Ju-Ju House - 02

[TheUdjat]

[Elias’s funeral will be held Sunday (tomorrow). Anyone who would like to attend can be there.]

---

If anyone takes the time to look into the name ‘Samuel van Dyke’, they are disappointed with what they find. Some general references to a few Samuel van Dykes can be located, but nothing specific, and certainly not enough to operate on. [The 1920’s were not known for their documentation of individuals.] It seems the man will remain a mystery, unless he can be found.

Heading to Ju-Ju House’s address takes your group all the way to Harlem. There, a dingy alley branches off from 137th street, east of Lenox Avenue, with a sign reading ‘Ransom Ct’ only barely visible. The short alley opens into a 20-foot-square court, most of it surrounded by crumbling tenements and the backs of a few stores. In fact, only two doors actually open into the court that seem to for shops, and one of those is boarded up, clearly abandoned. The other reads ‘Ju-Ju House’ in simple, plain, worn letters.

Ju-Ju House is small as shops go, and has a glass shop window facing the court, filled with pieces of African art and miscellaneous artifacts. Behind the display case, the window is curtained, offering no view of the shop’s interior. [Anthropology/Archeology checks for our resident academics.] Rebecca and Thurman both realize that unlike many bric-a-brac stores, this one stocks genuine articles.

The rest of the court is fairly empty for a Saturday morning. Any passersby seem to keep well clear of Ju-Ju House, whether by incidence or design. One woman watches from a window of one tenement, drawing her curtains closed as soon as she is noticed.

[Go inside, elsewhere?]

[VemuKhaham]

Jeremy walks along, looking here and there, but when they arrive at the square with Ju-Ju's, Jeremy keeps his eyes fixed on the window, as though drawn inside. Indeed, Jeremy tried to see if there was a narrow opening through the curtains through which he could see, you know, if Samuel was inside. He paid no heed to the woman in the other window, but waited for the others to make a move. Finally, he poses a question which had been playing in his mind ever since he saw pistols before they went here. "Will there be shooting again? You know, I will fight too, you know. If there is shooting, I will fight."

[Aegea]

[Rebecca will definitely attend Elias' funeral the next day--she considered him a friend and colleague, after all]

Rebecca doesn't like the look of the place, or of the street itself. Something about it bothers her--the woman that she glimpses hurriedly closing the curtains only adds to the feeling of unease. She is, however, slightly enthralled with the artifacts she manages to glimpse--it's a rare occurrence that she sees objects like this outside of a museum, or outside of a picture in a textbook.

She is glad she brought her gun, despite her fervent hope that she never has to use it again. In response to Jeremy's question, she murmurs, "Shooting...I hope not."

[Toptomcat]

The boxer looks at the young boy in surprise. He may be slow, but he seems to have a great deal of courage- and he still can't get over the way that he moves. He speaks slowly.
"You'd better stay out of the way, Jeremy. I'm not sure how much you could really do.
But...I'd like to teach you how. You've got guts just for making that offer...and it's never too early to learn to box. Do you think you would be up for a lesson or two?"

[MaestroXC]

"Hmm." Sam certainly wasn't expecting something so out of the way as this small shop. "If we go in there, asking about Jackson or Silas N'Kwame, they're sure to remember us. I'd like to keep a low profile a bit longer; it's the only real advantage we have if we're to find Jackson's killers and get to the bottom of this. Rebecca, Dr. Osgood; you say this place sounds legitimate? Can you think of any scholarly interest you may have in such a place? No doubt this is a place that is only visited by those who already have a very specific interest in...indigenous artifacts.

This place makes me uneasy, frankly. The amount of money that goes through this run down place is very, very strange."

[VemuKhaham]

Jeremy continues to stare at the window, but he does hear the others speak. "Okay," was all he said, somewhat absent-mindedly, in answer to the big fighter's proposal. Whether he even knew what boxing was, was quite unclear. "Yeah, no shooting, hope not."

[Japic]

Nodding thoughtfully Thurman replies to Sams questions. "Yes, I believe that there could be much interest for those of us in the field, even if merely perusing the curiosities. We should go in looking for a specific sort of item, something they probably won't have; after that we can be free to see what else they've got. Also, I don't recommend using our real names, just incase this comes back to haunt us."

"I think that Egyptian organ urns would be of interest, and perhaps something they don't have. That's my story."

He plans to give the name of Jonas Smythe, a cruel clerk he'd met in London. It wouldn't do to give a good friend's name and have killers go track them down. He'll play up his usually repressed London accent, knowing that it would be that much more convincing. It's not hard to pick up such talk when he'd spent a good majority of his life there.

{Keeper, is this kind of place listed in phone books and the like? I want to have a ready made excuse if they ask how we came to find their shop.}

[TheUdjat]

japic said:

{Keeper, is this kind of place listed in phone books and the like? I want to have a ready made excuse if they ask how we came to find their shop.}

[Telephones go through operators these days, but there is probably some place it is listed as a business, albeit difficult to find. It's more likely the sort of place that is heard of by word of mouth. It really doesn't look like the sort of place that should have authentic artifacts, but it does.

And to be clear, when I say 'African Artifacts', I'm specifically referring to tribal African articles. There is no Egyptian paraphernelia in the window (although this would certainly make such things a definite object they won't have, making your cover work).

So, just to make sure, Rebecca and Thurman are going inside, the rest of you waiting outside? Let me know if you'd like to do anything while outside, or if others are also going within.]

[Japic]

theudjat said:

And to be clear, when I say 'African Artifacts', I'm specifically referring to tribal African articles. There is no Egyptian paraphernelia in the window (although this would certainly make such things a definite object they won't have, making your cover work).

(in character reasoning) I heard they have artifacts, I hadn't been informed they were so specific to African colonies. Pitty, we'd better have a look around anyhow. Maybe we'll find something else of interest.

[MaestroXC]

Sam shakes his head. "Sounds plausible enough to me; perhaps you'll be able to glean how knowledgeable they are. I think I'll wait outside if you don't mind; if they ask I suppose I can be your American friend you dragged here against his will." Sam flashes a quick grin. "I don't suppose it's a spot that many tourists come here to see."