| Details for The Ring |
| Summary: | Gideon finally gets a solid lead on Niamh's ring. He and Elijah follow the trail. |
| Date: | 16 August, 1939 |
| Location: | East End, Cafe Tasseo, and Resident Alley |
| Related: | Finding Niamh, Assembling a Broken Man, Sifting through the Ashes |
| Characters |
  |
Gideon leans up against an East End lamp post, wrapped tightly in his trenchcoat. The brim of his fedora hangs low, shielding his eyes from the trickling rain…and partially shielding his flask from the eyes of onlookers. Sighing after a hearty gulp, he looks down the street to a nearby building, where a built-in clock reads eight twenty-eighty. "Damn it, Elijah," he mutters. "I said eight thirty."
"And I said no alcohol," responds Elijah, approaching his former partner with his hands in his pockets. He quickly fishes out a cigarette, shielding it from the rain as he lights it. "Any leads, Gideon?" Those dark eyes take in his surroundings, "I knew that dry spell was too good to be true."
Gideon jumps a bit, reaching into his coat at the sudden appearance of Elijah. He didn't hear a crack of Apparition, so where the hell did he…? "I'm fine," he insists, tucking the flask away. "It just…takes the edge off." Eager to change the subject, he gestures to a building across the street, a sign in the window reading simply: Pawn Broker. "That's Donny Gibbs's place. I paid him a little visit earlier today. After some convincing, he told me about 'some weirdo' — his words — that came in recently trying to unload a diamond ring." It's hardly the first diamond ring lead they've found, and so far every single one has hit a dead end.
"And Gibbs didn't take it, I'm assuming," Elijah responds, looking over his shoulder at the pawn shop before taking a drag from his cigarette. He exhales the smoke to the side and asks, "And where is this 'weirdo', now?"
"On his way. I told Donny to get word to the bloke that he's found a buyer." Gideon starts to reach for his flask again, but thinks better of it now that Elijah's here. "Aye, that's got to be him now." Down the way, a skinny, twitchy young man wearing a tweed jacket, pajama pants, and a bonnet makes his way toward the pawn shop.
"Well, he certainly dresses the part, doesn't he?" Elijah remarks, tapping the ashes from the end of his cigarette. "What's the plan, then, Adamantus?" Elijah turns his head back towards Gideon, making sure to watch the approaching 'weirdo' in the reflection of a nearby shop window.
Gideon cracks his knuckles. "Let him go in. Donny will start negotiating price. We follow and have a look at the ring. If he runs, I break his leg." He shrugs. Simple, right?
Elijah raises his eyebrows at Gideon and says, "Or we just restrain him." The Inspector drops his cigarette to the ground and snuffs it out under his patent leather oxfords and gestures towards the shop, "After you."
"Where's your sense of humour," Gideon says dryly, turning to go around the post and cross the street. The twitchy wizard has already disappears into the pawn shop, where Gideon and Elijah find him standing at counter, which is little more than a hole in the wooden wall separating the front of the shop from the back. At the door chime, both the skinny fellow and Donny "the Dealer" Gibbs glance their way. The wizard makes a sound that can only be described as a meep.
Elijah slips into the shop behind Gideon, turning to flip the 'Open' sign to 'Closed' and standing near the door, his hands sliding into his pockets as the dark blue eyes begin to size the strange wizard up. He'll remain quiet for now, letting Gideon do his thing.
Gideon stomps forward, crossing the ten feet of distance in the blink of a eye. The skinny wizard holds up his hands to protect his face, but Gideon simply puts a hand to his chest and pushes him roughly against the wall. "The ring. Give me the ring!" The man struggles, batting at Gideon's arm and trying to wriggle free. "Give me the fucking ring!"
Donny backs away from the counter, wide eyes shifting between Gideon and Elijah. He looks pleadingly at Elijah as he protest, "Aw, come on, mate, you're gonna wreck somethin'! This is my livelihood!"
Elijah just offers Donny a shrug, his hands remaining in his pockets. It seems he's content to let his former partner go to work, assuming he doesn't destroy anything or severely injure anyone in the process.
