CC: Chapter 1 - Comfort Place

[salun]

Josh Caulder

As they leave the car, he finds his phone and snaps a few pictures of the building and the crowd on the walk to the lobby. Once inside, he takes a few more pictures, then writes a few notes into his phone, while occasionally smiling at Gina Miller.

[Mort]

"You did the right thing," Robert says reassuringly.

The policeman tried his best not to roll his eyes as he pulled away from Robert. He didn't want to be seen taking a side. "We should be going . . . " the policeman was saying to the inspectors when Gately and Rothbury  both noticed it. One of the homeless men in the corner had let his foot slip out from under the newspapers. He looked to be wearing a very, very expensive alligator skin loafer.

The rest of the inspection team seemed oblivious and were moving toward the elevator to get the inspection underway.

[Sir Harry Flashman]

Jim raises an eyebrow upon seeing the expensive shoes, he almost finds himself turning towards the guy and checking it out - It's probably nothing - stole 'em probably... He thinks, heading towards the elevator with the rest. You're not a cop anymore Jim, not your job to be questioning bums as to where they get their footwear...

[Usdrothek]

Todd's head turns back an forth from the bum with the expensive shoe, to the the girl and back to the bum.

He had seen enough guys living rough over the years, and occasionally you saw them accumulate some really bizzarre stuff, but thats not what bothered him.

"There's something wrong here." he says to Newman and Caulder.

Todd hangs back, he looks at the shoe wearing bum intently.

"Whats got her so spooked." he mutters

[Mort]

"Whats got her so spooked." he mutters

"Um . . . it probably has something to do with being a crack whore," Newman said dismissively. "I hear they're kinda jumpy."

All-too-eager security guard strode to the back of the lobby. There were three elevators there. The left-most bore a handwritten sign that read "Out of Order." The handsome young security guard pressed the button to summon the middle elevator as the others gathered around. At first nothing happened, but after a few seconds the button light came on and they heard the sound of the elevator whirring into action.

"Let's go, gentlemen, Barnes barked.

[Usdrothek]

Todd walks up, still hanging behind the others. He turns to the woman, taking a step towards her. He leans in and asks gently.

"Hey Miss. What's the matter? This guy bothering you?" he asks pointing a thumb back at the vagrant.

[Mort]

"Hey Miss. What's the matter? This guy bothering you?" he asks pointing a thumb back at the vagrant.

The girl looked shocked and horrified at being singled out. "Wha--? NO!" And then she followed her denial with a string of shockingly vulgar expletives.

"I guess he should have paid her first," Newman said, laughing.

The girl made an obscene gesture at Newman and then began stomping her way toward the door.

[Usdrothek]

Todd steps back at the vitriolic tirade from the woman.

"Try and help someone out and thats what you get eh?"  he says shaking his head.

Todd will turn to watch the vagrant as he waits for the elevator.

Still something odd about this, but damned if I can put my finger on it. Maybe everyone's just agitated from the eviction.

[philjun]

Robert Steers

Robert really notices nothing of the stuff going on as he is too busy observing Barnes. He will follow her to the elevators and wait there.

[salun]

Josh Caulder

Josh looks a bit at the scene between Todd and the girl, laughs at Newmans joke, snaps a few shots of the lobby and the people there, then walks on with the others to the elevator.

[Mort]

The elevator arrived with a "ding," and the doors opened with a "creak." The elevator car was small, covered in graffiti, and smelled like urine. The car was clearly too small to carry all eight members of the inspection team.

"We'll take this one," Barnes said. She pointed at Gina Miller and then gestured to the other elevator. "You take that one. All the way to the top," Barnes added as she, Newman, the policeman, and the handsome young security guard stepped into the elevator.

"Yes, ma'am," Miller said. She pressed the button on the other elevator (the one without the "out of order" sign on it) and then turned to face the rest of the inspection team. "We'll take this one," she parroted.

With another "ding" and a "creak," the second elevator arrived. It's car was equally small and stinky. Miller and the others crammed in, and Miller pressed the button for the top floor. The ride up was slow and the stench in the elevator car was only made bearable by the soft, sweet smell of Miller's expensive perfume. The elevator indicator light blinked that they were on the top floor, but when the doors opened, they immediately saw a sign that indicated that they were only on the 4th floor. The hallway that stretched out before them in either direction appeared to lead to both residential wings of the building. The inspectors could see a long row of apartment doors in either direction. The hallway was covered in graffiti and the floor was littered with a combination of trash and children's toys.

All Miller could say was, "What?" She looked down at the elevator buttons that indicated the top floor and then looked up the hallway . . . and then down again.

