002d: Lair of the Snake Person

[Veyska]

Having perused the rest of the apartment (and presuming there was obviously food for the rats, feeding them*), Beth will glance out of the window and comment, "Well, unless whoever that was is foolish enough to crack open one of those doors to make sure we're not following that seems the functional equivalent of a dead end. Trying to knock on all the front doors associated with those back doors would be an exercise in futility so outside of maybe leaving a letter that would likely go unread and almost certainly un-replied to by the right individual I'm not having any bright ideas right this moment." After a brief moment's pause, Beth will add, "It does seem a bit odd that whoever that was would so quickly vacate the safe room, but on the other hand without knowing all the various features I'm not sure I'd want to trust in it either."

(*Beth's not interested in adopting them and she realizes this is probably just buying them a bit more time but it still seems worth the effort.)

[kitsunenotsume]

Augustus picks up Mythos Book Scribble pages, Maybe ask Murtha with ritual later.
Augustus says "Baddies now know we looking. Maybe baddies were her friends."
Augustus says "We lock house when leaving and don't say she dead."
Augustus looks for symbol jewelry.*
Augustus says "We go find other Friends?"

[+] AntiSummary

The trap that existed in Miss Ryan's apartment having triggered anywhere from five minutes to five hours ago, Augustus will take his leisurely time collecting together all the pages in the alien script. He may not be able to read it, but his rock clearly mentioned it had something important, and who knows, maybe a communion might help with the problem.
Augustus will comment to the effect that whatever organisation or rich patron Miss Ryan was assassinated by now almost certainly know that someone is looking in to her death even if they didn't wait long enough to discover who, and that the probability of getting anything further from future sites is likely to dramatically diminish as well as likely looking out for them at later investigative links. He will also point out that while it is possible that the party may potentially be able to locate the assistance of whatever rich family or organisation Miss Ryan came from which might be her own estate, it is equally probable that said benefactor is the same opponent who had her killed and ransacked her apartment.
Pointing out that the party has the keys to the apartment, but presumably so too did the visitor, Augustus will suggest locking and latching the apartment once the team has looked at whatever they think might be a productive lead, and keeping the demise of the resident from becoming news to the local building. If her demise becomes public knowledge, then the party may have additional leads to follow by tracing the rumors.
He will then look through any jewelry and belongings that Miss Ryan had that might be a signet or bear other prominent iconography.*
Assuming everyone has an opportunity to help themselves to whatever of the departed's material they wish, Augustus will suggest retreating to collate their intellectual spoils, and see what Miles needed last night.

*: Art might be relevant here, or Connoisseur. Augustus will be sorting through Miss Ryan's jewelry for a signet ring, broach, or any articles of iconography for anything with a particularly old designs or unusual symbology, which might also make Alienism or Academics (Occult) relevant. Based on the findings of the team, she is likely far too old to have managed a purely solitary existence without drawing suspicion, and being a member of a secret society would make sourcing her luxuries and covers easier. I am assuming that being in her bedroom it is unlikely to have been raided by the visitor, but it's also possible she had anything like that in the safe-room and therefore it's probably lost.

[Joshua]

Several pieces of jewelry have the same symbol on it.

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Connoisseur lets you sort the jewelry into several separate sets, and it seems like this symbol appears once in each set, usually on a ring, sometimes on a locket or other necklace type.