Sherlock & Poirot, Crime Analysts

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Sherlock & Poirot, Crime Analysts
Location: Downtown Twilight

If you haven't accepted a job yet today:

The Criminology Lab (so says the paper out front--apparently they gave up on finding a fancy name) specializes in studying crime. Each of the three researchers here is hoping you might be able to help them with their research. They don't have much money so they can't pay you in chips, but they will give you IOUs representing favors that you can apply to some of the odds and ends they've earned while helping other people solve other crimes.

Accept

Leyonne MacDuff, the cereal crime detective, would like you to use her cereal port scanner to hunt down a cereal criminal <location>. It's worth 3 IOU's and is estimated to take around 3 hours for the scanner to properly triangulate.
Accept

Philip K. Anderton, the pre-vandalism expert, would like you to carry his radio, so that he can call whenever he detects some vandalism is imminent. He'll direct you to the right spot, and you stop the vandalism, or report if his equipment is off kilter. For each successful interaction you get 1 IOU, but Phil says he never gets more than three good readings in a night.
Accept

Dirk Douglass, the holistic investigator, doesn't care where you go or what you do. He just wants you to carry his black box with you so that it can track whatever criminal events you find. You can earn one IOU for every two hours you carry the box with you.

Pick wisely, because there's a long line of other heroes who would love a shot at one of these tasks. All of these missions expire at the end of the night--you'll have to drop the equipment back off when you head in to work.

If you accepted Dirk's job already today:

Dirk says the data you're collecting is adding up to a very nice black box body of evidence, and encourages you to keep going. Phil and Leyonne seem to be away from their desks.

If you accepted Phil's job already today:

You try to tell Phil how your prevandalism search is going, but he already knows. (Because he's the one radioing you, of course.) Leyonne and Dirk are both on the phone, so you don't want to bother them.

If you accepted Leyonne's job already today:

Leyonne looks up and asks you how your search is going <location>. The other two regulars seem to be too busy to talk right now.

If you accepted and finished a job already today:

Looks like you're done with your mission for the day. None of the researchers have any work now, but they all say you should stop back in tomorrow.

Always:

Gwen Chen, the criminalligraphy expert, is too busy doing her own analysis of some calligraphic ransom note to put together any tasks for you, but she'd probably take a second to trade some goods from some favors, if you want. Gwen explains they hope to earn more goods once business picks up, but this is all they have lying around the office at the moment.

You currently have X IOUs that you could cash in.

Choose an Item Price
pre-prepared skill point 2 IOUs
gestalt postcard 2 IOUs
stick-on tattoo 2 IOUs
Ceres juice 2 IOUs
frosted cocoa-fruity marshmallow blasts 3 IOUs
pre-coffee 4 IOUs
mighty quill 30 IOUs
repeating rifle 30 IOUs
karma charm 30 IOUs
Prefontane's shoes 40 IOUs
personal copy of the internet 50 IOUs
comically oversized key 60 IOUs
barcoded picture frame 100 IOUs
precompletion training certificate 200 IOUs


Call in those Favors


Notes

Messages

Accepting a Job

  • When you accept Dirk's job:

Dirk gives you a black box, which, like an airplane black box, tracks pretty much everything. In fact, it might be an airplane black box. He says, "All I ask is that you keep carrying this with you. Wherever you go, whatever you do, it'll collect and compile crime data for a citywide crime spectrum. Stop back in whenever it beeps so I can download data, and bring it back when you're done adventuring so someone else can use it during the day." [equip]

You got an item: black box (quantity: 1)

  • When you accept Phil's job:

Phil hands you a pre-vandalism radio. It's kind of bulky and old-timey. You ask why not a cell phone, and Phil explains cryptically that his research predates cell phones, or something. It's not particularly clear. He says he's updated it enough that you don't need to have it equipped, though, just in your inventory, to listen for his call.

You got an item: pre-vandalism radio (quantity: 1)

  • When you accept Leyonne's job:

Leyonne pulls out a cereal port scanner and hands it to you. "Carry this with you, and use it to triangulate while you patrol. She says all indications are a cereal criminal can be found <location>. [equip] And remember, only you can take a bite out of cereal crime."

