The Stars Are Right: The Irish Rose: Non-Player Persons of Interest

Return to The Stars Are Right: The Irish Rose.

Detroit Evening Times

The newsroom, located on the top floor

Purchased by William Randolph Hearst in 1921, the Times is the fastest growing paper in the city.

Copely, Fred

Editor of the Detroit Evening Times, and the boss of Frank Lovejoy and Jack Casey.

Foley, Dick

Shrimpy little stringer for the Detroit Evening Times. Excellent tail.

Herman Kiefer Hospital for Communicable Diseases

Herman Kiefer Hospital

1151 Taylor Street

A hospital currently embroiled in a series of corruption scandals, including bribery of public officials. Also under investigation for performing illegal abortions. Control of the hospital has been given to the state while matters are being settled.

Philips, George

An administrator at Herman Kiefer. Has some history with DeWitt Ecker.

High Society

More dollars than sense.

They're better than you or I. The upper-crust. The Haves. Cushioned by a solid bumper of cash, even a global depression hasn't been able to whittle away at their unassailable privilege.

Cooper-Levitt, Vivian

Wealthy socialite in her early 30s. Had been quite the Gay Young Thing back in the twenties, but has since calmed down. Unmarried. Family are big donors to Herman Keifer.

du Montaine, Voisoine

Wealthy socialite of uncertain provenance and identity. Her name translates as Poison of the Mountains, so, yeah, probably fake. Always accompanied by two bodyguards and a greyhound.

Irish Rose Regulars

Flynn, Katie

alias Heather Flynn

A waitress at the Irish Rose. Living with Danny Macklin (deceased). Infected with strange blood parasites.

Macklin, Danny

(deceased)

Proprietor of the Irish Rose. Was living with Katie Flynn, whom he beat regularly. Killed by person or persons unknown.

Purple Gang

The Purple Gang

Abe Axler

Eddie Fletcher

The Purple Gang, also known as the Sugar House Gang, is a mob with predominantly Jewish members of bootleggers and hijackers operating out of Detroit.

Like most major cities at the beginning of the 20th-century, Detroit was stricken with poverty and became a birthplace for crime and violence. From the Hasting Street neighborhood known as Paradise Valley in Detroit's lower east side, most of its core members went to Bishop School where each were placed in the division for problem children. The gangs' members were the children of immigrants from eastern Europe, primarily Russia and Poland, who had come to the United States in the great immigration wave from 1881 to 1914. The gang of boys were led by four brothers: Abe, Joe, Raymond and (Isadore) Izzy Bernstein, who had emigrated to Detroit from New York. They started off as petty thieves and shakedown artists, the young men soon progressed to more lucrative areas of crime like armed robbery, extortion, and hijacking under the tutelage of older neighborhood gangsters Charles Leiter and Henry Shorr. They soon gained notoriety for their operations and savagery, and began to import gangsters from other American cities to work as "muscle" for the gang. There are numerous theories as to the origin of the name "Purple Gang". One explanation is that a member of the gang was a boxer who wore purple shorts during his bouts. Another explanation is that the name came from a conversation between two shopkeepers:

"These boys are not like other children of their age, they're tainted, off color."

"Yes," replied the other shopkeeper. "They're rotten, purple like the color of bad meat, they're a Purple Gang."

The Purples soon became hijackers and gained a reputation for stealing the booze cargoes of the older and more established gangs. As their reputation of "terror" grew people began to fear them; Al Capone was against expanding his rackets in Detroit and began a business accommodation with the Purples in order to prevent a bloody war. For several years, the Purples managed the prosperous business of supplying Canadian whisky, Old Log Cabin, to the Capone organization in Chicago. In the early 1920s, the Purples reputedly had a feud with Joseph Kennedy. During Prohibition, Kennedy was smuggling liquor through Canada, England, and Ireland. Kennedy ran afoul of the Purple Gang by shipping liquor through their turf without permission. Kennedy turned to Chicago mobster "Diamond Joe" Esposito, who had intervened and lifted the contract on Kennedy's life. The Purples were involved in various criminal enterprises. They were also involved in kidnapping other gangsters for ransoms, which had become very popular during this era. They were reportedly suspected by the FBI to have been involved with the Lindbergh baby kidnapping.

Axler, Abe

Underboss for the Purple Gang. In charge of the partnership with Lorenzo Farbeque. Widely known to be one of the most dangerous hitmen for the gang.

Fletcher, Eddie

Buttonman for the Purple Gang and associate of Abe Axler.

Flag of the restored Russian Tsar

Russians

The Russians are seeking Gregory Parkhurst's notes for reasons unknown. They claim they want to publish the contents widely.

Boyar Rulianoff

Supposedly the adoptive father of the current Tsarina.

Seelie Court

Gregory Parkhurst

Theo Weiss

The community of those infected with the necrophage and their friends and family. Although styled after Irish folklore, the court was only founded in 1931, after Hannah assumed the "throne" and introduced a new, more viable strain of the virus. This new strain allowed the infected to retain their fertility and had a much lower fatality rate. The Court is located somewhere in New Jersey, and can be reached through obscure means that have something to do with the couriers.

Hannah/Medea/The Queen

"Ruler" of the community.

Parkhurst, Dr. Gregory

"Regent" of the community. Dr. Parkhurst is the greatest living expert on the necrophage virus; he developed a serum that allowed the community to wean themselves off their dependence on fresh blood. Since being named regent, he has stopped practicing medicine.

He is currently fully infected.

Weiss, Theo

A member of the community. Not currently infected, although possessed of strange, unsettling eyes; all black, without either white or iris. Younger brother of Harry Houdini.

The Couriers

A group of fully infected community members who deliver messages and packages throughout the world. They have access to some kind of network that allows them to travel great distances in very short periods of time.

United Assembly of God

The church at 12471 Grand River.

Small storefront church in a working class neighborhood run by Franklin and Katherine Scott.

Scott, Katherine

21 years old. Runs the United Assembly of God with her brother, the Reverend Franklin Scott.

Scott, Reverend Franklin

19-20 years old. Self-appointed preacher. Runs the United Assembly of God with his sister Catherine. Probably some kind of freaking monster.

United States Government

Barnes, Michael

Agent of the United States treasury.

Hart, William L.

Chief of Police.

Frank Murphy

Murphy, Frank

Mayor of Detroit. Elected in 1930 after the previous mayor resigned. Made his name in the 1920s as a crusading court judge fighting corruption.

Navarre, John

Head of the homicide squad.