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Post by Kup on Apr 1, 2010 19:26:53 GMT -5
OOC: Semi-private thread. Please ask before joining.
Kup arrives in the dump as a kup truck and opens the door, waiting for Singe to get out. Once he does, the bounty hunter transforms and removes his clothes from subspace. He starts to put them on, then hesitates.
"Nah. I'll just get 'em dirty, and it ain't like no one's around."
He puts them back in sub-space and looks around.
"Let him know where we are, but that I ain't finished checking the place out yet," he says gruffly to the Nebulan as he begins to search the area for traps, bugs, and the like.
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Post by Spinister on Apr 1, 2010 20:57:07 GMT -5
Singe makes a face at being a dump. He'd say that this is no place for him, but even Spinister does a bit of dumpster diving, now and then.
Spinister already knows where they are. It would take Singe being unconscious or seriously sensorially befuddled for Spinister to not know.
Given that he's been flying under the rooflines to make aerial spotting harder, it takes him a bit longer than it normally would for him to get there. Perhaps minutes, rather than seconds.
He does make noise as he approaches. A normal helicopter would. He still lands behind Kup and transforms, apparently fine with getting his uniform dirty. Spinister drops Hairsplitter off, who is now in full armour. He gestures to Singe and tilts his head to one side. May he armour up Singe, too, or does Kup still want to keep Singe away from Spinister?
Hairsplitter starts his own bug hunt. Sigh. There are actually an awfully lot of interesting insects in a dump, not that they're what he's looking for.
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Post by Kup on Apr 2, 2010 11:23:20 GMT -5
At the sound of Spinister's approach, Kup looks up. It's natural, after all, and besides, he doesn't entirely trust Spinister.
That would be stupid.
Still, when Spinister gestures, indicating the unarmored Singe, Kup shrugs, then nods very briefly. He gets back to his search, but now that the Decepticon is here, the veteran occasionally pauses to make sure he's behaving himself. Finally, he straightens up, strolls towards the Targetmaster, and removes the case files from subspace before handing them over.
"No bugs that I could find, but your little friend might be able to spot something I couldn't," Kup says. His tone conversational, but he's watching Spinister like he would an animal that might turn on him at any moment.
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Post by Spinister on Apr 2, 2010 17:48:32 GMT -5
Someone very dear and close to Spinister once observed that Spinister isn't an animal either in form or actions, unlike some of his comrades and hunting partners. He's just cold-blooded. (Like a snake.)
But Kup can watch Spinister like an animal all he wants. Spinister doesn't bite, but he won't abuse anyone of the notion that he might.
Actually, what Spinister is doing right now is tinning Singe into his armour, in the matter of fact way that one re-assembles a rifle. He's very quick about it, and then drops Singe back off near Kup's feet. Spinister then roams the dump, seemingly aimlessly, pausing to stare at a few objects or leaf through some old sofas, now and then.
Hairsplitter completes a circuit of the immediate area, and he reports, in rather badly Nebulan-accented mainstream Cybertronian, "Nothing I can find in this little area, but it's a big place, and... uhm." He shrugs and doesn't say more.
Swamps. Leech and mosquito-infested swamps are more fun than this.
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Post by Kup on Apr 2, 2010 22:32:32 GMT -5
After Spinister takes the files from Kup the veteran starts to look around. He's already done his searching, but best to let the others do theirs as well.
"Yeah, we need to assume we're probably being watched," Kup allows at Hairsplitter's hesitation. "Maybe not, but we should assume the worse. Even so, we burn too much time jumping at our own shadows and we aren't going to manage to accomplish anything so sometimes..." he shrugs. "You deal with being watched."
He shakes his head. "This whole situation don't make no sense. At first it looks just like some sicko who gets off on hurting people." He glowers at Spinister. "I'm sure you know the type. But this 'sicko' seems to have eyes, ears, and contacts everywhere!"
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Post by Spinister on Apr 3, 2010 11:23:54 GMT -5
Spinister hands off the files on arson to Singe, the files about the details of stomach contents and other such intimately organic issues to Hairsplitter, and the remainder he keeps for himself. He reads an awful lot faster than his partners, so once he finishes, he goes back and rereads their articles as well.
He replies, almost absently, "Mmm. Yes. Was bringing an Autobot sociopath to justice before I was pulled here."
It's really unclear whether or not Spinister means that as an entirely innocent response, if Autobot sociopaths in need of justice are really the first thing Spinister thinks of when people mention sickos who get off on hurting people, or if he is instead making a sly jab at Kup's assumptions about the company Spinister keeps in exchange for that glower.
