Fantasy FTK: Black Rose Detective Agency

[Jodyguru]

“Go ahead. There’s a silver piece on the desk.” The barkeep said. He was an older gentleman retired from the police force. Even though she turned in her badge, Delilah was always welcome as a friend.

—————
“Did you now? I’m hoping I won’t call this guy Fixer much longer.” Lautrec leaned back with a smile for Rhietz. “Maybe Waters can get her guy from the medical team to look at the body? He likes weird cases, that Winston fellow. He tried pronouncing me dead once.”

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah smiled, pushing herself off of the bar.
"Thanks Cap'. I'll make sure not to waste it." She gave the older man a two-fingered mock salute, making her way over to the telephone in the corner of the room.
Sliding the silver into the machine, the rolled up the operator.
"Hello, operator? Could you call up Central? Yeah? Thanks. Say it's Detective Waters. Yup."
She waited for a few minutes until the operator forwarded her call.

"Hello, this is Central. Would you like to talk to the chief Detective?"

"No. Just tell him to send some men over to this address," she leaned against the table, studying the people in the tavern.
"Yeah, that's great. Good. Just tell them to secure the scene. Officer Tobias is there already. All right, bye then."

Delilah put the phone down, turning quickly to leave.
"Thanks again Cap'," she waved to the bartender as she went out the door, slipping into the cruiser and riding to the office.

She closed the door behind her, taking off her coat and hat and putting them on the rack. Rheitz leaned back at the sound of the door shutting, catching sight of her.

"Oh! Detective Waters! You're back." She grinned. "I'll get you some coffee."

Delilah smiled. "Thanks, doll. I appreciate it."

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec was resting a head on his hand looking at his notes and thinking deeply about what else he needed to write down. He had a fairly comprehensive list, but something felt like it was missing. Hopefully Delilah could help him with her memories. He didn’t say anything when she arrived in the office.

------
The officers checked the apartment buildings. An old lady on the third floor had blood dripping onto her ceiling. She knew the young man who lived there. She gave him the name Alex Kingston. A local whose mother and father died on the same night in a shoot out. He turned real bad real fast after the funeral. The hospital didn't have enough blood, and had no staffed clerics on duty that night.
Officer Toby took her statement down and thanked her for being cooperative. The newly arrived officers at the scene started work of removing the body and blocking off the street. Toby got in a car with his partner, a middle aged man with a beard who never fired his gun named Ryan Mars
"You ever see anything like that before?" Toby asked as he started driving down the streetp. Mars shook his head.
"Nope. That thing didn't look human."
"I know."
"That lady detective... didn't she used to be a cop?"
"She used to work for Central. She's the war hero type. Doesn't take shit from nobody."
"Yeah but used to be, meaning she's a civilian."
"Not really. She has a special pass from the high order. Diplomatic Immunity."
"She's a diplomat? For who?"
Toby was silent after that. He thought about it. He didn't really have an answer for that. The only person he could think of was that ghoulish looking guy she worked for.
"Black Rose, maybe?"
"Yeahhh. I don't trust those types. He looks like he should be in a rock band at a nursing home."
Toby wheezed and laughed with his partner Mars.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah leaned against the door as Rheitz went over to the coffepot, glaring at Lautrec.
"What the hell was that Detective?! Sending me two men as if we were dealing with a petty shop-lifting crime. When I say get men, I mean get a team! Not one cop and his partner."
She slammed her hand against the table when Lautrec didn't look up.
"Hey! I'm talking to you, damn bloodsucker! Don't pull that crap!"

...

The body was brought to Winston Nammers,after a few officers had taken pictures of the body, one of the few coroners that the Dominion Investigation Unit had access too and a personal friend of Detective Waters.
"Thanks. I'll take it from here," he waved away the officers that hovered around the body, checking something off on his clipboard.
They shook their heads at the deformed elf before quickly leaving, glad they could escape the sight of it.

after a few officers had taken pictures of the body,

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec looked up at her with a scowl on his face. "Well smart ass, I didn't call any police. I trusted you to find evidence and watch the body until I got here. Rheitz called the cops moments after we got upstairs. Now sit your ass down and wait for the briefing!"
Turns out the old lady had called the cops, which is why only a squad car showed up. They hadn't prepared for a murder, just a disturbance.
---------
The body had decomposed at an alarming rate. After a brief magical scan he found a lot of negative energy resonating from the corpse. The person's blood had heated up rapidly and coagulated. His organs cooked inside his body and quickly rotted. His head was soft and easy to poke holes through.

