Actual Play - The Further Adventures of George Holmes...

Death in Atlantic City

It is winter, 1937. Following the events of the case of The Whistling Death, George Holmes has been pursued by the press, keen to follow his every move and document the next exploit of New York's self-appointed saviour. Eager for a change of scenery and a little respite from the relentless glare of the flashbulb, George Holmes has decided to take a short break in Atlantic City, down the coast in New Jersey.

On arrival, George and Jersey check into the Hotel Claridge, at 24 stories the tallest building in the city. The hotel is opulent and attended by the wealthy and well -to-do. Holmes dresses elegantly for dinner and feels at home among the crowd of the dinner-jacketed elite. His appearance in the hotel has not gone unnoticed and many of the hotel's guests wish him well or shake his hand as he makes for dinner. He is approached by Casper Shelburne, the brash hotel manager who insists that Holmes dine on his, Shelburne's, table. Holmes realises that he is being shown off by the publicity savvy mogul but is happy to indulge the manager's ego as long as the food and wine keep coming. Following dinner, Shelburne invites Holmes into the private casino room and makes a great show of giving him $500 in chips to spend as he sees fit. Starting at the roulette wheel before moving on to blackjack, Holmes is soon a few hundred dollars up on the deal.

While playing, he notices an attractive blonde who appears to be paying him close attention, and in turn the two shady characters who appear to be watching her. The blonde takes a seat at the blackjack table when a space appears and Holmes soon learns her name is Francine James. Concluding his winning game, Holmes invites the woman to join him for a drink. She agrees and Holmes notices the two men follow them into the bar. While seated at the counter, Francine whispers that Holmes must help her or a lot of people will die. She urges Holmes to meet her on the roof and leaves.

Holmes follows Francine out and once on the roof, spots her standing by one of the air conditioning shafts, trying to stay out of the biting wind. She reveals that her boyfriend is a hood called William Clay and following Shelburne's refusal to pay protection money, Clay is planning to cause havoc in the hotel that very night. Their hurried conversation is interrupted by the appearance from the shadows of the two men who were following Francine earlier. The larger of the two men, named Frank, comes at Holmes with a cosh, egged on by his associate, harry, from the sidelines. Holmes deftly avoids the blow and pops Frank on the chin. His dander up, the large man drops the cosh and squares off against the elegant adventurer with murder in his eyes. He obviously hasn't read Holmes' autobiography as the champion of fair play drops his opponent to the floor with the old one - two seen so often by aficionados of the noble art in Holmes' younger days.

Tiring of the spectacle, Harry produces a revolver and advances menacingly on Holmes. A frightened Francine, meanwhile, has picked up the discarded cosh and lands a fortunate blow on the gunsel, sending him into well deserved oblivion for a while. A quick search of the unconscious thugs reveals a large hotel key, tagged with the number 7. Realising that the key is not a hotel room key, Holmes ties up the two senseless men and sends Francine off to summon the police. Holmes, meanwhile, descends quickly to the lobby, nerves jangling with the knowledge that the game is truly afoot...

To Be Concluded...

Renny wrote: and squares off against the elegant adventurer with murder in his eyes.

Nice

But I can't help but notice a certain lack of Holme's dependable and thoroughly honest and courageous companion...

AoP

Well, it was a solo adventure...

Pish! This is story of one of the Jersey Associates is it not?!

AoP

Well Im sorry Russ, but as I recall after booking into the hotel and being invited to join Shelburne for dinner, Holmes decided that Jersey's presence might seem a little out of place amongst the other well-to-do guests and so gave him some money and the night-off to entertain himself in the hotel casino, (which Im sure you would have appreciated). Later, after the rooftop liaison with Francine, Holmes returned to the hotel lobby to search for Jersey - only to find that he had been shockingly ejected from the hotel for drunk-and-disorderly behaviour! Holmes natually gave him the benefit of the doubt and implored Shelburne to send a member of staff out to try and find Jersey and invite him back to the hotel. Unfortunately by the time he showed up again (sheepishly) behind the wheel of Holmes's car the scernario was almost over and so sadly he could only contribute a cameo appearance in this game. In future if you would like Jersey to participate more in these spin-off games then perhaps you might try and train him to control his drinking habit and not to be so elusive in Holmes's time of need!!!

