                       Toni Randall-Smith

You are Toni (Antonia) Randall-Smith.  You
were an Olympic Equestrian Medalist, receiving
two Bronze medals and a silver at the `84
Olympics in Los Angeles.  You were hoping
your career would take off, but so far your only
offer of extra income has been from endorsing
a specific feminine hygiene product on national
television.  You didn't accept.  You haven't
even gotten an offer from Wheaties.  You have
concluded that the advertising business is
definitely a male-run racket.  

You got to make a circuit of the social world
when you got back, which was kind of nice,
since you got back in contact with some people
like Margot Matthews you hadn't seen since you
dropped out of an overpriced prep school called
Columbia to ride full time on the show circuit at
15.  

You did a lot of things back in those days to get
money to support yourself and some horses.  A
lot of people don't immediately associate horses
and drugs, but the equation is pretty simple. 
Anywhere there are horses, there is gambling,
legal or not.  Anywhere there is gambling there
is the mafia.  Anywhere there is the mafia there
are guns and drugs.  The amount of coke that
comes north from Florida in horse trailers in this
country every year is probably enough to fill the
Tidal Basin.

Timber racing and jumping is actually worse
than the big para-mutuel tracks.  Para-mutuel
betting is legal, and while the mob runs it, the
payoffs are pretty small.  Timber racing usually
doesn't have legal betting, so the amounts
involved get very big, very quickly, because
anything illegal is unregulated, and only the
serious boys even bother to get involved.

You ended up working for Avery Carson, a
friend of Margot and Cochran.  He was a decent
guy, and paid well enough.  But eventually you
got burned.  You begged Margot to help you,
and she talked Emily into talking to her father,
and getting the charges against you dropped. 
Senator Breezewood is a big man.  Of course
drug busts weren't as big a deal back then.

At any rate, you ran some drugs, and did some
racing and got enough money to buy a breeding
farm about ten miles from here.  It is no
coincidence that Grant Cochran ended up here. 
You recommended this place to Margot when
she told you Grant needed a place to retire to,
fast.  He had been in alcohol rehab in West
Virginia for three months after being
hospitalized with an ulcer that nearly killed him.

You got to know Grant as a neighbor, and began
to get involved with him.  He seemed
interesting, witty, temperamental, creative. 
Nothing very serious: you aren't the type for
serious relationships.  Free and independent,
that's you.  

You told him about your financial problems, and
he told you he knew a very lucky investor.  He
wouldn't say who, but he did say that the
investor was a close personal friend, and
intimated it was someone you knew. 

You gave him $16,000 to invest, which is a lot
of money for you.  Your entire place is only
worth $48,000, and you figured that if the
$16,000 doubled, like Grant said it would that in
two years you could pay off your mortgage, and
own your farm free and clear.  Anyway, the sky
was the limit back then.  You read the papers
like everyone else, and stocks were climbing like
mad back around the first of the year. So back
in April, you put your money in.

Only so far there hasn't been any dividend, and
this isn't funny anymore.  You had counted on
getting at least $4,000, hopefully $8,000, in six
months.  Six days ago when the market crashed,
you were in Texas, on business, and you called
Grant in a panic.  He told you he was making
some phone calls and would get back to you. 
You had fought when you last saw him, and
now you were so angry you wanted to kill him. 
You called up Margot and were so mad you
screamed at her.  She got you calmed down, and
told you she would ask Grant about it.  She was
driving down to make plans for a birthday
dinner that she was giving for him, something
you had asked her to do.

When you talked to Grant the next day, he said
that everything was fine.  He said your money
was secure. You told him to get it back, now,
before the rest of the economy crashed.  He said
he would have it for you this weekend. 
Yesterday, you got back, and talked to Grant on
the phone, and he reassured you that everything
was fine.  You want some answers.  And some
cash.

Then there is your other money making
operation.  Which is what you had a fight with
Grant over.  You had tried to go legit, but after
the long dry spell, you were approached by
Avery about doing some running for him again. 
You were afraid he would go to your sponsors
about your old bust if you said "no", so you
were back at work, and right then you needed
the money.  Your investment with Grant sucked
up all your savings, and there were always new
expenses.  

You decided to play it as safe as possible
though.  You brought the stuff up from Florida,
and gave it to Grant to hide.  He bridled, but
you offered him a cut of the actual product. 
You should be getting $2000 from Avery on
delivery.  He told you he thought you were
taking too many risks.  You said nothing, and he
dropped the matter.

