Fantasy FTK: Black Rose Detective Agency

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah shrugged.
"Sure. It'll be a helluva lot better than being partnered up with an arrogant ass."
Rheitz snorted at her comment as Delilah cupped her hand. The mouse scurried into her open palm, and let out a meek squeak when she ran her thumb over its small head.
"Come on Inspector Squeaker? Whaddya say? You're a helluva lot better than this proud bastard," she purred to the mouse, who shuffled in her palm.
Rheitz let out a small smile, "Aw. Boss, don't you think it's adorable? We should keep him."

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec smirked, and the mouse bit down on Delilah’s thumb.
“Takes an ass to know an ass, Waters.” The man laughed. The mouse jumped off of her and ran into Lautrec’s mouth.
He swallowed effortlessly. His powerfully acidic stomach would dissolve the fur and other parts.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah let out a surprised "Ow!" when the mouse sunk its teeth into her thumb, bringing the wounded digit to her mouth, sucking on the broken flesh.
She raised a fist up at Lautrec threateningly, before placing her hand on the wheel.
"For the last time, I said not to call me Lilah, Leore!" She rolled her eyes at his self-satisfied smirk.
I don't feel like arguing today and we're losing daylight fast. Let's go"

Rheitz let out a sigh in the back, glad she wouldn't have to intervene in a fight.
"You know boss...he was really cute....you didn't have to eat him."

....

St.Lucia was a rather dingy hospital and as the trio entered the stuffed lobby, they were met with the sour smell of disinfectants.
Rheitz looked around nervously, letting out a small squeak when she made eye contact with a rather broken individual.
"Sh-should we wait until those nurses are done?"
She pointed to the front desk with a long queue of individuals. An elderly elf was swearing at the nurse at the front desk.

 

[Jodyguru]

Once he entered the hospital Lautrec removed his hat.
“We are short on time. I’d be willing to take the brunt of the conflict by approaching the desk... Detective, did you bring the papers?” He asked Delilah. She should’ve gotten the warrant from the Chief like she asked.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

She pulled the warrant from her coat pocket, holding it out to him.
Before he could pull it from her grasp, she moved her hand back.
"Nah-ah, Detective. You gotta promise me you won't pull any stunts."
She was referring to the last time they had gone to investigate a case of murder at a hospital.
Lautrec had decided to dissolve himself and depart to the records room where a nurse found him and reported that a dhampir was sneaking around.
Delilah had to pay a hefty amount to bail the man out of jail and she wasn't about to do it again.

 

[Jodyguru]

“No hynotism, no gaseous shape... cause fear could clear the hall... no, okay I promise.” He sighed, taking the warrant. Thanks to his vampiric traits he had access to a short list of spells. Part of his parole meant he couldn’t use them without permission of the church. In this case, Delilah was the one who could authorize it.
He approached the front desk, while the line started griping. The old woman was taken back to her bed.
“Sir, there’s a line.” The nurse said.
“My name is Detective St. Leore. I have a warrant from Central to search medical files and storage on the property. I need to speak to whose in charge.”
“Uhh, okay. Just wait here and I’ll call someone who will escort you.”
“Thank you” he said and bowed slightly.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz hung behind Lautrec, a bit skittish at the presence of so many rough-looking individuals.
Delilah, though, looked like she was in her element.

Leaning against the front desk, she glared at back at the dwarf across the room who gave her a rather aggressive look.
"Hey, Detective. When the nurse comes back, ask if I can get a tour, would you?"

 

[Jodyguru]

An orderly arrived who would show them to the records. The Chief was in surgery, so they were to be given whatever was necessary to find for their case, within reason.
Lautrec and Rheitz were taken upstairs to the record room. By the time they reached the third floor, Lautrec felt his age. His old joints were screaming.
“Go on ahead Rheitz. I’ll catch up.” He said, rubbing his knee.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz gave him a quick nod.
"You sure you'll be okay boss? You look beat."
She frowned at his hunched figure, bending to catch sight of his face.

...

Delilah followed a nurse who had been pulled out of their break to lead her around the place.
She was an elderly dwarf, her graying brown hair twisted into a bun as she led the female detective into the small chapel they had in the back.
A line of people wound out from the door and a large piece of paper hung above the door, the words "Blood Drive" painted in brick red.

"What's the deal here Mrs. Newburt?"
Delilah thrust her chin in the direction of the chapel, digging her hands into her pockets.

The nurse shrugged.
"The blood drive we run. We've been running low on supplies and none of the hospitals from the other sectors can give us any. The higher-ups decided to organize one."

Delilah nodded.
"Can I go in?"

