Participants:
| Scene Title | Check The Pet Shops |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Elisabeth and Felix meet Doctor Cong and inquire about Tyler Case. They get nothing useful. Or do they? |
| Date | March 15, 2009 |
As the two officers hit Chinatown, Elisabeth murmurs to Felix, "You realize he's not going to tell us anything, and he's probably going to shoot us where we stand or something, right? Cuz it's CHINATOWN. The Triads. I mean… they hate feds, they hate cops, and they sure hate anyone who isn't Chinese." And she and Felix are about as far away as you can get, after all.
She drove because he's still got a head injury. And he just looks like a drowned rat or something with that hairdo, poor Russkie. She parks the car just down from Bao-Wei's clinic and asks, "He should be closing up any minute. You wanna take the lead on this one?"
"I've done so beautifully with that lately. You do it," Fel says, bluntly, looking to her. He doesn't look terribly prepossessing, no. He looks like a crazy ex-Marine, in all honesty. Or like one of Frankenstein's prototypes on the loose.
The end of the day on Sunday afternoon comes sooner than the other days; Bao-Wei is the only doctor he knows to have clinic hours for a minimal time every day. Today was largely a day for those having come in the week to get medicines prescribed and ailments checked.
Despite the oncoming spring, the coat that Doctor Cong wears is long, yet thin. underneath, the stretched white of a button-down spans over his torso, and a black tie is clasped to it. Under one arm is a full accordion file folder, and the other hand is lifting to remove the glasses from his nose and slip them under the coat into his pocket. Slowly and surely, Bao-Wei locks the door the the clinic, stepping down from the single uprisen piece of sidewalk and double checking the windows for lights he may have missed. He never does, it is simply habit.
There's a snicker. "Well, you're looking kinda woeful lately, after all. I think people are scared to death of your new look, Felix," Elisabeth comments with a grin. "Besides…. why do you think they paired us up as partners lately? Cuz I need a scary-looking bit of brawn to come along sometimes, and you need someone to temper that abrasive bedside manner sometimes," she tells him. "But you're the one who knows all the good questions! I'm still a freakin' negotiator — Myron's all thinking Lau's trying to bump me up the ranks, but I'm still green as new grass. And lost as hell in this investigation, I gotta admit."
She nods toward the clinic. "And there we go. C'mon… you're good at this. You *must* have been good at this to get where you are now." She moves to get out of the car and walk toward the good doctor.
"I'm a little off my game. And hell, I'm not used to being the brawn - you've met Daubrey, he was my partner for years," Fel explains in a murmur. But he grins, despite himself. "And you'll do fine," With that, he picks up his pace to catch up with Bao-Wei. "Doctor," he says, genially. "A moment of your time."
One does not get anywhere if one fails to note their surroundings. Years of practice has made Bao-Wei good at many things, and realizing when he's being stalked- even for a minute- is one of them. He has no idea who exactly is doing it until he spots Lis get out into his peripheral vision, and when the Doctor turns away from that direction, Felix's voice rings in his open ears.
Both shoulders twitch to a halt, and the large man swivels on his heels to face the source with critical eyes and a downward turn of his lips. "You have taken a moment as it is. Is there something else I might help you with?"
Elisabeth mumbles under her breath, "Christ…. DAUBREY was your partner? Between the two of you, you'd scare the freakin' pope into confessing." But it's not really loud enough for him to hear … not much, anyway. She keeps up with him, a blonde in Chinatown. Just might as well wear a beacon. She's polite, though. "We won't keep you long, sir; we were hoping that you might be willing to part with a bit of information regarding someone of interest both to you and us. A young man named Tyler Case."
Fel doesn't yet flash the badge. No reason to really spook the man unless he gets seriously balky. He merely smiles, and it's about as appealing as he can manage. Which is to say, not very, at the moment. Head injuries, no hair, and a dark coat over a sober suit all pretty much scream what he is.
After looking Felix over from head to toe and leaving his gaze to rove over the man's injuries(who sewed that up, a baboon?), Bao-Wei's lips tug into a smirk. "Ah." The twitch turns into a polite expression upon addressing Elisabeth, and the face itself comes with a passively innocent remark, smooth-voiced and almost melancholy. "It seems as if that is the hot commodity these days, hm?"
Doctor Cong lifts a finger to the arm of his coat, moving it so that his eyes can find the ivory face of his gold-colored wristwatch. "What makes you think that I have many details that the near-and-dear police department does not?"
Tilting her head, Elisabeth doesn't seem terribly surprised that other people have been asking. Especially not with what happened to Agent Sawyer. "I think, doctor, that you've got your hands in a lot of pies in the area. You're a smart man… I'd lay odds you're a damn good doctor or else Chang Ye wouldn't keep you on retainer." She's totally guessing here, but Bao-wei's name has come up too often. "Especially after what happened at the residence. You are a man trusted by those at the highest levels…. he must have committed some very grave error to have the bounty on his head raised."
