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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Nov 8, 2009 20:25:43 GMT -5
It was a bit of a trip to Corvistowne, but Sorcha was eager to be on her way. Fetu seemed rather fond of the idea of leaving at night as well, though she wasn't about to ask why. They wanted to get a grasp of the case while the lead was hot, and so quick arrangements were made for a coach and then the trio was on the road once more. Brief snippets of conversation, mostly about their plans, dotted the silence, but mostly it was quiet. Sorcha knew she should feel tired, but her excitement over the proceedings had her heart beating hard and fast, her mind alert as she looked out the windows. All things considered, they made excellent time, and when the coach came to a halt in the area of the Corvistowne where their mystery doctor was said to reside, it was an hour or so after dawn, soft light filtering over the somewhat grungy landscape. It wasn't exactly hard to find the place, as it was off to the side, somewhat cut off from many of the other nearby houses. Sorcha glanced at her companions, looking a little nervous. Then she knocked briskly on the door, badge in hand to show the woman as soon as she opened it. It took a few minutes for the sound of movement to reach their ears, but then the door slid open and a pair of vividly red eyes peered out at them. There was a rather angry look on the woman's face for a moment, but then she spied their uniforms and badges, and it changed to one of tired resignation. The door opened a little further, the Corvistowne mix sitting back on her haunches to free up her talons, her ears flipped back in a mild sign of irritation. " Good morning, Officers,[/b]" she greeted in a soft tone, somewhat groggy with sleep. " May I help you with something?[/b]" [5/15] |
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Post by The Jenn on Nov 8, 2009 20:36:53 GMT -5
The nighttime was 'her' time and Fetu didn't feel especially tired. None of them had a Club's endurance, but she had slept until about noon that day before reporting in for work. She would have to acclimate to a different schedule eventually, she was sure, but the lateness of their scheduled meeting gave her some leniency. At least her companions stayed mostly quiet. That was an unexpected treat. The snippets of conversation weren't overly personal, either, so she participated when necessary. As the sun rose, she hunkered down further into the coach's cushions and turned her head to the wall, closing her eyes until they arrived. She didn't need to strain them unduly and the glasses would only block out so much light. Perfect darkness was such a difficult thing to achieve, and yet it was the ideal setting for her vision. Sigh. They arrived and she steeled herself for the dim light of early morning, stepping out of the coach and letting Sorcha take the lead. The girl wanted to be responsible for handling some of this situation? Fine. She had no problems with that unless something started to go wrong or needed saying. Penny should probably be the one doing most of the talking anyway, since she knew that most people took offense to her blunt speech and usually didn't have to care. This was work, though. She turned her head to look at the Esterberry. If she didn't speak up then Fetu would, but she was giving the woman the opportunity first. Her Diamond charm was one of their most useful questioning tools for this investigation. [Case Post Count: 8/15] |
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Post by Kari Muffin on Nov 8, 2009 21:15:37 GMT -5
Petunia was more than happy to leave at night. And she was more than a little used to the idea of losing sleep. After all the cramming she did to get her degree she only really slept for five hours at a time, if that. Good old school messing with sleeping patterns.
They had a lead and they had a plan. Everything was working well. And maybe they would actually be able to solve this case? It would be nice to prevent the two criminals from doing anything else to hurt the general public financially or otherwise.
She was cheerful when she hopped out of the carriage and let the glowing girl lead the way. When the door opened the Esterberry took immediate notice of the doctor's suit, rank and region.
She wasn't a pure Corvie. This made things a little easier. Sort of. It just made Penny a bit happier.
"We apologize, Ma'am if we woke you up. We're investigating a case and we heard that you possibly treated a person of interest. If you don't mind, could we ask you a few questions? We don't wish to impose but we would appreciate your help," She bowed her head apologetically. "I'm Officer Petunia, and my companions are Officers Sorcha and Fetu." She motioned to each respectively.
[5/15]
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Nov 8, 2009 22:02:35 GMT -5
Now that the door was open a bit further and Zenon was waking up more, she had a better opportunity to look the trio of officers over. All of them had a look about them that seemed to indicate that they were new to this and feeling rather jumpy. Some strange sort of mix, what must have been a Hisstor, and... an Esterberry. Great.
