Fandom High School

"Good afternoon, kids," Rick greeted the class, a broad grin on his face. "It's time for your finals, and I hope you've come up with something impressive for me and the rest of class."

He gestured to the front of the class where both a white-board and a large computer display were situation. "How things work is that you are going to present your plan for the perfect crime to the rest of the class," he explained. "Then, after you've done that, the other members of the class will ask you questions in an attempt to poke holes in your plan, to which you will then respond. This will be done in a polite and respectful manner, and participation in your classmates Q-and-A time will have an impact on your final mark."

He pointed at a random student. "You first."

[OOC: OCD up.]

[Class Roster|Previous Classes]

"Afternoon," Rick greeted his class as they entered. "No singing today, I promise. Instead we're going to be looking at one of the biggest wrenches that can be thrown into the plan of a perfect seeming crime. One that is overlooked, time and time again, even by those that should know better."

"I am talking of course, about the Little Old Lady Investigator, innocent, harmless seeming old women with surprisingly sharp minds and far too much time on their hands. The one advantage that a criminal has when one of these ladies gets on the case is the police are far too dismissive of her."

Rick picked up a remote. "Which is why we'll be watching one of the classic Old Lady Detectives in action, Miss Marble in She Said Murder, take notes, this may be on the test."

[OOC: OCD up.]

[Class Roster|Previous Classes]

Rick had spent the last few days holed up at his place working on a truly epic class, one researched and detailed down to the very last detail. When they entered the Danger Shop, the class was greeted with an amazingly accurate representation of late nineteenth century London, late at night.

"Afternoon...SWEET MONKEY-PONIES!" Unfortunately, Rick had also just taken a constitutional outside in order to get into the right mood for class. He slapped the controls of an emergency override he'd prepared, and a glowing vest with holster containing a futuristic gun appeared on him. He grabbed the gun and started shooting.

Of course, since Rick was firing a laser-tag gun, in the Danger Shop with safety protocols engaged, at students who weren't wearing laser-tag vests (though a rack of them had appeared nearby), there was absolutely no effect as Rick took off running into the deserted streets of London.

Looks like it was a very different kind of class they were having today.

[OOC: OCD up.]

[Class Roster|Previous Classes]

Rick was extremely bouncy today as the class filed into the Danger Shop.

"Afternoon, hope you're all sufficiently recovered from the weekend," he said by way of greeting. "Today we're going to have a look at the impact of having highly advanced technology can have on committing crime. If for example, you had access to some sort of time machine, you could go back in time, steal something, and then go hide out in another era, free from any sort of pursuit."

He started tossing what looked like watches to the students. "Unless, that is, the cops also had time machines. Then they could fight crime throughout time." Rick paused to let that line sink in. "These stylish yet functional devices are called chronoskimmers, a portable, personal time-travel device, in addition to being able to narrow down the possible destinations of recent time-travellers in the near vicinity, they are connected to both criminal databases and Wikipedia. You will be using them to hunt down a number of time-travelling criminals. However, due to the potential consequences to the timeline you only have a limited window of opportunity to catch your criminal, and you also need a warrant for the charges to stick. So keep an eye out for any clues at all."

Rick grinned. "Good luck. Maybe you'll even be able to figure out where in time is the Lady in the Red Hat."

[OOC: OCD up.]

[Class Roster|Previous Classes]

The Danger Shop was set up to look like a luxuriously, but tastefully, decorated loft apartment, and while Rick was currently nowhere to be seen, an older man leant against the railing, greeting them with an urbane smile.

"Good afternoon," he said, waving them up the stairs. "You must be Richard's class, my name is Powell. I was hoping Richard himself would be here to introduce me, but it would seem he's gotten himself into some sort of trouble."

"No trouble, I just wanted to make an entrance," Rick announced, breezing into the room with as much aplomb as he could manage. The effect was ruined somewhat by the fact that his heavy breathing indicated he'd just run all the way to the Danger Shop.

Well, that and the fact he was wearing glasses and a cassock.

"After all, you do have the market cornered on impressive exits," he continued, grinning and patting Powell on the shoulder. "This here is my friend Powell, or at least the best simulation of him that the Danger Shop could come up with."

"I should be a very good simulation indeed," Powell added wryly. "Given the last time Rick described me, it was good enough to end my career. Children, if you're going to use a master criminal as a character inspiration, learn the meaning of 'anonymous source' first."

Rick eyed the simulation of Powell, he didn't think he'd programmed him to be that sassy. "Powell here used to be a member of that rare and dying breed, the gentleman cat-burglar," he said. "The kind that you didn't even know had been there until you went to get what they'd taken. Any and all questions you have about the art of not getting caught in the act of non-violent crime, he's your hologram."

[OOC: OCD up.]

[Class Roster|Previous Classes]

Rick had sent an email telling his class to meet in the Danger Shop today. When they arrived, they found a luxurious train carriage and a grinning Rick, dressed in nineteen-thirties clothes, awaiting them.

( In which Rick shamelessly homages Dame Agatha... )

[OOC: OCD up.]

[Class Roster|Previous Classes]

"Afternoon kids," Rick said, passing a sheaf of notes around the room. "Today we'll be taking a quick look at the locked room mystery. Which is where a crime, usually a murder, has been commited, but the crime scene is such that it appears impossible for it actually to have taken place. Often this involves the murderer seeming to have vanished into thin air."

"While this doesn't fall under the heading of a perfect crime, since in order to have a locked room mystery, you need to know about a crime, but they are usually incredibly hard to solve, as you can see by the real life examples sometimes they're never solved, and often the resolution involves things being not quite as they appear on the surface."

He paused before continuing. "Now, we're going to read an example of a locked room mystery, Edgar Allen Poe's The Morgue Street Murders, which is commonly considered one of the first instances of the detective story and the locked room mystery in the English language," Rick said, then grimaced. "And, much as it pains me to say this of Poe, it may also be considered an early example of the ass-pull in detective fiction, as I doubt the stated solution would have occurred to the average reader from the clues given in the story. In any case, let's all just have a read through and discuss what you think of the mystery."

"Also, anyone who declares in subsequent classes that 'a monkey did it' will be lowering their final grade, not least because the noble orangutan is an ape."

[OOC: OCD up.]

[Class Roster|Previous Classes]

Rick looked like a kid who'd just been handed a basket of puppies as the class entered.

( Excited Rick is Talky Rick )

[OOC: OCD up.]

[Class Roster]