*** Session 08 - Scene 2 (of 12) ***

Just as Le Doux and Nibbons finish reviewing the paper, a middle-aged couple shows up. After talking with Madge for a moment, the secretary comes over to tell him the couple wants to speak to him; she believes it could be a case to get them some money.

Le Doux has Madge show the couple into his office so he and Nibbons can speak to them. They give their names as Donald and Elaine Martin. They appear to be relatively well off but not from the area; their accents give them away as northerners. The man appears to be a very straight-laced, businessman type.

When Le Doux asks how he can help, the husband does all the talking. He says it is about his son, Donald Junior, or "Donny". According to the man, Donny was a student at Tulane. The family is concerned because they haven't heard from him in a couple of months.

Donald says they talked to the Dean of Students, but Donny apparently filed for a leave of absence in the middle of the semester and left school. Since they haven't heard from him, they have no idea where he's gone.

Le Doux is surprised they took this long to notice. But Donald explains they thought their son was busy with school, and only heard from him by letter once a month anyway. Donald goes on to say they filed a missing person's case with the police, but since Donny is technically an adult and filed the leave of absence, they aren't looking too hard for him.

Getting some more background information, Le Doux finds out the Martins are from Akron, Ohio (with Donald an accountant working at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company) and that Donny chose Tulane because of a scholarship and the school's high reputation. He also gets a somewhat recent photo of the boy and the names of a couple of his friends – "Ken" and "William"; Donald admits he doesn't know the boys' last names.

Le Doux also digs in to Donny's religious beliefs, secretly suspecting an occult connection. Mr. Martin describes the family as devout Midwesterners; specifically, they are Presbyterian. Le Doux asks specifically about any connections to cults, but Donald insists his son would not have anything to do with anything like that, nor has he heard about such things going on at Tulane. Le Doux says many strange things are going on in the area, but Donald suggests nothing so out of the ordinary occurs in Akron.

Donald hopes Le Doux will be able to find his son, explaining he spoke to some local councilmen about finding the boy and was referred to the investigator by Congressman O'Conner's office (which somewhat surprises Le Doux, though he admits to have done some work for O'Conner in the past). Le Doux feels he will be able to track the boy down, quoting the Martins a rate of fifty dollars a day plus expenses. Mr. Martin gives his number at a nearby hotel so Le Doux can update him on the case.

*** Session 08 - Scene 3 (of 12) ***

After Madge shows the couple out, Le Doux asks Nibbons what he thinks about the case. Le Doux is naturally suspicious of the whole affair. Nibbons rattles off the possibilities – Donny could have gotten into some trouble with the wrong crowd, could have been having trouble with school, possibly developed a drinking problem with campus parties, etc.

Nibbons says regardless of what happened, at least it will bring in some money. Le Doux is pleased about the money, but still says the hairs on the back of his neck are up and insists there is something strange about this case. Le Doux decides the first thing to do is have Nibbons check with the local police precincts and hospitals.

While Nibbons is on the phone, Hawk and his sister, Foxy, show up at the office. Le Doux greets Hawk and has another cup of coffee. He knows better than to ask what Hawk has been up to.

Back in the office, Nibbons quickly gets through his calls. None of the hospitals have any John Does with that description and the only thing the police have on the boy is the missing person's report.

His next call is over to the college, where he speaks with Dean of Students, Jay Davidson. Dean Davidson has little information beyond what he already told the Martins about Donny's leave of absence. Nibbons asks about Donny's academic performance or other problems at school. The dean explains Donny was doing well in his classes and had no disciplinary reports from his dorm.

Dean Davidson goes on to explain when he spoke to Donny about his leave of absence, the youth only said he needed "time to find himself." The dean says he's often heard that excuse over the years from students who take a leave of absence but never come back. He also says he did have Donny talk to the school alienist, Dr. George Wagner, before he left. Nibbons takes down the notes and thanks the dean for his time.

This time, Nibbons calls over to speak with the dorm mother at the dorm Donny was living at. She gives Nibbons the same basic information about when Donny left and knows nothing more about why he left. Nibbons asks if a girl might have been involved, but the dorm mother insists she never heard about anything so scandalous and quotes Nibbons the rules about no women being allowed in the dorms except in the common room with an adult chaperone present unless they are family.

Nibbons then asks about Donny's friends or roommates in the dorm. She gives the name of his roommate as Kenneth Worthington III and a couple of friends as William Beebe and Alvin Barrilleaux. Nibbons isn't familiar with Beebe, but recognizes Worthington as the son of powerful investment banker Rodney Worthington and Alvin Barrilleaux as the son of Deacon Ernest Barrilleaux, Deacon of the Eucharist at the St. Louis Cathedral. Nibbons then calls the three boys and sets up separate meetings with each of them for later in the afternoon when they are out of class.

After Nibbons relates all the information back to Le Doux and Hawk, Le Doux has the two talk amongst themselves while he heads back into his office to call Eberhardt.

*** Session 08 - Scene 4 (of 12) ***

Detective Eberhardt is having another lousy day at the precinct. With all of his cases still open, the homicide commander, Lt. Al Giaradello, is putting pressure on him to close at least one of them by the end of the week because McElroy and Le Fleur are busy on the "Axeman?" killing.

