From: Teo Dangerous Knowledge pt5 Talking to a lawyer can sometimes be like trying to figure out a book written in french using a spanish lexicon. Since we couldn't discuss the issue directly, this conversation was devoid of the usual legal claptrap but it still felt like trying to hold on to a greased eel. We had managed to pinpoint who would benifit by Omnicynic's will and who would not by talking vaguely about disappointment and happiness but there seemed to be no way to get any infomation as to exactly what Riahanna stood to inherit. The main benefactor of the will, strangely enough, was not Riahanna. Instead, the man who was in for the happiest surprise was an individual known only as Spooke and the one for the most unpleasant news was the district coroner mr fiend. Well now I had two people to check out at least and I didnt think I would get much farther so I stood up and thanked mr. W for the chat and turnde to leave. As I reached the door mr. W called after me. "Did you know that Omnicynic is the proud owner of the most complete collection of occult books in existance? More than complete if you count his own notebooks." I paused at the threshold and pondered a little, If some part of an estate isn't mentioned in the will what happens to it? I could hear him move in his chair a little, It would be auctioned off to the highest bidder. First it is offered to the Malkham City library though. "Thank you mr. W.", I said, It has been most instructive. If there are more questions of a general nature may I contact you? I didn't look back, but I could see his smile in my mind, But of course Teo. Always happy to discuss current events. I walked away from the building with a lighter heart than when I went in. There still was the mystery as to what Riahanna would inherit but now I at least had some people to visit. First I had to get my gun though. I would hate myself if I was caught without it again. For the remainder of my short life. As I came up the fireescape to my floor I could see somone standing outside my office door. I recognised him as I climbed in throught the window but it was to late to climb out again. "Hello Dexter.", I said as he turned to face me. I was ready for another attack and when he moved his arm I flinched, but the expression on his face was not what I expected. He looked ashamed. Cautiously I accepted the offered handshake and straightened from my ready-for-anything crouch. He smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, man. Ria has explained what you're trying to do.", he withdrew his hand and scratched his neck absentmindedly, "I guess I'm oversensitive where she is concerned." I nodded at this. "Anyway.. I'm sorry I beat you up. Hope we can be friends." "Sure.", I said, not wanting to start an argument, "See you around." "Yeah.", he hesitated for a second and then walked towards the stairs. Halfway there he stopped looking with distaste down the smelly stairwell. "Hey, Dex!" "What?" "Take the fire escape.", I jerked a thumb in the direction of the correct window, "The air is better." He looked at me and smiled. "Thanks.", he said just before I closed the door. When I got out again, my gun safely in its holster, he was gone. Now I know what you are thinking. As a detective I should have had my run-ins with the coroner but the fact is that most detectives never get their hands on a murder case, and I had mostly dealt with divorces, lost pets and exposing crooked judges at talent-shows. I had heard of the fiend of course but I had never actually met him. In my more hopefull moments I had planned to get to know him so that when the day came he would already have a positive attitude, but I had never gotten around to it. Ah well.. no time like the present. I turned my newly rented car down Malkham Avenue and started looking for Maim Street. One of my clients had once confided in me the theory that whoever it was that had named the streets in Malkham city had rapidly tired of the standard names and gone overly creative. Having once tried an alley named Really-Good-Shortcut and consequently found myself at a dead end, I tended to agree. I pulled the car over to the curb on Perfect-For-A-Massacre-Square and got out. In the middle of the square was another one of those impressing statues of the mayor, only someone had painted a small black goatee on this one and the plaque was defaced, changing the places of the h and w in Erehwon. Kids these days. When I was that age I could have made a much more realistic goatee. The coroners office was on a street just off the square so it was relatively easy to find. I walked down a concrete staircase to the basement of the building, putting out my cigarette on the third step. The door was big but nondescriptive with only a small plaque beside it denoting this as the coroners office/city morgue. Straightening out my clothes and checking my gun for the seventh time since I left the car, I knocked. There was no answer but the door swung open a crack by the force of my knocking alone. Oh no! Time for the most worn out horrorcliche around. I unholstered my gun and crept quietly across the threshold ready for anything. Nothing attacked me as I came in and I continued down the small hallway through a door and into a small office. "Hello?", I called but there was no answer. My eyes fell on a note folded to stand up on a desk and I moved closer nervously scanning my surroundings. After reading the note I put the gun away and picked it up to read it again. Eating Lunch. Leave bodies downstairs. fiend. Nice. I began to look for a chair to wait in when I was interrupted by a sound from a door to the left. I cursed myself as my hand went for my gun again. Always check the whole place before relaxing. Someday Teo, you are going to wind up here in the morgue, being stolen by a morally questionable scientist who needs a pretty corpse with a small brain, all while the coroner is out ordering a pizza with everything. Well, mr fiend, I