*** Session 09 - Scene 3 (of 10) ***

When Fox arrives at the Bureau of Investigation, he is shown into Bartus' office while Eberhardt stays behind in the lobby. The agent in charge is surprised to see Fox out of his coma.

Fox says he has quite a story for him, to which Bartus responds he was hoping to get a full report about what happened.

The agent starts to talk about how he was investigating the Haitian angle of the car theft ring. Fox goes on to explain how he uncovered one of the Haitians was a murderer.

Bartus has little patience for Fox's story, which starts to get very rambling as Fox mixes up elements of the story while he tries to recall what really happened and what he already told his boss. The whole thing makes little sense and Bartus eventually stops him, telling him to just write up a report on what happened. He doesn't seem terribly concerned about the murders or Jean Baptiste, as it is all a local matter.

After Bartus tells him to take a couple of days off and write up his report before he gets a new assignment, Fox heads back out to Eberhardt. The police detective asks how it went. Fox says they were both confused. Eberhardt dryly wonders how that could have happened.

The two then decide to head over to Le Doux's office to see how the Martin investigation is going, with Eberhardt hoping Le Doux can babysit the federal agent instead.

*** Session 09 - Scene 4 (of 10) ***

At Le Doux's office, Eberhardt and Fox find Le Doux has not returned yet, but Benjamin "Hawk" Brooks and his fourteen year old sister, Pamela "Foxy" Brown are still there. Hawk greets them in their usual style. Fox expresses his surprise to Hawk that he is still alive.

Hawk tells Fox he'll get to him in a minute. He then turns his attention to Eberhardt, asking if he's clear. The detective indicates he's resolved the Johnson matter.

With that out of the way, Hawk turns back to Fox. He starts interrogating him about his coma, wanting to make very sure Fox never lost his heartbeat, stopped breathing, or otherwise died while in the hospital.

Since Fox and Hawk mix like oil and water, the situation quickly spirals out of control. Fox starts making threatening glances towards his gun while Hawk continues to assail him with questions about whether or not he stopped breathing at all.

Fox draws his gun, but that doesn't stop Hawk's harangue. Fox tells Hawk it is his last warning, but Hawk is clearly not intimidated by the agent.

As they continue to yell at each other, Eberhardt decides it is a good time to leave to go get some coffee. Madge decides to come along.

Fox points the gun at Hawk. Hawk responds by throwing a punch, but Fox moves out of the way. He tries to counter by pistol whipping Hawk in the back of the head but Hawk avoids the blow.

Angry, Hawk storms out the front door. He heads over to the jalopy he uses for a car and grabs a bottle of gasoline from the trunk.

After a moment, Fox decides he needs to be more intimidating. He decides he wants to head over to a clothing store to get himself a black trench coat. He is met in the doorway by Hawk, holding the jar of gasoline in his hand.

Hawk asks him one more time if he died. Fox gives a resounding no then pushes Hawk aside and leaves. Hawk decides to accept his answer and puts the jar back in the car.

When Eberhardt gets back, he notices Fox has left. He asks Hawk what happened, wondering if the man killed him. Hawk says he left, but says the man is not right in the head. He further says something about Fox needing to stay away from his sister, which confuses Foxy as much as it does Eberhardt.

Eberhardt then asks after Le Doux and Nibbons. Hawk says they haven't been back yet. Eberhardt notes the day has been lasting forever, feeling like it's been two weeks of activity already. He then confirms Hawk is planning to tail Paffenroth tonight.

*** Session 09 - Scene 5 (of 10) ***

Meanwhile, Le Doux and Nibbons scour the city looking for a constume store that might have sold three nun outfits. But being the city of Mardi Gras, they quickly discover it is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Out of luck, they head back to the office where they find Hawk, Foxy, Eberhardt, Madge, and a recently returned Fox wearing a new black trench coat. Le Doux greets Fox, who says he's tired and needs to rest on the couch.

After exchanging some banter, Le Doux tells Hawk to head out and get into position to tail Paffenroth. Eberhardt decides to mess with Le Doux by pointing out the "clouds" in his coffee from the cream.

Le Doux stares intently, nearly wetting himself. Eberhardt says he was just joking and asks Nibbons what Le Doux is doing. A long drip of drool falls from Le Doux's mouth into the coffee. Eberhardt hands it to him so he can sketch it out.

While Hawk and Foxy head out to the Tatterdemalion Garment Company and Fox sleeps, Eberhardt and Nibbons wait for Le Doux to complete his sketches to find out what he wants to do next.

Things take another turn when a man walks through the door, saying he is there to see a "Mr. Le Doux". Le Doux asks how he can help. The man says he has a message from Mr. Jenks, saying he wants a meeting tonight regarding the missing asset he was searching for.

Le Doux barely recalls he made the deal with Jenks to find Taubert's missing money. Internally, he notes he never did follow up with the man after discovering the Haitians didn't have it. Outwardly, he calmly tells the man to come with him into his office.

Once inside, Le Doux shuts the door and says he'll need more details. The man says Jenks wants the money and Le Doux's time is running out so Jenks wants to see him. Thinking fast, Le Doux says the money is in his wall safe behind the picture of the Robert E. Lee Steamboat on his wall.

Le Doux tries to lure the man over to the safe so he can get behind him, but the man is wary. When Le Doux tries insisting, the man draws his gun from inside his jacket.

Moving quickly, Le Doux moves in to try and kick the man in the groin. The man is faster, shooting Le Doux in the gut. The Cajun falls to the ground in a pool of blood.

The sound of the shot is enough to wake Agent Fox up. He quickly draws his gun and heads over to Le Doux's office along with Eberhardt, just as the door opens. Eberhardt dives out of the way to avoid the man's gunshot.

Fox and the man then exchange gunfire for a minute as Madge gets behind her desk and Nibbons stares off blankly into space in the corner. Fox gets hit with one of the shots and goes down. The man starts running out of the building.

Eberhardt decides against trying to stop the man. Instead, he tries yelling after the man that he is willing to meet with Jenks but the man doesn't listen.

Madge calls for an ambulance while Eberhardt tries to stop Le Doux from bleeding out. As he tries to stop the flow of blood, he tries telling Le Doux he's seen worse in the trenches. But he doesn't have much luck, verbally blaming the "differences of American anatomy."