You got an item: cereal port scanner (quantity: 1)

Cashing in IOUs

Gwen takes your pair of IOUs and trades you for a pre-prepared skill point.

Gwen scratches a couple of IOUs (2, to be precise) off of your tally sheet, and gives you a gestalt postcard.

Gwen takes your pair of IOUs and trades you for a colorful stick-on tattoo.

Gwen takes your pair of IOUs and trades you for a jug of Ceres juice.

Gwen scratches a couple of IOUs (3, to be precise) off of your tally sheet, and gives you a bowl of sweet, sweet cereal.

Gwen scratches a couple of IOUs (4, to be precise) off of your tally sheet, and gives you some pre-coffee.

Gwen scratches several IOUs (30, to be precise) off of your tally sheet, and gives you a karma charm.

Gwen scratches a couple of IOUs (30, to be precise) off of your tally sheet, and gives you a mighty quill.

Gwen scratches a couple of IOUs (30, to be precise) off of your tally sheet, and gives you a repeating rifle.

Gwen scratches some IOUs (40, to be precise) off of your tally sheet, and gives you a pair of Prefontane's shoes.

Gwen scratches some IOUs (50, to be precise) off of your tally sheet, and gives you a disk containing your own personal copy of the internet.

Gwen takes your 60 IOUs and calls in a team of keymovers. Thank goodness. They're worth every IOU.

Gwen scratches some IOUs (100, to be precise) off of your tally sheet, and gives you that picture of a barcode.

Gwen scratches some IOUs (200, to be precise) off of your tally sheet, and gives you a precompletion training certificate. Naturally, it was filled out with your name before you even asked Gwen to trade.

  • When you try to buy something without enough IOUs to pay for it:

You try to haggle with Gwen over the value of that item and the quantity of IOUs you've earned, but she's a very strict accountant. Shame. Guess you're going to have to earn some more favors if you really want that item.

History

  • From at least September 6th 2009 To sometime before September 11th:

There are plenty of storefronts all over downtown Twilight, but this one catches your attention. You peer in the window, and from the dim streetlight you can get a sense of construction going on inside. Looks like they're finishing drywall on one side, and they're starting to put up some cubicles on the other side.

A sheet of printed paper on the door reads: "Future home of Crimebusters, Inc. Coming soon to a neighborhood near you. By which we mean this one. Since you're reading this, you're obviously near it." There's a large gap of white space, and then a teensy footnote at the bottom, saying, "* Unless you're reading this at the printer's, in which case you're a couple of blocks away." Weird.

  • From sometime before September 11th to sometime on September 11th:

There are plenty of storefronts all over downtown Twilight, but this one catches your attention. You peer in the window, and from the dim streetlight you can get a sense of construction going on inside. The drywall is finished and they've moved on to painting. The desks set up on one side of the room are covered in cloth tarps.

A sheet of printed paper on the door reads: "Future home of Crimebusters, Inc. Coming soon to a neighborhood near you. By which we mean this one. Since you're reading this, you're obviously near it." There's a large gap of white space, and then a teensy footnote at the bottom, saying, "* Unless you're reading this at the printer's, in which case you're a couple of blocks away." Weird.

  • From sometime on September 11th to sometime before September 21st:

There are plenty of storefronts all over downtown Twilight, but this one catches your attention. When you approach the plate-glass window to peek in and check on progress, you're surprised to see that the lights are on and somebody's home. And by "home" of course I mean "at work."

The man inside looks up from shuffling his papers, catches your silhouette, and waves you in with a friendly gesture. Figuring you've got nothing to lose, you open the door and walk in. The man's eyes widen briefly when he catches sight of your costume, but his smile only increases. "You're <name>, aren't you? Never thought I'd see you in here. Got a crime to report?"

