Log:Break-In at Helix Tower

2008/08/11 	 Lorelei 1

The scene: Lorelei returns home to the Helix Tower after a trip to LA is unexpectedly cut short.

Lorelei comes in to the lobby from the garage entrance, nodding to the security robot. "Evening Bob. Back earlier than expected."

"Welcome back, Lorelei." Bob responds in a synthesized but pleasant voice. "How was your trip?"

Lorelei says, "A waste of time, I'm afraid. Well, maybe it'll be good to have a quiet evening in for a change...."

Lorelei heads over toward the elevator.

The elevator doors swing open for Lorelei. Bob queries, "Shall I turn on the lights and activate the environmental controls?"

Lorelei says, "Oh, thanks, Bob. Could you get some coffee brewing too?"

"Yes ma'am." Bob says.

Lorelei steps into the eleveator and presses the button for her floor.

Lorelei yawns as she steps into her apartment.

Lorelei says, "Evening Jeeves."

The door slides open into the vast apartment. It's late, and things are quiet in general, but especially so in the apartment, with only the soft purring of the coffee maker. Oddly, Jeeves does not respond.

Suddenly, two men appear from their hiding spots, one from the dining room, and the other from the lavatory. At a glance, they appear to be burgulars, both men dressed in black, with masks and flashlights. One has a camera around his neck on a strap that bounces as he moves quickly. Both men bolt for the staircase. One of them passes right by Lorelei and tries to push her as he muscles past.

One of the burgulars grunts and he tries to stiff-arm Lorelei as he passes her. He ducks into the staircase, just behind his friend, the one with the camera.

Lorelei recovers from her momentary surprise and runs after the two men into the stairwal. "You two - freeze!" And she strikes one of her stunning poses for when they look back at her.

Both men hesitate on the stairwell to look up at Lorelei. The man with the camera sways a moment before falling unconscious. He tumbles down the spiral stairs for a few meters and comes to a halt. The other man, collapses, his weight falling against a railing.

Lorelei hurries down to make sure the two aren't serious hurt.

Lorelei says, "Bob, can you hear me? There were some intruders in my place."

The first man Lorelei reaches is the one who shoved her. He's a stocky build and maybe a bit overweight. The camera man is thinner. He might wake up with a headache from a bump on the head. Both men are breathing and seem alright.

Lorelei decides to lug the two up to her apartment again, starting with the camera man - partly because lying on the stairs can't be good for them, and partly so she can question them as they come round. "Bob?" she asks again and she begins to pull the first one.

Bob announces, "Are you alright? I am alerting the police. If you would proceed to your apartment, will attempt to lock the intruders away from you."

Lorelei says, "That's ok - I don't think they're any danger to me, but thanks for calling the police."

Lorelei is sure to check the men for weapons, as well as to take the camera from this man - she suspects that photos may have been the point of this little raid.

Bob says, "I am afraid I may be experiencing a system error. I am reading conflicting data from my monitors in the stairwell and the ones in your apartment. The error has been logged and will be reported to Helix Tower Management"

Lorelei says, "I thought as much Bob. I suspect they disabled you in there..."

The burgulars don't seem to have taken anything of value. Their equipment seems fairly standard: gloves, masks, identical digital watches, flashlights, one camera, a set of mechanical lock picks, and a set of electronic lock picks. Each man has a radio in his ear, and there's at tiny voice speaking from it...

Ah. Lorelei removes her SoJ earpiece and inserts one of theirs.

The are two items that are out of the ordinary: a plastic bag with strands of blonde hair inside, and what looks to be a forked branch from a tree about foot and a half in length.

"Guys? Guys? You alright... Oh crap, I think I see some sirens coming up. I'm bugging out of here."

Lorelei frowns. The hair, she feels sure, is hers. She'll be hanging on to that. As for the branch, that's just odd..... On hearing the voice, she rushes to the balcony, opening the door manually, and tries to see if she can spot the lookout - and, as importantly, if he can spot her.

A van pulls away from the sidewalk from where it was parked opposite the front of the building.

Lorelei pulls out her PDA, takes a picture of the van, and forward it to the police with an explanation. Best she can do really. Flying would really be handy at times..... She goes back inside to be ready at the two men come round.

Before too long, the two men start to come around.

The thin man groans and rubs his head. "Oh..."

Lorelei smiles, sitting across from the men. "Good evening. Now, perhaps you'd like to tell me what you were doing in my apartment?"

