London Fog - 09

[TheUdjat]

[Not sure where Maestro’s disappeared to. Hopefully he’ll return, otherwise we’re down to 4. I know Aegea’s been reading, though a post even to the effect of Japic’s would be nice.]

---

Tommy, Gray-

When Tommy detects something strange in Tewfik’s voice, he begins to look around the store more carefully, trying to pick out anything unusual. Based on the dimensions of the store from outside, he can only deduce that the storage room seems normally sized—even if it is storing spices, largely—and there is nothing that jumps out at him in the rest of the store. But then, there is the flat above, and it occurs to Tommy that if there were anything hidden, it would probably be in the area inaccessible to visitors.

Grey wraps up his conversation, having little else he can say to prolong the conversation. It would seem Tewfik has little desire to speak on the Egyptian Murders. Grey makes one last attempt on his way out.

"Forgive me for my genuine curiosity. You see, I've been to Egypt, several times, doing extensive traveling for military and scientific purposes, developing a bond with the local peoples and cultures, and now I have a house in Mombasa, Kenya. These days, I come to London only very irregularly, hence my curiosity for such a strange series of Egyptian murders taking place here. I hope I have not offended you, sir."

At this, Tewfik gives him a long, curious stare, as if mildly interested in something the Colonel has said—but the moment passes. Tewfik shakes his head, smiling genially. “I am not offended,” he assures Grey. “These are strange times we live in, with strange things happening. It is understandable that it makes one curious, especially if you have been out of town, as you say.” But even this is clearly a dismissal, and the spice dealer gives Grey a friendly nod before turning his attention to the next customer.

---

Everyone-

In moments, Tommy and Grey are both back outside with the others, far enough from Tewfik’s shop to discuss their various findings in confidence. [Please, discuss.]




List of clues

[VemuKhaham]

Leaving the shop, Gray is a bit disgruntled at merely having obtained some ginger and cinamon, despite his best effort. But surely, he kept his chin up when returning to the others, though his eyes betrayed his failure. "I am sorry, my friends. If mr. Al-Sayed knows anything at all, he has not spoken to me about it but in the most general terms possible. Nor would he open up when I mentioned my Egyptian expeditions, as I would've expected from a man obviously associated with the Penhew Foundation. When I had obtained what I came for," Gray showed them briefly his bagged spices, "I had played all my cards, to no avail. All that notwithstanding, mr. Al-Sayed appeared to me a decent, honest man, respectable as his reputation suggested. I do not think we need to bother him further."

[Yakumo]

Tommy comes out of the shop with a look of determination, after the Colonel says his piece Tommy adds, very as a matter of fact-ly, "He's one of them." Waiting for the initial shock to wear off, "Alright well if he's not one of them, he's at least hiding something. Maybe I'm being a little paranoid, but I still say he is one of the killers, especially if it is a cult. He was far too collected in my opinion, I know that in the states if there were years of killings of specifically colored people in New York, you can be shit sure that every colored person you talk to would be a lot more grave and worried than Tewfik was about the Egyptian killings. The way he was talking was like he never even considered the possibility of being targeted."

Tommy grabs a cigarette and crumbles the pack, "Last one", he thinks and begins to puff on it waiting for the rest of the group to take their turns at speech.

[VemuKhaham]

Gray indeed is shocked by Tommy's sudden accusations, indeed somewhat offended by his brashness. He frowned deeply, immediately repudiating Tommy's words: "Mr. Cannon, while I respect your experience in such matters, you are jumping to conclusions about mr. Al-Sayed of which he is not deserving. There can be a hundred reasons for him not to be afraid, as he indeed said. First off, he gave good reasons for not being afraid, as he claimed never to have upset someone. Second, he is of higher social standing than I would presume most of the other victims will be, though we should learn more about that. Third, why would anyone with such a reputation have a motive to kill his own fellow Egyptians? No, mr. Cannon, you are jumping to rash conclusions. We cannot suspect every Egyptian who says he is not afraid of being killed to be one of the killers."

[Japic]

"Unfortunately," Thurman begins, "ether circumstance could be correct. Which one is true is yet to be determined, though if Tommy's sure that he knows something, then we need to find a way to talk with him again. Perhaps simewhere more private, when he's not tending to a shop full of customers."

Looking at the pair offering opinions, he continues, "For all we know he may just be unwilling to duiscuss such delicate matters with his clientel lest they cease patronizing the business. Surely he could not have become such a reknown businessman were he uncouth."

"Rather than making too many assumptions based on what we do not yet know, I think we should try to focus on what we do know. That man knows something, we only need the correct circumstances and leverage to pry it from him. Let us work toward a solution gentlemen."

