The Mob War Part 3: June 9, 1926

Early in the morning of June 9^th, Dr. Black takes Judge Putnam to an out-of-the-way hospital. Both the judge and the doctor receive blood transfusions, restoring their vitality after the byakhee attack and Dr. Black’s rather unorthodox magical use. The two men go home and finally get some rest.

The London Group is very busy the next day, mostly with meetings. The following occurs.

Mikhail and the Mob

Mikhail realizes that he might be able to get leverage or information against Big Grin and his new lady friend. He calls in a favor and replaces the public defender on an assault case featuring one Cecilio D’Agostino (AKA Cecil “The Hammer”). Cecil is a low-level enforcer for the Bianco Family, who was picked up after some Russian guy named Boris Novak got his face smashed in with a hammer at a speakeasy. Oddly enough, Big Grin is not sending a hot shot lawyer out to defend Cecil. Hence his asking for a public defender.

Mikhail meets with Cecil at Rikers. He learns that Cecil didn’t do it, but is copping to the charge, anyway, in order to do a favor for Big Grin. Mikhail learns that Cecil was at the speakeasy when a “new hire” of the Bianco Family, one Adam Dellinger, attacked Boris. He goes on to explain that there are now two factions in the Family: the old hands, who are all traditional mafiosi and who report to Big Grin, and the young guns who are not mafia and who are surprisingly loyal to Big Grin’s new girlfriend, Annie.

Cecil goes on to say that Dellinger, along with several other of the young guns, have been tasked with tracking down, “seven people that Miss Annie don’t like in particular.” Dellinger was at the speakeasy at the same time that Cecil was, and was asking around for someone named, “John Dukakis, somethin’ like that.” He refused to take no for an answer, which led to the fight with Boris, which led to Boris getting his face smashed in.

Cecil indicates that he’s willing to do a nickel for the assault charge because it means making it look like the Bianco Family is still a normal outfit, instead of revealing that Dellinger did it and admit the worse sin that Bianco can’t seem to control his own men.

Mikhail promises to defend Cecil, provided Cecil tells him more about Anne Chantraine. He learns that Anne appeared on the scene relatively recently and wormed her way almost instantly into Big Grin’s good graces. There’s a lot of concern amongst the old guard that she’s calling the shots now, and they’re worried.

Mikhail leaves with quite a good bit of information, including that it seems like Anne Chantraine has marked all seven members of the London Group for death.

Ron and Viv and the Mob

Vincenzio Bernouse has Gotten a New Actor, Apparently!

Early in the day, Ron meets with Vince and tells him that he thinks he murdered Gabriella Puglisi. He then goes on to tell Vince that he thinks that he’s pretty sure where Big Grin is getting his money from now, as he and Viv found the ledger from Look to the Future.

This caused Vince to become apoplectic, swill down some bourbon at an alarming rate, and order Luca to get Potafiori on the phone and get his ass down here right now. He also tells Luca to fetch his daughter, Vivian, who is practicing violin upstairs.

Everyone assembles in Vince’s office and endures an uncomfortable meeting of Vince chewing them out. Ron gets yelled at because he’s supposed to keep Viv out of the family business. Potafiori gets yelled at for colluding with Vivian about the ledger and not telling him where it really came from. Vivian gets the least of it, but she still gets an earful from her father about how, “she’s supposed to be the good kid and have a better life, and Jesus God!”

Vince further goes on to say that Ron needs to cool it and lay low for a while. He says that there’s rumors going around that Bianco can’t control his men, and that his new enforcers are just kids with guns who don’t know or care about omerta. Vince says that it would look very freaking bad if word got out that Vince can’t control his men either. He tells Ron that he is not to act on any impulses that he has, and if he does get impulses, he should have Luca sit on him.

After the meeting, Vivian takes Ron aside and yells at him for telling Vince about the origins of the ledger. She says that she gave that ledger to Potafiori and told him, “not to tell Papa where it came from.”

Ron is cowed. It doesn’t last.

Judge Putnam and the Attorney General

AG Ottinger is Tough on Crime!

Johnny drives Judge Putnam to his meeting fateful meeting with Albert Ottinger, the New York Attorney General’s. While driving, Johnny tells the judge that he has done some research and is concerned that Judge Putnam may be slowly transforming into a ghoul. Johnny begs the judge not to eat blood and to especially not eat the blood or flesh of human beings. He tells the judge to try and hang on to his humanity a little longer while he works on a cure.

The judge seems to take this all a bit too lightly for Johnny’s comfort, but promises to obey him in any case. They soon reach the Attorney General’s office, and Judge Putnam goes in for his meeting.

Attorney General Ottinger is a hard-nosed Republican who is cracking down on crime. He is disgusted at the judge’s extralegal injunction of Look to the Future’s assets, and embarrassed at how bad the judge’s overreach makes the New York court system look. He demands that Judge Putnam explain himself.

Having worked out with the rest of the London Group what he was going to say, Judge Putnam calmly recounts his partially accurate tale to the attorney general. He explains that he was repeatedly threatened by mysterious forces, including within his own house, to the point where he feared for his life. He goes on to state that these forces, which he assumed were organized crime in nature, were asking him to perform certain legal favors for him that he wasn’t comfortable with. He froze Look to the Future’s assets at the request of these forces before fleeing the country, fearing that he would be killed. He only dared come back once Judge Bartlett had reversed the injunction.

