OOM From The Future: in which there will be NO BEIGNETS FOR PETE

[claudiometer]

It's a damn good thing, in this job, that Claudia doesn't mind flying; if she did she'd have been in some serious trouble before now. Unfortunately, waiting for Artie to buzz in with more details than 'this guy will be DEAD if you don't go NOW' means she can't put her headphones on

Comments

[walksthebounds]

"I get shanghai'd into adventure more than you'd think," Jamie assures her.

". . . of course I also pass really awfully dull stretches in other people's worlds more than you'd think, too, so I reckon it balances out. Anyway, I like planes."

Not as much as trains, but they're still pretty cool.

Besides, this trip seems . . . overall less dangerous than hanging around the creepy warehouse, although there were a few things Jamie did find himself wanting to poke into . . .

[doyousmellfudge]

"Well, it wasn't literal for him, at least. Back in the summer of 2009, he took his trophy wife for a drive after they'd both consumed about half their body weight in Jim Beam. He plowed his car into the support column for a freeway overpass. Johnny survived, but the young Mrs. Lancaster wasn't so lucky."

[claudiometer]

Claudia starts on her way to an :O face about the time Artie gets to 'took his trophy wife for a drive,' but doesn't any anything that might explain said :O face until he finishes.
"Dammit, Bar, what good does it do to tell me these things before I know they're significant?" And then she facepalms, because... really. Fucking Milliways.

[walksthebounds]

Jamie winces. It's a familiar sort of story, even if the Bar never saw fit to provide him with the specifics.

[doyousmellfudge]

"I'm sure that Milliways cares deeply about your personal convenience," says Artie with sarcasm so thick you could serve it on bagels. "Anyway. Lancaster was charged with DUI and vehicular homicide, sent to prison for six years, got out on parole after three, and has been clean and sober ever since, as far as anyone knows."

[claudiometer]

"I'm having my moment of clarity anyway, Artie." Personal convenience has nothing to do with it!
...okay, not much.
"One would hope. I think I heard something before I really got into busting Joshua out of limbo that he married the girl because he knocked her up. Not sure how much I trust my memory there, but."

[doyousmellfudge]

"Well, he does have a daughter who's about to turn six, whether it was a shotgun wedding or not I couldn't tell you," replies Artie. "The odd thing is, though, Lancaster has been more or less out of the public eye since he left prison. He's working on a second album, but tonight was the first time he's performed in concert since before the accident."

[walksthebounds]

Jamie makes a mental note - this is the sort of world where you're expected to marry a girl, then - and says, "Well, the dead wife story is pretty tragic; I reckon you can't blame him for wanting a bit of time off."

[doyousmellfudge]

"No, no, it's not odd for him, it's odd for the Artifact. In the past it's been found with artists who were at the peak of their musical careers, but Johnny Lancaster hasn't even had a song on the top 40 since 2008. It doesn't fit."

[walksthebounds]

"He might've just found it, then," suggests Jamie. "And it's planning to give him a boost before it offs him."

[claudiometer]

"Huh. Well, however he got his hands on it, I think it's safe to say we'd be lucky to have a week to track it down?"
Which would be why Artie bundled them off on a plane so quickly, definitely. And, well, she may think Johnny Lancaster's entirely overhyped, but that doesn't mean he deserves to be dead from guitar.

[doyousmellfudge]

Artie lets out a dark chuckle. "Ohhhh no. His 28th birthday? Is three days from now."

[claudiometer]

"Like I said. We would be lucky to have a week, but we don't."
She wasn't counting on that anyway. Since when do they have that kind of luck on a case?
"Anything else we need to know?"

[doyousmellfudge]

"Yeah, one second..." More paper-shuffling. "He's signing autographs at Vintage 429 at ten o'clock tomorrow morning, you might want to get there early. I couldn't find any record of what hotel he's staying at, it's possible he hasn't checked in yet."

[claudiometer]

"That or he lives in the area these days." He is in fact from Louisiana, after all. Claudia doesn't care about the dude's comings and goings all that much, but she wouldn't rule that out.
"I'll see what I can find out. Along with the 90 million other things I want to look into."

[doyousmellfudge]

"He doesn't. I checked."

His expression says come on, Claudia, give me some credit.