When all hope appears to be lost, Nibbons blankly walks over, as if in a trance, and pushes Eberhardt aside as he is complaining about being unable to dig the bullet out with the letter opener. Nibbons quickly stops the wound.

Once he's done, Nibbons makes strange faces for a moment as if trying to figure out how to speak. Eventually he gets out a very stilted, "Designation...Le Doux...should...survive..." Eberhardt tells Madge they will need an ambulance for Nibbons as well, as he appears to be going into shock.

Nibbons then gets up and moves over to Le Doux's filing cabinet. He appears to start looking through Le Doux's various files and papers. Eberhardt tries asking what he is doing, but Nibbons does not respond.

*** Session 09 - Scene 6 (of 10) ***

A couple of minutes later, the ambulance arrives. The medics aren't sure Le Doux will make it, mentioning even if he survives he might suffer some brain damage.

After it leaves, Madge gets on the phone to find an all-night cleaning service. Nibbons appears to have finished looking for whatever he was looking for and starts wandering out the door without saying a word.

Eberhardt decides not to stop the man, figuring the more prudent course of action is to get in touch with Big Daddy before they are all murdered. Using his criminal contacts, he does indeed attract the attention of the Cajun crime lord, but in a way that ends up with him grabbed and tied up with a bag over his head.

After being driven to an undisclosed location in the trunk of a car, he is walked up some stairs and placed in a chair. When the bag is removed from his head, he finds himself in some kind of office – face to face with an obese Cajun man wearing a white suit with a white hat sitting behind the desk in front of him.

Big Daddy greets Eberhardt with his flamboyant style. He tells Eberhardt he has caused big trouble for him. Eberhardt says this is not the meeting he was asking for. Big Daddy tells Eberhardt he is lucky he is getting a meeting at all.

The crime boss wants to know why Eberhardt's companions attacked his men. He seems particularly upset about Le Doux, a fellow Cajun, crossing him. Eberhardt tries to explain he doesn't know exactly what happened, but that Le Doux has been having problems lately.

Big Daddy tells Eberhardt he is rather suspicious, as Le Doux's group seems to keep showing up involved with "rival business interests." The man names them off – their activities at the Martanga mob's Blue Acadian Bookstore, the work they did for Medvig (who has connections to the Patterson mob), their work done at Djauto's Garage (owned by the Haitian Zobop), and their visits to Lee's Laundry and Lee Ho Fook's (both controlled by the Tsung Tong). He wants to know if they are trying to play everyone against each other and asks if they are making a move on Big Daddy.

Eberhardt calls himself a soldier of fortune, going where the opportunities take him. Big Daddy thinks for a moment and says he may have an opportunity for him. He gives the detective two opportunities – one to work for him, or the other to be an ingredient in his gumbo. When Eberhardt asks, Big Daddy clarifies it is a food dish.

Not wanting to be cooked in a stew, Eberhardt says he'll be happy to help find Taubert's money, negotiating for that to make them even. Big Daddy tells him he'll consider it the first step in affirming their friendship.

Eberhardt gets the implication, but grits his teeth and says only that he likes friends. Big Daddy asks if the Haitians do indeed have his money. Eberhardt reluctantly lies and says they do but are hiding it well.

Behind him, Eberhardt hears another voice ask, "How do we know we can trust him, Pop?" Eberhardt does not recognize the voice, but assumes it is one of Big Daddy's sons. Big Daddy confirms it soon, calling him his son Dante.

Big Daddy tells Eberhardt he has an idea on how Eberhardt can prove himself useful now, to give him a little more time to find the money. He goes on to explain how he's having some problems with the City Planning Commission.

Explaining the situation, Big Daddy talks about how the Greek gangster, Manolis Apostolou, is in control of the commission through his son, Hector. He wants Eberhardt to send a message through Apostolou's nephew, Harry, through an accident at his business, the Golden Mace Garage.

Eberhardt agrees it is a good plan. Big Daddy tells him to take care of it tonight, and they can meet again tomorrow as good friends.

Dante unties Eberhardt and leads him down the back stairs of the restaurant. As he lets Eberhardt out the back door, he tells him not to screw up.

Eberhardt finds himself in a back alley in the French Quarter. Apparently he has just exited the fancy restaurant, Broussard's.

*** Session 09 - Scene 7 (of 10) ***

Over in the Central Business District, Hawk and Foxy are staking out the Tatterdamelion Garment Company using a pair of binoculars Hawk borrowed from Le Doux's office.

At quitting time, everyone starts to leave. Hawk spots the fancy car pull around to pick up Paffenroth. They try to follow him, but Hawk loses the car in traffic. Deciding not to try and race his car through rush hour traffic, he heads back to Le Doux's office.

Meanwhile, over at Charity Hospital, Fox is recovering from the shot that grazed him. Luckily he isn't injured too much though Fox is rather upset that his new trench coat is ruined. The doctors try to hold him at the hospital, but he insists on being released again. He also tries, unsuccessfully, to have them release Le Doux's personal effects to him.

Fox then calls over to Eberhardt at the police precinct. He tells the detective he needs picked up at the hospital. Eberhardt tells him he will be over in a little bit but needs to make a call first.

Eberhardt then calls over to Le Doux's office and asks if Hawk is there. As it happens, Hawk just showed back up so she gives him the phone.

When Hawk gets on the phone, Eberhardt tries to explain they have a couple of issues. Hawk, being his usual dramatic self, immediately launches into a tirade about the office shooting. Eberhardt eventually explains Le Doux ran his mouth too much and got himself shot.

Eberhardt explains their first problem is the Cajun gang wanting to murder them all, but he's planning to take care of that. He says the second problem is Agent Fox, who needs picked up at the hospital.

Hawk doesn't want to pick up Fox, but Eberhardt says it is either that or having to go kill Harry Apostolou. Hawk agrees picking up Fox is the safer option, though decides he'll just skip that once he's off the phone. Instead, he warns Madge to leave the office as it is not safe.

Once Madge is gone, Hawk and Foxy search the place for any money or other valuables they can steal. He spots the safe behind Le Doux's desk, but neither he nor Foxy can crack it. In fact, Foxy manages to damage it enough that it won't open easily anymore.

Hawk looks around, but can't find anything except Madge's stock of petty cash. He decides not to bother with that and doesn't want to steal anything to pawn in case Le Doux catches on.