He took pictures and finished collecting his samples.
Cause of death: Undetermined. Evidence points towards Magical Assault.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah scowled pulling out the chair in front of the desk and sitting down.
"Oh, I see how it is. When I say we need to secure the scene, you show up here to whine to your assistant while I have to do every damn thing," she muttered, folding her arms over her chest.

Rheitz glanced between the two nervously before handing Delilah her coffee. The older woman took it with a huff, taking a sip.

Rheitz cleared her throat, looking down at her pad.

"Apparently this guy is named Alex Kingston. Age 30. Single, though he does have a kid. I'm pretty sure the kid is with the mother though. Yeah. He's a proven cocaine and heroin addict and also suffers from schizophrenia. He's been arrested before for petty theft, shoplifting, illegal trade of moonshine, drunken disorderly conduct, and a couple other mediocre crimes. Apparently, he's also a gambler and always ends up broke. Overall, a pretty lame backwater crimnal."

Delilah frowned, pulling the prescription from her pocket.
"Was he going to the hospital for schizophrenia?"

Rheitz frowned.
"I dunno. I'll check the nearest hospitals around his place to see if he was there. Why?"

Delilah held up the piece of stained paper.
"Found this at his place. It was on the newspapers ontop of a ladies' clothing magazine."

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec looked in Rheitz's direction, even as Delilah kept filling his ear with spiteful remarks. He never complained to Rheitz about anything that wasn't deserving of it. Waters hated him because he didn't bow his head when she entered the room. It didn't bother the dhampir as much as her incessant noise.
"Good work team. We gathered a lot of useful info here. The next step will be to find a connection between him and the blood trade. Personally, I'm not as worried about the selling as much as the bloodletting. Yesterday's paper was pretty eventful."
He set the newspaper down. The cover was a black and white photo of an alley with three bodies laying in it. The headline read "Vampire Terror in North District! Three Women Dead"
"Since opening this agency, we've put at least thirteen vampires into the dust, and convicted tens more. Yet these attacks continue. I'm becoming very worried that its not just stragglers from the Old Era, but new vampires being born."
It was 3 a.m. The sun would be up in a couple hours. That meant Lautrec couldn't leave the office if he was going to keep working on the case. He'd only leave if it was an emergency.
"Its getting late. Go get some rest, Rheitz. You earned it. Detective Waters... I want to have a word with you."
His tone was serious. Rheitz could say goodbye, but it was imperative that she give them space quickly.

Once the door was shut, he put his hands together and looked at Delilah.
"I am aware that both of us tend to be hot headed about working the case. As part of good conduct I do my best not to berate my employees, which is why I said nothing about my wound." he leaned to show the bloodied shirt with the hole in it. "If you want to stay on this case, I expect you to show me at least a boss' minimum level of respect. I found your comment inappropriate and unprovoked. This is why Mattey was picked for Chief of Police and not you, this graze wound that I'm wearing. You're a good detective, but a sloppy police officer."

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah let out a snort, lifting her legs to place her feet on his desk.
"First. You're not my boss. The Dominion is. Second. Just because I'm not kissing your sorry ass and pretending to be your secretary instead of your partner doesn't mean you get to berate my years as an officer. I was one of the few women who even got into the force and I had a hard enough time trying to prove myself with such twisted overseers."

Delilah was referring to the sexism of the force as was respective of the time they lived in.

"Third. I don't give respect to arrogant bastards such as yourself," she pulled a pack of Camel cigarettes from her pocket, lighting one and taking a drag, blowing the smoke into Lautrec's face, "who think they can do everything themselves and that their invincible." She pointed to the hole in Lautrec's shirt, "and that's evidence. So if you don't give me the respect I deserve, I ain't giving you crap."

