Case 3.8: A New Lead
Blaine hurried the streets of the Devil’s district, trying to find the train station. He had an uneasy feeling and checked behind him, just in time to see a hooded figure try to look inconspicuous. Blaine picked up the pace and headed down an alleyway.
Blaine took up a stance and prepared a spell to trap the person if they came down the alley after them. Sure enough, they came down after them, but the spell failed to hold them. Blaine turned and headed deeper into the alleyway, the figure following close behind. While Blaine was trying to think of a way out, a voice called to him. It was a young girl who was missing both of her arms. She was calling out to Blaine almost like she knew who he was. Blaine played along, pretending to know who the girl was. A lizardfolk jumped down from the rooftop and joined them, turning to the hooded figure and telling them to get lost, which it reluctantly did. Blaine thanked the pair for stepping in. They introduced themselves as Mac and Ginji, members of the Curved Artists Collective, a group of street artists who had all been cursed in some fashion. Mac lost her arms and Ginji, who was once human, was turned into a lizardfolk. The pair had been working on a mural when they saw Blaine hurrying down the alley, and helped.
They started conversing about their art and various techniques. Blaine wanted to ask Mac how she painted, but felt it would be offensive. Luckily, though, Mac was already planning to show off, as she took a martial stance as 2 ethereal arms apparated at her sides, grabbed the spray cans at her waist and started tagging the wall.
Blaine enjoyed the time spent with the two artists, but felt he needed to get back home before anything else showed up. Mac and Ginji escorted him to the edge of the Devil’s district and they bid each other farewell.
A few days later, back at the station, the group was celebrating Jericho’s birthday. Katz had brought in cupcakes and doughnuts for everyone. Jericho’s phone started ringing. It was Brogan. The Orc mafia had found a potential lead, an old warehouse in the fiend district had recently been inhabited and medical equipment has been spotted being moved into it.
Mackey also received a call. Two Drow had been arrested after an attempted robbery. The pair had been tied up and the window outside the store had ‘Call Conduit Task Force’ spray-painted on the window. The cashier said in their statement that one of the drow had drunk a vial of red liquid and could then cast burning hands at the vigilante that came into the store.
The officers got the drow transferred to their precinct so they could interrogate them. Mackey made the call, and within a few hours, they were seated in an interview room with the two suspects. Jericho and Fingle led the interview, first asking about the robbery, which they denied. They claimed to just be shopping and were attacked unprovoked by the vigilante Firewall. The officers couldn’t get any leeway on the robbery charge, but that wasn’t their jurisdiction, anyway. They started asking about the vial that let them cast spells, as a blood test taken by the arresting precinct had shown traces of M4-G1c, or ‘Human Juice’ in their system. They admitted they had taken the drug and gave the officers the rough area of where they bought it, claiming it was different people at different locations.
The officers charged the Drow for possession of M4-G1c and sent them back to the other precinct so they could continue the investigation into the robbery.
The officers then set out for the warehouse.
