Hey who the hell is this guy? (Open & Closed)

[quizpersona]

Who: A man who isn't going by "Gogol" right now
Where: Aldrip (now with better accuracy!) The Inn, an abandoned house at the edges of town, at a diner.
What: The assorted shenanigans related to a certain local murder clown who has faked his own perma-death to assume a different identity. There will be various toplevels in the comments. This is "closed-ish" because it's not 100% closed but there's a lot of ooc plotting and scheming going on so please come join in on the plotting scheming instead of blitzing in with a "hey you guys that's obviously Gogol" when other people are investigating.

Getting short-lived CR with the nice, helpful, and well-mannered salaryman is 100% open though because frankly that's funny.

Edit: now including a top level for his sentencing failure.

Warnings: Kidnapping, nsfw dialogue, law advice for the dubious, torture (includes finger trauma).

Comments

[quizpersona]

My condolences. What a tragedy. Of course—I have no complaints.

[ In all the right places he offers sympathetic enough sounding hums. Come to think of it, there are quite a few dangerous blind men out there. That Hunting Dog back then was just one example. It really doesn't do anyone favors to let your guard down for such a stupid short-sighted reason.

Fastidiously unfolding the paper napkin left out in front of him the salaryman then lays it out on his lap neatly as to catch any crumbs that might fall down. Only then does he consider taking one of the onion rings. Time is taken to look them over in order to select the most uniform one out of the batch. ]

I heard it can be quite the time-consuming occupation. Practising the law, I mean.

[ and just for a split second there's some sort of quality to his voice that doesn't match up with the neutral tone. When he parrots back The Law(TM). Someone with a less trained ear wouldn't hear it: but there's a hint of amusement there. ]

I've recently arrived myself, so I'm not all too familiar. Yet I get the impression that you won't find a shortage of clients here.

[ ...It feels like that mirth could've remained for this part too. It doesn't though. He takes a politely small bite of his onion ring. ]

[notthekingpin]

[ The level of practice to everything here, down to picking the most uniform one. Matt seriously wants to applaud, but he's not going to just blow this man's cover. ]

No, I don't think it'll be an issue. Especially with...recent events. From what I understand, the allegations of past crimes aren't the only issues.

[ No, some people want a gold star and keep doing crime. And really good for those people.

Matt reaches into a pocket and slides over a bright red business card with his name, a phone number and email (useless) and "the devil you know" printed on it too. Then he slides that over generally in Gogol's direction. ]

I specialize in difficult cases. They're the most fun. Not that you'd know anything about that. [ A double layer here of course: the man sitting there wouldn't (so it is true) but the man beneath the mask just might (so it is ironic). ]

[quizpersona]

No, of course not. However I believe I may know someone who might interest you.

[ Ooo, someone did his homework. Such a shame he can't be upfront about asking this man for his impressions of his hard work so far. The glaringly red business card gets a quick glance over before there's a flick delivered to the edge of the paperstock—the first sign of any unnecessary flair coming within the usually boring salary man.

One side of his mouth quirks upwards subtly as the salary man slips that card into the interior pocket of his suit jacket. ]

His schedule has been packed as of late but I'll ask him to get in touch with you at his earliest convenience. It... uh, It sounds very troublesome, and like I shouldn't inquire further... but...

[ A pause. It's taking advantage a little bit to get to know this man while under a persona that's ultimately unknowable but take advantage he will. It's a mimicry of a anxious tell when he fiddles with the fit of his glasses. ]

What about any of that is fun? Some very serious crimes have been committed recently.

[notthekingpin]

[ Goosebumps, really. Listen to him go. The anxious gestures with the steady heartbeat. Beautiful. 10/10. ]

Of course. You tell him I'll be here when he needs a listening ear. It's all confidential, anyway, like confessing to a priest.

[ What about any of this is fun indeed... Matt takes a moment to consider that, shifting his weight crossing his legs under the table. ]

It's gallows humor, I apologize if you find it disquieting. But the thing is...the more serious the crime, the harder the defense. I like a challenge. I like getting my hands dirty and digging down and figuring out how to get all the little pieces to line up nicely. Justice is best served by an adversarial system, and I have no problem playing the devil's advocate.

[ he moves the salt and pepper shakers and lines them up with the jelly holder and the napkin tin, making a neat little row, and with each piece that he puts down, he articulates it with one of the following: ]

Kidnapping, torture, murder, arson. Those are all complicated crimes. Complicated crimes have complicated elements, and each element must be proven. Easy crimes are a dime a dozen, but what's the point? Why play around with the local pussycats when you can be a tiger?

[quizpersona]

[ "Like confessing to a priest" pulls out a sensible little chuckle, but the tail end of the sound ends up as something a bit incredulous. As the makeshift chess pieces get lined up he watches along like it's the most intriguing puppet show in the world. ]

So, in other words, it's all about finding something that'll actually pose a challenge to you in the first place.

[ It's the last statement that's the most interesting though. Makes it sound like there's some kind of ambition. Disrupting the neatly ordered line of items he plucks the pepper shaker up, seemingly for scrutiny, but his eyes slide over the top of it to settle on the law man instead. ]

What's that? ...Do you consider yourself to be a tiger, sir?

[notthekingpin]

Of course. Can't you see my stripes?

[ Matt loves making jokes about sight, they make people so uncomfortable you see.

But this is more than just ambition--this is confidence. He's so certain. He knows he's better than the rest. ]

[quizpersona]

My apologies, I suppose not. You camouflage quite well after all. Although, something tells me that I'll still be able to spot you out in a crowd.

[ Pinching another onion ring for the road he slides out form the booth and offers a polite bow to dismiss himself. He could stay longer and honestly is tempted to for a moment. But he's got plucky teenagers who have stolen his property to teach a lesson to. ]

...He'll be in touch.