Police Interrogation

<> Demiurge says "Okay. Kate-Lynn was planning to hit Victoria Police Station at 9pm, after they'd had supper."

<> Demiurge says "Shall we skip supper and go straight to the police?"

<> Raquel says "During supper, we work on getting the basics of our story straight? With or without zombis?"

<> Kate-Lynn says, "Kate-Lynn is planning to be open about the zombis."

<> Demiurge says "Okay. (Though you may not have definitely agreed on everything.)"

<> Kate-Lynn says "Kate-Lynn, see, feels that the cops will assume that she has been really deceived, as long as she's consistent about what she saw. :)"

<> Kate-Lynn says "As opposed to lying, if she gets inconsistent."

<> Demiurge nods. Is assuming all five of you go along.

<> Kate-Lynn says "So the only thing she was going to conceal was the ring, and that by omission."

The limo driver helpfully drives to the police station, wisely staying within the speed limits.

Once through the heavy doors, a helpful sergeant-type (after some odd looks) leads them to a halfway-comfortable room, with battered armchairs and a small table.

Two men are waiting in the room, both in uniform. One looks brisk, businesslike, sensible. The other, a pace or two back, is a touch unshaven, cynical, and smells of cigarette smoke.

Raquel trails behind Kate-Lynn or Justin, whichever seems more protective...

Justin is behind Kate-Lynn and will cheerfully shadow Raquel.

Kate-Lynn says, "Good evening, gentlemen."

The smart-looking man leans forward and puts a tape recorder on the table, turning it on. He says, "Good evening, Ms Costello, ladies, gentleman. My name's Inspector Henderson. I'd like to ask you a few questions."

Raquel seeks out an armchair. Preferably one near the back of the room.

Justin gives the Inspecter a slightly wary nod, unused to such... politeness; but glances at Kate-Lynn. Man, money is a good thing.

The other man itemises the five of you, eyes flicking from face to face. He looks thoroughly bored.

The Inspector says, "If I might have your names?"

Inspector Henderson looks at the others in a pleasant way. "Oh, and this is Detective Constable Fairfax."

<> Demiurge says "Justin, Gabriel, gimme Int rolls with some minor bonus due to background."

Kate-Lynn pulls herself up onto the table and sits tailor-style. "My name is Kate-Lynn Costello, Inspector, Detective Constable."

Carlotta mutters, "Carlotta Inez Maria Alvarez Santiago de Gama."

Fairfax just nods.

Inspector Henderson blinks at Kate-Lynn for a moment.

<> Justin rolls the d666 and gets 2 1 CHECK: 4.

Justin blinks mildly at Carlotta's long string of a name...

DC Fairfax says, "On the chair." His voice turns sarcastic, "I'm sure you have those where you come from."

Kate-Lynn says, "What, London?"

Justin's look narrows just a touch with the sarcastic tone.

<> Demiurge says "Justin, as a veteran of encounters with the police, you can spot the good cop / bad cop routine a mile off."

<> Justin grins. "Coolness."

<> Gabriel rolls the d666 and gets 1 4 CHECK: 1.

<> Demiurge says "Gabriel, you've had enough encounters with police to recognise it too."

DC Fairfax says, "Oh, I can see we've got a bright one here. I said //on the chair// honey. In case the uniforms hadn't clued you in, this is a police station." He glances at his companion, mouths a couple of words.

Inspector Henderson looks to Justin, Raquel, and Gabriel, his polite gaze moving over them smoothly.

Kate-Lynn says, "Perhaps things would work best if you simply asked questions before proceeding with dominance games. Although I can certainly find a chair if this bothers you."

Justin murmurs in Raquel's near ear, "That Fairfax is tryin' ta rile us..."

Justin gives a very bland look back to Henderson.

Raquel blinks at Justin and then nods. She keeps her hands clasped in her lap, but less white-knuckled than they'd been going.

Gabriel just keeps a bland poker-face.

Inspector Henderson gives a very faint nod back to Fairfax, as though the latter had won some point of argument. He then turns back. "Very well. Mr Campbell, Ms Azure, and Mr Knight, I take it? We would like to discuss the afternoon's events."

DC Fairfax lounges back against the window frame, just watching suspiciously.

Raquel nods at her name, a touch jerkily.

Justin nods at the implied question.

Inspector Henderson says, "Perhaps you would like to start, Ms Costello. Would you describe the afternoon's events to us?"

