Ju-Ju House / E. Carlyle - 12

[TheUdjat]

{You guys are the Juju house are getting suicidal... Murderous Africans and crackheads try to kill you yesterday (day before?) and now you want to go into a building full of them... I'll call the coroner, give them heads up to prepare a locker for each of you.}

[Hey, somebody’s got to get this plot moving. ]

---

Tommy, Jeremy, Jack-

Confronted with silent Ju-Ju House, Jackhammer and Tommy begin to feel their resolve waning. Is going into such a place truly a good idea? Many of these strange individuals have gone inside – possibly deep inside – and they are certainly not the type to shy away from trouble. All signs point to Ju-Ju House, but how to go in safely? [Idea Roll.] Thinking over the matter, Tommy realizes that there are many less than ideal circumstances in this particular situation. If it were any other case, he might advocate waiting until another night to check the place out, some quieter night. But there are two problems with this idea: first, if Samuel is within and in any real danger, tonight would be the night for something to happen to him. Second, if ever there were a chance to see what truly goes on inside Ju-Ju House, this would be the night. Quieter, safer nights with less risk are less likely to show what these people are truly about.

It is the same chance as ever – greater risk yields greater rewards. But which is the right choice?

Thinking more on the matter, Tommy realizes that this is probably not the only entrance to Ju-Ju House. The place likely has a side or rear entrance for storage or shipping, and there is a chance that such an entrance would be less closely watched – but then, this entrance doesn’t appear to be very expertly attended.

While Tommy thinks about the matter, Jeremy grows more and more anxious, more impatient. Samuel is within, he has no doubt! The door isn’t even locked. Jeremy is swift, Jeremy is quiet – if the others wouldn’t venture inside, he would. They probably wouldn’t be able to stop him. [Just let me know if you want to go in, Vemu.]

The ominously quiet Ransom Court waits for you. Will you venture within Ju-Ju House, or run from its doorstep?

---

Sam, Rebecca, Thurman, Joe-

Erica thinks very carefully about what is said. It is clear that, though she remains skeptical, she is not one to shrug and discount obvious evidence. She leans back in her chair, frowning thoughtfully – eventually she responds. “I will grant you that there is something most suspicious about your Mr. Elias’s death, and he seems to have a curious connection to the Carlyle Expedition – or at the very least, to Kenya. I cannot say I am truly convinced of this theory… But it merits investigation.”

She taps her fingers anxiously, thoughtfully. “You say that one of the Expedition’s members was seen alive. Tell me, who?”

[If you tell her it is Jack Brady, continue – otherwise skip this section.] Her eyebrows raise at the mention of Brady. “Brady? Now that is something strange, indeed.” She shakes her head. “I could never understand what my brother saw in that man, but I will give him this. If Jack Brady is truly still alive, then so is my brother. There was not much in that man’s life that he was devoted to, but Roger was among them.”

Erica chuckles softly. “Well then, Mr. Gravener, it appears you’ve given me cause to doubt my own conclusions about the Expedition. But I’m not sure what you hope to gain by meeting with me. You seem to have more of the answers than I do. What is it that I can help you with, exactly?”

[Japic]

(The question is directed at Sam, therefore his to answer. And yes, I would have mentioned the name if she wanted to know it.)

Satisfied to have made his point and at the same time uncertain what devotion this Brady fellow owed to her brother, Thurman has mixed feelings about where this conversation was going. Later he would ask about the relationship between the males, to try and better understand why she is surprised.

For now he turns his eyes to Sam to find out how he's going to ask for what they came seeking.

[VemuKhaham]

Jeremy will surely go inside, alone if he has to. His fear has reached a point where it can no longer grow further, or so it seems at the moment, and the greatest of his fears would be that Samuel was inside and something would happen to him. And with Samuel being the only reason why Jeremy had survived the streets, along perhaps with Susan, letting him slip away was out of the question.

