(no subject)
It's rare for rescue teams to split up when they're on a job, but we agreed a divide and conquer strategy would be best. Aycee couldn't abandon her post as prison guard, so she would stay behind and see if she couldn't coax a little more information out of Basil. It was a little trickier deciding who would speak with Casey and Kanei; they weren't likely to trust a stranger like Enoki, especially since he'd been the one to trick them back at the time, but I had been Schist's opponent when he'd Selfdestructed. In the end, we'd decided my chances were slightly higher, so Enoki was sent off to talk to Ms. Aves instead. I knew I was going to have a tough conversation ahead of me. I wasn't holding my breath for Casey or Kanei to confess to any illegal activity on a good day, let alone after my rescue team had beaten the tar out of them.
I decided to take my chances on Casey. Kanei may have been the dumber of the two, but he was also exceptionally tight-lipped. I caught him loitering outside of Miltank's Saloon. He made a pretty sorry sight; there were still bandages wrapped heavily over his torso, and judging by the raised bump in the center of his chest, his spike had actually been broken clean off when Schist had mowed him over. I couldn't help but wince sympathetically -- suddenly, having a chipped chest-gem didn't seem so bad. If I thought that was going to win me any brownie points, though, I was definitely mistaken -- the second Casey saw me coming, he started limping off in the other direction.
"Casey! Wait!" You have to be pretty quick to escape a Sneasel; I caught up to him in no time, cutting him off. "I just want to apologize. Let me buy you a drink, okay?"
For a long, tense moment, he just gave me a steely glare. Finally, he relented. "Fine. Whatever." The two of us made our way into the saloon and took a seat at the bar. It was perfectly deserted; people didn't typically come by at this hour. Miltank was in the middle of inventory, by the looks of it; she stuck around long enough to grab us our drinks, told us to holler if we wanted another, and waddled her way to the back immediately afterward. Fine by me; the less ears were around to overhear, the better.
"I know 'sorry' really doesn't cut it for a situation like this," I began," but what happened at the mine... if we'd known it would turn out like that..."
"Save your breath, Blackwell. It's not like you forced Schist to blow up in the middle of an unstable mine shaft at gunpoint," Casey grumbled. Awful charitable of him, but the bitterness in his voice made it pretty obvious that he wasn't in a very forgiving mood.
"I can't believe he was willing to go that far. I never had him pegged as the hotheaded type," I confessed. "He wasn't," Casey replied, staring down at his drink. "He got a real bad rep for hanging out with guys like me, but he was a good guy, you know? Real smart, and dedicated as hell. You gave him a job to do, and he did it no matter what. This town just never gave him a chance. Soon as one of 'em decides you're no good, the whole town's stuck thinking like that." I couldn't argue with that; the collective cold shoulder I'd received when I was the one under suspicion was more than enough proof for me. Even Aycee had gone along with it.
It was strange, though... Casey calling Schist smart and dedicated. If they had actually been trying to keep people out of the mine because it was unstable, then why would Schist forget about that and do something as dangerous as Selfdestructing inside the shaft? "I guess I had Schist all wrong, then," I replied. Maybe it was just Casey being a poor judge of character, but maybe this was a chance to get him to let something slip. "He died doing his duty, and that's what matters."
Casey nodded, brusquely swiping a paw over his eyes. I couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt -- really, I shouldn't have been talking about the poor guy's dead friend so soon after the fact, no matter how shady Casey and his crew were. But guilt or no, there was no ignoring the little rush of triumph that nod set off. "So that's it, then."
Casey looked up. "What?"
"His duty. He had to make sure nobody got into the mine, didn't he? Not because it was dangerous, but because there was something in there that had to stay hidden at all costs." Maybe my approach was a little aggressive, but cut me some slack. I was still an amateur. If nothing else, it certainly caught Casey off guard. I pressed on, dropping my voice and narrowing my eyes dangerously. "I know you three were guarding Father Hough's body. It'll be easier on you if you just come clean."
Intimidating a Lucario? Not too effective. Casey's paws balled into fists, and he bared his fangs right back at me. "Back off, Blackwell. You don't know what you're talking about."
I wouldn't let myself be shaken off the trail. I was going to find the truth, come hell or high water. "Trust me, I do. Come on, Casey, it's obvious. Nobody ever visits that mine. It's a 45-minute hike to reach it on a good day. You had no reason to be there, unless it had to do with Father Hough's murder."
I'd expected a threat of some kind, but Casey abruptly turned away from me in a very forced display of disinterest. Amateur or no, I could tell I was getting somewhere. "You're just talking out your ass. It's not like you can prove we had anything to do with it. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Use your head, Casey," I countered, staying on the attack. "You said it yourself: you know how this town works. You and Kanei are just a couple of low-life, no-good punks in their eyes. Once people start thinking about how obvious your connection to the crime scene is, do you really believe that anyone's going to think you're innocent? At best, we'll only see an accomplice. At worst... a murderer."
"We didn't kill Father Hough!" Casey roared vehemently, slamming his glass down against the bar and sloshing milk all over.
I was close. I flinched at the sudden outburst, but I didn't let Casey's sudden moodswings deter me. "Then who did?" For a second -- just for a second -- I swore I saw a little flicker of something in Casey's eyes. He turned to me and opened his mouth, as if a heartbeat away from spilling what I needed to hear... then shut it again, switching right back to the disinterested act from moments ago.
