Mali would be lying if she claimed that the first thing she looked for wasn't the restroom, but more important was the scene in front of her, with Zoie and Adelaide. They were clearly having a moment here, and Mali wasn't sure what to do from here. If she approached them, then she'd probably ruin the whole thing, but it'd also be rude to just ignore them entirely. Not to mention she did need to tell Zoie about Caesar. The various residents of Boston Heights were something she neglected to mention up until this point to either Relic or Zoie due to a lack of relevance, but if he was here, than who knew what else was going on outside of their peripheral vision. And hey, a free meal was in it for them as well.

But when it came down to it, the body won out and Mali charted a path well around the two women so she could use the restroom with a minimal amount of invasion on their grieving. It'd at least be a few minutes until she was out, hopefully by then, they would be done and she could introduce herself. If they weren't? Well she would just go wait by the truck again. At the very least, her worst imaginings of the situation had shown themselves to merely be fiction this time.

---

---

It seems their troubles were far from over, if Tim's reaction was any indication. Marc Tinder had apparently died. While she had only had a passing interaction with him, she could somewhat sense that Riley had a stronger reaction. It didn't mean Priya wasn't upset. Far from it, it seemed the body count of Grimm, Indiana was piling up and that put her on edge. Things were now becoming to coincidental for her liking.

And on top of that, it seems Tim was having his hands full with a...clown? Could it be? "One cop to another, I get it. This is starting to concern me. If you need help, I am at your disposal. Now, what's this about Agent Tinder and a clown?" Priya sat down, waiting on Tim's word. She knew she was only recently deputized, but Tim seemed bent out of shape and she knew from experience that it could make or break a case if a cop got sloppy.

She was, thus far, thinking at full capacity and perhaps a new set of eyes and ears could help.

Road To Grimm: Roy looked over at Cecily and cocked a brow. "Works security or runs security?" he asked, and it was obvious by the tone of his voice that there was some massive distinction between the two. "Mother fucker, Roberts... I KNEW I knew that last name," he said as he he hit the gas and started speeding up. Okay, he knew the name but it wasn't like Roberts was an uncommon last name. "Roberts Security Solutions. I hadn't put it together yet but that fucker Lincoln had an English accent, I be that fucker is part of Roberts Security Solutions, they just took over the fucking Security Firm for Justice Memorial. They took it over from Wentworth."

"Maybe it wasn't Natasha protecting him, maybe it was him they were aiming to get their hooks into? I mean come on, think about. It is the perfect set up. Juno has to have their claws in that hospital, Chang, of course. And she gets Roberts to take over for Wentworth. Wentworth was just pushed out of Queensguard by that MSS right? Fuck.... Know anyone from England?" Roy asked, he sure as hell couldn't think of anyone right then but maybe Cecily did, she seemed to get out a lot more than he did and the last thing he wanted to do was call around right then. He needed to get back to his other partner and Riley.

Grimaldi Books: "Yeah, just call me Zoie," Zoie said as she heard the door open and glanced over towards Mali. She smiled at the woman and nodded. "Yeah, sorry, this is Mali. Mali this is Adelaide and shit, what was yer name?" Zoie added, realizing she hadn't gotten the mans name yet. If she had, she hadn't registered it and remembered it.

Adelaide shook her head and just stared at the floor for a moment. "A barn burning? So it was an accident?" she asked but it didn't sound like she believed it. Zoie sighed and shook her head.

"I doubt it..." Zoie admitted. Adelaide seemed to take the news better and nodded to the answer.

"It never is, not for the people of Grimm..." Adelaide said as she sniffled and looked around, motioning towards he box of tissues on the counter. "Could you?" she asked Robert.

"I'll give ya a minute, um, I gotta pee," she said as she stood back up fully and looked around. "Ahh you mind girl?" she asked and Adelaide motioned for her to go ahead. "Sweet," Zoie said before motioning for Mali. "Buddy system?" she joked but she figured that Mali needed to as well. They had had a long flight and got right into the car before they headed over. "My back teeth are floating."

Outside Claire nodded and got in the vehicle. Once Caesar and Keystone were in she took off down the road, driving like a bat out of hell. She had things to do, granted one wouldn't be able to tell that. She drove just as wild as always. Thankfully it wasn't long before they were outside a large Catholic church and she pulled the car to a stop. Throwing it into park she looked at them. "Alright, I'll introduce you to the padre," she said to Caesar before looking at Keystone, "and then be right back to get you to the office." Hoping out of the car she started making her way up the stairs.

"Jesus, Mary, and fucking Joseph.." a man said as the doors pushed open and a middle aged man stepped outside. He was roughly groomed and didn't exactly look like a priest. Not at first. Cowboy boots and jeans, black. then his shirt and collar gave it away. Spotting Claire he sighed and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it up. It stuck to his bottom lip as he spotted Caesar. "Oh fuck... A Gonzalez.... What the shit happened?" he asked before taking a long puff off it.

"You know him?" Claire asked surprised.

