A Thin Blue Line

[D.KnightSpider]

"There are a few leads on the backburner." Lara admitted. "But if you have no objections, I wouldn't mind participating in the rest of the meeting. It would probably a start at making up for past miscommunications.

"I will need to check in with the rest of the team, however." She finished. "I hope it won't offend if I coordinate with them via text during the meeting proper."

[Thrair]

"Yeah, we need to find out who those people are. Meantime, I'm taking you suggestion and watching that other DVD. Still have to play catchup for this case."

[Kislath]

"Hey. Me again. Sorry to keep bothering you, but there's this old case here that's important to this one, but it's been redacted so I can't make any sense out of it. It's got your name on it, literally, being a case you handled, so I figured I'd ask you about it while I'm here.
Here's the case number..."

[Reltzik]

Ian Sloduski looks up at Thad with a grin. "No problem, let me pull it up." He repeats the case number back as he types, them hmms to himself a bit as he reads off his computer screen. Thad gets the sense that Ian's happy to have Thad there... possibly out of a sense of loneliness. "Okay," he finally says. "I don't remember this one, but there were a hell of a lot like it around the time, and it fits with the pattern. La Loba engineered a wave of false complaints against the Surge right around when it kicked off. Harassment tactics. I was hugely backlogged, and then the other IA adjunct, who got assigned because of the Surge, he got recalled for some reason and I had to redo all his work too. My notes say I got to this one about two weeks after it was filed, and by then the complainant had already retracted his accusations and said he'd been pressured into making them. That was pretty common, she was pressuring a lot of residents into complaining, and a lot of those got cold feet. Anyhow, with the complainant recanting, it was about as open and shut as it gets. Not counting paperwork, I doubt I spent more than five minutes on it."

*****

Nguyen nods and goes off to do that while Jules watches the video of Rodrick's apartment. I won't repost it, but I will link the three original posts.

By the time Jules is finished watching them, Nguyen has unobtrusively deposited a printout and a few notes at his elbow. The notes identify the West Street Theater Company as a theater troupe in the Montgomery neighborhood. They were at Monty's Pub to celebrate the closing of their run of Jesus Christ Superstar. The person Nguyen talked to identified Rodrick's sparring partner as "Judas", then said no, that was the role he was playing, then went on to say that everyone called him "Valjean", before having to go into employment records and actually looking up his name and SSN.

And that lead to the rap sheet that Nguyen printed out. Felipe Rodriguez. Convicted six years ago for second degree rape, pardoned by the Governor in that string of pardons about a year and a half ago, still on the sex-offender's list... and therefore required to provide the police with his address in Montgomery.

*****

"No objections at all," Adamson says. "I'm sure your input will be valuable. And text as you need to, so long as you don't disrupt the meeting."

*****

EDIT: And I went ahead and posted when I had one reply rather than three down. That's what happens when you split the party!

[Kislath]

"Ok, I see. Still, it would be very helpful if you let me see the parts that got censored. The names and such. It's part of the motive behind Rodrick's murder."

[D.KnightSpider]

"Very well then." Lara replied. Then, finding that the conversation had run its course, added: "After you?"

Spoiler: Then... *dun dun dun*

Show

So, assuming that Lara and Adamson make it back to the meeting unhindered *shifty look at the GM*, she'll make the following actions on her phone.

(1) Send Lieu Lou a massive report on what's transpired thus far: Adamson blamed Tanner for issuing an injunction, etc. necessitating Lara's move to go and defuse the situation. Attached will be the 23rd's reactions to the video.

(2) Finally answer Jules' question about any police reports. The answer will be as follows. No police report filed. Became aware of altercation via tip and Rodrick's ex-partner, Harding. Notes on desk, second stack from right, three pages deep. Please replace when finished. Any success with findings?

(3) Send a text message to Thaddeus: In video, Almeida refers to you being more interested than IA. Must have tried to recruit or take information to IA at some point in time. Which IA is unknown.

[Reltzik]

Ian seems to get uneasy at Thad's request. Thad's asking him to cross a line that he probably shouldn't, and he hesitates. After about ten seconds, Ian says, "... could you explain to me how it's important?"

*****

Lara does get to the meeting and does send off those texts.

The meeting itself is one part paranoia, two parts brainstorming. Once Lara emerges from her texting, she realizes that they're talking about La Loba's holdings. In particular...

