Chapter Text
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APRICOT PIDIEU: She holds up a small packet of paperwork, a cheque paperclipped to the top. "His bail was paid. A cheque from "White Rose Distribution" was dropped off for him."
"Did you see who dropped it off?"
APRICOT PIDIEU: "Some lady. She was dressed nice, looked like a business woman.” When you don’t take the packet from her, she slips it back into a folder to be sorted later. “She didn't leave any details, she just came and got him. No idea if that was a family member of his or what."
ENCYCLOPEDIA - [Success]: White Rose Distribution... Wait. This is a bit of a leap, but…
"The logo for Saint-Batiste is a white rose."
PERCEPTION (SMELL): I smell a shell company.
LOGIC: That's probably Apricot's perfume.
ENCYCLOPEDIA: Saint-Batiste is one of the royally ordained monopolies-- an indotribe. The lack of a king in Revachol has made their rule over Revachol's pharmaceuticals unstable. There is no guarantee they will survive inter-isolary integration and democratization at the hands of the Coalition.
Kim and Jean both stare at you, waiting for you to elaborate. You fish a blister pack of droumine out of your pocket and show the logo to Apricot. "Did the lady have anything on her that looked like this logo? The white rose?"
APRICOT PIDIEU: Apricot squints at the packaging. "Mmn, no, she was just in a suit. If she did have a logo on I didn't notice, sorry."
DRAMA - [Success]: You expect our villain to be labeled like a political cartoon character? Come now, sire.
KIM KITSURAGI: "I see what you're suggesting, detective." He nods, looking at the blister pack thoughtfully. "It’s not *too* far-fetched. We would need to follow up on this very carefully." He turns to Jean. "Could you get me in touch with Mr. Heidelstam, officer?"
JEAN VICQUEMARE: "Was thinking the same thing." He's already making his way back to their office to call Trant on the landline.
TRANT HEIDELSTAM: Special consultant Trant Heidelstam was only too eager to come over when he heard his own investigation skills were being requested. After getting the gist of things from Jean, he arrived at Kim’s desk later that day with a heavy stack of records, print-outs and photocopies.
SAVOIR-FAIRE: This guy has an awful lot of off-hand knowledge about what brands and companies are owned by what conglomerates. Not to mention the political influences these companies have all been trying to exert over the past few years.
TRANT HEIDELSTAM: “This was a very interesting rabbit-hole you sent me down, gentlemen.” He pulls out a few pages of compiled newspaper cut-outs regarding business mergers. “Your hunch, if you’ll excuse the term, was correct, Harry. White Rose Distribution *was* a subsidiary of Saint-Batiste Pharmaceuticals. It was purchased by the Ubi company Herald S&H last spring. You’d think that was the end of it, but,” He pulls out a full page print out from the trading magazine Stock-aid, and reads the headline out loud: “‘Wild Pines Loses Pharma Distributor Despite Bidding The Most’. Wild Pines has been trying to absorb Saint-Batiste to expand into medical supply for years now. But Saint-Batiste has been resisting a merger.”
KIM KITSURAGI: You look over at the lieutenant. He’s been scribbling these names into his notebook, but you can tell he’s beginning to lose the trail Trant is trying to leave for him. “Have they ever given a reason for why they rejected a merger?”
TRANT HEIDELSTAM: “Oh sure,” He circles a part of the magazine print-out with an expensive looking metal pen, “Some stuff about wanting to maintain their cultural identity as one of the original companies that served under the suzerain.”
LOGIC - [Success]: Everything that happened in Martinaise this spring was a result of Wild Pines cracking down on drug smuggling in the harbor using their resources.
SUGGESTION: If we’re running with the hypothesis that Saint-Batiste is behind the production *and* distribution of Hunch, then not wanting to merge with a company that wants to stifle drug smuggling makes perfect sense.
“Trant, who owns Herald S&H? You said they’re an Ubi Sunt? company?”
TRANT HEIDELSTAM: He grins and points at you. “I know exactly where you’re going with this, detective Du Bois.” Another set of papers are pulled out that you hope you won’t have to read yourself, “Herald S&H *was* a small, domestic shipping company in Ubi Sunt?, but over the past five years it has been adding more inter-isolary connections to its network. All of these bases are medical supply related.” One of the pages he extracted is a list of medical distributors-- some familiar names on the page, brands you’ve seen at Frittte. “White Rose is the latest acquisition, but not the only one affiliated with Saint-Batiste.”
JEAN VICQUEMARE: “So,” He finally emerges from the stupor Trant’s barrage of information put him in, “It’s looking like Saint-Batiste has been pushing Hunch into Jamrock with these guys after Wild Pines shut down smuggling in Martinaise.”
KIM KITSURAGI: “We definitely do not have enough evidence to press charges on a pharmaceutical company of that size.” He sighs and lets his pen fall from his hand onto his notebook. “We caught one dealer, and he’s probably been cut off from any further contact with whoever was paying him.”