Kate-Lynn starts to smile, and then loses her smile as she thinks about the afternoon's events on a non-superficial level.

Kate-Lynn says, "I assume you have already seen the letters or other invitations we received?"

Gabriel continues to look bland.

Henderson says, "I'm afraid not. Could you please show us them?"

Raquel fishes in her purse for her letter.

Kate-Lynn says, "I never actually saw mine. My antisecretary -- the man who passed along your message -- read it to me over the phone."

Inspector Henderson says, "Splendid. Perhaps you'd read yours aloud, Ms Azure, and the others can mention if their own letters were different, to their recollection?"

Raquel reads it aloud, a bit quietly, substituting "his signature" for "(illegible scribble)"

Henderson nods, as the tape recorder quietly churns away.

Henderson says, "Did you all receive a letter similar to this?"

Raquel puts the letter away and makes like a little clam.

Justin nods at the question.

DC Fairfax glowers, from the corner, turning a biro between his broad fingers.

Kate-Lynn says, "That fits my memory, yah."

Gabriel makes an almost inperceptable shrug.

DC Fairfax comments, "Must have been a great blow, losing such a /close/ family member."

Justin lightly strokes one of Raquel's shoulders, just stands a bit closer to her back and glares thoughtfully at the Fairfax glower.

Raquel leans into Justin a bit, almost unconsciously.

Kate-Lynn shrugs. "In fact, I had never heard of him, but . . . well, he was dead. I thought it wouldn't hurt to show him the respect of at least turning up."

Henderson says, "Please answer aloud for the record, gentlemen. Did you both receive such a letter?"

Carlotta mutters, "Si."

Gabriel says "Sure."

Henderson says, "Would one of you please now describe the events in the Regency Hotel, from the moment you entered till the moment that you left."

Gabriel says "Sure, I will."

Kate-Lynn glances to Gabriel, then nods.

Henderson looks politely to Gabriel. "Please go on, Mr Knight."

Gabriel says blandly, "I went there from my hotel, as per the letter. I arrived, and was offered cookies. Those you see here were present. A man was going to read a will. Before he started, he was shot through the window by a sniper. At that moment we were attacked by something that can loosely be called undead. Because they were already dead, I didn't have any moral qualms killing them. I pulled a sword," he pulls it out of his coat (which must be FF8-ish and holds large long things) "off the wall and killed two of them. Afterwards, the man's briefcase was collected and we left. And I didn't have a cookie."

Kate-Lynn moues.

Henderson says, "Thank you, sir. I'm afraid we're going to have to confiscate that sword as evidence."

Gabriel hands the sword over.

Henderson takes it, in a way that makes both Gabriel and Kate-Lynn twitch - the man clearly has *no* idea of how to handle a sword.

Gabriel shows the man how to handle the sword.

<> Kate-Lynn says "Darn it, Gabriel, now we'll never leave the station alive."

<> Kate-Lynn giggles :)

<> Gabriel says "When in doubt, tell the absolute truth."

Henderson says, once he's managed to deposit the sword in a corner, "And what happened to the man's briefcase, Mr Knight?"

Gabriel says "I honestly don't know. After some minor misadventure, I wandered off to have lunch with a collegue."

DC Fairfax, deadpan, makes a couple of notes.

Raquel glances in Carlotta's direction, from under lowered lids.

Henderson says, "Please be more precise, Mr Knight. Who took the briefcase?"

Carlotta appears to be grinding her teeth, or chewing on her lip, or some other similar expression.

Kate-Lynn says, politely, "We took it, on the principle that it might be better to know why these things were happening for our safety."

Gabriel says, "Like I said, I'm not sure. I saw these lovely ladies..." he gestures, "with it."

Henderson says, "And what did you do with it, Ms Costello?"

Kate-Lynn says, "Carried it around in my car for most of the day. It's there now, assuming that nothing untoward has happened."

Kate-Lynn says, "And opened it, of course."

Kate-Lynn says, "Closing it again before carrying it."

Henderson nods. "Now, going back to the murder. Were you all present in the room?"

Raquel nods quietly.

Kate-Lynn says, "Yes."

Gabriel says "Sure. But you might want to ask the sniper -- I'm sure he'll have better answers for you."

Henderson says, "I'm afraid we must find the sniper first, sir." He glances to Justin and Carlotta. "Were you also present?"

Carlotta mutters, again, "Si."

DC Fairfax stabs a finger in Gabriel's direction, and says simply, "Watch that lip, son."

