New Avalon

[CalamityJade]

There WAS a warehouse they used to use for distributions from the docks about five blocks down. They had closed it when there had been a bit of an incident there a few years ago. Though...not even most of the people sleeping on the street stayed in there long. So it'd be a close place to shack up for now and there wouldn't be many poking around.

[yamikuronue]

Warehouse sounds good -- definitely worth trying at least. She grabs her bear and starts walking.

[CalamityJade]

The walk was pretty uneventful. Thankfully the crystal had quieted down for the time being, so maybe she would get to lay low for a good bit.

It seemed that Rob was correct about him not kidding around. A woman called his office about an hour after he had returned to set up a wire transfer of his starting fee. He'd gotten twenty crowns up front with expenses for his continuing investigation, so obviously either someone had money to burn or really wanted this thing solved. And as luck would have it, there WAS something going on for him to look at. Earlier in the day, there was a reports of some loud explosion behind a restaurant. Might have been passed off as someone going through the trash if they hadn't found some homeless guy bleeding out with his arm blown off by the wrist. Apparently someone thought it'd be a helpful start for the investigation for some reason and that he should check the scene out.

[Hammer Sister]

When Rob arrives, he finds the whole scene cordoned off; the police forensics team is busy scouring the scene for clues. Rob then spots the officer in charge of the operation; he decides to play this nice and easy, with no funny business. "Excuse me, officer," he begins, offering his ID, "my client has requested I investigate this scene; may I be permitted to do so?"

[CalamityJade]

There's some chatter going back and forth about him before the officer gives a groan. "Damn Jewelers...fine, but don't touch nothin." The officer seemed a little annoyed at the situation, but probably wasn't high enough in command to complain. There was always this odd friction between the regular police and the GRD.

The scene was a bit of a mess. The backside of this restaurant looked a little trashed, but the thing that really drew attention was the big spot of blood on the ground and the marked off circle with small bits of metal in the middle. The lead guy seemed to be an older officer in slacks, shirt, and coat. Well...you couldn't get much more 'detective' than that, could you.

[Hammer Sister]

So, I'm not the only one on this case... figures.

Initially, Rob merely examines the scene, complying with the officer's wish to not touch anything; soon, he's filled two pages of his notebook with notes and sketches.

The blood is clearly from the victim, but those metal shards are like nothing I've ever seen before... I'm sure they won't mind if I take just one...

Rob crouches beside the metal fragments; extracting tweezers and a small ziplock bag from his pocket, he makes to take one of the metal shards.

[CalamityJade]

"Ya know, we got people with cameras. Might wanna ask them for one before ya start fuckin with my crime scene." The voice sounded a good deal annoyed. The detective from before had made his way over, looking overall annoyed. While most of his suit was clean and crisp, the shoes and knees looked a bit dusty. Good chance he'd been around here looking at the shards. "Let me guess, your the guy the GRD sent ta try and make sense of all this?" The sarcastic tone was almost impossible to avoid.

[Hammer Sister]

"I am, yes," Rob answers, standing up without taking one of the shards. "Rob McCarthey, freelance detective," he introduces, offering his hand. "And you are...?"

[CalamityJade]

"Harringan Tons, NAPD." That explains it. There was a bit of rivalry between the departments and he probably didn't like outsiders on a case. "So, they're takin in freelancers now? And here I thought they only had the 'best' for the Jewelers." He scoffed and looked around. "Things already a damn mess as it is."

[Hammer Sister]

"Why do you think they hired me?" Rob counters cheekily, dropping his unaccepted hand. "Plus I was witness to the kidnapping attempt; the GRD clearly thinks I'm the man for the job. And I doubt they'd take too kindly to people getting in my way, so I think I'm OK to take a single shard for analysis; there's still plenty of others for yourself and the NAPD."

[CalamityJade]

"They're obviously too good to do their own work and hire Dicks, so I don't think yer gettin any special treatment. Shards are a dead-end anyway. Not enough of them to tell what did it or how some bum managed to get his hand blown off." The man pats himself down before pulling out a pack of cigarettes. "Sides, if you were that good, the city'd be fallin over to get ya to something a bit more legitimate than peepin in people's windows for paranoid broads."

[Hammer Sister]

"If the shards are a dead-end, then you won't mind me taking some," Rob concludes, crouching down to claim a few. "And who's to say this assignment isn't the city doing just that?"

[CalamityJade]

"Cuz with everyone else clamoring around, there's bound to be someone other than a Dick that would be picked up." He chewed a bit on his cigarette as he lit it. "And if you think I'm just gonna let some mook with an in around my case, you have another thing comin." Well...he was obviously going to be a wealth of information. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a witness to question." With that he starts heading for the restaurant.

[Hammer Sister]

Rob picks three of the metal shards, seals them in the ziplock bag, and pockets them; ensuring Harringan can't spot him, he sneaks into the restaurant, positioning himself to eavesdrop on the witness questioning. He can't object to something he doesn't know is happening...

[CalamityJade]

He's apparently talking to one of the workers at the restaurant. Seems he's the one that called the ambulance for the guy that had his hand blown off. "And could you tell me exactly what you saw one more time?" "I Swear I ain't lyin. There was some sorta...thing in the air and two people were lyin on the ground. One of them was screaming and hollerin and the other got up and ran! And I swear there was somethin between them...some sorta glass thing. It was like lookin at the side of a window!" Huh...well, this witness was either unreliable or there's some missing evidence, cuz there wasn't anything that looked like glass around.