"No, but once you know one Gonzalez, you learn about them all," he said with a chuckle and walked down the steps, holding out his hand to Caesar. "Father Pearson, so which one are you? Let me guess, you're the big man Caesar. I'm right ain't I?"

Claire stood there, silent for once and a bit flabbergasted before she finally piped in. "You fucking priests, what you got an inside channel or some shit?"

"Direct line to God, ain't ya heard? We got a big red phone in the back, it's like the batphone but better."

Grimm, Indiana - Sheriff's Station: Tim held the bottle tight in his hand and nearly pitched it before letting out a frustrated huff and spinning the top off the bottle instead, it went flying off. Hitting his desk and then skipping like a stone to the floor and finally stopping at the wall. "Some fucking clown was spotted over near the Grimaldi's tearing plants out of pots near the front steps. Apparently it has a lot of blood on it. Thankfully no one is there right now but a neighbor saw it," Tim said before taking a drink. It wasn't uncommon for the Grimaldi's not to be home, they traveled a lot ever since their daughter got married.

Tim sat down behind his desk and nodded towards Priya. "Apparently Tinder died in some barn burning out in Justice. They're moving his body from O'Hara right now. He's being brought in by a..." he said as he put the bottle down and searching for his note pad that was right in front of him. "Oh right, a Zoie Crawford and a Mali Anson, fuck..." he said before dropping the pad again. Rubbing his temples. "Okay, um, you two, go to Grace if you would and get armed and then head over to the Grimaldi's. I'll go break the news to Marc's parents," he said as he picked up his coffee mug and downed the contents. "Don't get killed."

---

---

---

At Roy's question, Cecily was suddenly launched back into a vivid memory of college. One of her professors was always correcting their language - ensuring that they didn't mix up the difference between absorption and adsorption. She blinked slightly, trying not to feel like she was sitting in an 8:30 AM office hour, getting torn a new one over molecular orbital diagrams. She was in a car, speeding hopefully away from certain death and not towards it this time. "I... don't know..." Cecily admitted. She couldn't recall either way - she just knew that he was employed doing something security related there.

However, as Roy cursed and screamed a bit, Cecily jumped slightly, startled by the sudden outburst. The details he started to explain did clarify some things. Another security company, another conspiracy - she was tempted at this rate to just ask Roy every security company that worked in Justice so that way they could open investigations into all of them and get ahead of the curve. "Yeah, I know some people from England... Keystone, Caesar's right hand I think," Cecily explained. She couldn't remember what Keystone's job was exactly off of the top of her head.

"And well... I have a third cousin who works at the asylum, she's British," Cecily added, doubting that Iris was relevant to this however.

---

---

Riley looked at Tim for a moment as he explained what had happened, and nodded slightly a barn fire apparently had killed him out in Justice no doubt as well. "That city is like a fucking morgue." Riley muttered to herself, losing her sister and two of her friends in that city, she just wanted to get the hell out of the city and she didn't want to be anywhere near Grimm again. But sadly she didn't really have much of a choice now for that matter. "Alright then, just don't get piss drunk." Riley said to Tim, as he explained the next situation over at Adelaide's family's place. Riley didn't really know the people that Tim had mentioned that they were bringing in Marc's body.

As Riley got up looking over at Pyira. "Want to drive this time? I can direct you." She offered as Riley started to leave Tim's office, Riley then made her way back over towards Grace and gave her a bit of an awkward smile towards her. "So, Tim deputized us earlier today during that fire, and he is asking us to go to the Grimaldi's place about some clown, said to get armed up?" Riley said, she didn't like the idea of guns again, and hopefully this freaky blood covered clown left.

---

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"Zoie, Mali, got it. Name's Rober Adler, Insurance." Robert said to asnwer Zoie's questioning and giving Mali a look as well, the last part about insurance coming on pure instinct to the point that he cringed a little at his own words. Jesus, he had been far too long in that job for his own good. But he returned the more important matters at hand, dealing with those two new ladies, Adelaide and the accident which wasn't an accident? And here he was back to dealing with fraud. Great.

"Yeah sure." Robert went straight for the box of tissues on the counter, pulling out a couple and giving them to Adelaide first alongside the box itself. It looked like she needed those straight away, though she seemed to take the part about the fire not being accidental better than expected. And accidents never being accidents for the people of Grimm? Robert looked puzzled at what the ladies were insinuating, though kept quiet as Zoie and Mali went to the bathroom. Robert crouched down beside Adelaide and gave her a moment of silence out of respect, before beginning his own questioning. "So what you said about Grimm...What did you mean? That there are no accidents in Grimm, only intented deaths? Pardon me if I sound sceptical, but even I have to admit that not all fires are people trying to fraud the system. Is there something I'm missing?" He asked his employer, giving her whatever time she needed to answer him. He was sceptical, not heartless. "I don't want to seem pushy, Adelaide, but all of this sounds... I don't know, dramatic?"