More or less - without Abby's help, Fel will be wearing a very ugly scar under his hair until his dying day. He preserves his listening silence for the moment - Liz and her kid-glove approach generally goes further than his own tendency to go for the throat.
"I am an excellent doctor." Just to let you know. "What happened at the residence was… unfortunate. Case made the mistake of getting the wrong blood on his hands. And in some cases, everywhere else as well. I have heard he has been giving all of us a rough going. Is that right?" Bao-Wei lightly narrows his eyes at the blonde woman for some time, observing.
There's a grimace, almost commiseration, on Elisabeth's face. "He's certainly not been an easy one to locate, assuredly." She watches the good doctor too. "For the sake of argument, here, doctor…. let me put this on the table. It's not our job to be concerned about the Triads' business. And considering the danger that Mr. Case may pose, our only interest is in locating him and getting him off the streets. We know that he has … thrown your organization into chaos. What we'd like to know is what you know about him and his abilities."
"The wrong blood on his hands?" Fel's voice is as delicate as he can make it. Which, in his former smoker's rasp, really isn't very.
"Chaos is subjective. I know what you know, madam. His gambling, his family life, his friends- I assume you have met the man at the pawn shop by now. There is little else in that particular vein that I can share with you in good faith." Good Faith. Hah. "As for what I know of his abilities- is relatively the same as well. Human applesauce is so very intriguing, is it not?"
A breath of air puffs through Bao-Wei's nose, marked by a pointed look to Felix with mismatched eyes. "He chose to fight his own terrible decisions, and now, Dragons are dead. I am sure you know the concept of blood for blood, officer."
Elisabeth mmmmms quietly and takes a bit of a gamble. "*I* know that he didn't kill the first body attributed to him… that it was someone else. Probably someone else who doesn't want it getting out that he's Evolved. I do understand the idea… but it seems to me that blood for blood doesn't quite apply there, does it?"
"All too well," Felix says, with a sidelong, reptilian smile. "Rumors say a monster is loose in Chinatown. Dealt with any unsual wounds lately? Those that look like they might be inflicted by a large animal?"
"I only assumed you were familiar with the concept- I never said that it applied, nor that any said 'blood' was even from the recently deceased, should it apply." Doctor Cong leaves the implications of that hanging in the air between the three of them.
"Unusual wounds, a large animal? I do not recall treating any of those recently. Have you checked the pet shops?"
Elisabeth is not following the line of subtle information here. Yep, this is where green-ness shows through. She merely shrugs at that. "Gotta love ancient Chinese stories of demons," is all she says — she's passing the verbal football to Felix now.
Felix chuckles at that, hands in his pockets, standing comfortably hipshot. "No," he says. "One of Case's little remnants, perhaps. Speaking of. Chang-Ye - indisposed? Haven't heard much from him lately." Hear? How - via wire?
If you have no wires within an organization somewhere, you are not doing your job well enough.
"Perhaps one of the rui shi-" The older man lifts a hand to motion down the sidewalk. The only thing he might be alluding to with his next words are those stone lions outside of many doors. "-sprang from the stone and decided that he was bored." Bao-Wei turns his head to Felix, in feigned politeness. "Mister Ye is seventy-six years old, officer. He can afford to be indisposed." Especially with men such as Bao-Wei, and both of his children- in charge of many things.
Elisabeth glances at Felix. She's uncertain they're going to get much more out of this man — and to be frank, she's not even sure they know what they're asking anymore. If he does, though, she'll follow his lead.
Fel flashes the little hand gesture that means he agrees. No point in leaning without anything further to pry with. "Of course," he says, smoothly. "Thank you for your time."
Bemused, Bao-Wei nods his head slightly in response to the two officers, smiling to himself as he turns away. "You are welcome. Have a good afternoon." And unless they have anything to add- he departs into Chinatown.
Elisabeth watches him go and murmurs, "We didn't ask the right questions. And I don't know what the right questions are." She looks at Felix. "Care to clue me in on where we screwed up?"
Fel purses his lips. "If I'd known 'em, I'd've asked 'em. But you're right. He knew something, and our ignorance merely amused him," His tone is ….a little bitter.
Elisabeth mmms. "Well…. back to the drawing board. We've still got the Queens leads. I don't know if Homeland's picked up on those yet. Though the good doctor appears to have told them about it, from the way he said that." She sighs. "We'll just have to move faster on it." She turns and heads back toward the car. "Gotta tell you, Felix…. I hate being laughed at."
Fel just nods to that. "Dammit. Fucking HomeSec. It's enough to make me join up with your ridiculous little bleedingheart knitting circle," he says, tone venomous.
There's a snicker. "My ridiculous…. you know? You say that, and then there's the 'we saved the fucking world' part!" Elisabeth shakes her head as she climbs in. "Don't gimme shit about my bleedingheart knitting circle, man… seriously. I'll have to hit you on the head again."
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