Slow Night's Doorstep (Open)

[Sablerose]

Calla and Greystreak more or less did the same thing: grabbed one of the criminals by the collar and dragged them out. Greystreak pulled the unconscious man that Dusty had originally punched, while Calla took her very conscious and very terrified opponent by the front of his shirt.

When all three were outside, the Druid turned to face Dusty.

I think I can get the fire under control, if not out, but I'll need to switch back to normal. Can you and Greystreak handle these goons while I'm gone?

[Dusty Dawson]

Outside, Dusty looked at the collection of criminals they had and then back to the bear that was Calla. She nodded her head and gave a thumbs up, 'Sure thing!' she thought, 'These guys ain't gonna be much a problem!'

Two of the three were somewhat conscious. The assassin, himself, was in quite a bit of pain, while the other was shaken by sheer terror. And with the wolf still hanging around, they didn't look ready to attempt to flee the scene. Dusty paced about in front of them.

"OK..." she started, "Let's have ourselves a little chat, yeah? 'Cuz you guys been up to some nasty business. That smokin' buildin' behind me's got all the proof I need. So! All I want to know is why Mr. Rathbone had go an' catch a knife the hard way?"

The assassin and is cohort shared a glance before looking back at the detective, "We're not saying anything." the assassin said.

"Hm...well, if you want to play that way, I could just have my wolf here take another bite. Bet he's still pretty hungry, too!" she turned to Greystreak, "What do ya say, boy? Wanna munch on some lowlifes?"

'Sorry if I'm bein' a little too informal.' she thought, 'But we might as well sell a solid story here. Wouldn't want 'em gettin' wise to the fact that anyone else other than me is gettin' their hands dirty.'

[Sablerose]

Not a problem, Dusty. Every now and again, it doesn't hurt to give people a reason to remember that wolves are still quite intimidating. If you will excuse me...

Greystreak advanced on the assassin, showing his teeth and licking his muzzle. He growled loudly enough that both men would hear him. If it didn't have the effect on the assassin, his friend was not made of as stern materials. Greystreak could see and smell that he had soiled himself.

Meanwhile, Calla had gone back inside the warehouse and changed once she was certain that she was out of sight of the others. Now, once again human, she prepared to do what she could to bring the fire under control. If she failed, the whole place could erupt into a blaze that could quickly spread to the other buildings.

Normally, Calla did not have to speak the spells with any particularly great volume for it to have an effect. However, the storm she summoned inside the building required a booming voice. In seconds, the volume of the ceiling of the warehouse was cloaked in dark gray clouds. Moments later, a downpour started. Everything inside was drenched, including Calla herself. More importantly, though, fire was starting to sputter under the sudden storm.

Dusty, I'm going to be here for a bit. You and Greystreak keep working on the interrogation. Grey can keep me informed.

[Dusty Dawson]

'No problem, Grey's provin' to be a master interrogator!' she thought, 'Watch yourself in there.'

Looking back at her prisoners, the assassin regarded his partner in crime with a look of disgust.

"A-alright!" he stammered, "We work for the Spider! This is one of her hubs. B-but that's a-all we know! I swear! W-we receive our orders from o-other people. Higher up! A-an order came for Rathbone. H-he'd been seen with other people. N-needed to be d-dealt with..."

Could it be another dead end? Dusty turned to look at the warehouse. It looked like a pretty important installation to whoever this Spider was. At least she could take pride in the fact that she dealt her a serious financial blow. Still, Dusty needed to climb higher up the chain, if she wanted to get to the bottom of this.

"Alright," she turned to the assassin, "who gave you the order?"

"I'm not saying another word. Sic that mongrel on me, if you wish." he looked up at Dusty a look of displeasure etched upon his face.

Dusty pulled her buck knife out from it's sheath. Crouching, she tapped the flat side of the blade against the man's forehead. "Well, that might be a good idea..." she said, "But, ya see...back home, we always did things just a bit different. We like havin' options. Gettin' the animals involved is always a fun one. But for the tough nuts...well, we just start skinnin' 'em."

It was a bluff, plain and simple. But, the two criminals knew nothing about Dusty. So, with that in mind, she leaned on them as much as she could. And so far, it looked to be working.

"I...honestly don't know....I get letters. It's in my front pocket." the assassin reached into his coat, slowly. When it came out, it clutched a crumpled envelope. Dusty grabbed it and turned to Greystreak.

'Think ya can grab a scent off this?' she thought.

[Sablerose]

If I can get past this man's sweating from fear, yes. He took a few moments and took sniffs from different angles. He barked several times, much as he suspected regular dogs did when informing their handlers in confirming an action. I've got the scent. Most definitely one that I'm unfamiliar with, but I will recognize it the next time. Dusty, might I suggest checking the other two for anything that they may have that may offer more clues?

He might have a point, Dusty. Given the amount of water I'm having to use to put out the fire, we're not likely to find a lot inside, other than maybe whatever's in a box or barrel. I'll try to grab one of those when I finish.

