405: Be Sensible

Synopsis

The episode picks up where 404: Episode IV left off. Billy, Dr. Simeon and Tallahassee pull up outside the Arkham police station with the fingerprint card from the dead man's case. Tallahassee does finger guns at the detectives on the work floor and flicks out his trench coat, and one secretary's hair blows back. One of the detectives tells Billy that the captain wants to see him as soon as anybody spots him. Captain Renz tells Billy that he is reassigning the Radio Man case to Detective Crane and wants Billy's leads turned over. Billy argues that he has solid leads, but Renz says that a pawn shop owner called about a break-in where the only thing missing was one watch, and that the descriptions of the people involved sound like "those goons" from the Corbitt incident. He has also spotted Dr. Simeon and Tallahassee on the floor. Billy says they are consultants with good ideas and reminds him that they helped catch the Miskatonic Mangler. Renz says that wherever they go there is "chaos that follows them around" and that Billy is too deep in to see it. Billy offers to give up the Reynolds case, but Renz says "Don Julio" is the biggest case they have right now and that Billy is "chasing after some radio man" instead of tracking it down. He says that Billy stays a detective for now unless he hears of any more mysterious break-ins, that he does not want the group around any more and that Billy is off the Radio Man case and should turn his things over to Crane. Billy says that he slams the door on his way out.

The Keeper tells Billy, who has not shared this with the table, that since Major Bakersfield's wife was murdered he has been looking into her death on his own time, that the captain refused to put him on that case over a possible conflict, and that a few other times he has felt stonewalled and steered away from cases. A Psychology roll leaves him suspicious about how fast he has been pulled off this one. Billy tells Simeon and Tallahassee what happened and sends them to wait in the car while he checks the fingerprints before handing everything to Crane. The Keeper has Dr. Simeon roll Spot Hidden as a radio somewhere in the station fills with static amid the commotion, and after a Spot Hidden roll that lands a hard success, Tallahassee catches a dark figure at the edge of his vision that is gone when he looks again. He says that it is not the first time, and another player says they have seen it too. The Keeper warns Billy that turning the card in through records would leave a trail showing that he is still investigating, and describes Crane as someone who gets many of the cases, has only a working relationship with Billy and may resent his quick promotion. Billy loudly tells his friends that they are "not friends no more" and to go wait in the car, then meets them at a side entrance. In the records room, the clerk, whom Billy first called Doris and the Keeper names Sarah Beatrice, is knocking back shots of ranch. A Persuade roll, a bottle of ranch pulled from a coat pocket and an autographed book from Tallahassee win her over, and the Keeper has her look the other way. All three roll Library Use with two bonus dice and land a hard success, which will still take a couple of hours.

Meanwhile, at about 1 to 2 p.m. under an overcast sky after the morning's sleet, Dom Druncard and Major Bakersfield drive toward the south side of town to Raymond Goddard's address. Dom tells the Major that he is worried about him after the way he reacted at the pawn shop. The Major says that he has "never been more dialed in" and that this one is personal but he is ready. Dom suggests they open by telling Raymond Goddard that the pawn shop was broken into and his watch taken, and see how he reacts; the Major says he will lean on him as much as needed. The house is in a middle-class neighborhood, a fenced starter home with a front lawn so overgrown that the Major (who has not mowed his own lately) says it is wrong compared with the others on the street and wonders whether they will find another John Johnson inside. The Major knocks, and Dom, looking through a window, makes eye contact with a man who then opens the door part way. He looks about mid-20s, short and stocky, with sandy brown hair, a blunt face, an overcoat and a hat, and does not match the tall, athletic, handsome, nicely dressed man the pawnbroker described. He says he is Raymond Goddard, asks whether they have a badge, and when Dom says that they are consultants on the case, says that he is not buying it. The Major draws his 1911 and shoves his way in. The living room is dusty but not trashed, and a brick comes sailing through the front window. Dom asks about the watch and the Major tells him that his parents bought him one engraved with his initials, and a Psychology check shows that he looks genuinely confused by the question. The Major searches for identification, and the man's wallet holds a license in the name Devin Black with an address that is not this house.

