Herald — Roleplayer Guild

Interaction: @Herald Leon. @Yankee Adel Dawson.

Another hour, another fire to put out. Part of the problem with trying to maintain the spotlight of being one of, if not the cleanest police branch office that could still get results in their section of the city was constant demands for comments, media interviews, and visitors. It might all be fine if it weren't for the fact that despite the transparency he tried to maintain, the conspiracy nuts still went crazy for any slight hint of cover up or shady proceedings. The latest tabloids in Burberry swore up and down he was ruling over his precinct like some kind of semi-religious cult. Why else would a Captain spend so much time on the streets?

Of course, there were also the tabloids that claimed he was some kind of lycanthrope turning every person in Burberry into a part of his Pride and banging half of them. Those always brought a smile to his face, if only they ever knew how badly his dating life had suffered since taking command of the district. He shook his head and reached for his phone as it buzzed with a message from the commissioner.

The message was short and to the point. Apparently someone claimed to have a lead on MacAoidh’s case, but that was literally all except for a phone number attached and a tip that this would probably cost them some major cash. After the raid on the bar going so poorly, he had to admit he was feeling a bit desperate for a solid lead. Anything to justify turning his attention on Vincent.

He didn’t waste much time before dialing the number, waiting for the other side to pick up and introducing himself. 

“This is Captain MacAoidh of Burberry branch. I was given your number to call because you have some kind of lead for me to look into,” he said.

The voice on the other end of the call was that of a man, smooth and attentive. "I'm glad you called, Captain MacAoidh. The Commissioner has said a lot of good things about you. For transparency's sake, this is... well, you probably would know me as the Silver Canary."

There was a soft shuffling noise as Adel walked, taking the call back to his private office. "I'm not going to waste your time, detective, so let me jump right in. I have good intel on the Thorned Rose's drug operation, and I'm looking into more. I'm sure it would go a long way towards your apprehending Vincenzo Accardo."

He let the statement sit for a moment. "It costs a lot of time, money, and safety looking into Vincent - as I'm sure you know. But if you're interested, I'll give you everything I have. For fourty thousand (4 Wealth)."

Leon was silent on the phone for a moment, considering the words and the tone of the man on the other end. He tapped out a quick series of commands on his keyboard, bringing up the files Nocturnia PD had on a ‘Silver Canary’. There was startlingly little, and his brow furrowed as it almost looked like some files had been created and then deleted several times from different points of access. All he could dig up on the man… if they were even a man… was they were some kind of information broker. An expensive one.

”Nocturnia PD would of course be interested in anonymous tips pertaining to cases that may or may not be ongoing,” Leon said evenly, ”but I’m not exactly inclined to clean out my own retirement account over a maybe. I’m sure you know we already have a few promising leads on Vincent, what makes you so certain your information will be of use to us?”

It was an exaggeration of the truth, they really only had one solid lead on Vincent’s operations now. And to follow up on it Leon would have to authorize a raid outside of his current jurisdiction. He and the Commissioner had already gambled once and lost, he was not sure he could afford to do so again without being branded a fool on some kind of witch hunt of legitimate businessmen.

This guy's funny, Adel thought to himself. 'May or may not be ongoing'... what kind of informant does he take me for? Still, Adel understood the hesitancy, especially since this was their first time speaking.

"Because if you knew what I know, you would have acted on it already, your case would be closed and we wouldn't even be having this conversation," he said simply. "Police picked up Accardo already but had to let him go, right? So you guys don't have anything solid enough for an arrest. Have to say, you're probably one of the only cops left in Nocturnia that still plays by the rules."

They could have easily made some shit up or planted evidence, and why they hadn't was a source of some confusion. A sense of honor that the city hadn't squeezed out of them yet, maybe.

"I want to help you Captain MacAoidh, I just don't want to do it for free."

