Sorry, I was a bit... distracted.
Lol newfag.
Yeah, just passed my exams a few months ago. You from around here? You look familiar. No, don't tell me, I'll figure it out. Gotta work the memory muscle, that's important.
You're waiting for the bus?
Yep, saving up to buy a car, but until then I ride the bus with the plebs.
No, Donny, you are the plebs.
Could be worse. At least cops ride free.
When you ride for free, YOU RIDE WITH HITLER
You look pretty engrossed on your phone there.
I guess I am. You ever play Trollgate? It's like digital crack. I created a character when I was 16. They got me hooked for life.
Trollgate was also mentioned before in Blackwell. The ghost girl from Epiphany played it.
I couldn't help but overhear that argument you were having...
Nobody. You didn't see me with anyone.
Sorry to tell you, but I did see you arguing with someone.
Shit. I mean, crap. Damn it, Vicki, why do you have to screw up everything? Don't tell anyone, okay? I'll never hear the end of it.
Is Vicki really the neighborhood nut?
Who said that? Was it Vinny? Fucking Vinny. *Sigh* Of course, he's not wrong, is he?
Is it true Vicki's family turned against her?
Turned against her? Who said that? I haven't turned against her.
Wait, you're related to Vicki?
Fine, now you know. She's my sister. I'm not trying to make a big deal out of that, okay? Vicki's been nothing but trouble ever since she got shot.
Vicki was shot? By, um, whom?
Hey, you okay? Your eye is twitching. It was during the Eternox Club shooting. You heard about that, right? It was a massacre.
Surely you mean A TRAGEDY
You know how one person got out alive? That was Vicki. The perp got her in the shoulder. Vicki still isn't clear what happened. But whatever went down... it messed her up in the head.
Vicki is... messed up? How?
That's just it! We don't know. She just got WEIRD. Angry all the time, twitchy, paranoid.
Sounds like she's a regular at GD.
She keeps bothering people with questions. Trying to solve cases that we closed a long time ago.
What cases did Vicki try to reopen?
Just tragedies. That's all they are. Each of them. Just a tragedy.
sigh
If Vicki is such a problem, why don't you stop her?
She's a Santina. That name still carries some weight around here. At least, until she takes it too far. Which she will, the way she's going.
You sound almost ashamed of her. Your own sister.
Hey man, you think I haven't tried talking to her? Tried to get her counseling? Whatever? She won't LISTEN. I feel bad for her, but she's gone somewhere none of us can follow. I'm not getting dragged down with her. And that's a fact. If she wants to live in Vinny's crap basement, that's her business.
yep, definitely a 'dexer
Vicki lives under Vinny's bar?
Yeah, since her severance package ran out, that's all she can afford.
So a brother and sister are both cops?
You'd think Codexia would know of this.
All of us Santinas are cops. Our dad, grandpop, my two big brothers. It's a family thing. At least, until now.
NEPOTISM
There's a dead body around the corner.
Janey's on that one, isn't she?
It's a... tragedy. That's all it is.
Yeah, yeah.
See you around, officer.
Right, see you.
Straight into the lion's den.
120th Precinct - your old haunt - makes you feel at home again.
Cozy. Taking a look around,
Photos from the old days. You recognise [I like the sudden appearance of -ise here when everything else is kwanisms] some of the cops, looking very young.
Is that still the same plant that Frank pissed in back in 2012? Ugh.
As for the woman behind the desk,
What was this woman's name? It's is [sic] on the tip of your tongue. Jackie? Joan?
Sorry. I thought you looked a bit familiar. But no, it was just a trick of the light.
I used to live in the area. Maybe I saw you around.
Really? You must have lived here long ago. I thought I knew everybody. Either that or I'm losing my touch. In any case, while I'd love to chat I have a mountain of paperwork to get through. Unless there's something else I could help you with?
What do you do here?
Captain Joy Harrison, at your service. Filling out paperwork a specialty.
You'd think a kaptin would be in another office and not sitting at the front desk like some common clerk?
You're captain? What happened to Captain Lapuda?
You knew Guy Lapuda? He retired. I stepped in. Inherited all his paperwork. I always meant to send him a thank-you gift for that. A bouquet of cacti should do the trick.
I saw a woman named Vicki arguing with a cop outside.
Dammit, Codexia, you were supposed to keep your mouth shut!
*Sigh* Is she bothering my officers again? That woman just can't let things go.
Could you tell me about Vicki?
What's to tell? She used to be one of my finest detectives. Now she's not. I feel for her, I really do. But until she gets the help she needs, she needs to stay out of our way. Now, unless that's all...?
Vicki needs help? What kind of help?
MENTAL help. The kind you need a PhD to prescribe medication for. She refuses to get it. And it's only making her condition worse. Heaven helps those who help themselves, as they say. It's out of my hands.
