The Mystery Of The Mutilated Pedestrian
Campaign: Scooby Cthulhu
Jump to navigation Jump to searchThe gang encounters a mutilated pedestrian in San Francisco. Who committed this foul deed?
Recording of game session (YouTube)
Summary
(Spoiler alert: this summary reveals plot details of the Golden Goblin Press adventure, Consumption.)
The Miskatonic gang finally reach the West Coast -- San Francisco! No sooner do they reach the city limits than they have a near-miss with a pedestrian. Narrowly avoiding hitting her, they stop to see if she is okay. Unfortunately, she is not okay. She is dying from numerous wounds, the most severe of which is the crude amputation of her left leg.
D.J. tries in vain to save the woman's life, while Hideyori runs down the block to call the police on a pay phone.
Meanwhile, Dusty, Connie, and Dakota follow the woman's bloody trail. Along the way, they find an old rusty, bloody knife. Thinking it is certainly evidence, they do not touch it. At the end of the trail of bloody footprints, they find an abandoned, burnt-out building. Connie has the idea to take plaster casts of the recent tire tracks outside the building. Hideyori joins them, and he glances into the shack, discovering it to be a house of horrors. He is shaken.
Now curious, Dusty also looks into the shack. As his eyes scan the room, each horrible thing seems even more horrible than the last: a bed soaked in blood, urine and feces; a bloody hacksaw; a wooden frame on which is stretched the skinned torso of a human being; a table on which is stacked a dozen skulls...
Dusty recoils from the shack in horror, pale but struggling to keep his good humour.
Well. That was definitely something.
After the plaster cast dries, Hideyori, Dusty, Connie, and Dakota return to the motorhome and store the cast inside the motorhome just as a police cruiser arrives. A plainclothes detective gets out, glances at the dead body, and asks D.J. what happened.
Once D.J. tells what he has seen, the detective says that he and the rest of the Miskatonic gang can go, so they do... but as they drive away, they see the detective walk over to the pay phone. Suspicious, they drive around the block and park. D.J., Dusty, and Hideyori sneak back to the shack, while Connie and Dakota wait in the motorhome. D.J. takes photographs of the inside of the shack, trying to document every detail, and then the trio returns to the motorhome.
Before stopping for the night at a motel, D.J. calls a contact at the San Fransisco Chronicle (Boris Ledder), and tells him about the dead woman and the gory scene. Boris says he will investigate, and for D.J. to call him back tomorrow.
The next day, the gang goes shopping, picking up firearms, ammunition, investigative supplies, first aid supplies, and anything else that they think they'll need now that they seem to be making a habit of sticking their noses into things. They also stock up on groceries and beer, and they pick up a newspaper. (Montage!)
In the newspaper, they read of a "hit and run" accident on the street where they encountered the mutilated pedestrian, who is referred to as a "Jane Doe". This appears to confirm their earlier suspicions about the detective.
That evening, D.J. calls Boris back, but he is not at the Chronicle: he didn't show up for work. Nor is he at his apartment. They check, and apparently Boris hasn't been there in at least a day. Getting a bad feeling, they go back to the abandoned shack. There are no police barricades, but the shack has been boarded up. Prying off the boards and bracing themselves for a horrific scene, they find that the entire building has been emptied. They only thing that remains is a scalpel that dropped behind a radiator. It is engraved "UCSF MC M103". Looking in the alley, they also find the bloody knife is still there. They carefully collect the scalpel and the bloody knife, and store it in a locker in the motorhome.
"UCSF MC" clearly indicates "University Of California San Fransisco Medical Center", so the Miskatonic gang goes there to ask questions. They learn from Mrs. Farthing, an administrator, that there were a series of thefts five or six years ago, and that hospital property has all been engraved with a serial number since then. "M103" on a piece of equipment indicates that it came from the morgue.
The Miskatonic gang heads to the morgue, where they meet Dr. Fredrick Morrison, the head of the pathology department. They ask him about missing medical supplies and allude to the murder last night, but Dr. Morrison is evasive and eventually asks them to leave because he is busy (he was sorting stainless steel bowls when they arrived).
The gang leaves, but they hide in a janitorial supply closet across from Dr. Morrison's office. Their initiative is rewarded when they overhear a phone call.
Jane, it's Fred. I just had some people in here saying they were out at Abner's shack and... wait, what? He did what? Oh dear God. I told you that crazy bastard would... So what are we going to do about these people? OK, what about the others? No, not now. Yes, fine, I’ll be there.