She blew another cloud of smoke into his face, the cigarette dangling between her fingers.
from her pocket,

 

[Jodyguru]

"What you call arrogance, I call professionalism." He stood up. He was going to go out before sunrise. "Act like a punk all you want, I'm not impressed. All I need to get rid of you is a strongly worded letter sent to Chief Mattey. You may have been partners, but I have seniority. If you don't respect me, you don't respect the job. The world ill needs a cop like that." He closed the door behind him, leaving Waters alone in his empty office, with notes stacked up on the desk and a cup of pencils.

Lautrec waved to Rheitz as she had unlocked her bike and was riding off. He got in his car and drove home so he could change and get something to eat.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah muttered, sticking the cigarette back into her mouth and moving behind his desk to sort through his notes.
"I might as well become his damn secretary slave at this rate," she grumbled as she grabbed a pencil from the cup, "calling me a punk. Stuffy bastard. Reminds me of my old chief."
She placed the prescription on the table, noting the medications listed on it. Flipping the paper over,the name "Dr. Meyers M.D." was typed on the back.

She frowned, noting the name before making her way over to the phone book in Rheitz's small office.

Flipping through the pages before finding the name under St. Lucia Hospital. She found the address of the hospital and looking up at the large map on the opposite wall found it to be near the dead elf's apartment. She grinned.
"Hell yeah. Now we're getting somewhere."

...

Rheitz had managed to make it home quickly, parking her bike in front of the large brick apartment complex before walking up the long flight of stairs. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, dragging herself to bed only to find Toby lying in it. She groaned.

"Why don't you ever sleep at your own place?" She mumbled, pulling herself onto the mattress to snuggle close to her boyfriend.

 

[Jodyguru]

Toby yawned and rolled over. "Because your bed is so much nicer. it has you in it." he threw his arm over her and kissed the top of her head. "How was work?" He yawned, half awake and warm under the blankets.

--------

The telephone rang at the office. When Delilah picked up, the operator said the call was coming from Central Station. Chief Hyatt Mattey was calling.

"Hello Delilah, still awake I see? Yes. Well, I'm actually calling because I was hoping we could meet up for lunch tomorrow. How about the old hangout on 75th avenue, the diner where you caught those kids selling mushrooms." He chuckled.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz rolled her eyes. "My Boss and Detective Waters got into a fight. Again. I'm starting to think that they enjoy fighting rather than working." She pushed her head under his chin, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I don't even want to think about work. But we got a new case, though I think you know that already." She smiled sleepily, yawning again.

....

Delilah laughed. "Chief chewed me out real good for that one. Yeah, I think I'm free then. I'll see you there at...11?"

She grinned at his approval and put the phone down, letting out a sigh. "Hopefully the pale bastard doesn't ask me to do anything then," she muttered, walking back to his office to finish writing down her new discovery.

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec arrived at his place. He walked through an alley and down a set of stairs, opened a door in the basement of a laundromat, and stepped inside his home, for all he could call it. It was more like his tomb. A coffin and a dresser, and not much else. He planned on going back to the office, but the coffee was wearing off, and all he wanted was sleep. It'd be sunrise by the time he made it back to the office, so he'd just sleep here instead.
-----------
The next day, Delilah made it to a place called Chester's. The diner she was supposed to meet the Chief. When she entered, he was already there with a paper and his coffee, sitting in the corner booth as always.
He looked at her, and his face lit up. It was just like old times.
"Wild Waters, in the flesh. Make yourself comfortable." He gestured to the empty booth seat across from him. He flipped the newspaper over and showed her the front page.
"Drug Dealer Gets Too High, Forgets Parachute" was the headline, with photos of the smashed window and the blood stains in the alley. A cop had a hand out in one photo, clearly trying to cover the camera's lens.
"Another dirt bag off the street. I hear this was your doing." he said, looking up at her. The small glasses on his face always looked funny when he had his chin down.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah frowned, calling for the waiter.
"We were gonna get some info out of him before he went nuts. We found the blood and eveything. We just needed to figure out his-" she stopped when the waiter arrived at the table.

"What can I getcha Ms.Waters?" Betsy grinned, "Haven't seen you around for a while now. Still want a cold turkey sandwhich and some tomata soup?"
Delilah grinned, "Of course Betsy. You know me well."

The waitress nodded, walking away quickly.

