[IC] Sudden Payback (Session 1)

The girl stares at you a moment, slack jawed. "Loretta? I think my mom watches her show." She holds up a finger and looks down at her phone. "Just a sec." She types something in and scrolls a bit before clicking. You hear the tinny sounds of a fistfight coming from her device. "Oh. My. God. Those guys are totally wearing masks from this store. Caleb is so going to shit himself when I show him this." She looks up. "And that's you fighting those guys off!" She looks back up to Max. "You said you work for the news? That's badass A F. Uh... You wanna see security footage from yesterday? You know what time?"

Hank is able to show her the receipt, and the girl—Chiharu, according to her name tag—quickly finds the appropriate timestamp. The video is grainy, seemingly taken from a camera in the back-right corner of the shop. There's no sound. But rather than a squad of men making the purchase, the buyer seems to be a stout, off-duty cop. He walks in, buys about a dozen masks, and leaves.Chiharu pops a piece of gum in her mouth. "So, like, does this mean this cop guy got mugged or something? How'd the masks get to those guys you beat up?"

Marv watches the foot with Max. His grip on the Elmo mask tightens until two tufts of red fur come off in his hands and the mask falls onto the floor with a thud, two conspicuously bald patches where the ears would be.



"You recognize that guy, Max?" Marv asks through clenched teeth, nostrils flaring.

"We can all do our part for civic justice." Max spots not making eye contact and rubbing the back of his neck. He sighs and takes a picture one they get a decent still.

"I'm not familiar with his face but this may have gotten complicated. Could we get a copy of the tape? For Loretta? She might want to come talk to you once she sees it unsure how expose work you can kinda guess what our jobs are more in line with." Max works out verbally looking at the front door a worried frown on his face.

Marfv can see Max's sudden discomfort and takes his eyes off the monitor to watch the kid, "You alright, there Max?" He puts a hand on one shoulder and force an uncomfortable silence that invites Max to fill it.

Hank glances from Marv to Max, then back at the uniform on the screen. He distracts the clerk and Max to give Max a bit of space. "Uh, miss... Chiharu, it's still an ongoing investigation, so we don't want to speculate yet. But as the story comes together, I'm sure Loretta will appreciate having the details and the copy of the video. You've really been a big help."

Chiharu looks at you, confused. "Tape? This is all digital. Here, let me Bluetooth it to your phone." She waits for Max to accept the incoming clip.

"Thanks... here's my phone number, the people who were using the masks or their friends might come back if they're good at covering things up so be careful. They have no issues splitting peoples head open for fun and there's been a lot more kidnappings lately so keep any eye out for creeps okay." Max finallyvstates after getting the clip sent over.

"Oh, wow," she says. "I'll text if anything weird happens." She gestures toward the masks you've picked out. "Uh... So you wanna buy those? Hopefully not to go bust up another gym or whatever? They're on special, so it's $10 for the four of them."

Marv pulls a crumpled $10 bill out of his pocket and slaps it on the table. "Nah, nothin like that. We got invited to a costume party or somethin..." He mumbles the last two words and picks his Elmo mask up off the floor. "Appreciate the help!"

As they walk out, Hank nudges Red with his elbow. "Wow, thanks, Marv. Uncle Moneybags here treated us to masks. Your social security check come in? You really know how to show a fella a good time." He winks at Max, hoping to lighten the kid's mood after seeing the video.

"It is rather nice, although I doubt he's gonna keep dolling out gifts if you sass him like that." Red remarks, being rather lighthearted despite the earnestness in her warning. She examines her mask, nodding approvingly. Just like the movies. Cool.

"Say Max, what was bothering you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Well these guys are sloppy if you think about it or too arrogant. From a criminal standpoint you want to not have loose ends so the trail leads back to you if you do something illegal. That's a bit reckless to not think of but what if someone's smart enough to remember and some goons go back and look for tapes of them being there... place looks easy enough to break in after hours or worse case when they're open just stage a robbery take the cash registry contents, shot who's on duty at the store and take the tapes... By the book Police come in to investigate and simply state it as a robbery, killed the clerk took all the tapes as evidence they were there, push it to cold case till there's some evidence of the case... No one would know, could even be done by the same cop if they're crooked..." explains chewing his lip.

"Let's just say I expect it to come out in a wash by the time this is all said and done." Marv gives Hank and Red a grin.

"Sounds like you're kinda suggesting whoever it is in that video wants us to think it's the cops. I don't imagine all the cloak and daggers stuff is at the hands of an amateur that'd miss this big of a detail."

"Yeah, doesn't surprise me that they didn't use a familiar face. Lemme give one of my CIs a quick ring." Marv stops next to Mildred and pulls out his phone.

"Yo, whatup my man? I heard some dirty rumors 'bout some kids calling themselves Pantones... Some outer borough kids trying to make inroads... Just doin a bit of askin for a friend. What do you know bout these kids?"