---

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The exchange was noted with no small amount of confusion by Keystone, as he listened from the car. Then a broad sort of deduction washed over him. It might have made sense, being as the Boston Irish chick was Catholic, that she'd be acquainted with a priest. That priest would know what she did for a living, and in certain circles Caesar was a noteworthy guy. Then the Padre went and mentioned already knowing another Gonzalez. Yeah, that would make sense, too. It could be considered a sort of "investigative exercise", listening and attempting to deduce from facts presented. He was working with a former Federale. It wouldn't hurt to learn something from him.

Comcerning the priest's own deductions, Keystone had also spent quality time with another Gonzalez. Enough time to give her a child, at least. And more. He was aware that Caesar had a brother who was a priest, though he never met the guy; if that was the connection then it made even more sense. It might make for an interesting coincidence. At this point he would welcome the break. Even if simply motivated by sheer frustration at the events of the past few days, it might be nice to get another lead (outside of the funeral planned for that day) that came from a credible source and not a mysterious, string-pulling figure absently dictating actions like one of the older gods of Olympus. But considering what his boss had mentioned about the funeral, he did wish that Claire would get a move on. Timing could be as much an issue as location, and he was not familiar with Chicago.

Caesar took Father Pearson's offered hand. It was good to cut through the bullshit and get down to business, hopefully without the ego that accompanied so many of his recent dealings since moving to California. "Yeah." he rasped, "That's me. Thank you for seeing us so quickly. Maybe we should talk inside." A little privacy might ne in order, considering the nature of the discussion. While he was curious as to how this priest knew his family, Caesar did not want to broach the topic in the open. Call it being cautious. Or mild paranoia. He had earned the right to have both.

Looking back to Claire he said, "Thank you, Miss McManus. Please take care of the other thing. I appreciate your help today." It was a little gruff, as suited his natural limitations, but he meant it kindly. She had gone above and beyond the call of her job description for the man, and he generally did not forget things like that. Turning attention back to the priest, "Do you have someplace quiet we can talk? Not a confessional, if you can help it." While he did have a background colored by the Church (albeit in muted hues), Caesar was not the biggest fan of confession booths. He had done enough in his life to make the hereafter questionable for himself, and it was a sort of reminder.

Mali stopped in her tracks after getting called out by Zoie. So much for not interrupting the moment they were having. She turned towards the two women and gave them a little wave and a nervous smile before proceeding again. She was put on the spot in an awkward situation, and could introduce herself properly later. Perhaps if she was in a better state of mind she'd be able to come up with some other course of action, but the biological urges were really starting to press on her mind. The urge hadn't been so bad when she'd been in the truck, but now that reprieve was in sight, her bladder decided that the time was now.

"What, I'm not just going to say no and then go in at the same time anyways." Mali answered Zoie, as she opened the door and held it open for her companion. She gaze her something of a perplexed look at the "back teeth are floating" line. It wasn't a phrase she'd heard before, but wrote it off as one of those Southern sayings she threw around. "Knowing our luck though, all the stalls are going to be packed. If that's the case, I'll rip off the door and you throw the occupant out, capiche?" She wasn't serious about the latter half, but the idea certainly appealed to the primal, selfish monkey brain.

---

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Priya felt the warning of not being killed was in poor taste, given the fact death seemed to swarm this city. She wouldn't say such, of course. Tim seemed to be at the end of his rope and she would not add to it further. "We'll take care of it. Good luck." Telling the parents, spouse, children, or what have you the news of a death was never easy, but it was needed to provide closure and help with the grieving process.

She let Riley take the lead and walked outside to the car. "Yeah, sure." She waited to get their supplies, assuming it would be the basics, but perhaps they needed more? If this was the same serial killer clown that was running around, she had already claimed too much. This town was screwed up, she decided. She missed New York, where there was violence and danger, but it was expected. Not somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Indiana.

Road To Grimm: Roy looked over to Cecily and chuckled a bit before putting his eyes back on the highway. "I would say damn girl you know everyone don't you but I did ask. Think you could manage a call to one of them? I mean if you think they got clout and could find out somethings for us," he said as he flicked the butt of his cigarette out the window and rolled it up to cut down on the wind in the car.

Shifting in his seat a bit, he added another thing. "Oh and if you think you can trust them." That trust thing was a big thing at this point. He could have called in his badge number back to Justice and gotten a lot of information but then that would tip their hand, if they were even holding one. He could call his other partner but he really didn't know her that well, so the trust hadn't been established. For all he knew she was brought in from New York by Juno to help cover shit up by being assigned as his new partner. He was what was classified as a loose end at this point.

Chicago, Illinois: Zoie nodded and walked off with Mali, letting out a bit of a chuckle. "Sounds like fun, I could use a laugh after all this," she said as they stepped into the bathroom. Thankfully with this being a small book store, there wasn't a lot of foot traffic. People really didn't use book stores very often anymore, especially locally owned small high end ones, which was what this one looked like. The bathroom was empty of people but filled with other stuff. This wasn't a normal bathroom, this place was nice. Tiled floors, private stalls that hit the floor to the ceiling, a love seat against one wall, and more. "Hell this is nicer than my john at home," Zoie chuckled as he went into a stall and shut the door.

