#ch2rots

[tandemmachinations]

>check out the bloody wooden stake

Not wanting to walk into the same joke three times, Chase does not ask Griffin if this is the murder weapon, and instead tries something more tactful.

"Any noteworthy results on this thing?", he asks as he gets out a plastic evidence bag of appropriate size.

"What thing?" was his response.

"The stake, genius. The one that’s already marked as evidence."

"Oh. Tested positive for fingerprints, but only those of the victim, I’m told. You should also know that it was in the guy’s throat when we first arrived"

Chase makes a sort of “yeesh” noise as he pockets the bagged stake. “At any rate, this item is definitely suspicious. I’ll have to remember this…”

"Wait, suspicious? That’s a hell of a way to put it."

"It’s a sort of cop lingo, kid.", Chase said, turning the tables of condescension. "See normally I advance my logic by connecting clues with each other. But sufficiently ‘suspicious’ objects can be connected to clues in much the same way as other clues can."

"…Then how is that not just a clue? Can’t you just say the stake is a clue?"

"Well, no. The stake is actually in my inventory. That means I could theoretically use it for multiple different connections, since it doesn’t get ‘expended’ afterward. I can also present it to people right away, and if the situation demands, I can actually use it. You know, as a stake."

"Ugh. I can’t wrap my head around the arbitrary bureaucratic loops you folks jump through". Griffin presumably shakes his head. "Whatever, if you need to pitch an emergency tent with that piece of evidence, go right ahead."

[tandemmachinations]

>investigate the chalk outline

"This is where the body was found, right?"

"Wow. You are really on a roll with this". It's a good thing his tone is so overt in its sarcasm, since reading his face isn't an option.

There's some mild blood splatter around the outline, and the position of the outline is that of someone slumped against the wall. Nearby is a [bloody wooden stake] with an evidence marker by it.

[tandemmachinations]

>talk to the.... invisible man?

"Hey, you". Chase tries to pick his words carefully. "Are you, like, invisible?"

"Exemplary powers of deduction", he replies. "Seems they’ve sent a real pro".

"Alright, smartass, is there a reason you’re here besides being a pain?"

"Forensics. The district sent a team up here to investigate. Most everything they could do on-scene got finished up, so they bagged the body and took him off for a proper autopsy and left me here so that the detective wouldn't be out of the loop whenever he showed up".

"…So, you’re police personnel?”

"Mark Griffin, Boston’s own invisible toxicologist" he took out his ID card to verify his credentials. "Surprised you haven’t heard of me before"

"Hmph. I could say the same".

"Anyway, if need any questions answered about what the labbies have already come up with, I’m here. Other than that just have a look around yourself"

[tandemmachinations]

>well investigate the crime scene then

Chase knocks on the main door loudly until a butler answers. Before snooty-looking gentleman gets a chance to say anything, Chase is demanding to be directed to the crime scene. The butler complies.

The room he's led into appears to be a dining room, the long fancy kind with the long fancy tables in them. The table in question is not the longest he's seen, and almost seems disproportionate to the room, maybe about 15 feet. The only seats with anything set around them are few on one end, and there's a considerable mess there as well. One the longer wall opposite to the one he entered from, Chase can make out a [chalk outline], and a figure leaning on the wall nearby it.

The first thing Chase noticed about the guy was his clothes: a simple jacket, a plain undershirt, and unremarkable denim jeans. However, as was immediately apparent, there's wasn't anything else to notice. Just a few articles of clothing, stood up like the person wearing them wasn't there. If it weren't for the movement in response to his entry, he might not have even thought it to be a real person.

"Ah, that ought to be the detective. Took long enough..." His voice definitely sounded like someone who had authority to be here.

The butler leaves quietly, leaving Chase to his devices.

[tandemmachinations]

>ask the robolawyer about her involvement in the case

Chase is not presently in the mood to backtrack through the woods for another ten minutes to find someone who might not be there when he arrives and ask them something he basically already knows.

He came here to see this crime scene and so help him, he is not going to cross that bridge again until he’s seen the crime scene.

[tandemmachinations]

>head to Chateau

As Chase leaves the modest jailhouse, he spots someone familiar by the statue in the town square, dressed in the same suit as when he last saw her.

“Hey”, he calls out. “Aren't you that robot lawyer from last week?”

“Oh, hello Detective Chase!” she responds rather cheerfully.“I imagine you must be here for much the same reason I am”

“…What, you mean the murder?” he asks.

