"I don't just want the b*****d arrested..." What was just another night at the office had turned into this. Sitting across the desk was a troll who looked all-limbs, one who mere moments ago introduced herself as Basett Ridoto. Her status as a tealblood was glaringly obvious in her attire, clean cut and hemotyped to the extreme. Tasteful jewels hung from her neck and wrists and, paired with her beautifully made up face, they painted a picture of someone who enjoyed the finer things in life.
"Whoever they were, they took everything. They broke into the safe, they stole the beetles right out of her purse! I want them to pay up before they face the legislacerator! They owe her that much for what they did to her..." To emphasize her point, Basett slammed a bag she'd been holding in her lap on the desk, then fell listlessly back into her seat.
There was something movie-like and dramatic in the way she pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and held it at the ready near her face before continuing.
"She was my matesprit, you know? She was my everything. Her name was Alenda. Look-" Basett set a piece of paper on the desk next to the purse, a photograph of two trolls with their arms around each other. "Wasn't she beautiful? They killed her and took everything she worked so hard for."
She dabbed the handkerchief to the corner of her eye and cut to the chase, "I need someone who can do this quickly. I don't have time to wait for the drones to do their damn jobs. She was a highblood for gogsake and they're dragging their feet like she didn't even matter. I need to know who did this to her and I need them to pay."
=> Take a closer look at the photo
The two trolls with their arms wrapped affectionately around one another are indeed Basett and a blueblood, presumably Alenda. The blueblood's smile is modest, but it reaches her eyes and she looks genuinely happy. There's a softness to her round face, a perfect match for her short and pudgy frame. Compared to Basett, she's very short.
=> Investigate the personal effects
Inside the bag there are a number of personal effects including an empty notepad with a receipt for the pad itself tucked into it, blue and red pens, an ID, and a large coin purse. The ID lists her full name as Alenda Beteli. The coin purse is totally empty of beetles.
=> Question Basett further
Quote the mule when ready for answers to any questions.
Only Yamashii, Doutei, Micillia, KitsuneAura, and quite uneventful may post in this growth. Please quote the mule when instructed or for additional prompts/information!
Yamashii
Doutei
Micillia
KitsuneAura
quite uneventful
Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2018 2:58 am
Avvisi Quills Avvisi examined the tealblood with approving eyes. That was a classy troll. She loved the girl's outfit and accessories. Definitely some things she needed to add to her own ensemble. She would have to ask about where their new customer got her jewelry...
Avvisi kept up her professional smile while Basett dramatically wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh you poor dear!" Avvisi said as she snapped up the photo. "You two look so happy! What tragedy." She faked her own tear. Avvisi made sure to show the others the photo. This would be perfect for the front page! No way was she giving this back.
Avvisi ignored the bag, Philip and Kwelin would be more interested in the actual evidence. She pulled out her microphone, attached to a recorder. The tealblood held out the mic as she asked her next question. "When do you think this happened? Where was she found?" She made an exaggerated look of concern. "Tell us everything!"
Yamashii
Doutei
Micillia
KitsuneAura
quite uneventful
Micillia
Dapper Duck
Offline
KitsuneAura
Magical Detective
Offline
Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2018 9:59 pm
Tzofia shifted her weight from one foot to the other, feeling a little unsure of her place now that they were really truly in business. A murder case was a big deal, the client and victim both highblooded, and done right it would give quite a boost to the office's businesses. Done wrong...Well, she would have to believe they wouldn't get it wrong, for now, and do everything she could to help make sure of it. The others had put so much work into their goals!
As an assistant, she was more than happy to wait and watch while the others took the lead. She'd half expected the one to do so would be Philip, but it made sense that Avvisi would jump in first, matching drama for drama. Tzofia suppressed a small smile, because it was always a bit of a wonder to her what a force of nature the reporter could be, and leaned in to get a look at the photograph as well.
"She was very beautiful," she agreed softly, straightening as Avvisi pushed it towards the next person. "I'm sorry for your loss." Her eyes fell to the bag curiously, but Avvisi didn't seem bothered with passing it around as she had the photo (which, Tzofia noticed suddenly, she certainly wasn't letting go of). Right. Well. This was a job for an assistant, wasn't it? "Ah, may I?" She reached tentatively for the bag, slow enough to be stopped if anyone wished, and then began neatly lining up what had been within it on the desk for everyone to look over.
Tzofia glanced up from the items to gauge Basett's expression when Avvisi began questioning. They were important details, it was true. The mention of a safe had made her assume it had happened within the blueblood's own home, but it could easily have been a business or something similar. They would need to investigate the scene itself if they could too, of course. And the when would no doubt help with pinning down suspects later.
