text: [Themes: Horror, restaurant setting, supernatural]
  
  > Look around
  You are walking past the window to Goldschmidt's Pawnshop (on the north side of 19th Street). Although the shop is closed right now, the window provides a neat display of hocked merchandise. Nikolai's Bar and Grill is east. To the west, the neighborhood becomes even seedier.
  
  Goldschmidt's is closed for the day. The door is locked.
  
  > examine the crib
  The crib is painted blue. It appears to be hand-made.
  
  > go east
  You are standing in front of Nikolai's Bar and Grill on 19th Street.
  A green awning shades the smudged window into Nikolai's dining room. The front entrance is north of you.
  
  The east/west sidewalk here is cracked and uneven, pocked by clumps of crabgrass. A storm gutter is built into the curb, littered with broken bottles. Across the street a neon sign flickers erratically.
  A few cars are parked nearby (including yours), but otherwise you see no evidence that anyone visits this neighborhood past daybreak.
  
  An aluminum placard is fixed to the front door.
  
  > examine awning
  The green awning is made of canvas. It's faded and torn from age, and has hand painted letters across the front.
  
  > read it
  Faded yellow letters across the awning once said "Nikolai's Bar and Grill", though a more recent graffiti artist has replaced the last two letters in black spray paint to read "Nikolai's Bar and Grist". A more appropriate moniker, perhaps.
  
  > examine the neon
  A thin tube of glowing red neon curls around itself to form words.
  The light flickers on and off erratically. Just looking at it is almost seizure inducing. It says, "Hanibal's Exotic Revue."
  
  > go south
  All your business is on the north side of the street. Finish your inspection so you can go home.
  
  > go to the east
  You probably shouldn't wander too far from your car. Go finish your inspection at Nikolai's so you can leave this god-forsaken neighborhood.
  
  > examine the crabgrass
  Everywhere the sidewalk is broken, crabgrass grows tenaciously.
  
  > look at the cars
  There are a small number of cars parked nearby, some likely abandoned. One has been locked with the boot.
  
  > examine the boot
  A boot is a device used by the police to lock cars which have accrued too many unpaid fines. The boot is secured to one of the the car's tires, and is less expensive than having the car towed. Fortunately parking violations are outside your jurisdiction, and your position as a city health inspector enables you to park in many locations for free.
  
  > search the car
  Your car is empty.
  
  > take the boot
  Even if you could, the boot is police property.
  
  > go to the north
  The restaurant area of Nikolai's is relatively small: no more than a dozen four top tables, many still littered with yesterday's crumbs. A larger bar area--the primary source of revenue here--lies to the east. A rickety staircase leads to small balcony outside Nikolai's office loft. A wide mirror is mounted on the wall high above, right near his office entrance.
  
  On the south end of the room, a long window provides an unattractive view of the street. The galley kitchen is north of here.
  
  An aluminum placard is fixed to the front door.
  
  > Go east
  Sunlight from the 19th Street window (south) casts an bright trapezoid across the cork dance floor. In every other corner, the brick walls of this unpretentious watering hole are marked by shadows. If you don't mind risking ptomaine poisoning, Nikolai's dining room is to the west. Otherwise, the unisex lavatory is north through a low ceiling tunnel.
  
  A set of Naugahyde stools are pushed against the linoleum bar.
  
  Behind the bar is a dinky two basin sink with an attached faucet. In the rinse basin is a severed left hand.
  
  Beside the sink is a personal stereo (held together largely with duct tape).
  
  > take the hand
  (the severed left hand)
  Taken.
  
  [Nikolai's sanitation rating has dropped five points.]
  
  > go west
  Nikolai's walk-in refrigerator is kept at a few degrees above zero Celsius. The tight dimensions of this poorly lit unit induce a sense of claustrophobia. The textured metal walls are splashed with now dry remnants of long ago dinner specials. The exit back to the winding hall is east.
  
  A five gallon soup cauldron is pushed carelessly into one corner.
  
  A four tier wire shelf supports an assortment of hotel pans in varied sizes and depths.
  
  A mouse runs in circles, then races away.
  
  > open the cauldron
  You open the soup cauldron, revealing a severed left foot.
  
  > take foot
  (the severed left foot)
  Taken.
  
  [Nikolai's sanitation rating has dropped five points.]
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying:
  a severed left foot
  a severed left hand
  a newspaper
  some pair of eyes
  a severed right foot
  a tourniquet
  a pair of tongs
  a flashlight (providing light)
  a notepad
  
  > Go east
  A narrow hall twists and winds from the prep kitchen (south) to the dish room (north). A walk-in refrigerator is west of here. During every dinner shift, smoke from the kitchen drifts down this hall and deposits an oily film against the brown wall.
  
  Mounted on the wall is a first aid kit.
  
  A formidable buffalo chopper is parked against one corner of this twisting labyrinth. This machine probably harbors more than a hundred varieties of pathogens and therefore deserves quite careful attention.
  
  > go north
  On entering the dish room you are overwhelmed by the astringent smell of fresh bleach. You would welcome this as evidence of sanitation, except that in such high concentrations bleach is actually toxic. Already you're feeling a little nauseous. A hall winds south into the darkness.
  
  You step cautiously around the open drain cover.
  
  A warped wooden door is set into the cement north wall. The door is sealed tight.
  
  The largest fixture in this location is a straight unit dish machine, with a stainless steel dish table on either side.
  
  On the dish table is a dish rack (in which are some servingware).
  
  A large rat turns to look at you, then runs away.