Eberhardt knows the possible Axeman killing is going to be a hot item. He's heard McElroy complaining that their only lead so far is a witness saying he saw a "hairy handed gentleman" in the area shortly before the body was found.

Just then, his day gets even better by the phone ringing and it being another call from Le Doux. He asks what Le Doux wants now.

Le Doux tells him there is someone down at the office he may want to talk to, calling him a "flightless bird" and saying Hawk finally surfaced. Eberhardt mentions the pressure he has to close his cases. Sardonically, Eberhardt notes fortunately for him he is a master detective and has already solved them all. He continues his mocking by telling Le Doux that unfortunately, Le Doux and his friends are the perpetrators in every one of the cases.

Used to the German's acerbic wit, Le Doux largely ignores the commentary and reiterates he thought Eberhardt would want to come down and talk with Hawk since he is specifically identified in at least one of the crimes. Eberhardt agrees he'll come down.

By the time Eberhardt arrives, everyone in the office is sitting around having an early lunch of fried chicken and beer. Eberhardt can't resist making a crack about the good company Le Doux is keeping.

Eberhardt tells Hawk they have a problem with several incidents the police are investigating. He starts by explaining about the missing doctor and security guard at the morgue, and the witness sketch of the unidentified Black man seen there who is believed to have stolen the doctor's car. He goes on to update Hawk on the other cases around Patricia Walker and Jean Batraville.

Le Doux expresses his confidence Eberhardt's "master detective skills" can keep them out of prison. Eberhardt suggests he may need to sacrifice Hawk, which Hawk is not at all pleased with. Hawk promises to take them all down with him, promising he can have witnesses placing him in a club. Eberhardt suggests perhaps they could place him in the Eclipse Club during the shooting of Tab Virgil, Jr.

The two continue back and forth for a bit. Hawk makes a comments about he can find fifty guys that look just like him in the line-up, giving Le Doux an idea on how they can pin the morgue crime on another man. Hawk likes the idea and wants to use someone already dead to keep things simple. After a moment, he realizes the easiest would be to use Young Turk as their patsy.

Eberhardt isn't so sure, but does know the club shooting can be easily ignored. He and Hawk discuss some more, thinking they might be able to pin more than one of the cases on Virgil. He does insist they get some kind of real evidence.

Hawk tells Eberhardt that's his problem, but Eberhardt points out the best evidence he has so far is the sketch hanging up in the police station that looks just like Hawk. Hawk gets Eberhardt to reveal the sketch was given by Ted Johnson, the janitor at the morgue. Hawk believes the man can be persuaded to give a "revised sketch."

Le Doux asks Hawk if he can find Johnson. Hawk is fairly confident he can. Le Doux suggests taking care of the problem as Hawk is useless to him if he's on the run from the law, but Eberhardt notes they don't want to kill the man as that would just cause more problems.

Hawk clarifies he will just talk to the man, but warns Le Doux against threatening him. Le Doux argues with Hawk for a bit about which of them committed what kind of crimes.

Eberhardt leaves it to Hawk to clear his own name; the detective wants to focus on digging more into The Committee so he can clear his own name in the Walker murder before he and Le Doux are identified by the witnesses.

Hawk tells Eberhardt he'll need a picture of Virgil. Le Doux suggests they need to make the original sketch disappear, but Eberhardt is concerned that might be easiest to do after he gets the "new" sketch.

Le Doux suggests Hawk may have some contacts who can draw to avoid using the police sketch artist. Hawk recalls a couple of guys down at the bar trying to get his sister to "model" for their drawings, but isn't so sure he wants to use them. Eberhardt jokes that someone at the Blue Acadian might be able to do it as well.

Hawk's plan is to take the photo to Ted and get him to revise his statement. Le Doux thinks that plan is likely to backfire but after several minutes of arguing against it, eventually relents. Hawk does improve his plan a bit, using a backstory that Ted was afraid to give the real ID since Virgil was a gangster. Eberhardt likes the plan because it doesn't involve him at all.

*** Session 08 - Scene 5 (of 12) ***

Hawk heads off to find Ted Johnson. Since he's the night janitor at the morgue, he wants to catch him before he goes to work.

Meanwhile, Le Doux talks to the others on what to do next. Nibbons reminds him he already set up appointments with the boys at Tulane so he'll be busy with that. Le Doux believes the other thing they need to take care of is clearing themselves in the Walker investigation.

Eberhardt notes that Walker was presumably killed for getting too close to The Committee. He believes they should continue that investigation with the leads they already have – Dolly's Theatre (where the meeting was presumably held), the Tatterdemalion Garment Company (where the car was registered to), and the three names on the piece of paper found hidden inside her apartment (Grimes, Paffenroth, and Roland).

After a long period of contemplation, Le Doux decides he and Nibbons should go to the college to talk to Donny's friends while Eberhardt tries to run down the leads on The Committee by looking at the Crescent Parish Courthouse and Crescent City Chamber of Commerce.

When they arrive, they first speak to Kenneth Worthington, Donny's former roommate, in one of the private study rooms of the dorm. Though a youth, Kenneth has the attitude of "old money" and speaks down to the detectives in a haughty attitude when he greets him.

Nibbons does the talking, saying they want to ask a few questions. He starts by confirming Donny left when he did. Kenneth refers to Donny as a "good-enough chap, at least for a scholarship student."

