Murder on the Victorian Express (IC)

[Aoiroo]

Carrie thought about the passengers for a few seconds, there seemed to be a missing effect. Surely the train attendants counted, until they had a solid alibi they shouldn't of been counted out. Though this train of thought was headbutted by Jub's statement about the Brit Machine,

"That is a good freaking question, while it didn't blow up this time, quiet this thing ain't. Actually, the real question is, how many people are likely to even know what this is? Whether or not they know you're jumping dimensions we might want to make an excuse if it was a noisy departure."

[Supercape]

"Its a good question" replied Ms. Wells.

"It does make quite a bang - sorry about that. I guess many people would have heard it - those in the second class carriages for sure. As to what the noise meant. Well, we hired out these two carriages for haulage. Only Drumbrige would have known about the machine for certain. But, on the other hand, it wasn't top secret either. The carriages were secure, and it would be an impressive feat to steal it off a train. Still more impressive to operate it, and it does have a tracking device. "

She paused "it is possible that Ramstein and Willowbreak heard about, perhaps from loose chat in the lounge carriage. However, I cant believe the second class customers would have known about it. "

[Cubist]

"More to the point," Jubatus said, "would the killer have heard it, and would he have recognized what he was hearing? Miss Wells, I'm thinking it would be prudent to assume the killer knows that you went for help, and plan accordingly."

[KnightDisciple]

Fenris nodded as Jubatus opined about his suitability for speaking with some of these individuals.

"Hopefully I won't stand out too much. Maybe I can say I had some trouble with flash powder recently, so my eyes are still healing. I should be able to distract them with aristocrat talk, with a dash of science."

He frowned as the worried about the killer having heard the sound.

"Bit late to worry if they heard us, isn't it? I mean, we should be vigilant, but there's nothing we can do to un-make the sound. We just need to press on. The three in the lounge can't just dash up and out without a bit of suspicion. It's the ones next car over that might be trouble. Or not. It's just too hard to say yet."

He looked at the others for a moment, before he began moving for the door.

"I'm heading up to the lounge, where hopefully I can get a bit of information."

Unless stopped, he continues on his chosen path.

[Supercape]

GM

"I'm heading up to the lounge, where hopefully I can get a bit of information."

Unless stopped, he continues on his chosen path.

The second class carriages were dusty and crowded, and Fenris had to shove and elbow his way through the passengers, who were a mixture of European (mainly English) and Indian. He caught sight of the two thin looking Sikh men that Jubatus had mentioned - they were keeping themselves to themselves, and sitting quite calmly in their seats.

In the Lunge, the three suspects sat, drinking tea. Two men and two women, presumably couples, also reclined, drinking tea. Ramtein was playing cards with one of the husbands, and Willowbreak was regailing the other couple with stories of hunting adventures. Drumbridge sat rather quietly, reading a book.

[KnightDisciple]

The aristocrat-businessman-superhero looked around the lounge room for several moments, squinting just a bit behind the dark glasses. He tried to decide which of the men to approach first.

Ramtein seemed engaged enough it would likely be a bad idea right this moment; if they dealt up a fresh hand, perhaps he'd try to get in. Then again, with no local money, that would be rather hard.

Drumbrige was possible, but interrupting a man's reading time could result in quite a bit of ire. Still, he was one of the prime suspects in Magnus's mind.

No, it seemed sitting down with the group listening to Willowbreak was the best bet.

Thus, he casually walked over to that part of the lounge, found a seat, and quietly sat down to listen to the man's thrilling tales, all the while trying to keep an eye on things.

[Aoiroo]

Carrie let Fenris go ahead while she herself ducked out of the cabin and into to one Ms. Wells indicated that she was sharing for two reasons. Firstly, she wanted a more private place to change, secondly, it had a window which made her feel just a bit better to look out at. The landscape was certainly beautiful, as she did so, the clothing was pretty good too, if not a bit restricting. The outfit she took was one from Ms. Well's collection of a long greyish blue skirt and with a grey blouse under a pale green corset, though she kept her sneakers as no one was likely to see them under the long skirt. She let her hair hang unpinned as it was but ran a comb through it until it hung flat instead of the frizz and slight disarray the trip had left it in, and applied a little bit of make up as suggested by Miss Wells. When she was finished she wasn't terribly comfortable, but she manage to pull up the skirt and move out of the cabin. As Fenris has headed to the lounge, Carrie herself started to take a look at the cabins.