".... how this folds in with those training camps across the River." The speaker (one of the four lieutenants) goes over to a different map, more zoomed-out, to point at several stickers on the other side of the River. Michaelburg is on one side of the River, which marks the border to the neighboring state. I'm trying to keep the overall location of Michaelsburg generic, so I won't name the river, or the states in question. There's a big fancy Bridge that the Interstate goes across, a lot of commuter ferry traffic, and considerable rivertine shipping.

"We don't know that they're training camps," one of the other lieutenants says. "That's still just speculation."

"Well they've got SOMETHING to do with this, whatever they are. She takes all those wilderness RV parks and camping sites she owns, and just when everything else goes operational, she cancels all reservations for the next two weeks... probably had to hand out a whole lot of refunds... and then shifts a lot of labor, including a couple of our insiders, into getting them ready to house and feed a HUGE number of people. ALL the sites, it's not just that one of them got bought out for some sort of convention. And she got that ball rolling at about the same time that she shifted a whole bunch of other things around... what, about a week and a half ago?"

"Maybe she's just going to take the whole Wolfpack and go lay low."

"No way. Leave aside how that makes no sense whatsoever. Look at the occupancy numbers. She could fit the entire Wolfpack into that space ten times over with room to spare. Obviously they're planning to use that space for something more than just living in it. Like, say, combat simulation."

[Kislath]

"Well, I'm not exactly sure yet, but would you believe that La Loba herself pretty much told me so? She doesn't think I'm smart enough to figure it out, but I'm pretty sure she's right on the money about it being intimately related. Once I can tie it in to the stuff I DO already know, maybe some of this stuff will finally make some sense."
*boopboop*
"Oh, pardon me; I have a text. Lemme just check that real quick."

Hmmm.... very interesting.

"Say, Ian... have you ever met La Loba, by chance?"

[Thrair]

Jules' text reply to Brand:

"Appreciated. Assailant identified as Felipe Rodriguez. Long criminal record. Ties to West Theatre Company. Will investigate further and report."

[D.KnightSpider]

So, She-Wolf had other holdings. Holdings that she was prepping for a large influx of people. Lara turned this thought over in her mind. Who was she expecting to house there; why would such housing be necessary?

A stray though struck her. While keeping half an ear on the conversation, Lara tapped a few letters into the search query of her phone. It took a few tries for her to find the proper spelling, but eventually she found the entry for which she was looking.

Sanguinario... interesting definition, that was.

There was a train of thought that she wanted to pursue, but doing so would derail the present conversation. Lara decided to play the waiting game again and sit tight until called on to comment.

((OoC: Hey, look. A few extra minutes that I didn't know that I had.))

[Reltzik]

"One time," Ian says. "I was stopped at a red light, and she just walked off the sidewalk, knocked on my window, and handed me a complaint form. She said she was pretty sure that our complaint submission system was broken... you know, pointedly bending over backwards not saying that we were ignoring complaints as a way to imply that we were ignoring them. It turned out to be just as bogus as the rest of them. I kinda took offense. She's got an attitude problem."

About that point, Thad gets a text from Captain Adamson.

L LOBA RECRUITMENT POLICY:
1) TEST RECRUIT FOR PASSION FOR CAUSE.
2) TEST RECRUIT FOR SELF-CONTROL.
3) FORCE RECRUIT TO CHOOSE SIDES, ALIENATE WP ENEMIES. MAY BE SECRET CHOICE THAT LOBA CAN REVEAL LATER IF SHE WANTS.

*****

Thrair, I can't advance the plot for you until you do something other than communicating with another PC.

*****

After a little bit of pointless speculation over the campsites, Adamson finishes his own texting and reins the meeting in. "I don't care what she does off in the backwoods. It's interesting, maybe important, but not urgent. Let's review her assets in the city."