Her eyes narrowed slightly as the Esterberry was the one to speak up. Of course. She wasn't exactly a fan of them, finding that she'd quite gotten her fill of them during her time going to school there. She quickly masked her irritation with a smile laced with Diamond charm. "I'd be happy to see what I can do to help. Please, come in, I'll make tea.[/b]" She shuffled out of the doorway, her tail flicking from side to side as she vanished into the house.
Sorcha glanced at her companions and then shrugged, stepping in after her and following after the little touch of white at the tip of the woman's tail as it went down the hallway. Finally, they arrived at a sitting room. The hybrid didn't sit, instead glancing around the room as the doctor set about putting water on to boil in the attached kitchen. When she entered the room once more, Sorcha cleared her throat, doing her best to smile at the mix.
"We're looking for any information you might have on a Mister Pintel or Ragetti. Both are Red Corvistownes, and one of them was injured recently and we were told that you helped to treat him.[/b]" She settled back on her haunches, shuffling her wings before glancing at Petunia and Fetu, wondering if they had anything to add.
[6/15]
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Post by The Jenn on Nov 8, 2009 22:12:45 GMT -5
The whole business of investigation really wasn't Fetu's strong suit. Dealing with people... trying to convince them to share information that they might not be ready to share... the legwork was fine, alone and in the dark in the station's filing room, but actually following up on leads was already proving to be tiresome.
She nodded her head once as Penny introduced her, preferring to remain quiet in the face of a Diamond handling a Diamond. Just fabulous. At least their hostess seemed gracious, even smiling as she invited them inside so early in the morning. This might make things less difficult in the long run. Wouldn't that be welcome.
Trailing along behind the others as they entered the woman's home, she glanced briefly about her and then stood as far away as was polite in the space from Sorcha. Those damned glowing things were as bad as the kitchen lights.
"One man is a canine, terrier, while the other is a weasel," she added in a quiet voice. "They've been associated with several recent crimes throughout the city, mostly theft, and have a history of run-ins with the police. I'm sure they didn't share this when they sought treatment at the clinic."
[Case Post Count: 9/15]
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Post by Kari Muffin on Nov 8, 2009 22:21:58 GMT -5
For a moment Petunia was afraid the door would slam in her face. Was her region's reputation was going to fail her at a time like this? When the woman smiled she felt a bit of relief. Good, the woman was being cordial. This made things a lot easier.
Penny followed silently, inspecting their surroundings as she went. It was quite a nice place. Did most Corives have such wonderful taste? Brushing the thoughts away she took to standing between the chipmunk and the bat mix. Fetu did seem oddly uncomfortable with Sorcha around.
And they were handling the situation rather well. They had covered all the points and there was no need for her to say anything in addition. Perhaps they wouldn't even have to stay for tea. A smile stayed on her face as she glanced at Sorcha. For a Heart she was pretty well mannered.
The canine mix went back to watching the Corvie mix after a moment.
[6/15]
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Nov 8, 2009 22:40:22 GMT -5
It didn't take a lot for Sorcha to notice that there was something strange about the doctor as soon as they'd begun to speak. She was clearly listening to them, her head inclined at a thoughtful angle as she did, her eyes flashing brightly. The hybrid nodded in response to Fetu's additional information, glad that she wasn't the only person actively seeking information from the woman.
The Corvie mix looked at them all rather thoughtfully, her gaze lingering on Petunia for another long minute before she made a soft burbling noise. The silence was further broken by a loud whistle from the kitchen that indicated that the tea was finally ready. "Please sit down and make yourselves comfortable." She said, indicating the chairs with a nod of her head before walking back into the kitchen. She took out several cups, then as an afterthought, a tin of biscuits. They were a little stale, but that was a side effect of only being in her home every once in a while. She brought the tray back out, setting it on the table between them, looking up at the officers expectantly.
Sorcha climbed into one of the seats, accepting the offered tea with a quiet word of gratitude. It smelled lovely. "We appreciate your help, ma'am, especially your seeing us on such short notice.[/b]" She said in a cheerful tone.
