Hefner and his blog

[Sicon112]

Cheshire Pub, orange beard...
NO. That just can't be him.
Seriously. He can't be.

Uh... who?

EDIT: Oh.... OOOOOOOH. No way.... No freaking way...

[IslaKariese]

... Well I'm lost. Stop beating 'round the bush, who do you think this guy is!?

[NeverSlender]

Cheshire Pub, orange beard...
NO. That just can't be him.
Seriously. He can't be.

Uh... who?

EDIT: Oh.... OOOOOOOH. No way.... No freaking way...

No no no no. The personality is all wrong.

[Sicon112]

... Well I'm lost. Stop beating 'round the bush, who do you think this guy is!?

Please note that Holmes said that the guy was totally covered except for an orange beard. Who do we know that is orange? Another hint: Cheshire Pub. I have no freaking idea what to make of this... I just...

OK, I have no words for this weirdness, but some things don't add up. Wait while I refill this soda, and then I'm going to figure out just who is messing with our heads...

[Dryunya]

Also, I don't know how Cheshire could interact with Holmes, Totem Pole Trench aside (in which case he would still require a companion and human hands).

[Sicon112]

Also, I don't know how Cheshire could interact with Holmes, Totem Pole Trench aside (in which case he would still require a companion and human hands).

Indeed. OK, I will list the puzzle pieces.

FIRST: The accent. It has been mentioned multiple times. It is likely significant. If it IS the cat, why does he have a Dutch accent?
SECOND: His reactions. Holmes described him as being worried. It seems like the cat would not get worried by much of anything.
THIRD: The napkin. I'm almost sure it is significant somehow, and the reason is right on the edge of my consciousness. I should know this!
FOURTH: America. It is significant somehow as well. Something is being hinted at here.
FIFTH: The name. It means something, or is a hint at something. Elias Stein is a real person, and I'm about to go read his wiki page.
Add that to the name of the pub and we have nearly a complete puzzle here. I can see the outline faintly, but something isn't right. I need time. I'm giving up on the cat's riddle to focus on this. Good luck guys.

[NeverSlender]

Eias Stein makes me think this is Moriarty, or at least connected, as he is a mathematician. The napkin is significant because James Raike works at Cafe Nero.

[Dryunya]

The napkin is significant because James Raike works at Cafe Nero.

Whoa!

[Sicon112]

Eias Stein makes me think this is Moriarty, or at least connected, as he is a mathematician. The napkin is significant because James Raike works at Cafe Nero.

I beg to differ! Elias Stein is also THE NAME OF DUTCH CHESS PLAYER. I'm on to something here. Hit the Two Steps From Hell!

[NeverSlender]

Stein says he wants to avenge a friend and colleague. Is he from the same university as Verhaeren?

[Dryunya]

Looked into it a bit - Cafe Nero is near the King's College, where Poirot attended the lecture.
"T3h 3vi1 is so great, even my dull senses can feel it."
UPD: Also, Raikes used to study there.

[NeverSlender]

Arthur Moore claimed to be an Assistant Maths Professor. This could be the guy he's assisting.

[Sicon112]

Arthur Moore claimed to be an Assistant Maths Professor. This could be the guy he's assisting.

Negative, that Elias is from Princeton. It's in America. I think you are paying too much attention to him. I'm studying the Dutch Defense at the moment. I may have something.

[Wysp]

The biggest problem here is that neither of them are fictional, and one's dead. So unless we're taking an abrupt turn from meta-fictional persons like Verhaeren and employing actual people, something is seriously wrong.

[NeverSlender]

Arthur Moore claimed to be an Assistant Maths Professor. This could be the guy he's assisting.

Negative, that Elias is from Princeton. It's in America. I think you are paying too much attention to him. I'm studying the Dutch Defense at the moment. I may have something.

I don't think it's actually him, I just think he's using the name.

[Dryunya]

I'm studying the Dutch Defense at the moment. I may have something.

"The black's plan is to control e4 and occupy it with the knight, given the opportunity" - ru.wikipedia.org
jmartysknight2e4
Something's clicking.

[Sicon112]

I'm studying the Dutch Defense at the moment. I may have something.

"The black (red) side's plan is to control e4 and occupy it with the knight, given the opportunity" - ru.wikipedia.org
jmartysknight2e4
Something's clicking.

You're right behind me as always, Dryu. Knew I could count on you. Already got a few other leads running. I should have results shortly.

[Dryunya]

I've looked into the English section, and there's no such fact. Considering that it's not a widely known fact (it would be there otherwise), I don't really think it's relevant. May be just a coincidence.

[Wysp]

With Moriarty involved? Suure, coincidence.

[Sicon112]

I've looked into the English section, and there's no such fact. Considering that it's not a widely known fact (it would be there otherwise), I don't really think it's relevant. May be just a coincidence.

Yea, the English section didn't mention it right out. If you look at the notation though, it's pretty obvious that is the plan. It does mention multiple instances of Ne4 occurring across the page. Still, as I mentioned in my last post, I'm looking at a couple of other things as well. Get back to you in a sec.

[Dryunya]

Holmes mentioned that he could ask Raikes about the man. I googled up "raikespeare blog", and this is the closest thing I got (we know Raikes uses a Wordpress account). It is, though, private. Even if it's his, I don't know what else could be done here.

[Wysp]

After reading through Scion and Adell's conversation with Holmes, I have to worry about Scion's actions.

Do you really want to engineer a meeting between Holmes, a fictional person, and Mr. Administrator, the person whose expressed and singular goal is to get fictional people back into their verse? Holmes might like the idea (he misses those he knows, naturally) but if Moriarty is involved, then Holmes' departure will leave us with only ourselves against the Napoleon of Crime. That could be somewhat problematic.

[Sicon112]

Holmes mentioned that he could ask Raikes about the man. I googled up "raikespeare blog", and this is the closest thing I got (we know Raikes uses a Wordpress account). It is, though, private. Even if it's his, I don't know what else could be done here.

It is his. I found that days ago linked through a now deleted instance of his username occurring in Poirot's blog. It was private then too, and I don't think we are getting anything out of it for the time being.

[Sicon112]

After reading through Scion and Adell's conversation with Holmes, I have to worry about Scion's actions.

Do you really want to engineer a meeting between Holmes, a fictional person, and Mr. Administrator, the person whose expressed and singular goal is to get fictional people back into their verse? Holmes might like the idea (he misses those he knows, naturally) but if Moriarty is involved, then Holmes' departure will leave us with only ourselves against the Napoleon of Crime. That could be somewhat problematic.

If Holmes returns, he will be returning on our terms. Trust me, I got this down. Mr. A knows what he is doing, and I highly doubt Holmes would be willing to just up and leave without doing anything important.

Also META: Hell no he isn't leaving. He's a plot important character.

Anyhow, I've got a plan, so don't worry about it.

[Dryunya]

I've tried to open Raikes' blog with the wayback machine, and it refused, citing robots.txt. It was open for reading, and lo -
"# This file was generated on Sat, 22 Sep 2012 21:40:09 +0000"

Bingo! It really is James Raikes' blog!
Now what do we do with it. =(