Raquel digs out the photocopy of the phone-number the sniper gave her. Quietly. And passes it up to the table.

Justin nods about the presence and just eyes Fairfax some more.

Henderson turns to Raquel. "What is that phone number, Ms Azure?"

Raquel murmurs, "The sniper. He called."

<> Kate-Lynn says "He was a very talkative assassin. Under other circumstances, we might have been quite charmed."

Henderson picks up the paper. He recites the number, then says, "Thank you very much, Ms Azure. We'll look into this."

Henderson says, "Would you please tell us what this sniper said on the phone."

Raquel says, "He asked where the bullet wound was, on Mr Guerson. He called it a 9. He called me sweetheart and complimented my appearance. He said that he wanted something from us, but would not say what. He said we should call him. He was sniffling and giggled strangely at the end of it."

Raquel then goes very quiet again.

Henderson says, "Do you think the victim knew the killer, Ms Azure?"

Raquel nods. Then she adds, "And he said to watch out for the zombies."

Henderson nods. "How do you know that the victim knew the killer, Ms Azure? And did you know anything about either yourself?"

DC Fairfax rolls his eyes, but doesn't take them from the assembled interrogatees for long.

<> Gabriel says "See? Undead."

Raquel says "The assassin called Mr Guerson 'Jerry.' It seemed a familiar nickname. He seemed to know more about what Mr Guerson intended to say at the will-reading than we did. I'd never known anything about either before then."

Henderson nods. He looks to the others. "Did any of the rest of you converse with the killer?"

Gabriel says "Nope."

Raquel shakes her head silently.

Raquel murmurs, "He called on Mr Guerson's cellphone."

Carlotta says, "No, Dios be thanked."

Henderson nods, and looks around amiably. "Now, please tell me about the zombies."

DC Fairfax shifts his weight, the faintest smirk hovering on his lip.

Kate-Lynn says, "After Jerome died, a number of men who appeared in every way quite dead broke into the room."

Henderson says, "Why did they do that?"

Kate-Lynn says, "We defended ourselves; Justin and Gabriel did much of this."

Kate-Lynn says, "If it was an excellent make-up job, then I assume the intent was to cause panic. If --" She shrugs. "I have no satisfactory hypothesis. If they were on remote control of some sort, then the same applies. I incline to think they were genuinely dead; they kept moving after . . . well, they should not have."

Raquel nods, swallowing.

Henderson leans forward slightly. "Are you saying that you murdered these people?"

Raquel shakes her head.

DC Fairfax glances at his colleague, very little expression on his face.

Henderson says, "Mr Campbell? Mr Knight?"

Gabriel says "We might have sliced them up a bit. But like I said, they were rather dead already at the time."

Kate-Lynn says, "We murdered no one. It is conceivable that we defended ourselves a bit too hard against men attempting to provoke panic as well as to cause harm."

DC Fairfax steps forwards and lays his palms down on the table, with a loud slap.

Kate-Lynn says, "As Gabriel says, though." She frowns.

Raquel winces.

Kate-Lynn says, "I expect to have nightmares for some time," despite Fairfax's uncomfortable proximity.

DC Fairfax says "Can I remind you that you are here as part of a murder enquiry. A man died. You were there in the room. Until we have some -satisfactory- answers you'll be getting to know this room well. You'll know every inch. Every corner, every nook, every cranny. So I hope you people didn't have any urgent appointments for the next day or so." He squares his jaw.

Gabriel says "I can make up stuff, if you'd like."

Justin grins at Gabriel.

DC Fairfax shrugs, "Just talk, son. If it's crap, then you'll just get to stay here for longer whilst we go through it. Then there might be charges with wasting police time."

Kate-Lynn says, "Unless you are very very certain, in the bones of your soul, that I have done something wrong, do not threaten me, Detective Constable."

Justin says "And you, mon, called *us* in here."

Justin says "If you're wastein' time, it's ours and yours."

Henderson says, "Ladies and gentlemen. You were the last person seen living with a man who was found murdered. You have not yet given a good explanation of why you were there, or why you looted his belongings and vanished."

DC Fairfax smiles at Kate-Lynn, it's not a particularly pleasant smile. "24 hrs is how long we can hold you for questionning without further evidence."

Kate-Lynn unfolds herself into a standing position, one of her feet by Detective Constable Fairfax's hands.

Kate-Lynn says, politely, "You are incorrect."