One of the lieutenants starts listing assets on the whiteboard. These include: several warehouses converted to homeless shelters. High public approval in Brookvale... if she and the police fight, most locals will be rooting for her. A "job placement" charity that has found employment for people loyal to her into the police and other municipal services. Her "Project Educate" initiative, which has been bringing in well-qualified teachers for Brookvale schools... and coincidentally saturated those schools with staff more sympathetic to her than to the police. Friendly, neutral, or somewhat cautious relationships with all the local gangs... no one's openly fighting her at the moment. Five homeless shelters in Brookvale, which she's put labor into fortifying. An electronics recycling business. The radio station with accompanying website and podcast, that a hell of a lot of Brookvale residents listen to. Personal contacts with the Governor and the Governor's son. Some construction companies. A busing service. A ferry company and one of the docks on the Waterfront (in lower Brookvale). A foundation with a city contract to provide public wifi throughout Brookvale... which apparently is the key to that never-to-be-sufficiently-damned cel phone network. And, oh yes, that network. Probably good eyes on every undercover cop in her organization, damn good discipline in that organization, and control over extensive charity funds that has elevated her to almost saint-like status with the general population.

One of the lieutenants looks at Brand. "We're pretty sure she has a network of contacts reaching back to her college days," he says. "But Metro's been stingy with information from back then. Not our jurisdiction and all that. The University is your neck of the woods... can you tell us anything on the subject?"

[Kislath]

"Dangit, another text. I'm popular today."

I check it

"HA! Well, two down, one to go.

Hunh? Oh, right, Ian. Sorry. I've met her, too. It seems she's decided to make me her little pet project for some reason. Long story. It would also seem that she is either toying with me by giving me a clue she thinks I can't understand, or she's just trying to stir up some trouble and get me in hot water with IA.
The thing is... I don't know which one.

So lemme guess... the gist of this file is that some fine citizen was perturbed by the cops during the surge, and then later backed off after filing the complaint, saying that it was La Loba who put him up to filing that complaint. Am I right so far?
Why then, do you suppose she's pointing me right at a file that makes her look bad?

I'm guessing it's because she knows full well every detail about this file, and wants to see how much of it I can regurgitate back to her.

I'll let you in on a couple of little secrets... She's trying to turn me, to recruit me into her little gang. Well, the secret is that she doesn't know that I know that. The second secret is that I'm pretending to go along with it so I can get inside a bit.
That's why I need to know the rest of the story on this one. She wants to see if I'm any good at doing stuff like this, so as to see if I'd be useful to her.
See this text I just got?"

Show him the last text message

"The good guys know what I'm up to, and I'm getting some helpful hints, see?
It's totally cool if you give me the particulars of this complaint.

Now I'll tell you the biggest secret of them all--- I know who killed Herman Rodrick and why, but I can't do much about it until I can connect La Loba to the killer. That's why I need your help. She's taunting me because she doesn't know that I already know as much as I do, and if the missing piece of the puzzle, the clue that she thought would be worthless, just so happens to be in that file and jive with what I already have, then I'll be able to nail the killer and maybe his boss. So, whaddya say? Help me out?"

[D.KnightSpider]

So, in a nutshell, She-Wolf was basically running the show around Brookville. Curious. Most people would kill to be in She-Wolf's position. It would be a splendid platform for launching a political career.

The other major question was: How was she financing all of this? As best she could remember, She-Wolf only claimed some mild gambling wins on her tax forms. This was a lot of business for a homeless drifter to be financing and running.

Lara removed a thinking finger from her pursed lips and gave an honest answer to the question.

"Unfortunately, not at this time. I've only been involved in this case for about a day; most of that time was spent learning who Herman Rodrick was and how he thought. But, rest assured, that learning about Almeida's past has just moved up my priority list. I'll see what I can uproot for you.

"Speaking of how people think, what are Almeida's specific grievances against the system? I've heard some vague complaint about the Surge being an occupation, but nothing beyond that."

[Reltzik]

"I have no idea how her mind works," Ian says. "But that's about the gist of it. Looks like the only things that have been redacted are the identities of the accused and the accuser, and things that can lead to that, like the place of business." He frowns, wavering. Then.... "All right. I really shouldn't, but the bottom line is making the system work. Just don't tell anyone." And then he makes a few mouseclicks, prints something off of his desk printer, and hands it over to Thad.

It really is just the same information he already had, with identity information for the accuser and the accused filled in.

*****

"She grew up in Brookvale," one of the Lieutenants says with a shrug. As if that explains everything.

"Cop-hating's the national pastime here," one of the bomb squad guys adds.