Eventually, after debating trying to involve himself with the Big Daddy situation, Hawk decides he may as well go to the hospital. He doesn't trust Eberhardt or Fox, but he has some loyalty to Le Doux so he wants to check on him.

*** Session 09 - Scene 8 (of 10) ***

Back over at the hospital, Fox is wondering if Eberhardt will actually come get him. While he is waiting in the lobby, he spots Nibbons entering the building. He calls after the man, but Nibbons ignores him and proceeds towards Le Doux's room in the intensive care unit.

Fox follows Nibbons into Le Doux's room. Nibbons takes out a strange apparatus from under his jacket – some sort of machine made from makeshift parts. He places it up next to Le Doux's head and starts operating it.

Terrified of what might be happening, Fox calls out for help. He then tries to get the object out of Nibbons' hand, but Nibbons effortlessly shoves him away.

Nibbons appears to finish whatever he is doing moments later. He steps back then comes out of his stupor, looking around confusedly. He asks what is going on, the last thing he remembers is being in Le Doux's office when a shot rang out.

When Nibbons asks what is going on, Fox says he was using the machine on Le Doux. Nibbons says he doesn't even know how he got there. A doctor and orderly rush into the room to check on Le Doux.

Around this time, Le Doux's eyes pop open. He doesn't feel great, but can tell he is still alive. He sees Nibbons and Fox arguing in the room, with a nearby doctor and orderly looking confused.

The doctor asks Agent Fox if Nibbons still needs to be removed. Fox says he should go just to be safe. As the orderly escorts Nibbons out, Fox takes custody of the strange machine.

Fox then asks Le Doux how he is feeling. Le Doux seems very confused, not recognizing his own name. He insists his name is Bunyon.

With Le Doux spouting gibberish, Fox tells the doctor Le Doux will need to be transferred to the asylum once he heals up. Fox then leaves.

Outside, Hawk is pulling up to the parking lot as Nibbons is walking out of the building. He asks Nibbons what is going on. Nibbons says he has no idea.

Hawk then tells Nibbons about the shooting and Eberhardt mentioning it was related to Big Daddy. Nibbons repeats how he went blank once he heard the shot then found himself standing over Le Doux with the strange machine.

Nervous, Hawk asks Nibbons if he died. Nibbons says he did not. Hawk looks over him carefully and decides to believe him.

Hawk asks what Nibbons is doing outside. He explains Fox wanted him to leave just as Fox walks out of the building.

Not wanting the agent involved, Hawk draws Nibbons away so they can talk privately. Fox follows so Hawk asks why he had Nibbons kicked out.

Fox explains about the device and how Le Doux appears to believe he is someone named Bunyon now. Hawk is more concerned about whether or not Le Doux ever died before the machine was used on him.

The two argue for a few minutes about what Nibbons did to Le Doux and whether or not Fox was justified in kicking him out. Hawk then decides to go in to the hospital and check on Le Doux.

All three men head back into the hospital, where Le Doux has already been caught trying to escape out a window. The orderlies strap him down to a bed for his own safety as the three walk into the room.

Fox demands to know what is going on. The doctor explains about what happened and they believe he is correct; they will call over to Dr. Essex to have Le Doux committed.

Hawk tries to pretend he is a police detective, but no one buys a Black detective. The doctor simply says, "I don't think so, Leroy."

With Le Doux a hopeless case, Fox wants to go visit Eberhardt at the police precinct. Hawk, however, wants nothing to do with the agent believing he will get them all killed. He decides to go find Eberhardt at the Golden Mace Garage instead.

When they can't find him at the precinct, Fox decides he and Nibbons should continue talking to costume stores.

*** Session 09 - Scene 9 (of 10) ***

Back at the precinct, Eberhardt plans out what he is going to do at the Golden Mace Garage. He decides he needs some kind of disguise.

He briefly considers using his old police uniform, but since that could still identify him he heads into the evidence locker to look for something he can use. He finds a few Mardi Gras costumes he can borrow – spotting a cowboy outfit, a soldier uniform, an Indian chief costume, or the clothes of a construction worker. He decides the construction worker disguise will be the least conspicuous.

Before leaving the precinct, Eberhardt tries to get a car out of impound to use. Unfortunately, the clerk won't release anything to him without a signed order from his sergeant.

Heading back home, Eberhardt changes into the construction worker outfit and takes a streetcar over to the Greektown neighborhood of the Lower Garden District where the Golden Mace Garage is located, hoping he can pass for a Greek construction worker.

By the time Eberhardt gets there, Hawk and Foxy have already arrived in the neighborhood and are staking out the street corners near the garage. Despite his disguise, Hawk spots Eberhardt and heads over to talk to him.

Eberhardt spots Hawk and waits for the man to approach him. Hawk asks him what the plan is. Eberhardt admits he doesn't have much of one as his original plan involved bringing a car in to the garage.

Hawk gets clarification on what they need to do. Eberhardt explains they need to rough up Apostolou, briefly mentioning the connection to the planning commission. Hawk clarifies they don't really need to kill him, but need to make sure the message is received or else Big Daddy will kill them.

Once again, Hawk decides trying to get some cheap muscle would be easier than doing the work themselves. Unfortunately, he doesn't have any luck and returns a couple of hours later empty handed.

Luckily, the light in Apostolou's office is still on so he must be working late. Eberhardt decides they will need to do it themselves. Hawk gets some face masks for them out of his car and they head in, leaving Foxy to stay as lookout.

Picking the lock at the door, Hawk lets them in to the downstairs garage area. Eberhardt tells him to wait behind while he heads up the stairs. Hawk doesn't completely listen, following behind at a distance.

When he gets to the top, Eberhardt realizes Harry isn't alone. From the office, he can hear that Harry is "entertaining" his secretary.

Eberhardt busts in the door, his gun drawn. Caught with his pants down (as it were), Harry is clearly angry. Eberhardt uses a bad American accent to disguise his voice and explains to Apostolou that he'll need to do him a favor to avoid Harry's wife finding out about his affair.

Harry goes for a baseball bat behind his desk but Eberhardt gets the drop on him with his gun. He talks the man down, though he's clearly still angry. Harry grumbles out, "What do you want, macho man?"

Still using his bad accent, Eberhardt explains about the planning commission vote and the need to have Hector change his mind. Despite a tense exchange, Harry ultimately agrees to the deal though his eyes make it clear he wants to kill Eberhardt. He tells him to leave and never come back and he'll get the vote changed.