"I'm telling you, Blackwell, it was the Mothim. Don't you have anyone else you can fling your stupid accusations at?" That was as far as I was going to get with Casey. He knew just as well as I did that he'd almost said too much; there'd be no milking information from him now that he was on his guard. I shrugged, tossed a few pokedollars onto the bar, and slid out of my seat.
"Sorry for troubling you, Casey. I won't waste any more of your time." He made no reply, but I could feel his stare boring into the back of my head as I walked out.
I decided to take my chances on Casey. Kanei may have been the dumber of the two, but he was also exceptionally tight-lipped. I caught him loitering outside of Miltank's Saloon. He made a pretty sorry sight; there were still bandages wrapped heavily over his torso, and judging by the raised bump in the center of his chest, his spike had actually been broken clean off when Schist had mowed him over. I couldn't help but wince sympathetically -- suddenly, having a chipped chest-gem didn't seem so bad. If I thought that was going to win me any brownie points, though, I was definitely mistaken -- the second Casey saw me coming, he started limping off in the other direction.
"Casey! Wait!" You have to be pretty quick to escape a Sneasel; I caught up to him in no time, cutting him off. "I just want to apologize. Let me buy you a drink, okay?"
For a long, tense moment, he just gave me a steely glare. Finally, he relented. "Fine. Whatever." The two of us made our way into the saloon and took a seat at the bar. It was perfectly deserted; people didn't typically come by at this hour. Miltank was in the middle of inventory, by the looks of it; she stuck around long enough to grab us our drinks, told us to holler if we wanted another, and waddled her way to the back immediately afterward. Fine by me; the less ears were around to overhear, the better.
"I know 'sorry' really doesn't cut it for a situation like this," I began," but what happened at the mine... if we'd known it would turn out like that..."
"Save your breath, Blackwell. It's not like you forced Schist to blow up in the middle of an unstable mine shaft at gunpoint," Casey grumbled. Awful charitable of him, but the bitterness in his voice made it pretty obvious that he wasn't in a very forgiving mood.
"I can't believe he was willing to go that far. I never had him pegged as the hotheaded type," I confessed. "He wasn't," Casey replied, staring down at his drink. "He got a real bad rep for hanging out with guys like me, but he was a good guy, you know? Real smart, and dedicated as hell. You gave him a job to do, and he did it no matter what. This town just never gave him a chance. Soon as one of 'em decides you're no good, the whole town's stuck thinking like that." I couldn't argue with that; the collective cold shoulder I'd received when I was the one under suspicion was more than enough proof for me. Even Aycee had gone along with it.
It was strange, though... Casey calling Schist smart and dedicated. If they had actually been trying to keep people out of the mine because it was unstable, then why would Schist forget about that and do something as dangerous as Selfdestructing inside the shaft? "I guess I had Schist all wrong, then," I replied. Maybe it was just Casey being a poor judge of character, but maybe this was a chance to get him to let something slip. "He died doing his duty, and that's what matters."
Casey nodded, brusquely swiping a paw over his eyes. I couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt -- really, I shouldn't have been talking about the poor guy's dead friend so soon after the fact, no matter how shady Casey and his crew were. But guilt or no, there was no ignoring the little rush of triumph that nod set off. "So that's it, then."
Casey looked up. "What?"
"His duty. He had to make sure nobody got into the mine, didn't he? Not because it was dangerous, but because there was something in there that had to stay hidden at all costs." Maybe my approach was a little aggressive, but cut me some slack. I was still an amateur. If nothing else, it certainly caught Casey off guard. I pressed on, dropping my voice and narrowing my eyes dangerously. "I know you three were guarding Father Hough's body. It'll be easier on you if you just come clean."
Intimidating a Lucario? Not too effective. Casey's paws balled into fists, and he bared his fangs right back at me. "Back off, Blackwell. You don't know what you're talking about."
I wouldn't let myself be shaken off the trail. I was going to find the truth, come hell or high water. "Trust me, I do. Come on, Casey, it's obvious. Nobody ever visits that mine. It's a 45-minute hike to reach it on a good day. You had no reason to be there, unless it had to do with Father Hough's murder."
I'd expected a threat of some kind, but Casey abruptly turned away from me in a very forced display of disinterest. Amateur or no, I could tell I was getting somewhere. "You're just talking out your ass. It's not like you can prove we had anything to do with it. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Use your head, Casey," I countered, staying on the attack. "You said it yourself: you know how this town works. You and Kanei are just a couple of low-life, no-good punks in their eyes. Once people start thinking about how obvious your connection to the crime scene is, do you really believe that anyone's going to think you're innocent? At best, we'll only see an accomplice. At worst... a murderer."
"We didn't kill Father Hough!" Casey roared vehemently, slamming his glass down against the bar and sloshing milk all over.
I was close. I flinched at the sudden outburst, but I didn't let Casey's sudden moodswings deter me. "Then who did?" For a second -- just for a second -- I swore I saw a little flicker of something in Casey's eyes. He turned to me and opened his mouth, as if a heartbeat away from spilling what I needed to hear... then shut it again, switching right back to the disinterested act from moments ago.
"I'm telling you, Blackwell, it was the Mothim. Don't you have anyone else you can fling your stupid accusations at?" That was as far as I was going to get with Casey. He knew just as well as I did that he'd almost said too much; there'd be no milking information from him now that he was on his guard. I shrugged, tossed a few pokedollars onto the bar, and slid out of my seat.
"Sorry for troubling you, Casey. I won't waste any more of your time." He made no reply, but I could feel his stare boring into the back of my head as I walked out.