Chester tries to dig into the reasons for Donny leaving, but Kenneth isn't sure. He says Donny didn't spend as much time around the dorms lately. Nibbons asks if Martin was spending time with his girlfriend. Kenneth assumes he must be talking about "that townie girl" and says he supposes that's what Donny was up to.

Nibbons digs more into the girl angle – asking what he knows about her. Kenneth says the girl was low class looking but doesn't know much about her specifically.

Le Doux asks for a description. Kenneth says the girl was brown-haired and looked to be a "Bohemian type." Nibbons confirms she wasn't a college student and Le Doux confirms he doesn't know the girl's name.

Nibbons asks about a picture of Donny. Kenneth says he has one of when they were on the rowing team. He wants to know what Chester wants the photo for but Nibbons gives a vague answer about looking for anything changing.

While Chester starts asking questions about Donny's possible interests outside of the rowing team, including any fraternity involvement, Le Doux starts rooting around in a nearby trashcan. Worthington says Donny preferred to go out into the city to do things.

Worthington goes on to say Donny met the girl at the cinema, or as he calls it "the theater that is not the thinking man's theatre." Nibbons continues to ask semi-relevant questions while Le Doux dumps the trash can out on the floor.

Clearly taken aback, Kenneth asks Nibbons what "his man" is doing. Not missing a beat, Nibbons says he is looking for different kinds of information, noting "we have our different ways." Kenneth suggests Nibbons be more careful who he employs as Le Doux is "befouling our institutional carpet."

Nibbons returns to the cinema, asking if Kenneth ever went with Donny. The callow youth scoffs at the idea, saying he avoids the cinema and is more of a Shakespeare and Marlowe man. He goes on to say he attended a grand production of Mozart's The Magic Flute the other night, calling it divine.

Chester changes the subject again to ask Kenneth what year he is in. Kenneth responds he is a senior, and discusses his plans to continue on to law school as his father has already assured him a place in a firm. Kenneth suggests within the next few years, he will quickly rise to a judgeship. Nibbons simply wishes him good luck.

Nibbons asks Le Doux if he has any questions. The investigator holds up a finger, saying nothing, then returns to rooting through the trash. Kenneth says he has other things to attend to, telling Nibbons if he needs anything further to give him a message.

*** Session 08 - Scene 6 (of 12) ***

William "Will" Beebe is a much more pleasant fellow, with a bit of street dialect suggesting he is new money from humbler beginnings.

Nibbons again explains their purpose. Beebe notes Donny started acting "real squirrely" a couple of months ago. He goes on to say it all started when Donny kept reading "that book" instead of the "more interesting" things he used to be into – like pulp magazines.

As Beebe comments again about him always reading the book, Le Doux's interest perks up. He asks which book Donny was reading. Beebe takes a moment to recall, saying it was the one about camping in the woods. Eventually he gives the title as Walden, which Le Doux recognizes as being the 1854 novel by Henry David Thoreau.

Will says he figures it was "that dame" who got him into it. Nibbons asks who the girl was as Beebe describes her as "kind of trashy" and suggests she was part Cajun. Le Doux tries to ignore the slight and asks if he knows the girl's name.

Beebe gives the name of Donny's girlfriend as "something funny", and tries to recall the exact name. He offers suggestions of "Jerba" or "Jorba." Le Doux mockingly suggests "Gerbil."

Le Doux starts asking about Beebe ever seeing any mud on Donny's shoes. Beebe says Donny preferred city places, like going to restaurants and night clubs.

Nibbons confirms the story about him meeting the girl at the cinema and treads over some of the same ground he did with Worthington. He also asks about academics but Beebe says he got a bit more "outdoorsy" towards the end.

Le Doux wonders if Donny spent time in the bayou. Beebe isn't sure. Le Doux tries asking him if he's spent any time in the bayou, but Beebe has no idea why he would or what Le Doux is trying to get at. Le Doux looks closely at Beebe's shoes.

Beebe complains to Nibbons about Le Doux staring at his shoes, but Chester simply says not to worry about it. Instead, he gets Beebe to confirm Donny did not say where he was going when he left. Le Doux confirms he took his copy of Walden with him.

Le Doux then asks Beebe about getting in to see Donny's room. Beebe helps them convince the dorm mother to let them in.

On the way up, Le Doux asks Beebe about the name of the cinema where Donny met the girl. He gives it as The Orpheum.

The room is empty on one side (where Donny used to be) and the other appears to have Worthington's things on it.

They search the room but find nothing. Le Doux looks through Worthington's stuff as well, finding his clothes to be quite nice. He decides he likes the pattern of a newer pair of Worthington's silk Argyle socks so he takes the pair.

*** Session 08 - Scene 7 (of 12) ***

Alvin Barrilleaux is the most subdued of the students, quiet and polite. Le Doux gives his name for once, though uses the alias "John Bunyan."

As with the others, Nibbons begins his usual explanation for why they are there. When he asks Alvin if he knows where Donny went, the youth says he believes Donny "succumbed to temptation" with the girl and ran off with her.

Unfortunately, Barrilleaux is no better at remembering the girl's name than the others. He knows it was something strange and suggests "Jeroah" or "Jebira" as options. He calls her strange.