"I ain't got it!" The skinny wizard finally manages to squeal, earning a look of surprise from Donny.
Gideon snarls and clenches his fist, cocking it back, ready to pummel the man's lights out. "What the hell do you mean you've nae got it? WHERE IS IT?!" Adamantus's face has gone red with rage.
Elijah moves towards Gideon, resting a hand on his shoulder and softly moving him out of the way. He slips between Gideon and the strange wizard, dusting the man's shoulders, "My friend here is very sensitive when it comes to the loss of fine jewelry and as you can see, he's much bigger than me, so in a matter of a few moments I'm sure that he'll be the one in your face. So why don't you just tell me where I can find that ring."
Twitchy nods vehemently to Elijah, ever-so-grateful for the intervention. Though he cannot miss Gideon glowering at him over Elijah's shoulder. "The ring…th-the diamond one, yeah? I, um…already sold it. But look, I brought plenty more to show Donny! M-maybe your friend'll like one o' these?" He reaches for his jacket pocket.
Elijah gives the man a soft slap on the face, saying, "That's not what we want to hear, my dear boy. We wish to know the location of that ring. Not a ring. That ring. Am I clear? If I am being opaque, then perhaps I could allow my associate to clear things up. Hrm?"
Gideon's nostrils flare, like a red-eyed bull about to charge. Twitchy swallows audibly, and nods. "Y-yeah…course. Ah…see, thing is…I owed a guy a debt. I dunno how he even know about the ring, but…he said if I gave it to him, we'd be square."
"And the fellows name is…?" Elijah asks, waiting for the shifty fellow to fill in the blank. "He doesn't even have to know that you gave him up. However, if you hold out on us, and we have to resort to other…means of persuasion, I'm not sure that I can prevent my friend here for accidentally…let's say describing you to him. You see, he's hard to control when his ire's up. Now, that would be a shame, wouldn't it?"
"He'll know," Twitchy stammers. "He always knows." He looks over his shoulder toward the decidedly Mugglish Donny before leaning a little closer to Elijah, his whisper barely audible. "Cruentus Vermilion."
Elijah's eyes squint as he hears the name. He 'hrm's softly before shoving the fellow toward the door, leaving him sprawling to the floor. "Vermilion," Elijah remarks to Adamantus, his hands reaching for a cigarette before he adds, "Shake him down, Gideon. No telling what else this little scavenger's picked up along the way."
"Gladly," Gideon growls, crouching over the twitchy man's form, patting him down and pulling a variety of jewelry, watches, and other sundry from his pockets. One knuckling to his ribs is enough to silence any further protests. When he's satisfied that he's emptied Twitchy of his goods, he seizes him by the collar. "Now, tell me where you got the ring. Did you take it from a woman?!"
Twitchy squeals in panic, gripping at Gideon's wrist. "No, no! I swear! I nicked some guy's coat when he was arrested durin' that attack on the alley! The ring was in his pocket! I swear!"
Gideon looks back at Elijah. "Do we believe him?"
Elijah squats down and picks up a pocketwatch, shifting it between his hands before he stands and his eyes come to rest on Twitchy. And then…there's movement behind those eyes. Every single word that the little weasel's said, every subtle gesture he made is being disected by the good Inspector in the matter of moments. Elijah slightly turns his head to the door, saying, "Let him go, he's clear." Elijah leans over and plucks up Twitchy's wallet, flipping it open to get a name before tossing it down to the man's chest, "We'll be seeing you, Spooley."
Gideon pulls Spooley roughly to his feet, brushing him off. "It's your lucky day. Now get the hell out of here." He gives the man a shove toward the door, and Spooley is more than happy to keep right on going out of it. Gideon sighs heavily. "Whoever had that ring was arrested the day of the attack. Can you get your hands on the arrest records?"
Elijah runs his thumb over the engraved face of the pocketwatch, saying, "Give me an hour." He tosses the watch over to Donny and says, "For any emotional distress we may have caused you, sir." The inspector begins moving towards the door and says, "Meet me at Tasseo at ten. I'll buy you some coffee."
Donny catches the watch, immediately inspecting it for quality, blood-stains, and so on. He gets a please smile and waves to Elijah. "Come back any time!"