Gabriel says "Hold us overnight? How kind of you. Why, I haven't been anally raped in some time. Weeks, even."

Henderson says, "This station is in England, madam. You're under British law."

Kate-Lynn says, "I have come in voluntarily to answer your questions; in turn, you will adhere to the standards of civilized behavior."

Henderson says, equably, "I do hope so, miss. Now please be careful of your feet, or you'll risk assaulting a police officer in the performance of his duties."

Raquel coughs quietly.

Kate-Lynn says, "Incidentally, I was born here."

Henderson says, "I know, Ms Costello."

DC Fairfax says, "Very nice. Now take a fucking seat whilst I explain the facts of life. Assuming your inbred little rich-kid mind is capable of some degree of understanding. You are suspects in a murder enquiry. We have NOT yet, by God, had our questions answered in a satisfactory manner. We are well within our rights, under the circumstances, to hold you for the full 24 hours. You'll get your phone call, if you want it. You're not under arrest."

DC Fairfax steps back from the table, folding his arms, and just nods to Henderson to continue

Raquel coughs again. Quietly.

Henderson looks to Raquel. "Yes, Ms Azure?"

Raquel says, with that soft voice that one has to strain just a touch to hear -- and thus pay attention to... "There is a simple way to verify whether there were... previously dead, animate beings there. In the fight, undoubtedly some of the... matter would still be on the shoes of those who fought closely with them. Mr. Knight and Justin, in particular. You could determine the decomposition of the matter. There should, furthermore, at least be some traces in the carpet, even if somehow the three zombie-corpses were removed. And in the carpet outside the room, and probably upon the stairs as well, depending on how they got to that room."

Kate-Lynn hops down.

Henderson nods. "In that case, we should be able to establish that by taking the shoes temporarily for forensic study. Thank you, Ms Azure." He sounds a little calmer.

Henderson says, "Now. When you had taken the briefcase, what did you do with it?"

Raquel nods. She slips her own shoes off and sets them to one side.

Kate-Lynn says, politely, "We opened it. Inside were a number of papers and miscellaneous oddments."

Henderson says, "May I see it, please?"

DC Fairfax sighs through his nose. "Yeah, OK. Let's get the shoes. I'll get someeno to take them down to the lab and analyse for blood and stuff."

Raquel picks up her shoes and offers them to DC Fairfax, with calm, rather sad eyes.

Henderson says, "Have them bring up some plimsolls or something for these people to wear back home, will you, Fairfax?"

The DC nods brusquely and sticks his head through the outer door briefly, talking to someoen outside.

Kate-Lynn looks mournfully at her shoes, and then yanks her feet out of them.

<> Raquel pats Kate-Lynn. You can buy another pair later.

Henderson says, "You'll get them back, Ms Costello. We just need them for forensic testing."

<> Raquel bets that what we get back are pieces. Heh.

Carlotta sighs, and removes her own shoes, setting down the heels with a touch of venom.

Kate-Lynn says, "I understand, Inspector Henderson. I simply like shoes." She thinks. "They help me move fast. I enjoy moving fast."

Kate-Lynn says, "I suppose that's probably irrelevant to the case."

Kate-Lynn says "Still, it is interesting information!"

Henderson says, "Well, we don't know that yet, do we, Ms Costello? Now may I see the case, please?"

Shoes are duly collected, placed into plastic specimen bags, and passed out through the door.

Kate-Lynn offers him the briefcase.

Henderson takes it, and opens it. He begins to sort through the contents, listing them aloud for the tape recorder.

Kate-Lynn looks at her shoes, feeling certain that they are not the motive for the sniper.

Henderson says, "I'm afraid this will have to be taken as evidence."

Kate-Lynn says, politely, "I expected it would be."

Gabriel says "So what do we walk around in? Our socks?"

Henderson says, "And what did you do, after leaving the hotel, before coming here?"

At that point, a junior-looking policewoman comes back in with a bag of slightly scruffy-looking trainers, which she puts down by the door before exiting.

Raquel lets Kate-Lynn do the talking. Her explanations sound better.

Henderson looks to Gabriel. "What did *you* do, Mr Knight?"

Kate-Lynn starts to speak, then stops as Henderson asks Gabriel a question.

Gabriel says "What?"

Henderson repeats, blandly, "What did *you* do, Mr Knight?"

Gabriel says "Do what?"

Kate-Lynn glances at Gabriel.

