Scene Two: Kelly and Anna open the bookshop and are visited by Mr Borthwich - a ridiculously tall, think figure dressed in old style clothing (think Henrik Hansen from Holby City) who introduces himself as a representative of Twilight Inc ('Reclaimers of ancient machinery and technology'). He is seeking Ms Mulholland, but as she is not here, he leaves. Definitely creepy. After that, there is a knocking from a feature of the bookshop called 'The Dead Door' - a false door leading to a brick wall, a folly within the house. There is, of course, nothing on the other side to knock. The final visitor in the scene was Heironimous Greene (with an 'e'), who turned the shop sign to 'closed' when he entered and introduced himself as the solicitor of the Mulholland family who was there to give the sad news that Ms Mulholland died on her European tour and has left the shop to Anna ... if she can find the key to the Dead Door. If she could not find in within 24 hours, the shop would be auctioned to the highest bidder.
[A note on the bookshop: As the game went on I added more and more detail to the shop. It started as a four story bookshop, which looks incongruous in the sleepy village. The basement was added during chargen. I threw in phrases like 'looks bigger on the inside' etc. The shop was described as having an Georgian ground floor and an Edwardian top floor etc. Architecture out of time...]
Scene Three: An investigation took place, as Kelly and Anna searched for the key. They narrated in a secret room where Ms Mulholland did her business and spoke to Mr Tiddles, a stuffed cat, and I added some collections of photos, press cuttings and interviews in the room regarding anachronisms. There was definitely something time-related going on here.
[The descriptions of the bookshop became more vivid now. They could see, as they were looking harder (and breaking through the perception filter), little pieces of TARDIS technology in the house. Nothing was clicking yet though.]
At this point in the evening, Mr Borthwick tried to break into the shop to steal something. He was heard by the keen eared Kelly, who then tried to tackle him. She did so, but then Borthwick disappeared from her grasp, appeared behind her and slugged her over the back of the head. Anna, being outside of the fight, witnessed his little hop backwards in time. Very strange. He tried to leg it, but Kelly tackled him again and he screamed that he was bing attacked. A crowd formed from late night drinkers and a test was held as to who could sway the crowd. In the end, the ex-policewoman was able to exert her Voice of Authority and good looks to convince them to believe her but Borthwick used his time-hop again to make his escape.
Kelly and Anna continued their investigations, this time expending Story Points to narrate in their own sources and add their own details. Kelly contacted Steve, her 'Friend' in the Met. He confirmed that Twilight Inc. existed were touting business around the rich and famous about 'eliminating regret', claiming that they could help people - for the right price - to undo bad decisions, such as saying the wrong phrase or rolling the wrong dice. It was correctly deduced that this would be the result of the same 'time hop' technology that Mr Borthwick used. Steve reckoned it was a scam, trading standards etc. Anna, on the other hand, trawled the net and found a lot on Twlight Inc. on 'conspiraciesrus.com' which detailed the early days of the company, its bankruptcy and the insanity of its original owner, one Mr Borthwick who was obsessed with keys (all details added by Lara!)
At this point both the girls paid a Story Point for the reveal and we called up the Doctor's theme tune in our heads as I described the falling of the perception filter and the revelation of Gallifreyan architecture around the shop, pieces of TARDIS etc. The shop was built out of the remains of a TARDIS!
And then the Cloister bell started to chime!
Downstairs, Borthwick and his goons - black jumpsuited demolition men - had broken in and were ordered to take the place apart until they could get the Dead Door. Being 'impulsive' Kelly rand down the stairs, trying to fight them off whilst Anna tried desperately to work out how to get the 'shop' to work. Kelly roundhouse kicked one of the men but stumbled down the steep stairs, thankfully avoiding their swinging tools. Anna failed to activate the TARDIS. Kelly ducked through the legs of the men and dived into the basement, to put herself between the men and the Dead Door (and to protect Anna's stash of tech in the basement.) She used a Story Point to call for a revelation and I told her that as she was scurrying she looked up and saw the OPEN/CLOSED sign fall off the door, and as it fell, it changed languages into something alien. Flashback to Mr Greene (with an 'e') 'closing' the shop and it twigged that the key was the shop sign. Anna failed again to get the defenses to work. The men broke the door down to the basement with their tools. Kelly grabbed some of Anna's tech that looked like a gun and fired, but failed her roll and impotently sprayed the men with compressed air! Finally, Anna activated the TARDIS defenses and the shop activated the time-hop devices on all on the men, and Borthwick, and zapped them away, back to their base.
Clearing up after the battle, Mr Greene (with an 'e') appears and congratulates them. He explains that Ms Mulholland had always intended them to have the shop but she wanted to be sure that they were sufficiently skilled in detective work to appreciate it. She was a detective too and her business came through the Dead Door (as did many of her books...). Greene (with an 'e') hands them her business card 'Ms Mulholland: Temporal Detective Agency' and says that its their business now.
Kelly and Anna turn the sign to open and there is a knocking at the Dead Door. They open it to show a door opening out onto a Georgian street from another Dickensian bookshop. Standing at the door is Anna-Marie who is pleased to see them as she needs their help. Her sister has gone missing!
Final Cut Scene: Borthwick and his goons appear in their modern base where he rages at their failure to capture the remains of a genuine TARDIS. A Twilight Inc. scientist tried to placate him by telling him that it was not a totally lost day as they had opened the outer casing - panning across to show technicians working on the shell of a Dalek!
Recap: The two characters are now owners of a TARDIS enhanced bookshop with a door which can place them through time and space, and a 'business' which recommends them as detectives for weird cases (but they don't know that yet!). They have crossed paths with the creepy Mr Borthwick who has some time travel technology and is blatantly much more than meets the eye. They also have the friendship of Mr Greene, but more on him later. The feedback from the girls was exceptionally positive!
