Unexpected company

[tptb-in-ltsh.livejournal.com]

Date: June 11th, morning
Location: In front of the manor
Status: Public
Summary: Two mystery guests appear.


A car pulled up in front of the manor and swerved neatly into a free parking space. After a moment, the front doors opened, and two men got out. Both were tall and lean, but any semblance between them ended there. Where one of them wore his blonde hair cropped short, the other, a dark-skinned, dark-eyed fellow looking a good fifteen years younger than his fair-complexioned companion, sported an unruly mane of black curls, hardly tamed by a loose tie at the nape of his neck. The former wore the suit to match his well-groomed appearance, the second made do with worn jeans and a sleeveless shirt.

The dark one walked around the car to stand with the driver.

"It's out of the way enough to check, I guess," he mused.

"It's too far," the other replied. "He never could have made it this far."

The dark one snorted. "You've no idea what a man can do if he sets his mind to it."

"Not after I'm through with him," the other told him.

That made his companin grin. "Point being," he said, "you weren't through with him yet or he wouldn've have gotten away. Now let's get going."

They started ambling towards the house.

Comments

[tptb-in-ltsh.livejournal.com]

The two fell into step behind her, alert enough not to run into her when she stopped again.

"Martin Cole," Greenwood informed her. "He may have been going by a different name, though."

He smiled at the girl. "Are you Dutch?"

[jan-skovasja.livejournal.com]

Jan followed the group inside, still smiling, but watching them intently.

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Rose shivered minutely and hoped nobody had seen it. That name she remembered. And she remembered the blood and Raphael's desperation and the way the man had died despite their attempts at saving him. She also remembered Atlan checking the man's identity. She didn't like the fact that these men were asking for the man now, smelling of old blood...

"Well, I'm quite sure we don't currently have a guest of that name nor had one recently but I'll check. And no, I'm not Dutch. But my ancestors were."

She was glad her voice came out steady and calm and went to the reception desk to 'check' the books, knowing full well the name wouldn't be in there.

"You said he would have passed through 'recently'; how far back in the books should I go?"

[jan-skovasja.livejournal.com]

The name meant nothing to Jan, but he hoped that the strangers would leave peacefully now that they knew the man wasn't here.

[tptb-in-ltsh.livejournal.com]

"Try around 20 May," Greenwood suggested. "A couple days, give or take. It would have been around that time."

He considered for a moment.

"Of course he may have used a different name. He's not precisely this side of the law, you know."

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Rose went to leaf through the reservations and registered guests, mumbling

"Cole, Cole, Cole... no, there's no Cole in here. Neither a Martin nor any other first name. Does your friend have a specific second name he likes to use? Or could you describe him?"

[tptb-in-ltsh.livejournal.com]

"May I see the entries for those dates?" the man asked, holding out a hand for the book already.

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Rose didn't intend to hand the book over. These were no guests and she didn't know them and they made her uneasy, so she wouldn't let them read through their guests' personal information. She still smiled in a friendly way

"There isn't much to see, we only had three new guests in that time span, one of them a woman. Adam Pierson arrived on May 18th, and Anubis Delta on May 23rd. Do those names ring a bell?"

[tptb-in-ltsh.livejournal.com]

They looked at each other. None of the names were known aliases of the man they were looking for.

Anubis Delta sounded strange enough to maybe be a cover name of the 'too weird to be made up' kind. Adam Pierson sounded nicely nondescript - just the kind of thing one might use for a cover. The date was too early, though. On 18th May, Cole had still been happily part of their little organisation. But if he had managed to somehow fake the entry, change the date... They shouldn't take the risk.

"Can we talk to those two?" he finally asked. "I mean, are they still in residence,and if not, do you have any kind of contact information ... maybe for unpaid bills or to send forgotten objects to?"

[jan-skovasja.livejournal.com]

Contact informaton? Surely Mis Heerkens wasn't authorised to give that to complete strangers.

Jan took a step closer to the counter so he could step in before they reached the girl in case they got agressive and slipped his hand into the pocket that held his gun.

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

"None of them checked out yet, so I'd say they are still here. If you tell me where they can find you, I'll leave both of them a note to please contact you."

She had no intention of telling these people where to find residents of the manor. It would be the choice of Mr. Pierson and Mr. Delta whether they wanted to talk to these men.

[tptb-in-ltsh.livejournal.com]

If this solution was not what the two had been hoping for, it registered in their demeanor only for the most fleeting of moments, replaced in an instant by carefully relaxed ease.

"Sure," the more talkative of the two said. "That would be wonderful."

He indicated a stack of post it's on the desk. "May I?"

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Rose handed the post it's and a pen over, smiling.

"Sure."

[tptb-in-ltsh.livejournal.com]

He wrote down his cell phone number in neat print.

"I think it's easiest for everyone if we take rooms here," he suggested as he handed it back. "If you don't mind."

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Rose took the post it with the number and smiled at the men.

"I don't mind at all. We have three different types of rooms here. The rooms on the first floor each have a king-size bed and a bathroom with bathtub. On the second floor are rooms with a single bed and a bathroom with bathtub. And the rooms on the third floor have a single bed as well and a bathroom with a shower. What type of room would you prefer?"

[alteregon]

"I will have one of the large ones," Greenwood said. "Do you have any that have a smaller room attached for my driver?"

He gestured at his companion.

[jan_skovasja]

They were going to stay? For some reason Jan didn't like this. Of course it was ridiculous. After all they were obviously only looking for that Mr. Cole, but he still felt that they were a threat to innocent young Miss Heerkens.

[roseheerkens]

"I'm sorry, but we do not have connected rooms. Would you like one of the smaller upstairs rooms for your driver then?"

Rose was already checking, which of the big rooms were still available. She was even considering putting the man in one of the rooms furthest from the other guests.

[alteregon]

"I guess I will take two adjacent rooms then," the man said. "I really want him nearby, just in case. I will pay a week in advance."

[roseheerkens]

"Two adjacent rooms it is, sir."

Rose took two check-in forms and handed them over along with two pens.

"Please fill these in. Rooms 124 and 123 are free. They are identically equipped, but room 124 is closer to the stairs. Just put the number of the room you choose on the form so staff knows where to find you."