Wherein the True Seekers conclude the baby business, encounter some partying, some revelling and some mages, and one of the pack members makes a disasterous decision.
The True Seekers eventually rise, sometime around noon, and ring up those numbers that they got no response from last night. Only one is answered by an old woman. They notice that the suited dudes are back again, although with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm. Surveillance begins again. The head suited dude calls the other two, and they meet for lunch at a sandwich shop, where they complain and whine and show no signs of continuing the search. Lisa and Steve spot a Ford Probe that has just pulled up down the road, with four more suited dudes inside. They appear to be watching the three original suited dudes.
Someone suggests that they ring the three suited dudes, warn them about the other four suited dudes and see what happens. The three suited dudes begin to sweat, and apparently "Tutti" is onto them. Acting real casual, they just "happen" to spot the four suited dudes and wander over for a chat. After both groups exchange mutually unconvincing excuses for their presence in the area and engage in idle banter, they part company. The four suited dudes drive away, but not before Steve notes the phone number one of them was ringing as they left. The three suited dudes go back to their car and drive south. The True Seekers split up: Lisa and Lachlan follow the three suited dudes, while Steve, Naomi and Vilna head for the restaurant in Reservoir.
The three suited dudes go into a small pub in the CBD and wait for the old woman to ring them because "they can't ring her". At the restaurant, the four suited dudes eventually show up and speak to a guy called Tutti, telling him what happened. Tutti seems agitated and orders the suited dudes to stake out the area again. The four suited dudes leave, as does Tutti a short time later. At the pub, the three suited dudes receive a phone call from the old woman, who, to their disbelief, tells them to start breaking into houses and searching them. They start to drown their sorrows. The True Seekers reassemble at Lisa and Lach's place. Using eidetic memory, Lisa remembers that Tutti's surname was Pantoliano, so they head for the white pages, and find a listing for a T and M Pantoliano in Reservoir (astounding!). However, they decide to first grab the three suited dudes when they break into a house.
Round nine-ish, the suited dudes turn up, and start looking for an unoccupied house. Unfortunately for them, the unoccupied house they find is rapidly occupied by five Garou in Glabro form, who grab the Suited dudes as they enter. The suited dudes are separated and the interrogation begins (with a brief interlude for the Storyteller to have hysterics and allow Lachlan to retract a menacing statement that he makes about Ford Probes). The suited dude seems prepared to lie through his teeth, until Lachlan makes it clear that he knows everything and that he's not affiliated with any family. The suited dude reveals that he is looking for a baby at the behest of Tutti's mother, Maria, that Tutti is also looking for the baby, and that the whole thing has something to do with the disappearance a few weeks ago of Tutti's son Antony.
Around about this point the nice old couple, whose house the interrogation is taking place in, return home. The True Seekers immediately step sideways, leaving the nice old couple to face three panicked Mafia dudes. Fortunately, they just bolt out, knocking the nice old couple over, snapping their brittle bones like matchsticks (no, not really). Back at Lisa and Lach's, Lachlan uses Questing Stone to locate Antony Pantoliano and rolls seven successes!!! Antony is very definitely in Carrum (north of Frankston), and he even knows which street. Lachlan and Lisa head down to Carrum, while Steve, Naomi and Vilna go check out Tutti's place.
A quick umbral reconnaissance of Tutti's place shows nothing on the ground floor. Steve takes Naomi (who failed an attempt to step sideways) into the real world inside the house. Searching the upstairs whilst dodging the maid reveals an old woman whose odour matches that Naomi found outside Lisa and Lach's house. Naomi goes back to tell the others what she has found. Soon afterwards someone, not Tutti, turns up, so Naomi sneaks into the garage behind the car. The driver is a woman in her late twenties/early thirties. Unfortunately, Naomi gets locked in the garage so Steve takes her into the umbra again before he spies on the woman. The woman puts her purse by the phone while listening to her answering machine (tennis, shopping, who's sleeping with who blah blah blah) then goes upstairs. Steve steps sideways and goes through her purse, finding nothing of interest except her driver's license, which names her as Maria Pantoliano.
In Carrum, Lisa and Lachlan find the house in question, a typical single level house. Umbrally scanning it, they find two guys with gun holsters watching the TV in the living room, and a man and a woman in the bedroom. The plot thickens. They ring up Vilna, much information is swapped, and everyone heads for Lisa and Lach's place.