"As I was saying, we caught the guy and he was about to spit out the info when he went beserck. Starting foaming at the mouth like he had rabies or something. Someone wanted to silence him, that's for sure." She frowned at the paper, eyeing the image on the front.

"Say, who's that guy over there at the corner of the building. He's wearing a coat. There weren't any doctors at the scene last time I checked."

She held out her hand and Myars handed her the paper. She studied it further, cursing the fact that his face had been blurred by the flash of light from the camera.

"Anyway, anything new at the station? I hear that you and Missy Parker are sweet on each other."

She wiggled an eyebrow as Betsy brought her order over, and she sipped on a spoonful of soup.

 

[Jodyguru]

He squinted his eyes. There was a small person-shaped blob on the paper, but he couldn't make it out. "Could be circumstantial, or a weird shadow. I hate those flash boxes" he said and ate the rest of his bagel.
"Just rumors. Her oldest son just came back from the army so we all went out on the town. Can't do nice things without people assuming." he shrugged.
"Hows your new manager? I bet he gave you a heap of crap over this." he tapped on the newspaper. "He'd be a crappy boss if he didn't."

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah grinned. "Yeah, yeah, sure Chief. It's not like you've been sweet on her since you entered the force."

She frowned at his comment about Detective Leore. "He went up alone to meet the guy, but the guy was nervous as hell so when he started asking questions he pulled out his gun. I thought he was gonna shoot the man so I kicked the door in and pointed my gun. A bit of a stupid mistake on my part, I got to admit. The crazy bastard shot at the Detective, only got him in the arm though." She took a bite of her sandwhich and let out a sigh. "But yeah, he gave me hell. Told me that my attitude proved that I was a sham officer and that was why I didn't get to be Chief."

 

[Jodyguru]

The Chief let out a noise as he sipped his tea. “My word, what a biting remark! Leore was never even considered for Chief. He was meek, played by the book. Never stood out of a crowd. Not until... it happened.” He trailed off. It seemed like a story he wasn’t going to finish.
”I’d been pissed as hell if you got me shot.” Hyatt started laughing.
“Oh god you did get me shot! Remember that moonshine lab we knocked over? I heard clear so I went in, got tapped in the kidney.” He laughed more, shaking his head.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah let out a loud groan, head sinking to the table.
"I said I was sorry about that! What the hell, bringing up old wounds. I even paid the medical bill, dammit!"
She grinned, leaning back into the soft cushions of the booth, chewing on a bite of turkey and bread.
"Yeah, well he doesn't think I'm respecting him too much. Acts like I'm his damn secretary, making me do all the dirty work while he gets the action." She fiddled with the spoon in her soup bowl, staring up at the bowl light over their heads.
"Mattey, those glasses make you look like my grandpa. I better get you some new ones if you're thinking of gracing Missy off her feet."

She looked down, staring at Mattey. "Hey. What's up with this "incident"? I've never heard of it. Seems you have. Care to fill me in?"

 

[Jodyguru]

"Ask him about it. I can't speak a word. Ask him about Applegate if you want to hear the horror story."'
The name Applegate referred to a mental ward in the North District. She'd seen it in police reports a number of times.
"Actually, Applegate might be worth calling. They'd have record of the perp's stay if he's a wacko."

-------

Rheitz woke up around 11 am. The overcast sky broke into hard day, peering in through her window. In her apartment was an umbrella she borrowed from Lautrec. If she wanted to wake him up she'd need to bring it for him. The rule was only open his casket if you require assistance. He liked to eat live snakes and rats. The old man would do anything for a snack.

In Rheitz's mailbox was her paycheck. Three golden work tokens. She could turn them in for cash. Some used them to pay others for services in lew of cash. Typically, the buyer asks if its okay.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz pulled the packet of tokens from her mailbox, pushing it under her arm as she pulled out some other mail. She hummed a tune, smiling at her elderly neighbor who opened her first floor apartment door to get her own mail.

"Lovely to see you Ms.Toccash! Was that your boyfriend who came down yesterday?" She gave her wide smile as she opened her own mailbox.
Rheitz blushed.
"I-yes, that was him Mrs. Fenris."

The old woman patted her shoulder, "Ah. Good fellow, that boy is. Are you heading out to work now?"
Rheitz nodded, giving her a bright smile. "Yep! We have a new case."

