DATE:  Tuesday, February 18, 1997
Place: Small House


---- Recall start ----

There is a quick knock at the door.
JJ Malone says gruffly, "I'll get that."
Merin remains seated on the couch and nods.
JJ Malone walks towards the door to answer it, after peeping through the 
   eye-hole. She unlocks the several locks then opens the door cautiously, 
   keeping her body squared behind it. "Yo."
Cutter flicks a quick salute from the front stoop. "Private Thomson reporting 
   for duty. Sir!"
Vincent chuckles.
JJ Malone rolls her eyes, and lets Cutter pass, closing the door behind her. 
   "Not a 'sir', Cutter, sheesh." She returns to the couch to floomp there 
   with the coiled tension of the ahroun under gibbous moon, lighting up a 
   cigarette to smoke fitfully.
Cutter eyes the room for someplace to allow gravity to take control. "Oh? You 
   a sergeant?" He looks to JJ, then frowns briefly and finds a seat on the 
   other side of the room.
JJ Malone glances at Merin and Vincent briefly, but then snorts. "Not under 
   this moon, Cutter," she says quietly enough.
Merin nods as Cutter joins them and looks to Vincent. "Where were we?"
Vincent says "I was asking if anyone had word from the Nonurban collective?"
Cutter lifts a finger.
Merin nods to Cutter.
Cutter says "Talked to Randall. He doesn't like to be called a Ranger."
Vincent says "That's handy information. Did he say anything more like a clue?"
JJ Malone mutters even more quietly, "I've been way out of it." Then subsides 
   to simply listen, a silent, almost brooding presence.
Cutter licks his lips. "General opinion seems to be they're worried about this 
   Dancer thing, but not enough to actually get involved. Yet. Give 'em a 
   target to frontally assault, and they seem to be interested."
Vincent snorts, derisively.
JJ Malone waves a hand, a trifle dismissingly. "If we ask for help, they'll 
   have to. It's our job for now, though. I think we can handle it," she says 
   with quiet confidence, almost arrogance.
Vincent says "I've learned a technique in the Academy, called Diagraming, for 
   cases. Would you like me to try it, now?"
Merin nods, "Sure."
Cutter nods. "I think they're expecting us to. The attitude is, now that those 
   gosh darn troublesome Wharf Rats are gone, they've put a properly 
   disciplined pack in the city."
Merin frowns a little at that, but waits for Vincent.
JJ Malone nods to Vincent as well, then looks curiously at Cutter. "It is? 
   They have?"
Cutter shrugs. "Beats hell outta me. That's what they think.
Vincent sighs. "Okay. For the cops, it's easy. They get a wall, and pushpins. 
   They write down everything they know, and everything they don't know, and 
   take pictures of all the clues, and just stick the things t... They said 
   _what_?
Vincent shakes his head, and looks around for comment.
Cutter says "Um. Have we got something that concrete to work with?"
Vincent recites. "We have more than we know. No one's sat down and organized 
   what we have, ever?
"So who's going to go buy the giant whiteboard to put up?" J.J. asks 
   acerbically, but with a ghosting quirk of a half-smile.
Vincent shakes his head. "We don't dare. The Veil. We have to talk it through."
Cutter nods and sits up. "I'm game."
Merin tucks an ankle under her as she shifts in her seat. "Alright, as far as 
   I know, this is what we've got so far."
Vincent says "Who wants to start?"
Vincent looks on as Merin starts.
JJ Malone snorts softly at Vincent's denial, but then looks over at Merin as 
   well. On impulse, she gets out of her seat to head for the kitchen, 
   bringing a six-pack of Sam Adams back and cracking open one for herself, 
   downing a quick drink.
Merin says "Pete's got people moving in on his territory, namely this guy with 
   the creepy eyes and akita. Some of his tribemates turn up missing--but they 
   are Gnawers. One of them is seen in this guys company. Scott tells me we've 
   got a ronin running around, but hes reluctant to give me the source for his 
   info. But Brian comes here and tells us we have Dancers. From the look in 
   his eye, and a litle prodding of Scott, I find the source of this info, 
   both reports, comes from Brian's girlfriend." She pauses to look around, 
   "Now this girlfriend, who happens to be a mage, is caught in the woods by 
   two of the Woods garou, one being Scott, with our creepy-eyed friend."
Merin goes to continue, as long as no one objects.
Vincent nods, and listens.
JJ Malone is simply settled back with a cigarette in one hand, a beer in the 
   other. Despite the tension brought on by the full moon, she seems to be 
   listening intently, with a thoughtful frown on her face.
Merin says "This garou, whoever he is, leaves Scott and the mule Groundskeeper 
   for dead, but doesn't kill them outright. From everthing we've been able to 
   get on him, he doesn't smell of the enemy and all we really have on him is 
   that he's got creepy eyes." she pauses, and then starts in elsewhere. "The 
   new Fianna in town, Steven, tells me he's run into this guy that matches 
   our friend's description, and he gave the same name--Chris. Steven tells me 
   this guy, when the conversation came down to finding a place to live, told 
   him about the vacancy in our Brownstone. That's my paranoia working, but 
   it's worth noting.""
