Part 6: Day One- Page 5

Nothing like a cold cup of coffee.

>Taste coffee
You take one sip and nearly gag. Awful stuff!

>read papers
Sifting through the paperwork, you find nothing that catches your attention.

You can hear a fly buzzing around, hovering over the back of your neck.

What's the deal with that fly?

>look at fly
You can't see where the fly is. You're not even sure where the buzzing is coming from.

Bah. Alright, let's riffle through this guys desk. Miranda secretly wanted to be a detective when she was a kid.

>search desk
On the desk are some papers, a telephone and an answering machine.

That's was about as helpful as a Microsoft read-me file. Might as well check the machine, while we're invading privacy.

>press play
For a while there is nothing but a quiet hiss, followed by intermittent skirls of strange-sounding static. It sounds like one of those annoying glitches where the caller hangs up but the machine keeps recording anyway. Then, barely audible through the static, you detect what sounds like a human voice whispering a single word:

"Verlac."

The machine beeps.

A brief shudder ripples up your back. You remember now, "Verlac" is the name of this branch of Michael's family.

Ha! Answers!

>go east

File Room
Peering through the murk, you can make out the blocky outlines of filing cabinets lining the walls and a doorway to the west. A window high up on the south wall lets in a very faint illumination.

You can hear a fly buzzing around, right around your head.

Ugh. Excuse me for a second.

>brief
ANCHORHEAD is now in its normal "brief" printing mode, which gives long descriptions of places never before visited and short descriptions otherwise.

All Inform based games have this feature. "Brief" will only give a room description the first time you enter it. You can always "Look" to get information again. To turn it back on you type "Verbose" and room descriptions will fill your screen again.

Back to the game, now that we have a name to search for.

>search for Verlac
(in the filing cabinets)
Strange; the file on the Verlac property has been cleaned out. Title, deed, all the papers, all of it gone. There is, however, a set of keys tucked down in the hanging folder. You quickly pocket them.

Your score has just gone up by two points.


>look at keys
It's just an ordinary-looking keyring. There are two keys (a key to the house and a key to the cellar) on it.

>look at house key
It's an ordinary-looking key. The word "house" is written on a tiny piece of tape affixed to the key's tab.

>look at cellar key
It's an ordinary-looking key. The word "cellar" is written on a tiny piece of tape affixed to the key's tab.

Very helpful.

>put keys in coat
You slip the keyring into the pocket of your trenchcoat.

>put coffee in coat
The cold, murky coffee would spill out.

Looks like we'll have to carry this cup the hard way.

>go west

Office

Sitting on the corner of the paper-strewn desk are a telephone and an answering machine.

Screw you, Realestate office for making me search like that!

>press delete
The machine beeps.

Nyah Ha Ha! Now you'll NEVER know who was calling!
We make our escape!

>go west
(opening the real estate office door first)
The rain is still coming down, so you open your umbrella.

Outside the Real Estate Office

The office door is open.

There's really only the one way Miranda hasn't gone yet.

>go west


Narrow Street
As the lane winds along from east to west, it narrows until the steep, jagged rooftops on either side of the street practically touch each other. To the south, a side street leads across Whateley Bridge toward the center of town, and a twisting lane leads up a hill to the northwest. A short flight of steps to the north leads down to the local watering hole.

>look at bridge
Old Whateley Bridge spans the river to the south.

>look at watering hole
You needn't worry about that.

>look at street
The cobblestones are slick from the rain and worn with many centuries' passage.

>look west
The crumbling buildings of Anchorhead, with their ubiquitous peaked rooftops and ancient, leaning gables, cluster thickly around you in every direction.

The rain slackens off momentarily to a weak drizzle, then returns afresh in a brief, freezing downpour.

>look at steps
You needn't worry about that.

Now we have choices. The pub north, but the streets leads West, Northwest, South, and back East to the office, in case we left something undone.

YOU Decide!
Decide in Bold, please.

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