Hawk is nearly at the room when Eberhardt comes back out. He tells him the message has been delivered and they decide to leave. As they head downstairs, Eberhardt notices Foxy loading some of the high-end tools in the garage into the back of Hawk's car.

*** Session 09 - Scene 10 (of 10) ***

As they drive off, Hawk catches Eberhardt out about what happened in the hospital. On their way back to Eberhardt's house, they spot Nibbons and Fox coming out of a costume shop.

Hawk decides to pull over and talk to Nibbons. He asks him if they found anything, saying he thought Le Doux already exhausted that lead. Nibbons agrees they haven't managed to find anything so far.

Asked if he wants to come back with them instead of staying with Fox, Nibbons declines saying he'll stay with Fox.

Nibbons and Fox head back to Le Doux's office while Hawk and Eberhardt head off to the hospital. They head into the service entrance and find the laundry room where Hawk dresses up like a janitor and a doctor's outfit for Eberhardt. He also gives the doctor's ID he took from the morgue to Eberhardt so he can pose as a physician.

Hawk heads into the hallway and starts mopping the floor, keeping a lookout. He signals over to Eberhardt when the coast is clear.

Eberhardt goes in to free Le Doux. Le Doux asks Eberhardt why he is dressed up that way and the detective explains they are there to smuggle him out.

Using the medical credentials, Eberhardt convinces the charge nurse to release Le Doux to him as he claims to be there to take Le Doux back to the asylum. He then calls over to the janitor to help him take the patient out.

The three then make their way out of the hospital, with Le Doux asking if Hawk has seen Bunyon. Hawk says he's waiting out in the car. They make their escape and head back to Le Doux's office. By the time they get there, Fox and Nibbons have already returned.

*** Session 09 - Session Notes ***

Well, this session was a real train wreck - no other way to describe it. Things really went off the rails and the result is these notes which I'm assuming don't make a ton of sense to anyone who wasn't there.

I knew it was a bad omen when out of nowhere my internet connection was dead for some reason at the start of the session. I can count on one hand the number of times I've had trouble with my CenturyLink DSL service over the last decade - two times were not related to the DSL itself (one time the phone line was knocked out by a storm, the other time the modem died) and only one other time did I have any ISP disruptions of service. Still, it caused nearly an hour to be lost between messing around with Skype, rebooting the router a few times, gaining and losing connection, etc.

Now, I wouldn't say we had a bad time during the session. In fact, at one point everyone was laughing so hard we essentially stopped for five minutes to catch our breaths.

The danger, as I see it, is in the campaign becoming too goofy and falling apart like the Al-Qadim game did. I'll have to have a chat with the players ahead of next session to make sure that doesn't happen.

Here are the contributing factors as I see it:
1. The rest of the group relies far, far too much on the Le Doux player to lead them. So when he starts to flake out (since his character is down to about 20 SAN and has multiple disorders already), they really don't know what to do.

2. Trying to have Hawk (who isn't always cooperative of a player), Fox (who is a goofy, hyperactive teenage boy), and Nibbons (who is trying to play over a Skype connection) all play in the same game just doesn't work. We seem to do fine when there are up to two higher maintenance players; having three degenerates quickly into chaos.

3. The players are doing that thing where they decide to be antagonist towards each other instead of cooperative, which almost always leads to disaster.

I can help the players fix #3 by pointing it out. #1 is kind of on them (they already know they are aware of it). #2 is going to be the thorniest one since we have to either kick someone out or figure out how to make them be less high maintenance.

In any event, on to the miscellaneous session notes:
* I claim dramatic license for Fox (and later Le Doux) being able to get out of the hospital so quick. Yes, of course he should have been stuck there for much longer but how fun would that be.

* The joke about the witch doctor referencing the Chipmunks song was an off the cuff joke I made during the game when Eberhardt referred to Celine as the witch doctor.

* Readers of H.P. Lovecraft will know where I'm heading with both Fox's coma dream and Nibbons' strange altered state. More on that to come, but the basic idea is that because so many strange things are going on in the area someone has taken notice...

* The Diana Culley joke is a reference to the X-Files character, Dana Scully. The funniest part is that the Le Doux player (who is the big X-Files fan) missed the joke while the Eberhardt player (who like me finds the show somewhat overrated) caught it. It was even funnier because we were literally talking about the new X-Files series OOC a few minutes before that.

* It's not that the nun angle can't lead the PCs back to Jerboa, but there was a much more unique/less vague clue they totally ignored. Maybe next time.

* There was something of an OOC conversation about who else might have nuns. We ultimately decided there probably weren't a lot of Greek Orthodox nuns in the area (and we were pretty sure there isn't such a thing in the Southern Baptist or Apostolic churches of the south) so we stuck with just Catholic being in the area. Not sure how accurate that really is, though.

* Father Pallas, the head of the church records and archives, may well play into the story again later in a different plotline. I've had him planned out for a while.

* Fox's report to Bartus made no sense at all as the player was mixing up all kinds of pieces of the plot lines (and inventing entirely new ones). I decided to take pity on him since it had been a while since he's played.

* Yes, Hawk was totally going to set Fox on fire with the gasoline because he believed he might be a zombie.

* Eberhardt's joke about it feeling like two weeks is in reference to the last time we played. Whenever a single game day stretches across multiple sessions, the players have a hard time remembering what game day it is supposed to be.

* I have no idea when black trench coats became a thing. I assume one could purchase one in the 20's but if not, I didn't think it was worth arguing over.

* Le Doux's wall safe is behind a painting based on the steamboat from the song, "Waiting on the Robert E. Lee". We didn't actually name the painting in the session, but I thought it sounded appropriate for the write-up.

* I'd been meaning to bring back the Jenks / Taubert money plotline for a while now, but this was the first real opportunity.

* No one understood why Le Doux didn't just go to the meet with Jenks. That decision (combined with bad die rolls) nearly got everyone killed.

* Eberhardt did make the smart decision to try and stop the flow of blood with Big Daddy sooner rather than later.

* Big Daddy is based on The Simpsons character from the joke about the Chief Wiggam spin-off. His son, Dante, and last name of Broussard are taken from NCIS: New Orleans.

