Posted by Commander Jason Harn (Executive Officer) in Holodeck side sim: Dixon Hill and the Case of the Golden Serpent All Characters Invited

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Edison Dowd (Science Officer) in Holodeck side sim: Dixon Hill and the Case of the Golden Serpent All Characters Invited

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Srothell Ch’zaolrirh (Chief Security Officer) in Holodeck side sim: Dixon Hill and the Case of the Golden Serpent All Characters Invited
Posted by… suppressed (6) by the Post Ghost! 👻
SNIP

“Tell us Mrs. Goodwin where were you at the time of the murder? I ask only to know certain things so we can eliminate you from the list.” Poirot asked.

Maybe Hastings, as it so often happens, can be swayed by a pretty face and a sad story but not Poirot. He sees everything.

Poirot

“I was at a winetasting party in Napa Mister Poirot and I stayed with some friends all night,” she smirked at him in a haughty tone. “I didn’t know about what happened to Harry until I read about it in the paper and received a telephone call from the police. Harry owed a lot of money to some very dangerous people and it seems that they did their worst. He assured me that he would be able to pay them off but…” she slowly turned her gaze from Sidney to Jason, “…it seems that somebody made off with a priceless artifact that was literally the difference between life and death.”

Edison gulped. He knew it was just a holodeck program but he felt bad about what he had done now. He should have checked it was actually Mrs Goodwin.

“The Serpent?” Jason asked in his own voice, before sitting on Dixon Hill’s desk, crossing his arms and doing a terrible Humphrey Bogart impression. “The Serpent? You can’t blame me fur that doll-face. The other Missus Goodwin told me that she wanted it for her half in the divorce and that it was a family heirloom.”

“The Golden Serpent isn’t an heirloom, Mister Hill, it’s an Aztec artifact, from somewhere in the jungles of Mexico,” Katherine Goodwin informed him. “Harry got it on his last trip. My husband owed a lot of money to gangsters. I assume to brought the statue into the country to pay them off. When you took it, he had nothing to give them. So they killed him.”

“Whoever this woman, this imposter was, she obviously wanted Harry out of the way. Either that or she just wanted the Serpent. She used you to get what you wanted. Fed you some story about needing to get the Serpent, and sent you out to find it. Once you had it, she could just wait for the gangsters to kill him so nobody would be around to claim it. Well she’s wrong. I’m claiming it.”
Jason laughed nervously. It was apparent that he hadn’t run very many holonovels and wasn’t prepared for the intensity of the hologram’s performance. “What do you expect me to do about it?”

“Find the Serpent Mister Hill,” Katherine Goodwin ordered in a slightly gentler tone. “I know this wasn’t your fault. You had no reason to doubt this woman’s story. I want the Serpent Mister Hill. If Harry brought it here, it belongs to me. He’s left me nothing but debts. You were the last person to see the Serpent and I have faith in your investigative skills. I don’t know why you’ve assembled this team of detectives or what other case you’re working on with Mister Poirot and the others, but you owe. I want to hire you to find the Serpent, this time for the real Missus Goodwin.”

Jason Harn and Katherine Goodwin, dropping a ton of exposition

Hastings looked back to the others. “Well I say chaps. It looks like we have some redeeming to do.”

Lt (j.g) Edison Dowe (Science)/Hastins

“Redeeming perhaps Hastings. You cannot tell a bird by its feathers always nor a serpent by its scales.” Poirot said cryptically.

“Yes Mrs. Goodwin we will take the case. Rest assured nothing escapes Poirot. This includes serpents.” He said with his little Belgian smile. He clasped her hand with both of his in a dainty way and gave a short bow/nod with his head.

“Oh thank you,” Katherine Goodwin smiled. It was a smile that could light up Broadway, a smile that could launch a thousand ships, a smile that worth taking a risk for. Katherine Goodwin was already an attractive woman, but she was really something when she smiled.

“Well Mr. Hill where does one find a place where an actress with the same build and general look of Mrs. Goodwin would be. Of course the hair most likely be another color. They always change the hair. These wigs and such. Why look into empty trash bins when we already have a lead. The woman who so easily fooled you. She is not I suppose invisible and I think is an actress of some sort. ” Poirot

Poirot

“Dang, that’s a good one,” Jason muttered in his own voice as he scratched his manly chin. “We could retrace our steps but that wouldn’t help us. Let’s stick to what we know. We know that she knew Archie Goowin…”

”…Harry,” Katherine corrected him quietly.

”…She knew Harry Goodwin and she knew he had the Serpent. That’s a good place to start I guess.”

OOC: Does anybody else have any ideas where to begin. Feel free to pitch in!

Jason Harn, XO

“Might I also point toward. Whomever directed this false Mrs. Goodwin toward you must:

1. Be in the show business
2. Know of you Mr. Hill

“Is there anyone who is in the show business who might point a person toward you?” Poirot said. For him it was simply seeing the patterns. It was possible that someone picked him at random but not likely. He would go so far as to assume that Mr. Hill had a penchant for damsels in distress. This meant that the other Mrs. Goodwin did her research and someone pointed her in Hill’s direction.

Poirot

Plunkett was still pursuing the paper in the corner. The article about Harry’s death was too bare bones to give him any additional clues. Listening in to the conversation, he decided to find the entertainment section, perhaps he could find a show that might of aligned with Harry’s interests in travel and history.

Ch’zaolrirh (Plunkett)

According to the article in the newspaper, Harry Goodwin washed ashore last night after someone apparently dumped him in the Bay. Strangle marks around his throat indicate he was killed before entering the water.

“Is there perhaps someone Mr Hill knows?” Edison asked Jason. “Err..excuse me. I mean. Well, Mr Hill, do you know anyone in the showbusiness industry?”

Lt (j.g) Edison Dowe (Science)

Jason looked at Sidney and Edison with an expression that said “how should I know? Then he remembered that they really didn’t expect him to answer that question and with Katherine Goodwin present they were still “on stage” with respect to non player characters. “I know a lot of people in this town,” he purred in character. “My reputation precedes me, perhaps not as much as yours Mister Poirot, but when folks are in trouble I come highly recommended. The way I see it, we have two… no wait maybe three options. First, we can retrace our steps and find out if any clue to who the fake Missus Goodwin was or what happened to Harry shows up. Two, we can drop by the police station and find out if any of Mister Plunkett’s friends on the force know anything. And third… uh… third… um… we check with any underworld contacts and see if anyone is trying to sell the Serpent.”

Jason Harn, XO

Poirot nodded his head but frowned. A good use of physical exertion but not a good use of the gray cells.

Poirot will go to the show business people. As locating the fake Mrs. Goodwin seems the logical choice. “Shooting the dark” as they say is not what Poirot considers a good use of time.

“Mrs. Goodwin do you have a photo of yourself?” He asked her. “As this woman pretends to look like you then it makes sense to look for you Mrs. Goodwin. Someone will recognize the features.”

Poirot