Solo Evidently Not

Bianca finds evidence to defend her new client.

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Center of scholarly knowledge and shipwrighting, Zeltiva is a port city unlike any other in Mizahar. [Lore]

Evidently Not

Postby Bianca White on November 22nd, 2014, 7:09 pm

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Fall 83rd, 514 AV -- Mid-Morning

Bianca White had walked into the Office of Justice with expansive purpose, and left with a more focused purpose. Ulrich handed her a folder with not so much as a word exchanged, going back to his organized chaos that was much reminiscent of the way fish flopped about the deck of a ship after being caught - confused, stuck, and hopelessly lost. She had eyed the folder for a second before taking it, and after a cursory glance to its contents, she now found herself in a small room in the Wave Guard Headquarters. Across from her sat a man, not much younger than she, who had been charged with theft from a middle-class family living in Zeltiva. She opened her folder now, looking more in depth at the information presented before her. The girl squinted partially at the handwriting which, while not messy, was unfamiliar.

Name: Rodrick Belt
Age: 20
Charges: Robbery and Trespassing
Date of Incident: 79th of Fall, 514 AV


Bianca only had to get so far before the man in front of her started showing signs of anxiety and nervousness. His leg bounced, his hands couldn't sit still, and he appeared to occasionally wipe his hands through his hair or onto his clothing. She took one thing from this - his palms were sweaty. He was nervous, and nervousness seemed to be a sign of guilt - but it could also be a sign of a man who didn't want to be found guilty to begin with. Regardless of the young defense attorney's opinion of the man, she was here to defend him. This required her to find out exactly what happened, or at least, what happened in a way that favored her and her client. She leaned back, her arms resting on the files and her eyes staring directly into the young man's. His eyes darted, but she caught them with her own, wordlessly telling him to look at her straight.

"So, Rodrick Belt, is it?" The man nodded, wiping his palms on his pants. She said nothing further before the man opened his mouth and spilled out his thoughts. Bianca quickly pulled out a small pencil.

"I didn't do it. Ask my friends. I was wit 'em when they said I did it. Promise." She pulled out a small notebook, jotting this down as he spoke and asking questions, glancing up to see his immediate reactions after each one. She had no reason to believe he was lying other than his body language, though being asked question after question in a small cell in the basement of the Wave Guard building was enough to make anyone nervous. Bianca, however, thrived under pressure.

"What are the names of your friends, then?" Her language was to the point, and she matched and held his eyes with her own.

"Uh...Tim Faust, Jacob Warner, Daniel Cooke..." His voice trailed off, but after a tick he closed his mouth and nodded his assent.

"Where can I find these friends?"

"The...fish market, the docks. Prob'ly." His answer wasn't incredibly reassuring, but Bianca stood up, collected her papers, and prepared to leave. Just the act seemed to terrify the man, though she motioned for a guard standing outside to take him back to his holding cell and she made her way out of the Wave Guard headquarters, forming questions in her mind.

Gods, that man really was nervous.
Last edited by Bianca White on December 29th, 2014, 2:33 am, edited 5 times in total.
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Bianca White
sweet beginning
 
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Evidently Not

Postby Bianca White on November 29th, 2014, 6:47 am

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The fish market stunk. It smelled of sweaty bodies, the salty sea, and most importantly - fish. And Bianca did not like the smell of fish at all. The files sat carefully in a bag slung around one shoulder, hitting her hips as she walked but keeping everything in place as she looked for the group of boys - men? - who would prove to be the first, and probably most important, source of information for the time being. The entire place reminded her, to much annoyance, of her childhood, and the time she spent here before discovering the Wright Memorial Library at the age of ten.

She moved straight-backed and confident, though looking much out of place, towards a stall that had been there since she was a child. She knew the man who rented it, every season without fail, and made it her goal to ask him about the group. He smiled as he saw her approach, recognizing her even after all of the years between their last meeting. The man's eyes crinkled, forming even more wrinkles in his sun-tanned, leathery face, worn from days in the sun spent fishing. The name of the man formed in her mind - Philip Ross.

"Bianca! How've ya been?" She held out her hand and he clasped it with both of his, shaking madly before pulling her in for a hug. The man towered over poor Bianca and crushed her in a foul-smelling bear hug, but for once she didn't mind. The man had always been friendly towards her and her family, and the least she could do was hug him back.

"I've been well, thank you. Do you know of anyone by the names of..." She pulled a notebook out of her bag, reading off the names to the fisherman. "Tim Faust, Jacob Warner, or Daniel Cooke?" His brow furrowed deeply at the names, and he nodded his head.

"I do, yah. Bunch o' mischev'ous little rats, but they never done me wrong when I offer a bi o' coin for 'em to help me wit me haul." He turned, gesturing to a trio of boys that she hadn't seemed to notice, before looking at Bianca with a questioning glance. "What could da Office of Justice need wit 'em?"

She sighed, a sigh that could mean many things but in this situation meant that she didn't quite want to explain what she was doing. "I just need to question them, is all." She offered no further information the Mr. Philip Ross, though she excused herself and made her way over to the group of boys.
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Bianca White
sweet beginning
 
Posts: 47
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Joined roleplay: November 9th, 2014, 12:26 am
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Evidently Not

Postby Bianca White on December 15th, 2014, 9:24 pm

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Bianca made her way towards the trio, stepping carefully and holding the same book from earlier. Now, however, she pulled out an ink stick, prepared to ask questions. It stayed closed, for now, and she approached them with little visible apprehension. It figured, of course, that the questions she had before fell from her mind.

