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Post by skybright on Sept 15, 2007 23:43:27 GMT -5
The musty smell of old books and stored paper grew stronger as they descended the stairs into the basement, took a left down a short hallway, and stepped into a near-deserted room full of deep-drawered metal cabinets. A narrow-faced librarian gave them a sharp look as they came in, then turned back to her desk.
Daws shrugged and led the way into the far back corner of the room, then turned to Joey. "All right," She said quietly, "I think we can probably stick to 1921 - 1930, between when Stiglione's daughter went missing and when he got killed. That's nine years, which works out to . . . oh, about three thousand newspapers, give or take."
She grinned humorlessly and pulled a heavy, leather-bound book marked Index 1920-1930 from on top of the drawers. "Here's hoping that Rizzo, Stiglione or Pendergast rated a mention in at least a few of 'em."
Daws withdrew her pocket notebook, flipped open the index, and began scribbling issue numbers. After a moment, she tore off the sheet and handed it to Joey. "That's a start, anyhow." She said, turning back to the index. "I skipped most of the articles that just look like passing references."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 15, 2007 23:53:23 GMT -5
Joey winced. "Oh boy," he sighed, scratching his head, and moved off to track down the first newspaper on the list she had given him.
After a moment he was back, gingerly carrying a bundle of yellowed newsprint, and looking somewhat worried that it might disintegrate in his hands. He set it down on the table, then took another look at the list.
"You notice there don't seem to be any articles here about Stiglione's girl disappearing?" he pointed out. "If she was a mutant, maybe he didn't care enough to make a fuss about it. Maybe he even..." Joey winced, not caring to elucidate his line of thought.
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Post by skybright on Sept 15, 2007 23:56:54 GMT -5
Daws shuddered and rubbed the back of her neck. "She wouldn't be the first." She muttered. "But then again, it doesn't seem likely in that case that she'd end up in the basement of his enemy's club. Maybe he just bribed the press into keeping it quiet -- for the sake of appearances, maybe, or to protect the rest of the family."
She shrugged and replaced the heavy index with a muffled thump that earned her a glare from the distant librarian. Not looking particularly chagrined, she moved to start withdrawing the rest of the newspapers she'd written down.
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 16, 2007 0:25:04 GMT -5
Making a slight face, Joey slowly and carefully began to peel the pages of the newspaper apart. He nearly swallowed his tongue when a yellowed corner flaked off in his fingers, but he doggedly went on with the task, at last finding the article referenced in the index.
"That's funny," he mused when Daws returned. "We read Stiglione had a feud with Rizzo, didn't we? But here in 1921, it looks like they were best buddies. Get this: Stig claimed he was cooking Rizzo a big spaghetti dinner at his own house, on the night some guys Rizzo didn't like were taken out. The guy who wrote this article is screaming blue murder about that alibi, and how useless the cops are."
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Post by skybright on Sept 16, 2007 0:31:43 GMT -5
Daws frowned, settling in at the table with her own armload of papers. "1921. Maybe that would've been before Stiglione's girl disappeared . . ."
She tapped the tabletop with one claw, looking thoughtful. "Okay . . . so maybe Rizzo had somethin' to do with her disappearing. Maybe even with her being pregnant, if she's the same person as our mystery woman. That'd be more than enough to start a feud between him and Stiglione, even if they were pals beforehand."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 16, 2007 0:37:57 GMT -5
"That's what I was starting to think," Joey agreed. Then he frowned. "But there's one thing I don't see. If Stiglione thought--or even was sure--that Rizzo did something to his daughter, why would he wait seven years to make him disappear?"
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Post by skybright on Sept 16, 2007 0:46:39 GMT -5
Daws shook her head. "That's the big loophole in that particular theory. There's no reason he wouldn't just knock Rizzo off on just suspicion -- or why he wouldn't force Rizzo to tell him where his daughter's body was and then kill him. Even if she was a mutant and Stiglione was . . . well, glad to be rid of her," she winced slightly, "He still couldn't afford to let Rizzo alone. If word got out, Stiglione would lose face -- and I never heard yet of a gang boss who was willing to do that."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 16, 2007 0:52:20 GMT -5
"And there's still the whole question of where Pendergast fits in," Joey lamented, and shook his head. "Sheez... the more we find out, the more tangled it gets. My brain hurts."
