Case No. 26
CAFE & DINER REQUIEM · NEW ORLEANS, LA · MERCY TRIUMPHS OVER JUDGMENT
BARISTA: AUDITOR
CAFE: ALL
DATE: EARLY APRIL
RECEIPT ID: RQM-08
Well... That could've gone better, huh?
What a mess. What a stupid mess. Though, don't beat yourselves up over it. I didn't catch how much of an alcoholic Ms. Barre was either. I knew there would be some Scotch in her blood, of course, but not so much as to ruin our admittedly ill-conceived plan. I wish I could've been here to help sort this all out before it snowballed so terribly, but I was so preoccupied by that "freak" coincidence I wouldn't have been much help either way. I shouldn't continue to dwell on it, but I was able to trace that static back to its source. Now the question is what to do with that information... Well, sorry, no, the question now is how do we deal with Ms. Sandiego?
Ms. Sandiego is currently being entertained by Elizabeth at Le Belle Pleureuse with quite an Amber assortment of cocktails and finger foods. Good. It'll work for quite a while though it does require poor Elizabeth to be away from the Cafe for an extended period of time. Whatever plan we come up with next I feel I must remind everyone we are unable to pay Ms. Sandiego's tab in full... mm... for more than just one reason, I suppose. First off, Ms. Sandiego is much like Elizabeth and both have astronomical tabs unpayable by the Cafe and Diner. Trust me, the Cafe and Diner has tried to pay tabs like that in full before and, well, ask Ms. Bradbury or Ms. Wilkes how that went. Hell, tap that Cane of yours on the ground and really ponder how feasible it is to pay those tabs.
No. But even if we could devise a way to pay her tab in full... We are forbidden to do so, by our oath to Ms. Barre. We also likewise need to ensure that Nickels Costigan, wherever he may be, keeps his tab open with the Cafe as well. It's a very, very sticky situation. I wonder if our resident alchemist would have a "homebrew" cocktail in her book that might be able to "stun" a Cresset Archon long enough for us to, well, come up with a more permanent plan for Ms. Sandiego. Penelope should be feeling better now, I would hope. I did... uh... well, I read about her recent "exploits," so I trust she must be feeling somewhat better.
Caffeinated Report: C-AVB-02
"Behold! Cancer, Leo, Virgo and (Dr.) Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces."
Apocrypha Trivia | 2 Words
Caffeinated Report: C-BAS-07
"Keratolysis exfoliativa?"
Fruit Trivia | 1 Word
Caffeinated Report: CD-TBC-15
"The Blue Canary."
CaD Knowledge | 2 Words
Caffeinated Report: C-TBC-16
"Bagged by Powers."
Tradition Trivia | 1 Word
Caffeinated Report: CD-AVB-03
"When everything is gone."
Reference | 3 Words
Caffeinated Report: C-AVB-04
"Masters, Overlords, Lords, Sovereigns, Vassals, Wardens, Keepers, Sentinels, Heralds, Envoys, and the Chorus."
CaD Knowledge | 1 Word
Caffeinated Report: CD-TBC-17
"D20 Alphabetically: 1 27 27 32 33 34 35 6 3 1 38 14 196 197 280 280."
Cipher | 4 Words
BARISTA: NICKELS COSTIGAN
CAFE: NONE
DATE: EARLY APRIL
RECEIPT ID: TBC-18
That's that, huh? My old band back together again. Well, minus the Father and Glass-Eyes. I suppose they weren't as, uh, "youthful" as these here dewdropper witches are. You know, I always figured Mags'd outlive me. I remember that was my greatest fear before she—well, I guess I must've had it coming, Glass-Eyes wouldn't have led her astray like that, even if she did hate my guts. I remember the rush of fear, betrayal, anger, and sadness that poured out of my throat as the world went from yellow, to blue, to black.
Then the Father brought me back.
It was like no time had passed at all, and that's what I'm banking on here. I can't help but feel like this was Voss' plan all along. He was a real sharp one, he was. Maybe he knew if I could feel the same exact thing the Wicked is feeling… I'd know there's a chance we could put an end to it. To him. To the Wicked.
Truth is, I'm scared. I'm damn scared. All I ever wanted was my voice and my Doll back. And now that I'm finally free of that damn Vile, I'm still stuck with the Wicked—thanks pops. But, it's that blood connection to the Wicked that's got me thinking this might just be the ticket. This might put the old yellow king to sleep.
He spoke to me, or, well, his smoke spoke to me, back when I was just a kid. All he ever said to me was how much he missed "her." Not his sister. Nah, I never even put two and two together that they were related. No.
He misses his wife.