"It's worse than that," a different lieutenant says. "Law enforcement often does collateral damage. When we send a drug dealer to jail, for example, we make life worse for his son. In La Loba's case... let's see if I can remember them all... her mom died in jail, her dad got deported by INS, one of her brothers died in a high-speed chase, her high-school boyfriend got killed in a drug raid gone wrong... our psych profile of her says that all built up to a pathological hatred of law enforcement and authority in general and us in particular."

Adamson clears his throat. "We're rehashing old ground. Now we've got this list of her assets-"

"-wait, isn't she on the board of that garbage company?"

Garbage collection gets added to the list.

"Now that we've got this list," Adamson continues, "Let's evaluate it for bombing potential. Detective Brand, you're the one who brought us our best information, so chime in when you see something relevant. Everyone else, time to brainstorm. What does this give her that makes it easy to plant a really big bomb?"

The bomb squad guys jump in on this. "Access," one of them says. "Sewer access through her people in the municipal services... worse, storm drain access... worse than that, access to the gas mains too. Also, the old steam tunnel system. Pretty much anywhere she wants to go in Upper Brookvale, except the precinct houses or the Heights, she's got someone who will let her in. Whatever these bombs of hers are, she can plant them anywhere. ... including, yes, UNDER the precinct houses."

"The docks give her a way of importing explosives," the other bomb guy says. "And if she's composting fertilizer, she just might be making her own explosives. She could be making timer circuits from recycled electronics... or just set them off by remote through her own wifi network. We wouldn't be able to trace them back to her through the parts or electronic trail, either. She OWNS those companies and those records, she could doctor them however she wanted..."

Lots of paranoia at work here... except maybe it's not paranoia if someone's out to get you. It looks like this meeting's going to go on for a while. Lara's learning a lot of interesting stuff, but she might want to bow out at some point. Not saying she should, just saying that the option is open.

[Kislath]

"Okay, great! Thanks. Here's hoping this turns out to be useful. Have a good one."

Okay, I'll read the printout, and then decide whether to go talk to the people involved or just head over to the cop shop for the meeting.

[D.KnightSpider]

Two things were immediately apparent to Lara. The first was that she needed to get herself a translator. This was the third time inside of a day that the spirit of her question had been ignored in favor of a literal interpretation. Oh, well, came with the territory.

The second was that the 23rd really had no interest in understanding who She-Wolf really was.

Although she was careful to keep one ear on the conversation, Lara let her thoughts turn inward. That nagging feeling that she was missing something had returned. She needed to parse through some data and try to pin down just what it was.

She-Wolf had a rough childhood. Most of her family was directly or indirectly done in via police interaction and she'd spent a month in a psych ward. She-Wolf had then overcome that experience and attended university-- where she'd made her hatred of authority known all over again-- and taken out several degrees.

She-Wolf then returns to Brookvale and immediately starts hobnobbing with some pretty fancy connections. How? Lara frowned. There was something missing there. You didn't go from a nobody to hobnobbing with the governor overnight. There had to be a pre-existing connection. Where?

At the same time, She-Wolf starts taking over the area. She sets up charities and shell corporations. This makes her pretty invaluable to the overall area. Anyone needs anything and they go through her. She'd even replaced the courts. That was some clout. Again. How did she pull off such a stunt? Then she takes over the gangs and drug trade.

Speaking of which, there was that whole stunt with drug possession-with-intent-to-sell. The thought turned itself over in her mind. It seemed like such a stupid thing to do. Had the drugs been planted? Interesting thought but Lara contemplated it for a half second before continuing her thoughts. It was irrelevant, save for the fact that the experience, if planned, had been a master-stroke that had solidified She-Wolf's hold over the gangs.

And it was some grip. Lara thought back to her entry to the station. She-Wolf was keeping the protestors on a leash; harassing people within the confines of the law. That couldn't have been easy to arrange.

That was as far as her understanding of She-Wolf's background went. It was quite an about-face on the Wolf's part to go from suicide-by-cop to such a calm, methodical character. But, Lara admitted, it wasn't enough. She needed to know more about She-Wolf's life and how She-Wolf thought. That was going to take some serious study.

Well, congratulations, Almeida. Lara thought to herself. You now have an unofficial biographer.