Arriving there first, Naomi, Vilna and Steve find a black stretch limo outside the front door. They drive past and come round the back way through the umbra, but not before ringing Lisa and Lachlan to warn them. Checking out the limo reveals only a chauffer-type in the car. Eventually everyone is assembled in the house and they try to work out what to do. Lisa walks out the front door, and the chauffer gets out and approaches her. He says that her limo is waiting, and enquires as to where the others are. Lisa questions him, but he's not saying much, so everyone trundles into the limo (Vilna umbrally) and off they go. They drive to a palatial house in Toorak, where a party seems to be going on. They are escorted into a side room and introduced to Ion Apostolova, Master of the Challenge for the Hidden Green sept. He seems to be aware that the True Seekers have the baby and wants to know what they intend to do with her. He doesn't tell them anything about the baby, and claims that his interest is due to his involvement with the underworld. The True Seekers try to impress upon him that they don't know what the fuck is going on, but he doesn't believe them, claiming it is too much of a coincidence that they just happen to have the baby. After Ion seems satisfied with what he has been told, and a few tribal insults are thrown around, the True Seekers leave, not in the best of moods.
They return to the cemetery and tell Christine Elliot about Ion. She says she doesn't like him, but also doesn't know him that well. Also that he is honourable in Garou matters, but unscrupulous otherwise, and is probably trying to climb several ladders at once (please take this as a metaphor and don't be pedantic when you read it). The True Seekers suffer a sudden out break of paranoia, and decide to get Sere far away - to the Tower Hill Caern, in fact. Emma opens the moon bridge, and the True Seekers take Sere through. After talking with Bret Hutchinson, he agrees to mind Sere for a while, so they turn around and go back to the cemetery. Everyone then heads for bed.
The True Seekers troop around to Tutti's house to talk to the old woman. Once outside an enormous debate takes place as to who goes in and when and why (chain-link fences everywhere!). Eventually Lisa and Lachlan knock on the door and convince the maid to let them see Maria, whilst the others perform Umbral gymnastics to see what's going on. Lisa and Lachlan begin their professional interrogation, only to discover that Maria is fairly senile. However, they do manage to coax out of her certain information, such as that Antony (her grandson) is hiding from Tutti (her son), and that the baby (Maria) is Antony's daughter and that she (the elder Maria) was trying return Maria (the baby) to Antony via his friend in Drummond Street who doesn't live there anymore. Lachlan begins patronising her and convinces her that Antony now has his daughter back. Lisa and Lachlan then leave.
Returning to Lachlan and Lisa's house, Steve rings Peter and asks him to check up on a Antony Pantoliano. Everyone then waits a few hours for Pete to ring back. When he does, he says that searching for info on the name caused some federal police to ask him some rather pointed questions, to which Pete claimed he was checking up a lead from a source. So although he didn't find anything per se, the True Seekers suss a few grains of info from what he says.
The True Seekers drive down to Carrum and begin a watch over the house, trying to determine whether Antony is hiding from the feds or is being protected by the feds and hiding from the mob before deciding to return Maria (the baby) to them. Occassionally the phone rings and a man (Dennis the first two times, Bob the third time) asks what the situation is down there, to which the guy with the gun replies that nothing has happened. The True Seekers watch on into the night.
The guys with guns get another phone call from Dennis asking if everything is all right, as it seems that Tutti believes that they have the baby and may well do a runner. When one of the guys takes a shower, someone checks his wallet: a federal police badge. This basically decides the issue, and the decision is taken to leave Maria with her parents. Lachlan is getting antsy because he has a gig tonight, but he drives out to the Tower Hill Caern, retrieves Maria and then drives back again (3 to 4 hours of driving - what fun!).
At this point the True Seekers hit the mother of all metaphorical chain link fences as the discussion turns to how they are going to return the baby and what possible mileage they can make out of it. Some of the issues are: who is going to to it; where are they going to to it; in what form are they going to do it; at what time are they going to do it; in what manner are they going to do it; are they going to leave a note; do they have pen and paper; do they want to buy a new pad of paper; are they worried about fingerprints; what is the note going to say; how are they going to sign the note?