Vincent nods, and listens... And then frowns. "We know more about him than 
   this, surely?
JJ Malone flushes as she scowls. "This is the same guy who was with the akita 
   and Hazmat down at the park, right?"
Merin says "Vincent, I wanted to talk to you aout making the Brownstone a 
   little more secure as a whole." she shakes her head, "to be honest, no. All 
   we really know about him is what he looks like and he has some connection 
   to this..mage." She says the word with at least a small amount of distaste 
   and then nods to JJ, "Same guy. And Hazmat's checked out ok, so far."
JJ Malone ticks off her fingers, "This is the akita who is killing dogs and 
   horning into Pete's territory, and who left two Garou for dead. Who hasn't 
   announced himself, and this...mage..." she, too, seems to have difficulty 
   with it, "says there are Dancers. Did the Alpha ever match descriptions 
   with us?"
Vincent shakes his head. "Any guy who leaves two Sept Guardians, 
   representatives of the Warder, beaten near to death, and saunters off into 
   my town, he is not someone I feel comfortable about allowing to live, 
   knowing no name, no rank, no tribe, seeing no sign of positive connection 
   to Gaia. There are other Enemies for us than the Wyrm. That was are mistake 
   in Detroit. We sensed no taint on the enemy there.
Merin nods slowly to Vincent, not disagreeing with him at all, yet.
Vincent says "Further, we _do_ know the Wyrm is in St. Claire. Did anyone get 
   more details on Bill's death?"
JJ Malone's mouth twists, but says, "If they've actually been *checked* for 
   taint, and none found, we can't just kill them out of hand. 
   We--someone--would need to check this. If they're tainted...they'll show 
   it. Somehow, some way."
Vincent says "I've killed out of hand many who showed no taint, Shades. Who 
   has put this in your mind that the cliath's Gift is impossible to fool?"
Merin nods to JJ, "They've been checked. Both our ever so fun stranger, and 
   the Gnawer lupe Pete's been worried about. They came up clean. Now, yeah, 
   Vince says taint can be hidden, but I'd prefer," she says, looking at 
   Vincent now, "To prove them tainted before we go killing anybody. Call it a 
   quirk."
JJ Malone shakes her head once curtly. "No one. But---" she cuts off as Merin 
   voices her own opinion.
Vincent says "I have been working on that... Devices. Tests. Rituals. Tactics."
Merin asks, "Come up with anything?"
Cutter says "I've prolly seen more than my share of this guy. I can brush up 
   next to him without arousing too much suspicion. Lemme know if I can help?"
Merin looks to Cutter. "What we need /most/ is to find them. I want to know 
   where they live."
Vincent nods. "We will need one hundred cotton tee shirts. They must be blue, 
   red or yellow. V-neck. We also need to collect Garou in turn, and test them.
Cutter eyes Vincent.
Vincent says "It worked in Detroit."
Merin looks a little perplexed as well.
Vincent says "The ritual will work. The Garou must wear nothing except the 
   garment, prepared beforehand, stitched with a glyph. They must shift 
   through the garment, showing all forms, destroying it. Afterwards, we will 
   inspect the garments, one at a time. There is more, but this test, I think, 
   is necessary."
Merin blinks a few times, and asks, "and this Rite will tell if they're 
   tainted?"
Cutter opens his mouth to speak, but then shuts it and sits back.
Vincent says "I assure you, if they are tainted, and this Rite cannot force 
   the taint to be revealed, then nothing in my limited knowledge can. It 
   is... an old formula."
JJ Malone just Looks at Vincent. "You've been studying too long, Pays. I was 
   thinking more like Bane spirits following them around."
Vincent chuckles. "That would be a wonderful method, Shades. I hope we can 
   make use of it, too. Some may not rely on my ritual."
Merin shakes her head and nods again, "Well, I don't know when we'll get a 
   chance to have them do that. But, here's some more news. There's a couple 
   of Silver Fangs--I don;t know if you guys know them, but they've 
   volunteered to scout these guys for us. Two Ragabashes."
Vincent says "Sophie? Who else?"
Merin nods, "Ed."
Vincent says "Met him. Seems unusual, for a Fang. Unpretentious."
Cutter says "Are they reliable?"
JJ Malone's eyebrows go up. "Two *Silver Fangs* are offering to scout? *For* 
   us?" she asks, more than a little suspiciously.
Merin nods, agreeing somewhat. o Cutter, she shrugs a little. "From what I 
   could gather of Sophie, she seems so. The other I only met briefly. But I 
   cant /vouch/ for either."
Cutter says "They working solo or team?"
Merin looks at JJ and shrugs faintly, "They heard the word what we're dealing 
   with are Dancers. Maybe they think there's some glory to be gained. As a 
   team, mostly. They've already been in contact with Pete to get an idea of 
   who they need to be scoting."