Nibbons tries to dig in more to the girl, but Alvin knows little about her. He does recall she and Donny went out in the city to several different places. In a rather bizarre incident, he recalls her getting dragged out of a jazz club by three nuns. Otherwise, he names a couple of Donny's favorite haunts – drinks at the Bali Hai club or having dinner at Lee Ho Fook's Choy Suey House.

According to Alvin, other than spending more time outdoors Donny didn't act too strangely except he seemed clearer and more confident about whatever new path he was on. Alvin mentions when Donny left, he wished him well in his new endeavors though Donny didn't say what he was going to go do.

Le Doux asks more about the girl and how she was strange. Alvin says it was something about the way she carried herself and talked; he believed she was from the bayou. Le Doux is quite concerned at the mention of the bayou. He said she didn't seem too comfortable with crowds and things. Le Doux asks about mud on her shoes but Alvin didn't notice anything about that.

Just then, Le Doux grabs Alvin by the arm and starts asking him very intensely if he's noticed the patterns in the clouds. Alvin looks to Nibbons for help. Nibbons stays out of it so he tells Le Doux he has not. Le Doux very carefully instructs him to pay attention to the clouds. Nibbons, ignoring the whole strange matter completely, thanks Barrilleaux for his time and says they'll be in touch.

*** Session 08 - Scene 8 (of 12) ***

It doesn't take Hawk too long to track down Johnson's address. He decides to approach the house himself, leaving Foxy behind as a lookout.

Ted answers the door in a half-groggy state, Hawk's knocking clearly having woken him up. When he recognizes Hawk, he immediately starts to panic. Hawk tries to calm the man down, telling him he just needs to talk.

Johnson is clearly scared, noting he is just a janitor with six kids to feed. Hawk explains he just needs help on a problem, and notes it can be mutually beneficial to both of them.

Hawk begins by explaining bad things were going down at the morgue. Ted says he knows, as the police have been after him about it. Hawk goes on to explain the strange happenings there are related to voodoo, which Ted says he is familiar with through what his grandmother told him as a boy.

According to Johnson, his grandmother was a great believer in the power of voodoo, and even went to Miss Cleo every day before her recent death to help her play the numbers. He notes she never did win though.

Hawk bonds with the man explaining his aunt did the same. Changing the subject back to the morgue, he explains he is part of an investigation into evil voodoo activities going on there. Ted is horrified to think that the place he works is under a voodoo curse, saying he wants nothing to do with anything like that.

Ted rambles on about his deceased brother Fred, who crossed a "voodoo witch" once and was found dead, in the crawlspace under his house, wearing a clown suit. Hawk isn't sure what to think, but agrees that was a very bad situation. Ted notes his brother was scared of clowns, too.

Trying to stay on point, Hawk asks what Ted told the police. The janitor explains about the sketch. Hawk tells the man he understands he thought he was doing the right thing, but the white cops don't understand about the voodoo.

Ted gets focused on the voodoo again, asking if Hawk talked to Miss Cleo. He explains they did, along with others. Continuing on, Hawk says he understands the fear of the voodoo – noting he, himself, can't stand the idea of zombis and feels all the bodies should be burned so they can't come back. Ted says he thought he could hear one of the bodies at the morgue trying to talk to him once.

Hawk tries talking about the creature came out of the bodies, but Ted doesn't quite follow. He asks if it is like when the bodies pass gas after they die. Hawk says it is much worse, talking about the vent. Ted mentions he had to fix that vent.

The conversation ambles on slowly, with Hawk trying to convince the man to help him out so he can stop the voodoo, while Ted ponders the idea of zombi clowns coming after them. Hawk does agree clowns are disquieting, noting it's a strange "White people thing" and why there aren't many Black clowns. Ted agrees, saying that's why it was so strange they found his brother that way – it nearly turned Fred's wife white.

Hawk then gets the conversation back to getting Ted to finger the gang member. Ted is concerned about being in conflict with a gang, but Hawk assures him he has his back. As Hawk is trying to explain how Eberahardt will contact him to identify a man in the photo, Ted rambles on about wanting his own street name, suggesting he could be called "Eagle."

Hawk agrees to call the man Eagle and explains the plan to identify the photo as the guy at the morgue. He also gives Eagle a hundred dollars and suggests there could be more since "a lot of things may come down your morgue way" that they could use his help with. Eagle agrees, saying he's on it – as long as it doesn't involve any clowns.

Hawk brags about how he makes money on the side while working for Le Doux despite Le Doux always paying him terrible wages. He gives Ted a business card of Le Doux's. Since Ted can't read very well, Hawk explains the number and tells him just to call asking for "Doo Doo", figuring that is close enough to Le Doux's name. Eagle is happy at the prospect of making money, as he likes to play the numbers. Hawk notes he'd rather spend the money on alcohol.

Ted then bids Hawk goodbye, saying he needs to get back to sleep. Apparently, his youngest son William (who he's nicknamed "Buckwheat") has been keeping him up at night.

*** Session 08 - Scene 9 (of 12) ***

Le Doux and Nibbons make it back to the office before anyone else. Madge tells her cousin he has a visitor in his office and points out it's just for him. He has Nibbons wait behind.

When Le Doux enters, he finds Dr. Nathaniel Essex, from the asylum, sitting in one of the chairs. The man's slicked-back black hair and pale skin give Le Doux the creeps. He realizes he forgot about his follow-up visit.