Devin reaches for his coat pocket, and the Major kicks the back of his legs for an extreme success on Brawl, sending Devin's gun flying. He refuses to talk and tells them to shoot him. The Keeper offers the Major a deal: spend a d4 of Sanity to turn this into rougher interrogation. The Major puts his knife to his neck and cuts it slightly and then stabs about an inch into the front of his shoulder, spending another d4 and dropping to 35 Sanity. The Keeper describes the look on his face as one Dom has never seen on him before, and Dom quietly draws his gun and holds it at his side. Dom begs Devin to tell the truth, pointing out that he cannot do that while screaming. Devin admits he is not Raymond, says Raymond has been missing for about a week and that he is looking for him. A Psychology roll shows the first part is true and that his claim to be a friend who works at a club downtown called Dolly's is a lie. He says "the people we work for" will kill him, that it is not about money and that they have "a cause," that he answers to Raymond, and that Raymond answers to the rest of them. He says that they are looking into the boaters too, that they do not know what is going on with them and that there is another party on the scene. He says he was contacted by someone he does not know and told to find Raymond. When Dom asks whether he works for the mayor, he goes dead silent and then says that he does not work for him, and when Dom asks whether Raymond did, he says nothing and looks very nervous. The Major asks whether they killed Elizabeth Bakersfield, and Devin says he does not know who that is. Dom says he suspects he knows who John Johnson is and that Devin could identify him, so they should take Devin with them.

While searching him, the Major finds a switchblade and then a dog tag with an octopus-like creature inside a circle. He says "You work for Goodman Gray." Devin goes dead white and asks how the Major knows Gray. The Major tosses the tag to Dom, and the Keeper tells him the symbol is one he recognizes from the bodies found in the tomb in New Jerusalem. When Devin starts to struggle, the Major hits him on the back of the head and knocks him unconscious. Dom says to tie him up, and a knock comes at the door.

Funny Moments

• A running gag has players throwing bricks through windows and doors for no reason. At the Arkham police station a player describes someone throwing a brick through the window and then walking through the door anyway, and at the Goddard house a brick comes sailing through the front window. At one point the Keeper tells the table that the joke is not funny anymore.
• As Tallahassee does finger guns across the work floor and flicks out his trench coat, a player calls it "Dark Spider-Man" and "Evil Spider-Man from Spider-Man 3," and the Keeper has a secretary's hair blow back.
• Billy tells his friends loudly and for the captain's benefit that they are "not friends no more," and the Keeper describes them as his best friends in the whole entire world, whom he loves forever and "would never tell them to leave you willingly."
• Sarah Beatrice is doing ranch shots in the records room. A player pulls a bottle of ranch from a coat pocket to win her over, Tallahassee offers an autographed book, and the Keeper offers a bonus, "double ranch for double ranch," since two ranches are better than one.
• The Major feels a twinge of guilt about the overgrown lawn in front of the house, since he has not mowed his own in a while.
• When the man claiming to be Raymond Goddard is leaned on, a player says, "Looks like not everybody loves Raymond," a callback to the Major's joke in the last episode.
• Asked who he works for, Devin Black says he has a Blockbuster Video, and a player says he lied about Blockbuster Video, "may it rest in peace." He then says he works at a club called Dolly's.
• After the Major rolls a 2 on Brawl, a player says that anytime he gets violent he rolls either an 82 or a 2.
• Dom pleads with Devin to tell his friend the truth, since "he can't tell you the truth if he's screaming."

Notable Quotes

• "The captain wanted to talk to you." —Detective (unnamed)
• "Chaos that follows them around." —Captain Renz, on the group
• "You are chasing after some radio man." —Captain Renz
• "We're not friends no more!" —Billy
• "I've never been more dialed in in my entire life." —Major Bakersfield
• "Yeah, yeah, that's me." —Devin Black, posing as Raymond Goddard
• "He can't tell you the truth if he's screaming." —Dom Druncard
• "We have a cause." —Devin Black
• "You work for Goodman Gray." —Major Bakersfield
• "How do you know Gray?" —Devin Black