Mrs. Newburt nodded.
"Yeah, yeah, just don't take too long. I need to get back on my break."

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec panted and caught his breath. He wished she’d just done as he asked and kept walking. By staying he just felt like her grandfather finished playing tag with the kids too soon.
“I’m fine. You’ll understand when you’re a hundred and twenty.” He chuckled and stood upright. He followed Rheitz into a small room full of cabinets and files. The orderly said he would be watching, and they weren’t allowed to take any files out of the record room.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

The records room was rather small and dark, one small window in the corner illuminating the tightly packed drawers of files.
A small table rested in the center of the room, a single lamp sitting in the middle.

Rheitz pulled off her coat, hanging it on the back of the chair and pulling the small chain of the light, turning it on.
"Alright let's get started, Boss! Now...where are those patient files."
She made her way over to a file cabinet labeled "Private: Patient Files", gripping the sides of the container to pull herself onto the tips of her hooves to open up the highest file case.

....

It had been a couple hours since they found the files that they needed.
Godess knows how long the hospital staff had actually organized their files, but when she had found the medical file of their elf she let out a little "Oh!" before holding up the file to Lautrec.

"Found it Boss. But it doesn't look like this guy's doctor was Meyers."

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec had been spending a long time looking at one file in particular. The file read “Aida St. Leore, age: unknown, Diagnosis: Temporary Mania Associated with Traumatic Event. Released from Applegates Mental Asylum March 15th, 1544”
The incident had happened a little over five years ago, and yet it seemed like not much has changed aside from her new style.
His thoughts were interrupted by Rheitz, who dutifully found what they were looking for.
“You’re right. It seems he was diagnosed by a Dr. Heller, and yet his script was written by Meyers. Good work.” He said.
He looked over his shoulder and saw that the orderly had been called away to deal with a situation. In the brief window where no eyes were on him, including Rheitz. Lautrec slipped the Aida file into his jacket.
“I found some interesting notes in here. Apparently the hospital has a blood shortage. There’s prints of letters in here requesting help from other hospitals. Perhaps our friend Alex has been taking some supplies on his trip to the pharmacy? We should check them out.”

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz frowned.
"How could he have entered the supply room? Only authorized staff are allowed to enter that room."

She shook her head, reaching for a rather thick manilla folder.
"Anyway, if they're really having a shortage of blood, they should have a lot of patient deaths due to lack of blood transfusions," she flipped open the folder, revealing a thick stack of files on diseased patients.
"Judging from the lobby, this hospital has to deal with this kind of issue every day. Now let's see..." she flipped through a couple of the files before finally coming to a case that satisfied the cause of death.

"See this kid?"
She pointed to the name "Henry Fozz" which was written in black pen on the top of the page.
"He died of heavy blood loss. Got into a fight and bled out till he died. Apparently the hospital didn't have enough blood to give him"
After that first case, Rheitz found dozens more of deaths caused by the hospital's inability to present a sufficient amount of blood for the patient.

Rheitz had managed to find another case of death caused by the lack of extra blood when the two individuals in the room heard a voice outside the door.
"Thanks Mrs. Newburt. I'll take it from here. Enjoy your break, or what's left of it."
Delilah glided into the room, a casual smile on her face, hands stuffed into the pockets of her coat.

"So, what'd you guys find?"

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec looked up and nodded at the detective.
“Quite a lot. The hospital is short on blood, some discrepancies with Alex’s patient work up, and apparently the hospital has been requesting blood from neighboring hospitals to make up for their deficiency. How about you?”

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah's lips quirked at the question.
She pulled out a chair from under the table and slid into the seat, placing her elbow on the table.

"Same as you. Found out that the elf's doctor wasn't Meyers. Was some old dwarf named Dr. Heller. Interestingly enough, this guy's been coming to this place for a while. Apparently his parents died a while back and that's when he was diagnosed as a schizophrenic. He didn't say much though, probably because a lot of the guys in there-," Delilah made a general gesture to the lobby a few floors below them, "-are from gangs and mobs."

Rheitz frowned, tugging on her ear. "So that's why there are so many cases of death as results of fights."

Delilah nodded.
"Western sector is teaming with these goons. They live for the kill. Heck, if they don't kill for a while, they'll go out and shoot a couple from a rival gang just to start the fun all over again."

Delilah turned back to face Lautrec.
"Anyway, the lack of blood supply makes sense. They're running a blood drive down in the chapel. The blood collection is happening in a room in a different wing. Mrs. Newbury, that's the nurse that escorted me 'round the place, said that hospitals weren't sending them any blood so the higher-ups decided to hold a blood drive. When I asked her a little more about it she said she didn't really know. The higher-ups are the ones who manage the supplies in the place, apparently."