Dr. Essex greets Le Doux in his quiet, cold voice. He asks how he's been doing. Le Doux does his best to greet the man while hiding the socks he stole from the dorm along with his notepad full of sketches of clouds he made on the drive back to the office.

Le Doux insists everything is going fine and there is nothing interesting going on with him. Dr. Essex asks some questions to see how he is adapting to normal life after his "incident." Le Doux continues to say everything is fine.

The doctor's eyes narrow as he explains he's been talking to Madge. According to Essex, she expressed some concerns about how he is doing. Le Doux tries to say she is a nervous girl who worries too much.

Essex doesn't seem to be fully convinced. He asks Le Doux if he's experienced anything out of the ordinary. Le Doux says everything is very ordinary. The doctor reminds him if he encounters any more hallucinations of monsters or illusions in the sky, he will need to inform him right away.

Le Doux tries to laugh off the suggestion then asks the doctor if he can help him back to his car. Essex then stops to ask one more question – specifically asking if he's seen any monsters in the bayou. At the mention of the bayou, Le Doux feels compelled to stare at the man's shoes though he attempts not to.

Dr. Essex asks if anything is wrong. Le Doux insists it is nothing; he says Essex should be getting back to the asylum as he's surely busy. Essex tells him he'll plan to stop by again in a couple of days, just to be sure.

Just before he leaves, he reminds Le Doux again to let him know if he experiences anything again, saying they can always give him more treatments.

*** Session 08 - Scene 10 (of 12) ***

Detective Eberhardt spends his afternoon looking up information at the courthouse and the chamber of commerce but doesn't make much headway. He finds no information on the names Roland or Grimes, but believes "Paffenroth" refers to Arnold Paffenroth, the owner of the Tatterdemalion Garment Company.

He heads back to Le Doux's office, where he finds Hawk and Nibbons waiting out with Madge. Hawk mumbles something about Foxy sleeping outside in the back of the car. After a moment, Le Doux emerges from his office and escorts out his alienist, Dr. Essex.

Le Doux then calls all of them into his office and they all exchange information. Hawk tells Eberhardt about Ted Johnson (warning them not to bring up the subject of clowns with the man), Eberhardt talks about what he found, and Nibbons relates the information about the students.

At one point, Le Doux picks an argument with Hawk when he mentions the "strange things" going on around them. Hawk insists that zombis count as strange while Le Doux insists he has no idea what he's talking about. Le Doux then goes to mumble in the corner. Eberhardt ignores Le Doux for the moment and coordinates the plan with Hawk.

When Eberhardt starts talking about Paffenroth, Le Doux seems to come out of his stupor again. He starts saying they need to get into the garment company building that night, insisting it happen after dark. Eberhardt isn't so sure that is a good idea.

The group then argues for a bit whether it makes more sense to go investigate the bayou or the garment company first, or split up (and if so, who goes where).

Hawk doesn't quite understand what Le Doux is expecting to find at the garment company. Le Doux wonders if the socks he has were made there. Inspecting them, he finds they do not.

Getting no answer from Le Doux, he tries his luck with Eberhardt. The detective reminds him of the connection to Walker's murder, but Hawk is still skeptical any evidence will be inside the garment company itself.

Eberhardt believes the garment company building very well could be where the cult might meet. Hawk disagrees, saying they should tail the man for a few days first. Le Doux likes the idea of Hawk following Paffenroth as long as he does it that night. Eberhardt still wants to break in to check out the office.

Hawk agrees to do the tailing work if the others follow up on the Donny Martin leads – saying they should check at the theater, club, and chop suey restaurant. He also wants Eberhardt to check in on Ted Johnson to get him clear of the charges.

*** Session 08 - Scene 11 (of 12) ***

Eberhardt takes off to go back to the precinct and deal with Ted Johnson. Le Doux and Nibbons head out to follow the trail on Donny.

They begin by heading over to the Orpheum and speaking with the ticket girl, a blonde flapper named Doris. She recognizes Donny from the photo as one of the college guys who frequents the place, but says he hasn't been around in a couple of months.

Le Doux asks about Donny's girlfriend. Doris recalls seeing him with a girl a couple of times but didn't pay much attention to her. She isn't able to give much more information.

Next, they head over to Lee Ho Fook's. The gruff host, a man named Liu, sees them to a table and tells them the special today is the ginger scallion lobster.

Le Doux hangs the argyle socks out of his breast pocket like a handkerchief but the host doesn't pay it any attention and hands them their tea cups.

Nibbons asks the man about a friend of theirs stopping by recently, showing the picture of Donny. Liu stutters a bit as he says he has not seen the man. Nibbons is pretty sure the man is lying, and notices one of the waitresses in the back appears to look nervous.

Le Doux orders the chop suey while Nibbons takes the lobster special. When he walks away, Nibbons tells Le Doux the man is lying. Le Doux follows the man into the back.

Following Liu into the kitchen, Le Doux confronts him. Liu tells him he is not allowed in there, as they use an "ancient Chinese secret" to cook with. Le Doux wonders if it is the same ingredient used at the dry cleaners.