[Cubist]

An idea occurred to Jubatus: If the killer had indeed left the train, he should have left his scent on the outer surface of whichever car he'd exited from. And the killer's scent might well include residue of the corpse's scent. Therefore, it would make sense for Jube to give the train's entire outer surface an olfactory once-over! His Timeshift made the train's velocity a non-issue, and his [bg=green]Super-Movement (Wall-crawling)[/bg] claws would grant him a secure hold anyway. It was far from a sure thing -- just how likely was it that any such scent was still detectable after however-many hours of exposure to the train's exhaust and the winds of its motion? -- but to a perfectionist like Jube, it was worth a shot anyway.

"Miss Wells, I'd like to confirm whether or not the killer is still on board," the feline said as he moved to the back of the car. "How many inches of ground clearance does this train have?"

"Excuse me?" Miss Steampunk blinked in puzzlement. "Whatever can you be planning to do, Sir?"

"Gonna sniff at the train's entire outer surface, and I want to know if there's sufficient room down below for me. If there isn't, fine, I won't sniff at the undercarriage, on the assumption that if I can't fit down there, neither could the killer."

[Cubist]

Noting the feline's excessively slim build, Miss Wells said, "I rather think you shan't have any difficulty clambering about the undercarriage, friend Jubatus. I shall have hot water, soap, and towels waiting for you upon your return, inasmuch as it is likely that you shall be in somewhat intimate contact with wheel-grease and the like."

"Thanks," Jubatus replied, and with his characteristic blur, he left the safe, warm interior of the train...

...only to return in a small number of minutes, as measured by the clock. Miss Wells, as good as her word, had used this time to set up an impromptu bathing facility, and the grime which fouled a goodly portion of the feline's fur indicated that her work would be appreciated. As Jubatus cleansed himself, he reported his findings, such as they were: "Of our top five suspects, Willowbreak's the only one who's left the train anytime recently... Not sure about the time-frame... I need to practice more with this nose," he growled, annoyed at his own lack of competence in this specific area. "Got to be within the past few days, though... Didn't detect any residual scent from the corpse on Willowbreak's scent-traces... Not that that means a whole lot, what with all the exhaust and contamination..." He paused. "Hrrm... Willowbreak's scent is not on the outer surface of either of the last two cars on this train... Whatever he was up to... we can be pretty confident that he wasn't just furtively sneaking around your machine."

At this point, Jubatus scanned his fur with unsympathetic eyes, and sniffed at what had been the worst-begrimed areas on his body. "Pfft! That's about as good as I can get it," he said in a semi-disquieting tone. "Pretty sure no normal nose is gonna pick up on the remaining residue, at least."

[Supercape]

GM

Thus, he casually walked over to that part of the lounge, found a seat, and quietly sat down to listen to the man's thrilling tales, all the while trying to keep an eye on things.

Willowbreak droned on about his most daring exploit - a hunt of a Sabre-toothed tiger, in the new world. Apparently he had been at some peril, and went to far as to show his audience a huge scar running down his left arm. Well, it could have been the beast, there was no real way of knowing.

Ramstein was a powerfully built, blond and blue eyed man, who noticed Fenris as soon as he entered and gave the man careful scrutiny.

"I say there, Meine Freund" he called over. "Care to join in? I'm afraid Penbrook here has had his fill!" he continued, as another man dropped his cards in disgust, handed over yet more money and left the table.

[KnightDisciple]

GM

Willowbreak droned on about his most daring exploit - a hunt of a Sabre-toothed tiger, in the new world. Apparently he had been at some peril, and went to far as to show his audience a huge scar running down his left arm. Well, it could have been the beast, there was no real way of knowing.

Ramstein was a powerfully built, blond and blue eyed man, who noticed Fenris as soon as he entered and gave the man careful scrutiny.

