"I wouldn't put much stock in rumor." Melinda says. "Sicily was a hotbed of revolution during Mussolini's regime." She shrugs, as the coastline comes into sight. "The fascists probably killed the villagers, and were probably then killed by rebels, or the mafia." Dismissing the danger, the professor smiles with excitement. "Later archaeologists mapped the site out, and they were all fine. I mean, to be fair they only did a cursory search before leaving, but-, no, there's nothing to worry about in there but splinters." They find the ruin complex along a cliffside, a small stone building overgrown by nature. "Much of the ruin is underground." She explains why it looks so unimpressive from outside. "Do you want to do the honors?" The professor asks, gesturing to the building. As the name would suggest, the ruin is hardly in good shape, at least that which can be seen from the entryway. Beyond some debris, the door to go further down sits at the end of the hallway.
She didn't exactly have the tools she needed for her best work. Stud detectors to help search for wiring weren't exactly standard issue for maids or portable. She always had a few wires to pick through locks if she needed it, but the sounds of the guard on the other end spelled trouble. They had the foresight to keep this place under wraps....so her options were either to find a way to make sure he wouldn't be a problem later, or if that fails, resort to cutting through dry wall to get at the wiring and cutting it in the hall which was going to be noisy....but she was prepared for this, a bit. She could feel the vial of toxins she had picked up in her uniform. She wouldn't need to get rid of everyone. Just enough to make an opening. It would be difficult to time, but by the time they had digested and reacted the poison that should be roughly around the same time of the party....there was no promises of that for sure, but it was what she had to work with. Going down to the kitchen area, she kept quiet, but looking at the things lined in the kitchen as if she belonged there. Her loose estimate is it wouldn't be such a heavy dose that someone would really notice the taste, but she couldn't be too sure as she grabbed a few dozen water bottles, and began to introduce a few drops. With that done, she left them out on the counter, reasoning the servants and guards would assume that was there for them when they came by. But she took the one she had, making her way back upstairs with the bottle, and knocked on the door. If it came down to it, she could always just make a smash and grab, but that wouldn't be nearly as eloquent, so she waited for a response by the guard. "Um....sir? Helene, gave me this to give. You're working really hard, so it's good to keep hydrated." Katherine reasoned that Helene was probably trusted enough that she wouldn't end up in any serious trouble, whatever happens.
Natasha made quickly next arrows, one road forward and secend in the direction where mistery woman run away, by she did run after her. It look like for ambush, so she would better to focus on finding exit. "Damit, it is bigger than London servers." She said to hersellf, listening for any sounds.
Miriam looked at the door, then looked up at the sky, and finally turned to her boss. “Sure, let's take a quick look. It's getting late so it will be best to leave the real investigation for tomorrow, but taking a quick peek downstairs should be fine. Let's go!” She decided as she headed for the door leading down. Despite her excitement she remained alert, her eyes searching for any traps or any potential danger, such as weak spots in the floor. If she reached the door without issue she would examine it carefully, then try to open it and look inside, but not go in just yet.
Spoiler: Speech Check D100: 78 (Pass) The door opens, the guard on the other end standing tactically out of the way with a hand on his holster, before tilting his head in confusion. "Helene? But I thought he didn't like me? She called me a dumb oaf last time I asked her... I don't understand women." He sighs, before accepting the drink. "Thanks, lady." Evidently his confusion over whether Helene likes him or not left him vulnerable to Katherine's lie, as he takes a drink.
Mori happily follows Helga, grabbing some plates, and setting up the table, trying to copy the table arrangements at the fancy restaurant's he's visited. But, as Laura says she'll be skipping dinner, "Oh... that will be unfortunate, I made so much after all." Suzuki says, "But I understand. My cooking probably displeases Laura-sama." He said in a whisper that only Helga could hear.
“Umm. Maybe she’s just stressed?” She didn’t want to talk too much longer than she had to and say something that she could be caught on, so she resorted to lowering herself to a polite curtsey. “I shouldn’t stand around for too long.” Dismissing herself, she was confident that this would leave the room open when the time comes. Disabling anything now and the guards would catch it, so there would only be a few minutes to get in and out, but if things went the way they should, it wouldn’t be a problem. She did have to consider how to get out. Excusing herself, she opted to start collecting garbage bags after a few minutes trying not to gag. A quick walk to the dumpster in the back would let her get a good look of what her options were for escape routes.
Heading straight ahead, the soldier finally manages to find an exit. Ahead of her lie to colossal stone doors, and to the side of them, smaller side doors.