As such, Jeremy would go in, one way or the other, unless his companions stop him with force, which probably the boxer would win. He will open the door carefully and silently to look inside, then go in, sneaking through the place, trying to find the place where all these cultists had gone to.

[Aegea]

[Sorry I've been so quiet--Sam and Thurman seem to have asked all the right questions and made good points with Erica, so I didn't want to ask/say anything too redundant]

Rebecca sits quietly, taking in all of Erica's responses. She feels slightly awkward, like perhaps her presence here wasn't absolutely needed, but she's also glad to have the chance to meet and listen to Erica Carlyle.

She is starting to wonder what else they could possibly ask the woman--she seems genuinely puzzled by the connection between Jackson's and her brother's work, and she doesn't get the impression that Erica is secretive or that she's intentionally avoiding giving any answers.

[MaestroXC]

]

[Yakumo]

"Jeremy, stop." Tommy puts a hand on the kid's shoulder, "we'll go in, but not this entrance, lets go through a side door at the very least. If we are going to be breaking and entering, might at well do it more discreetly than the front door right?" He looks the kid in the eyes if he can catch a glance, "Just like the import building, it led us here, now we're gonna get Samuel."

Tommy turns to the Boxer, "I'd put on those knuckles, once we go in, they are going to perceive us as a threat no matter what, might as well be prepared."

Tommy will go any side or back entrance, open it up and go in first, gun at the ready, this was no joke and he needed the great equalizer if things went south. "Remember, they probably aren't going to call the cops to take care of us if they can do it themselves, so self-preservation is the word of this break-in. Be very careful."

[MaestroXC]

theudjat said:

She taps her fingers anxiously, thoughtfully. “You say that one of the Expedition’s members was seen alive. Tell me, who?”

[If you tell her it is Jack Brady, continue – otherwise skip this section.] Her eyebrows raise at the mention of Brady. “Brady? Now that is something strange, indeed.” She shakes her head. “I could never understand what my brother saw in that man, but I will give him this. If Jack Brady is truly still alive, then so is my brother. There was not much in that man’s life that he was devoted to, but Roger was among them.”

Erica chuckles softly. “Well then, Mr. Gravener, it appears you’ve given me cause to doubt my own conclusions about the Expedition. But I’m not sure what you hope to gain by meeting with me. You seem to have more of the answers than I do. What is it that I can help you with, exactly?”

"It was Mr. Brady who was reportedly seen, Miss Carlyle, and quite far from the site of the expedition's disappearance."

Sam nods, surprised to hear of Brady's devotion to Roger Carlyle, and the curious connection between the two.

"I'm very pleased that you're willing to reconsider, Miss Carlyle. Such flexibility is the gift of a most disciplined mind. Principally, we would like to inquire into the purpose of your brother's expedition to Africa, and of the side-trip to Kenya. There were many wild rumors about their movements, as you know, and I'm sure many were far from the mark. But as this is an unusual situation, it cannot hurt to examine the matter with a bit more rigor. Did your brother have any new interests in the months beforehand, some new research or project he had that somehow drew him to Africa? Also, we would be most interested in your own account of your voyage to Africa and the investigation you undertook once there. Since I have never been there, madam," Sam smiles in good humor, which quickly becomes somber again "I would place a great deal of weight on your impressions of the natives you worked with, and your account of the discovery of the party's native bearers. It seems that they, and the land where they were found, were in a very strange state."

After she replies, Sam hesitates, a little uncomfortable with what he has to ask next.

"Elias' notes also seemed to indicated that your brother was undergoing psychoanalysis, and analysis of his dreams. They seemed important, but I do not know how. He also noted that some records, possibly of these dreams or of his original research, could be found in his safe. Presumably you now possess these writings, and we were curious if you had read and examined them yourself." Sam pauses a bit, uncertain as to how to describe Elias' last frantic communiques. "Mr. Elias' notes place a great deal of weight on these records, but why I do not know."