[Dusty Dawson]

"Thank you very much." she said, both to the assassin and to Greystreak. Folding up the envelope she slipped it into one of her pockets. With that little tidbit found, she at least had a direction to take the case in.

Whistling to herself, she went back to the wagon to procure some rope. Then, it was simply a matter of tying up her three new friends to make sure they wouldn't be going anywhere.

'And a very good point you all make. I'll frisk 'em and see if they got anything else stashed away.' she thought. as she began to rummage through their pockets, she found very little of actual interest. But, she did find a few business cards.

Leaving the remainder of the cards where they were, she fished one out surreptitiously and when the opportunity presented itself, she calmly slipped it into a pocket.

'We got about all we're gonna get outta these guys.' she thought, 'Cal, soon as your ready, we're gonna get runnin'.......and leave a few of them crates open. Wanna make sure City Watch knows just who they're dealin' with here.'

[Sablerose]

The fire was down to a few smoldering spots, but those would have little purchase, given the level of dampness remaining around the building inside. Calla dismissed the storm, and managed to grab a several bottles from different containers. They weren't large. In fact, they really did look like perfume bottles. At the moment, though, they were the only clue as to what these people had been trying to ship.

I'm on my way out, with a few samples. Where do you want to meet up, Dusty?

[Dusty Dawson]

'Now, ain't that clever of 'em...' Dusty thought, 'A few of the bottles they got in the wagon out front here oughtta convince the folks at City Watch, otherwise. So, grab what ya can and let's head on out. Meet me back at the Bard and Ballista. It's in Night's Doorstep.'

That seemed as good a plan as any. Regroup at her office and break down what they had collected for intel, so far. Dusty made a few finishing touches to her captives, before she was ready to go.

[Sablerose]

Good, I can give your hat back to you. It's not a bad look, but given that I was seen walking around in it, the less questions about the 'red-headed stranger in the hat with a wolf' the better.

To make things even harder for her to be tracked, she took the hat off and tucked it under her arm, beneath her cloak. Additionally, she Greystreak made their ways separately to the building, meeting up in a nearby alleyway. Honestly, Calla was glad that the skulking was nearly over with. Though it was interesting for a time, the whole thing was exhausting.

It'll probably be better for us, Greystreak began if I don't go in with you. I can keep my link to you open, and I should still be able to speak to Dusty if need be, now that I'm familiar with her mind. The less we're seen here, the harder it'll be to link Princess Calla and her wolf Familiar to the red-head that you mentioned earlier.

Are you sure? I hate to see you out here alone.

Nonsense! We've been in worse places in the wilderness. Besides, I'll just need a bath when we get back to the Palace.

Calla was not particularly enthused by the idea of giving him a bath so late, but it was the best way to cover up their activities. With a nod, she headed out and across the way to the building that Dusty mentioned.

[Dusty Dawson]

'Great, see ya there!' she thought.

In what was quickly becoming her most familiar territory, Dusty traveled through Night's Doorstep with ease. It was only a matter of time before she came back to the little tavern she called home.

She sat the bar and ordered herself a whiskey. After such a long evening, a stiff drink was the perfect way to wrap it all up. It was only a moment later that Calla arrived. Picking up the fresh glass, she grinned and stood to her feet.

"There ya are!" she said, "Just follow me!"

Without another word, she led her to a set of stairs that led to her apartment. The bartender paid no mind to the two as they went behind the bar and into the backroom. After all, it was not a strange occurrence for Dusty to bring her clients inside.

---

The apartment, itself, was small, but Dusty made the most of it. A bed rested by one of the two windows in the apartment. She removed the old duster and flung it, haphazardly onto the bed.

"Now!" she said, excitement tinging her voice. Her glass of whiskey, rested on the nightstand, "We get to the fun stuff! First, I'd like to see what ya picked up from the warehouse."

[Sablerose]

Calla sat on the bed, though she took care not to sit on the woman's coat. After pulling out Dusty's hat, and tossing it to her, she began to pull out the bottles she had collected. "I can't tell exact what's in them. They pretty much reeked of that perfume. Unfortunately, I can't tell what the scent is. I've never been much of one for wearing artificial scents outside of official duties. When you can change into an animal with a strong sense of smell, it's not really practical to wear it.

"In any case, how do you want to go about figuring this stuff out?" She handed one of the bottles to Dusty. "Even if they're using them to smuggle something, how do we find it past the odor?"

[Dusty Dawson]

"Well..." Dusty took the bottle, after settling her hat down on the back of her head, "I'll have to bring it somewhere, to figure out just what it is, though I got somethin' of an idea."

She took another whiff of the perfume. It certainly was strong. She walked around the room and over to a small desk that resided below the second window. Next to that portal to the outside world, a chalk board hung on the wall and next to that were a few slips of paper tacked to the wall.

On the chalk board, Dusty had written Gang Leader and drawn a question mark next to it. Below, were the words "Shops", "Docks", "Tunnels" and "Poison".