Eventually (finally) the note is written (Good luck. Caliban) and pinned to Maria's blanket. Someone takes Maria up to the front door, knocks, then steps sideways. The feds check out of all the windows and are generally cautious but eventually they find Maria, who is reunited with her parents. The feds immediately make a phone call (our location is discovered, get us out of here NOW!!!!) and soon many police cars roll up and spirit the reunited family away. The True Seekers head for home - another job well done.
Lachlan heads off for his gig and the True Seekers and Peter troop round to the Punters Club at eight. Although Gnarl's music is well received by the audience, there are many disparaging comments hurled by the wierd bunch up the back. A drunk hits on Naomi and is severely rebuffed ("aaww mate, she's a dyke." "Jeez, another one. That's your fifth this evening."). Various fights break out. Steve goes slamming. Naomi meets Follows-The-Moon of the Steel Hunters, who is with Tanya Muller who is there to see Lachlan play. Naomi and Follows-The-Moon chat about being lupus in a human world. When the gig ends Lachlan talks to Tanya about music etc. The other Steel Hunters show up, and Scott Rosen gets in a fight. The Steel Hunters give the True Seekers some shit, while Steve quickly relocates Peter to the bar. Lisa leaves. The others are also leaving when Tanya brings them back and makes Scott apologise. She says that their bickering is pointless and possibly dangerous. Everyone except Lachlan leaves.
Having caught up with Lisa, the True Seekers head back to her place where the Hand of Lore are waiting for them and tell them that they have guard duty until the next moot. Lisa goes for a walk, everyone else sticks around and gets pissed. Steve looks around and finds that Marion and Peter have dissapeared. Lisa gets back and goes to bed. Lachlan gets back late but does his best to catch up with the others. Everyone eventually passes out in Lisa's living room.
Everyone gets up, a little the worse for wear, and head off for some guard duty until the next moot on Tuesday 13th. In this time people learn stuff and teach stuff to the people who are learning stuff. Lachlan gets Chris McNeil to teach him Opened Caern.
The True Seekers stumble upon a group of home-made teenage satanists in the cemetery doing spooky rites and getting drunk. Feeling that all satanic rites should result in a little demonic manifestation, the True Seekers are happy to play the part of infernal spirits. The teenagers are not happy, however, and run screaming for the fence, leaving a trail of excrement behind them. And once again the Caern has been protected from the forces of the Wyrm. Do we get renown for this?
Naomi and Vilna talk to Emma about Lisa's nightmares. Emma says not to do anything drastic unless serious repercussions are arising. Lachlan confronts Lisa about her nightmares, but takes particular exception when she says that she will not be attending the moot at the Tower Hill Caern. The pack meet and kinda demand an explanation from Lisa. She tells them of her past in the Channel Islands, where she was dismayed by the complacency and infighting of the local sept. She later killed her nanny and the Master of the Rite under confused circumstances and fled through a Moon Bridge, eventually winding up in Melbourne. She is noticing much of the same internecine fighting amongst the Australian Garou, even in her own pack. Lisa fears that she may not be Silver Fang and that she killed Tony Staley last moot.
With Naomi advocating total pack loyalty and Lachlan advocating a bit of caution ("Get the tranquillisers"), Lisa is persuaded to go to the Moot. Moon Bridging in, the True Seekers meet David Thewlis and Donald Eyre; Sept Leader and Caern Warder of the new sept, who suggest that the pack may want to think of a name for the sept. The moot is uneventful, concerned with local business. Later, approximately 40 people turn up with booze and the party begins. After midnight, the sept heads off for the Revel, in which the True seekers introduce themselves to the locals, and walk away 2 slabs of beer and 3 rifles richer.
Returning to the Cemetery, Cossack informs them that there have been 2 more murders, news which brings unusually joyous reactions from the True Seekers. Checking further, they find that Arnold and Irma Ferguson were butchered in their Abbotsford home around midnight and found in the Yarra around 5:30. Their house went up in flames around 3:00. Both bodies were the same MO as the Staley murder. Forensic pathology found no evidence on the bodies. Sniffing around the burnt house finds traces of blood out the back into the alley. They inform Cossack but have no further leads. The True Seekers return to the minutiae of their lives.
