Day 66: Library

[overlimit]

What the hell even happened last night? Rita remembered struggling with some kind of snake, and then… everything got kind of fuzzy from there. She knew what she saw, but she also knew it couldn’t have been real. It was more like a dream, but then, what was happening in reality while she was ‘dreaming’? Damn it, she must have looked like an idiot!

Rita was getting sick of all these tricks and hallucinations. The next time she encountered a monster, she was going to roast it to ashes, just out of spite.

Still seething, she brought her lunch to the Library and found an empty table to sit at. She went there almost automatically, and silently glared at her surroundings. The useless books, the place where that monster attacked her last night, the trap door she’d once again been unable to pass through… everything about this place was getting on her nerves.

She took an angry bite out of her sandwich, as if even that had wronged her somehow.

[free!]

Comments

[fourstonewalls]

It was quite possible that Lana could recite the entire catalog of books that the library stocked, from memory, in alphabetical order by author. She certainly spent enough time in here, pacing up and down the stacks as if their contents were going to change. She could actually read one of them; she could keep her eyes open long enough to do that, but she didn't especially want to. What she wanted wouldn't be in any of them; a cure, or even an explanation that made rational sense.

She'd never been one for wild theories. Pity, that. They were as likely -- no, more likely -- to be accurate around here as the more sensible explanations.

[Detective Gumshoe]

[ham_fisted]

[Sorry this is late!]

He must have just missed her!

He'd take a look around again! If he didn't find her this time, well, she might've gone back to her room. But it was really important that he spoke to her before tonight!

His mind raced as he entered the Library for the second time that day. He hadn't seen her in here before... Maybe she'd woken up later than him? She had to be feeling pretty ill by now...

He was about ready to move on to the next room. That was, until he saw a woman with long hair standing nearby.

His mouth opened slightly in surprise, and he ran over to her. Before he could get a look at her face (he hoped he wasn't wrong...), he stopped beside her and raised his right hand in a salute. "M-Ms. Skye! I, um..." Trying to cover up the hesitation, he saluted her again. "I saw your note!"

[fourstonewalls]

"And I, yours, Detective. At ease, please." He kept saluting, even when she hadn't been his direct superior in years, and wasn't in charge of anything other than contemplating cinder-block walls, as far as he was aware. It was a little disconcerting. Still, it was nice to talk to someone with some energy.

"Anything to report?" She didn't have anything that hadn't been posted to the bulletin in just as much detail as she'd spotted herself; observational skills were thicker on the ground here than on the force. But maybe, just maybe, what this investigation needed was someone who didn't think in straight lines. Which definitely described Detective Gumshoe.

[ham_fisted]

His saluting hand fell and was about to trail up to the back of his neck, but with some effort, he kept that arm stiff and straight at his side. He was trying not to look nervous, but... Well, trying not to get worked up tended to work him up even more, you know? And with how self-conscious he was about this sling he had to wear, he was feeling giddier than one of Mr. Wright's clients near the end of a trial!

W-Well, maybe not that giddy...

"Not really, no," he said without thinking, then instantly regretted it. He couldn't have put that more bluntly. His feet shifted a little and he looked at the floor like he'd noticed something interesting down there. "Uh, um... What I mean is, I got kind of sidetracked last night, so I didn't make it to the X-Ray Room." His eyes flicked back up to hers and he briefly stuck out his left forearm to show her what he meant.

But since he didn't want her to pay it any mind (he was embarrassed enough as it was!), he decided to ask a question of his own. "D-Did you see the clue, ma'am?" There was no right way to ask someone whether they'd turned into a monster last night.

[fourstonewalls]

"We did. If you can call it that." It certainly was a clue, but whether or not it had any actual significance was another matter entirely. It could be just a way to keep them chasing their own tails, especially when one of the most bull-headed detectives on the force had been sidetracked before even seeing it.

"There was a painting of Salome, with the severed head of John the Baptist on a platter. Plus a caption, in case it wasn't familiar." Lana felt no need to mention that she hadn't recognized it immediately; offices ran much more smoothly if their heads gave every impression of omniscience, and knowing more than Gumshoe wasn't difficult. Even if it might be stretching the truth in this particular case. "There was also a pile of leaves. Does that suggest anything to you?"

[To keep things simple, I assumed she doesn't see the bulletin note or hear about Byrne changing, until just before she goes back to her room.]

[ham_fisted]

[Sorry this is so hideously late! I lost the notif.]

You know what he thought she needed? Something to cheer her up. He suddenly felt like telling her a joke.

But he held back. His gaze fell to the ground again. As usual, he had nothing useful to say, so he went with: "Yeah. Whoever's responsible for these clues could stand to leave us one that makes sense for once."

His face softened after a moment and he glanced at her again, looking apologetic for the outburst. "If they've got something to say, why don't they come out and say it?"

[fourstonewalls]

"I'm not sure they can. Anything they tell us, Landel hears, too." She tapped her fingers on the table as she talked. "And every contact gives him a chance to trace them back; they may not be able to give much in the way of detailed instructions to whoever they have on the inside." Hmm. That might be something to try -- was it one of the nurses? The doctors?

"Besides, it's not just criminals who can get caught up in being too clever for their own good." Prosecutors. Detectives. Ones that hadn't yet crossed the line, but were toeing it. "I think I've lost track of how many defense attorneys I've seen fall into that trap. They mean well, but it's usually a bad idea."

Some times, though, she had to admit it was the only option available to them. She wasn't sure whether or not she was hoping it was ingenuity or incompetence on their part; either had its drawbacks.