INLAND EMPIRE: They bailed him out just to keep him from talking to you guys any longer. This was enough to scare him away from the scene for good.
TRANT HEIDELSTAM: He nods slowly, though his smile doesn’t falter. “I did a lot of homework, but even all this wouldn’t hold up much in court.” He pats his stack of documents, “I’m not a professional investigator, I can only do so much.”
“This was more than we could have hoped for, Trant. Thanks, big dog.” You snap your finger guns at him.
TRANT HEIDELSTAM: Receiving a gesture of camaraderie from you has delighted him. He snaps a single finger gun back at you and winks.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY: You know, I’ve always liked this guy. We should party with him sometime.
ENCYCLOPEDIA: Agreed.
Trant lingers for a bit longer to expand on any of the details he brought up, but eventually leaves you and your team with his pile of info. You move it all to your office. Later, over boxes of take-out, you discuss your next move with Kim and Jean.
KIM KITSURAGI: As thorough as he likes to be, even he looks daunted by the amount of information Trant left you.
ENDURANCE: There is no chain of events that could get you to actually read all of that.
JEAN VICQUEMARE: He’s been chewing the same bite of food, deep in thought, for several minutes. Eventually, he swallows and speaks up.“Yeah, this would require an investigation deeper than our jurisdiction covers if they’re using off-shore accounts.” He pauses, then plucks his sunglasses off your desk. “I think I can get *someone* to pick up this thread for us, though.”
ESPRIT DE CORPS: Guillame Motherfucking Bevy.
AUTHORITY: But he left the team nearly a year ago… Would he ever work with you again?
“You’re still in touch with G-Bevy?”
JEAN VICQUEMARE: “I am,” He nods, “We talk, sometimes. If he doesn’t want to pick this up, he’ll know some other journalists who will. And frankly, I’m ready to hand this case over to anyone else.”
KIM KITSURAGI: It’s subtle, but you see him nod.
EMPATHY - [Success]: He doesn’t like admitting that a case has become too much for him, but going after the same company that makes the medication he takes intimidates him.
KIM KITSURAGI: “It would be nice if we could move on from this.” He admits, “I work for the homicide department, not drug enforcement. It would be nice to get back to murders.”
JEAN VICQUEMARE: Jean gives him a look, smirking.
KIM KITSURAGI: “Well, not ‘nice’. But. You know what I mean.” He stuffs the last bite of food in his mouth to finish the thought.
INLAND EMPIRE: People have not stopped killing other people while you’ve been on this hunt. You can leave this trail to another pack.
ESPRIT DE CORPS: You have a good team with you. C wing is re-building under your watch. Kim and Jean balance each other out. The three of you are expected to be willing to die for each other. With the air cleared between all of you, you truly feel it now.
CHESTER MCLAINE: He squints at you, puzzled. “Uh. Yeah, Mullen. That’s what I’m talking about.” He points at you with a growing smirk, “Waitaminute, are you saying you *just* figured out that Vic and Kitsuragi are banging?”
“Wh-!” You spread your arms as if you were presenting the scarcity of evidence for their relationship. “Yes! How the fuck did *you* figure it out, smartass?”
CHESTER MCLAINE: It takes a moment for his chuckling and condescending tsk tsk tsk to subside. He shakes his head. “To think! The Human Can-Opener is asking *me* for tips on how to read his closest compatriots.”
AUTHORITY - [Success]: God, he can be such a twat when he gets like this. Remind him that he’s just a sergeant.
You don’t say anything to him, just give him a stern look. Your eyebrow arches with Kitsuragian authority.
CHESTER MCLAINE: He coughs and shies away from your glare, busying himself with picking at his fingernails. “Maybe they were more careful around you. I’m still surprised you didn’t notice. Kitsuragi has driven Jean to work at least once a week for the past few months. Jean drops everything if Kim needs so much as a paper clip. Kim makes tea for Jean and *no-one else* in the office. Y’know, lots of little things like that. It just started adding up.”
CHESTER MCLAINE: “Oh,” He holds up a finger and interrupts himself, “I also caught Jean giving Kim a handy in the locker room a while ago. That one made things pretty obvious.”
You don’t know what to make of the thought of Kim getting jerked off in the locker room.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Right? That’s not enough detail. How much did he see? Did they only do hand stuff? How big is Kim when fully erect? Because you’ve only seen him flaccid a few times and it’s cold in the locker room. How was *Jean* capable of seducing anyone?
ESPRIT DE CORPS: It had started as an innocent massage, honest. Kim was storing an awful lot of tension, and Jean has strong hands…
ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Woah, blue boys! Keep going.
VOLITION: Can you bank this one for later? You still owe this guy a case of beer and we need him to forget about it.