* I had Big Daddy point out all of their organized crime connections to ensure the players didn't forget. Also, they were probably less aware of all of them even at the time (such as Medvig's connection to Alonzo Patterson).

* The Apostolou family is taken from the American version of the TV miniseries, The Slap (granted, they weren't gangsters in the TV show).

* I find the PC's inept investigation into The Committee hilarious, since they know for a fact three names and two places involved but still can't seem to come up with a decent plan.

* Hawk trying to rob Le Doux, then going to see him in the hospital out of concern for his well-being, was especially hilarious because the Hawk player didn't really get the hypocrisy.

* Nibbons' magical machine fixed Le Doux's brain damage, though I'm not sure anyone quite caught that since it didn't fix his insanity.

* To be honest, everyone was too busy cracking jokes about Nibbons "sticking it in Le Doux" after one of the player's unfortunate phrasings about what happened.

* The doctor calling Hawk "Leroy" was going to be a play on the opening to Sir Mix-a-Lot's song, "One Time's Got No Case" (a song oddly as relevant now as it was in the 90s). If Hawk would have corrected him, he would have called him "Jerome" next like the cop in the song intro.

* The joke about Eberhardt's disguise options and The Village People was the highlight of the night as we carried on for five minutes making jokes about his various options.

* Harry Apostolou will most certainly be planning to track down Eberhardt and the others to kill them. This was not the easy success the players think it was. And since Hawk will be fencing those stolen tools from the shop...

* This session has a whole lot of convenient "characters bumping into each other". It's terribly unrealistic, but I kept trying to get them to get back together and work as a team in order to keep the campaign from ripping apart. As I said above, apparently I'll just have to flat-out explain it to them. Splitting up is all well and good, of course, it's just the working at cross purposes (especially as badly as they do it) that doesn't really work.

* Note that by the end of this session, the PCs are under the thumb of one gang (the Cajuns), have a shaky peace treaty with another (the Haitians), and have fairly hostile relations with two others (the Greeks and the Chinese). Assuming the PCs don't kill each other, this should get interesting...

*** Session 10 - Cast of Characters ***

Boudreaux "Boo" Le Doux: A Cajun and former swamp guide turned private eye who styles himself after hardboiled pulp detective novels.

Chester Lee Nibbons: A younger, bookish White guy who works as Le Doux's "partner" in order to pay off a gambling debt to him.

Benjamin "Hawk" Brooks: A Black street kid turned enforcer. He works as muscle and provides information for Le Doux, for a price.

Pamela "Foxy" Brown: Hawk's fourteen year-old half-sister who tends to get into trouble on the streets.

*** Session 10 - Scene 1 (of 7) ***

The next two days pass somewhat uneventfully as Le Doux and Fox need time off to care for their injuries. Le Doux finds the time allows him to heal mentally as well, recovering some semblance of his former sanity despite his knowledge of the things he has seen that science cannot explain. His partner, Nibbons, has found the time less settling, as he has started to have dreams about being in a strange stone structure where he appears to be very tall from his perspective; but no more details can be recalled.

On the third day, he decides to return to work. While Eberhardt is out on duty with the police department, he and Nibbons start planning what to do next about the Donny Martin case (and finding Jerboa) along with some of their other open investigations – the missing Taubert money, the Apostolu favor, the death of Patricia Walker, finding out more about The Committee, Nibbons' strange behavior, the new Axeman(?) murders, and the mysterious break-in at the Louisiana State History museum, just to name a few. Of course, the Martin case is the only one that is a paying job.

Outside, Hawk and Foxy are making their way towards the office. Hawk, too, has been pondering the open cases they have – along with his personal interests around finding Clayton Bigsby, the KKK activity, and the Dorsey-Graham / Thornton Brothers gang war, among others. But for the past few days, he has spent his time loading up his arsenal of flammable materials and incendiary devices in his car to protect against any more zombi outbreaks.

Since they have ran into so much trouble lately, Hawk's intuition is up. He decides to look around the area before getting too close to the office, looking for anyone who doesn't belong. He quickly spots someone in a car across the street keeping tabs on the office. It appears to be a White, working-class looking type.

Hawk heads into the office and lets Le Doux know about the guy checking out his office. Le Doux peeks through the window and spots the man Hawk is talking about; he realizes it is the man who works for Jenks who shot him.

When Le Doux mentions the guy shot him, Hawk (not having been present for the shooting a couple of days ago) asks about the particulars, asking if Le Doux had something to do with the guy's wife. Le Doux tells Hawk he is a crude man, and explains the shooter is a criminal in the employ of Big Daddy.

Hawk wants to know what Le Doux wants to do about the guy. When Le Doux suggests they simply go outside and talk to the man, Hawk immediately argues against it saying Le Doux will get shot again and the guy will drive off. Instead, Hawk's plan is to create a distraction while Foxy uses an ice pick to take out his tire.

Le Doux, finding Hawk's reaction to be overly dramatic, blithely suggests he could just stick a banana in the car's tailpipe. Nibbons smirks at the reference, recalling how a two-bit conman named Foley unsuccessfully tried that trick on him and Le Doux months ago when they were working the Maitland case. Hawk, unfamiliar with the banana incident, thinks it sounds like a good idea but says he has no bananas today.

The two argue over the situation for a few minutes. Hawk is convinced the man will shoot Le Doux and drive off, so they need to disable his car. Le Doux believes the man is probably there for some business related to Big Daddy and damaging the man's car will likely increase the odds of them getting shot, not reduce them. Eventually, the two agree to just have Hawk use his car to box the man in so he can't get away quickly.

Hawk tries making it look like the car is having engine trouble and just stops when he gets it into position. His act isn't very convincing, but he gets out anyway and tries to pretend he is fixing the car while the man yells from his car for Hawk to move.

From the office, Le Doux and Nibbons watch to make sure Hawk isn't going to get shot right away. Once it looks like a shootout won't immediately happen, they head towards the door.

As they get over, the man is yelling at Hawk to push the car away from his, calling Hawk "boy". Le Doux tries to make it look like they are coming over to help Hawk push the car, but the man isn't fooled. He slips his hand inside his jacket, not grabbing a gun yet but Hawk can tell he is keeping his options open. In response, Hawk maneuvers his hand towards his own gun.

The man asks Le Doux if this is his stupid plan, asking what he is trying to pull. Le Doux plays dumb so the man tells him to just move the car.