"Tim Faust, Jacob Warner, and Daniel Cooke?" She asked, despite knowing the answer. One stepped towards her, with short, messy hair and a face that was in dire need of a shave.

"What do you want?" She ignored his accusatory tone, simply proceeding to ask her questions.

"Do you know Rodrick Belt?" One of the other men nodded and opened his mouth to speak but was waved closed by the one who had stepped forward.

"Yeah, we know 'im. Wave Guard has him. What do you want with us?" The man's tone was quickly turning angry, and she knew that now was probably the best time to mention that she was on his side in this situation.

"I'm defending him in his upcoming trial. I need to know exactly where you were on the night of the 23rd."

"You? You're defending him?" He eyed the short, skinny girl's form and sighed. "He's petched. Petch. Whatever. We were at the Kelp Bar."

Bianca knew what a night at the Kelp Bar entailed. The only thing the damned place sold was Kelp Beer, and they were obviously there to get drunk. And, from her experience, drunk people were stupid as shyke. "Is there a chance he did something stupid after drinking?"

"No, he can hold his alcohol better than the rest of us combined." He seemed a bit less hostile now, but something told the attorney that this was all she would get out them. They didn't seem the sharing type.

"Can I get your name?" He sighed, offering it up after a moment's wait. The man who had done all the talking was Jacob Warner, and the other two were a given. She shared her own name and wrote down everything that she had learned from the short conversation, leaving the place with barely more information than she had came with. The new information gave her somewhat more of a lead, however, and she quickly returned to the Wave Guard holding cells to speak to Mr. Belt once more.
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Bianca White
sweet beginning
 
Posts: 47
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Joined roleplay: November 9th, 2014, 12:26 am
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Evidently Not

Postby Bianca White on December 29th, 2014, 3:07 am

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The man seemed calmer now, sitting across from her in the room bare of anything but a simple table and two chairs. A guard was stationed outside, though it was quiet except for the flipping of pages and the nervous tic of leg shaking. The man appeared to have decided that she was on his side, and regarded Bianca with the sort of look one would expect from someone looking at another who purposefully did the dirty work no one else wanted to do. Defending could be considered dirty work, and Bianca knew she was going to come across actual criminals eventually, but something told her that this man wasn't as guilty as he was being portrayed. Perhaps it was just her looking for the best in people, but something felt entirely off about the whole situation.

"So, your friends tell me you were at the Kelp Bar that night. Is that true?" She looked up with her eyes, her face still facing the book. If she had glasses, she'd most certainly be looking over them.

"Yeah."

"Did you drink?"

"Yeah." Of course he drank. Bianca didn't even know why she asked that question - Kelp Beer was the only thing offered at the damned place.

"Let me rephrase that...did you get drunk?"

"It takes an awful lot ta get me drunk, ma'am." Everything he said fit with what his friends had said, and she didn't bother writing down anything new.

"That's not what I asked. Did you get drunk?"

He frowned for a second, thinking. Finally, both hands were rested upon the table and he leaned a slight bit forward. "Yeah, I'd say I did. It wassa tough day."

His friend only spoke about the fact that they did drink, though they were certainly capable of stupidity if even he had gotten drunk that night. Bianca flipped to another page in her book, though this one was blank. She readied her pencil, looking at the man's face before she spoke to him further. The nervousness of earlier was gone, as if someone had injected him with a bout of confidence.

"Do you know exactly what you did that night?" The man looked her directly in the eyes.

"No."

Petch, this was making things difficult. The man held her gaze for a few moments before sitting back in his chair, crossing his arms. She didn't think he was lying, though he couldn't tell and didn't know if she wanted to. There was still something incredibly fishy about this - Mr. Ross had said they worked on the docks. Why would he need to steal? She, herself, could not think of any reasons to steal anything, and he and his friends seemed honest. She had read the description of the stolen item earlier that day, and this man did not seem like one to steal a vase worth few Mizas, as said by the family. It wasn't even the most expensive thing in the room, as it was put, though it had been in the family for as long as anyone could remember.

The only person whom she could imagine being interested in such a thing was the owner of 'Treasure of the Sea', and that man was entirely strange and Bianca tried to stay away from the store as much as possible. Anything she needed was easily found elsewhere, and she tried to keep from filling her house with useless trinkets as the man sold, among whatever else he managed to get his hands on. How he found such things, however, brought a sudden realization to Bianca's mind. The man had all kinds of items in his store, and plenty of sailors brought things with them from their travels...but that still didn't explain the oft-changing stock the man seemed to carry.

Bianca was curious now, and she didn't think she'd stop looking into it until she figured out what was going on with that store.
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Bianca White
sweet beginning
 
Posts: 47
Words: 25644
Joined roleplay: November 9th, 2014, 12:26 am
Location: Sahova
Race: Human
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Evidently Not

Postby Keene Ward on February 3rd, 2015, 4:01 am

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“It is the brain, the little gray cells on which one must rely. One must seek the truth within--not without."
- Poirot


Bianca :
Skills:
  • Investigation | +4 EXP
    Rhetoric | +1 EXP
    Observation | +4 EXP
    Intelligence | +3 EXP
    Socialization | +3 EXP
    Tactics | +2 EXP
    Writing | +2 EXP
    Interrogation | +2 EXP
Lores:
  • The Friends of Rodrick Belt
    The Belt Case: Rodrick Was Drunk
    The Belt Case: Rodrick Was at the Kelp Bar
    The Belt Case: Rodrick Doesn't Remember the Night
    Suspicion: Treasures of the Sea


Post Script :
:D
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