Conversation · Drainage Pipe

Behind the pipe -- the maintenance door, rusted shut and half-sunken in sand.

Try to pull the door apart.

The metal doors are heavy, and very awkward to open on your own, but you just manage to slide them open wide enough for you to slide yourself between them...

"Good work." The lieutenant nods toward the impenetrable darkness inside. "Shall we?"

[Go in.]

It looks too exhausting to even try. You'd only bloody your fingers on the rust.

You and the lieutenant lean all your weight into pushing the doors apart, but you're not quite synchronized in your efforts. They slam shut again before you can enter.

The lieutenant leans back against the door, panting. "Let's take a breather and try this again later? It's... very tough."

You can't seem to pry the doors apart for long enough to slip through. A second pair of hands would be really useful here.

What's in there?

An ordinary drainage pipe. Darkness.

Okay. What else?

As your eyes adjust, you see some trash -- crumpled up newspapers, cigarette butts. Someone has half-heartedly spray-painted 'SKULLS' on the right side.

And?

And? And nothing. Broken glass from bottles thrown against the walls of the pipe. A syringe...

A very, very faint smell of stale liquor still lingers -- or is it just your imagination?

[Leave.]

Could I get into the Feld building through this pipe?

"Given that this isn't a martial arts thriller," a grin flickers across his face, "it's highly unlikely -- and not without risk to our health either."

"However, the pipe suggests there may be an entrance to the basement around..." The lieutenant pushes aside the reeds and looks around.

He means: the pipe must be coming from somewhere in the building.

Oh, duh, why didn't you think of that?

The lieutenant's face lights up. He doesn't usually notice these little things.

"...and it's right here! A maintenance door." He points to a rusted metal double door to the right of the pipe, obscured by the reeds.

It's jammed shut. The subtle approach isn't going to work on this one.

Oh yeah... big boy time. This needs you to put your BACK into it.

"This looks like a great place to stash narcotics. I want to make sure there's nothing hidden in there that children might pick up."

"I see. Another stop on your crusade against narcomania. I was hoping we were in pursuit of a murder suspect..."

This isn't gonna work without the lieutenant here. What if you do find a way in and it's a trap? Kitsuragi needs to be here, covering you.

An old pipe peeks out from beneath the rotting boards of the boardwalk. Could this be an alternative path into the Feld building?

A building like this must have multiple doors serving various functions. Perhaps a basement access?

Come closer and look in.

Your eyes slowly begin to adjust to the darkness inside the drainage pipe.

The lieutenant looks over your shoulder.

This isn't gonna work without the lieutenant here. What if you do find a way in and it's a trap? Kitsuragi needs to be here, covering you.

[Leave.]