Cracking the Code

12th November (Monday)

Monday began as a fine, California day. It is no wonder to me that folk make their home on this far, Western coast. Erik and I began the day by visiting American Union Bank to retrieve the ledger. The Bureau gave me some training in code-breaking, which today shall come in quite handy. After some review I came to the conclusion I just needed some quality time with the ledger to break the code – thanks to Mr Henslowe’s handy clue-card.

After our visit to the bank, we went on to the police station for my dreaded interview. Leaving Erik in the lobby, I met with an incredibly corrupt Detective McGill-Cuddy. The detective issued an all-too-familiar warning to get out of town and not look back. He knew all our names, including Frank & the Silver Sable. I wonder now if rather than the celebrity angle we previously considered, perhaps it was the police who brought on the heat of Walker and Pizner after Quincy checked in with them. We will find no assistance here, and may need to consider parting ourselves from LA, at least for the time being.

Before we leave, we still have a few loose ends to investigate. Erik and I spent the afternoon at the Town Hall looking at old records. We have an address for Ramon Echavarria in Highland Park, which he purchased in 1908, and one for the farm we recently visited, which he purchased in 1922. The most recent record we could find was from 1923, so it’s difficult to say who owns these properties now. We also found the name Abraham Buchwald (which matches the name on the clue-postcard) – who acted as Echavarria’s agent/accountant.

Meanwhile, Chastity & Otto visited the address we had in Pasadena, which we believe belonged to Walker, who we believe hired the PI, Jack Pizner. They found it heavily fenced and guarded, and fairly impenetrable. The pair moved on and visited the home of Professor MacDunn, where they spoke to a woman (his wife or perhaps a housekeeper). The four of us compared notes of our day over dinner, and made plans to conclude our business in LA.

13th November (Tuesday)

While the others continued our investigation, I spent all of Tuesday cracking the code of the ledger. I managed it, but as it proved to be just that – a book of accounts – there was little sense I could make of it after.

Otto spent Tuesday at the library, reviewing Echavarria’s books. Chastity was to investigate Samson Trammel and Erik would try to contact Buchwald.

14th November (Wednesday)

We broke our fast, intending to catch up with one another, but were rudely interrupted by Detectives Burney and McGillcuddy demanding to see our travel papers. Otto did not take it well, but in the end we acquiesced to their demand. Another reminder that our time here in LA is limited. If we do return, we’ll need to keep a lower profile.

Chastity will hire an accountant to review the ledger, and Otto will continue to work on buying the books. Erik & I visited Magnificent Villa, the auction-house responsible for selling off Echavarria’s belongings. When we arrived, we found it handily next-door to Buchwald Accountancy. Ah! The staff at the auction house weren’t particularly helpful, but Erik managed to parse the original archive brochure to determine that Lot 18 (which included Echavarria’s books) was given an original recommended sale value of $1000. At least that gives us some starting ground on the value of the books.