Charles, Adam, Max, Ringo and I were spending the evening blowing off some steam in Collin's speakeasy. Lots to talk about, but I was more concerned with the upcoming Davis Cup match between the US and France. Collin kept insisting we put some money down on the US and he is after all a criminal so perhaps he knows as much about gambling as liquor.
George Baker, one of the maintenance men at the university, came it to talk to Ringo and sadly it sounds like one of their colleagues was in a bad house fire and he was in the hospital asking for Ringo. So we drove out to the Acton County Hospital. Its a long drive in Baker and Ringo's trucks but we got there in less than an hour. Turns out, this guy, Mason, is worse than we feared and may not make it. Ringo went in to see him and came out a bit later. He gave Ringo a key and told him to retrieve some stuff in a basement safe and he "would know what to do."
As we pulled into his house, the fire department was leaving. The house was completely shelled - looked like the remains of a Great War building in France. We found some drag marks that led into the woods, maybe a sled or tractor? The basement required us to pry off a padlock to get access and Ringo and Max headed inside. A bit later, they come back out with a bunch of silver certificates, a ring with four keys, a deringer pistol and several news clippings and photos. Ringo has no idea what to do... there are some references to people we haven't heard of and places like Rosewood Park that we've never visited. Of course then the police showed up.
They asked us a bunch of questions - we lied naturally - asking us about Mason's last words and Goodness do they reek of alcohol. Ringo told them it was a lantern fire but why was he using that fuel source? that explains the smell coming from the house itself. The cops took our names and sent us on our way.
On the way into town, we were being tailed so we pulled into the diner and I was positive one of the men in the tail was Terry Cole - the same guy identified in one of the pictures. There is a local tailor maybe we will check that out in the morning since the picture mentioned that he had a bad tailor. We rented a couple of rooms at a nearby motel and went on foot back to the house - something strange about those police being there and their questions - besides this is getting stranger by the minute and not knowing what to do with the stuff Mason left for Ringo is driving us crazy.
The area around the house was quiet but there was still one cop car there it seemed empty. We followed the tree line around the house to the barn, followed the tracks into the woods to a clearing - he was chopping down trees - probably just clearing land for fuel and the tracks were just something he was carrying the wood back in. We were startled by the sudden arrival of Daisy, Mason's dog! Fortunately it recognized Ringo so no barking or worry.
Back at the house, Ringo and Collin went to the squad car and Ringo followed some prints into the basement while Collin stayed with the car. Unfortunately, turns out the officer was dead laying at the foot of the bulkhead stairs. Pretty bad head wound. It occurred to us quickly that they might be framing us for this - we wiped down everything we could and got the hell out of there. Fortunately the walk back to the motel was uneventful and now we have Daisy to accompany us. At the end of the long day, we were grateful to have rented the rooms here in Acton. Tomorrow is a new day and we'll have to figure out what we are going to do next.
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