Out in the main part of the book store Adelaide looked over towards Robert. "Ever hear of Murder High?" she asked. That would ring a bell for Richard. Grimm High School had been labeled by the National News Media as Murder High. Over ten years ago a single murder had occurred and been discovered when the dead girls body was dropped during prom from the balloons above and got stuck there. Simone Carter had been brutally murdered. The murder had been pinned on local Cynthia McMillan who got locked up in the local insane asylum for a decade because of it. Turned out she wasn't the guilty party and had been framed. At the 10 year high school reunion last fall a slew of others were murdered in a similar fashion. It had turned out that Chris Malone had been the guilty party and the deaths didn't end until he was shot to death in a fun house during the fall festival by none other than local high school graduate Riley Ridgeway, who was the same Double R who was the hit singing sensation. "We were all there during that. Myself, my husband Kai, my exhusband David, Cynthia, Riley and her sister Chloe, Ashley, and Marc... Kai and I booked it out of town quickly. Marc stayed behind a bit to help clean things up, I think a movie is being filmed right now about it....," Adelaide said before brushing back the tears. "Dramatic isn't my thing, this is pure panic that it's happening again...." she admitted.

Over in the church things were a lot calmer. Claire rolled her eyes a bit and bit the two toodles before climbing back in the SUV and buckling up. "Alright English, let's get you to the dance on time," she said before tearing off down the street. "So mind me asking, what type of work got you to jump the channel and swim across the big pond?" she asked as she swerved in and out of traffic. "Closest thing to your accent that I hear these days is when I watch Downton Abbey or Dr. Who," she added with a chuckle.

At the church the father waved bye to Claire before turning his attention back to Caesar. "Sure thing, come on," he said as he lead the man into the church and towards the offices. "So how is the family? I got a call from Joaquin not long ago letting me know about his cousin," he said in that a-typical fatherly voice. "Your family has my condolences," he added as he pushed open the door to his office and motioned for Caesar to have a seat. "I've known Joaquins father for years, studied under him," Atticus said as he stood there, his tone indicated it wasn't just about prayer and sermons. Once the door was closed he lit a cigarette and took a long puff before strolling over to his desk and having a seat. Tapping the ashes off into a coke cane he leaned back in his seat. "What can the church do to ensure the asshats responsible get to meet God personally?"

Grimm, Indiana: Grace looked over towards Riley and nodded. "Yeah, sure thing," she said as she grabbed a ring of keys off her belt and lead Riley back to the weapons stash. It wasn't a huge assortment. Rather small actually, especially compared to even what Roy had kept in the safe house back in Justice or carried in his bag when he took her to learn how to shoot. Thankfully when Roy had taught Riley how to shoot he had used the most common of guns. 32 pistols, a basic assault rifle, and a shotgun. There wasn't any assault rifles in the stash but there were some 32's, a shot gun, and a boxes of ammunition. It would be more than enough.

"Hrm, here we go, 2 side arms and some clips," Grace finally said after looking around for a minute. Reaching down she picked up two guns and checked them before slipping them each into a holster. A belt could easily be slipped through the holsters to make them easily accessible side arms. Handing them over she checked some extra clips and lined them into holsters as well. This would give each woman 1 gun and 1 clip in the gun, plus three to spare - all of which that would go on their belts for quick access. "Good luck and if you need anything just call the station, I'm on all day," she said before waiting for Riley to walk out of the weapons room with her so she could lock it back up.

Outside the smell of burning forest was still in the air and there was still a haze over the town but it was starting to clear out. That was good at least. There weren't a lot of people milling about. A few out for a walk here and there with their dogs, some driving by going this way and that. Other than the calls coming in about a clown, the town seemed rather sleepy. Grimm, Indiana - Tales of the serial killer had made national news. And now they had to go deal with a clown over at the Grimaldi's. Was the family name the reason the town was called Grimm? In a small town, chances were strong that was exactly why.

---

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---

Cecily hesitated for a moment, thinking over the two Brits that she knew. Her cousin, while very sweet, was naive and had her head in the clouds. Iris' family was well connected, as was her brother, but it was all very superficial and she doubted that Iris herself had any clout. She was just a silly kid chasing a dream. Keystone was a possibility - but the problem with him was trust. She had left Alicia's funeral with Natasha due to Natasha's concerns over Caesar's behavior. Keystone was Caesar's righthand man.

Could she trust him? They had spent a fun evening together, eating take out and watching television, that much was true. But that wasn't enough to trust someone, right? She knew that she trusted Roy. That was a certainty. She trusted Riley as well. That was also given. Who else did she trust? Sadly, the more prominent Marvel screenwriters came to mind. And of course, Stan Lee. Otherwise, everyone in this world could be a threat.

"Roy, super off topic but... Juno doesn't have hands in Marvel Studios, right?" Cecily asked, feeling a bit sick to her stomach at the thought. Were these madmen producing her favorite things in the world? The very idea seemed invasive and she shook her head slightly, before going back on topic. "I don't know if Keystone can be trusted... and my cousin, she's just a sweet kid. I don't think she has that kind of clout."