And so maybe Kup could do a rough ballpark date on Spinister's pull time now. Except he didn't name names, and Carnivac's not the only non-Decepticon who enjoys tearing people apart.
Hairsplitter explains, "According to an old plainclothes, who may or may not be a reliable source, this case has been going on longer than Pritie - the insectoid - has been the contact. Seems like most of our department want the case to stay dead. There were snipers on the roof, aimed at us. We almost were shot! Puts that 'hint' to take the back door in a bit of a different light. Also the crack about expendable rookies. Though I do wonder if the snipers weren't also for the 'waitress'. Did you get that phonebook?"
Hairsplitter pauses before continuing. "But it has also been implied that someone dear to someone powerful was killed by this creep, and that someone powerful leans on the department to keep the case open. I am thinking it might be Weveil, but again, I cannot be sure."
"We are, to borrow a turn of phrase, caught between Scylla and Charybdis - powerful people want this case closed, nailed shut, encased in concrete, and thrown off a pier. Other powerful people want it solved."
Hairsplitter talks a lot more than Spinister does.
Singe complains, "I don't get where the arson fits in. Who goes from setting things on fire to torturing people to death over the course of a few days? Arson is random and chaotic! It leaps and spread with the wind. Torture is specific."
"Speaking of specific, Pritie just happens to be able to front the money that it took most of his life to save for a hired gun the day that Tweety Jill's disappearance is published?" Hairsplitter adds, shaking his head.
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Post by Kup on Apr 3, 2010 18:46:40 GMT -5
"That's because it's not his money," Kup admits, letting the remark about Autobot sociopaths pass for the moment. "He's pretending it is, but this isn't a matter of some bug trying to clear a guilty conscious." He paces a few feet, then pauses and rubs his chin. "Hnh. Good point about the timing, though. If I were to try to figure out who's funding this operation," and Kup intends to, "I'd start by looking at folks who have an interest in her survival."
He turns towards the others and removes a heavy book from subspace. "And yes, I got the phonebook." He opens it up and starts to thumb through it. "Haven't had a chance to look over it, though, and they don't organize these blasted things by phone number first."
He looks over at Singe. "So you're thinking maybe these are two different guys, two different cases?" He hmphs softly. "Does seem more likely than a sudden change in MO."
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Post by Spinister on Apr 3, 2010 20:46:21 GMT -5
Spinister stares. He does that a lot. He doesn't even stare at Kup, this time. He just stares at a random old milk bottle, right now. It makes it hard to tell when he's staring at something important and when he's just staring.
Hairsplitter suggests nervously, "What if it isn't people who are interested in her survival who hired you and who prompted the department to get back on the case? I'm not sure that they're even the same people, but," he pinches the bridge of the nose on his armour, "what if the people who set us on this case are the killer or killers and just want to make their game more amusing?"
Singe snarls and points a finger at Hairsplitter, "You're speculating, and that's not going to get us anywhere. That temple across town. We should check that out."
"We need a plan first," Hairsplitter sniffs.
Singe looks back up at Kup, and he asks, "I mean, maybe there was a torturer in the gang of arsonists that they rounded up, back then, but as a layman? The cases don't sound connected, to me. But who gains from suggesting that they are?"
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Post by Kup on Apr 5, 2010 9:52:05 GMT -5
"That's what we're missing as a whole," Kup grunts, paging through his phonebook. He doesn't really expect to find what he's looking for, but he has to look just in case. "Who benefits? Who benefits by letting a torturer, an arson, or both run loose? Who gains if they're captured - gains enough to make it worth going through all this nonesense?" He growls softly. "It's no coincidence that the bounty hunter and rookie put on this case are both newcomers to the planet, I'll lay odds on that, at least."
"As for a plan, don't know about you, but mine is to finish looking through this damn thing, play this sicko's game long enough to find out what the hell is at Dawson's... maybe see if anyone back at Silver's who's willing to talk is willing to share anything about the temple. As long as this has been going on, somebody got to know something, but I'm guessing it'll take getting someone good and drunk to get them willing to say anything, and it's not like we got a whole helleva lot of time."
Because Kup still intends to find these guys while the reporter is still alive.
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Post by Spinister on Apr 8, 2010 16:49:53 GMT -5
Hairsplitter, with a completely straight face, suggests, "Someone who thinks those people really do deserve to die for being immoral."