She pulled the crushed prescription paper from her pocket, smoothing it out with her hand.
Then, from her other pocket, she pulled out the same version of the prescription on a cleaner piece of paper.

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec rubbed the back of his head. “Well, a disorder like that doesn’t just appear when tragedy strikes. He either had it his whole life or they gave the wrong diagnosis. I’m leaning towards the latter. I think you’re blowing this mob control out of proportion, respectfully Detective. We know the WDPD aren’t taking dirty money. I’ve seen Toby’s apartment. This has to be a more isolated group at work. The sloppiness of Alex’s work... it’s a reach.” He lightly shrugged.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah leaned back in her chair, throwing her arm over the back.
"We also know that the WDPD isn't very good at handling cases. That's why their paychecks end up in the pockets of the Central Investigation Unit."

She rubbed her eyes, letting out a tired sigh.
"I'm just stating facts, Leore. So what do you suggest we do then? I can go to central and see if I can get the guy's file. See if there's more to his history than Rheitz got over the phone."

Rheitz glanced at the two pieces of paper on the table.
"H-how did you manage to get the same type of paper as the prescription?"
She pointed at the signature "Dr. Meyers, M.D." printed on the back of the paper.

Delilah grinned.
"I might have swiped some from his office during the tour. Thought it might be worth it figuring out what this guy was taking in the first place. I'm gonna go down later to get the pills."

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec coughed, but nodded. "Good job, team. We should leave before they start asking questions."
He felt sick, and wanted to go lay in his casket. Believe it or not, but swallowing three mice whole wasn't building him for a kind evening in his water-closet.
A phantom crossed his sights. A man and wife holding hands, passing through the wall. He held steady with his jaw clenched. Unless they reacted, he'd stay quiet, hands gripped to the chair.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz noticed the sudden rigidness that Lautrec's posture took on and she stood quickly, rushing to his side.
"Boss! You okay? You're not going into one of those spells again?"

Delilah frowned, leaning forward to wave a hand in front of his face.
"Hiya Detective. You there?"

 

[Jodyguru]

He snapped out of it and stood up. “I don’t feel very well. Please take me home.” He touched his stomach. He did look more pale than usual.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah stood, pushing the chairs under the table. She grabbed Rheitz's coat and handed it to the faun.
Jingling the keys in her pocket, she reached across the table to turn off the light.
"Alright, let's go. But we're gonna stop for dinner. I'm starving."

Rheitz grinned.
"Could we go to Cal's? I've heard the pizza's divine."

 

[Jodyguru]

“Pete Saw? Is that some new ethnic food?” Lautrec asked. They left the records room and went downstairs. He followed them back to the car. The sun had fallen behind the castle, and was dark enough for him to feel slightly less terrible.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah chuckled.
"Well, whaddya know? The great and mighty Detective Leore doesn't even know what pizza is."
She shook her head, a self-satisfied smirk plastered on her face. Delilah patted his shoulder.
"Don't worry ol' boy. You'll find out soon," Delilah said as she slid into the driver's seat.

Rheitz gave her Boss an amused smile.
"It's a little ethnic I guess. It's got dough, sauce, and cheese. If you want, you can put meat on top!"

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec looked the other way indignantly. “I was alive before electricity and everyone rode horses. Forgive me for not knowing about your specific cheese sauce food.”

They arrived at the restaurant. Lautrec excused himself to the bathroom, where he vomited a ball of fur and bone pieces.
He felt much better after that.
He took the file out of his coat and set it down on the floor of the rest room.

“Aida has been accused of stabbing her boyfriend during an argument. A pint of blood was in her stomach upon arrival. She had to be heavily sedated to stop her from biting hospital staff. Her brother Officer St. Leore brought her in as he was first responder to the scene.”

Lautrec touched the papers like they would jump up and bite him. He shuddered and put the pages away.

When he returned, food was set on their table. A round plate with the meal in question sitting on it. He sat down and sniffed, eyeing it and watching them to see how one was meant to eat this.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz pulled a slice of the tray, biting into it. Strings of cheese stretched from the triangle and she let out a satisfied groan.
"Oh Mitra, I love Carl's."
She chewed quickly, taking another bite of her slice.

Delilah grinned, taking her own slice.
"Tonight's on me. I'm in a good mood. We managed to make a lot of progress."

Noticing Lautrec's mystified face, Delilah placed a slice of pizza on the plate in front of him.
"Eat up, 'cause I don't do this often."