29-03-2019, 05:59 PM
"That's what we'd heard, Prefect." La Contessa replied. "That not only has someone been murdered in San Finzione, but that the victim was someone I knew and liked personally; and there are Nazi banners and gallows in my courtyard, waiting for him to come and film them, which I don't foresee happening today."
"I would not think so." The Prefect replied. "Eliot Silverman, studio ID said he was a director, shot in the back of the head as he was unlocking his bicycle. A boy was playing at the end of the street and saw it. He ran to Propappou, we have him now. There was an altercation at the statue involving someone else whom I believe you know, Contessa: Stavro Poldouris."
Helen turned her head up at him. Of course, she knew the name of the young man dating her great-granddaughter, Lady Maria de San Finzione; and whom she'd appointed head of the Citizens' Grievance Office so that the traditional young Greek man would feel more comfortable dating someone of Maria's standing. Having been mostly raised by an old Greek man and been in love with his descendant most of her life, she had some understanding of how their minds worked.
"They're all right? Stavro and the boy?" She asked, taking out a cigarette. The Prefect nodded. She gave a relieved sigh as she lit it. When she heard "altercation" and Stavro's name, she pictured him trying to take the shooter on himself and being hurt. Such a thing had happened before. They walked away from the crime scene before Helen left any ash that might contaminate it. Officers cleared a path for them through the crowd, and they walked toward where the boy had been playing.
Helen looked down that street, realizing now because of how they'd approached the house the director was renting, how close she was to his father's shop and the family's home, and mentally pulled up her map of the neighborhood.
"The boy saw it..." Helen thought aloud. "There was a witness. The shooter went after the witness, either to hopefully just scare him into not talking, or to... do something else." She turned back to the two men and motioned for them to come in close enough to whisper to both.
"This isn't going to turn out to be a mugging gone wrong, Martin." She told the Prefect. "But that's what you should sell the public. I'm guessing he still had his wallet?"
"Oui, Contessa." The Prefect responded, understanding. During his eight years of having her for a boss, he'd long ago read her record from America and learned where she got her insights into the criminal mind. "Still in his pocket. You're not thinking he just didn't have time to grab it after seeing the boy?"
"He wasn't a local." She replied. "If he was just a mugger who'd made a mistake, he'd have known that there was a Propappou just around the corner, and that's where a child would run at a moment like this. He wouldn't go after him and be there when every cop for blocks closes in. If he wasn't too panicked to remember to take the money that this was all about in the first place, a local thief would know to just run in the opposite direction and hope the child didn't get a good look!" She turned her neck to get a closer look at the scene. "Or the key's still in the bike lock. If money was what you were after, and now you need a getaway, just turn it and hey, free bike!"
"There was a second one." The Prefect confirmed. "Mr. Poldouris says he saw the suspect get into a car."
"Why was the director at home?" The Generalissimo asked. "There are actors and a film crew waiting for him to shoot a scene up at the castle. You know more about making movies than I, Contessa, but don't they have food there?"
"They said he'd called lunch." Helena answered. "He was an eccentric; Spielberg was his idol, remember? He wouldn't go to Craft Services or take advantage of the castle's kitchens, he'd ride his bike down La Collina and heat up a can of his hero's favorite food: SpaghettiOs." She gestured to the bike, still chained to a post, next to the covered body. The two men didn't seem to know what she was talking about. She took a deep drag before continuing. "Any other American kid would kick you both in the balls right now. When they shot 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' in Tunisia, everyone on the cast and crew got food poisoning except Spielberg, because he only ate his favorite food, SpaghettiOs; which he'd brought along crates of from America. Silverman thought it might bring him luck on the project, so he did the same. Obviously didn't work. Where's everyone else now?"
"I would not think so." The Prefect replied. "Eliot Silverman, studio ID said he was a director, shot in the back of the head as he was unlocking his bicycle. A boy was playing at the end of the street and saw it. He ran to Propappou, we have him now. There was an altercation at the statue involving someone else whom I believe you know, Contessa: Stavro Poldouris."
Helen turned her head up at him. Of course, she knew the name of the young man dating her great-granddaughter, Lady Maria de San Finzione; and whom she'd appointed head of the Citizens' Grievance Office so that the traditional young Greek man would feel more comfortable dating someone of Maria's standing. Having been mostly raised by an old Greek man and been in love with his descendant most of her life, she had some understanding of how their minds worked.
"They're all right? Stavro and the boy?" She asked, taking out a cigarette. The Prefect nodded. She gave a relieved sigh as she lit it. When she heard "altercation" and Stavro's name, she pictured him trying to take the shooter on himself and being hurt. Such a thing had happened before. They walked away from the crime scene before Helen left any ash that might contaminate it. Officers cleared a path for them through the crowd, and they walked toward where the boy had been playing.
Helen looked down that street, realizing now because of how they'd approached the house the director was renting, how close she was to his father's shop and the family's home, and mentally pulled up her map of the neighborhood.
"The boy saw it..." Helen thought aloud. "There was a witness. The shooter went after the witness, either to hopefully just scare him into not talking, or to... do something else." She turned back to the two men and motioned for them to come in close enough to whisper to both.
"This isn't going to turn out to be a mugging gone wrong, Martin." She told the Prefect. "But that's what you should sell the public. I'm guessing he still had his wallet?"
"Oui, Contessa." The Prefect responded, understanding. During his eight years of having her for a boss, he'd long ago read her record from America and learned where she got her insights into the criminal mind. "Still in his pocket. You're not thinking he just didn't have time to grab it after seeing the boy?"
"He wasn't a local." She replied. "If he was just a mugger who'd made a mistake, he'd have known that there was a Propappou just around the corner, and that's where a child would run at a moment like this. He wouldn't go after him and be there when every cop for blocks closes in. If he wasn't too panicked to remember to take the money that this was all about in the first place, a local thief would know to just run in the opposite direction and hope the child didn't get a good look!" She turned her neck to get a closer look at the scene. "Or the key's still in the bike lock. If money was what you were after, and now you need a getaway, just turn it and hey, free bike!"
"There was a second one." The Prefect confirmed. "Mr. Poldouris says he saw the suspect get into a car."
"Why was the director at home?" The Generalissimo asked. "There are actors and a film crew waiting for him to shoot a scene up at the castle. You know more about making movies than I, Contessa, but don't they have food there?"
"They said he'd called lunch." Helena answered. "He was an eccentric; Spielberg was his idol, remember? He wouldn't go to Craft Services or take advantage of the castle's kitchens, he'd ride his bike down La Collina and heat up a can of his hero's favorite food: SpaghettiOs." She gestured to the bike, still chained to a post, next to the covered body. The two men didn't seem to know what she was talking about. She took a deep drag before continuing. "Any other American kid would kick you both in the balls right now. When they shot 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' in Tunisia, everyone on the cast and crew got food poisoning except Spielberg, because he only ate his favorite food, SpaghettiOs; which he'd brought along crates of from America. Silverman thought it might bring him luck on the project, so he did the same. Obviously didn't work. Where's everyone else now?"
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