[Thrair]

Jules mulled his options a bit. Could try to get more information from the Theatre, or he could try see what he could dig up on this apparent scumbag.
"Nguyen, I'm thinking we need to talk to this lowlife. Doesn't seem like the killer type, to me, but he still might have some very useful information. And there's enough of a link to Roderick to make him a suspect, and that can be used as leverage. Might very well tell us things we wouldn't even know to ask about, just to cover his own ass."

Sitting up, he reached for his pocket out of habit before remembering he was out.
"Yeah. I'm going to go to the address listed in the database. I'd appreciate it if you could start the paperwork going on getting a warrant on this guy. I'd like to be able to show this guy some bite, not just bark. If he's not cooperative, we can bring him into the station."

Jule stood up and walked over to one of the probies, and paused briefly after inquiring as to their name.
"Don't think I've gotten your name? But I need you to pull up as much information on Felipe as you can find. Message it to me while I'm on-route. It'll help give me an edge in any conversations with him, as well as warn me if there's anything I need to be careful about with him. Oh, and Detective Brand has some notes relating to the altercation on her desk. Said it was the second stack from right, three pages deep. Make sure to put em back when you're done with em, eh? And thanks."

After waiting for any further input, Jules walked out of the office and headed to his car. He'd stop by the gas station on the way. He'd need to replace his pack, or the nicotine cravings would make him irritable and sloppy, more so given how much this Felipe already pissed him off. Guys like him got off too damned easy for what they did.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I was under the impression the party might be regrouping, so I was holding off a bit. Looks like they're chasing after their leads hard, though. So I'll start pushing on mine.

Also, you might need to correct me on procedure. I'm guessing this guy's got enough of a link to Roderick to be a suspect for murder, but I've got not the slightest clue about how to go about getting a warrant for his arrest. Or how long it'd take.

[Reltzik]

Spoiler

Show

You can arrest and hold someone for up to 24 hours on suspicion of a major crime (such as murder) without even a warrant. (Normally, at least. Almeida seems to have carved out an exception to that.) Bringing them in for questioning is even easier. You can also, fairly arbitrary, decide who is a suspect or person of interest in your case. After that, you need either immediate probable cause (eg, a crime or confession that you witness in person) or a warrant based in probable cause (issued by a judge) to make the arrest, and they have to be charged and arraigned at that time. If you don't have enough to hold them, the suspect walks free and you get slapped with a wrongful arrest suit. And if the suspect is rich and/or powerful, you'll probably get sued five ways from Sunday just for giggles.

Jules receives the texts while at the corner store. Felipe Rodriguez, age 25. Born in raised in Clark Station, upstate. Convicted at age 18 for the rape of a minor, name withheld. Sentenced to the minimum of 8 years. Reasonably clean prison record, kept out of trouble, had a few spats but nothing serious. Pardoned a year and a half ago by the Governor. He's not even on parole or probation right now. Married to Rebecca Rodriguez, nee Collins, the very day of his release. Tax returns show joint filing of about 70k, with most coming from the wife.

Jules gets to the address fairly easily. It's a nice suburban home in a nice suburban neighborhood. Felipe is visible on the porch, rocking a baby on his shoulder while he reads a big packet of something.

*****

As I said earlier, the IA printout is basically the redacted version, only with the names filled in. You can now contact the accused cop or the accuser, or do some background on them, but that's about all it gives you. Everything else you had already. EDIT: The accused was an Officer Genalt, the accuser was Enrique Alma, and the place of business was somewhere called Garden of Gifts.

*****

There aren't any more real bombshells in the meeting at the 23rd. They hash out a security sweep for the precinct house based on La Loba's most likely capabilities, get that quietly rolling, contact the 26th with a similar warning, and then start listing other high-value targets. Near the top of the list is the Expressway, the gas mains, the dockyards, three fire stations, and the Heights. Apparently there's a severe slope underneath the Brookvale Heights (which is why there aren't any roads connecting it to the rest of Brookvale), and one of the bomb guys thought that a bit of demolitions work might bring half the cop homes down in a major landslide. Though, admittedly, that's not the same as half the city burning. The general consensus is that La Loba was either exaggerating, or speaking metaphorically. They also come up with a list of emergency services to have on alert.

At the end of it, Adamson sends them all on their way. Then to Brand, he says, "If you were sticking around to have a word with me, now's the time. If not, I've got the rest of that video to watch."