What the man said....

Holmes finds Shelburne in his office, behind the front desk in the lobby. He relates his recent encounter in terse sentences, bringing the poor Shelburne to a state of near collapse. Holmes shows him the hotel key and asks if he knows which door in the building it opens. Shelburne, recovering some slight composure, picks up the telephone receiver and speaks sharply into it.

The two men are shortly joined in the office by a rugged, square shouldered man introduced to Holmes as George Moore, the hotel's top maintenance worker. Moore studies the key and tells the two others that he believes the key will open one of the hotel's maintenance tunnels leading to the boiler room. Holmes asks Moore to show him the way and urges Shelburne to contact the authorities with no further delay.

Holmes follows Moore from the office and through the kitchens into the bowels of the hotel.They soon reach a plain door in a dimly lit service corridor, marked with the number 7. Moore opens the door and leads Holmes into an even more oppressive maintenance passageway. The heat in the area is noticeable as the two men enter the boiler room. Moore suggests the two split up to better search the cavernous room, and is soon lost to sight behind a maze of pipes and catwalks. Holmes treads softly in the other direction, his every sense searching for anything which seems amiss in the gloom.

Holmes keen hearing soon picks out voices coming from the level below. He creeps silently down a nearby ladder. Through the steam, he can make out two men struggling with a large wheel attached to a pipe leading from what Holmes' assumes is one of the boilers. He calls out to the two and points out the appropriated revolver he now holds in his right hand. Unfortunately, his advantage is short lived as he feels the nudge of a revolver's barrel in the small of his back. The unmistakable voice of George Moore orders him to drop the gun. Holmes has been betrayed by one of Shelburne's own trusted employees.

George Moore smirks as he reveals he has been in the employ of William Clay all along. Sounds of struggle announce the arrival of Clay himself, a frantically squirming Francine in his grasp. The two are tied together to the steam outlet, surely facing a certain, scalding end as the steam pressure begins to climb to catastrophic levels. They will surely be the first to die but not the last. Leaving their two captives to their fate, Clay and his men depart to find a good vantage point to watch the coming fireworks.
Fortunately, George Holmes has been taught a thing or two by the Great Mesmo and has tensed his muscles in a manner taught by Indian fakhirs, so as to provide some slack in his bindings. Wriggling free, he manages to reduce the steam pressure, and freeing Francine, hurries to apprehend the cold hearted villains before they can make good their escape.
Coming upon Shelburne and two policemen in the lobby, Holmes breathlessly relates his tale and asks where would be a good place to watch the expected destruction in safety. Shelburne believes Clay and his men will head for the roof of a hotel a few blocks away, The Regal, the second highest hotel in the city.
Holmes and his two police escorts head off in pursuit, leaving a shaken Francine to be led to the bar by Shelburne.
As Holmes leaves the hotel, Jersey pulls up alongside. Escorted by the two policemen on motorbikes, a nervous Jersey pilots his machine rapidly across town. Accessing the roof of the Regal, Holmes creeps unseen up on Clay. He silences the man's incredulous rantings upon learning of Holmes' incredible escape with a good right cross, while the police take the stunned gunsels into custody without a struggle. Justice has been served.
In gratitude, Holmes is provided with a suite at the Claridge whenever he needs it. As always, Holmes reluctantly accepts the plaudits and returns to his restful weekend, realising there is truly no rest for the righteous.

THE END

Thanks again Steve for your plot-summary of our George Holmes solo-session. Reading that through again was very entertaining and brought back some good memories of the game. Hopefully we can reunite for further daring tales and pulpy-action in the not too distant future!