The look on the doctor's face did not mimic that cheer. "Yes, well. About that. As much as I would like to help you, I'm going to have to ask you all for some official documentation of some kind.[/b]" She took her own cup of tea, raising an eyebrow. "I am the primary physician of a free clinic in the capital, that is true. However, patient confidentiality is just as important to me as it is to the larger-scale hospitals if not more so. I see dozens of people every day, and many of them are afraid for one reason or another. I've treated children on the run from abusive parents, women who have been raped and are afraid that their husbands will be angry with them for it... I don't ask questions, but I do respect that they come to me because they trust me. Do you understand how vital this trust is to my profession? If I ruin that trust, I run the risk of working in a clinic no one will use, and people who I might have been able to save could potentially lose their lives out of fear that I will give their personal information to anyone who asks for it.[/b]"
She flashed another Charm-laden grin at them, eyes bright. "Nothing personal, you understand, I just need to know that you are who you say you are and you do, in fact, have a warrant of some sort.[/b]"
[7/15]
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Post by The Jenn on Nov 12, 2009 20:29:54 GMT -5
...and then things got complicated. Damn it.
Fetu listened to the doctor's charmingly disarming explanation. When put in that light - and laced with a hefty dose of Diamond charm - it was perfectly reasonable that their badges wouldn't be enough to ensure them her cooperation. Even if they were talking about two petty criminals who had plagued the Capital's inhabitants for years, they couldn't expect the doctor to betray her patients' trust so easily. Yes, she had a point. The chipmunk found herself nodding without really realizing that she'd started.
If nothing else, she had a copy of the wanted poster in her jacket. They didn't have an "official" warrant, but this might be enough to satisfy the woman that they were performing a police-sanctioned investigation, and also more properly identify the men that they were after. She fished around awkwardly in the new jacket's pocket for a moment before withdrawing a piece of paper. Thank the Suits that she had a rodent's dexterity.
"Here is the station's wanted poster for the two men," she offered along with the paper. She fished around another moment and once again withdrew her badge. "If you took a minute to examine these, you'd also realize they're real. Just... newer." She had to explain the shine on the metal somehow.
[Case Post Count: 10/15]
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Post by Kari Muffin on Nov 12, 2009 21:53:55 GMT -5
Of course it couldn't be easy. Petunia's tail flopped lamely as she watched the Doctor speak. Right, a free clinic was filled with trouble. And they hadn't even managed to get a proper warrant to get the medical records.
It wasn't like someone would give them something out of the kindness of their own heart. She shifted as she watched Fetu speak.
Was that even going to be good enough to convince the woman? Their badages were indeed proof along with their horribly fitting uniforms. The wanted poster helped. But wasn't there still the matter of of confidentiality?
And it was another diamond. Charm could easily be matched with charm, and this mix was certainly charming. She shifted in her seat and remained silent, just looking pleasant. If she said something she could upset the delicate balance that was currently taking place.
After all she was an Esterberry in a Corvistowneian's home. She was already treading on thin ice.
[7/15]
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Nov 13, 2009 17:04:29 GMT -5
Sorcha's shock at the sudden change of pace was obvious, her green eyes widening even as her orbs dimmed somewhat. She understood completely where the other woman was coming from, and the dose of Charm that permeated her words only made that more true, but... She'd really thought that things were going to go more smoothly than this. She turned to Fetu when the chipmunk began to speak once more, and then followed her lead by removing her own badge and setting it on the table.
The Corvistowne hybrid flicked a curious glance at the young officers, quirking an eyebrow and making a quiet little burbling noise. She reached out a single talon, pulling the wanted poster to her and then nodding to herself. It was certainly official. As for the badges... Each was investigated in turn, rotated in dexterous claws until the woman seemed fully satisfied. She wasn't out to halt their investigation, after all, simply to make sure that they were the.... Real deal.
"In the future, Officers,[/b]" she said with a happy little 'gronk', her fur and feathers fluffing pleasantly as she reshuffled her wings. "I recommend that you seek some sort of documentation from your higher-ups. Many health professionals would not be satisfied with what you've shown me, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for the time being. I did treat this man, and I saw his companion as well."
She lightly clicked her talon against the wanted poster, against one face and then the other. Sorcha leaned in, the light hanging from her forehead illuminating the man's face. She glanced up at the doctor. "Can you tell us about the nature of his wounds, please?[/b]"
The woman was silent for a moment, her eyes closing. Then one opened just a crack, focusing on the Esterberry. "His ankle was badly twisted, though not broken, and he'd gotten a small scrape on it, as well.[/b]" She shifted, looking thoughtful for a moment. "It's the sort of injury I would expect to see in the case of someone who was climbing over a fence and managed to catch themselves on the top of it, followed by a rather heavy landing. Is there anything else you'd like to know?"
[8/15]
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