Then you got the job from Mike Ballistis. 
Ballistis got in contact with you through Avery,
and offered you a cut of some really big money. 
You were beginning to suspect that your
investment with Grant was a wash-out, so you
took the offer. 

Unfortunately, you are afraid you might be over
your head.  Always before when you were
running weapons, you were doing it with the
tacit approval of the CIA, usually to Company
funded groups in Nicaragua.  It is your favorite
kind of crime: quasi-legal and government
protected.  Of course you tend to be on the low
end of the totem pole, and might get burned, but
until this Iran-Contra thing blew up, there was
plenty of business and very little risk.

During your drug-running days, one thing you
learned about was the network of drug aircraft
that are allowed to land their cargoes in the
southern U.S., so that the Company can ship
weapons on them on the return trip.  From there
they are shipped by air through Panama to
Columbia, where they are modified to full
automatic by the local craftsmen, who have a
particular skill with such rustic arts.  

Mike Ballistis hired you to carry out the fairly
simple task of driving to Texas, and supervising
the transfer of the weapons from a Dallas
warehouse to an airfield in the countryside.  You
will need him to give you some temporary
documents that will cover the shipment, but you
have already made one trip to set up the
arrangements, and will be driving back this
week to actually supervise the transfer.  Ballistis
let you know that "Uncle Sam" was not involved
in this operation, which leaves your guts kind of
cold, since that means that it is probably being
funded by the Medellin Cartel, a friendly bunch
of Colombian Coke Lords.  They popularized
the "Columbian necktie" which is when you cut
out the throat of the person you want to kill, and
then pull their tongue through it.  Not your idea
of high fashion.

Which is why your blood ran cold when you
actually inspected the shipment in Texas. 
Because as far as you can tell, every single
fucking weapon there is nearly worthless.  The
whole shipment is flawed.  The bolts are
seconds, and some of the weapons don't even
have all the parts.  You spent two hours going
through the cases, and you were appalled to find
that every case you opened was scrap.  Some of
the parts weren't even for the right type of gun. 
If the Medellin people got this shipment, they
would...well you'd rather not think about it.

You called Ballistis, and let him know there
might be a "difficulty" which you would fill you
in on later.  If there is a defect with the
shipment, he will need to know about it right
away.  As far as you can tell, the weapons are
still legitimate, and can still be returned to the
manufacturer, which is Interarms in Alexandria. 
Now maybe Ballistis is out to screw the cartel
on purpose, but you somehow doubt it.

Fortunately you have the perfect opportunity to
meet him tonight.  After you got through
screaming at Margot about how Grant had
bankrupted you, you found out that Margot had
invited Emily, and that Mike would be coming
with her.  Mike had already asked her if you
would be here, which was about as discrete as
hell, since Margot is incredibly nosy.

That wasn't the only cheery news you had for
Mike.  Before you talked to him you gave Grant
a quick call from a payphone in town, and told
you that you would have to talk to him about
picking the stuff up.  He said he had moved it to
a different hiding place, because he was going to
have a Fed in the house.  He said that he was
cooperating with the government in some sort of
top secret investigation of arms dealing.  You
were more than a little displeased about this too,
but he hung up immediately.  

You presume he is under some kind of duress,
since you have never known Grant to be
overcome with a need to help out the Feds. 
And he was probably warning you because he
figured that the investigation was directed at
you.  But you are still pissed off.  Anyway, you
passed the warning along to Mike, though if
there are any Feds around, they are going to be
looking at you, since Grant seemed to be
unaware his phone was tapped.  You will have
to make a point of telling him what that "click"
on his phone line actually means.

The fight you had just before you left was about
the same thing, basically.  You told Grant that
you had some "business" to do in Texas, in a
tone that implied it was not showing horses, and
he really lit into you about taking risks.  He was
acting like you were his girlfriend, or his
property.  You savaged him up one side and
down the other.  Now you are worried that he
may have been trying to warn you, though you
still don't appreciate the manner of his
meddling.

You brought a sample of the non-functional
semi-automatic rifles, but considering what
Grant had said, you decided to store it outside. 
You wrapped it in a black plastic bag, and  hid
it in the bushes.  (See Gordon (Grant) for
specific location)

School: You attended Columbia Prep in `71 and
`72.  You know Margot Matthews, Linda Kane,
Emily Breezewood, Sara Lamont, and Toni
Randall-Smith from there.  