Singe growls and makes it sound like a threat, "Speculation, again."
Spinister wishes his Nebulans would shut up. He stalks about, sometimes pausing for long moments. He doesn't want to just blindly follow Kup around, for all that this is Kup's case. This could be a strange and elaborate Autobot ruse. But... he touches and badge and sighs, admitting, "Have to avoid anyone wearing this. Tried to kill me."
Singe snorts, as if that is terribly funny, "Imagine that, someone trying to shoot you after having just met you!"
Spinister stares down at Singe blankly.
If he really needs something run down at the department, he can try asking Barricade, but it's not like Spinister actually trusts Barricade. That would be dumb. He wonders if he should warn Barricade. Hmm...
Ugh. What can he do? Spinister doesn't want to just be passively led about! He wants to go where he agrees it is a good idea! Spinister rubs the back of his helmet staring off at the distance - actually, at a seagulloid - and thinks.
"Look up Tweety Jill's number. Residence, too, if it's listed."
The killer's not that dumb, is he?
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Post by Kup on Apr 8, 2010 22:12:32 GMT -5
Kup listens closely to the banter between the guns, though he maintains a fairly convincing air of disinterest as he continues to search through the phone book.
"No Tweety Jill, but I get the feelin' that's a pen name. The article about her disappearance says something about the police doing everything they can do to find a 'Ms. Hale,' so I'm thinking that must be her last name. Lotta Hales, though." Then his optics flare bright and widen. He mutters a quick curse in guttermouth Darkmount - that's one handy dialect for swearing, Kup has to admit - then looks up at Spinister.
"I found the number, though, and the address that goes with it. The name attached to it is K'ire. K'ire Hale."
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Post by Spinister on Apr 10, 2010 15:53:36 GMT -5
It is entirely possible that it was not Tweety Jill's number that Spinister was handed.
Possible.
He grunts, "If the killer was dumb enough to leave the phone on, and it is a mobile, and he," well, he or she or they or it, but the dialect he's speaking doesn't account for those alternatives terribly well, "kept it near where he or Tweety Jill is, we could do a proper phone trace and triangulation."
The problem, there, is that Kup's going to want to have his people do it.
Wait. Is that a problem at all? Spinister doesn't want to explain what he's doing to his own people.
But... that is probably a little premature, he has to admit.
Spinister crosses his arms across his chest and looks away, something his Nebulans unconsciously mimic, though none of them are looking the same way.
"Fffine," Spinister manages to hiss out somehow. 'kay. He'll go along with Kup's stupid plan and probably get shot.
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Post by Kup on Apr 11, 2010 8:13:18 GMT -5
It's entirely possible that it's not Tweety Jill's number, but it's still a connection worth checking out.
At Spinister's words, Kup shrugs and asks, "Yeah, but who would we trust with something like that?" It's not like 'Kup's people' are currently the most upstanding of citizens.
The veteran continues, "Anyway, there's an address listed with that number. I don't expect to find the killer himself there, but I'm thinking it might be worth checking out first." And it nicely puts off having to go back and talk to 'Kup's People' for a while, too.
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Post by Spinister on Apr 11, 2010 16:50:03 GMT -5
"You don't trust your troops? Or you don't have the troops for a simple phone trace?" If Spinister could be wearing a slag-eating grin, he would be, right now.
Spinister mentally reviews what kind of excuses he'll need to make such that he can legally enter a residence without a warrant. (They didn't so much give him training as run him through the basic physical exercises, a psychological battery, and then had him download a copy of the legal code. He thinks it is one of the worst things he has ever read, and he's read reports written by Octopunch. Ugh. It's not too searchable, either, but if they're getting there at Kup's pace, he should have the time to find his loophole.)
Spinister nods once, sharply, feeling oddly grateful to Kup for the reprieve, but he supposes that he shouldn't.
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Post by Kup on Apr 11, 2010 17:51:42 GMT -5
Kup shoots a glare at Spinister. "I trust the Autobots just fine! But here, I'm mostly mixing with a different crowd, and I'd just as soon keep the 'Bots out of that as much as possible," he growls. Then he adds, calmer, "But if we run out of other leads or it takes too long, I will go ahead and talk to them - after all, a life's at risk."
Kup transforms into vehicle mode and starts to drive off before hesitating. He grunts. "Do we want to stick together for the trip, or split off?"
Singe and Hairsplitter can ride in the cab, and Spinister can go in Kup's bed!
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