OOM: welcome back to the Warehouse

[claudiometer]

Even with an active case, there's no shortage of things to do in the Warehouse; Claudia was walking the fine line between stirring up too much dust to be useful and feeling like she was sitting around doing nothing, but she needs a break. Unfortunately, it looks like that break includes the Corpse Groom in person

Comments

[claudiometer]

Claudia grins. "Okay? This is what I'm saying!"
...Okay, so the reconstructiony bit was sort of a last-minute addition, once she knew she was testing this thing out on an apparent victim of Trogdor the Burninator. But it works! And you can't get that from the body alone - not this quickly, anyway.
(.......and okay so maybe it's a better likeness with the added detail from scanning the body. BUT WHO'S COUNTING.)

[claudiometer]

What it is, apparently, is a box full of letters.
"'I'll be in town in a few days. Until then...'"
...Okay, that was incredibly informative. Except, you know. Where it wasn't.

[doyousmellfudge]

Okay, that's far more interesting than Jack Seacourt's trousers. "Are there envelopes?" asks Artie as he crosses the room to read over Claudia's shoulder.

[claudiometer]

After a quick check of the box: "No."

[doyousmellfudge]

"So there's no addresses?"

[claudiometer]

"Nah. Maybe he thought somebody was reading his mail."
Which, to be fair, they are now, so he wasn't entirely wrong, if that was it.

[doyousmellfudge]

"Well, y'know, it was the Cold War. Somebody probably was reading his mail." Artie picks up another letter and scrutinizes it curiously. "But girlfriends weren't against the rules, unless..."

[claudiometer]

"--wait, girlfriends?"
Iiiiinteresting.

[doyousmellfudge]

"Yeah, it's female writing, see?" He sniffs the paper a bit, then holds it up for Claudia. "You can still smell the perfume."

[claudiometer]

...Nice.
"Oh. So is that like an old-school booty call?

[doyousmellfudge]

Artie smirks. "Before there was texting, Grasshopper, there was a time when people actually did put pen to p--"

And then it clicks.

"Y'know what? That's the ticket. Here--" He all but shoves Claudia aside to sit down at the desk. "It's not what he got, it's what he actually wrote..."

In the drawer full of cigarettes is also a stack of letter paper and a couple of pencils. Artie pulls out both and starts rubbing the pencil across the paper. "The indentations left behind..."

Sure enough, letters are starting to come clear from the pencil rubbing.

[claudiometer]

"...Oh, sweet."
Now that's a trick worth remembering.

[doyousmellfudge]

"Product of a misspent youth," says Artie wryly. He squints down at the paper. R-E-B-E...

[claudiometer]

"'Rebecca.'"

[doyousmellfudge]

"And where do you live, Rebecca?" More scribbling. Bits of an address begin to come clear, including...

"...is that 'St. Louis'?"

[claudiometer]

"Yeah!"
Go go gadget problem solving!