She waved to her neighbor, running up the stairs to drop of her mail. She would read it later, but she had to get to the store before anyone arrived to catch her buying live rats. She threw on her coat, locking the door before running downstairs and mounting her bike.

She biked down Mainstreet onto Fifth street where the tall pet food store sat. On the window was painted "Brook's Pet Goodies" in bright, curly letters.
The bell rung cheerily as she opened the door.

"Goodmorning Mr.Brooks! I'm going to need a couple more-oh!" Rheitz stopped in her tracks at the sight of Delilah leaning against the shop counter, a packet in her hand and a basket that squeaked occasionally next to her. Delilah gave her a pleasent smile before throwing her the basket.

"Already on it doll. Let's go wakeup the Detective, shall we? I'm itching to figure this thing out."

Rheitz stared at Detective Waters as she walked past, her mind struggling to catch up. Delilah turned to look over her shoulder. "Coming or not Ms.Toccash?"

Rheitz shook her head, a grin breaking out on her face. "Of course! Let's go."

...

Detective Leore's home was a couple blocks from Brooks's store, a walkable distance. The two women strolled and Delilah shared a hot cinammon roll with Rheitz after she had attested to not eating breakfast that morning.

"There. That's it." Rheitz pointed to the laundromat. Delilah frowned.

"For a guy who makes a lot of dough, he sure does live poor," she muttered following Rheitz who practically skipped to her Boss's door.

 

[Jodyguru]

In his apartment, they’d see a scimitar hanging from the wall with a pristine sabertooth skull above it. There was a portrait of a fancily dressed swordsman riding a horse on the wall.

Under the painted portrait was the coffin. in it, the son of Dracula slumbered.

Around the corner, standing at the fridge, was a young pale girl with a rock band shirt and teased hair.
“Who the fuck are you?” She hissed are Rheitz. The woman had red eyes and fangs.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah squinted at the girl after studying the room, frowning at her resemblance to the man who was inside the coffin.

"Who're you?" she said, hands moving into the pockets of her coat as she analyzed the smooth blade of the scimitar on the wall.

Rheitz winced at Delilah's accusing tone, before throwing the girl a grin.
"It's me Aida. Just came to wake up the boss. We need to get some work done today."

She skipped over to the coffin, the basket of rats inhand, and knocked on the lid.
"Hiya Boss! Rise and shine! I brought some rats. We need to get to work. Detective Waters found something interesting!"

 

[Jodyguru]

“Whatever pig. I’m conjuring in here today, so don’t bother me... did you say rats?” Aida approached and saw the jaw they were kept in.
“That’s sick. Can I have one?” She asked Rheitz.

Lautrec woke up from all the noise. He opened the casket and stared tiredly around the room.
“What’s my sister doing here?” He asked.
“My friends kicked me out, so I crashed here.” Aida was still looking at the rats.
“Whatever you say.” Lautrec replied, then looked to Rheitz. The man was already dressed in a gray suit.
”Tell me everything on the way.” He stood up.

....

Lautrec was in the passenger seat of Delilah’s car. He lowered the tiny mouse into his mouth and crunched its head between his teeth. He was invigorated and ready to work, umbrella in arm’s reach and thick black shades to cover his eyes.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah tried not to gagg as she stared out her car window, wincing every time she heard the crunch of bones.
Rheitz sat in the back, explaining Delilah's find on the prescription she had found in the apartment.
"So apparently we have to go check out St.Lucia, at least that's what Detective Waters said. I think it'll give us some new insight on the case," she chewed the cinammon roll that Delilah had bought for her from the store behind them, licking the sticky syrup from her fingers.

Delilah stopped Lautrec's hand before the mouse in it could enter his mouth.
"For the love of the sun goddess, eat louder, would you?" she said sarcastically, eyeing a gawking passerbye who skittered away when they made eyecontact with the female detective.

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec looked at her cross, and let the mouse run between his fingers instead. A little bit of purple magic sparkled in his hand.
“The hospital is a good place to search. I’ll disappear and then search the upper floors. Will you two be alright handling the front desk?”
The mouse ran across the dashboard and peered closely at Delilah.
“Hey Lilah, want a new partner? You and Inspector Squeaker can bring in the perp.”