Avvisi hadn't asked the question that Tzofia was most curious about, though, even if the dread of hearing it in detail kept her from asking it herself.
Yamashii
Doutei
Micillia
quite uneventful
Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 7:59 pm
Kwelin studied the troll in front of them as Avvisi and Tzofia spoke with her first. For a troll to come to an investigative office, that meant there had to be something messy going on with the case. Basett didn't want to wait for the drones to do their job and she also wanted the killer to pay for their crime before meeting with the legislacerator. It was a sort of odd request. Kwelin filed this information away to mull over later.
"We're happy to take on your case. There's just a couple of questions we'll need to ask you." The blueblood clicked his pen, ready to write down notes on her answers. He could see Avvisi already had an audio recording of her story but he was old fashioned. He liked pen and paper.
"First... how did she die? Have the drones determined a cause of death or a murder weapon?" From the way Basett was talking, she didn't have a concrete suspect yet. They'd need to collect motives and evidence in order to piece the story together. Philip would prove most useful with this. He was probably itching to get to the crime scene to take a look around.
"Secondly, who all knew the combination to your safe? If you can provide a list of what exactly was taken from it, that could help us retrieve the items as well." A highblood could afford a strong safe, sure, but it meant little if the combination had been leaked somehow. They needed more details on who would want into it and why. It was possible the theft had been an attempt to make the murder look like a random robbery rather than a calculated attack but only time and work would uncover that mystery.
"Philip, you got anything?" The detective of the group would have his own set of questions to answer. The different professions approached this sort of thing. Avvisi typically wanted the scandalous details, Kwelin himself wanted the police reports and Philip... he would probably ask weird questions to poke into the backstories of the trolls involved.
Doutei
KitsuneAura
Micillia
quite uneventful
Hivestuck
Yamashii
Offline
Doutei
Offline
Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 11:39 pm
As his colleagues questioned Basett, the hemoanon troll stood at the back. Peering over the bag's contents as Tzofia carefully extracted them, he listened and mulled things over. The client's passion boomed through the room, full of fire and pain. After almost losing two friends back at ghost manor, he was starting to understand what it felt like to feel protective and helpless. In this case they were already too late to save Alenda but hopefully they could help put her story to rest. He could appreciate Basett's demand to know the truth of what had happened to her beloved.
As he poked through the remaining belongings, he frowned. The blank notepad was mysterious along with the red and blue pens. Why did Alenda have them? Was she working on something? Even more troubling to him was the fact that they had this bag at all. Wouldn't it have made more sense for the thief to simply snatch the bag and take it with them instead of emptying out the coin purse? Even if they were wearing gloves to hide any fingerprints, the added time it took to steal only the beetles was risky. It was weird no matter how he looked at it.
"I'd like to know a little more about Alenda. What she did for a living, if she had any appointments that day you knew about... that sort of thing." It was important to first start on the victim's profile and general timeline. He appreciated the questions everyone else had asked so far. They needed to know what details of the crime Basett could give them. He wanted to know what possible motives might be involved as well. Scanning over the receipt, he checked the date of purchase as well as if any other items had been bought with it. Philip made sure to check both sides of it as well before flipping through the empty notepad one more time to search for anything they might have missed.
"Also, who found her?" He asked in a gentle tone. He was curious to know all the details of not just the moments leading up to the crime and during but also after it. Murder scenes were often tampered with and he wanted to know who had access to the body and crime scene before the police had. He had more questions but due to the emotional nature of the client, Philip decided to ease into things. Once they'd established the basics of what had happened then he could probe further.
Yamashii
KitsuneAura
Micillia
quite uneventful
Hivestuck
Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2019 12:05 pm
There was an edge of exasperation in the way Basett sighed in the face of all their questioning, but once the mic was poised on her, she willingly began to speak again.
"She was beautiful. Yes, she was. Thank you." There was another dab of her handkerchief to her eye as she played everything up for the recording. "Talented, too. Alenda could've been anything she wanted to be, but she was an accountant. It sounds bland, I know, but she was so good with numbers.
"I can only assume she was at work the night before she died. Whatever appointments she had after that, I don't know. Alenda wasn't home much, you see, she was always out doing something. Such a social butterfly. We shared a lot, sure, but I didn't need to know her night-by-night schedule." The way she said so made it sound like anything beyond that would've been, in her opinion, obsessive in terms of relationships.