---

---

"Thank you." Riley said towards Grace as she followed her towards the little armory that they had, seeing the handguns, rifle and shotgun that was in there. She looked over at Pyira for a moment as Grace grabbed two guns for the two of them, she still really hoped that she wouldn't have to use it for anything at all. Once Grace handed her the holster she accepted it and started to put it onto her belt, and walked out the moment she was armed and Pyria was given hers as well. "I'll be sure to call you if I need anything." Riley said, giving Grace a friendly smile.

Once she was outside Riley handed Pyria the keys to the car, looking over at some of the people who were walking outside, she gave them a friendly nod. She couldn't really see if she recognized them at all really, her attention turned towards Pyira as she got into their rental car once more. "So the Grimaldi's place is the only mansion in town, cant be hard to miss i'll direct you to where it is." Riley said, once Pyira started up the car. "So, since your the law enforcement expert here, whats the game plan?" Riley asked, she didn't really want to screw up anything and Riley hoped that they wouldn't have to use the guns, and the killer clown was long gone by the time they got to the scene.

---

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"Oh...Jesus." Robert uttered quietly in shame as he recognized the words Adelaide spoke and the events she referred to. Yeah he had heard about Murder High and the series of murders that happened up there in Grimm. Somewhere in the back of his mind he thought he could even remember the first incident ten years earlier, though it was but a vauge flickering image in comparison to what Adelaide referred to. At first he had even doubted it himself, that it had been a single murderer that returned. Most times it was a copy-cat, not the same person or persons unknown.

Working in the business of insurance, he had gotten word from his colleagues of the increase in life-insurance purchases around that time, and the thought of it all being a scam had crossed his mind. But even a cynical old man like him didn't sink as low as that, and felt sorry for those being both victims and bystanders to Murder High. And now that Adelaide had basically told him that she wasn't overreacting, that she herself and her now dead friend had been there, he felt a bang in his chest of remorse. "Shit Adelaide, I'm sorry. I didn't..."

Robert wasn't good with words. Hadn't been since his university-days, but he felt compelled to apologize to her for what he'd said. Apologize, but also prod further. Something wasn't adding up. "I'm sorry about what I said, I'm just...it's just...I don't know, are you implying...No sorry, do you think Marc's death is connected to those in Grimm? How? And why Marc, did he have any enemies?"

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Word got around, it seemed. It did help that this man knew a Gonzalez personally, but in fairness it wasn't like they were an endangered species. "Familia Gonzalez" was more like a clan, comprised of persons with many last names. Take Caesar's niece - a highly intelligent but potentially unstable young woman with a surname that marked her as Scottish, though she didn't look it in the least. It was when the priest used the name Joaquin that the older man had a glimmer of recognition. It was hammered home when he said that he had trained under Joaquin's father. A fellow priest obviously, though not your standard guider of lost souls, if his tone was an indication. "Benicio... still a big entusiasta de las escopetas. Sorry, 'shotgun enthusiast', Padre."

Caesar respectfully sat down across from Father Pearson in front of his desk. What he had to say was interesting at best, possibly an overstep considering that this was an initial meeting. But he did have something of a timetable, and what he wanted wasn't the biggest of favors. Then again, the Church was an ancient organization that had its own, massive resources, and likely wasn't infiltrated in the same manner that a political or corporate body would be. Again though, he had just met this man. It was best to keep their dealings simple for now. Not that he couldn't impart a piece of his story in the process.

"One of the people responsible is already facing her final judgement. I'm regretful that I could not be a part of it. The other one I hear isn't really dead but his funeral is happening today. I gave my word that I would not handle that myself, if possible. Instead, now I have..." Caesar was getting ahead of himself. The priest had thrown out the right names to give him a measure of credibility, but blind trust was not a smart move these days. "It doesn't matter. The short story, I need to get a message to my brother just outside of Monterrey. I do not want to use personal or company resources. I was hoping the Church could help." He nodded grimly, and went out on a limb with, "Our family isn't safe in Justice. I don't even know who to eliminate to make them safe. There is a lot more, padre, that I won't burden you with now. A lot more people will answer to God - I will arrange the meeting. I need to know my family is out of the way first. His daughter. My grandson. Hell, even Maria."

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"Downton bloody Abbey? Right, 'less you're talkin' on about purely the work of Dame Maggie Fongin' Smith, the resta them tosspots can gnaw my meaty arse, them an' their aristocratic "pinkies out" bronzecockery. Yeah?" Ah, the wonders of translating English to English in the Great American Urban Midwest. Keystone seemed put off by the idea of being compared to a television program detailing the inner lives of the aristocracy, perhaps a little too much, despite an apparent respect for the cultural contributions of its biggest starring actor. The big guy rubbed his temples, growled a bit, and tried again. "Sorry, Miss; long few days. Thwanged a nerve, is all."