[Kislath]

Spoiler

Show

ARRRGHH!!!
All this info sitting in out laps and we don't even know it. Nguyen figured out the printout, but we don't know it.
Felipe is a major player who Herman would have every reason to fight or even kill after raping his .. sister, cousin, whatever she was, and Jules has no clue about that.
Only Anderson is going to see the video about Baker.
And I just got.. what is likely a whole lot of nothing.

We have GOT to get into a huddle.

I guess this'll keep until tomorrow. I'm heading to the 23rd. Wait, what time is it?
ok, fine, I'll go to this Garden of Gifts.

[Reltzik]

Thad was already at the 23rd. He heads to the Garden of Gifts... watched by camera phones the whole way.

It's a hole-in-the-wall store with what looks like a single residential flat above it, but it's been painted with a bright, whimsical mural of children at play and a sign of the door, "El Jardin de Regalos". Its focus seems to be cheap toys, gifts, and nick-nacks, but it also has candy (some weird brands with Spanish names that Thad's never heard of) and party supplies. There's a few young kids window-drooling over the candy.

And yes, someone across the street is pointing a camera phone Thad's way. Not close enough to overhear or monitor Thad's every move, but close enough to track when Thad leaves.

The store's empty of customers and short on inventory, apparently facing financial hardship. The man behind the counter is putting a cheap smartphone back in his pocket when Thad walks in. He takes in Thad for a moment, and then turns to the only other person in the store, a young teenage boy in a matching green apron (apparently what passes for a uniform). The two look like they could be father and son. The man says a few quiet words to the boy in Spanish or Spanglish, and the boy looks at Thad, nods jerkily to his father(?) in a fast, jerky manner that seems fear-based, and scampers off into the back.

As he does that, the father(?) comes out towards Thad. "Can I help you?" he asks, in a thick accent and a shaky tone of voice.

EDIT: Thad's a bit ahead of everyone else's schedule. Let's say it's about 2PM for him. (I'm not going to sweat making sure phone calls and texts synch up exactly with the time, though.)

[Kislath]

*smiles and waves at cameraphone thug before heading inside*

"Hi. I'm Detective Thad Tanner. I've been looking into some important stuff lately regarding certain police abusing their power and making life miserable for people. Are you Enrique Alma? La Loba told me that you can tell me things I need to know.
You filed a complaint against an Officer..Genalt.. and then retracted it, saying that the charge was false and that La Loba put you up to making the complaint. That sounds, well, a bit weird really, and I'd like to know what that was all about. Is that the way it really happened, or did the police put pressure on you to say that?"

[Thrair]

The forwarded files gave Jules pause. He might have jumped to conclusions about this guy. That information raised the possibility of a close-in-age teenage romance that resulted in an angry father pressing charges. Without knowing the exact details, he probably shouldn't go into this conversation assuming the guy to be scum.

Driving up to the house, Jules stepped out of his car and began walking towards the house, calling out to Felipe.
"Sir? Are you Felipe Rodriguez? I'm from the 8th precinct. If you have time, I would like to speak with you."

Seeing the infant, he stopped short and hastily put out his cigarette before approaching further and putting forth a practiced smile and warm demeanor to keep things relaxed, while showing his badge.
"Ah. Sorry, sir. Didn't see the little guy, or I've have put that out sooner. He's a cute one. Anyways, I'd like to ask you a few questions concerning a case we're working on, that I think you could help us with."

Putting away his badge, he extended his hand in greeting.
"Detective Julian Halleck. Would you prefer to talk inside? Nice suburb, but neighbors tend to pry and gossip. I don't want to cause you or your family any hassling. Just need to ask a few questions."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Jules is putting on his more charming and relaxed mode while getting a judge of Felipe's character. Dual purpose of professional courtesy and keeping a suspect's guard down while Jules has time to read their reactions/expressions.

[Reltzik]

((OOC: Jules is from the 8th precinct, not the 23rd. Was that a player mistake, or a deliberate deception? If the former, consider it retconned.))

Felipe gets a momentary look of frustration... just for an instant... before sighing and letting that go. "Yeah, that's me. Come on in. Can I get you something to drink, Detective Halleck?"