Natasha walk to smaller side door, eardrooping trying to figure out what is behind them, and looking for keyhole before she try to open them.
The debris is quickly removed, and the doors open. She sees a wide chamber filled with arches, and some furniture beyond it, and...maybe a staircase leading down at the end? Before too long, the darkness is too great to see far. Spoiler: Awareness Roll D100: 27+10 (Perception)=37 She can't spot any traps in the darkness. "Hmm." Melinda says beside her. "Looks promising. I can't wait for tomorrow. In the meantime, I think I spotted a small hotel in town. Two rooms shouldn't be too pricy, I hope."
"Oh, no, it's not that." Helga sighs in irritation. "She's just overprotective. She's worried that you're some kind of weirdo, but if you were, you'd have attacked me, and not made dinner, right?" She smiles, satisfied with that logic. "I'll convince Laura to join us. Her reasons are good, but she's being really rude to you."
"W-what!? I'd never!" Suzuki gasped, eyes widening as Helga gave her concern. "Thank you, Ojou-chan. You truly are kind." He then bows as the blond was still convinced of his "pure" intentions. "I will leave you to it then. I shall go and finish up with the cooking." Mori then smiles, heading back to the kitchen to get the curry, and rice.
“Yes, let's return to town for now. We'll come back tomorrow morning – the sunlight will help us see.” Miriam agreed, then frowned when she heard mention of two rooms. “Why two rooms? One room with two beds will probably be cheaper. We're both women and we know each other, we're not strangers, so sharing a room should be fine. And we can share the cost, too.” She pointed out, hoping that her boss would agree to share a room with her – separate rooms would make her plans for the night impossible.
Spoiler: Awareness Roll D100: 93 A maid taking out the trash doesn't exactly draw a lot of attention, and the guards are concerned about people trying to break in, not get out, after all. Besides the front gate, the experienced thief notes a few ways out: - The first is a gap in the bars of the fence, big enough for her to simply jump through in a single bound if necessary. The downside is that it's close to the front gate, and thus she could be seen - A little further down she sees a tall tree on the mansion side of the fence, that she could climb up to drop down on the other side with a show of dexterity - There's a rear gate, less heavily guarded than the front, though still manned - Is that? Yes, it is! She spots a disguised pair of doors out in the forest floor beyond the fence. An escape route, likely connected by tunnel to an entrance somewhere in the mansion.
Spoiler: Helga's Speech Check D100: 67 Soon after, both busty college girls enter the dining room, taking a seat. "Mmmh, that smells delicious, right Laura?" Helga says, to which her friend nods half-heartedly. Helga begins to dig in, eagerly eating the food, while Laura eats more slowly, and only after she's seen Mori take a few bites. Nonetheless, she does eat, consuming the aphrodesiac like her friend. It's slow acting to begin with, so that the victim doesn't notice while their faculties are all still in place, but the criminal notices both girls beginning to flush.
Once they arrived, Mori sits with them in the table. "Mmh. I'm glad you like it, Ojou-chan." He said with a smile, eating as he realized Laura was watching him. Thankfully, he didn't choose a stronger variant of the drug, letting him shrug off some of the effects due to his repeated use ofnthe drug. "Oh my, did I make it too spicy?" He asked in a concerned tone, "Shall I make us a drink? I think I saw some fruits in the fridge." He asked again, now wearing a worried expression.
Spoiler: Speech Check D100: 88 (Pass) "I suppose that's logical." Melinda agrees as they begin their drive back to the small town. "I hope you won't mind me seeing you change, though. Those rooms are probably too small for privacy to be a thing, and the bathrooms are too cramped to change in. I hope you won't mind seeing me change, too." She chuckles awkwardly. "It's not a pretty sight. I'm not as young as I used to be."
It made sense. Rich criminals would have exit plans built with the police in mind. A few low power ieds could likely be used to collapse and seal it off once she pass it through it. Leave the getaway car obscured by some trees and bushes it and it looked like this would be a clean plan. She just needed to know where the entrance was exactly, ideally from inside the house. Once she had that, she figured that would probably be enough to get changed after she had a chance to slip away from her “job” unnoticed.
Laura eats a little more when she sees Mori begin to dig in. "It's great!" Helga says. "That's a great idea, Suzuki-san. Want me to help?"
Thinking about it, she can either go over the fence and go backwards into the house to find the entrance to the tunnel, or head back inside. Judging from the height of the trap doors, she'd say that it probably connects to the basement level of the mansion.