Henderson says, a third time, "What did you do after leaving the hotel and before coming here, Mr Knight?"

Kate-Lynn says, "We drove around for a while. Then we went to the train station."

Gabriel says "I told you. I went to the will reading. I killed some undead. I was denied cookies. And maybe I ran down a few old ladies, stole from the till, and ate some kittens. Live."

Kate-Lynn says, "At the train station, we used the key from Mr. Guerson's briefcase to open a locker. This contained a briefcase. This contained, um, papers, and a dictionary, and the Hunchback of Notre Dame." After a moment, "That would be the book, not the hunchback himself."

Henderson glances at Fairfax a moment, then nods to Gabriel, and turns to Kate-Lynn. "May we see this briefcase, please."

Kate-Lynn passes it over, minus anything we decided we really had to keep, which may have included the map.

<> Kate-Lynn says "Maps being hard to Xerox."

<> Raquel says "Definitely."

<> Kate-Lynn looks around the other players for anything else we would have kept, besides the ring. :)

<> Demiurge says "Did that include the notes on the Templars/Hellfire Club/your own family trees/anything else?"

DC Fairfax nods to his colleague, with a slight shrug. "Alright, So by _your_ story, you all just turned up, had tea and then the guy got shot -- and it was nothing to do with any of you. Well. Maybe it's true. Pretty bloody unlikley but there you go. What did Guerson SAY to you.. I assume he had time to say something inbetween passing out 'cookies' and dying in a pool of blood?"

<> Kate-Lynn says "I think we Xeroxed those, but Kate-Lynn was going to give them."

<> Raquel can't think of anything else we would have kept.

<> Demiurge says "Right."

DC Fairfax sniffs.

Raquel murmurs, "He said he'd had a hard time finding me."

Kate-Lynn says, "Um, he said I looked a lot like 'him,' who I assume was my father."

Kate-Lynn says, "Or this Miles guy." She frowns. "I can't remember why I thought the one and not the other."

"Miles?" Fairfax asks tersely.

Kate-Lynn says, "Miles Christian, from the letter."

Carlotta volunteers, "The Anglo said that we had family responsibilities, but he didn't say what."

Kate-Lynn says, tonelessly, "Something or other our ancestors hadn't done."

Raquel murmurs, "Ancestors. Bred in the bone, come out in the blood..."

DC Fairfax says, painfully slowly, as if talking to toddlers. "Let me try to explain our /problem/. We have this Guerson -- a blameless history teacher from the South of England, who has never had the faintest criminal record in his life. And suddenly he comes up to town and gets shot. And you claim that he had gathered you together to read a will. Now tell me, why would a history teacher do that?"

Kate-Lynn blinks.

Fairfax glances at Raquel.

Gabriel says "Something to do?"

Raquel shakes her head sadly.

Kate-Lynn says, "Because he was crazier than a hog at a truffles convention."

Kate-Lynn says, "Or he was paid, and didn't know he would be shot." She considers. "I have vaguely considered some sort of defamation attempt."

DC Fairfax mutters, "And then these so-called zombies. Do you really expect us to believe that? You quite sure he wasn't the bride of Lucifer or something?"

Raquel sighs. Vaguely in Fairfax's direction, but mostly to her lap.

Kate-Lynn says, "Of myself, or Gabriel here, if he was on some kind of hot story." She frowns. "The notion seems excessive."

Carlotta crosses herself, nervously.

Henderson says, "What did you do after you collected the briefcase from the station, Ms Costello?"

Kate-Lynn says, "Feeling somewhat confused, I suggested a trip to the Tower of London, where I could visit the ravens and . . . I don't know. Have visited the ravens."

Kate-Lynn says, brightening, "I have always loved the stories about them."

Kate-Lynn says "After that, we visited the British Library, and attempted to gain more information on . . . well, the stuff from the papers. Weird geneology stuff."

Kate-Lynn says, "Then we had dinner; then I came here."

Henderson says, "Did you speak to anybody while in either place?"

DC Fairfax studies Kate-Lynn for a long while.

Kate-Lynn says, "Various librarians, I suppose. And we met a man in the Tower of London who was a bit touched, although that is only tangentially relevant."

Henderson says, "Can you give me any names, miss?"

Kate-Lynn says, "The gatekeeper at the Tower might remember us."

Henderson says, "True. You are a definite group. Now, to go back earlier, did any of you actually see the murderer?"

Kate-Lynn says "Justin forgot to pay."

