Huh. Okay. Hang on. Lemme just grab something.

Get a knife, and take the unlock from Spooks. Open the door and real quick pitch the knife at Trip's shoulder. Slam the door shut ASAP.

This post was last modified: Dec 15, 2023 at 11:05 PM by Columbo.

May we see that firearm of yours, "Hunter"?
In fact, hands up, who's carrying? Me, personally, I don't like guns, but this little altercation might be the break this case needs.

Hmmm.... that icon on the door looks ... familiar.... are you sure you wanna open that?

Something wrong with your card, Astrid?

Oh, and what book were you reading, by the way? Just curious which ones I should be avoiding.

I apologise for losing track of the tour group, I was simply captivated by your library's stunning collection of-

Oh... I feel like I've missed something quite important.

I may need to get some air...

Ah, Gus! Can you tell us how the override works more? And where it's logged? Are you the only one with access to it out of everyone here?

honk

This post was last modified: Dec 16, 2023 at 12:49 AM by Columbo.

I'll ask anybody who's seen Miss Grayson here to try to recall if she had a book. It's a little thing, but little things like that bother me. Where is that book? Did we search the whole Anomaly Lab thoroughly enough for it? It's not still on her person, right? Might've just gotten burned up in the Boiler Room, like they tried to with the dagger.

Oh, and, somebody look through the Library for any gaps in the titles there. It's a long shot, but it might help us narrow down which book she might've took.

With the discovery of the location of the murder weapon, I started making connections in my mind. The gunfight between the Hunter and the unknown assailant; likely not Agent Grayson as the Hunter would have recognized her. The assailant then discarded their gun in the shuttle tracks, forcing them to use their purloined knife later on.

The murder weapon - discarded within the boiler room, which three individuals have admitted to entering: Gus, Lyra and Spooks. On top of that, there had been signs of a struggle between Agent Grayson and her murderer.

It came to me in a flash, and my stomach dropped as I recalled our introduction to the Bureau just a short while earlier.

I apologize for my appearance. There has been an increase in risk incidents by approximately 86.334% in the past 90 day period, resulting in damage to my usual physical frame due to a confrontation with [DATABASE ERROR]. This is a temporary measure. Refrain from making inappropriate comments on the matter.

For explanation of inappropriate appearance-based remarks to avoid, please refer to Section 32-9 (Tolerance & You) of the Code of Conduct. Thank you!

Someone had managed to attack the facility's databases - the feline robot told us as much earlier. What if that same someone had also hijacked the robot's "usual physical frame"? The cat would have had the perfect route to dispose of the knife, as well - dropping off Dexter's crowbar on the way.

Questions needed to be answered. With that, I turned back to the suspects.

---

I have a question for any of you that can answer it; when did Spooks start using his current, uh, body?

And for you. Dexter - was Spooks carrying anything else when they took the crowbar from you?

Having noticed that Dexter did not actually divulge this theory of his,
Dodo believes it wise to sit on this man until he does so.

...or until his spine crumbles. Whichever happens first.

Oh no, you stay over there, butterball! Fine, whatever. I'll give you my theory, but if you lay one hand on me, you'll be hearing from my legal team!



I just didn't think anyone would want to hear it. You know, considering apparently I'm suspect number one for committing the heinous crime of not running around like a headless chicken for one night.

...I've been out of practice for a while, but let's look at the facts. The card was apparently out in the station, the gun's on the tracks. You can think that makes me suspicious, sure whatever, join the club. I don't need to justify myself to a turkey. Let's even assume that I turned on the TV and just fucked off.

What in the hell do you think I did, take the shuttle, turn on the TV, do the aforementioned fucking off, commit a murder, then what, just walk back and dump the gun and the card literally right next to where I was going to spend the whole night? Why the hell would I do that and not... I dunno, toss it in the pool or something? How did I get the dagger back to the boiler room?



