Part 8: Hollywood and Buyer 2

Update 4 - Hollywood and Buyer 2

(MT32)



Here I am. Kursk Street. I have to remember, my name isn't Maksim Rukov. It's Kliment Kruglov, and I am most certainly not a KGB officer.

Inspect the false papers
You are Kliment Alexandrovich Kruglov, single, a commercial representative for the red banner bicycle brake production unit at Zagorsk.



I got a new suit for my undercover work. It's too big. I look like a kid in his dad's suit.



Inspect the door
A much used bar door. The address is that of the club.

Looks like this is the place.

Inspect the window
Toughened plate glass. Through the window you see a smoke-filled beer bar with a few clients.

Looks like a real sleazy joint. Not the kind of place that would be called the Enthusiastic Progress Club. Not sure why they share the same address.

We go inside.




Not very crowded at this time of the evening.




Romeo. I know that name. He was mentioned on the tape.

Inspect the bartender
A bored barman.

Inspect Romeo
He belongs in a western TV soap opera.

Maybe Romeo has something interesting to tell me. I'd better be careful, though.



Hello there.
Evening.
Can I buy you a beer?
No. Thanks.
What are you doing in a place like this?



Looking for the Enthusiastic Progress Club.



I've just heard it's a place to do business.
Sometimes.
I'd like to get to the club. Can you help me?
Sorry. I don't know you.
This is getting nowhere. Maybe the barman can help me.

Ask about...the barman
He's okay. Not honest. But okay.
So says the shady black marketeer. I'll talk to the barman.




Nice place!
Glad you like it.
How's business?
This isn't a private enterprise. We don't do business.
Can I buy you a beer?
I don't drink.



Ask for...vodka
This is a beer bar. Here you drink beer. At 10:30 you leave.

Ask for...champagne
What an amusing person you aren't.
Well, I thought it was funny.

Ask for...beer


Ask for...his name
Yuri.

Ask about...suspicious characters hanging around here
What's suspicious? Tattoos? Sunglasses? Don't ask me.

Ask about...the Enthusiastic Progress Club

I hear it's a good place to talk business.

Maybe a little of both.
If memory serves me, it's a private club. Members only.
How do I become a member of the Enthusiastic Progress Club?



I don't have a few days. It's got to be tonight.
Tough.
I'm willing to pay.
Sorry, I can't help. Last time I let someone up those stairs I got my ear chewed off! If you want to get into the club, you'll just have to go round the back of the building and up the stairs like everyone else.

So the club is up those stairs. The bartender's actually pretty helpful. I'll circle around the block. Galushkin said that Hollywood lives in an apartment building near here, so I'll keep an eye out for that too.




As we come to the corner of the sidewalk, we see a closed meat shop.





And I thought Red October Street was dreary.





This must be the apartment Galushkin mentioned.

We go inside.





The superintendent will probably know a lot about his various tenants. Maybe he can lead me to Hollywood.

We head upstairs.



Inspect the landing
This could be any second storey Soviet corridor. Cabbage.



That must be the Enthusiastic Progress Club. I'd rather not go in right this moment. It'd be better to gather as much information as possible.

We knock on the door to apartment 7, the superintendent's place. It's the second from the left.




Roma, at last.. Oh, yes?



I'd like to ask you a few questions.
Is this for an opinion poll?
Exactly. How did you guess?
But you've forgotten your clipboard! That's no way to conduct an opinion poll. Come back when you're ready.



Well, she was easy on the eyes. Guess I'd better find a clipboard.






That looks like the back of the beer bar. Maybe I can find something in there.




It's dark in here. Maybe if I turn on the li-



I'm a damn idiot. Okay. What do I say that can get me out of this mess?



Sorry, I thought this was the toilet.



He escorts us through the bar door.



Heh. I'm a real smooth talker.

Later...




Let's try this again. What can I use to create light that won't draw any attention? Maybe those matches I got from Golitsin's office.




Inspect the barrels
Stainless steel containers, full of beer.

I wonder if it tastes better straight from the barrel?

Inspect the locker
Full of cockroaches.

Inspect the stairs
They go up into darkness

Nothing here except beer. I'll go upstairs.




Inspect the office
A small room.

That must be another way into the club. I doubt this is the intended entrance, however.

Inspect the cases
Full of bottles of vodka.

Yuri told me he had no vodka. It must belong to the club.

Inspect the cupboard
Flyblown dishes is all you can find.

Inspect the locker
It contains cockroaches. You find a clipboard.

Inspect the clipboard
Old clipboard with a blank sheet of paper.

An excellent find. I'll head back to the Shining Future apartment.