“Right! I’m here to give Ms. Dublanc legal support, if it’s needed”

“I didn’t know lawyers could be so versatile. I mean, aren’tyou supposed to specialize in one field? Contract law or criminal defense orwhatever?”

“That may be the case for normal human lawyers, but I’m afeat of modern engineering! I’m backed up with enough microprocessors to—”

“Right, right, I saw you in action already. Who exactly is, uh… responsible for you, ifyou don’t mind me asking?”

“I do not! Mind you asking, I mean” she said with her eyes bright. Well her eyes were always bright, what with the LED backlights in them, but they seemed to shine just a bit brighter. “This unit is an L-14 ‘humanoid conversation drone’, a one-of-a-kind product, intellectual property of Luciano Labs” She withdrew a business card with anuncharacteristically mechanical arm motion. “Please feel free to visit this address and see what other brilliant innovations are available!”

“Luciano, huh?” Chase mumbled, looking over the card. “…Wait,as in Maxwell Luciano? I think I know him! We haven’t talked in over a year…”

“Well, all the more reason to find the time to visit”, she grinned “But Ifigure you have more pressing matters to attend to?”

“Ah, right. Well then, I’ll see you around, miss…”

“It’s Lia! Don’t go forgetting it, alright?” she smiled, a green glow through the slits in what could only be called hereyelids.

“Is that your first or last name?”

“………?”

“…Alright, nevermind” Chase said, then turned to leave.There sure were a lot of locations he could visit now. He considers writingthem down somewhere for organization purposes. Although he can’t image Maxwellbeing of any relation to the case, it might be a good nostalgia trip for whenthe investigation lulls.

Now, where was he…

After a gloomy but uneventful hike, Chase finds himself at the front step of “Chateau DuBlanc”, a three-story building as grand and luxurious as its owner, in the midst of a gloomy and otherwise featureless forest.

There is a large and impressive [front door] in plain view, as well as a small [garden] on either side of the steps to the porch.

[tandemmachinations]

>alcoholic

"It all adds up. There’s only one way to explain why you’d ‘black out’ in the middle of a dinner party and why you’d be worried you killed a man while you were out of your wits. It even explains why you were so scared to talk about it. Because you were ashamed. Ashamed that you—"

"STOP!" she shouted, her eyes moist. "Don’t even say it. It’s… obvious you’ve figured most of this out on your own, so I suppose I’ll just come clean."

"Finally…" he mumbles to himself.

"The townfolk are right, in a sense. I am, to put it bluntly, a vampire. And I fear that last night, I succumbed to the bloodthirst. But I can’t know for sure…"

"…That’s, like, a poetic metaphor for something else, right?"

She tilted her head. “…No? I’m just, you know, a vampire”. She hooked her fingers like claws and made a “bluh” noise to further illustrate her point.

"Oh", Chase said, clearing his throat. "…Just as I thought”.

<Confrontation complete!>

"…Monsieur, do you have something for me to write with?"

Chase handed her a pencil and the campaign flyer, and soon enough she was drawing some sort of map on the back.

"Let’s see… there’s a trail just east of town square, into the woods. Just follow that and you’ll see my glorious dwelling. Takes about ten minutes on foot, I’m told. If you see a bridge, that means you’re halfway there”.

"Thanks", Chase said, still winded from the confrontation.

"Detective, I… I’ve been keeping my unholy impulses under control for centuries and I don’t want to wonder if I’ve thrown it all away in one fell swoop. Please, investigate this and give me peace of mind one way or the other".

Chase sighs as he pockets the map. “Listen, this is a lot to take in, and I’d rather not think to heavily about it until I absolutely have to. But as it happens, my job is to check out the crime scene, so if you’ll excuse me…”

The extravagantly dress woman sits on the bench in her cell. “…Thank you”.

"Yeah, whatever".

<Bridge and Chateau added to locations>

[tandemmachinations]

>you don't think you're innocent

"I think you’re just as uncertain of your innocence as I am."

"Wh-wh-wh-quoi?”

"It makes sense. If you woke up in the same room as a dead body, you first thought would be if people would think you did it. Then, not long after, you’d have to ask yourself: ‘maybe I did?’. You’re worried that you did something terrible during your ‘blackout’, and that’s why you were pushing for your release earlier."

Her gaze shifted to the floor of her cell as she thought of a rebuttal.

"…Listen, I was only ‘out of it’ for about fifteen minutes. That’s nothing to worry about, really. I’d have no reason to suspect ‘sleepmurdering’ or anything—"

"Oh, but yours is a special case, isn’t it? After all…

you’re a vampire

you’re an alcoholic