And now for the theory: Someone's setting me up. They dumped the gun and the card on purpose, they might not have even walked the tracks, who knows. The freak in the mask's saying he saw them run back into the building? Maybe they dumped the shit then. I know I wouldn't go back outside if some schizo was trying to shoot me with... whatever the fuck he's packing.

I dunno, you guys are the investigators - I'm just here to offer my opinion. Just so happens that this time, my opinion is that I should try to save my own ass.



Besides, I'm an easy frame target. Take one look at me, and they think "Oh that Dexter Hexley, classic scapegoat!", but I'm not having any of that. Go ahead, toss me in the slammer for watching TV. You'll just have a killer running around unchallenged, no big deal. Go ahead and take that gamble, I'm sure it'll be like Christmas-fucking-morning when you find the next body, and the next one, and so on.

I think we should release all of the anomalies and interview them one by one.

I think you should cease these thoughts immediately.

I believe it's reasonable to assume that dagger came from the Museum Hall, but it never hurts to double check.
That design though... you know, my wife, lovely woman that she is, she was really into those Killing Games, and the funny thing is, that reminds me of a dagger from one of those. Might be a coincidence, I don't know.

And if anybody needs me, unless somebody's got some sorta metal detector I could borrow, I'll be outside looking around in the grass by the Lake and the Boathouse lookin' for another bullet.

You go hunting for another bullet by the Lake and Boathouse. You don't really see anything, but in the grass between the Boathouse and the Lake, you see... A metal ball, about the size of a small fist. Looks a little heat-warped too.

The intern cocks her head and shuffles into the scene of the murder, investigating the Anomaly Lab more closely for any conspicuous books and checking the strewn papers to see if any resemble torn book pages, then precedes to the library to look for any signs of conspicuous disturbance to the books within.

You investigate the Anomaly Lab for any books. You.. actually find a couple, sitting on the desks. There are three books in total:

• Categorizing the Arcane
  
• Anomalies Through the Ages
  
• Music Festivals of the 2000s
  

Hm. You briefly leaf through them, but not enough to glean anything. Maybe if you came back during the night when you had more free time?

How long would it take me to lap the building at 23's pace? Is it enough time to ride the elevator twice?

EDIT; Could I also check how long it takes to run across the shuttle tracks and back?

You instruct BPI-2300 to walk at his normal pace, and then you walk around the building, mimicking it. He's not particularly fast or slow, but the Historical Society is rather big, and you get the sense that you could take the elevator up and down many times, as well as run back and forth up and down the shuttle tracks once. The timing might be tough on that last one, depending on what you were doing in between those trips though.

That fancy dagger...looks an awful lot like the one that Mr. Godbert described...



I'm curious, Lyra. Did you actually enter the Boiler Room and confirm that it was empty? How did you access it without a card?

Huh? What, no. I didn't have my card, that's a level II door, you simpleton. It's just that when I got to the door, there weren't any noises anymore. I knocked and everything. If the boiler was running, it would've kept clanging around for hours, and it didn't sound like anyone was in there at all from the outside.



I don't even know what it was, in the end. Even my scientific mind is stumped. Whatever those loud bangs were that woke me up, maybe they weren't even coming from there. It's just what my deductive reasoning jumped to after how annoying it was when I was trying to sleep. It's only logical, after all.

Hey, Dexter. Where did you get the crowbar? Were you the one who made a mess of Gus's tools

Ugh, fine, yeah. Cat's outta the bag. Whoop-dee-doo, I stole the crowbar, what are you gonna do about it? I'm Level II, it's within my right. I just couldn't think of another way to get that stupid case open.

I might have made... a BIT of a mess, but it wasn't that bad. Old man must be some kind of neat freak, mind explaining how that's my problem?

Huh. Okay. Hang on. Lemme just grab something.

Get a knife, and take the unlock from Spooks. Open the door and real quick pitch the knife at Trip's shoulder. Slam the door shut ASAP.

