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~ The bar was a quiet place, early in the afternoon with the rain pouring down outside. Detective Clip glowered across the table to the meerkat who in turn kept up his own grin.

~ "They've got me out here for a safety protocol; here's the seal of immunity.", the Detective sliding the embossed letter across the table, "..My superiors don't care about putting anyone in jail or the courts for this. If you're the supplier for those counterfeit power cores, this paper means you can just tell us who you sold them to, and walk away."

~ The meerkat kept up his false grin, glancing over the letter as he picked it up. Detective Clip noted a thin trail of blood forming from his nose and down along his muzzle.

~ "Well.. I can't say as I've.. ever really trusted the Chrome Fleet's lacky.. and..", punching a finger through the page and forming a hole through the top paragraph, "..I don't know that I've done.. anything but.. legitimate business.. ya..", delicately hanging the letter from Detective Clip's antler, "..dig?"

~ For the entire performance, Clip remained a stoic glare. She silently noted the blood soaked napkin resting on the bar where the meerkat was standing earlier for her entrance. She stood with a false presentation of calm, ignoring the letter hanging from her antler.

~ "The offer remains open.", the jackalope turning to depart into the storm.

~ Having run out of the local dealers of ill repute to shake down with what leverage she held, Detective Clip resorted to scoping out the rain-drenched concrete slab that was the port's loading docks. Under the barrage of rain and thunder, the corner she'd started her snooping with was nigh abandoned, the rusted out husks of storage containers whippering softly under the howl of water and occasional glimmer of lightning. For her part, the jackalope's raincoat was decent at the task of keeping her fur dry, so long as her hat held out.

~ Even over the pattering puddles and thundering rumble, Detective Clip could hear the gryphon's approach. She turned to call out to arriving company, "You've met me before; and you know I'm not one for tricks. Take me or not. I'm on the clock."

~ The gryphon seemed to frown a bit, pulling a long scythe out from her sleeve to lean on. "This is a particularly dreadful place to die, you know. Cold. Wet. There's even a dead possum under that crate over there.", motioning with a hand.

~ The jackalope, still watching the gryphon, lifted the hat off of her head. "That sounds like a strong argument.", taking off her jacket to toss it down next to her hat. Her fur seemed like a sponge in that moment, and the length and breadth of her was immediately cold to the bone. She continued, "I suppose I could be talked into the alternative, if I wasn't so busy with this case."

~ The gryphon nodded softly, still frowning as she leaned heavily onto her scythe.

~ The Detective glanced up into the sky, into the clouds and rain and regarded the stars concealed beyond. "You know, those counterfeit power cores. One of those goes out on a passenger ship, and we're talking hundreds of deaths.", before dropping her gaze to regard the gryphon. Rain seemed to cascade down her antler and across her field of view.

~ The faintest hint of a grin slipped along the gryphon's beak. "I can't give you any answers to your riddle.. but did I ever tell you about the scavenger I took, once, who was stealing power cores from a derelict cruiser that got itself adrift in one of those glimmer nebulas?"

~ With effort to remain still amongst the soak of cold, the jackalope shook her head.

~ The gryphon nodded, lifting her weight up off the scythe. "Yeah. He knew the radiation would damage the power cores; but that he could pass them off as counterfeit.", picking up her scythe, "But he misjudged how much of that glimmer it takes to kill someone. Was just a nosebleed, the day before.", tucking the scythe back into her sleeve.

~ Once the gryphon's back was turned, the jackalope hastily scrambled to get back inside her coat and hat, if only for the start of warmth they promised. She shuffled her phone back into service, and called the local Patrol, "Hey. I need you to scout out the three nearest sectors cordoned off for radiation. Look for signs of salvage; I need the manifests of whatever's missing."