A Wolf in the Windworks

[Dreyfus]

♅ Time Stamp ♅
Company: ???| Thoughts: ???| Mood: ???

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♅ "I see." he mused, looking the area over again one last time. He felt it was better to be thorough rather than leaving something to chance. He didn't like having loose ends when conducting his investigations. Stefan offered to have the records of all new hires sent his way, to which Dreyfus nodded. "That would work rather well, it will help."

It seemed to Dreyfus that whoever did this was a professional, knowing how to easily cover their tracks, which frustrated the wolf, his only lead being the piece of fabric he was able to find, and the Dornkirk's suspicion that it was an inside job. Dreyfus would have to reach out to the contacts his family had in the criminal underworld, see if anyone knew of this, and could point him in the right direction.

In the meantime, he would continue to look around the spot that had malfunctioned. Walking a few steps away from Stefan he found himself near a corridor that lead down a hallway. His eyes had been scanning the floors when he saw it. It was faint, most of it smudged and rubbed away from what he could only guess to be foot traffic from the workers. "Tell me has, anyone not reported back to work since the incident? Also, where does this corridor lead to?" he inquired, taking out a handkerchief from his within his armored vest, wetting it with his tongue, and then wiping the faint stain with it.

"Blood, just as I thought. Dried of course, but there's no mistaking it." he noted as he looked at the dingy red stain on the satin fabric. Looking back to Stefan he held it up so that the Dornkirk could see it as well. "It would appear that whoever was responsible may have left a body behind in the process. I need you to think long and carefully, have any of your workers since the time of the incident not shown up for work?" there was a look of concern in his eyes as he looked to Stefan. ♅

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"Common Speech"
"Silandris Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Stefan Dornkirk]

Stefan nodded to the acceptance of his offer. He felt a bit dazed, as though a headache were coming on but hadn't yet arrived. The level of heightened emotion the blond man seemed to raise in him, whether they were actually speaking or not, confused and irritated him.

Trying to think back to the personnel rosters, which he was not in charge of but generally was informed about when an employee did not show up for their shift he shook his head.

"There have been incidents of illness but none resulting in permanent loss of an employee. The man, Müller, who fell, missed a significant amount of work but that was expected. He had to be inspected by the Order to ensure no magical damage had been done and that he was fit to return, additionally, we granted him a few weeks off to recover from the incident. He has since returned but no longer works on the high platforms, which is a pity, he was one of our best."

So many things magic had cost the people of the city, now even the Windworks was not to be spared. How could a man gainfully employ good working men when he could not ensure their basic safety from being thus tainted by arcane horrors? The morale of the factory in general had dipped low since the incident. Enough so that Stefan was beginning to discuss some form of incentives or programs to bring the trust and understanding of the workers back to where they should be. Melchior Dornkirk was rather of the opinion that men gainfully employed would remember to whom they should be grateful if left alone to think on the alternative and perhaps he was right but he no longer spent every day at the Windworks among the men as Stefan did.

Being 'too friendly' with the workers was certainly something his father had accused Stefan of, more times than once, explaining that a Firm Hand was needed to control the lower class. He tried to take it to heart, tried to distance himself from those below his social standing, but it wasn't something that came naturally.

His brows drew down when Dreyfus bent and wiped up what he claimed to be blood from the floor. It might well be, despite the precautions there were injuries now and then on a factory floor, no help for it. The group with the Prince, and the man himself had stayed for several hours after the illegal incident and none had shown any signs of bleeding, and the worker, though tainted in ways Stefan couldn't describe, hadn't been physically injured. He saw no harm in letting the Reconciliator collect the blood and was suddenly too tired to try and explain that the chances the stain was connected to the investigation from months ago were slim.

Not sure which pathway the other man went he opened first one door, which led into the elaborate sitting room that was used to host potential clients, then walked to the other side and opened the other, which led down toward the factory floor and was used for giving guided tours to schools, clients who were interested or investors. When he was pinned by the gaze he shook his head slightly,

"As I said, some sent word they were ill from this new sickness moving through the city or various other small maladies, but no one has disappeared without warning."

[Dreyfus]

♅ Time Stamp ♅
Company: ???| Thoughts: ???| Mood: ???

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♅ The more he thought about it the more he was realizing he was getting ahead of himself. There was no lead in the blood. It was a factory, after all, it could very have been from an incident unrelated to what he was here for and that is what truly mattered. He thought he had something, but it seemed to be a dead end.

Stefan added words only served to solidify the fact that what he thought was a lead was nothing at all. "Well fuck." he sighed, looking to Stefan with disappointed eyes. It seemed that the truth of this incident would remain a mystery. Stefan's reassertion that no one was dead like he originally thought.

He nodded in agreeance with the elder Dornkirk, walking back to the main offices. If there was no lead here then he would call it a day as far as his investigation went. Besides the longer he remained the more he felt like he would only offend the Dornkirk more with his words. Looking back at Stefan he gave the man a polite smile. "I think I've seen enough as far as my investigation is concerned. I do appreciate your cooperation with it, knowing the sensitive nature of the matter."

He bowed and went to make his exit, but an idea struck him and he would seize the opportunity while he could. Looking back to Stefan he continued to show a polite smile, running a hand through his long locks. "I also wish to apologize for earlier and my insinuations, but it simply comes with the territory. To make up for that I wish to build the bridge between our families." with those words he took out a piece of paper and placed it in the breast pocket of the Elder Dornkirk's suit jacket.

"If you are ever willing to come to the place where wolves sleep, I would love to show you around the estate. If not you can simply call on me for one favor in a time of need. Think of it as an olive branch Sir Stefan." patting it he bowed one last time before exiting the building. Outside his father was waiting for him, a smile on his face, but one that read with underline tones of plans and schemes. ♅

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"Common Speech"
"Silandris Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Finn]

Review

Experience: 8 xp each, but no magic.

Lore:

Stefan

Engineering:
Testing Prototypes
Interior Ship Design

Business:
Preparing a Prototype for Exhibition
Marketing a New Design
Handling External Investigations
Handling Internal Investigations
Assessing Staffing Absences
Ensuring Staff Safety
Preparing Incident Reports
Hiring and Firing Practises
Earning Favors

Dreyfus

Etiquette: Accepting refreshments
Etiquette: Being polite and professional
Investigation: Drawing conclusions
Investigation: Distiguingshing between old and fresh blood
Investigation: Requesting employee records
Investigation: Inquiring any missing workers
Investigation: Follow-ups
Investigation: Hearing eyewitness statements
Investigation: Looking over the scene of the crime
Investigation: Revisiting events no matter how hard they are
Politics: Building relations between old Money and new money
Negotiations: Offering a favor

Injuries: N/A

Loot: A favor doesn't count as loot, but I'm sure Dreyfus will remember if Stefan feels the need to call it in.

Note: Wow, badgering the witness, your Honor. I don't know if "being polite and professional" and "building relations between old money and new money" were really things Dreyfus was doing here, but I guess he didn't make Stefan do a murder so go off.