The True seekers are lounging around at Lisa and Lachlan's place when Vilna, returning from 7-11 with munchies, is surrounded by Banes. Feeling that he must warn his pack, he runs like hell. The banes appear to be similar to the one in the museum that attempted to steal the fetish, except that they are bigger and there's five of them. The True Seekers all nick off into the Umbra to assess the situation. Eventually they decide to lure them into the alley behind the house and scrag them. Naomi, Lachlan and Calvin step sideways. Vilna and Lisa do not, nor will they be doing anything at all for quite a while. Meanwhile, the three competent pack members make short work of the Banes, who are banished back into the Umbra where they find two Garou stuck in the Gauntlet. What fun! However, Calvin steps through before Vilna and Lisa are picked to bits. The Banes flee through the Umbra, pursued by Vilna, Lachlan and Calvin. Naomi and Lisa return to the house to lick their wounds.
Using his pistol, Vilna steadily plugs away at one of the Banes until it comes apart. Lachlan leaps 28 feet straight up and grabs a Bane which comes down with him and gets diced. The Banes fly higher but seem to be heading in one direction, so it is decided to follow them. After about an hour Vilna drops into the real world to phone Lisa and Naomi and meet with them.
Out Westmeadows way the Banes fly down low and a wall of colourless fire springs up burning the banes. Looking sideways, Lachlan finds that the wall of fire corresponds to the outer wall of a suburban house, although there is no other umbral manifestation. The Banes batter around the house, activating more walls of flame, until the Banes are finally destroyed. Lachlan and Calvin head off to find a phone to call the others, but meet them nearby. Vilna tests the veracity of Lachlan's story ("A wall of fire you say? Where, just here? AAAAHHRRG"). Peeking into the real world, they find that there are steel shutters over all the windows. The True Seekers retreat to ponder the matter. The True Seekers return to the Caern and inform Cossack. Cossack points out that they were obviously lead there deliberately, but that they should go back and investigate the matter. The net extent of their intended investigation: Lisa rings the doorbell and gets zapped (although the flames only appear in the umbra) and Naomi smells something nasty and runs around yelping. General consensus: "I'm goin' 'ome". Lachlan decides instead to run a truck through the wall of the house, and everyone else thinks that this is worth hanging around to watch. Having re-evaluated the extent of his driving ability, Lachlan decides to drive a large car, preferably an automatic, through the wall. Having stolen a 70s Falcon, Lachlan does almost everything right and drives the car into the house, putting a nice car-sized hole in the wall. In the umbra, a hole and some of the surrounding wall appears corresponding to the one in the real world. Through the hole waves of malevolence can be felt. Everyone drops into the umbra as the neighbourhood wakes up, and with a great deal of trepidation enter the house.
The True Seekers search through the mundane house with it's equally mundane but powerful and evil umbral manifestation (mundane, that is, but for the occult glyphs and runes painted on all the walls). Naomi feels something in the house calling to her, but doesn't tell anyone. Her feelings centre in the kitchen and she locates a trap door under a mat. It leads down to the basement which has a large occult type circle on the floor, a door in the far wall, and boxes containing books and magical paraphernalia. Naomi, still following the calling, drops into the real world, searches through a box and finds a fist-sized stone covered with carved patterns. Lachlan raises a few concerns he has with pack members following the voices in their heads without telling anyone. Everyone gets out of the house and drives to the Caern.
On the way Naomi attunes to the stone, which is called the Cracking Stone. It will basically open anything that can be opened, but was particularly designed for opening Wyrm seals and wards. Naomi feels that it may have something to do with the fetish she is looking for. At the Caern, Ends-The-Quiet says that it is an ancient Bunyip fetish that probably predates the fetish Naomi is looking for, and that it isn't dangerous. Cossack says that he will have other packs ready to assist the True Seekers if they need them.
Returning to the house, they find the police and residents in attendance. The police are trying to locate the house's owners, Mr and Mrs Smith (I know, I know) who haven't been seen by the neighbours for a while. The True Seekers head into the basement again, where they find another fetish - a hideous metal mask that radiates Wyrm taint. From the umbra, Naomi peeks behind the other door in the basement. It's totally dark, but she smells blood and a touch of decay. Opening the door in the real world, they find two piles of bodies. One pile is very obviously made up of dead people, who all have similar knife wounds all over their torsos. The other pile of people are alive, but comatose. They show faint traces of magic and Wyrm taint.