*****

Meanwhile, Enrique's frozen, almost like a deer caught in headlights. Thad seems to have taken him completely off guard. He just stands there for about ten seconds with his mouth hanging open. Then he swallows. "No," he says, sounding very shaky. "No police threaten me. Is how I say the second time."

He's lying. Not very convincingly, but he's lying, and he's scared.

[D.KnightSpider]

Now it was Lara's turn to shake her head.

"Everything that I had, you have." She said. "I stayed for the meeting hoping that I might be able to help somehow, as penance, I guess you could say, for the earlier mistake. Unfortunately, I wasn't familiar enough with the area or La Loba to make a spit-bit of difference. I'll do what I can to change that before tonight."

There didn't seem to be much else to be done, here. Provided that Adamson had no objections, Lara bid him farewell. There wasn't much else to do around the 23rd precinct but retrace Thaddeus' footsteps. She couldn't see much point in that. It was time for a return trip to the 8th and see what the situation had evolved into during her absence.

[Kislath]

"Hey, whoa there...relax. You don't have to worry. I'm not like the other cops. I'm no sanguinario. In fact, they don't really like me very much because of that.
I'm also, well, not exactly a friend of la Loba, but we get along okay. That's why she sent me to you, because she knew that you could help us both.

So, come on; it's okay. Tell me what happened. What really happened.

By the way, are those lemon butterscotch? I think I'd like to buy some while I'm here."

[Reltzik]

"Don't beat yourself up over it," Adamson tells Lara. He places a hand on her shoulder in a gesture that's meant to be comforting, but comes off as a bit stiff and pro-forma. "We both made the same mistake. The key now is to move forward knowing that we're both on the same side, not to dwell on the past. So no more trying to make up for past mistakes at the expense of doing real work. I'll see you and Tanner at dinner."

*****

Enrique is torn between three conversational options.

Option one, tell Thad what he wants to hear, possibly at grave personal risk from some not-present threat.

Option two, DON'T tell Thad what he wants to hear. This is problematic because Thad is very present, sporting a badge, and apparently babbling nonsense about the sky being green. Not exactly a threat, but still very discomforting.

That leaves option three. So, "torn" isn't the best description, after all.

"Those are butter-rum-flavored caramel hard candies with a very light swirl de jalapeno," Enrique says, fleeing to what seems to be a comfort zone for him. "Medium-hot. 15 cents each or 4 dollars for a bag of 30."

Then, after a moment of denial, he seems to realize that isn't going to cut it. So he manages to muster up something mildly relevant. "La Loba. I like what she say. But she no can do what she say. She has been saying grand things for years. But she has never made them pass. Anyone can talk. She has no power. The sa-... the surge. They can do what they want. La Loba no puede."

[Thrair]

Jules stepped into the house and glanced around, getting a feel for the house.
"Ah. 'Fraid not, still on duty after all. Unless you meant, perhaps, a glass of water? In that case, I would appreciate that, sir. Thank you."

While Felipe busied himself with refreshments, Jules took the opportunity to glance around the room, looking in particular for any photos or portraits that might have Roderick in them.

[Kislath]

"Butter rum jalepeno? I've GOT to try those. What are those green & black ones? Licorice-lime maybe? I'll buy a bag of each.

You're right, of course. La Loba can't do the things she says. She could have done them if she had stuck to her original plan, but she didn't, and now half the cops in the city are trying to stop her. I can't talk about it, but she did something very bad, and one way or another, she won't be in the picture for very much longer, maybe a week or so. She IS kind of likeable, I have to admit.
I know that this might sound crazy to you, but this time, we, the cops, are trying to actually do our jobs and protect you and the people of Brookvale.
The Surge was a mistake, it's true. One dumb politician implemented a dumb idea with even dumber cops, and bad things happened. We realize that now, and are working to fix it. I know that it will be a long time before anyone trusts us again, and that's fair.
That also brings me to why I'm here.
We can't repair the damage of the Surge without taking action against the cops who did the bad things. I'm here to find out what those things really were so that we can so something about it. Do you understand? The days of the Surge doing what it wants and getting away with it are over, but we can't right the wrongs without the help of people like you telling us what we need to know about those wrongs. You were pressured by the police to back down from your original complaint, and that's another thing I'm working to fix. I'm not alone, either, oh no. There are plenty of us, from another precinct, running this investigation into the 23rd's Surge. Their crimes won't go unanswered. Keep that to yourself, though. If word of that got around, we'd never be able to get enough to bust the sanguinarios.