Gideon nods, and reaches out to put his hand on Elijah's arm. "Bring the reports. Don't go after him without me."
Elijah's eyes dart towards the hand before he look Gideon in the eye. He pauses for a moment but eventually offers the man a nod, repeating, "Ten," and slipping out of the door into the rain.
Gideon really doesn't have much to do until ten o'clock. As much as he'd like to track down Cruentus Vermilion and get his wife's ring back, he knows better than to go barging down Knockturn Alley without backup. Those people know him as the law, whether or not he's wearing a badge. So he head's straight to Cafe Tasseo, refusing all service and sipping from his flask while he awaits Elijah's arrival.
Some time after Gideon's arrival, Elijah strolls into the Cafe with a number of whiles in tow. He moves to the table and sets them down before plucking the flask from Gideon's hand and tossing it haphazardly across the room, sitting down as if nothing's happened. He slides a file toward his former partner and says, "Get to studying." Before awaiting a response, Elijah plucks out his own file and begins reading.
Gideon opens the case file, feeling a bit like a Hit Wizard again. "This brings back memories," he mumbles. "So these are all the arrests in Diagon Alley that day?" Skimming over the front page, he shakes his head, setting the file aside. "A woman," he mutters, moving on to the next one.
"Indeed they are," responds Elijah before flagging down the waiter and ordering two cups of coffee. Returning his attention to the file, he asks, "Now, why do you think Cruentus would want your wife's ring?"
"Merlin only knows what that bloodsucker ever wants," Gideon grumbles. "I've only met him once. Ages ago. My partner dragged me along to get some information from him about a missing flying carpet. But I was just a rookie. I was barely involved. As far as I know, it went well." He waves it off dismissively. "But that comes later. Right now, we need to find the man that had the ring. He could be the last person to see Niamh."
Elijah sets a file down on the table and spins it for Gideon to read, "Tobias Marlowe. Filed a complain against the MLE for having his jacket left behind by a patrolman." The waiter sets the coffees down on the table along with bowls of sugar and milk. Elijah goes about preparing his cup and says, "What do you make of it, Gideon?"
Gideon snatches up the file like it might run off any moment. Scanning the report, he nods. "Not much to go on here. Hmm…arrested for looting…released a week later. Fuck, nae wonder. Barclay handled this. That fucking illiterate would fuck up his own child's birth certificate. But this has got to be the guy, and we've got an address." Gideon is already on his feet, coffee forgotten, wand in hand. "Accio flask." His little friend soars back across the room to his hand, but as a concession to Elijah, he tucks it into his pocket without a drink.
Elijah nods to the man and says, "Alright. How's it feel to have a solid lead for once, Gideon?" He grins and stacks the files, "Let's run these by the department and go check this Marlowe character out."
"Can't you take them back afterward?" Gideon has to actually stop himself from rushing for the door. The connection to Niamh might be in his grasp, and every second it feels further away.
"Sure, fine. But if I lose any paperwork, it's your ass," Elijah remarks, moving to follow Gideon out of the door.
Standing outside a dingy little apartment in the run-down tenement building on Resident Alley, Gideon turns to Elijah, taking a deep breath. "You take the lead. I'm…off." The nervous energy is almost palpable from Gideon. The fire in his eyes burns hot, ready to do some damage.
Elijah tosses his cigarette to the ground and grinds it out beneath his heel. "Here, take these," he says, passing the files over to Gideon and stepping towards the door, rapping his knuckles against it and waiting.
Gideon takes the files hesitantly, but he takes them. At least it's something to occupy his hands other than another man's face.
For a moment there is only silence. But soon some shuffling, then a muffled voice is heard from behind the door. "Wotcher? Who's there?"
Elijah takes a deep breath before he moves back a few steps. "This one sounds like a runner, doesn't he Adamantus?" Elijah remarks to his former partner before taking a big step forward and slamming his foot right into the door, next to the doorknob, sending the thing flying open.
Gideon watches with mild amusement as Elijah takes a note from the Adamantus Gideon Book of Law Enforcement.
