#hard case

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"It’s always raining downtown. The streetlights flicker, cutting the world into swathes of light and shadow. People scurry down streets and around corners, collars up, hats down, and always looking over their shoulder..."

I knew that dame was trouble, but when she asked me to solve the murder of her husband. I couldn't say no. Hell, I couldn't afford not to.

Where do I go first? Roll: 1d20 = 18

"A thug steps out of the darkness in an alley. He pummels you and tells you to stay out of it. You must be on the right track." +1 Proof and +1 Danger

Danger = 1; Proof = 1

Already they've messed up: they're scared, and now I have a lead. Time to find out who the goon's working for.

Where to next? Roll: 1d20 = 17

"A kid runs into you on the street. What do they pickpocket from you?" -1 Proof

Danger = 1; Proof = 0

Drat, there goes the key I found on that joker who jumped me... And here I was so anxious to see what it opened.

Roll: 1d20 = 16

"You stop at a Catholic church to confess. What drew you here? Do you feel better or worse?"

I can't shake the feeling that things are about to get hairy: I may as well make my peace with the Almighty. I tell the guy in the stall about the gambling, about the dames (and the occasional fella), but he and I both know I'll be back next week. I feel better for a moment--calm in the sanctuary with the stained glass and the incense--but when I step back out into the rain it all washes away.

Roll: 1d20 = 6

"You discover an important invoice. What is it for? Where did you find it?" +1 Proof

Danger = 1; Proof = 1

I swing by the dame's apartment. She's not in, so I just pop through the window. I go to her poor late husband's room and... my my, what did the old man need that many guns for?

Roll: 1d20 = 10

"You interview the last person to see them before the incident. What detail do they let slip?" +1 Proof

Danger = 1; Proof = 2

I find a name on the invoice in the old man's desk: Lucille Drew. I pay her a visit. We get to chatting, and she has no good answer when I point out it wasn't me who mentioned the mob.

Roll 1d20 = 12

"A letter arrives in the mail among the bills. Who is still writing you?"

Bills, bills, bills... Oh, here's something--no, it's just my sister. I know she worries, but now isn't the time. It never is and never will be until she apologizes.

Roll: 1d20 = 11

"You think back to your last case. What went wrong?"

Until last week, I'd worked with a partner. Steve Abrams. What a great guy. At least, that's what I thought until I learned too late how bribe-able he was. I barely survived, and the case ran cold.

Roll: 1d20 = 20

"Despite their fear, a witness comes forward. What did they see?" +2 Proof

Danger = 1; Proof = 4

Steve. The bird who slunk into my office last week- this witness saw her with Steve. Of course it's all connected: why else would she come to a dope like me?

Roll: 1d20 = 20

Repeat! Reflect on previous [20] entry and reveal something new. +1 Danger and +2 Proof, then roll 1d6.

Danger = 2; Proof = 6

6 Proof is a win condition if I survive this turn.

The witness is the woman's identical twin sister. She's going to help me: she could be killed or worse, but I appreciate her sticking her neck out like this.

"If you roll at or above current Danger [2], you escape a threat. If you roll below, the forces working against you triumph and you perish."

Roll 1d6 = 3... Success!

. . .

Twin? I don't think so! You, madame, are a liar!

Here's what happened: your husband made his riches dealing arms to the Marigold crime family, who I'd been investigating last month in connection with the Rotsfield Robbery.

The Marigolds were picking up heat, and your husband's feet were picking up a chill. He was about to snitch, so you took that gun and shot him yourself to take over his business.

Steve had an in with the cops and helped get them off your tail, on the condition that the two of you become partners... partners in love or in crime, it doesn't matter.

But I was a loose end. You tried to lure me into a trap, but jokes on you kid- seems like I got the jump on you first.