Ano’s friend Nars reluctantly hides the rotting corpse in his junk and shelters the group on his rooftop of the Gearbox, his shop and home. They attempt to sleep the day out in the drizzling rain. Ano skips the sleep to put in a day’s work at his job as a rigrunner (messenger). He returns before dusk for the séance. The necromancer they meet is all business and with his aid they question the spirit of Laura Sole. She tells them it was indeed Jules who killed her but later adds “by his controlling, abusive ways”. After the séance the group allows Serdan to deliver the corpse to the Gormju but doesn’t let him go after that for fear he’ll report to Jules. For now, they keep Serdan with him.
The exhausted Bell Row Troubleshooters return to their guildhouse to discuss their options and get some rest but find a well-dressed Drus waiting for them in the dark. He introduces himself as Kervain Jackery, the collector for the syndicate the Order of the Rat. Pacing and picking his fingernails with a knife he explains that the Troubleshooters have wronged him and by proxy wronged the High Captain Killbride. It seems the Driftwolves are Jackery’s responsibility and the group’s initial job caused him problems. He asks some questions about the Jinn woman the Dicer’s Laggers hired them to rescue and gets answers from the group despite their previous assurances to Tug, the Lagger’s boss. Jackery smiles at some of the answers and is especially interested in the woman’s tattoo. He then presents the BRT with an opportunity to set things right. Jackery explains he wants the group to pick up a crate from behind one building and deliver it across Dicer’s to another. Along the way they should expect someone to try and take it. Their job is to put up a struggle, make it look good, then gently drop the box and run. Do this right, Jackery says, and we are square. With minimal debate the group agrees, this new extorter seems higher placed then the Tug and hasn’t tried to double-cross and kill them yet. Kervain Jackery thanks them for their time and suggests they invest in a decent lock on their back door.
The group debates the new information regarding Laura. Haugin, Apu, and Opifera collapse into sleep to prepare for the crate delivery job in the morning while the two gobbers, Grig and Ano sneak into Sole Manor, the home of Jules, to snoop around. Serdan uses the opportunity to slip away. At the Manor the gobbers discover a handkerchief with blood and poison splotches stashed in Jule’s bureau drawer. They take it, along with all the valuables they can carry, and flee after a run in with Jule’s two-headed hound.
In the morning the crate delivery job goes off smoothly and without a hitch. Opifera proves once again to be vicious with her blade but takes a good cut making the group’s retreat believable. Haugin holds his own in the fight but eyes with envy Opifera’s bigger blade. The Dicers jeer at the fleeing BellRow Troubleshooters and take possession of the crate. It isn’t until the next day that the group learns Tug and two or three others were killed in an explosion when the crate was opened.
The Troubleshooters next meet with Livy DuShain again to present their evidence implicating Jules in Laura’s murder. They leave out the bit about the séance and thier part in hauling her corpse around the city. They do tell her that Laura’s body was stolen from the morge and Livy is horrified. She offers the group a 100 royal bonus if they can recover her body. Ano and Apu try to convince her that it is not worth it, Laura’s soul has already moved on. The group then inadvertantly learns that Livy’s boyfriend Maurt, not Livy, owns the apartment where Laura was found murdered. Livy is very reluctant to speak of Maurt but is eventually persuaded to allow the group to meet him with her the next night. On the street well away from the 3 Coins Opifera suggests the theory that Livy killed Laura because she found out Laura was seeing Maurt. They realize after leaving that Livy didn’t pay them and decide to ask about their fee the next night. They head to interview Elise Beckman, Laura’s best friend. Elise tells them that Laura was indeed seeing someone but she doesn’t know anything about him. All she can offer is that Laura remarked upon him being “the cutest little thing”. Unseen by the others Ano smiles quietly with wet eyes.
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