Le Doux asks the man what he is doing there. He says he is there to keep an eye on things, suggesting Le Doux should have already figured it out. Le Doux said he wasn't sure, since the man shot him last time. The man responds about Le Doux trying to kick him first, but Le Doux counters it was hardly a proportional response. The man just laughs, saying Le Doux was clearly planning to hit him in the back of the head if he would have gone for the safe ploy.

The banter continues, with Le Doux saying he didn't like the guy's attitude. The man is confused, saying he was just there to get Le Doux to a meet with Jenks. Le Doux agrees he may be a little hot tempered, but at least he didn't shoot anyone.

The man grumbles about how isn't sure why Jenks bothers with them, but says he's there to keep an eye on things until Le Doux and his companions come up with the Taubert money. Le Doux says he understands "his boys" already did a job for Big Daddy. The man claims ignorance on what Le Doux is talking about, but says if something like that took place all it did was buy them another week of time to come up with the money.

Feeling he has made as much progress as he can in the conversation, Le Doux drops the matter and focuses on pushing the car. Hawk laughs off the attempt, saying that obviously the man knows what they were doing so he just gets back in the car and drives it off.

*** Session 10 - Scene 2 (of 7) ***

With Jenk's man still keeping an eye on them, the investigators head back into the office to discuss what to do next. They decide finding Taubert's money is going to have to take precedence over the Martin case.

Hawk wants a review of the Taubert case status, not remembering it very well since it was weeks ago. Le Doux has Nibbons get the case notes back out so they can get a fresh look at the particulars.

Summarizing the notes, Le Doux goes over how John Taubert was a bag man for Jenks (one of Big Daddy's lieutenants) who worked the Maple Leaf Room – a rundown old ragtime dance club that fronts an illegal gambling operation. The night Taubert was killed, he was supposed to be carrying a bag of money from that night's takings that disappeared.

Le Doux recalls the investigation into the missing money didn't get very far. Nibbons and Patricia Walker tries the Maple Leaf Room, but were quickly thrown out. The one lead they had was about a beef Taubert was having with Little Zo, a rival Haitian gang member of the Zobop. However, the investigation later revealed it was Batraville who killed Taubert and the Zobop was not involved (though Batraville did not appear to have taken the money either).

After going through the details, Le Doux decides the most logical thing is to start over at the Maple Leaf Room and see if they focus on where they money may have gone this time. The only other option he thinks of would be Taubert's home, but he isn't sure where that is (though he does recall the girl Leigh from the Bart Maurice & Associates law firm who posed as Taubert's niece). Nibbons agrees the Maple Leaf Room would be the best place to start.

Taking Nibbons' often-repaired car, they head over to the slums of Marigny. Hawk wants to try heading in by himself first so he has them drop him off a little distance away. After a few minutes, they'll plan to come in themselves. They discuss the details of the plan, with Hawk planning to pose as a gambler. Le Doux, recalling Nibbons' experience last time, says whatever he does, if anyone asks him if he is there for a dance contest he should say yes.

Hawk heads inside, finding the place mostly empty except for a half-Black, half-Cajun man sitting in a back booth with a couple of large Black men standing next to him. He realizes perhaps the gambling activity may not start this early in the day.

The man in the booth calls over to Hawk, asking who he is. Hawk recognizes the man as Cecil Johnson, the club owner who runs the gambling ring. He gives his name to Cecil, who then asks him if he is there for the Texas Tommy contest. Forgetting Le Doux's instructions, Hawk says he is not there for that and just wants to roll some bones.

Johnson tells Hawk he must be in the wrong place. Hawk continues to ask about gambling, so Cecil tells his men, who he calls Leroy and Jerome, to escort Hawk out. Hawk tries to talk to the two large men about gambling and name drops Taubert while mentally assessing if he can take them both on or not. Leroy tells him it is best he leave, saying they aren't going to ask him again. Hawk decides he had better not try to fight them.

As Hawk is being shoved out, Le Doux and Nibbons are heading in. Cecil wants to know who they are. Le Doux says they are there for the Texas Tommy contest. Recognizing the first part of the pass phrase, Cecil lets them in while Hawk leaves.

Cecil then asks the second part of the code, asking who sent them. Le Doux says it was John Taubert. Johnson says two people mentioning Taubert right after each other is suspicious, noting Hawk also mentioned his name.

Le Doux makes a comment about that being strange and says something about Taubert not liking Black people, using a colorful epithet. Cecil tells him to watch his mouth while he is in the club, noting they have him and Nibbons outnumbered.

Ignoring Cecil's threat, Le Doux starts rambling about him and Taubert being in the Marines together. As he does so, Cecil squints as he looks at Nibbons. He asks if he's seen him around here before. Nibbons tries to say he has a lot of business in the area, but Johnson recognizes him as a man he previously threw out. He tells his men to get the two of them out of the club.

Le Doux tries talking him out of it, say he has a lot of money to gamble with. Johnson hints they might take his money on his way out, then explains dropping Johnny's name around isn't going to do much good since he died weeks ago. Le Doux tries to act surprised, but Johnson says he's pretty sure Le Doux already knew Taubert was dead.

Cecil wants to know what Le Doux's game is. Le Doux continues with his charade, saying he is a close friend of Taubert. Johnson says he can't be too close if he didn't know he was dead.

The two exchange more words until Le Doux drops his previous cover story and starts to talk frankly about the missing money. Johnson then realizes who Le Doux is, saying he knows he is "that idiot detective."

Cecil goes on to say that Jenks mentioned Le Doux (though Johnson recalls his name as "Le Duh") and figures Le Doux is asking about Taubert to try and find the money. He wonders why he didn't just ask him straight out. Le Doux tries to say it has something to do with Jenks not knowing who to trust and insinuates Cecil was one of the few who knew he had the money.

Johnson scoffs at Le Doux's bluff, saying everyone knew Taubert took Big Daddy's take of the game every night. Cecil dismisses the idea of anyone at the game targeting Taubert, since he was "killed by some nut with a machete" and found by "that drunk sailor."

Le Doux continues with his belief someone at the game could have taken the money. Cecil notes more money passes through the club on any given day than was taken in the game. Le Doux tries to get the exact amount of money Taubert was carrying out of Cecil, but he won't say. Le Doux then tries name dropping Big Daddy, but Johnson insists he has a closer working relationship to Big Daddy than Le Doux does.