The story is woven well enough to convince AG Ottinger of the judge’s good character. He asks Judge Putnam to fill out a sworn affidavit so that he can build a case against the people who were threatening the judge. Judge Putnam replies that he is glad to do so, filling out all necessary paperwork and pointing the finger at the Bianco Crime Family. He then has Johnny drive him back to his home on Staten Island.

A Visit to an Old Friend

"Always Happy to Help Dumb White Boys with their Dumb White Problems"

Upon their return to New York, Johnny stops by Kane’s. He tells Kane of the judge’s ghoulish condition and explains that he knows how to make an elixir to cure him. Johnny says that he received this recipe from none other than Professor Armitage at Miskatonic, whom Johnny called out of desperation. Unfortunately, the elixir requires three rare herbal ingredients that Johnny doesn’t know how to get. He was hoping that Kane could take him to meet his friend, Papa Doc Horus.

Kane is happy to do so, but first asks Johnny to procure some fine wine from the judge’s stores. With offering in hand, they go to Horus’ place for Johnny’s first meeting with the voodoo priest. The three share the wine, discuss the judge’s condition, and go over Johnny’s ingredient list. Papa Doc says that he has one of the ingredients (morning glory seeds), but that the other two are rarer and harder to come by. He says he could probably get it in a week, for the right price.

At this, Johnny produces the judge’s checkbook. He balks slightly when Horus asks him for $100, but fills out the check and forges the judge’s signature anyway. Horus promises to get back to Johnny soon.

At Judge Putnam’s

The London Group reconvenes at Judge Putnam’s place. The group has a lot to discuss, including: the fact that Anne Chantraine is gunning for them, that Ron definitely did murder that lady, that Papa is very upset, and other things.

The group laments not knowing terribly much about Anne Chantraine. Ron, reflexively, wonders if the Many-Faced Stranger can give them useful information about Anne. This causes him to activate the Ouroboros Ring, nearly die from the casting cost of the summoning ritual, and collapse on the rug in Judge Putnam’s parlor.

As the others hoist him onto a sofa, Vivian removes the Ouroboros Ring from Ron’s hand, wraps it in a handkerchief, and tucks it away on her person.

We Have to Stop Meeting Like This! Hee Hee!

Moments later, there is a knock on the door. Johnny sighs and goes to answer the door, where a very smug Nathan Torpley stands waiting.

What follows is a very frenetic scene that is amusing for some, terrifying for others, and very annoying for Johnny. The judge’s put upon domestic servant pours drink after drink for Nathan Torpley while the eldritch abomination partially answers whatever questions are put to him.

They learn quite a bit more about Anne Chantraine, including that she is a member of the Order of Silver Twilight and that she was Carl Stanford’s long-time girlfriend. They also learn that her goals are similar to his and, thanks to a possible slip of Torpley’s tongue, that Stanford might somehow still be alive somewhere.

The group also gets their suspicions confirmed that the Order of Silver Twilight is entering the next phase of their plan on Easter Island. When the group says that, “we melted down two thirds of the R’lyeh Disc, so that’ll stop them,” Torpley says that the Silver Twilight still has a piece of the disc, which may be enough, especially since they have recovered the shards of the Arc of Vlactos.

Dr. Black, furious at Torpley’s hubris, demands to know just what the amulet Ron buried at his new cult site is supposed to do. The rest of the group tries to prevent Dr. Black from waking the ire of the Avatar of Nyarlathotep. Nathan Torpley just laughs.

Torpley soon grows bored with the conversation and departs. Ron, whether as a delayed reaction from his summoning of the Many-Faced Stranger or as a result of the stressful conversation with Nathan Torpley, pukes on the rug. Johnny rolls his eyes and fetches a mop and bucket.

Kane’s Trip to the Bathroom

During this whole scene, Kane—perhaps as a result of all the wine he drank earlier, perhaps out of a need to escape the fearsome presence of Nathan Torpley—ducks into the bathroom to relieve himself. As Kane washes his hands, the bathroom mirror darkens, obscuring his reflection. When it clears again, he finds himself looking into a well-appointed library, where Anne Chantraine is standing, dressed to the nines as a flapper.

“Finally,” she says, with a smirk. “And here I was starting to think you were the least vain member of your little group. I have a proposition for you, Kane.”

Anne tells Kane that she respects him as an adversary and an intelligent man. She further tells him that she thinks, of all the London Group, killing him would be a terrible waste. She tells him that she’s making a one-time only offer to, “join the winning side.” She says she will give Kane one day to think about it.

The mirror swiftly returns to normal. Kane exits the bathroom to tell the others.

Cheese It, The Cops!

As the group discusses Kane’s encounter, Johnny tries to both contribute and mop Ron’s vomit off of the judge’s very expensive rug. He doesn’t get very far before the doorbell rings.

This time, it’s one of Judge Putnam’s new security guards, who tell Johnny that the police are here with a warrant for Ron’s arrest. Johnny (perhaps a touch too eagerly) permits the cops to enter the premises.

The two police officers seem not to care very much at all about Ron’s weakened condition, and begin to harass him and harangue him to get up. Mikhail plays the lawyer card and manages to get the officers to back off. Slightly chastened, the cops support Ron as he struggles to leave the judge’s house under his own power. They then bundle him into the back of their car and take him downtown.

Mikhail gets in his own car to meet Ron at the police station, while the rest of the London Group plans their next move.