You are not permitted to have the card. Dr. Jones has provided a great service by removing it from the hands of unsafe individuals like yourself.

May we see that firearm of yours, "Hunter"?
In fact, hands up, who's carrying? Me, personally, I don't like guns, but this little altercation might be the break this case needs.

He nods, and hands over his gun.

It... isn't what you were expecting. It appears to be a blunderbuss, like they used in times past. Seems annoying to reload, but whatever floats his boat, you guess. It is pretty heavy, but you could probably use it with one hand.



Ahaha, I have a gun too, but it's nothing quite so fancy~ Just the usual sort.



Yeah... Guess I have a gun too. Same as hers. Haven't had to use it yet though.



I got myself a pocket knife, if that counts.

Something wrong with your card, Astrid?

Oh, and what book were you reading, by the way? Just curious which ones I should be avoiding.

W-wrong with it? No, nothing like that. I just...



...I don't want to put a target on my back. In case you guys don't catch whoever did this.



Oh, do you like to read too? Well, it was called Disciple of the Dog. It... said it was a mystery on the cover, but the 'plot twists' were next to impossible to figure out, and it was full of really unlikeable characters too. Honestly, barely made any sense. I don't think it's a very popular book. Probably for a good reason.

Oh. Dang. Alrighty.

Okay, how about this? Heard from the cat apparently these two go back. Not that cat, the other cat.

Hold up Liz and ask Trip if he recognizes her.

This post was last modified: Dec 16, 2023 at 1:12 AM by Jack of Spades.

While delivering the item, I detected [AGENT DESIGNATION: ELIZABETH GRAYSON] exiting the Library with an unidentified book.

(She exited with a book... but it's not where she is now?)

Damn, will we never get to read the Employee Handbook that Spooks won't shut up about?

Did anyone who passed through the Museum Hall last night - Dexter, Spooks, Gus, Lyra - take notice of whether the missing exhibit was still there at the time or not?

Hmm. Coulda just have tossed the gun onto the track where it was found from one of the stations?

Hey... So why does Spooks not use a staff/agent designation for Astrid? I think she's the only one.

This post was last modified: Dec 16, 2023 at 3:11 AM by Columbo.

Sorry about this, Gus. Dexter, do you think you can mess up the Boiler Room like you did last night? I want to time how long it takes for me to put it all back in order.

And before I do all that, Spooks, how would you describe the Boiler Room when you were in there?

How long does a proper decontamination take? I'll volunteer to dirty myself up a bit to check (but I'm taking the suit off first.)

How well does that decontamination shower work? Blood off a knife specifically.

Besides, I'm an easy frame target. Take one look at me, and they think "Oh that Dexter Hexley, classic scapegoat!", but I'm not having any of that. Go ahead, toss me in the slammer for watching TV. You'll just have a killer running around unchallenged, no big deal. Go ahead and take that gamble, I'm sure it'll be like Christmas-fucking-morning when you find the next body, and the next one, and so on.[/color]

While the testimony of the Astrid woman has exonerated Dexter for the most part, being issued a personal challenge like this is somewhat intriguing in its own right.

Dodo ponders briefly about the viability of executing two people instead of one.

Oh, do you like to read too? Well, it was called Disciple of the Dog. It... said it was a mystery on the cover, but the 'plot twists' were next to impossible to figure out, and it was full of really unlikeable characters too. Honestly, barely made any sense. I don't think it's a very popular book. Probably for a good reason.

Hearing the title of the book spoken aloud, a brief flash of memories momentarily resurface from the depths. Some story about a small-time blogger posting photographs of his dog being washed... then got caught in controversy when posting the same picture twice to cover up a murder he had committed.

That was a good book.

---

While Riki is being unresponsive and thus presumably asleep, I'd like to hook him up to the sleep lab doohickey to see how much sleep time it takes for the counter to go to 33%.

So, a question for spooks (and the rest I suppose.)

How long has your main body been out of commission? It wasn't recently, was it?