At this point, all hell breaks lose as a cowled demon floats into the basement. Suffice to say that Lisa falls backwards onto the bodies, Vilna howls his head off (alerting the police outside), Steve gets possessed and attacks Lachlan (hurting him real bad), Calvin body slams Steve and kicks him in the head (knocking him out), and the demon disappears.
Naomi takes everyone into the umbra, which takes five minutes. By that time, the police have found the basement and the dead bodies. One heads back for the car but is killed in the kitchen by a demon. The True Seekers appear around the two demons in the kitchen, scragging one and driving the other away. However, further pursuit is halted by the three other demons coming down the hall. Having barricaded themselves in the kitchen, and piled whitegoods on the trapdoor, Lisa decides that now is a good time to call for those reinforcements.
When waiting in the kitchen results in nothing happening, and an umbral run through the house reveals no demons present, the True Seekers spilt up and search the house in the real world. As a result Naomi is attacked from behind by a demon that came out of nowhere. One ineffectual carry-on body slam later, Lachlan manages to scrag the demon, at which point the wounded are grabbed and everyone high-tails it back to the kitchen again. The consensus is that waiting for the reinforcements might be prudent. Naomi and Vilna wait outside in the umbra, and spot The Alternative (from Hidden Green) and Ion Apostolova approaching. Naomi leaves Vilna to make the greetings and bring them up to date and goes to check on the police in the basement. Unfortunately, Naomi gets stuck in the Gauntlet. The True Seekers speak to Ion and Tony Cho Mi. Ion makes sarcastic remarks and tells them to deal with the police while he deals with the demons. Sounds of battle ensue around the house. Having rescued Naomi, they manage to knock the police out. The Hand of Lore arrive and arrange to bring cars around to drive the comatose people away. All the live people and the magical paraphernalia is loaded into the cars and driven away by the Hand of Lore.
General confusion then reigns as people try to work out what to do about all the evidence. Burning the house down is eventually hit upon, and the True Seekers live up to their name as Vilna finally finds a box of matches. They manage to get the fire going just as more police turn up, but are given a little help by Asimov using Create Element. Everyone urges Vilna to learn this useful Gift.
The Hidden Green Garou leave the True Seekers to watch the results. The steel shutters on the windows hamper fire fighting efforts, allowing the blaze to catch nicely.
Police are also asking questions of the locals, some of whom saw stuff. The police get the license number of Lisa's unregistered car. The house is severely torched, although the basement escaped relatively unscathed, leaving incriminating occult symbols and a pile of dead bodies. The True Seekers meet with the Hand of Lore in a park, and attempt Rites of Cleansing on the comatose humans. This has little if any effect. They also hear the sound of someone trying to start Lisa's car. The Hand of Lore stay with the bodies whilst the True Seekers dash to save Lisa's car from the naked jogger. Unfortunately, there are three of them, they ain't naked, and they can do magic shit, like the "Flying Black Fury", the "Flying Stargazer", the "Scorched Glasswalker", the "Panicking Black Fury" and the "Gargoyle in a Ball".
The True Seekers respond with their own impressive repertoire of magic shit, like the "Sword Through the Windshield", the "Black Fury Through the Windshield", the "Can't-Roll-Initiative-To-Save-His-Life-And-I-Mean-That-Literally Metis", the "Can't Roll-Damage-To etc Fianna", the "Mage Bleeds All Over the Passenger Seat", the "Realise What a Difference Two Extra Dice Can Make", the "Assisted Window Exit", the "Entrails All Over the Bitumen", the "Packs On the Guy Escaping Through the Windshield" and the "Impale Guy to the Engine Block".
The Mages had loaded all the magic stuff into the one car, so the Hand of Lore run up, grab everything (including the gooey bits on the road), jam it into the other cars, torch Lisa's car, then hightail it. Contacting the Caern, Graeme will try to get to the comatose people before the police do. Also meet them and grab all the incriminating evidence before they abandon the cars. The three cars are driven up country, wiped down, made to look like they were broken into and hot-wired, then dumped. Everyone walks all the way home then goes to bed.
