Downtown

Roya

"What th- keep it down, dammit!" Alethea commands. "Remember that you agreed to keep calm."

Ellen places a hand on Alethea's shoulder to placate her, then looks at you. "No, they weren't acting particularly weird. Well, mot that I could see, anyway... We weren't exactly close and we never hung out outside of practice, but I didn't notice anything."

"No rush, but we are in a rush. Got a limited time frame, y'know?" Alethea says.

Roy

Alethea groans. She starts walking off with her arms held wide in an exaggerated shrug. "I dunno, just... pick somewhere and look for weird stuff while I bug the office!"

Ellen's left standing with you, clearly a bit uncomfortable. "Well, uh... 'Tea's got the director's office. I'm going to look around backstage. Lately I've been getting a real creepy vibe from back there. You could come with me, or look up in the catwalks... maybe check the bathrooms? Don't try to bust into the owner's office, though. Leave that to 'Tea."

Failed every roll by 1...? Really...!?

Roy

You head backstage with Ellen and poke around a bit. "I'm not expecting much, but maybe we'll get lucky..." she says.

You try looking around for a while. You look under some props, feel around for drafts, flip a few switches and whatnot... no luck. Ellen even checks out that one spot she said gives her the willies. Nothing.

Eventually, you hear a whistle from the auditorium and Alethea comes strolling down the aisle. "Any luck?"

Ellen shakes her head.

Alethea shrugs. "No shock there. Anyway, bug's set. I'm gonna bust into the owner's office now. You guys comin', or do you want to check somethin' else?"

Roy

You follow Alethea up a set of tucked-away stairs to a small area on the second floor containing a few small offices and closets.  She stops in front of the one labelled as the owner's office.  She gets on her knees and pulls some tools out of her pocket.  "Alright, now just sit back 'n' lemme show ya how it's done..." she mutters.  She quietly explains the process as she works.  You feel like you've learned a bit.

Roy's Locksmithing increased by 10.

After a few short minutes, Alethea smirks and gives the door a dramatic shove.  It swings open.  Before you can step in, she stops you.  She walks over to the far wall and pulls a cover down over the window.  "Tip #3.  Cover the window, then turn on the lights.  Alright, let's see what we got..."

Ellen steps in and flicks the lightswitch.  The first thing you notice is a desk sitting in the middle of the room with an uncomfortable-looking chair behind it, and another chair placed across from it.  Papers are strewn across its surface, as well as a pair of used teacups.

Working around the room, you first notice a large cupboard with more cups, a kettle, and some various glass jars of tea leaves.  There's a safe with a keypad built into the wall - Alethea is standing in front of it and examining it carefully.  A hatrack with a coat on it... a few props against the far wall...  and a trashcan.  Last, a wardrobe right near the door.

Ellen stands around, unsure what to look at.

Roy

You start going through the papers.  Well, the ones on the desktop, the drawers are locked.  Hm.  Bill, bill, bill...  A casting list, a few waivers from the actors and tech crew, some notes about the play - you hand those to Ellen to look over - as well as possibilities for the next play.  Nothing interesting so far.  A note about a faulty lamp that needs to be replaced and some cost estimates...  A receipt for...  a huge cake?  To be delivered on -

"Oh, that's the date of the last performance," Ellen tells you.  "Looks like he was planning to surprise us with a party."

How nice for them.  You find a few more unimportant documents of scribbles and ramblings you'd expect from a theater owner.  You're about to give up when you find a letter in an unmarked, open envelope buried under the other paper, tucked in the corner of the desk.  It's got a single sheet of paper inside, and it looks like it's been opened and read and resealed several times.

While you debate whether to examine it, Alethea calls over from the safe.  "Hey, Elle?  Come gimme a hand with this..."

Roy

You open up the envelope with all the subtlety you can muster...  Which is next to none, but fortunately the pair are intently focused on the safe.  You pull out the letter and... oh.  This...  This is a love letter.  A very... intimate letter, at that.  You would probably be moved, if you weren't Roy.  It's addressed to the owner.  Signed... Sierra.  That sounds familiar.