”Any Nocturnia Police Officer worth their badge would ‘play by the rules’. We exist to serve justice, not dole it out at our whims,”” Leon said, but even he knew the lie in that sentence. True, he was one of the few left that still -tried- to play by the rules, but it was likely over 80% of the ranked officers in Nocturnia PD were dirty in one way or another. Hell, the Commissioner herself knew about their ‘warehouse’ and unofficially condoned it’s use. ”That’s a big promise to fulfill, information to close a case. You’d need something definitive that ties Vincent to an illegal activity punishable by imprisonment and seizure of assets. Tying him to the Thorned Roses as some kind of drug distributor would certainly do the trick.”

 ”I’ll stop dancing around the point for both of our sakes though. You’ve got info, and what surprisingly little I have on the Silver Canary tells me information is your thing so I’m inclined to think at least you believe it’s legitimate. Fourty grand is a bit steep for a maybe on my end though. How about ten up front. With the remaining thirty paid out once Vincenzo is inside a cell on charges that will stick?”

Leon was a man of his word, the full payment would be made once the conditions were satisfied, but he had also learned that scammers and charlatans thrived in Nocturnia. Everyone had to protect themselves first.

For what it was worth, Adel believed the man would make good on that payment too. Even so, "I'd prefer half and half," he said honestly. That way he could recoup what he'd spent on the info in the first place before getting paid for more down the line.

Leon let the silence hang a moment, but it was a fair deal. ”Done. Send me the account information and I’ll transfer the first portion once I receive it,” he said.

"Pleasure doing business with you, detective. Once payment's confirmed, I'll let you in on what I know."

There was an exchange of numbers both verbal and digital. It didn't take very long at all for the moment to come through. Good ol' NPD. Even more than the money, this deal would work in Adel's favor. If Vincent knew a lion was still sniffing around his territory, hopefully his watchful eye would pass over a simple canary.

"Good. Alright, here's where I'll start..."

As he'd said, Adel let the detective know everything he was currently aware of. There were overlaps in information, such as the locations of where the Thorned Roses supposedly made and stored their supply, but that wasn't all they had to work with now. The passphrases to pose as buyers for that week and the next two, when the codes changed, the names of a few Rose pushers, and the shipment information that had been discovered in Pauper Town were all included.

As he spoke, Adel considered including what he'd learned about the drugs themselves. It would be better if the ‘good cops’ actually knew what they were dealing with, wouldn’t it? He pushed his tongue against his teeth, thinking, and decided. "...by the way, what they're making is... more dangerous than usual. How much do you know about it already? Sugarcrush?"

 ”Disturbingly little. It’s a new drug. Injectable. I know some of my fellow departments have picked up some samples from their… personal hobbies, but they don’t appreciate my kind of investigative work too close to their homes. Are you saying it’s dangerous? More than just a couple of junkies OD’ing in my Emergency Rooms?,” Leon asked, his interest piqued.

The confirmation that the police were in the dark on this justified Adel's decision. He gripped the phone tighter, and his voice grew more serious.

"It gives people gyfts," he told Leon. No mincing words. "Did you see last night's blizzard on the news? That was sugarcrush."

He didn't need to paint more of a picture than what Channel 5 already had. Nocturnia was already filled with the gyfted, but every junkie suddenly being able to kill a dozen people with a thought was a disaster in the making.

"It's made with something called 'nyla.' I don't have more information on that yet. If you can find their source of it, I'm sure you could connect Accardo to it all."

”Damn… alright, if what you’re saying is true then we’ll need to bring our boots down pretty hard on this new drug…,” Leon mused. He hadn’t seen the broadcast, but the file was all over the police network right now since it was a Gyft-related crime that resulted in death.

”Not exactly your promised solid piece of evidence… but I have faith your reputation as an information broker will ensure it’s good faith,” Leon muttered into the phone. He was hoping for more, but he supposed it was too high a hope that there would be a computer server somewhere personally autographed by Vincenzo labeled ‘dirty drug facts, do not open’. Still, the bonus info on sugarcrush put him at ease that his money was not going to waste. 

”For what it’s worth, if this turns out to close my case it will have been a rare pleasure doing business with you. Of course if you turn up anything useful in our cases by all means feel free to call,”, Leon said, compiling the information he had received into his files. He would have to move on this within the next week or two, a bit faster than he would have liked, but he couldn’t afford for this Canary to let Vincenzo in on the fact he was coming. The less preparation time, the better.
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