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Post by skybright on Sept 16, 2007 1:01:49 GMT -5
Daws chuckled humorlessly. "You and me both. This started out cut-and-dried -- Rizzo went missing and we found a body wearing Rizzo's coat, case closed." She sighed and carefully leafed through the paper in front of her. "Now we've got a doctor who might or might not have been a mutant specialist, another missing person who may or may not be out mystery woman, a gangland friendship that turned into a rivalry . . . it's a mystery novel waiting for a place to happen, only we can't flip to the back pages to figure out whodunnit."
She shrugged and bent over the brief column in the paper, then sighed and carefully re-folded it. "Another mention of Pendergast, but it's just another of those society blurbs. Some steel millionaire endowing the clinic with a thousand dollars."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 16, 2007 1:13:49 GMT -5
Joey pulled another paper toward him and turned the pages. "And here's another big help--a restaurant review of Rizzo's Place. What an original name." He read through it briefly. "Big praise for how good-looking the girls in the floor show were. If any of 'em were mutants, they must not have been obvious at all."
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Post by skybright on Sept 16, 2007 1:20:04 GMT -5
"Yeah, I can't imagine that a mutant girl would've rated 'good looking' back then." Daws turned to the next paper in front of her, then glanced up with a sudden thought.
"Y'know . . . we've been assuming that our mystery woman had been a mutant for quite a while."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 16, 2007 1:32:54 GMT -5
Joey raised an eyebrow. "You mean maybe she'd turned pretty recently before she died?" He shrugged. "I wouldn't know that. Would any of Doctor Ollivard's tests tell us?"
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Post by skybright on Sept 16, 2007 1:43:54 GMT -5
Daws shook her head. "It beats me. I think they've got a way to tell, but I don't know if Caddy's got the capacity to run that kind of test or if there's even enough DNA left to run it on.
"It's a thought, though. People who are late manifesters usually need some kinda shock to their system to bring it out -- like Vance, for example. Pregnancy dumps a lot of new hormones into your bloodstream, and if it wasn't expected . . . well, that's another shock." She shrugged. "I'll have to ask Caddy if he can tell from his tests when she manifested."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 16, 2007 21:39:38 GMT -5
"If it really matters much," Joey mused. "Whenever it happened, it seems like it must've had something to do with why she was killed."
He sighed thoughtfully and turned back to skimming through another newspaper.
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Post by skybright on Sept 16, 2007 22:04:39 GMT -5
"Yeah." With a resigned shrug, Daws lifted the next newspaper from the stack she'd carried to the table and began gingerly turning its pages.
"Hey, here's an ad for the tailor Rizzo's suitjacket came from." She scribbled the address of the place across her notepad, "Looks like it was in what used to be a pretty posh business district. Rizzo may not have been much of a bigshot, but apparently he liked to dress himself like one."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 16, 2007 22:26:52 GMT -5
Joey leaned over to look at the ad. "I remember being down that way a few weeks ago. I think there are some Korean or Vietnamese restaurants or something around there now, but I don't remember seeing that place."
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Post by skybright on Sept 16, 2007 22:33:52 GMT -5
"Not that surprising." Daws said with a shrug. "There isn't nearly as much call for tailors now as there was eighty years ago. Most of 'em folded up shop a long time ago."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 16, 2007 22:38:54 GMT -5
Joey thumbed the newspaper he was looking through. "Here's something else about Stiglione. Looks like he did some jail time in 1925. Some kinda Prohibition violation--they gave him a year, but I guess that would've gotten cut down. No mention of Rizzo or the girl."
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Post by skybright on Sept 16, 2007 22:45:41 GMT -5
Daws frowned. "Wonder if he and Rizzo were feuding by then. Stiglione being in the joint for a couple of months would've been an opportunity for Rizzo to try any number of sneaky things, if they were."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 16, 2007 22:50:18 GMT -5
"Or maybe they weren't, and he did anyway, and that started the feud," Joey suggested.
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