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Post by skybright on Sept 5, 2007 22:04:32 GMT -5
The morning after Miriam had conducted the autopsy of the mystery woman, Daws arrived at her office and set the coffeepot brewing, then pulled a few books of New York City history from her office shelves and settled in to wait for Joey Falco to arrive.
Nothing in the first book seemed particularly illuminating -- there was no mention of the mysterious "specialist" Doctor Pendergast, and only one offhanded note about "Rizzo's Place".
Guess a gangster disappearing didn't rate high enough to be history. Daws grinned wryly, pushed the book away, and poured herself a cup of coffee before opening the next one in the pile.
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 5, 2007 22:09:34 GMT -5
When Joey arrived at the office that morning, he was expecting the usual day's work of filing. Underground activity--on the part of both Tiernan and the resistance--had been minimal for the last few days, and he was wishing it would stay that way.
As he entered the office and saw Daws on the sofa with a book, he grinned. "Slow day?" he asked--trying to keep a hopeful note out of his voice.
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Post by skybright on Sept 5, 2007 22:13:49 GMT -5
Daws glanced up with a crooked grin. "I guess you could say that." She set the book she'd been perusing to one side. "No daring-underground stuff on the agenda, anyway -- but I did have something besides sitting around here in mind, if you're up for it."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 5, 2007 22:17:09 GMT -5
"Uh." Joey shrugged. "You're the boss. So what is it--bluffing past hotel clerks and maids again?"
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Post by skybright on Sept 5, 2007 22:21:47 GMT -5
"Worse -- librarians. This case is gonna need some archive work."
Her tone grew more solemn. "We . . . found a body in the basement of Sid's club -- an old body. It -- she -- had been bricked up behind a wall for eighty years."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 5, 2007 22:30:16 GMT -5
Joey grimaced. "Whoa. Then... you're going to try to find out who she was?"
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Post by skybright on Sept 5, 2007 22:33:24 GMT -5
"Who she was, who killed her, and why she died." Daws frowned, "Although we may already know that last one. She was a mutant . . . and she was going to have a baby."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 5, 2007 22:45:47 GMT -5
"Oh, man." Joey looked pained. "Yeah, that... that'd do it. The way some people feel about not having mutant kids, even these days..."
He shook his head abruptly. "So have you got anything to go on?"
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Post by skybright on Sept 5, 2007 22:54:55 GMT -5
"Not a lot." Daws produced the business card Sid had found from her coat pocket, handing it to Joey. "That was in the pocket of a coat she was wearing -- not her coat, by the way. The club back then belonged to a mobster named Fats Rizzo who went missing in 1928; she was wearing his coat. We even though she was Rizzo, at first."
Daws shrugged. "So we've got this doctor's name, the name of the tailors who made Fats' coat and her dress, and . . ." she sighed.
"And that's about it, really. Caddy's running some tests on the . . . remains, but that'll take some time. There was some broken glass there with her that might have fingerprints on it, but I haven't dusted for them yet. And Sid's got some old papers and stuff that came from the previous owners of the Paragon. We're heading there later today, after we take a shot at the library's newspaper archives."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 5, 2007 22:57:53 GMT -5
"Okay." Joey looked thoughtful. "What kind of cover story did you have in mind? I could pretend to be a student doing research for a paper on Prohibition, maybe."
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Post by skybright on Sept 5, 2007 23:10:02 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "I like that. Dunno if we'll need it or not, but it never hurts to have a story handy." She grinned teasingly. "And if anybody asks, I can be your 'tutor' -- that's practically the truth anyway."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 6, 2007 20:02:49 GMT -5
Joey gave a brief snort of laughter. "Yeah."
Then he shrugged. "Okay, so I guess it's off to the library now. I haven't been there in... gosh, a few years at least." He ducked his head sheepishly. "Books aren't really high on the list of priorities for a lot of Tiernan's people."
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Post by skybright on Sept 6, 2007 21:50:16 GMT -5
Daws chuckled. "Heck, half the ones I've had run-ins with didn't even seem like the type who could read." She stood with a grin and reached for her hat. "Okay, then, the library it is."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 6, 2007 21:59:56 GMT -5
Joey grinned and followed Daws out the door. "Whatever you say, Boss."
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Post by skybright on Sept 6, 2007 22:03:55 GMT -5
Daws grinned crookedly at him as she locked the office door and set off in the direction of the library. "So," she said conversationally, "How's things with you and Tara?"
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 6, 2007 22:11:10 GMT -5
"Oh. Uh." Joey blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I've only seen her a couple times since the last time we talked about it. We've been rollerblading, gone to a movie. You know."
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Post by skybright on Sept 6, 2007 22:26:05 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "Normal teenage stuff, huh? Good for you guys." She smiled wryly, "You deserve all the normality you can get."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 6, 2007 22:38:39 GMT -5
"Yeah." Joey grinned slightly. "I think her dad's still working on warming up to me, though--but I don't mind that. I like that he's looking out for her, 'cause... well, you know. Dads with mutant kids."
He chuckled. "I'm not so sure his housekeeper likes me--but then, I'm not so sure she likes anybody."
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Post by skybright on Sept 6, 2007 22:48:00 GMT -5
Daws snickered. "She likes the kids. I think she pretty much just puts up with all the rest of us." She shrugged. "She's definitely thawed some since I met her, but I don't think I'll ever be on her list of favorite people, either."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 7, 2007 21:13:59 GMT -5
"I didn't figure her as somebody who's really crazy about mutants," Joey admitted. "I don't think she knows that about me, but I'm not sure. Is that it--has she got a problem with people like us?"
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