Afterwards you went to Mary Washington with
Linda, Emily and Sarah.
THE OTHERS

What they know about you:

Tony Randall-Smith:  Olympic Equestrian
Medalist, winning two Silver and one Bronze
medal at Los Angeles in 1984.  Native of
McLean Virginia, the child of a former
ambassador to England.  Personally acquainted
with Princess Margaret, has appeared in Sports
Illustrated, and network television.  Currently
holds American and European Championships in
several categories of jumps.  Professional status
has been called into question, but intends to
compete in 1988.  

PEOPLE YOU KNOW WELL:

Mike Ballistas: one of the foremost gun-
runners in Washington, though he managed to
keep clear of the Iran-Contra scandal.  You are
currently doing business for him in Texas, for
which you are to be paid $8,000 now and
$8,000 upon completion.  Mike passes himself
off as a wealthy international consultant with
impressive offices downtown.  Ballistas has
numerous prominent government contacts, and
is generally known to be an influential
businessman.  He donated heavily to the Reagan
Campaign.

Emily Breezewood: Emily once got you off the
hook on a drug charge back in school, though
you got expelled anyway.  A college friend of
Grant Cochran, and a prep-school friend of
Margot Matthews, Emily is the daughter of
Senator Breezewood of Connecticut, a very
powerful senior U.S. Legislator.  Emily was
married to Matthew Allen Carter, and divorced
him, in a particularly messy case during which
Mr. Carter was represented by Gary Morant. 
They are reported to be on barely civil speaking
terms now.  Emily is living with Mike Ballistis.

Avery Carson: is into drugs, weapons, and
anything else illegal.  Currently you are making
a massive drug delivery to him.  attended
George Washington University and has many
acquaintances from that period, and immediately
afterward.  Avery met most of Grant's circle of
friends in the seventies while they were working
in Washington after graduation.  Mr. Carson
occupied a position in the staff of the late
Darrington Ripley, U.S. Ambassador to Sweden. 
Currently employed by the State Department,
Avery Carson is rumored to actually work for
the Company, or No-such-agency.

Matthew Allen Carter: you always rather liked
Carter, though you have heard he is a bastard. 
Oh well, you gotta be tough, right.  He and
Grant recently had a pointless and bitter
argument, though you aren't sure about what.
A well known mystic, Carter is associated with
decadence, drugs, and bizarre mysticism.  It is
unclear where his money comes from, though he
is known to be at least moderately wealthy, and
eccentric.  

M.A Carter provides spiritual consultation to
some of Washington's most prominent social
figures.  He has appeared on several area talk
shows, notably Panorama in July 1979 where he
was involved in an altercation, and declined to
appear on Good Morning America in August of
1982 on the topic "Senators who follow the
Horoscopes."  He has assisted Federal
authorities as a consultant on "Cult Related
Cases", and appeared before a Senate
Subcommittee Special Hearing in 1983 to
discuss "Cult Phenomena and Crime."

Grant Cochran:  You have been "seeing"
Grant casually since he moved to this part of
the country, and reccomended to Margot that
she locate him here.  You argued bitterly with
him before you left for Texas.  Grant Cochran
is a horror writer whose early work brought him
wealth and recognition.  His first acclaimed
work was a collection of short stories in 1977
entitled Look Ma, No Hands!  Grant achieved a
more limited success with The Sickness in John
Harrol, 1977; The Collection, 1979; but his
mainstream horror novels  Dark Symbols,1980;
and Trinity, 1982; were extremely successful. 
His Lovecraftian fantasy-horror The Sightless
King, 1984 was universally panned.  Grant also
wrote the screenplay for the 1981 film The
Blinding. Numerous short stories including The
Metallic Taste of Blood Omni, Feb 1982.

Grant's work has tended more towards the
occult and fantasy side than Stephen King, and
his success has been less marked, but his early
novels were commercially successful.  Born
1955 to a wealthy Virginia family, Grant
graduated from George Washington University
in DC in 1975, aged twenty.  Writer and
playboy, known to have inherited some money
from parent's death in 1974. He is widely
rumored to have been hospitalized recently for
rehabilitation.

Linda Kane:  Parapsychological researcher for
the Institute for Parapsychological Studies, 1567
23rd St. NW.  Graduate of Columbia Prep, and
Mary Washington College.  M.A. Barnard. 
Kane is a literary agent for Matthew Allen
Carter and is rumored to be his lover.  

Sarah Lamont: Sarah Lamont is an old Prep-
school and College friend of Margot Matthews,
Linda Kane, Emily Breezewood and others. 
Sarah went to work for Gary Morant as a
paralegal, and is now his chief secretary.  