[Yakumo]

"I'm just saying, it's a bit too odd." Tommy says, "And as for your first two points as to why Mr. Tewfik can't be among the guilty party Let me point out that the police have found no connection between the murder victims in anything but how they were killed and their ethnicity. So I imagine none of them upset anyone either. And for the third, Why does anyone kill anyone. Money, Land, Women, Religion," he puts extra emphasis on the last one. "Not to offend you Colonel, you have been more than hospitable to us. But, for someone who has served in the military and has dealt with natives in expedition, you seem awfully naive of the evil capabilities of men. Perhaps it is just because you haven't seen what we have in New York."

Tommy drags out the last of his cigarettes and puts it out with a frown, " But you are right, it is rash of me to say such things. Who knows who could be listening. As for speaking with him again about the murders? I don't think it is possible without him suspecting us of investigating rather than having a passing interest. In spite of myself, I'd like to reiterate that we don't want others to know what we are looking into, I'd much prefer to find the cult before they find us."

"So, any ideas where we could start other than Mr. Gavigan? Do we want to check out the Blue Pyramid?"

[VemuKhaham]

Obviously unable to get on one line with the private investigator in their midst, Gray decides to listen to Thurman. "I say we should investigate the Blue Pyramid, yes, though I am little of a mind to visit such a place."

[Yakumo]

(OOC: I don't mean to upset you guys if I do. I'm just starting to develop this character, you don't have to listen to what he says just because he is a PI. Keep in mind, he is a Broke PI, whether due to less then reputable connections or due to being bad at his job you don't really know. Right now Tommy is at a level of high suspicion, highly accusatory, a little paranoid and a Jerk. I figure one or two more encounters with Mythos might put Tommy into a right mess of a person.)

[VemuKhaham]

[I noticed, Yakumo. Ever since the beginning I thought Gray and Tommy might not be the most obvious friends, but you've been doing good on the paranoid part. Gray hasn't seen the things you saw, especially with the sacrifice. It's nice to see how this plays out. And I never get upset over character confrontation. Instead, those are the good bits of roleplaying, very often. Hell, I never seem to be able to avoid character confrontations, despite how cute all my characters are. ]

[Yakumo]

(OOC: That's good because I foresee a large amount of breaking and entering and theft in Tommy's future. I doubt the Colonel or the academics will want to be involved so I might have to do some of it without permission and help. If only we had another borderline criminal investigator.)

[Aegea]

Rebecca listens tensely to the two differing, strong opinions of Tommy and Colonel Gray. Although she had observed that the shopkeeper seemed a bit more cavalier about the murders than she would have been in his place, she didn't get a strong sense that he was outright lying, either."I'm not sure how much we could glean from him just by talking to him," she says to the group. "He seemed pretty final in his dismissal of us. It seems to me like even if we don't stay at this Blue Pyramid for too long, we can at least ask a few people their opinions of the murders and get a general feel for their reactions.

"If ALL of them act the way that Tewfik did...then I'd say something quite strange is going on and that a large number of people are trying to cover something up. "

[TheUdjat]

[VemuKhaham]

confirm.

[Yakumo]

sounds good.

[Japic]

Make it three.

I'd like to followup with Penhew foundation still, but I'm not sure exactly what we'd discuss, since we are sidetracked to this lesser goal. Or are they perhaps tied together? Gray and I should send a messaage to the Foundation (when it's appropriate) asking for a meeting with the contact.

[VemuKhaham]

True, but I believe it is either Saturday or Sunday and the foundation can't be contacted until Monday. As for any links between this and that lead, we can't be sure, as we're not sure if any of these Egyptian murders are truly related to Elias' investigation, though Elias thought they were. The Penhew Foundation at any rate would be able to help us with our investigation, especially Gavigan, I believe. And now with Tewfiq, who is associated with the Penhew Foundation and, if we should believe Tommy, also involved in the murders, that would confirm a relation, or at least make one very likely. That's I think how the two are related.

[Yakumo]

(OOC: Do we know if Gavigan has ever gone on any expeditions to egypt with Tewfiq, or been sponsored by him? I have a feeling Tommy is going to start making a large conspiracy soon, especially if he knows those two have any sort of relation. In his head relationship with Tewfiq might = in Murderous Cult!)

[TheUdjat]

[Looks like all are in favor of the Blue Pyramid, so I'll go with that.]

Jul 2, 2008 11:48:34 GMT -5 Yakumo said:

(OOC: Do we know if Gavigan has ever gone on any expeditions to egypt with Tewfiq, or been sponsored by him? I have a feeling Tommy is going to start making a large conspiracy soon, especially if he knows those two have any sort of relation. In his head relationship with Tewfiq might = in Murderous Cult!)

[You don't know if Gavigan and Tewfik have worked together, or indeed if they even know of each other--only that Tewfik has worked with the Foundation on previous expeditions. Vemu is correct in that it is Saturday (approaching evening), and the Penhew Foundation won't be open for business until Monday.]