Operation Report - House Of Rain Part 2

 This is the second part of the play report for my scenario House Of Rain. Again, sorry for the delay in writing it up, some details may be muddled or unclear. 

HOUSE OF RAIN PART 2 - CRY ME A RIVER

Cottonwood, Utah. June 16 2016.

The morning of June 16, Taskforce CRYSTAL JACKAL convene at a local diner, making plans for the coming day. Since their protective equipment requisition won't be fulfilled until later today, they decide to visit the Cottonwood History Museum, whose curator endorsed and recommended McPherson's tours to tourists. The team believes Alyssa McPherson must have contracted the infection when she was at a burial site somewhere in the area, most likely with the intention of desecrating it.

The local museum is a decrepit one-floor building, showing some Native American artefacts, a couple unremarkable fossils and a few uncanny wax statues of the Mormon pioneers who founded Cottonwood in 1882. They were welcomed in by the curator, James Lyman, an old man with sweaty hands and beady, watery eyes. Lyman avoided any direct questions about McPherson, saying that while she occasionally collaborated with the Museum, she was never formally associated with the Cottonwood Historical Society. Damcott notices that Lyman appears stressed, and decides to push on his academic integrity to see if he's involved with the grave robbers and make him confess. His attempt fails, but Coker threatens him with the his (fake) FBI credentials and explains that they're in town to investigate a possible act of domestic terrorism, not just the theft of antiquities from reservation lands. Lyman finally cracks and agrees to collaborate, giving names for the other 9 members of the smuggling ring, including the Redd family, Deputy Thomson and dr.Andrew Larkin (retired general practitioner and member of the county tourism commission) and his wife Jeanne, who were in charge of the ring. Some suspected the Larkins and McPherson were running another operation, taking all the money from the most valuable artefacts and most important clients they found.

After mulling it over during lunch, the team decides to delay confronting Thomson and meeting up with Graves again, instead opting to head to Larkin's house straight away. The Agents are welcomed in with the classic forced Mormon smile by the doctor and his wife Jeanne. While Coker, Damcott and Evans grill the elderly couple on their relationship with McPherson, Harris asks if he can use the bathroom and takes the opportunity to snoop around the place. He doesn't find anything of note and has to return, and while making his way down the stairs to the ground floor he slipped and fell over, tumbling to the basement. As he hits a wall, he hears a hollow knock. There's nothing on the other side of the wall. After making a mess trying to excuse themselves, the Agents are shown the door by Mrs. Larkin.

By now, time has come for them to pick up their protective equipment at the pre-established dead drop, near the Green Box. There are only a couple complete Level B suits, so Evans and Harris suit up and go inside the house. They notice everything is a bit too expensive for a struggling tourist guide in a middle-of-nowhere town in Utah. They also follow a faded trail of innards and liquefied flesh to McPherson's tool shed in the backyard. A clattering sound alerts Harris to the fact that someone is trying to hide inside the shed, under piles of sheet metal. Before they can examine the hidden antiquities, Deputy Thomson makes a run for it, darting through the door and into the garden. Harris catches up to him and tackles him to the ground.

While trying to escape, Thomson cut himself. His hand is already rotting away. Blisters form and burst, yellow pus and blackened blood pouring from the wound.  Luckily for him, Cosmo Harris keeps his trusty combat knife on him at all times. Coker and Damcott drive the bleeding deputy to Larkin's house, since he's the closest medical professional in miles. This is mostly for intimidation though, as Lee soon leaves them to drive Thomson to the hospital. The official cover is that he injured himself while examining the crime scene with the team. They will be right there at his bedside when he wakes up, to "remind" him of this.

Damcott convinces the Larkins to confess, and they give him identities for a few of their buyers, which include a well-off club owner from San Francisco, an Oklahoma Oil family and anonymous buyers from Albuquerque. McPherson recently found a cave with the corpse a ten-foot-tall giant, adorned with jewelry and obsidian weapons. When trying to sell some of the artefacts found on the body, they were accosted by an intimidating man, possibly ex-military, who seemed interested in making the purchase. They're supposed to make the trade tomorrow night. Whoever's buying, that giant mummy is worth a million dollars to them.

Harris and Evans search the McPherson and Larkin homes for more antiques and take any that seem unnatural. They find the obsidian blade that cut both McPherson and Thomson in a series of unfortunate consequences. Evans also pockets a figurine representing a sleeping fat man the head of a toad, mouth agape, tongue lulling out.

In the Larkin house, Harris starts loading the warped ancient jewels into his car when he hears a beckoning voice. A hole in the world, a half-metre disc of pure, utter blackness, framed in gold. An obsidian mirror. Looking inside, he sees a warped, twisted reflection of his face. Too many eyes, too many teeth. It tells him they will speak again, and he knows it is not lying. He sees a beautiful city, looking up into a black abyss. Just as he looks away, Evans catches up to him and sees the mirror. They bring the items to the Green Box, where they'll be retrieved by another team in the future. Afterward, they rest up in their rooms at the Black Dog Motel.

Meanwhile, Coker and Damcott watch over the Larkins and Thomson. They need to get their stories straight, and prepare for the next day.