Over the next few days, Steve reports his car stolen and almost seriously botches police procedure (Why of course I know the people who's cars were also stolen and found dumped along with mine. We're all Werewolves fighting to save Gaia from the Wyrm and.....D'oh). People also do a lot of meditating. Graeme managed to grab the comatose people who eventually wake up, all telling stories of being grabbed by evil winged Beasties at night and not remembering anything else. What with the house fire, the car fire, the police death and the 6 bodies in the basement, the True Seekers make the front page and the top story. Lots of public concern about gangs and occultists and stuff. Witnesses also gave fairly vague descriptions of the evil perpetrators of these hideous crimes - which don't point too damningly at the True Seekers.
Various people start learning stuff
Green Choking Grey, a pack from the new sept, Moon Bridge in to take the True Seekers to the Foundation Moot for the new Caern. After arriving, they meet the other members of the sept, The moot begins, with much ritual and ceremony (and howling). Jirrawin is summoned and says that the task of reconciliation has only begun. Various people tell stories and sing songs (some of them successfully). Mundane business is discussed, including research into the prior history of the Caern and whether to involve outsiders. Then the revel begins, in which an evil Metis is repeatedly beaten into unconsciousness - and that's just to get outside. Master of the Challenge, Jane Redfeather, suggests that the True Seekers might want to visit the Atrocity Realm in the Umbra to learn some answers to certain mysteries. She offers to accompany them, as she has been there before.
During the revel, Steve manages to scare some Turongs (tree spirits) but is driven back by a deadly barrage of twigs and gum nuts. When more level-headed pack members speak to the Turongs, the Turongs offer to lead them to Banes, which are congregating in the area owing to the discovery of the new Caern. A lengthy (12 seconds! That's got to be a record!) and pitched battle against the largely mindless and ineffectual Banes ensues, as dice rolling veers wildly between outrageously good and truly dire. The rotting remains of one of the fomori involved in the battle at the research station is discovered, apparently killed by a bullet in the back of the head.
More learning of stuff.
A moment in roleplaying history that had to be seen to be believed. Marion turns up at Steve's place with the battered and unconscious Peter. They were attacked nearby and Peter was being beaten, so Marion frenzied. So there are two problems: first, five rather incriminating bodies in an alley, and second the fact that Peter saw her in Crinos form which, even given the Delirium, will probably make him suspect something. It is at this point that Steve makes one of the Great Historical Blunders.
He calls his pack mates for help.
Driving to the scene in Steve's car and a car Vilna stole, Lachlan deals with two shocked witnesses who have come across the carnage with a bit of biffo. A loud party in the house next to the alley apparently drowned out the worst of the screaming. Whilst Naomi in lupus form gently deters pedestrians from getting too close, Vilna fills the back seat and boot of the stolen car with bodies and parts and drives a short distance away before washing the blood off the outside of the car and covering the bodies in the back seat with dirt (gee, he only got that Gift last session, but it's really paying off). Naomi and Lachlan nick off as people discover two unconscious bodies and a shitload of blood. Having eventually gathered in a derelict area of Port Melbourne, the seemingly innocuous decision is taken to have Lachlan steal another car, such that all the bodies can be transported in the boot, rather than in the back seat.
After wandering around looking for a suitable car, Lachlan makes an attempted forced entry, only to be dissuaded by two policeman, who don't really believe that it's Lachlan's car. So Lachlan decides to fight them. Having shown them the kind of stuff a defender of Gaia is made of (blood, broken teeth etc), Lachlan changes to Crinos form, not seeming to have guessed what the response of a panicked Melbourne policeman with his gun drawn might be. Lachlan dives for cover, is Crippled, decides fuck this, frenzies, and flips a car over.
Meanwhile, not far away, Vilna and Naomi hear the sound of gunfire followed by the howling of an enraged Werewolf. They leap into Steve's car and speed, somewhat reluctantly, to the rescue.
Elsewhere, Lisa is tossing up between the strawberry daiquiri and the pina colada. She finally opts for the daiquiri.
When Vilna and Naomi arrive on the scene, Lachlan is expending the last of his fury on what is left of one of the policeman. From many directions can be heard the sound of approaching police sirens. Lachlan changes back to homid form, scoops up what's left of the policeman and leaps in the boot of the car. Vilna floors it, sweeping one police car aside and spinning down a side street. Unfortunately, while attempting to explain to Naomi how to operate a mobile phone in the hope of calling the cavalry, Vilna loses control of the car, ploughs it into a line of parked cars, which flips Steve's car onto the side. Vilna, wearing his seat belt, escapes unscathed. Naomi, not wearing a seat belt, escapes with minor injuries. Lachlan, bouncing around in the boot, is Incapacitated and unable to regenerate (he's in his Breed form). Vilna and Naomi step sideways. When they peek back again, the police are fanning out, searching the area. They haven't yet looked in the boot. The plan is hit upon that when Vilna arranges a distraction, Naomi will step into the real world, pop the boot, grab Lachlan and step back again. Vilna decides that an exploding car should provide sufficient distraction potential.