Kate-Lynn says "So he might have stuck in mind, because then he remembered."

Justin nods.

Raquel shakes her head in response to Henderson's question.

Kate-Lynn says, "And I bought a nobleman doll."

Kate-Lynn says "Although I don't think you can date him."

Kate-Lynn says "I mean, chronologically."

Henderson says, "Very well. Now, did you actually see the sniper earlier, Ms Costello?"

Kate-Lynn says, "The murderer?" She thinks. "Possibly the gleam of his gun. Not *him*."

Kate-Lynn says, "I retreated from the window and called the police."

Kate-Lynn says "This inhibited a closer examination."

Henderson says, "Did any of the rest of you actually see him?"

Raquel shakes her head again.

Carlotta says, "No," monosyllabically.

Gabriel says "The sniper? No."

Justin shakes his head.

Henderson says, "Very well."

Fairfax says, "So how did you know you'd be safe from getting shot at? You figure you've got guardian angels or something?"

Kate-Lynn says, "Pardon?"

Kate-Lynn says, "I got out of the way of the window."

Fairfax says, "You know. Right, yeah. Get out of the way of the window."

Carlotta crosses herself again.

Gabriel says "I don't know that I'm safe from getting shot at."

Raquel remembers that she was talking on the phone and wonders, belatedly, if she should have been more concerned about being shot.

Henderson nods. He goes over matters a few more times - with interjections from Fairfax - then requests contact phone numbers and addresses.

Kate-Lynn says, "After that, I suppose, I figured that . . . well. Why would he show up at the British Library, say, with a gun?"

Kate-Lynn says, "I mean, if you're asking if I feel 'safe', the answer is hell no."

Henderson nods.

Henderson says, "Contact numbers and addresses, please."

Kate-Lynn helpfully gives them her antisecretary's number, to go in her file next to their other copy of it.

<> Raquel has a hotel room in town?

Kate-Lynn says, "I don't know if I plan to stay tonight where I registered this morning."

<> Demiurge says "Sure, Raquel."

Kate-Lynn says, "But he can always reach me."

Raquel gives her hotel room information.

Justin grunts, and gives some false hotel room details, to get Henderson off his back.

Carlotta sighs, then does the same in rapid dictation.

Gabriel gives out his details blandly, if only to get back his shoes.

<> Raquel is probably staying at the cheapest hotel that didn't have a rep as a sleezey place.

Inspector Henderson rises. "Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. We'll be in contact with you if we need the answers to any further questions."

Kate-Lynn says, "If for some reason they're not there, I'll have temporarily bunked them with me."

Raquel stands up and contemplates the trainers, nudging them with a toe to see if there are any roughly her size. She blinks at Kate-Lynn.

Henderson nods.

There appear to be trainers in everyone's sizes, presumably obtained by checking the shoe sizes.

Fairfax grunts something inaudible, and says to Justin, "You can pick up your bike, too. Nice piece."

Justin says, with a shade more animation, "Thanks, man," and finds himself a pair of trainers.

Raquel slides on the ones that correspond to hers, then. She murmurs to Justin, "Sorry I lost everyone's shoes for them."

Kate-Lynn says, "For safety, Raquel." She considers. "Outside of the Inspector and, of course, Detective Constable Fairfax, I have few guaranteed allies in this situation; it would be a shame to lose one during the night."

Kate-Lynn slips on the shoes.

Raquel nods to Kate-Lynn, bemusedly.

Kate-Lynn tests them for bounce.

Kate-Lynn scuffs them thoughtfully against the floor, since it's almost certainly not anything that can be damaged by shoe-scuffs.

Kate-Lynn moves to the door to head out whenever it opens.

The trainers are reasonable, if not top quality.

There is a policeman outside, who is ready to guide them to the entrance.

Raquel sticks with Justin, who is big and scary and beats up zombies real good, and moderately close to Kate-Lynn, who stands on police tables.

Justin follows Kate-Lynn out, though is evidently planning to regain his motorcycle.

Kate-Lynn says, to that policeman, "Lead on, MacDuff," in a fine mangling of Shakespeare's timeless prose.

Gabriel feels miffed about his expensive SWAT Special Forces combat boots.

<> Demiurge says "You'll get them back! :)"

<> Raquel says "Maybe even mostly in one piece."

<> Kate-Lynn says "Well, two, one would hope."

The policeman helpfully leads them out. Outside, it's dark, it's nearly midnight, and the streetlamps shine.