Dr. Morrison rushes out, and the Miskatonic gang uses this opportunity to break into and search his office. The find the address of Dr. Jane Bell, and decide that will be their next stop. Her office is closed when they get there. They break in and search the place, but nothing seems amiss. However, an examination of her patient records indicates that their mortality rate has skyrocketed in the past few years, to a level far higher than could be explained even by extraordinary incompetence. They find Dr. Bell's home address among her papers, and decide that will be their next stop.
Dr. Bell is home when they arrive at the address, so they drive down the block, and Hideyori and Connie sneak back to spy on her. Meanwhile, back at the motorhome, D.J. and Dusty look over the photographs that D.J. took of the burned-out shack. They notice that in one of the photos, there is a set of old but very high quality luggage, with the monogram "J.E.E." on them.
Hideyori and Connie watch as Dr. Bell hurriedly packs a small bag, and a taxi arrives shortly afterward. They run back to the motorhome and the gang follows the taxi at a discreet distance. The taxi takes Dr. Bell to Eleazar Funeral Apartments (a funeral home), and she enters through the front door. Straightening their ties and putting on their best duds, the Miskatonic gang enters the funeral home.
The gang is greeted by Jaspar Eleazar, the director of the funeral home. They pretend to be here on a visitation, and go into one of the viewing rooms, where they join a quietly grieving family. They then sneak out of the visiting room and explore the funeral home. They go upstairs where they meet Mildred, Jaspar's wife. Dusty lays on the charm and soon has her in the palm of his hand. They learn that Jaspar has a gambling problem, and that Mildred has little respect for him, but that he has recently had a change in fortune, possibly due to his new "fancy friends".
That good for nothing husband of mine. He's the reason we never had children, if you get my meaning. If he's not out gambling away all our money, then he's out with his oh-so-fancy friends that are obviously too good for me. Meets with them a few times every month, but has never once invited me along. Who? Well, there is Dr. Bell and Dr. Morrison. I've seen both of them drive over in their fancy cars and pick Jaspar up. And I've heard him talking to someone named Michelle. But when I asked him about it, he said it was the police and 'death business' so he couldn't talk about it. Yeah, right. I tell you, the only reason I'm still with that man is because I'm Catholic. That, and he is finally making some good money. How? I don't know. Maybe he stopped gambling?
Examining the pamplets for each visitation, they make the connection between Jaspar Edgar Eleazar and the "J.E.E." monogram on the luggage in the photograph.
Wondering where Dr. Bell has gone, they overhear her talking to Jaspar Eleazar in an office, repeating much the same conversation that they overheard from Dr. Morrison's office: contemptuous references to "Abner", and a general consternation that people are looking into their activities.
Continuing to explore, they find a back room in which is stored all of the gory evidence from the burned out shack. They also make a sad discovery: Boris Ledder is on a slab in the back room, along with other deceased individuals awaiting embalming.
Deciding that they now have the evidence to back up their suspicions, D.J. calls the state police and tells them everything they have discovered. The rest of the Miskatonic gang goes back to the motorhome, while D.J. awaits the police. A police car arrives, soon to be followed by two more, and then another three more.
Dr. Bell and Jaspar Eleazar are escorted away in handcuffs. D.J. is also escorted away, but he is not cuffed. As Connie, Dusty, and Hideyori await (and hope for) D.J.'s release, they ponder what to do about the as-yet un-arrested conspirators, Dr. Morrison and detective Cooper. They decide that the detective would be the hardest to tie into these events, and lament that she will get away with her crimes.
Then Hideyori has the bright idea of planting the scalpel and the bloody knife in detective Cooper's apartment. They hesitate, briefly, but the plan is too perfect -- and it's not really "framing" her, because she actually is guilty!
They plant the evidence in detective Cooper's apartment, and call in an anonymous tip. The police find the evidence, which leads to both the mutilated pedestrian ("Jane Doe", who will sadly never be identified), whom detective Cooper filed as a "hit and run" (which is now revealed to be obviously wrong), and also to Dr. Morrison.
Once in police custody, the cannibalistic conspirators turn on each other. Some negotiate a more lenient sentence, but all of them will spend time in prison. The Miskatonic gang has the warm feeling of finding justice for the cannibals' victims. Victory!
...
But what about Abner?
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