The voice behind the door cries out in surprise as the man is thrown backward, tumbling over a stack of old Daily Prophets. "Sunnuva hag!" The middle-aged gentleman, dressed in a bathrobe and his undershorts, tries to scramble back to his feet.
"Tobias Marlowe?" Elijah asks, moving to secure the exits and make sure there's nobody else present, "You filed a report after the attack on Diagon Alley, yes?"
"Aw, shit, shit, shit! You're M.L.E.! What, you can't even handle a li'l grievance?" Marlowe pulls himself up to his feet, backing away with a finger pointed at Elijah. "The next one'll be a lot bigger, for you kickin' my door!"
"I don't believe you answered my question, Marlowe. You want hands to write a report with, you'd better start giving me the information that I'm asking for. For starters, what was in that coat that you reported missing?" The good inspector begins circling the, having made sure that they're alone in the apartment, before saying, "Martin, watch the hall, would you? Wouldn't want someone interrupting us."
Gideon silently mouths: Martin? He grunts and nods, leaning up against the door frame to keep watch while Elijah does his work.
"What? Nothin'!" Marlowe eyes Elijah warily. "Maybe a few coins? I dunno. I just want my coat back! Look…look, look…fine, I won't report the door. Just leave me alone, eh?"
"Are you sure there wasn't a ring of any sorts? Perhaps something you found after the attack?" Elijah is continuing the circling patern around the man, never standing still, always…stalking.
Marlowe's eyes shift up and to the side as he slowly shakes his head. "A ring? Um…nnnnnooo. No, I'm sure I'da known if there were a ring inna pocket."
Gideon growls audibly, giving the man a hard glare.
"You know how long I've been doing this job, Mister Marlowe? Twenty years. I could throw you out of that window and probably get off a few weeks without pay. Maybe a little community service. But in that twenty years, you know, I've gotten quite good at learning when people are lying to me. And you…are lying to me."
Marlowe's gaze turns to the window, eyes widening. When he looks back to meet Elijah's cold stare and Gideon's feral glare, he breaks. "O-okay! Awright, there was a ring! Just the one! I…I was gonna try to find the owner, honest!" No, Elijah, he's not being honest.
"Where'd you find the ring, Marlowe?" Elijah says, those cold eyes leveling with Tobias' as he gripps the man's collar, pulling him closer. Since Gideon hit the bricks, Elijah's had to become his own muscle. Seems he learned from the best.
"Hey, hey!" Marlowe instinctively grips Elijah's wrists, but he's not a strong man, and it accomplishes little. "You fuckin' wizards, thinkin' you can push around who you like! Fine, I found it! Awright? The whole Alley was mad! I ran in that potion shop, the Irish one. I figgered they'd 'ave somethin' to help me in case I'd breathed in any of that stuff, yeah? But it was empty. I swear, there weren't a soul in sight. Just a pile of ashes! Musta been one o' the victims, havin' the same thought I did. So, I think to myself, if this poor sod burned up, but I ain't, I must not be sick! That's when I spotted the ring in the ashes. It weren't doin' anyone no good layin' there…so I took it. A Squib's gotta eat, right?" He pleads with his eyes for leniency, but soon enough it's for mercy when he spots Gideon lumbering toward him, his face a mask of rage. The files lay scattered in a pile on the floor behind him.
Elijah releases the man's collar and says, "You're filth, Tobias." He turns and moves towards Gideon, a hand moving to rest against his chest, "Cruentus. We don't have time to waste on this one."
"I've got time for this," Gideon snarls, pushing his way past Elijah, grabbing Marlowe by the robe and pulling him in as he brings his forehead smashing down into the man's nose. Tobias screams as he falls to the ground, clutching his face with blood pouring out between his fingers. Gideon glares down at the man, shaking with fury. "She was my wife, you filthy son of a bitch. My WIFE! If I dinnae get that ring back, I'm coming back for your fingers." He gives the fallen man a sharp kick to the soft tissue of his thigh, causing him to howl in pain.
Gideon turns to follow Elijah, his eyes fixed on the floor. "My wife," he murmurs, the first cracks in his voice appearing, his face tightening as his heart is finally allowed to break. "My wife…my Niamh…she's gone."