[Sir Harry Flashman]

Jim frowns in suspicion, peering down the corridoor, Damn old buildings, he finds himself thinking. "Try hittin' the button for the top floor again - if that don't work - we walk from here up". He says, his voice retaining a steady, even tone that adds a great deal of calm to the situation

[Mort]

Jim frowns in suspicion, peering down the corridor, Damn old buildings, he finds himself thinking. "Try hittin' the button for the top floor again - if that don't work - we walk from here up". He says, his voice retaining a steady, even tone that adds a great deal of calm to the situation.

Miller pushed the top floor button over and over: click, click, click. But the elevator didn't budge; the doors didn't close. She stuck her head out through the doors and looked left down the long hallway and then looked right down the equally long hallway. Then she looked straight ahead into the small, trash-strewn lobby which was entirely empty. "I guess the stairs are on either end of the building," she said, not seeing any sign of where the stairs might be and looking increasingly nervous. "I better call Ms. Barnes and let her know we've hit a snag." Miller pulled her phone out of her expensive little handbag and pressed a few buttons. She put the phone to her ear and then back down again to look at the screen. "No signal? That's weird. Maybe it's the elevator." She stepped into the lobby and pressed a few more buttons. "Nope. No signal. What about ya'll?"

[Sir Harry Flashman]

Jim, quickly checks his phone - to no avail. "None from mine either..." Jim's eyes narrow. Somethin' definitely ain't right here...

[Usdrothek]

Todd sighs at the elevator problems. He steps out into the hall, glad to be out of the cramped urine soaked space.

He checks his phone for a signal also, then shakes his head and puts it away.

"Plenty of these old buildings have so much steel running through them, that it plays havoc with any phone reception. I'm not surprised." he offers.

He leans against the wall near the lift door.

"The lifts are often the first to go screwy. The control boxes short out all the damn time." he says a he thumps the flat of his palm on the wall to emphasise his point.

Todd takes a look down the dingy, dimly lit hall.

"Look, we could waste time trying to get the elevator going or just walk, the stairs can't be that far, and the Boss woman is gonna be waiting. Lets go."

He will start to walk to the right, looking for the stairs.

[salun]

Josh looks at his phone "Nope - no signal here either", then leaves the elevator with the rest.
Again he snaps a few photos up and down the halls, then follows Todd "Yeah - we might as well try for the stairs. No point in waiting here anyway."

[Sir Harry Flashman]

Jim follows Todd in the search for the stairs, keeping an eye out for trouble. "You comin' Miss Miller?" He says, turning back to the younger woman.

[philjun]

Robert Steers

Makes no motion to check his phone but smiles. "To be fair, the elevator did have a sign saying 'Out of order', didn't it? Let's just walk the stairs. Ms. Barnes is a big girl and I am sure she'll figure out we'll be walking when she sees the elevator's stopped on this floor." Robert will follow the others up the stairs.

[Mort]

He will start to walk to the right, looking for the stairs.

"Wait, why don't we just try to call one of the other elevators?" Miller didn't look like she was very interested in walking down either of those hallways.

Jim follows Todd in the search for the stairs, keeping an eye out for trouble. "You comin' Miss Miller?" He says, turning back to the younger woman.

"It seems silly to walk when we could just take this one." She sidestepped to the middle elevator, the one that Barnes and crew had taken, and pressed the button. Nothing happened. The button didn't even light up. The indicator light at the top showed that Barnes and the others had made it to the 10th floor. That was what the indicator light at the top of their broken elevator read as well.

"To be fair, the elevator did have a sign saying 'Out of order', didn't it? Let's just walk the stairs. Ms. Barnes is a big girl and I am sure she'll figure out we'll be walking when she sees the elevator's stopped on this floor." Robert will follow the others up the stairs.

"No. No!" Miller looked frustrated. "This . . ." she walked over and slapped the door of the left-most elevator that bore another poorly-scrawled "Out of Order" sign. ". . . This one is the one that isn't supposed to work. That's not very fair," she mumbled as she looked back and forth at all three elevators.

Reluctantly, she began to follow the others down the hallway.

[Usdrothek]

Todd walks down the hallway with confidence, but also frustration. His job took him to plenty of buildings, some good, but most were on the run down side, so a little trash and some graffiti was hardly shocking. However, the thought of some disgruntled resident lurking around was in the back of his mind, but hey.....he could handle it....plus there was a whole group with him.

Why did the damn lift break down on this crappy job?  Just wanna get this over and done with.

He cranes his neck, looking for an exit stairwell. They should be at the ends of the floors.