"I say there, Meine Freund" he called over. "Care to join in? I'm afraid Penbrook here has had his fill!" he continued, as another man dropped his cards in disgust, handed over yet more money and left the table.

Fenris glanced over at the table, one eyebrow quirked up, though the expression was mostly hidden. He shrugged and made his way over to the table. He took the seat that Mr. Penbrook had just vacated.

"Thank you for the invitation, Mister...I don't believe we've been introduced. My name is Baron Vilhelm. Seems like you have quite the game going on here. It's been a bit of time since I played, but I recall everything important. I am afraid I've left my money secured in my compartment, but fear not. I can take care of whatever obligations come out of the game. Assuming I'm the one paying, after all."

The others at the table caught a hint of the grin on his face, before he loosened the scarf more, exposing his mouth.

"Had a touch of a scratchy throat earlier, was trying to keep the airways protected. Seems to be doing better, though. So. Any rules I should know about before I dive right in?"

He exuded calm composure mixed with some excitement. His posture, his pronunciation, his overall bearing; all of them exuded the idea of "someone important", "someone who matters", or in other words "someone of noble blood".

[Supercape]

GM

"Certainly" came Ramsteins reply, impressed with the confidence of the Baron.

"Delighted to have a worthy sparring partner" he continued, as he dealt out some cards. "Travelling first class, I presume? I imagine you only alighted recently, or otherwise you are the worlds best recluse. Terrible business back there" he said, nodding to the other end of the train. "Damned shame, and now we are stuck in the middle of the Indian backwater, nothing but cards and Willowbreaks tales to keep us entertained!" he laughed.

He played a few rounds, and was clearly a good player, cunning, knowing when to cut his losses and when to play all out. The other two men were average players, and steadily lost cash, without bleeding it. The game was all about Ramstein and Fenris.

All the while, Ramstein kept his eyes on his opponent, scrutinising him for any flicker of the eye, or change in posture that might indicate how good the Baron's cards were. And he was good at it.

[KnightDisciple]

Ramstein was a canny player, but Fenris was no slouch. Sadly, his lack of practice playing any sort of card game made him comparatively easy to read, even as he got a decent read on his opponent. Currently, he had a pair of Jacks and a pair of 10s, plus a Queen.

"Indeed, first class. Such as it can be on a transport such as this. And it's a bit of both; I don't flock to large groups with the regularity of some of the more "social" ladies in our circles, but I also got on just a few stops ago.

Terrible indeed. Personal tragedy for those involved, but seems like a bit of a national one as well. I'm not actually from Britain, but I mourn with them in losing so great a mind. I have enough interest in the sciences to feel sadness that a mind like his will never postulate, theorize, and experiment ever again.

How do you mean, stuck? They're not going to keep us on the train longer than our destination, are they?"

[Supercape]

GM

How do you mean, stuck? They're not going to keep us on the train longer than our destination, are they?"

"I have no idea, Baron" replied Ramstein. "The police are on their way, might be half a day before they get here. We are practically in the middle of a mountain range. And I don't think we are moving until we get some sort of investigation, although I have my doubts about how proficient that will be. "

He thumbed his cards, scrutinising his opponent carefully again. It had been going back and forth in the previous rounds, both of the men winning and losing equally. Ramstein seemed to be getting vexed at not dominating the game.

"Damn frustrating" he said, throwing his cards down with a mediocre hand of two nines and an ace.

"Lets have some food whilst we play, eh? this is working up an appetite..." he called over the waiter whilst the next hand was being played.

[KnightDisciple]

Fenris smiled a slightly wolfish smile as he laid down his two pair. Not an earth-shattering victory, but it was still something.

"Yes, a bit of food does sound rather nice. I'm actually enjoying this; solidly trouncing an opponent is all well and good, but I rather like the tension of a close match.

As for being stuck here waiting for the police...Ugh. I'm all for catching the crook, understand. But being stuck out here even longer? I've always preferred my trips being as efficient as possible. Nothing efficient about cold murder, though, I suppose. And I'd hope there's at least some proficiency..."