There wasn't really an involved answer with which he could respond, no big story to tell about the events which brought him from London to Justice. She had already gotten a piece of it earlier, thinking about it. Perhaps she wanted Keystone to elaborate. Well, anything to help her keep her relaxed while she repeatedly cheated death on the streets of Chicago. "Far as 'type o' work', we work for the same guy, then don't we? I was just hittin' folks and gettin' the knowing of a lot more ways to hit folks over in Henan Province, China and parts roundabout. Old man took a liking to my reputation, him and his girl trained me up proper once they opened a office in my old 'ometown. Got an offer as an Assistant Director. When the big man asks for you personal, you don't say no. Even if it is California."

Keystone took a moment to make sure that his weapons and gear were still where he left them in the vehicle. Eve gave a little chuckle when he noticed that Caesar left his food from earlier, untouched, inside as well. Keystone gave minor consideration to cramming it down his own gullet. Instead, he contented himself with merely stealing an eggroll. Through a mouthful, he mentioned offhandedly, "Got my own reason, on the now." He swallowed and attempted a subject change, "How's about you then? What's your whys and wherefores on bein' 'ere?"

"You're tellin' me. If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn we were back in the Diamond District." Hell, if Mali's senses hadn't been reawakened back in the parking lot, such an extravagant restroom almost certainly would have tipped her off that something wasn't quite right even here in Chicago. But she didn't really have the privilege of thoroughly investigating the place when she just needed to relieve herself. If there was serious reason to double check the place later, she would, but for now she'd just accept it as a weird fact of life and appreciate the level of luxury present.

Mali picked a stall and went about her business. When she was done and washing her hands, she first gave herself a look in the mirror. With all the fancy make up of the shopping trip gone and the frazzle of travel added, she thought she looked pretty horrible. Her eyes had been eclipsed with dark circles creased with stress, her skin had developed a bit of an oily sheen and she was fairly certain that she saw the beginnings on a zit just below her right cheekbone. At least her hair was still pretty. Mostly. But all that was merely a self distraction from the other matters at hand, and whether she could broach them in a suspicious, semi-private location like this bathroom. So she'd play it by ear.

"Hey Zoie. Did you recognize those guys in the parking lot that you passed by on the way in?" Depending on how Zoie answered would dictate Mali's own response. At worst, she could just fill her in on all the details in the truck.

Road To Grimm: Roy chuckled a bit. "Fuck no, Stan wouldn't allow that shit," Roy said confidently. "If Marvel was mixed up in this shit, then wouldn't Stan make sure it took a turn for the good guys?" he said giving his partner a bit of a smile. There was a ding in the car and Roy looked down at the dash. They were running low on gas. "We gotta find a station," he said and took the next exit. They weren't too terribly far from Grimm but the last thing he wanted was to run out 20 miles outside of town. Not with the shit he had seen on the news about Grimm last year.

"Yeah, get that but fuck, all we got at this point. Hey, fuck it, it's worth the google right?" he said pulling into a gas station and killing the engine. "Hey, gonna fill her up and grab a drink, you want anything?" he asked as he took the keys out of the ignition and slipped them into his pocket. He waited to hear if she wanted anything before getting out of the car and running inside. He would pay with cash. He wasn't leaving a credit trail, not if he could help it. Grabbing some things from the cold section and then some snack food he walked up towards the counter. He had to wait in line behind a man that was a few inches taller than him, which was saying something. Granted Roy wasn't any mammoth of a man but he stood a solid 6'1" which was well above the 5'9" height of the average American man.

"Alright, that'll be $11.34," the clerk said. The girl couldn't have been more than twenty years old, mousey blond hair pulled back in a low pony tail. She was smacking gum and looked to not want to be there. A half tucked in Shell Logoed polo and ripped jeans and wearing a bad attempt at contouring. The man handed over some cash and waited for his change. "Here ya go," she added as she handed over the change. The man took it and turned around, brushing passed Roy without a word. Roy juggled the things in his hands as the door rang signalling the guy leaving and heading into the parking lot. Dropping the things on the counter he pulled out his wallet.

"And I need $30 on pump three," Roy added. The girl nodded and started ringing him up as she popped a bubble with her gum, bopping slightly. That was when Roy noticed she had a bud in her ear, seemed she was listening more to her music than what was going on around her. He wasn't going to fault the girl. It couldn't have been the most exciting job to be the gas station attendant in the middle of no where Indiana. Granted right then, it seemed a step up from the shit he was dealing with.

Chicago, Illinois: Adelaide wiped the tears from her face and nodded slightly. "No, it's alright, you didn't know," she said with a sniffle. Taking a breath she looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "It wouldn't surprise me," she started before adding. "Not that Marc was the type of guy to have enemies. He was a good guy. Marc was the kind of guy that got along with everyone. It was just his line of work that makes me think this wasn't an accident. Marc was a Navy Seal, survived Afghanistan. He's been in the FBI for years. So also not the type to go down easy. And with my ex-husband just getting killed on live TV..." Her words trailed off. Lawson's story had hit major airways recently. A live news break about a shoot out happening over at the docks in Justice California between two men. One had been a well known arms dealer, the other had been her ex-husband, David Lawson. "David was working with Marc when he died. So yeah, I doubt this is a coincidence."