About Vicki...
I do not gossip about my officers, even suspended ones. Please take your idle speculation elsewhere.
Because you haven't done just that right now?
So long.
Well, if you'll excuse me, I have Mount Paperwork to climb.
Seems we are out of leads.
Or are we?
TIME FOR AN INVESTIGATION!
By which I mean more datamining.
I asked you to leave.
Is Vicki really the neighborhood nut?
Neighborhood NUT? You've been talking to Vinny? Look, she's... going through a rough patch, no question there. But you can't talk about cops that way. Suspended or not. It's about respect.
You did not seem very respectful when you spoke to Vicki yourself.
shots fired
That's different. I'm a cop.
butthurt detected
Is it true Vicki's family won't speak to her?
Yeesh, word gets around, doesn't it?
Sure does.
You think it's easy for the Santinas? They're a cop family to the bone. Going back a hundred years at least. Getting suspended like that had to be a blow.
Doesn't matter. You don't turn away from your family.
I won't argue there, but in Vicki's case, I think it was mutual. Her folks had their anniversary barbeque last month. Vicki was there. Things went down. It wasn't pretty.
Anniversary BBQ? This is just getting silly
Also, wanna bet all this anniversary/last month talk is gonna lead to the code to Vicki's basement's being the date of the anniversary?
About that BBQ last month...
Like I said, it was for her folks' wedding anniversary. I don't know what went down, but the neighbors had to call the cops. Which, as you can imagine, made things a bit awkward at the next briefing meeting.
Suspicious!
The investigation continues.
(yep, we're just gonna talk to everyone until we get the solution, gud adventure game)
Heya.
I heard Vicki lives in your basement.
Yeah, I never use the room so I rent it out sometimes. The door's got a keypad lock, but since I let the renter choose the combo, there aren't any problems. Having Vicki down there is awkward as hell, but what can I do? Let her live in the street? As long as she uses the alley entrance and doesn't bother my customers, we don't have a problem.
Is Vicki home?
She's never home. She only comes home to sleep. What she does all day is her business.
Can I take a look around Vicki's room?
Um, no? What a thing to ask. Why would I let you do that?
Vicki's... situation is my fault. I want to help her.
Whatever you think you did, you can't blame yourself. Vicki's situation ain't anyone's fault but Vicki's.
We REALLY need to get down into Vicki's room.
And why would I let you do that?
Your wife was murdered, Vinny. We're trying to solve it.
She was... a tragedy. That's all it was, a tragedy. Stop trying to make this more than it is.
Something is going on here, and we want to get to the bottom of it.
You sound as crazy as Vicki. Nothing is "going on". It's just... a tragedy. That's all it is.
Oh shut up.
NEXT!
We heard about a family barbeque?
See? That's the kind of crap I'm talking about. My parents do a BBQ every summer for their anniversary, all the neighborhood cops go. So of course Vicki has to show up and cause a scene. Gets into a screaming match with Captain Harrison. I mean, THE CAPTAIN. They almost threw hands. I get that Vicki went through... a lot, but you just dont do that.
Doooooooooon't do that!
at a family BBQ
See you around, officer.
Right, see you.
NNNNNNNEXT!
START TALKING, KAPTIN
Is it true you and Vicki got into a fight at the family barbeque?
I find the entire premise of a total stranger walking around asking this question completely ridiculous.
*Sigh* Everyone's a gossip, aren't they? Yes, it's true. It was my fault, I shouldn't have risen to her. But Vicki has... a way. She gets under your skin. Needling you until you snap. Useful on the job, not so much in civilian life.
What did you argue about?
*Sigh* You might have noticed she's been acting... erratic. So she was asked specifically not to come to the party. She came anyway.
lol
She took a handful of the party invitations and burned them on the grill. I've never seen anything so petty in my life.
THIS IS WHAT ALL THE BUTTHURT IS ABOUT?
So I tried to make her leave. She was looking for a fight. I almost gave it to her, I should have known better.
So long.
This gives us new info to go on, however.
Hey there, Eli.
Could you fire read something for me?
Sure, what do you need?
Vicki burned something at the family barbeque. Can you see it?
Sure, just a sec.
June 18th. Wanna bet that's our key to Vicki's room?
Seems pretty typical as these things go. I used to host a bunch of backyard barbeques myself, back in the day.
Course these days I wouldn't even need to buy fuel.
Let's put in "0618".
"Beep" goes the green light.
And the way becomes open to us. What would lie beyond? Time will tell.
Also, as a general service announcement, this LP will have to go on a short hiatus until I fix my monitor or get a new one, cuz this replacement I'm on right now isn't very good for LP purposes.
Until next time.