Le Doux shows Liu the gun in the shoulder holster under his jacket. He tells them they need to speak out in the alley and he wouldn't want any accidents. Liu curses at him in Chinese but leads him out the back door, saying Kei Wong will hear of this.

Once in the alley, Le Doux tells the man he knows he's lying and will tell him what he knows or Le Doux will kill him. Liu asks him if he gives him the information, will he leave. Le Doux suggests he will if the information pans out.

Liu explains the boy used to be a frequent customer then stopped coming for a while. Then, two nights ago, he came in again and ate a large bowl of beef chow mein.

Le Doux wants to know why he wouldn't just tell him that before. Liu says that Kei Wong does not like trouble – which includes Whites coming in and asking questions.

After a few more threats, Le Doux becomes convinced Liu has told him everything he knows. Liu insults him for taking so long to understand such a simple piece of information, then tells him he needs to leave before Kei Wong comes back and finds out about this.

Le Doux wants to know who Kei Wong is. Liu explains he is the owner of the restaurant. Le Doux, a little slow on the uptake, still doesn't understand what the big deal is. Liu tries to insinuate more, saying how Wong is out dealing with "social club business" but Le Doux still isn't catching what he's saying.

Instead, Boo shows him the socks and asks him if he understands about the patterns. Liu insults him a bit more then tells him to leave.

Le Doux tries talking about Kei Wong more, but Liu says only that Kei Wong will come looking for him if he wants him. Le Doux gives Hawk's name and address as a contact, finally getting the hint that the restaurant is controlled by the Tong.

Before he leaves, Le Doux tries to talk to the waitress who looked nervous earlier, misinterpreting her being nervous about trouble at the restaurant for having some kind of extra information. She tries telling him she doesn't know the boy but he continues to press her. Liu starts yelling at Le Doux to leave as he promised. After they leave, Le Doux tells Nibbons he should stake out the restaurant later that night and follow the waitress.

*** Session 08 - Scene 12 (of 12) ***

Their next stop is over at the Bali Hai juice bar. The bartender greets them and asks what they'll have. Le Doux slaps down the picture of Donny with five dollars and says they are there for information.

The bartender, Ed, recognizes Donny from the picture. According to Ed, he was a real regular for a while then dropped out of sight for a couple of months. He was, however, there the other night.

Le Doux asks if he was alone or with his girlfriend, prompting Ed for the name. Ed identifies her as "Jerboa", but says Donny was by himself when he came in. Apparently, Donny came by to try out Batt's new drink, the Coco Anana (a mix of pineapple juice and coconut milk).

Ed goes on to say Donny didn't look too good, like he hadn't been sleeping. He mentions Donny's hair, however, looked perfect as always and he was wearing some interesting clothes (noting he'd like to meet Donny's tailor).

Le Doux asks if Donny said anything about the bayou. Ed says Donny didn't talk much, just wanted to try the drink. Le Doux tries one of them himself; he finds it tasty, though notes to himself it would be better with rum.

Asking after Jerboa, Le Doux wonders if Ed knows where she lives. He says he never learned much about her, calling the girl a little strange. He does recall her wearing a strange necklace – something Indian-like, a necklace made out of porcupine quills dyed blue. But he doesn't know anything about any Indian tribes so he can't say for sure.

Nibbons confirms Jerboa only ever came in with Donny and that the two of them never hung out with anyone else. Le Doux also asks if Donny said where he was staying, but the bartender has no idea.

As Le Doux is thanking Ed and preparing to leave, a newsboy using a crutch comes in to deliver the afternoon edition of the paper. Le Doux notices the headline on the first page and immediately reads it:

Another Mutilation Death

A second victim of a mutilation-style murder has turned up, according to sources within the Crescent City Police Department.

The office of Police Superintendent Thomas Healy has not confirmed the latest attack through official channels, but high-placed sources indicate an ongoing investigation into a series of street attacks near Kent and Mayfair Streets has escalated into a killing.

The coroner's office was able to confirm one murder victim from that Central City neighborhood, a garbage man named Jim Wachtel. The official cause of death is listed as asphyxiation, but a hospital worker who saw the body described the attack as, "the lungs were ripped out."

Without more information it is impossible to say if this is related to the recent robbery-homicide of Marilyn Livingston or if it is related to the Axeman murders of 1919. One thing is certain – our editorial board is advising all citizens to be extremely cautious at night, particularly in the area of Central City.

*** Session 08 - Session Notes ***

My favorite part of this session was that it took the Le Doux player all the way until the mention of Lee Ho Fook's to notice I'd peppered things with references to Warren Zevon's song, Werewolves of London (one of his favorite songs). The other players, oddly, were not overly familiar with the song even after we explained it.

That took me quite a lot of planning to get just right, so I was really happy the way it played out. Do werewolves actually factor into this plot? Well, wait and see what happens next session but I will note that the song isn't the only reference - Dr. George Wagner is from The Howling, and Donny, Jerboa, the three nuns, and the previously named Harry Beckmeyer are all from The Howling III: The Marsupials.

I thought the session was a great mix of adding a new case, but still having several events going on related to past sessions. There's more to come next time, too. I have a feeling events will soon spiral out of control for the PCs, much like the last Cthulhubusters game.