"While back, I was workin' for that guy, Rathbone." she started, as she sifted through the contents of her desk, "Hired me to find some stolen goods. Thing was, when the job was done, he looked less than relieved. Got me ta thinkin'! Who gets more worried when somethin' stolen was returned? Well, someone who was lookin' for somethin' more than what you're bein' told. So, I went pokin' 'round."

She ginned as she picked up a vial of green fluid and held it up, "Seems Rathbone had a little extra side business! He an' another shop owner had a little tunnel runnin' between 'em. This here's poison. Fella I met was able to give the nasty details. Don't have odor, so I doubt it's the same stuff we found."

Dusty walked back over to Calla and gave her the small vile, while she examined the contents of the most recent find. "Now, the product they were movin' at the warehouse musta had some funky odor if they gotta disguise it as perfume..." Dusty trailed off as she had worked her way back to the nightstand and decided to take a quick sip of the whiskey she had ordered.

[Karishima Yumi]

The warehouse was a smoking husk of its former self. Small fires still smoldered inside, throwing uneven light on the three men tied up on the road before it. The third one had finally regained conciseness, and he together with the one with a rather soggy set of britches were busy arguing about how best to free themselves before the City Watch arrived to investigate the fire. Injured and bleeding, the assassin did not join in. He had been in the game long enough to know what happened next. The only thing he was unable to figured out was if she would send another hired hand, or do the job herself.

He wished his good hand was free. He really wnated one last cigar before he went.

He heard the staccato of invisible steps long before his arguing cohorts did. He saw the shadows in the alley and the street move, condense inside the building. It wasn't until the sounds of splintering wood and crashing glass reached them that the other two men fell silent. There was a hiss, and a wave of cold -- the kinds that passed through ones clothes and skin and chilled to the bone -- flowed from darkness inside to where the were gathered outside. The shadows flowed out again, and the steps retruned.

He couldn't see her, but he knew she was there. Click-click-click-click Repeat. Exactly what he though a spider would sound like, were one the size of a human. Or larger.

The voice came from nowhere, a straggled hiss accompanied by the same cold as before. Was it darker now? He wasn't sure. He thought it was.

"Who... did.. this?" it demanded.

The other two men talked over each other as the hurried to explain. Somewhere in their story one woman morphed into a small army, a single bear and wolf into a invertible zoo. There was the sound of something large and heavy cutting through the air, followed by a muffled thump, and both men cried out in pain, their heads snapped around forcefully.

But not enough to break, the assassin noticed. She's not done with us yet.

"Speak... Farday" the voice hissed.

Farday spoke. Relayed the story his successful termination of Rathbone, of his coming here to oversee the final shipment. Of the confusion and bedlam that came next. Of the woman with accent and her animal companions... and of the other man who had gotten away scott free.

"Her... name," demanded the disembodied voice of The Spider.

"She didn't give it. I did not think to ask. It might be the same woman Rathbone hired before, but I cant be certain. I dont recall her having a wolf before. Never seen a beast so well trained either."

"A...wolf," the Spider mused. "Ah... if only I believed in...coincidences..."

Silence ensued. Farday waited. The other two men might have been holding their breath. There were certainly holding their tongues. Wisest thing they had done all night.

"You were.... always effective.... Farday. I take no.... pleasure in this. But this failure.... is spectacular. An example... must be set."

Farday heard the gasp beside him. Heard the beginnings of pleas that would fall on deaf ears. Then felt somethong tight and smooth lash around his neck. The the pressure went from merely uncomfortable to painful in a heartbeat. Then Farday felt nothing more. Ever again.

By the time the Watch arrived, dawn was well on its way. They found a burned out warehouse, the husks of several crates, and three charred bodies. The warehouse was registered as belonging to a local chemist whom, when questioned, was mortified by the accident and the loss of three of his employees. His paper work and instructions for the proper storing of the chemicals in his possession -- all inert when separated -- was handed over readily. Individually, the registered items were fundamental in the concoction of many perfectly legal items, perfume among them.

The investigation was concluded by lunch. A tragic accident, but at least the death toll was only three souls.

And so the torn web was mended.

[Sablerose]

Calla examined the vial that Dusty had given her. "You know, there are some poisons in nature which are pretty much harmless when separated into individual components, but become lethal when combined. Berries which when eaten alone are fine, but when you have the berries along with the juice from another plant, it can kill you quickly enough.

"So, what if these people are creating something similar? Ship out ingredients that no one would ever suspect as dangerous when sold normally and, most likely, legally. But when they arrive at their final destination, stored all in the same place, and, with some coming up 'missing' would allow someone to make a poison without gathering any notice."

[Dusty Dawson]

Dusty took another, contemplative, sip of her whiskey as she rolled around Calla's idea. It made sense.

"Sure." she nodded, "Bring in a whole bunch o' materials an' start crankin' out poison. Then, ya sell it off...but to who?"

Dusty looked over at her board again. Unfortunately she still only held a few pieces in her hand. The rest of the picture still wasn't all together clear.

"Gonna need to dig deeper. Meantime, we should be able to find out what's in this stuff and what it can be turned into." she said, "Then, it's a matter of seein' what else is gettin' shipped in and tracein' the lines from there."