As matter-of-fact as Basett had been up to this point in the explaination, her demeanor quickly shifted to something sorrowful again. She sounded choked up as she revealed, "I'm the one who found her. It was absolutely awful. We were supposed to meet for a date that night—she always took me to the fanciest places—but she didn't show. When I went looking, I found her dead in her own respiteblock... stabbed."
Basett shook her head and sighed again. "We didn't live together, so the safe was hers and only she knew the combination. I don't know exactly what was in it, but it was impressive. She had good investments and a lot of beetles."
With one final clearing of her throat, the tealblood seemed finished. So finished, in fact, that the exasperation from before returned. "Is that it? I can take you to the crime scene, but I'd really like to get on with it. Alenda has waited for her justice long enough."
=> Investigate the notepad and receipt closer (Philip)
Despite another once over, the notepad reveals nothing more than it already has—it's definitely new and empty. It's branded with the logo of Hooks Office Supplies, a well known chain.
The receipt comes from Hooks, as well, and shows the notepad was the only purchase. Basett mentions that the date on the receipt is the night before Alenda was found dead in her hive.
=> Investigate the crime scene
Quote the mule.
Yamashii
Doutei
Micillia
KitsuneAura
Hivestuck Captain
Alien Datemate
Offline
Micillia
Dapper Duck
Offline
Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 6:34 am
Avvisi Quills Avvisi peeked over at Philip, only a little curious as to the information about the notebook. It was not exactly a hard hitting clue. Philip could handle it. She gave Tzofia a big grin, this was so exciting! "I thought our first case would be like, robbery or something. But murder?! Jackpot!" Avvisi said unaware of the insensitivity of the comment. Hey opportunity was opportunity!
They got to the crime scene and Avvisi immediately began taking pictures. Snapshot after snapshot, flash after flash. Sure, the cops probably already had pictures of everything, but no harm in more. She took a second to remove her face from the camera to inspect the scene closer. She turned to Philip and Kwelin. "Anything catch your lookstalks?" Then to Tzofia, passing her the notepad. "Here, take detailed notes!" She instructed. Tzofia was the assistant wasn't she? Kewlin should be focusing on investigating!
Yamashii
Doutei
Micillia
KitsuneAura
quite uneventful
Posted: Wed May 29, 2019 6:06 pm
Basett wasted no time in taking the group to Alenda's Four Fronds hive once everyone agreed to move on with the investigation. With a majority of the residence silent and undisturbed, she ushered them into the respiteblock where the attack occured. It was a mess to say the least. Alenda's body was gone, but left behind was plenty of blood to say she'd been there.
"This is... where I found her," Basett said, most of the drama having drained from her voice. She sounded flat, like a new and different tealblood from the one the team had met back at their office. "Everything should still be here. The drones took photos of all the evidence, but that was it."
The respiteblock itself was large, but sparsely decorated. In the corner were two plush chairs—where Basett opted to take a seat—and a small, round table. On the opposite side stood a recuperacoon and daystand beneath a broken window. The closet door was open, revealing an impressive looking safe at the back.
=> Examine the recuperacoon
A quick glance inside the recuperacoon reveals a slurry of sopor and blood. Considering the sorry state of the coon itself, it's no surprise. The outer surface has been mutilated by strange, paper-thin cuts interspersed with larger punctures. Blood is splattered everywhere, culminating in a large, ominous puddle at the foot of the recuperacoon.
=> Inspect the window
The window near the recuperacoon is entirely broken and open to the elements, but a quick look at the carpet reveals no glass inside. It's all fallen outside. There are a few small scraps of what appears to be paper stuck to jagged glass around the edges of the window. Beyond the hive, trolls wander down the sidewalk on what is otherwise a pleasant night.
=> Check the daystand
Sitting on the daystand is a simple black leather-bound journal. It's nothing special at first glance, but on closer inspection it appears someone has torn out almost all of the pages. The pages don't appear to be anywhere in the respiteblock.
In the daystand's only drawer is a notepad branded with the Hooks Office Supplies logo. It's almost identical to the one found in Alenda's bag, but this one is full of names in blue ink followed by numbers in red. Most of the names have been crossed out save five on the last page. They read: Itison Uhmhee, Lostta Joebel, Runawa Respon, Typese Papera, and Halast Unonen
=> Investigate the closet safe
The safe inside the closet is wide open and devoid of any valuables. There is, however, a small, hidden compartment full of receipts. Many of them are for clothing and jewelry, but another good handful consists of receipts for bets placed on the hunts. The amount spent on gambling is quite high.
Avvisi Quills