Kate-Lynn stretches.

Raquel yawns, behind her hand.

Kate-Lynn says, "That went well, I think. Except for the shoes."

Carlotta says, "So what do we do now?"

Gabriel walks off, looking for a cab.

Raquel says, "Sorry about the shoes." More likely, she mumbles it to her feet.

Justin calls after Gabriel, "Hey, mon, you take care, all right!"

Gabriel waves back at Justin in a vague sort of way.

Kate-Lynn says, "Random classy hotel? Mosh pit? The tomb of Tutankhamen?"

Kate-Lynn says "Maybe we could combine them."

Justin looks cheered at the mention of a Mosh pit.

Carlotta says, "I have a hotel room. I mean, what about all the ... stuff."

Raquel looks baffled at the mention of a Mosh pit.

Kate-Lynn says, "Well," walking toward her limo at a fast clip, "I think that the stuff can leave us alone until morning. I suppose we could try a pentacle. Or a Church."

Raquel trails along slightly. "No pentacles. At least tonight, I vote."

Carlotta says, "In the middle of the night? You want to go investigate pentacles in the middle of the *night*?"

Kate-Lynn says, "Well, isn't that when something would be there?"

A taxi answers Gabriel's hail and pulls up alongside him. "Where to?" the driver inquires.

Kate-Lynn grins, showing many teeth.

Kate-Lynn says, "Alternately, we could go to Notre Dame and ask for Quasimodo."

Justin laughs at Kate-Lynn. "True."

Gabriel tells the cabbie the name of his hotel as he climbs in the back.

Justin shakes his head. "That's in Paris. I doubt it's nearly as crazy there."

Kate-Lynn calls after Gabriel, "You *could* come with us, you know."

Gabriel says "It's midnight, lady."

<> Raquel . o O (Maybe she wants to proposition...)

Kate-Lynn calls, "Limos don't turn into pumpkins."

Kate-Lynn shrugs and continues walking.

Gabriel says "I'm not going to a pentacle or a Church or Paris right now, lady."

Kate-Lynn says, sotto voce, "Ironically, this increases the degree to which I trust him."

Gabriel says "I _am_ going back to my hotel for a drink and then to bed."

Raquel mumbles something that has "bed" and "good" in it.

Kate-Lynn says, "Well enough," reaching her limo, which is probably not illegally parked.

The taxi departs, with Gabriel in it - taking him to his hotel, where there is alcohol and a bed.

Kate-Lynn says, "Bed, then."

The limo is legally parked, and waiting.

Raquel says, "I don't suppose I could... well, get a ride." She looks embarassed. "To my hotel?"

Kate-Lynn rolls her eyes.

Justin grins.

Raquel looks sheepish.

Justin says "How about a ride back ta the hotel this all started at? I gotta get my motorbike."

Kate-Lynn stalks back to Raquel and Justin, grabs their arms, and drags them toward the limo. Carlotta, as Kate-Lynn has only two hands in this incarnation, gets a jerk of Kate's head indicating much the same.

Justin goes cheerfully enough.

Carlotta climbs in without needing to be jerked.

Raquel is dragged along. Sheepishly.

<> Demiurge says "Gabriel, you will be pleased to hear that your bed is comfortable, peaceful, and does not contain any succubi."

<> Raquel says "Incubi?"

Justin says "And, uhm... the hotel I tole them about? Well... uhm... I don't exactly have a room there, was plannin' on living better after the... uhm... readin' as it seemed so promisin'."

Raquel giggles at Justin.

Justin looks entirely unabashed.

Kate-Lynn says, "You're all welcome to stay at ..." She snaps her fingers. "I know a lovely inn, well, the inn isn't so lovely, but the chef is supposed to be the whipped cream on the ice cream sundae of life."

Kate-Lynn says, "We can pick up your motorcycle on the way," as she climbs inside.

Raquel says, again, "I _am_ sorry about the shoes."

Raquel climbs in obediently as she does this.

<> Demiurge says "Shall I close there, with you lot all heading for Kate-Lynn's hotel suite/suites?"

Kate-Lynn says, "Feel free to think up interesting names to register under as we drive."

Kate-Lynn grins.

Raquel asks, "Can we get my luggage?"

Kate-Lynn says "Sure."

<> Demiurge says "Okay. With you all heading for said hotel suite/suites after collecting luggage and so on. ;)"

---

The League