Book Two: Archer's Trail of Vengeance

[Grognardsw]

"Where to pal?"

[Inferno]

If he can steal the dynamite in a way that Hal won't know about it for 48 hours, he will. Otherwise, he won't risk it.

Any luck with this? Thanks.

[Grognardsw]

Archer takes the taxi to Hal's apartment. He remembers Hal mentioning his weapons were in the basement.

[Inferno]

Sorry. I think Archer and Hal drove back from the carnival to Hal's apartment where Archer packed his bag and called a cab:

"Let's go," said Archer.

In the car, he fell silent, reviewing the lay of the job...

""Hal, thanks for putting me up. I appreciate it, pal. I'll pack once we get back to your place. No hard feelings."

Archer will pack and leave, ostensibly to keep from involving Hal and his wife in his troubles with the police. But really so he can continue unfettered...

Archer calls a cab.

If that's correct, then the question remains:

If he can steal the dynamite in a way that Hal won't know about it for 48 hours, he will. Otherwise, he won't risk it.

While packing, Can Archer get out of sight of Hal and his wife long enough to creep into the basement and back without being noticed? Seems unlikely. If he can't, he won't risk it. Thanks.

[Grognardsw]

Archer packs slowly, hoping for an opportunity to investigate the basement and return. But the couple remain, Hal making small talk with both Archer and his wife. She is about the apartment cleaning.

"Buddy, I hope things work out for you and you stay safe," says Hal, shaking Archer's hand as the ex-private eye is about to leave.

[Inferno]

Archer shook Hal's hand. "Thanks pal. I owe you." He glances at their morning paper to see if he's in it. Then he asks for a recommendation for a quiet, cheap hotel in Baltimore and tells the cabbie to drive him there.

Once they're close, Archer will change his mind and pick a different, similar hotel he sees in the same neighborhood, in case Hal or his wife drop a dime on him after all.

Grog, In the 1920's what kind of ID do you need to rent a hotel room, if any? Thanks.

[Grognardsw]

Archer checks the papers and is relieved that he sees no stories on Chertovski's murder. He wonders if Agent Mulder is holding it back for a reason.

Hal recommends the Poe Hotel, but Archer at the last moment chooses the Grand Windsor nearby.



It is far from grand, but the price is right and they don't ask for any identification.

[Inferno]

Relieved that Mulder is avoiding bad PR for the BOI, Archer checked into the Windsor Hotel. He signed the register something like Hunt or Hunter or Huntington.

Archer went up to his room, put his bag down, glanced at the peeling wallpaper and then got to work.

What kind of ID is required in the 1920s to rent a car, if any please?

[Grognardsw]

Archer knows a valid identification and up-front payment is required as a precaution against folks driving away in their cars and not coming back. There is a 'Hertz Drive-Ur-Self System' operation in New York that he is aware of. Thinking over possibilities, he remembers that his agency has an account with one of them. But it could be risky.

[Inferno]

Archer frowned in thought. He laid back on his hotel bed and folded his big hands behind his hatchet head and lit a cigarette.

He needed a car to get to the carnival before dawn.

He had pocketed a number of business cards while running errands since Brooklyn. He pulled out his driver's license and wondered if he could alter it or forge it.



He blew smoke at the ceiling as he used his manhunting skills to weigh the risk of using his own ID or his agency account.

If he used his own ID to rent a car, how long would he have until law enforcement descended on Baltimore, given a world without computers? Thanks.

[Grognardsw]

Archer considers his transportation options. It would probably be some time before the heat caught up with him by car rental records, unless they were making a concerted multi-city survelleince of rental and train records. Hard to tell. Does Mulder consider him a major player in the cult deserving of such resources?

If he used the Pinkerton account, there may be a higher risk that his name isn't on the authorization list anymore. That could send a red flag up from Hertz to Pinkerton, who would get to the cops in double time.

I don't recall specifying your agency, so I went with Pinkerton.

[Inferno]

Archer will rent a car an hour before the rental shop is set to close. He won't use his agency's account. He tells them he needs the car for a day and will return it in Philadelphia.

He drives to a gas station and buys and fills two 10 gallon cans with gasoline. He buys a road map, 6 road flares, cigarettes, matches and a newspaper.