[Aoiroo]

Carrie was able to access the cabins rather easily, even if they were locked(which she asked Ms. Wells to look away while she did her trick). With the womans assistance she made a sweep through all the cabin. She found multiple subjects of interest in Ramsteins quarters, mostly a pistol and a turban which Ms. Wells idenitified as one of the Sihks and several books. Drumbridge however, seemed to show evidence of finaincial troubles which was caused by the luddites. That was more ambiguis than the other thing for certian. Willowbreak's cabin, lots of hunting and suggesting that this person is certianly willing to kill and hunt game, she wondered how much that might of translated to killing a man. Slipping out of the cabin she looked at Miss Wells,

"So, we have a scholar, a struggling business man, and a hunter, huh, middle mand doesn't seem much, though if he was hired for a hit he might be desperate enough for the cash. Any thoughts?"

[Supercape]

GM

Slipping out of the cabin she looked at Miss Wells,

"So, we have a scholar, a struggling business man, and a hunter, huh, middle mand doesn't seem much, though if he was hired for a hit he might be desperate enough for the cash. Any thoughts?"

Ms. Wells looked at Carrie and pondered the matter.

"Well, I suppose Drumbridge could be doing it for cash, it doesn't seem particularly likely. Ramstein and Willowbreak certainly have the weapons, but there was no bullet wound I could see. The turban in Ramsteins cabinet? I suppose one thinks of the two Sihks under suspicion in the second class carriages. But it could be entirely circumstantial. "

She shook her head.

"It's interesting. Potentially useful, but its only a piece of the jigsaw, I think. "

[Aoiroo]

"Well if it was easy, you wouldn't be asking for help now would you. Second class it is, let's check conductor and on staff quarters too. No ruling out anybody until we get more info."

As they moved to the second class, Carrie found it a bit more crowded and actually occupied which prompted her to have Miss Wells stay outside. She was perfectly capable in her own sneaking capability, and was able to pick up some things, which were less than helpful simply because they were in a language she could neither speak nor begin to decode. She also found some rip clothing, but that wasn't that unusual. Slipping out she moved over to Miss Wells,

"Not much in there, next up is the servants quarters, though I think we might want to meet up with one of the others see how their faring."

[Supercape]

GM

"Not much in there, next up is the servants quarters, though I think we might want to meet up with one of the others see how their faring."

Ms. Wells turned over the piece of ripped cloth. "Interesting..." she commented. "Although quite possibly innocent too. The Brit Machine equipment at the back of the train has plenty of devices we could look at this with, not least a powerful microscope. I'm no expert in forensic analysis, of course - maybe the Baron is?"

She looked up. "And on that subject, I think he went to the first class lounge, trying a bit of undercover investigation perhaps. Your other companion, the cat-man, well his nose has come in very handy..."

[Cubist]

"Thanks, Miss Wells," Jubatus said in response to Miss Steampunk's compliment. After getting cleaned up, he again wore the silk shirt and khaki trousers he'd commandeered and modified from the corpse's luggage. "I don't know your culture all that well -- do you think it would be a good idea for me to go out and start chatting with the other passengers? I doubt I'll be able to find out anything useful, but, I dunno, maybe I'll draw so much attention that someone else could go unnoticed while doing something else."

[Supercape]

GM

At that very moment...

Gunfire!

"What the blazes" roared Willowrbreak, mid-story about how he had wrestled an African Lion. He peered out of the First class carriage. His hunters eyesight had not dimmed with age.

"Thugees!" he proclaimed.

"What?" answered a fretful young lady he had been talking too.

"Indian terrorists" he roared back. "Devils! Heathens! Pagans! want to turn Indian into some Godless devil worshipping state free from British rule, thats what! attacking us! Like the American Indians from the New world, thats what it is! Well I'll show them what for!" he yelled, storming off to his carriage, yelling "Get me my rifle!"

Indeed, the gunfire could be heard nearer and nearer. And return shots too. It seemed the local Indian constabulary were returning fire, although they were rather outmanned, and by the sound of it, outgunned.

Ms. Wells turned to Carrie and Jubatus. "This complicates things somewhat" she said, stating the obvious. "The Thugee cult... have quite a reputation for brutishness. They spawned the very word 'Thug' a century ago. Its too much of a coincidence, they must be tied up with this somehow. Why else would they be here?"