Over in the bathroom the toilet flushed and the door swung open as Zoie stepped back out, zipping up her pants and walking over to the sink. "Yeah, that Mexican fella, Caesar. He's MSS's owner. The others I didn't recognize, at least not the tall built man. The girl, she looks familiar, but I just can't place it. I know I done see her somewhere," she said as she washed her hands. Shaking them off she grabbed some paper towels and started drying them off. "What the hell ya think they're doin' here?" she asked, half just wondering out loud, half wondering what Mali was thinking. "Can't be good I figure."

"No worries, I speak Spanish," Atticus said before taking a puff form his cigarette. He had been born and raised in the southwest. Sure, English was the main language but it wasn't like the United States had an official language and growing up in states that lined the southern border you were better off learning Spanish since it was the first language more than half your classmates spoke. He listened to what Caesar had to say and nodded. "I get ya, I can get the word to him." Dropping the spent butt into the can he gave it a shake before opening a drawer in his desk and searching through it. "You just want a message sent to him or you want to talk to him directly?" he asked as he kept looking through his drawer. Finally finding a key he stood up and walked over to the shelves that lined the wall. Picking up an old looking box he brought it back over to his desk and set it down.

"Fuck yeah, love me some Maggie Smith, that old maid is fucking brutal. Life goals, to be able to stare someone down the way she can. It's like ice," Claire laughed as she drove. She listened to Keystone give her a little background on him. She was sure it wasn't the whole story but shit, no one gave the full story at first. That was learned over time. Well unless you were a girl who liked to ramble on. Claire wasn't that girl though, oh sure she rambled a lot but usually not about herself. Usually it was bitching about her brothers.

"Me? Shit, I was prize fighting down in India for a bit after I went to visit me brother out there. Ended up leaving and heading over to Europe with a friend to catch up, met Alicia when I was in London," she said as she took a hard turn. "We hit it off and when I finished that last damn world tour I came to work here in Chicago. Seemed like a nice change. Don't get me wrong. Adele is fucking aces, really down to earth gal and cusses more than my family drunk on St. Patty's Day but different town every damn night and I was spent, think this is a better fit. Well until I get back in the ring," she said as she pulled up to MSS Chicago and drove the car under the building. There was a parking deck beneath it she had to stop at a gate to get through. This places security was a lot tighter than over in Justice but then again, the Chicago location was one of the bigger and longer standing ones, scanning her card she drove in and found a parking space.

Grimm, Indiana: "You do that girl," Grace said and followed Riley out of the gun room before locking it back up. Heading behind her desk she sat down and hung the keys back up on the nail that was located on the wall behind her seat. Picking up her device she went back to playing Candy Crush, the phone wasn't ringing and she really didn't have anything else to do right then. Sure she worked at the police station but it wasn't like she was a cop. She just kept things running there at the station, taking calls, doing paper work, and making sure the small force had what they needed. When they had it that was. This wasn't exactly Chicago or even Gary.

"Heading out to the Tinders place," Tim said as he came out of his office. Looking up from her game she nodded solemnly from her game.

"Good luck."

"Yeah," he said before pushing the door open and heading outside. Seeing the girls he nodded slightly before climbing into his cruiser and starting it up. Pulling out slowly he turned onto the street and headed towards the Tinders home, it wasn't far from the Grimaldi's but that wasn't really saying anything. There were three small sections of town for housing. One was the area where the Grimaldi's house was, it was considered the rich side of town. Old money folk basically and usually all related to someone who had started the town hundreds of years ago. Then there was the middle class area a few miles away. That was where people like the Tinders and the McMillians had always lived. Then there was the poorer side of town, where Tim and people like Kai had grown up. They were all decently close together but then again, so was everything in Grimm. It was a small town after all.

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Priya loaded herself up, checking her equipment before she was satisfied. "Thanks." She followed Riley outside and to their rental car and got in the driver's seat, starting the vehicle before pulling out into the street. She would let Riley lead her to where they needed to go since she didn't know the lay of the land. And she didn't really want to now that it seemed Grimm was where people went to die.

"Game plan is simple. We have a possible hostile, one that has killed before. So we go and scope it out. Be aware of yourself and the surroundings though. This...clown is going to be dangerous. You are handy with a gun, but remember to not shoot first. We don't want this case to be thrown out because a deputized young girl and a police officer from out of state got trigger happy." Truth be told, she was a bit concerned by this. Hopefully, they wouldn't have trouble. "Has this place always been like this? Full of mystery, death, and drama?"

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Father Pearson seemed heavily accommodating. Moreso than he had seen from anyone else for a long while. Caesar was tempted to cast the entire exchange with a heavy spoonful of suspicion, were it not for the fact that this was his idea in the first place. It was the massive coincidence of it all that irked him. Or maybe, just maybe, the universe was breaking in his direction. It would be a fairly recent development, considering what utter hell had befallen himself and his family since coming to California.