Reading the notes back, the strangest thing about this session is how much was dominated by the Le Doux and Nibbons characters. We didn't really notice it during the session, but Hawk and Eberhardt really only took on a prominent role for a scene or two. And Foxy, well, as I mentioned before she doesn't really want to play so she always ends up lying on the floor on her phone or sleeping.

Other notes:

* The Axeman was a real serial killer from New Orleans. He himself may yet show up in the campaign (I have a half-baked idea forming around him and the witch school from the story used on American Horror Story: Coven). Is he really the killer in these killings? Wait and see.

* The Lon Chaney story is there for two jokes. One - it was the only conceivable way I could get that line from the song worked in. Two - the reference to Tower of Lies, a film that apparently bombed and was so unremarkable its hard to even find any information on it.

* Pentex still has a bigger role to play in the campaign. But that story is also there to mention the fleet of armored motorcycles (a real thing - talk about cool) and to crack the joke about how the new energy source always seems cleaner than the last one.

* The O.D. Jackson story is there to make the O.J. Simpson reference joke and as a reminder that prohibition is still a thing going on (since most of this campaign hasn't touched on it yet).

* During the game, I just said Martin was a businessman type from Akron. I had no idea what Akron was famous for (tires) until I looked it up later to flesh out the notes.

* I've been meaning to throw in a case referencing O'Conner again for a while but this was the first real opportunity.

* I wanted a missing college student case because I always love the idea of starting out with something fairly normal then slowly revealing the occult stuff going on behind the scenes.

* Le Doux immediately being suspicious about the case was the subject of many out of game jokes. The Hawk player particularly mocked the Nibbons and Le Doux players for not realizing it would be related to a girl as their first idea since it was so obvious (to him) that's the direction of the story.

I think I mentioned before - the Hawk player and I have both watched a lot of cop / mystery shows. The other players, not so much. So whenever I pull out common tropes, Hawk gets quite a lot of laughs mocking the others for not doing the obvious thing.

* I had the dean reference the "time to find myself" excuse because its a cliché excuse that has existed since kids started going to college and one still used today.

* Note the PCs never actually questioned Dr. Wagner, which I thought was funny.

* Nibbons being a very active participant in the session was a good change. Sadly, the man is not the best detective and ended up asking the same repetitive and irrelevant questions to almost everyone he talked to. The challenge for me was to not discourage him from talking with people, but make it clear he was already got whatever info on that subject he was going to get.

* Kenneth Worthington III is a take on the name from Angel in the X-Men. I wanted something snooty sounding.

* William Beebe is actually the son of a guy who is involved in organized crime. Hence, he was more "street" than the others. However, a couple of bad rolls resulted in the PCs missing that info.

* Lt. Al Giradello takes his name from Yaphet Kotto's character in Homicide: Life on the Street. Obviously the NPC in this game is a completely different character.

* Eberhardt's conversation with Le Doux was truly hilarious the way he delivered the lines about solving the crimes.

* It took them forever to decide on the particulars of the plan to get Ted Johnson to revise his statement. I thought they overlooked easier ways to handle it. The Le Doux player openly mocked the plan of Hawk himself talking to Johnson, nearly laughing himself unconscious.

* The Hawk player didn't really catch my joke at first about the guys wanting his sister to model for them until Eberhardt made his joke.

* Strictly speaking, we actually played out the Johnson / Hawk scene first, but in the writeup I thought it flowed better to do the Le Doux / Nibbons interrogations with the students first.

* Since they were interviewing them separately (which I wasn't expecting) I decided to give the boys very different personalities to make the scenes more interesting. Worthington is clearly a pretentious snob and was the most fun to play.

* At the time, I wasn't sure if the "Bohemian" reference was an anachronism or not, but I wasn't sure what else would have fit for the time. Looking it up later, I think it still works OK.

* The Hawk player mistook Worthington being a theatre snob for being gay. That's not what I was going for there.

* Beebe was the next most fun to play. I gave him a bit of a "Joisey" accent because even though it wasn't correct, it got the correct feel of the character across.

* Hawk, our less educated player, caused a bit of an awkward moment when he made it clear he had no idea what Walden was or who Henry David Thoreau was.

* Hawk also seemed very confused about the name of the theater, The Orpheum. I don't think he knows about either the history of the theater chain nor the connection to Orpheus.

* When Le Doux went looking for "something with a pattern" I had him find the argyle socks because I thought it would be funny since argyle was very much in fashion after WWI (though I'm not sure they came in silk).

* I made Alvin Barrileaux more subdued in personality to have some contrast with the others. And as the son of a deacon, I wanted him to be more pious.

* Despite the oddity of the three nuns story, the PCs never followed up on it (another thing the Hawk player mocked them for later).

* Ted Johnson's conversation is very scattered because he's intended to be a very superstitious man.

* The story about his brother Fred is taken mostly from the film Tales from the Quadead Zone, where the two characters (and the clown suit) are from. The story in the film makes even less sense.

* I had Ted insist on a cool street name since Hawk wants him to be an informant. I thought it would be funny to mock Hawk's name by having him insist on being "Eagle".

* Buckwheat is clearly a reference to the Little Rascals character. It is an anachronism but I claim dramatic license.

* Dr. Essex showing up was meant to unnerve Le Doux, which worked wonderfully. The creepy alienist has more of a part to play later.