You say that you'd just noticed the sign and the business name, and were curious about the place. The man nods. "Crimebusters? Yeah, we hoped it would be catchy. It was that or 'Drunken Moody Ace Detectives' and we figured drunken and moody went out with the noir films. Anyway, I'm Stephan Mainwaring, one of the investigators. We're a collection of forensics graduate students and ex-cops, mostly, putting our resources together to do some freelance investigation. Don't worry, we'lll[sic] be sticking to mundane problems, like tracking down drug labs or missing persons. We'll leave the high-profile kidnappings and 'city hall held for one trillion dollars ransom by insane villain' stuff to you. God knows there's enough crime to go around."

You can't but agree to that. Stephan extends an invitation to stop in any time, and says it may be worth you trading off assignments now and then, if you get anything too mundane, or they find themselves facing anything too difficult. You're mostly noncommittal, but make a mental note to keep an eye on these guys.

  • From sometime before September 21st to September 24th:

You swing by the Crimebusters storefront to see what's new. To your amusement, there's a piece of paper slapped over the Crimebusters logo on the glass, with a hand-written[sic] phrase "CSI: Criminal Science Investigations" handwritten on it.

You step inside. There's no sign of Stephan, but another disheveled young man is sitting at his desk. Shaggy, touseled[sic] hair and threadbare clothes give him a less than professional look. He laughs disdainfully when you ask about the sign out front.

"Crimebusters? That's the day staff's name for this place. I'm part of the night staff. Same office, but officially a different business. We've got to come up with our own name. Howd'ya like CSI: Twilight? Got a nice ring, don't it? Not sure about the copyright, though. Got Gwen looking into that one. The other blokes'll be starting sometime soon. Bill and Leon or somesuch. Dunno really, haven't met them yet.

Anyway, I'm Dirk. I'm sort of a big-picture guy. Gestalt, if you will. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts, so look at the big picture. Holistic, like. I need a little more time to set up shop, but then we'll be in business. I'm into solving crimes, but I'm even more into studying crime, to solve it better, later. I know you see a lot of crime in your nightly work. We're trying to recruit a lot of the Twilight heroes like you to help us understand the city's crime, and better fight it. As poor college students we can't offer much, but we'll try to put together a commission scale for those who help us out."

You leave, metaphorically scratching your head. You're not quite sure what to make of Dirk.

  • From September 24th to October 10th:

As you enter, you notice that the sheet of paper on the front door has changed yet again. Probably means CSI got shot down, and you don't like this one's chances any better. Wisely, you decide not to ask.

Dirk announces that he's finally in proper business, and has already started a few investigations. He's got his electronic tracking device ready, and any time you're willing to take it out with you, he'd be much appreciative.

Leyonne and Phil, the other two investigators, are still getting organized, and don't have any missions yet.

  • From October 10th to October 15th:

Yet again the piece of paper out front is announcing a different name for the late-night criminology experts. You're not about to ask this time, or any other time.

Dirk and Phil are both at their desks, working hard on whatever they do while you're out running around. They both ask if you could help.

Leyonne, the other third investigator, is still getting organized, and doesn't have any missions yet.

References

  • The name refers to detectives Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot.
  • Dirk Douglass is a reference to Dirk Gently and to writer Douglas Adams who wrote the books in which he is featured, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. Dirk Gently is known for his holistic approach to crime solving.
    • The name also bears close resemblance to film actor Kirk Douglas.
  • Phillip K. Anderton uses the same scheme to refer to John Anderton, the protagonist of the short story The Minority Report, and to author Phillip K. Dick who wrote it. The story is about a system called Precrime, which punished people with imprisonment for murders they would have committed.
  • Leyonne MacDuff is named on a line from Macbeth, "Lay on, Macduff".
  • Leyonne is not an expert on serial crime.
  • The previous name "Magnum Matlock MacGyver De-Mysterizers" referred to TV series Magnum, P.I., Matlock and MacGyver.
  • The name before that, "CSI: Criminal Science Investigations", referred to the CSI media franchise. The text referred to to "CSI: City" spin-offs.
  • The first name "crimebusters" was the name of a very short lived group of crime fighters in the comic book Watchmen.
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