[Aoiroo]

Carrie's head was in her hand almost instantly, letting out a sigh she looked at Jubatus,

"Right, I can guess you're going to be an heroic blur, if you can, stop the fight before it begins, disarment first of anyone with anything that might give them an edge and than if they still keep fighting, well this isn't freedom, most everyone we've met so far is human, shouldn't be any trouble for you."

Grabbing Miss Wells by the hand and started to lead her along,

"Come on, you're our ride home, so you're sticking with me. What's the safest place you can think we can go here, cause we might have to talk every other y chromosone from going all gun hoe so they don't get hurt."

[Cubist]

Hm. How does he know who it is, just from hearing the boom-boom? Jubatus thought. But if he's right... [bg=black]Xxxxixx[/bg] religious freakazoids. Can't help but have fun taking 'em down, but hopefully I won't enjoy it too much... "What she said," the feline declared, indicating Carrie. And then he vanished in a blur, leaving his shirt and pants neatly folded on top of a convenient seat...

...and he discovered that Willowbreak was right: There were Thugees out here. Or at least people whose garb would have marked them as Thugees if they were back home, anyway. And if they're not this world's equivalent of Thugees, that's too damn big of a coincidence. The fastest cat on two Earths zoomed into the murderous zealots and started collecting weapons. Bullets were flying in all directions, but at his current tempo of 40, that wasn't important, as everything around him (leaden projectiles included) was moving at only 1/40 its 'normal' speed. Bullets were easy to see -- being the only things besides Jube himself that were visibly moving -- and easy to dodge. And even if he did get tagged, it wouldn't do worse than maybe raise a bruise.

That was the theory, anyway. Jubatus was uncomfortably aware of the fact that he had no actual experience, no empirical data to support this theory. But still, a tempo of 40..?

[KnightDisciple]

Fenris stood up, cursing inside his mind, and a bit under his breath. Having several languages made it all the more versatile in its application...

"Damn! I have to head back a couple cars, make sure my companions are safe!"

With that, he dashed from the room. Of course, his real goal was to get to his armor. As he dashed back through the cars towards the back, he ducked past various passengers, ignoring questions about what was going on. Finally, he reached the car where he'd stored the suit.

"Pardon me folks."

He jogged into the corner and typed in the code to get the armor started up and running, while simultaneously activating his undersuit and tossing off his borrowed clothes. In perhaps 15 seconds, he was already starting to seal the armor around himself.

"Just a moment more, and I'll hop out there. No reason to let people get killed just to stay on the down-low."

[Cubist]

Luck, or perhaps just physics, was with Jubatus: He did indeed manage to avoid getting hit by any bullets. It was harder than he'd thought, because the damn things were coming from more than 20 distinct sources! Even at a tempo of 40, it wasn't easy to keep track of that many vectors from that many widely-separated origin points. Three projectiles out of the whole slow-motion bulletstorm came uncomfortably close to tagging Jube, and that was three too many, as far as he was concerned.

The feline didn't let that get in the way of the job he was doing, however; one by one, he snatched the weapons out of the hands of the Thugees who fired them. One by one, the collection of Victorian guns in his left arm grew bigger, their aggregate mass quickly exceeding the limits of what he could carry in the absence of his Timeshift's gravity-tweaking side-effect.

And then, without warning, a bolt of lightning-like energy intruded itself into the ambient bulletstorm! What the hell!? Jube thought, whipping his head around to scan for this new threat. I thought the locals were into steampunk, not Star Wars! But the feline's luck held true, for the bolt (and a second one just following) came from a man in lupine-styled armor -- Fenris. Okay, the guy's not just a cloud of aristocratic airs. Good to know.

Not bothering to slow down, Jubatus carried his current load of guns off and placed them before the four policemen who had been the Thugees' unfortunate targets -- and then he zipped back to finish the job. Between his speed and Fenris' energy blasts, all of the Thugees soon fell into one of two categories; either they'd fled after being disarmed, or else they were disarmed and unconscious.

Not bad, Jubatus thought to himself. Then he zipped over to speak to Fenris: "Hey, dog face! I see your tin can's not decorative!" he said with a smile and a 'thumbs up' gesture.