====== Peter Simmons ======
By V ([[http://www.herogames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=893570&postcount=209|original post]])
An elderly man who, though now frailer than in his youth, shows that he once had a good physique. He dresses conservatively but not ostentatiously and is relatively social - happy to mix with other guests in the public areas of the hotel. He never seems to go out, but is happy to talk with almost anyone - in fact he's a bit of a fishing bore so anyone with the slightest interest in angling is likely to get buttonholed for hours on end. He also enjoys tv sports including wrestling ("Of course it's not real, but it's very good," he will say happily, "I think Stone Cold Steve Austin should run for president. Heh heh."). He drinks socially in the bar, but never to excess. He has a gift of making people feel comfortable about him largely because of his forthright (but never rude) manner.
In fact there seems to be very little unusual about him, except his occasional visitors. Every so often a bewildered individual will approach the hotel nervously and ask to speak with Peter. Peter will grumble his way down from whatever he was doing and greet the newcomer warmly, asking his/her name but never shaking their hand. He'll then ask the porter on duty for his "bag" from the hotel safe and, this received, will enter the elevator with the visitor.
What happens next is largely a mystery, but the newcomer doesn't come downstairs again. Peter does, some time later, and hands his bag (a long leather pouch containing something hard) over to the porter on duty again. Then he goes back to business as usual.
Some hints: Other patrons have occasionally caught glimpses of what happens next. One entered the elevator interrupting a conversation between Peter and his guest about a man who fell from a high building. Another saw Peter taking his visitor through a door marked "Staff Only" on the very top floor (which they were later unable to locate themselves). One of the porters in defiance of strict policy peeked inside the leather bag and found it contained a long iron key. Oh, and the day of the nasty automobile pile up on the nearest freeway a whole minibus of people arrived for Peter.
Spoiler:
Peter is of course Saint Peter, or possibly just a local franchise psychopomp (escorter of the dead) - the Pearly Gates (or their local connection) are located at the top of the hotel and the keys thereof are stored in the night safe. Mischief could abound if the keys fell into the wrong hands. What would Peter do if someone stole that big old book of names from his room? And why is there a similarly elusive door in the basement near the furnace?