User blog comment:Stormwell/Thresh Street Runners/@comment-3525200-20141105133139

Beating The Papertrail

Session Fifteen, Dirty Deeds Part II

Belated write-up.

Lucian Gilmore (Adam) Agnew Uptil (Tori) Joshua H. Headlam (Nick) Irwin Madlock (Gareth)

First port of call was the city morgue where they ran into Durwin Bitterleaf, who was more than happy to help the Runners with regards to the late Mr Elrich's personal effects. There was various items such as a pipe, some loose coins and the key to his desk. With the key to hand the Runners returned to the Elrich Estate to access the drawers they'd been unable to open, though contained within was just Elrich's paperwork. There was also a letter discussing Henshaw and Co's offer, noting how generous it was but Elrich and his business partner were both wary of the company but nothing to suggest that the offer had been accepted.

The Runners then called in at Elrich & Foran's offices to speak to Mr Foran, he confirmed that Henshaw & Co had made repeated offers of a generous nature but each offer had been refused by E&F. When questioned about the paperwork at the Chamber of Commerce, Mr Foran stated that all business had effectively ceased for the period of mourning for the late Mr Elrich which is why their records hadn't been updated recently. Mr Foran also said that there was a great deal of mistrust of Henshaw & Co with regards to how they'd acquired land for their client in the past and other dirty dealings. Though he said the deed for the land that was being disputed had been at Mr Timsh's offices and thought to have been destroyed in the fire. A brief return to Thresh Street was made to check whether a response from Lydsworth had been received, one had and had said Sebastian Weatherspoon hadn't been seen there and his family had moved away some years ago.

Still curious about the 50,000gc the Runners checked with the banks of the various parties involved and asked whether such a large amount had been moved in the past few weeks, though none had. They learned a little about the security details for when large amounts of gold are moved as well as hearing about some attacks by highwaymen on he roads outside Dunwall. Next they went to speak to Captain Wilson of the City Watch since they were involved with gold transportation in the city itself, he wasn't able to be of much help but did say that sometimes gold is moved by the river and referred them to the River Patrol. They then met with an officer of the River Patrol who said that no gold had been moved along the river recently and the only notable thing that has happened in the past week or so was a body being pulled out that wasn't the usual drunkard or thug.

Another return to Timsh's offices where they learned that E&F's deed was thought to have been amongst those destroyed in the fire and nobody was aware of the suppose claim of it being transferred to Henshaw and Co. The Runners also managed to arrange for one of Timsh's clerks to come with them to the River Patrol's HQ the next day to identify the body. They then headed onto Joshua's meeting with Burnface at the Duke's Head pub, though made sure to arrive discreetly to avoid arousing suspicions. Joshua managed to eavesdrop on Burnface as he spoke to another shady character, then severely reduced his life expectancy when he boldly interrupted the conversation. With some witty charm Joshua managed to avoid a bad case of daggers in a dark alley (for now) and made an offer for Elrich's stolen chest, though Burnface did made it clear what would happened if he was double crossed.

As discreetly as they arrived the Runners departed the pub and retired for the time night, though Agnew communed with the Outsider until the wee hours. Morning came around and the Runners headed over to the River Patrol HQ where they were met by one of Timsh's clerk who identified the body as Sebastian Weatherspoon. He also remarked that Weatherspoon's hand was bandaged, which was revealed to be covering a nasty burn. The clerk also stated that Weatherspoon had cleared off not long after the fire, was known to work late and gave the Runners Weatherspoon's address. The address turned out to have been an apartment just off Smoke Street and clearly hadn't been used for a few days, of note was some books on how to use a printing press as well as law books and a bag of coins under a loose floorboard. In a cupboard they found a printing press that had been used to make copies of legal documents such as deeds, plus samples of various attempts made by Weatherspoon to produce said documents. There was a knock on the door, which turned out to be a man claiming to be Weatherspoon's neighbour wishing to get back some tools that Weatherspoon had borrowed. The Runners duly handed over the tools in question, though after the man answered a couple of questions in return.

Now quite aware of Henshaw & Co's shady dealings, Weatherspoon's attempts at forging legal documents a fair few things started to click into place for the Runners. Magistrate Cathmore was informed of the latest developments and it seemed a reckoning was due upon Henshaw & Co.