Cutter nods. "Good. Um. Has anybody been velvetside, and seen the place while 
   any of our suspects were around?"
Vincent says "I had heard that the alpha was accepting the help of packless 
   Garou as Chiminage, for the packs he gave missions to."
JJ Malone scowls a bit more, but bites back whatever she seemed tempted to 
   say. After a pause, she says, "I think we should meet them." She gives a 
   faint shake of her head to Cutter, but then looks at Vincent and Merin for 
   their answers.
Merin shakesher head. "Moon's been a little too thin for my tastes, but we'll 
   have our chance soon."
Cutter takes a deep breath. "Um."
Merin looks at Cutter.
Cutter says "I... This yutz and his dog, they made me. It just occurred to me 
   that maybe I oughta go solo for a while."
Vincent says "Soon. By the way, from the textbooks, and the little pieces I 
   could put together, whoever killed Bill did it in a group. At least two. 
   One watching, smoking while the other tortured then killed him. They knew 
   what they were after, where they were looking for and who they were looking 
   for. An 'inside' job."
JJ Malone's eyebrows go up with faintly surprised curiousity at Vincent, but 
   then even more so as she looks over at Vincent. "Huh?" she asks eloquently.
Merin nods to Vincent, and then looks at Cutter. "I dont like it. It leaves 
   you out there unprotected.'
Cutter shrugs. "But leaves you guys protected. Don't worry -- I made sure I 
   wasn't followed tonight. But I'd bet they know where I live."
JJ Malone follows on Merin's words, "Made you do what?"
Vincent says "It was a dark place. To move around in the place would have 
   taken either flashlights or inside knowledge. That warehouse had been pack 
   territory for many moons. No one but Garou would go there. Further, Bill 
   had two reliable traits. One, he would run away from anything that spooked 
   him a little, like flashlights. Too, he'd likely freeze up like a statue 
   under pressure."
Merin says "Well, if these guys turn out to be nothing but stray dogs with 
   attitude, fine. But if they mean serious business, I get the feeling they 
   may /already/ know where we live, so it'd be like shutting the door after 
   the cow's out."
JJ Malone fidgets restlessly. "Just means we'll need to find them fast and 
   shut them down. You going to invite the two high-muckety-mucks over some 
   night, Boss?"
Vincent ponders, this. "We could set ourselves up as bait?"
Merin nods, "I'd like you guys to be familiar with them so we don't go getting 
   tangled with each other.'
Vincent says "Did Hazmat ever explain that hunk of her hide Barlow claimed to 
   have found in Harbor Park?"
Merin looks at Vincent, "Now that's an idea. One we'll have to think hard on. 
   And it brings me to the one thing I haven't done yet. JJ, we need to go 
   shopping."
Merin goes quiet, and turns to Vincent, "What?"
JJ Malone downs a long draught of her beer. "Yeah, not to mention to remind 
   them *whose* territory it is," she mutters in response to Merin's comment 
   about the Fangs. She doesn't answer Merin's second comment directed at her 
   in light of Vincent's question, and Merin's diversion of attention.
Vincent says "Before all this broke, just after the akita started killing 
   Gnawer kinfolk, Chugs complained he'd found hunks of Hazmat's fur and blood 
   in Harbor Park. Giben the esteemed Barlow's knack for getting things wrong, 
   I didn't pay much attention. But he said it looked like a fight, and a 
   quick one. I do not doubt Barlow would recognize a fight scene."
Vincent says "And then she was out of sight for almost a month."
JJ Malone adds, "And Kosh and Thena are still missing, far as we know."
Cutter says "Who?"
Vincent says "Hazmat's packmates, Kosh and Thena... I thought Kosh had phoned? 
   I know Alex, their packmate from the Children, is back in circulation, 
   after disappearing for a while, too. Perhaps they were on a totemquest. If 
   so, no Galliard has sung any renown their way."
JJ Malone shakes her head. "Hasn't called *me*. Didn't realize they had 
   another packmate, though."
Vincent says "Packmate who's teaching a cub that suddenly is very unhappy 
   being taught by him."
Vincent says "Like we've never heard of an unhappy cub."
Merin hehs, thinking about what's been said. "Well, for now let's not worry 
   about the Gnawers. Let's concentrate on the strangers. And Vince, you and I 
   can work on some of those ideas. Meanwhile, I want the Brownstone 
   secured--umbrally as well as Realmside--as much as possible."
Vincent nods. "Will do."
JJ Malone nods sharply. "I've been patrolling it as much as I can. And, Kosh 
   and Thena weren't Gnawers, they were Walkers." She pushes to her feet. "I 
   should go and patrol now, actually."
Vincent says "Me too."
Cutter nods.
Merin, not having known that, gives Jj a faintly apologetic look and then 
   simply nods. "Ok."
JJ Malone waves her hand in a beckon to Vincent. "You watch my back, I'll 
   watch yours," she says on ther way out the front door with the other Walker.
Cutter says "Oh jesus."

---- Recall end ----