* I agreed with Hawk - I have no idea what they thought they would find by breaking into the garment company at night. We made an aside joke about Le Doux needing to hire Angela Lansbury to help him out with his investigations.

* I'm not sure why Le Doux felt the need to be so aggressive at Lee Ho Fook's. That will certainly come back to haunt him. He really seemed to miss the obvious - no one there wants an investigation because they are tied into the Chinese mob. They don't actually have any more information on Donny.

* Notice my pina colada joke finally pays off when they visit the Bali Hai.

* Jerboa's necklace is meant to be a big clue. We'll see if the PCs follow up on it next time.

* The newsboy in the game was unremarkable. I added the reference to Crutchy from Newsies in the writeup to add more color.

* The late edition article is just there to finish out the song references.

*** Session 09 - Cast of Characters ***

Bruno Eberhardt: A 1st generation German immigrant and seasoned police officer. He does some work on the side for Le Doux and others to supplement his income.

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.

Special Agent Millard Fox: A White agent of the Bureau of Investigation. He was sent to Crescent City to investigate a stolen car ring but spends most of his time looking into occult incidents.

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

*** Session 09 - Scene 1 (of 10) ***

Detective Bruno Eberhardt is working at his desk when he gets a phone call from a nurse at Charity Hospital. She informs him the patient he dropped off, Agent Millard Fox, has awoken from his coma. He tells the nurse he will be down there right away.

While Eberhardt makes his way down, Fox gets used to being conscious again. The last thing he recalls before waking up in the hospital is a squid-like creature attacking him and crashing the car. He still remembers the witch doctor yelling out in pain, "Ooh! Eee! Ooh! Ahh! Ahh!" as he was being devoured by the monster.

In addition, Fox also remembers a strange dream he had while in the coma – he was somewhere else he couldn't identify in a large stone building. From his point of view, he must have been twenty feet tall. He recalls something about looking through a giant book but nothing more.

He briefly talks to the nurse emptying his colostomy bag before she goes to get one of the doctors to examine him. After the usual tests, he looks around his room for any evidence he's had any visitors. The only thing he finds is a bouquet of flowers from the red-headed secretary at the office he has his eye on – Diana Culley.

By this time, Eberhardt arrives. Fox discreetly asks him how everything went with the Haitian case. Eberhardt assures him they got it all wrapped up.

Fox starts getting dressed, not wanting to spend any more time at the hospital. The doctor reluctantly agrees to discharge him, noting he probably should spend another week there to recuperate. But Fox wants to get back on the job, and asks Eberhardt to drive him down to the Federal Building so he can check in with Special Agent in Charge Bartus.

*** Session 09 - Scene 2 (of 10) ***

Across town, Boudreaux Le Doux and Chester Lee Nibbons consult on where to go next in their investigation. Leaving aside what they learned about Jerboa and her necklace from the bartender, they decide to focus on following up on the nun angle.

Since the Roman Catholic Church is the only one in the area that has nuns who wear habits, they decide to start there. Le Doux knows they could either be from the convent at St. Roch or assigned to one of the local churches.

Ultimately, they decide to start looking at the churches nearest to the movie theater (both forgetting that it was a jazz club the nuns were sighted at and not the theater). When they arrive, Le Doux tells the priest he is looking for Jerboa. The priest has no idea what the man is talking about, but Le Doux says only she was associated with the nuns.

The priest then has them speak with Sister Margaret Ignatius, the mother superior of the parish. Le Doux explains to the nun he is working on a missing person case and that the young man's female friend was seen with a group of nuns. He gives Jerboa's name and description, but Sister Ignatius tells him she is not familiar with the name.

She asks Le Doux what brought him to her church. He explains about the theater, but she tells him the nuns would not be going to the theater or even going in to grab someone. Le Doux says he isn't sure about the particulars, believing she may be a novitiate. Sister Ignatius tells him he will need to speak with Father Pallas in the archdiocese records office at the St. Louis Cathedral to find out if any of the churches have someone named Jerboa as a nun.

Le Doux thanks the sister then he and Nibbons head over to the offices of the archdiocese at the cathedral. Eventually, they are greeted by Father Dominic Pallas. Le Doux again gives his story and asks if Pallas can help. Pallas is happy to assist, saying he doesn't get many visitors.

Father Pallas notes Jerboa is a very strange name. Le Doux says he believes her family is from out in the bayou. Pallas says they don't get many girls entering the church from the bayou, but checks over his records.

Unfortunately, Pallas is not able to locate anyone with that name being affiliated with the church. Le Doux then asks if he has heard of anything about someone named Donny Martin but that doesn't sound familiar to Pallas either.

Taking a chance, Le Doux explains about the nuns taking Jerboa away. Pallas finds the situation strange, but expresses his belief that the "nuns" could have just been women in Mardi Gras costumes, saying such things are easy enough to come by.

Le Doux goes to leave then stops suddenly. He asks Pallas if he's ever spent time in the bayou then examines his shoes for a while. He starts pestering the man with his cloud drawings until he turns to Nibbons and asks if everything is all right. Nibbons again simply states it is all part of their process, noting they have some cutting edge techniques. The priest doesn't quite buy the explanation and leaves, saying he has work to get back to.

Having exhausted their leads with the church, Le Doux now believes they were not real nuns. He believes, like the lizard man, it could just be people in costumes.