I'm also here because la Loba sent me here to you specifically.
She thinks you know something that I need to know that is going to be especially useful somehow for undoing the damage of the Surge. She wants to see what I'll do with that information, and if I do the right thing, she'll give me more good leads. As much as I hate it, I guess I need her help if I'm going to help the people of Brookvale.

I know you're worried that you'll just wind up in more trouble with the cops if you help me. You should know that I won't be using anything you tell me to make a fuss that could lead to that. You see, we cops have cops of our own called Internal Affairs, who take care of these things nice and quietly. I am not one of those guys, and to let you on on a little secret, a lot of us think that most of the problems with the Surge were caused by some IA cops not doing their jobs. My friends and I are collecting the evidence we need to force them to clean up their own house and do what they should have done since the Surge started.
What I'm getting at here is that you won't have to worry about anyone coming after you if you tell me anything, because no one will know you've told me anything until it's far too late for them to be able to do anything about it. They won't know until they're already in jail.

La Loba...she has her people watch my every move and report my actions to her. I saw you on the phone when I came in... I'm guessing that it was her? She'll probably call you after I leave, too, to find out what we said. I can't stop you from telling her whatever you want, but I will ask you to not tell her about the cops closing in on her. Like I said before, if I am to clean up the mess here in Brookvale that the Surge caused, I'm going to need her help for as long as I can get it, so I need her to stay friendly with me instead of seeing me as just another cop. That might seem a little low-down, but she's been playing me for a chump, too, so it works out even. HA! All that really matters anymore is the way things turn out here in Brookvale in the end for the people who live here, and that means stopping the Surge and the bad cops who have made the Surge so miserable for everyone. La Loba can't do it, so someone else has to do it. Why not us?

So please, will you help me? Will you help your friends and neighbors? Will you also sell me a bag of those green ones with the red stripes?"

Spoiler

Show

Holding my breath on this one. This either ends in success or catastrophe.

[D.KnightSpider]

"That sounds like a plan." Lara agreed. "I'll see you then."

Since there wasn't much reason to hang around the 23rd at this point, Lara packed up her meager belongings and decided to head back to the 8th. It was a quick trip out of the precinct and back to her car.

Lara spent a moment just sitting behind the wheel of the vehicle getting her thoughts in order. She felt tired. It was expected, really. The adrenaline and stress of her meeting with Adamson had long since passed, leaving fatigue in its wake. She took a moment letting herself recoup.

Then, rousing herself back to her old habits, Lara refocused her mind on the task at hand. Her hand twisted the key inside of the ignition and she began the trip back to the 8th.

[Reltzik]

There aren't any photos of Rodrick on conspicuous display. There are, however, photos of Felipe, a woman who is presumably his wife, and quite a few of the toddler. There's also what looks like the normal assortment of friends, and one of the three members of the family with an older man, also of family resemblance to Felipe and Rodrick. Maybe a father or uncle?

Felipe deposits the baby in a rocker-swing, and comes back with a couple of glasses of ice-water, one of which he hands to Jules. "What can I do for you, Detective?"

*****

Lara gets back to the 8th precinct without incident. Jules is gone. Nguyen's at his desk, pounding his way through databases, deep into trying to figure out what's up with that printout of Rodrick's. And Lara's got email waiting.

*****

Enrique packages and rings up Thad's order, looking increasingly nervous. Which is taking more and more doing. "Is just a program," he says. "Tells me when a police is near. I don't talk to nobody no more. Just listen."

He stops, trying to think straight and make a decision. "I no can change nothing. Only try to survive. La Loba tricked me into believing different. She fixed the gangs. Made life better. Maybe she believed she could beat with the police. But the police put her in jail. She no change nothing there. She beat the gangs, she beat the... poorness?... but she no beat police. There is no one who no can. You say you can. But you also say you no can. You say you need me, but I no can. You say you need her, but she no can. You also say you are hunting her, and she go to jail again. None of you will win. If anyone tries to fight the sanguinarios, it is worse for everyone."

His eyes flick, unconsciously, in the direction of the door that the boy went through. It's outside of his field of vision, so Enrique doesn't see it, but the door is open just a crack... a crack that the boy is holding up a camera phone to.