Taking a different tract, Le Doux decides to ask some questions. But Cecil doesn't give him much to go on; according to him, nothing unusual happened that night, Taubert wasn't acting funny, and he doesn't really know much about what route Taubert liked to take to deliver the money to Jenks.

Finally, Le Doux asks about where Taubert lived. Cecil says he doesn't know but could find out. However, he notes the place would likely have been cleaned out and rented to someone else by now. Hitting a dead end, Le Doux decides it is time to leave.

*** Session 10 - Scene 3 (of 7) ***

Outside the club, Hawk looks for alternate ways to get information. He decides to talk to a bum he spots living in the nearby alley. The man gives his name as Brian Jacques.

Hawk asks Jacques about Taubert. Jacques mentions a man and a pretty lady previously asked about Taubert weeks ago, but Hawk ascertains he is talking about Nibbons and Patricia Walker.

Despite this, Hawk asks Jacques about Taubert anyway. He focuses more on other people around Taubert, specifically looking for anyone flush with cash after the killing. Unfortunately, Jacques doesn't know a whole lot other than what he already told Nibbons. Hawk gives him a couple of bucks anyway.

Hawk is finishing up as Le Doux and Nibbons exit the club. They find Hawk has had no better luck getting information. Le Doux wonders if the trail is too cold to pick up. Hawk suggests the only remaining plan may be to beg Big Daddy for more time.

They decide to head back to Le Doux's office.  When they get there, Le Doux sees Jenk's man is still in the car observing the office. He decides to get in the car with the man and talk to him.

Since they are getting friendlier, the man gives his name as Allan Deveneux. Allan asks if Le Doux found the money. Le Doux says he has not, but needs to talk to Big Daddy. Deveneux suggests he can get a meet with Jenks, but probably not Big Daddy himself.

Allan asks why he needs to talk to Big Daddy. Le Doux admits he's having no luck finding the money and wants to plead his case. Deveneux doesn't think coming up short with Big Daddy is the way to go, saying he may as well shoot Le Doux again now.

Taking pity on Le Doux, Allan asks to hear out what Le Doux knows. Boo says he knows Taubert left with the money, only had problems with the Haitians (who he's already ruled out), and was murdered and the money disappeared.

Allan asks if they ever found out who killed Taubert. Le Doux very carefully explains Taubert's career in the Marines and being killed for revenge by Batraville for his brother's death (making sure to leave out anything about zombis or the other occult aspects of the case).

Deveneux asks if Batraville's brother could have taken the money, but Le Doux says he has been ruled out as a suspect and was only interested in revenge. Thinking the situation over, Allan suggests if the killer didn't take the money and the money wasn't there when the police came, someone who came across the body must have taken it.

When he asks Le Doux who found the body, the detective explains it was a drunken sailor named George Kerns. Allan asks him what a drunk sailor who came across a dead body with a big bag of money might do before calling the cops.

Le Doux initially believes they already ruled out Kerns as well, then realizes that although he and Eberhardt started to discuss looking into Kerns more, they abandoned that aspect of the investigation once the evidence indicated the Haitians were involved and never actually asked him about the money. He sarcastically notes Allan should have been a detective. Allan tells him this should make them even for their previous incident.

With a new lead to follow, Le Doux heads back into his office and looks up the notes Nibbons took on the information Eberhardt gave him about Kerns and where the body was discovered on Gallatin Street. Hawk suggests they check the harbor to see if they can find Kerns that way. Le Doux says it is possible, noting Kerns worked on a commercial ship of some kind.

Le Doux and Nibbons decide to go talk to the harbormaster to see if they can get any information on Kerns or his ship. Hawk, meanwhile, knows the nearest speakeasy in the Gallatin area is Mae Kennedy's place over on Thalia Street. He decides to go check that out.

Nibbons takes the lead on talking to the harbormaster, a half-deaf crusty old man named William Criterion. He asks the man about a "George Hurtz" until Le Doux corrects him on the last name.

Criterion takes out his giant ledger book and reviews the crew manifests. He identifies Kerns' last ship as being a commercial liner named Whitestarr. Le Doux tries asking if Kerns is still on the ship, but Criterion explains he'll need to talk to the ship's captain about that. He identifies the location of the ship as pier 66, scheduled to leave again in another day.

When they head over, Le Doux spots a man doing maintenance work on the ship's deck. He calls out to him, but Nibbons can't really make out the man's response. He motions for the man to come closer, but quickly realizes he doesn't understand louder Portuguese either.

Le Doux yells out Kerns' name to the man. He disappears and another man comes out. This man speaks in clipped English, giving his name as Alexander Orbison, the captain of the ship.

Orbison asks what they want with Kerns and quickly explains the man suddenly quit on him suddenly the other week. The captain still seems upset about the incident, grumbling it following a night where Kerns and a few of the other men were out late getting drunk in the city.

Le Doux asks if they have an address for Kerns. Orbison says he does not, since Kerns quickly packed up his things and left so suddenly. He notes the man certainly won't be getting a letter of reference in the future.

Nibbons tries to see if Kerns had any trouble. Orbison says he was mostly a drunkard who liked his women. He notes Kerns had a particular favorite haunt in the city, but says he doesn't know where it is. He notes that anyone asking around about Kerns to the crew they suddenly forget how to speak English, such as the Portuguese man Le Doux talked to before whom Orbison identifies as "Cisco".

Orbison asks what they want with Kerns and Le Doux gives him a story about having some property to return to the man. Orbison notes it is not often someone is looking for one of his sailors to return property. Le Doux thanks the captain for his time.

Once the captain leaves, Le Doux approaches Cisco. He waves the man over, only to have him speak more Portuguese at him. Le Doux waves some money at him and Cisco puts out his hand.

Le Doux explains to Cisco that if he talks, Le Doux will pay. Cisco, in broken English, asks what Le Doux wants him to talk about. Le Doux says they need to find Kerns. Cisco identifies Kerns as being with "Senorita Kennedy." After getting five dollars, Le Doux tries to get more out of the man but only gets the name of the street, "Thalia" at the cost of another five dollars. Le Doux knows that is near Gallatin Street, where the body was found.