The older man shook his head at the offer to speak with his brother personally. "Gracias, but no. No direct contact to start. If you could ask one of the local churches in Monterrey to personally deliver something, that would be best. He will be in touch with me after, and he will handle the rest. Probably the same way I am now, and probably through his daughter." The problem that he saw as of yet, this being the embryo stage of a full plan, was that he didn't quite have a place for his family to land. Perhaps Keystone could assist with that, Caesar understood that he did have a real estate holding in London, proper, that wasn't well known about.

Unfortunately, he couldn't volunteer something that wasn't his, and they needed a staging point in the interim. "When they are off-site and have alternate communication, they will make contact. Standard protocol if someone is listening. Padre, I was hoping to hire the Church to help with that - alternate communication. No one in history is as organized or reaching as La Iglesia Católica. Except maybe the Romans." He shrugged. There was argument that the Church was what remained of the Roman Empire, following its deconstruction. They survived where empires fell, kept what knowledge they could alive and they prospered, though many of their early techniques were questionable. Their history was also steeped in blood. So was Casear's. So was his brother's. They fit together well. Come to think of it, if Caesar could enlist the aid of the Church, it might even the odds against an infiltrating and history-writing group like Juno. Power of Christ compels you, indeed.

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Keystone had to nearly forcibly restrain himself from going on about the legendary performer known to us mere mortals as Adele Adkins. He knew that Claire had worked for the lady, but to be part of her personal security over a massive, world-spanning tour? The socially blunt Londoner would have given a kidney to be a part of that. It was silly, really. He was a grown man with a tendency to fangeek over a singer from his hometown. Or have the desire to. Actually doing so might be damaging to his reputation, and in his industry, rep kept you employed and alive. So instead of giving a girlish squeal and asking a thousand questions, like he really wanted to, Keystone merely mentioned in a casual manner, "Ah really? Would've liked to meet the lady. I'm a fan, y'see." Secretly, Keystone was happy that they were not in his Ramcharger, where his music had already been copied and was probably sitting on autoplay, waiting to strike unawares.

As for her being a ring fighter, well, it might be said that she and Keystone had a few things in common. The big man was a bareknuckle boxing champ before he went away to learn how they did it in China. And after, he was damn near untouchable. It seemed that this one did something similar, but further south into India. And there was something else, too. "Alicia trained you up in London, did she? Bloody 'ell, I'm right surprised we ain't crossed steps till now, right?" It was at that moment that he wished that Claire was a bit closer in weight class to himself. He would have liked to spar with her, see what the teachings of Bodhidharma had become over the spans of time in the ancient monk's country of origin.

But for now, as they entered the grounds and confines of MSS Chicago, Keystone moved his corporate identification to the outside of his coat. He was on company property now, in a place where he was not personally known. Being an Associate Director wouldn't help him all that much, except to ensure that he wouldn't be ordered about while on premises. But private property did give him one advantage: he could replace his louder means of self defense. As Claire located an appropriate parking space, Keystone seemed to remember something unrelated to their present conversation. "If you don't mind, Miss McManus... Who was that friend of your brother's what passed on? Thought something was sounding familiar about the names, is all. And I do hates me a coincidence."

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Riley looked out the window seeing as Tim walked out of the building and gave him a slight nod and wave once Pyira was in Riley strapped herself in. She started to listen to the girl, since she had more experience then she did all she knew to do was shoot a gun and the layout of the town itself. "Don't shoot and ask questions later got ya boss." Riley said, as she started to point out where to go while Pyira drove, Riley ran a hand through her hair and sighed slightly, then Pyira asked her about Grimm. She shrugged slightly. Aside from her high school year during prom night and what had happened a few months ago during the reunion.

"Aside from the murder at my prom night, as well as Murder High the killer being the same exact classmate who went complete ape shit and started killing my classmates not really." Riley answered and shrugged ever so slightly towards her as she looked out the window once more feeling weird to be back in town again. "So, ever done a serial killer case or anything before?" Riley asked looking over at her.

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Cecily felt a wave of relief wash over her. To an outsider, it probably was silly how much better she felt as Roy reassured her that Juno wouldn't have any sort of hand in Marvel. But these were the comics she had grown up with - the colorful costumed heroes on the page taught her more about justice, truth, and responsibility than her parents ever had. It was the thing she and her little brother, Ethan, had bonded over. Without comic books, Cecily didn't know what type of person she would have ended up as. Maybe she would have become part of Juno. "...Alright. I can contact Keystone," Cecily said. She figured he had a better shot than Iris at being helpful with this.

And Caesar hadn't caused Natasha's death, she had to remind herself of that. He was paranoid and grieving after the loss of his daughter. He wasn't the sort of person that you invited to a board game night, but... he had protected her and he easily could have had her killed by this point. If he trusted Keystone... then that would have to be good enough. "Can you grab me some orange juice?" Cecily asked him. She didn't know why, but she was randomly having a craving for the pulp-tastic drink.

Pulling out her phone, she sent off a text to Keystone: Can we talk? However, her eyes then went up as she saw the man that had gone in line before Roy and her stomach felt like it was doubling over on itself. She knew that not everyone was involved with this conspiracy, but she was getting so incredibly paranoid that she clenched her knuckles slightly, holding her breath as if that would make any danger - real or imagined - pass.