems to be rather rundown.

((Apologies, I should have stated in the last update that you were beginning an extended contested action to shake your tail, and could attempt specific actions in order to try to gain a bonus, or even just end the chase and confront them or whatever else you chose to do))

[mcclay]

Rob stares at Ricky, after a long pause he spoke slowly, as if trying to rember some, "The Dr. was one of my best comstumers, he might have pinched some of the stuff while I wasn't looking. Don't ask me how. I really hope that if he is still alive you leave him more or less that way, he payed nicely and tipped well. I would actually apperciate if you would tell me if he is still living, as I said he was one of my best costumers."

((Bluh I know I spelled something wrong. I just don't know the proper spelling for it.))

[SingularByte]

Terrence first replied to Mr. Edwards, "I was meaning just the paperwork but I guess leaving the painting here could be more convenient if I end up buying it."

He then responded to Joe, "I don't usually deal in art but I'm thinking of making an exception for this one. It is, after all, haunted. I haven't considered yet whether to put it in a gallery. It all depends on whether or not I'm even allowed. If I can, I will look into that gallery though."

[RogueArchivist]

Great. Just great. I lost them, but I also lost track of them and of where I am. This is not my day is it?

Noemi begins exploring the area she is in, keeping an eye out for anything familiar and for trouble.

[HailFire]

Chin on one hand, idly spinning the pen between the fingers of the other, Liz once again found herself adrift in her thoughts, wracking her mind for anything she knew of that could have caused the incidents Mr. Edwards described, only marginally paying attention to her surroundings, even as her gaze was drawn inexorably back towards the painting-- until hearing the unfamiliar voice next to her snapped back to reality.

"Erm, maybe it would be better that we didn't keep it on display? It seems like it would distract the customers from everything else..." She said, shaking head head clear of thoughts as she turned to the newcomer, starting slightly when she saw the police officer standing- looming, it felt- right beside her.

"_{Umm, is there--}" she paused to clear her throat, "Is there anything I can help you with, officer?" She cursed herself for not paying attention, trying to keep her voice and face straight even as the "Cops = Bad News" switch in her head tripped.

[filiusenox]

Angel was somewhat startled, and helped to the best of his abilities, before noticing the woman was already dead. He made his voice sympathetic, but he couldn't care less. From his knowledge of hospitals, when they cover up a person's head with the blanket or a sheet of something, the person usually isn't still alive.
"It seems a bit too late, for it... but what was her name?"

After hearing it, he nodded, before asking if there was anything he could do to assist.

"Well, you can help by making sure there's a clear path for the medical staff."

"Alright."

He assisted the other Orderly in clearing a path to the bed, all the while wondering why the hell they did nothing about the damn cat. But Angel didn't mention or even act like he noticed it. When he was done, and someone came for the body, he made his exit and headed towards the rec-room again, pretending to look like he cared.

[thatkid]

+-- Robert Herriman (McClay) --+
(23(0))

((that's fine, it's more the effort that I care about.))
Ricky arches an eyebrow, and then takes the ID back, pocketing it. "I don't decide who the boss says we roll, Robby, you know that. But I think you know how the Doc got some of that stuff. Huh? Think about it, we'll be back tomorrow."

He takes his paperwork, and then turns to leave. Little Mac glares at you for a moment before turning to follow him out the door.

+-- Terrence Kennard (SingularByte) --+

Mr. Edwards nods to you, ignoring your assistants comments. "Alright, then. Let's do that. I've got the paperwork all here, for you. Do you mind if I use your phone to call a taxi?"

Joe looks to Liz and speaks, but Mr.Edwards voice drowns him out.

+-- Noemi Schor (RogueArchivist) --+

You begin to prowl the neighborhood, which is mostly composed of brick buildings. Apartments, you'd guess. It's as you pass by a moving van that you notice something pinned to a door: A single rose, its leaves burnt to a black-brown.

You know what that rose means. It's a calling card. Someone in that building is going to be a corpse, and very soon.

+-- Elizabeth "Liz" Karsten (Hailfire) --+

Mr. Edwards ignores you, speaking to your boss instead. Meanwhile, Joe turns to you and smiles. He seems like a pretty harmless guy, so why are you so worried?
"Ah, well, Suzy's looking for some Sage Incense. I don't suppose you've got any of that in stock? And I suppose a book on Spirits or Ghosts or something, though I don't know why...she just picked a few up at the library last week."

+-- Michael "Angel" Raguel (Filiusenox) --+
Health: /______

You help out to the best of your ability. It's a rather simple task, and mostly involves herding away curious old folk while remaining as sympathetic as possible. You can understand why the guy asked you for help.

When all is said and done, you head out to the parking lot across the street to meet with Ms. Allen at her car. She smiles and brushes hair from her face in a futile battle against the wind. "Ah, there you are! I was just about worried you'd decided to take a train instead."

[filiusenox]

"Oh...uh, sorry, I had to help with something."

Angel smiled and gave a shrug.

"Anyway, thank you for giving me a ride home, Marissa. If there's anything, anything, I can do in return, just let me know..."

[SingularByte]

"Feel free. There's a phone next to the till. I do have one more question before I start going over the paperwork; how much were you planning on selling it to me for?"

After receiving an answer and then taking the paperwork, Terrence headed into the back room and started analyzing it for several pieces of information: The amounts the painting was sold for in the past, any reasons it can't be exorcised, his rights when it comes to transferring ownership of the painting (i.e. putting it in a gallery or selling it immediately), and also why it was first sold.

[HailFire]

'Relax. No lights or sirens or anything; he's just here to shop.' She hadn't had much practice smiling, but Liz managed a legitimate one as she headed over to the incense shelves. If there was one thing she liked to talk about, it was literature. "We should still have sage; it is a pretty popular product."

...Well, insofar as the store actually saw business, anyway.

"Oh, and spirits are over there." She said, pointing at a set of bookshelves across the room. "What field in particular is she studying? I might be able to give some recommendations... libraries tend to have a broader and deeper scope of knowledge, but you can occasionally find gems in smaller specialty stores like this one that you can't find anywhere else."

[Deep Waters]

It took some time before I could sufficiently recover my mind, let alone my composure. By then, the young man and the old lady were gone, and I had to turn my attention toward reassuring a nearly-frantic Annie of my continued health and well-being. Annie almost canceled the trip at that point, but to Annie's surprise (and mine), I found myself insisting on continuing the trip. Even now I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe I was hoping I would see the old woman again, and get some answers out of her. Or maybe I was doing my best to pretend that the whole thing never happen.

Either way, I'm starting to think that it wasn't worth it. Especially when I look at the outfits Annie is picking out for me to try at this latest in a long series of clothing stores we'd gone to. I winced at the rather... tacky assortment of clothing. Most of them had designs that looked like broken pieces of a disco ball that had been glued onto a bra by a drunken raver whose only source of light at the time was a dozen glowsticks. Actually no; that's an insult to ravers everywhere and I beg them to forgive me for ever coming up with that comparison, I deadpanned, then sighed, In any case, I wonder when the hell we're gonna get that book Aurel wanted? Goddammit, I hope Annie hasn't forgotten all about it already...

[RogueArchivist]

I think I just hit the jackpot.

Noemi begins to examine the area, trying to find a good spot to stake out the area so that she can get the drop on Niel.

I wont lose him this time.

[mcclay]

          Robert waits until he is sure the thugs are gone before he heads into the backroom. He pulls out his cell and calls Dr. Hartford.