*** Session 10 - Scene 4 (of 7) ***

Meanwhile, over on Thalia Street, Hawk rings the doorbell of Mae Kennedy's house. A younger woman answers. Hawk tells the woman he wants to get straight to the point, saying he is looking for a man. Mae says this isn't that kind of place.

Hawk clarifies what he means and Mae says she keeps a quiet place. She invites Hawk inside to avoid rousing the suspicions of the neighbors.

The atmosphere inside is very social, with several men and women entertaining themselves. Mae heads Hawk over to a bar area, where she mixes him a drink she calls a "rose chipmunk." Hawk tries to watch her mix the drink closely, but can't be certain she mixed the drink without slipping him a Mickey so just to be safe, he only pretends to sip at it.

Hawk explains he is there looking for George Kerns. Mae mentions a lot of men pass through her place. Hawk tries to warn her that if Kerns isn't found, her business could be in danger from other men looking for Kerns.

Mae acts coy, saying Hawk is scaring her with all the talk of dangerous men. She notes he is a strapping man who could protect her. He says he can if she tells him where George Kerns is.

Kennedy says Kerns isn't there now, but will likely show up later. She flashes her eyelashes as she suggests they wait for him, upstairs. Hawk somewhat falls for the flattery, but tries to keep on task by continuing to talk about how important it is to get the situation resolved.

Mae then says she just remembered Kerns left something upstairs and asks if Hawk wants to see it. He says he does, so she leads him up to one of the bedrooms.

She tells him Kerns left something in the drawer of the night stand next to the bed and suggests Hawk retrieve it. Assuming she is trying to pull one over on him, he has her get it instead why he waits in the doorway.

As she opens the drawer, he readies his gun in case she's going for a gun in the drawer. She turns back towards Hawk with her hand still in the drawer, saying that isn't very nice. He responds how she isn't being very nice either trying to set him up while he's trying to help her.

Hawk then says she's in real trouble, mentioning Big Daddy's name. Mae's mocking confidence immediately shatters as she asks what this has to do with Big Daddy. Hawk explains Kerns has something Big Daddy wants, and Big Daddy will kill anyone he has to in order to get it back.

Mae is obviously shaken, saying no one said anything about Big Daddy being involved. Hawk assures her he is. She then looks just behind Hawk saying, "George, don't!"

Hawk has just enough time to move out of the way to avoid Kerns tackling him from behind. He gets ready to go at Hawk again when Mae tells him to stop, as Hawk is there about Big Daddy.

Kerns asks who Big Daddy is. Hawk explains Big Daddy is a crime boss while Mae tells Kerns to be quiet as "people are talking". George starts to catch on, suggesting it was Big Daddy's money.

Hawk points out he never said anything about money so obviously he knows what Hawk is talking about. Mae assures him they didn't know it was Big Daddy's money and they never would have taken it if they knew.

Saying Big Daddy shot a man for just not getting the money back quick enough (a colorful reinterpretation of Le Doux's incident), Hawk says he doesn't know how much they may have already spent but suggests they get together whatever they can to give back to the man.

Mae says she'll go get the money right away, but Hawk is sure to have them both move slowly in front of them as they goes to retrieve it from her safe. When they get there, he has her very slowly get the money out. She hands him most of the money in the safe.

Hawk takes the money while Mae pleads for their lives, saying they will make it up to Big Daddy any way they need. She then suggests to Hawk she has ways of being grateful if he could leave their names out of it. Hawk is hoping she'll slip him some money, but she makes it clear she's referring to slipping him something else so he takes a raincheck on it.

*** Session 10 - Scene 5 (of 7) ***

By the time Nibbons and Le Doux arrive at the Kennedy house on Thalia Street, they can already see Hawk coming out of it. They walk over to him, and Le Doux notices he has something bulky under his clothes.

Le Doux asks Hawk what he has. Hawk has them go back to the car to talk, not wanting to discuss it in the street.

Once there, he explains he has the money and how Kennedy and Kerns took the money but didn't know it belonged to Big Daddy. He also explains how they want to keep their names out of it if possible. Hawk suggests they do so as long as all the money is there.

Hawk hands over the money and they head back to the office. Le Doux immediately takes it over to Deveneux. Hawk wants them all to go but Le Doux insists on doing it himself.

When he gets in, Allan asks if he had any more luck. Le Doux says he has, and produces the money. Deveneux checks it out and says it looks like the right amount. He then says they should go see Jenks.

Hawk and Nibbons head over to Hawk's jalopy. Nibbons gets in the back so Hawk looks like his driver. They follow behind for a while, but Deveneux loses him.

Devenuex takes Le Doux to an outbuilding in a trucking company complex. Inside, they meet with Jenks. Le Doux recognizes the inside of the building as the one he met Jenks in last time.

Jenks tells Le Doux it is good to see him again and asks if he has his money. Le Doux hands it over and Jenks verifies it is all there. He congratulates Le Doux, saying he'll live another week.

Le Doux asks if their business is not concluded. Jenks says once someone is "friends" with Big Daddy, they stay that way. But he tells Le Doux not to worry, Big Daddy will contact him when he wants to talk. Le Doux sarcastically asks how he knew that was the case. Jenks says it is because he is a smart guy, noting that's how he found the money.

Before he leaves, Le Doux says he'd appreciate it if Deveneux weren't parked outside his door any more. Jenks says now that they have the money back, they don't need to.

For his own act of keeping things on good terms, Le Doux tells Jenks about Kerns and Kennedy in case Big Daddy wants to know. Jenks notes Kennedy is a small time operator but thanks him for the info.

Jenks asks Le Doux how business is going. Le Doux takes a shot and mentions his case about the missing Donny Martin and the mysterious Jerboa. Jenks hasn't heard of either, saying Jerboa is a strange name for a dame.

Le Doux says he has had a lot of strange cases lately. He says the name is probably from someone who lives down in the bayou. He then asks Jenks if he's ever spent a lot of time at the bayou. While Jenks is saying he tries to avoid it, Le Doux checks out his shoes; they are fancy wingtips.

Deveneux moves in to escort Le Doux out. Le Doux tells Jenks if they need anything, they know where to find him. Jenks agrees they do know, saying its good he understands that.

As Le Doux is leaving, Jenks calls out one last thing – telling Le Doux to tell his "German friend" that "the Greek" came through on the zoning variance. Le Doux muses that Apostolou must have had a sudden change of heart, saying city politics are difficult to predict.