Day Eight: Further Investigation

The Hutt walked slowly north on Orion Rd. towards Reed St., past Pontoon Inc. towards Naysayer Publishing to the left and Trillium Machinery to his right. (Check the map in the links section if you want to visualize it) He was by himself, wandering Paradise City, learning everything he could. This was what The Hutt had begun doing with his days. He had the capacity to be very lazy, but in this game he wanted to be the best, and to be the best he needed to know this city and its corporations better than anybody. It was not difficult to see the Cops most days, because they patrolled in pairs all day long, and sometimes they even brought out the Police Car just in case. Mostly however, these Cops watched the smaller shops and banks, which were the most logical to rob.

This was not the first time The Hutt had walked in the north-west quadrant of Paradise City, and he was formulating a plan. Pontoon, Naysayer and Trillium employed more than a hundred “extras” between the three of them, and there was actually a fair bit of traffic on the sidewalks entering and exiting these buildings, and this point in the day. (The afternoon) Just as with every company, these large buildings contained goods which could be stolen. Just because they didn’t contain much cash didn’t mean the objects did not have monetary value. Any object could be stolen by the Robbers, and if it is held until the end of thirty days, the Robbers gain its monetary value. Entering Naysayer Publishing, The Hutt began talking with the receptionist trying to charm information out of her.

The following is the account of Lieutenant Mike Wilson on Day Eight

The big news in the Police Station was the security video from Flower Convenience, and all the information that could be drawn from it. Every Cop had watched this video, some more than once to make sure that if they saw any of these men on the streets, they could recognize them and arrest them. Deputy Chief Heidman had even shown the two Robbers they had arrested the video. “The Swagger” and “The Drama Queen” would not divulge information about these guys, even though Heidman was being pretty forceful. Lt. Wilson observed from his desk as Dep. Chief Heidman took The Drama Queen aside to talk with her out of the earshot of The Swagger.

Lt. Wilson moved closer to the conversation and listened in to what Heidman was telling “The Drama Queen.” Heidman was asking whether “The Drama Queen” would divulge vital information about her team in exchange for her freedom. Apparently, Dep. Chief Heidman had already asked “The Swagger” and he had refused. “The Drama Queen” appeared to be thinking about it very hard, but eventually she nodded. Lt. Wilson, fearing Heidman would use this information for his own needs, walked over and pulled Heidman aside. Wilson told him that this is something he should discuss with the entire team before going ahead with. If the Cops forfeit their prison they forfeit the $75,000 they had gained upon her arrest. Heidman thought that was an appropriate sacrifice if the information led to the arrest of more Robbers. Wilson was not so sure, so they locked “The Drama Queen” back in her cell, and went over to Chief Pitman’s desk to talk it over.

Given leadership at the outset of the game, Chief Pitman decided that he would be the one to question “The Drama Queen” and he would decide if her information would warrant her release. So Chief Pitman took “The Drama Queen” to the far corner of the Police Station to begin to question her about the hideout, possible heists and other things important to the Cops’ investigations. Lt. Wilson was once again relegated to patrol, this time with Officer Edwards. So Lt. Wilson and Officer Edwards left the station and began to walk towards to south-west quadrant.

On their way through the intersection of King and Pewter, Lt. Wilson decided to stop by Barbulli Shoes. This store had been robbed the same day that Flower Convenience had been held up and that shop-keeper had been killed. Because of the murder, Flower Convenience was getting more attention than Barbulli from the Cops, but Wilson decided that some valuable information could be gained from Barbulli as well. So the two uniformed officers entered the store, which was staffed at this point by two women, one older and one younger as well as three female customers. After waiting for one pair of shoes to be rung through, Lt. Wilson asked the employees if either of them were working four days ago, the day of the robbery.

It turned out that some Cops had come to question them, but because of their lack of a surveillance camera, the Cops asked a couple of questions and then left. All that was taken was $2,000 and a pair of shoes. Officer Edwards asked if these women could if they could identify the Robbers that did this. They gave some brief descriptions: a tall and big man, a thin guy with glasses and a tall, medium-sized guy with a reddish beard. Those three performed the hold-up, but there were also some customers. They chose one, and held her hostage pointing the gun at her, they were given what money they had, and they also took a pair of shoes. (They wouldn’t have fit any of the men) Believing they had as much information as they could get, Lt. Wilson and Officer Edwards left the store and continued to the south-west.

Soon enough, they were at the very south-west corner of the city, and they realized that the boarded up buildings down here seemed very intriguing. They had maps, and they had known the buildings were here, but Lt. Wilson knew he had never given them much thought. Choosing the one furthest west, Wilson and Edwards began trying to pry the boards loose. Once the board was pulled off, they both climbed in the window and looked around at the room. It appeared to be an empty room with cement walls and a bare cement floor. They pulled out their flashlights and began to search the walls and the floor. While Officer Edwards was scanning the walls with his hands, Lt. Wilson found what appeared to be a latch on the floor. With all his might he pulled on the latch, and a door opened up in the floor.

Warily, he pointed his flashlight in the hole and found stairs leading down into the darkness.

The Hutt slowly walked down the stairs into the Robbers' basement hideout. A majority of the Robber team was there, doing various things. They looked up at him, and The Hutt told them that he had a plan for a heist. Excitement filled his face as he told them this plan would make them rich, and that he already had everything sorted out. Everybody listened intently, and when he was finished they asked him when they were to carry out this plan. Calmly, The Hutt told them this heist had to take place tomorrow.

Thus ends Day Eight. I have some information for you:

Someone is definitely going to die in Cops and Robbers on Day Nine.

I want to know who each of you think it is going to be.

Mike