[Crossbow]

Smiley motions to Kuren, essentially saying, 'I got it'.

He then slips up to Makato and replaces the gag quickly.  He then leans close to her ear and, in a much softer tone than he has used so far, speaks to her, "I promised you wouldn't be hurt and you won't be, I keep my promises.  Be still for a while longer, your part is done, we have to do ours now and then you can be on your way."

He removes the pendant from her neck and replaces the ear cover.

Motioning Kuren to follow he goes to speak with J, "If I am right about this, then someone needs to speak to Mr. Johnson about this necklace.  We should set up a meet, I think once the others hit this camera shop, if they do it right, we will have enough to bring to him."

[Chrona]

"All right, sounds like a plan. So what did you learn? Is she doing okay?" J puts his hands in his pockets and keeps glancing around the hall while they talk, taking security seriously.

[Lumen]

Kuren follows Smiley outside and nods as he speaks with J.  "Hopefully they will uncover some good information.  We still have two big questions to be answered.  What happened to her vintage camera and who was the man in our victim's apartment that day?  If Mr. Johnson would consent to a DNA swab I could know within a few hours if they are related but I doubt he would be comfortable with that.  It negates the secrecy inherent in our line of work."

He looks to J when he expresses concern for the girl, "She is all right J-san.  If we're done with our questions I will go patch her up before we drop her off.  Unfortunately she has had very limited interactions with her family and doesn't seem to know much about her mother and knows nothing at all of her father.  I hope Smiley's hunch is correct and we can reunite her with her father."  Kuren's eyes drop to the ground, clearly concerned for the poor girl.

[HydroRaven]

@ Smiley & Kuren

Makoto jumps as you put the gag on her once more. A fresh batch of tears wet the already drenched blindfold, as you hear muffled sobs coming from her.

[Crossbow]

"We aren't going to be dropping her off until we have concluded our business.  I have this safe house for 48 hours."

[Lumen]

A stern look befalls Kuren's face, "Not the most ideal circumstances but if that's the case we will make sure she is properly fed and cared for, we can't just leave her here.  Do we have any noodles left?"

[Muscular_Bevar]

Stepping out of the shower, Mia notices the return messages.

This won't cut it...

<Kuren, thank for that info but what I really need is any dirt you can grab on whoever works there. Names and faces would help, titles would be good and even better would be any dirt. Anything i could use to put together a decent cover>

And now 3 minutes for a kaf and i might even be able use some of the stuff that gumshoe digs up

[Crossbow]

Smiley looks at Kuren, a grin of derision on his face, "She is not going to be mistreated Kuren, and I laid in plenty of food, so relax."  Smiley takes a closer look at the pendant, looking for a catch or an inscription.

[Lumen]

Kuren perks an eyebrow at Mia's message then runs a search cross referencing the owners names,  the name of the shop, and local news databases.   Any results he will forward to Mia.


Checking for any occurrences of the owners or the shop in local news or reports of criminal activity in the neighborhood.  Also searching customer reviews of the shop for any extremely irate reviews.
Data Search 3 + Browse 5 + Analytical Mind 2 = 10d6
10d6.hits(5)=4

[HydroRaven]

@Kuren

You do a quick search of the owner and any related criminal activities and/or news articles. Unfortunately, you come up empty-handed, and it seems nothing has happened with the shop in a long time (the last bit of information was a news article published 5 years ago about this being one of the last shops in Neo-Tokyo to print photos.

@Smiley

I'll need a perception roll

[Lumen]

Kuren sighs and sends a response to Mia, <I'm sorry I was unable to find anything other than a five year old article stating they still develop photographs.  Just go see if the owners or clerks know of the victim, possibly the last time she was in.  Maybe see if they have any way to reproduce the photos.>

[Muscular_Bevar]

"Alright PB, I'll see you there"

Mia grabs her kit and heads out to the meet

[Muscular_Bevar]

Upon arrival Mia does a once by on her bike to get an idea of the shop and the block it is on before she parks her bike a few blocks away and waits for PB to turn up.

[HydroRaven]

@Mia

You get to the address that was given by Kuren, circling around once on your bike. The streets are narrow and crowded with people. The shop seems unusually quiet compared to its environment. You park your bike a few blocks away, making sure you know how to get back to the shop without losing yourself in the maze of narrow streets.

[Necrogigas]

Though he left for the shop well before Mia did, he still arrived after she did, having taken his usually circulus route there. Once he found a place to park a few blocks off, he sent a texted to Mia, <@Mia: I'm here. Shall I be joining you inside the shop or waiting off site?>