The stockier man blinks his eyes open. "Wha... what happened. Last thing I remembered was looking at you and..." He starts to slowly climb to his feet.

The stocky one stands and feels for his radio earbud. He frowns slightly and his gaze shifts to the stairwell door for a moment, before he looks back to Lorelei. "I guess it should be pretty obvious."

He speaks with an accent, Australian perhaps.

Lorelei says, "Well, burglars *usually* take valuables. I suppose I should check to see what's on yout camera...."

Lorelei begins to do so.

The thin man sits up quickly, saying, "My camera!" He seems to instantly regret it, though, raising a hand to his head and wincing. "Ow."

Lorelei says, "Sorry, I'm afraid you fell down the stairs a bit. Nothing more than a slight bump, though..."

Lorelei looks to see what's on the camera.

The photographs all seem to be from inside the apartment. The photos seem to progress from room to room and they are of practical that artist. Whoever took them seems to be particularly interested in what's in the closets, the refridgerator, and the medicine cabinet.

"If I've got a concussion, I'm going to sue." The thinner man says.

Lorelei says, "I think the management can show that they made every reasonable attempt to prevent you from injuring yourself by barring your entrance- speaking of which, I'm most upset that you disabled the computer in here. That's odd. Why so interested in my cupboards?"

The stockier man shrugs his shoulders. "If it's all the same with you we'll just wait until the police get here." He sits back down and looks out towards the windows. "Nice view." he says.

"Everybody wants to know what the celebs are eating and drinking. Who's on diet pills, who's got a sweet-tooth... all that kind of stuff," the thin man says, still rubbing his head.

Lorelei says, "And the hair? And this stick?"

The stockier man glares at his partner. "Hey, shut up!" The thin man looks away from him and down towards the ground.

Lorelei says to the stocky man, "Now now, there's no need to snap at him. After all, he's probably doing you a favour."

"A favor? How?" he asks.

Lorelei says, "Well - I imagine a jury would take it into consideration if *I* told them how pleasant and reasonable and cooperative you were. While if I have to tell them that you did nothing but burglar my place, assault me in escaping and then refuse even to explain your actions, well."

"Whoa," the stocky man says, "...Assault... that's a little harsh, don't you think?" He frowns and it's his turn to look towards the floor, seemingly deliberating something in his mind.

The thin man says, "Look, the hair... the guy said he wanted it so he could check it out... you know for drugs or medical conditions or something."

Lorelei says, "What guy?"

Lorelei thinks. o O (Or to check out my DNA....)

"The guy. Smith," says the thin man. "Yeah," adds the stocky one. "Smith. That's what we call the guy who hired us. He wanted us to see if we could dig up some dirt. That's what we do. We're journalists."

Lorelei says, "You're not in my usual following. But I'm confused. One minute you say he want my hair - and the next some dirt - and you take pictures of my cupboards instead of going through my correspondence or whatever? Please, get your story together!"

Lorelei says, "Oh - and what does this Smith look like?"

Both men look at one another. The stocky is first one to speak. "We never got a good look at him. We talked on the phone. When he paid us, it was kind of dark."

Lorelei says, "Not very helpful. It's goinf to be hard to put in a good word for you... CAn you tell me *exactly* what he wanted? The truth, now."

Thin guy: "He was pretty specific. He paid us an advance to go through your place, looking for the usual things. I think he was looking for a health scare or an eating disorder angle, because he was specific about the medicine cabinet and the hair sample. Oh, and the wood thing... He wanted us to walk around the apartment with it, and see if it pointed to anything." The man shrugs, "It was kinda weird, but the money was good, so why not."

Lorelei says, "And did it point to anything?"

The thin guy shakes his head.

Lorelei thinks. o O (Forked sticks.... sounds like something magical to me. Why's Ellbeth always out of town whenever I have a magic question?)

Lorelei says, "Hm... well, that's useful. ANd why all the pictures of the cupboards?"

The Stocky guy says, "He gave us a specific timetable and a date. You weren't even supposed to be here. Hey... there's one more guy -- our driver. I can tell you how to find him. Hey... I can't take an assault rap; they'll kick me out of the country. If I tell you how to find him, can you talk to the police."

Lorelei nods. "Sounds fair. You've been helpful."

The thin man says, "I guess he wanted to find out what had around the house. Y'know, the eating disorder angle. More common than you think."

Lorelei grins. "I'm one of the lucky ones. Don't seem to put on weight."

"I'll say," says the thin one. He nods, and he sounds awestruck.