hope you are enjoying your late lunch because if I get killed now I know who I am going to haunt. Cautiously I moved to the door and pushed it open with my foot revealing a staircase leading down into a sub-basement. Taking a deep breath I started walking down the stairs. There is a smell in a morgue that is hard to describe. Its a little of the clinically detached smell of a hospital or a laboratory that just have been cleaned and beneath that the smell of death. It is said that morgues are cold to preserve the bodies. I believe the cold serves the same purpose as the smell.. to keep nosy people away. Being to curious for my own good I continued downwards. Someone started some sort of small whirring machine and I pressed myself against the wall and inched forward. When my right shoulder was lined up against the corner I turned quickly pointing my gun down the stairs. At a workbench, holding a miniature buzzsaw poised over an open pizzabox, a labcoated person stared up at me mildly surprised. "I dont have any money," the fiend said and turned to sweep a gesture over the rooms other inhabitants, "and neither do they." "Uhm, sorry. I thought you were a scientist.." "No, I'm a doctor, people tend to confuse us. I think its the coat." I realised that I was still holding the gun and after a few tries I managed to put it back in the holster, "No.. I meant I thought you were here to steal something.: the fiend turned the small saw on again and began slicing his pizza, "From this place? What would I want with a bunch of stiffs?," his eyes widened suddenly, "Eugh! Grotty!", he turned off the saw and pointed it in my direction before he put it away, "You've got a dirty mind, you know." While the fiend started munching into his first pizza slice I collected my scattered thoughts and recalled the reason I had come. I walked down the last few steps to the morgue and sat on the edge of the workbench the fiend was standing by. "Mr. fiend...," I paused to clear my throat, "do you know a man named Omnicynic?" the fiend looked me over critically, "That depends who is asking." I pulled out my wallet and showed him my detectives licence, "My name is Teo. Just Teo. I'm a private investigator. A client of mine who stands to inherit from the reverend has been receiving threatening napkins in the mail. I came to talk to you since you are also mentioned in the will." "And since he hasn't left me the church like he said he would you figured I'd be disappointed enough to go crazy?," the fiend said. Despite my ignorance of the exact nature of the will, I nodded. "Yeah right. Glad to be rid of the thing. Spooke is welcome to it." My mind took mental notes at a furious pace but I had trouble tying any of the new information to Riahanna. "How did you know about this? I thought the exact contents of the will had not been revealed." "Easy," the fiend picked up the pizza-box and carried it over to another workbench. I tried not to look at what was lying on it. I have no problem with people when they have been recently shot or maimed or verbally crippled, that happens a lot in divorce-cases, but dead bodies sent shivers up my spine. When the fiend continued talking I almost jumped. "Spooke has taken over the church in Omnicynic's absence. Being no more religious minded than I am, I assume he has plans for it. If Spooke thought for a minute that I would inherit the thing he would have tried to kill me already." the fiend pulled back the sheet covering the table a little further down examining a couple of bruises on the dead mans shoulder. "So, I can only surmise that he either has information leading him to believe that Omnicynic has changed his will, or..," he pulled the sheet back up and picked up another slice of his pizza, "he has made some changes himself. Could you hand me that tape recorder?" I managed to locate a small dictaphone on one of the other workbenches and handed it to him. Immediately he started to rattle off information into the microphone. "Subject is a caucasian male in his early thirties. Probable cause of death suicide under the influence of mindcontrolling drugs. I would guess this one is either a government cover-up or result of other clandestine plot, possibly by conspiracies A1 or D12. Further study of subject needed but I have company at the moment," he looked at me, "Oh.. that reminds me put up a new file for a private investigator named Teo, just Teo," he turned the recorder off and smiled at me. "So mr. Teo. Do you have any more questions or can I get back to work?" I tried to regain my mental balance enough to form some relevant questions. At least I succeeded in looking unfazed. "Only a few more questions. What do you know of a girl named Riahanna?" "Omni's grandniece, right? Perky girl but always struck me as a bit naive. Her boyfriend is loud and has a lousy temper. Why do you ask?" I ignored him and plodded down my own line of questioning. "Did you know that she is mentioned in Omnicynic's will?" "Really?" he shrugged. "Good for her. Can't see Omni entrusting her with anything important though.." Well. He sounded sincere, and he had hit the crux of the whole case. Ria seemed like a nice girl but I just couldnt imagine Omnicynic leaving her anything important enough to get me shot over. And still he obviously had.. or someone thought he had. I took farewell of the fiend and walked out into the light rain that had started while I was inside. Some kids ran away from my car as I approached, one of them dropping a spraycan on the way. They had only gotten to laying on the basepaint, transforming one side of my car into a jumble of indistinct shapes that was meant to become letters. Below the pre-letters they had outlined a triangle with a dot in it. Briefly I tried to remember which youthgang used that symbol but I wasnt really in the mood. I shook my head at it and got into the car. Again I felt sorry for Riahanna. This expense-account was going to hurt. A lot. -- Teo MalkaviAnarch