The gang celebrates the end of the year by taking another break to play Fiasco, a crime/noir storytelling game by Bully Pit Games. Here is the conclusion of our two part episode.

Business in the Blue Label Diner was picking up, and Bill Larsen was all action; balancing plates, refilling coffee, and distributing orders with a speed that belied his aging body. All the while, he never ceased telling his narrative of the town's recent history to the woman from out of town who was still sitting in that same seat at the counter. It was as though the act of relaying this history was somehow feeding him an otherworldly energy.

"So I know that a lot people from outside uh' our town might not really get it… But ya see Mr. Cromwell brought somethin' important to this town. The Hub brought more than just jobs, it brought a purpose. It made this town important, put us on the map. And sure, we don't really go outside at night all that much anymore…" he looked out his window at the thick smoke which now pushed heavily against his diner like a layer of dense billowy cotton, "but my business has been doin' better than its ever done, and I don't think you'll find another person in town who'll tell ya any differently. Things…. things are good now in Paradise Falls."

Bill picked up the carafe of coffee and made his way back to the woman sitting at the counter . As he poured her another cup, he glanced down at her notebook. It still sat on the counter, untouched; its blank white pages glaring back at him. For the better part of an hour she had sat silently, not writing down a thing; her face gradually contorting into a scowl of thinly repressed rage. That energetic confidence that had fueled him left him in an instance. His back once again twinged in pain. "Now I'm sorry but that's all I know about what Mr. Cromwell has been doin' around these parts. I think Sophie Bryant might have heard something about…."

"I don't care what Cornelius Cromwell did or did not do Mr. Larsen." The woman tilted her head to look directly into his eyes with a piercing glaze, "What I want to know are the whereabouts of Miss Tully and her relationship to Agent Cooper."

Bill looked perplexed, "Agent who now?"

The woman stood up from her stool at the counter and stared him down. Bill crumpled, some of the coffee spilling out of the carafe which he still held clenched in his right hand. "Mr. Larsen, where is Miss Tully?"

The diner went silent, all eyes turned to look at Bill and this strange woman from out of town. As Bill shrank away he sheepishly asked "Now… now which… which paper are ya workin' for?"

"I'm not." The woman threw down a badge with the words 'Bounty Hunter' in large thick typeface onto the counter. "Now, what do you know about the whereabouts of Miss Theresa Tully?"

"Paradise Falling" is a surreal tale of paranoia, failure, and cold hard capitalism.

"Andreas Theme" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/