Lisa is by now on her second daiquiri and is chatting to some guy she just met.
Vilna shoots holes in the petrol tank of a car about 100 metres up the road then flames it. Petrol burns while Vilna legs it. Soon car goes boom. Naomi waits until most of the cops have run in that direction then steps sideways. Or more precisely, doesn't step sideways. Vilna gets back to find Naomi standing in the Umbra with a sheepish grin on her face, so Vilna frenzies in sheer frustration. Since Naomi wisely hightails it, Vilna vents his rage on the Umbral manifestation of a nearby house.
RECAP:
Having decided that nothing more can be done here, Naomi, Vilna and Lachlan (and Calvin) head back to the original stolen car in Port Melbourne. They then dump the bodies into the dumpster (how appropriate).
Meanwhile, Steve hears a knock at the door. He looks out the window - three policemen! He answers the door, and the police ask if they can come in. Steve waits until the sound of the dragging body moves into the back rooms, then says sure. The nice policemen explain the situation with his car and start asking him questions. Lots of questions. Steve wisely understands the necessity for making unpleasant sacrifices, and coughs up Lachlan's name, address, description, family, friends, associates and known hang-outs. He claims that he knows Lachlan, and Lachlan wanted to borrow his car half an hour ago. He also mentions that he is ex-police. The police say that the crime involves a brutal cop killing and is possibly linked to a mysterious crime near by (lots of blood, no bodies. Sound familiar?). The police say to avoid Lachlan like the plague and to call them if Steve should see him again. He says "sure".
Various people ring the Caern and relate what has happened. They are met with stunned silence. Lachlan, Vilna and Naomi (and Calvin) are told to find Lisa and get to the Caern.
In King St, Lisa is approached by Mandras Sky-Watcher from the Healsville Caern, who asks her about the discovery of the new Caern - in the interests of reconciliation. Lisa finds it a bit odd, and tells him the story, but leaves out the details about specific locations and stuff. Having used Questing Stone, the others locate her, and Vilna pops in to retrieve her. A rather large bloke dressed like a biker who apparently knows Lisa comes up. Lisa says that she will see him later. When Mandras leaves, Lachlan gets a funny feeling and asks Naomi to sense him, which just demonstrates that he's a Garou. Everyone else heads back to the Caern.
The Caern is unusually deserted, as most of the sept are out cleaning up. Graeme asks for detailed explanations of what happened ("...you did WHAT???"). He then rings up Steve and talks to Marion. Marion tells Steve that they have to take Pete to the Caern. Soon after Steve arrives, Cossack turns up and takes the True Seekers off to a more private area. There he commends Steve, Vilna and Naomi (and Calvin) for their efforts to protect and repair the Veil. He does not commend Lachlan. He berates Lachlan for his putting his own interests and desires over the interests of his people and of Gaia. He points out that dealing with one Garou arrested for attempted car theft is rather more simple than dealing with a dead cop, a high speed chase, gunfire and an exploding car. He suggests that Lachlan should meditate upon certain portions of the Litany.
Graeme explains to Steve that they will have to wipe Pete's memory of the evening's events. To do this they will bind a spirit into him, which means he will be kinda vague and zonked for a few days, but can be healed and he won't remember a thing. People then head for home.
Lisa is greeted by the police when she returns home and is asked to go down to Russell St (yes, Russell St - I know what I'm doing) to answer some questions. She is asked many questions about Lachlan, most of which she expected, some of which she did not. Like, 'Do you know where Lachlan was on the nights of Tuesday 13th of June and Monday the 15th of May'. Lisa thinks 'Gee, what a coincidence, those are the same nights when those Full Moon killings occurred and...D'oh!). Throughout, Lisa maintains plausible deniability (there, are you happy?). The police advise that she should not return home, and to call them if she should see Lachlan.