Margot Matthews: Margot was a friend of
Grant Cochran, and several other attendees in
college, but went on to become a prominent
Washington socialite who rose out of the ranks
of minor political followers due to her
connections with the late U.S. ambassador to
Sweden Mr. Darrington Ripley.  Margot is
giving this party in honor of Grant Cochran's
birthday.

Margot is currently employed by the Department
of State, where she is rumored to the mistress of
a powerful political appointee.  She was
mentioned in People magazine shortly after the
inaugural ball, and her fortunes have definitely
been on the rise with the Reagan government. 

OTHER PEOPLE:

Anthony Blaine:  A New York writer
considered a protege of Grant Cochran, Blaine
is handled by Jonathan Drake, the same
publisher as Cochran.  It was rumored that
Blaine and Cochran had a very serious argument
while appearing together at a promotional
convention after the publication of Sightless
King.  Blaine is best known for his Fantasy-
Horror novel Wunderking, and his most recent
work The Dinner Guest.  


Leda Deerden: A New York author, or visual
artist, guest of Grant's Publisher.  Ms. Deerden
is known for her terra cotta figures, which are
widely sold in gift shops in the Village, and her
work at the 42nd Street Gallery, but is a
newcomer to the writing field.  Her first project
is projected to be a collaboration with Grant
Cochran.

Jonathan Drake: Publisher of Grant Cochran,
Drake is Editor of Horror at Electra publishing,
a division of Robert W. Thormond and Sons,
Inc., one of the nations largest publishing
houses.  Despite the failure of Cochran's latest
novel, Drake is reported to be successful and on
the rise.  He handles many other writers
including Anthony Blaine, and is also in charge
of titles under the smaller, but profitable Medea
imprintaur, for occult paperbacks, which
includes the works of Jeffrey Saxon.

Gary Morant:  Washington Attorney. 
Graduated from George Washington University
in 1974, GW Law in 1978.  Formed Morant and
Steele with Harlan Steel in 1980.  Known for
handling some of the messiest and most
prominent divorce and lawsuit cases in the
Washington social spectrum.  Morant is a rising
star in the social constellation of Washington,
and is Grant Cochran's attorney, and is currently
representing him in all of his sordid legal
affairs. 

Mort Nicholson: a well known private
detective.  Nicholson has worked for Gary
Morant, and was a research reference for the
character of Detective George Panopalous in
Grant Cochran's Trinity.

Roger Pierce: a Professor/practitioner of
Psychology at George Washington University. 
Young but promising, for several years his 400
level course on Personality Disorders has been
considered the "most fun" class in the entire
psych department.  Many of Dr. Pierce's
associates consider him to be "that strung out
quack", Dr. Pierce considers himself a
"perceptually enhanced alternative practitioner." 
It is obvious that Dr. Pierce either has
something on the University, or has tenure.

"Psychological disorders can be not only
instructive, but entertaining as well..."
(American Psychiatric Yearbook, 1980).  

Jeffrey Saxon: A noted Parapsychology/Occult
writer and Astrologer, author of Health Signs,
Astrology for You, and Psychic Defense, and
several other successful books published in
paperback.  Jeffrey is rumored to be practically
the only person in New York who does not
suffer from an incapacitating drug addiction.

Karyn Seidmann:  A New-York literary agent,
Seidmann is not well known in literary circles,
though there are some dark rumors about her
past, including a lawsuit.  Seidman handles
small time occult authors, and until recently her
biggest literary success was Jeffrey Saxon, the
popular occultist and astrologer.

Oliver Stewart:  A comic-book author and
illustrator for Universal Comics, a major
competitor of Marvel and D.C. 
Oliver responsible for the satirical Captain
Flapjack miniseries, but is best known for his
work with Blood Hound, a revitalized 1960's
Superhero, and with Revenant, a dark-horror
miniseries.  Stewart handled a graphic-novel
adaptation of Grant Cochran's Sightless King,
which was somewhat more successful than the
actual novel.  Oliver is a New Yorker, but has
maintained a friendship with horror writer Grant
Cochran, and has come down with some of his
other New York acquaintances to make his
birthday an interesting affair.

Craig Webber: you thought you knew
everything about the underworld in this area,
and you've never heard of this guy.  He seems
to know some of the right people, but there is
definitely something funny about him.  Avery
has been out of circulation too long over in
Europe.  

An acquaintance of Margot Matthews, Mr.
Webber is a well-to-do local business consultant,
rumored to have connections to smuggling and
the underworld.  Webber is said to be a business
partner of Avery Carson.