He goes to a diner and has a plate of pork chops and onions, boiled potatoes, stewed tomatoes and a cup of coffee on top of that. He reads the sports section.

Archer returns to the hotel room. He searches the newspaper on information about the Hepcats of Ulthar, who are in Baltimore right now. He memorizes the road map's depiction of the fairgrounds where the Dark Pharaoh has set up shop. He looks for the best approach, and where to park the car, to avoid the open field.

Archer sets the alarm clock, has a few drinks, some more cigarettes, and gets some shut eye. He wakes up at 4am.

Name: Sam Archer
Background:
...After the war, he learned his craft with the Pinkertons, catching con men, grifters and killers in Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, Baltimore, Philly and New York. One day, a steady Pinkerton client, the owner of a large mining concern in Butte, offered Archer money to kill a union leader during a long miners strike. Archer politely declined, and the union man soon ended up dead in a car wreck. The week after that, Archer left the Pinkertons and started up his own small detective agency. It's been limping along for three years now.

[Grognardsw]

"Would you like cream with that coffee?"



Archer eats, wondering it'll be his last meal.

The Hepcats of Ulthar - what sort of name is that? - have their last show tonight at 11:00 pm at The Band Box over on Clinton.

The road map shows what Archer previously saw in person. There is a road passing by in front of the carnivale, and further back about 600' a dirt road. There is a scrubby grass field between the dirt road and the semi-circle of trucks and trailers which forms the back of the carnivale.

Is that enough, or is a rough map needed?

[Inferno]

"No thanks, honey. I take it black," Archer smiled mildly. His features were quiet and still. Just beneath them, his brain raced.

Bird in the hand or two in the bush? Play it safe? Or was it worth the stretch?

If he tried to take them one at a time, once he hit the first cult nest, the other would be on guard, or fly the coop. If he tried to hit both in the same night, and anyone survived the first hit, the second job could still be fouled.

He kept turning the permutations over in his mind, calculating the odds, trying to play a chessboard four moves ahead, while his face kept betraying less than a cop on the take.

In what city do the Hepcats perform after tonight?
How far is it from the Band Box to the carnival?

I don't need a map, thanks.

[Grognardsw]

The Baltimore paper where Archer saw the Hepcats ad was for the club, so it didn't list future dates in different locations.

The club is downtown, the carnival at the edge of the city, so it's about a 20 minute drive assuming no traffic.

[Inferno]

"Check, please."

Archer paid and left.

He recalled the Hepcats had nothing incriminating in their correspondence to Carcosa. Not like Joissant. He'd let them go this time.

Archer went to the hotel, set the alarm clock for 4am, had a few drinks, some more cigarettes, and put out the light.

...

A half hour later, still awake, he turned the bedside lamp back on. Archer got up out of bed. Showered, got dressed, stocked the car and his coat pockets with all his various and sundry implements of destruction. He made some earplugs out of candle wax and drove to the Band Box to see the goddamn Hepcats of Ulthar.

Stocked coat pockets include guns, bullets, a road flare, and his hip flask which is now full of gasoline.

[Grognardsw]

Archer gets to the jazz club about 15 minutes before the Hepcats of Ulthar are due to go on. The place is hopping. He takes an inconspicuous seat in the smoky den as the opening band plays.

[Inferno]

Archer keeps a low profile. He smiles with his mouth but not his eyes. They're too busy glancing around at the clientele.

[Grognardsw]

"Coming up next, out of the Big Easy, the strange and wonderful sounds of the Hepcats of Ulthar. Folks if the jag juice don't do it, these folks will zozzle you minds no matter if you bimbo, flapper or jelly bean. They gonna hit the six with them axes. Beyond the bees knees! Give a Baltimore cheer for the Hepcats!"

A choice bit of Calico approaches Archer with a dewdropper in hand. "Got a light?"

[Inferno]

Archer strikes a match for the lady and then moves his attention off of her, signalling apathetic disinterest.

Archer keeps a low profile. He smiles with his mouth but not his eyes. They're too busy glancing around at the clientele.

What does the clientele look like, please? Thanks.