closed to @gryphon-gus
location: henrikâs office
heâs always found private detectives to be a crapshoot, unlike their public counterparts. the police in wonderland are bumbling, blind bloodhounds, too easy to lead off with a false scent; the private detectives heâs encountered, and there havenât been many at all, prove their worth by finding him at all. but they never stay for long - lists and lists of alibis and explaining away his connection to the person they have in mind. he knows many people, traversing between the cloister of professionalism in over and his work with the church - many people both ways need help, reach out to him because heâll acquiesce regardless of their ability to pay.
(but they always do pay, one way or another).Â
there are few people he doesnât know in wonderland.
this one, he finds, is different. leagues above the police, more perceptive than one might find in the average amateur detective - not to say that he is an amateur, just that everyone else is.Â
but he finds his position with this one switched from the usual charade - he comes to augustus grover with an inquiry of which heâs reluctant to let go without an answer.Â
reclining in his chair, henrik surveys gus watchfully, curious, prompting. âyouâve no doubt heard of the fire, no?â one long fingers taps at his chin. âno doubt there are many parties interested in the fate of those missing children, but few can claim an intrinsic tie to the orphanage as i do, youâll find. i donât suppose anyoneâs already asked you to investigate? to dive into the miasma surrounding this mystery?â
Gus had a wide array of clients â some had unfortunate families, some were wealthy elites, and some were scraping to get by ( desperate for any sort of answers related to their sorrows ). All that being said, he never expected Henrik to enter his office and show concern about the recent church fire. It was suspicious, surely. Especially when heâd heard the rumors surrounding the notorious lawyer.Â
All the court cases that never finished ; all the witnesses that mysteriously disappeared.Â
And yet the prime suspect stood right in front of him, inquiring about a fire. About something that didnât even necessarily impact him ( unless there was a connection there, another red string of fate ). Gus nodded, gesturing the lawyer to sit down. Not there was much room â just a few wooden chairs, while the rest of his desk and bookshelf were stacked with case files. There was a fan blowing in the corner of the room, trying to circulate the air so it didnât smell of nicotine.Â
âYes, I have,â the investigator answered. âAnd despite law enforcement closing the case, Iâm sure people have their suspicions.âÂ
Because nothing around this city could be a mere accident. Things ( good or bad ) happened for a reason, whether people liked it or not. The church fire mightâve hurt many, but it also benefitted some. It was simply a matter of finding out who gained the most from this tragedy.Â
âOn the record, I canât investigate this case,â Gus replied. âOff the record, I plan to do some witness interviews.â Since you never know if any of the bystanders mightâve had a keen liking for arson. âYou seem curious yourself. Worried about the missing children?â Or was it something else?Â
Something Henrik hid so well ( just like the rest of his misdeeds ).Â