Mission Start [Jessica]

[Jessica Jane]

"Yeah, well... I don't know how to argue with that one." Jess shrugged. "I just picked up what I picked up from the place. Not my fault if others didn't."

[Thoma Hirako]

He glared at her for a moment, then broke it off, not taking it as an insult. They really hadn't taught that, and as such, he explained, "I paid attention through everything; though I unfortunately don't have relevant knowledge to quote from, most of the time. Not a very good school."

[Jessica Jane]

She should have let it drop, she knew that... and after a long moment, Jess succeeded in biting her tongue enough not to drive the wedge in any further. She sighed and then looked back at the ceiling, trying to weigh her words more so that she didn't offend Thoma.

"Well... I'm sorry. I just kept my ears open and picked up all these nice little tidbits... I shouldn't have showboated them like that. I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything about your own schooling." Ironic that the one who was guarded about her schooling was consoling the one who probably had more than she did.

[Thoma Hirako]

"Don't worry about it," he said, "Showboat it, if you want," he said, for lack of a better word, using her's, "just don't mistake my school life. I'm like I am now; always paying attention and learning what will help me."

[Jessica Jane]

"Wouldn't dream of it." And she wouldn't. Thoma had to be smarter than that by now if he was still breathing.

A change in the vehicle's acceleration drew her attention. They were slowing down in front of a familiar hotel. She adjusted herself and prepared to disembark.

"Looks like we're here." She noted.

[Thoma Hirako]

"Been a while since I've been to my own apartment, so please, excuse any mess you may find," he said, getting out of the car and heading to the door, keeping it open for both of them, and then hitting the elevator button.

[Jessica Jane]

"After what happened earlier, I hate to say but I expected as much." Jess sighed. "I'm half expecting to have seen alleyways that are cleaner than the typical man cave."

She exited the vehicle and followed Thoma into the room and into the elevator. Internally, she was cringing in anticipation of the mess that was to be revealed. This was probably going to require some major tongue-biting.

[Thoma Hirako]

He didn't say anything as they rode up. But she was wrong about her preconceived notions about his apartment.

When the elevator stopped, he stepped out and walked a few doors down, unlocking his door and opening it wider for her. It was large - a high end apartment, so to speak - with large windows looking out over the streets on the other side of the room. Two levels, with stairs off to the side winding up, a balcony outside, and nice furnishings inside.

The mess he had spoken of was canvas and paint cans and the like strewn around the room from his work. He hadn't had time to pick them up yet. It wasn't much of a mess, but technically, it would be a mess.

[Jessica Jane]

"Well... it's a lot better than what I was expecting." Jess rendered her verdict on the room's appearance. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than nothing. "Although if you employ a maid, I'd think about firing her. The dust is a little thick and... yeah... this place needs aired out something fierce. But you didn't bring me here to critique your living habits... Let's find out about those other murders."

She gingerly stepped through the doorway and tried not to step on anything-- a task that was easier said than done. One misstep could ruin everything, quite literally, seeing as these were paint cans. Paint didn't come off easy.

[Thoma Hirako]

"I've been busy," he explained, gesturing to the paint cans and adding, "Don't worry about those, if they're tipped like that, they're empty." He made his way to the large table next to the windows, "I'm going to go and get my laptop," he said, going into his bedroom next to that room and coming out a moment later with it, setting it down and booting it up on the table.

"I have food and drink here," he offered, "If you want anything."

[Jessica Jane]

"Thanks, but I'm good for the moment. I'd rather be able to take off at a moment's notice when your contact comes." Nevermind the fact that anything Thoma had lying around would have had to have been there all during her absence-- Jess wasn't fully sure how much she was willing to trust the stuff in that case.

She took a seat at the table and watched the screen. The odds of anything earth-shattering coming out of this investigation were pretty nill at this point... but that it wouldn't be enlightening. She'd wait for Thoma to do his work and then she'd begin giving input.

[Thoma Hirako]

"Ok, I'm going to start going through the names of the deceased, see if I can find anything online. Any connections."

He looked into the first name, getting a baseline. Then the second.

"Well, already a connection," he said, "These two were both...no..." he muttered, cutting himself off, "That...that's not good."

[Jessica Jane]

"What?" Jess squinted and tried to peer at the screen. She wasn't the most computer literate person in the world, far from it, actually. "What are we looking at?"

[Thoma Hirako]

"The two names I looked at, they have a connection." He quickly worked on the third, now knowing what he was looking for, hoping it was a coincidence.

"No...that is the link," he muttered, turning to her, "The three names I checked, and no doubt everyone else, was killed because they were all various criminals. But, not normal criminals; more like what I was in the past. They were also all looking for something. They all admitted to be searching for the same thing, the same thing I looked for, and am still looking for. It's an ancient, hidden treasure that some believe to be myth. If it exists, then it's possibly the most priceless collection of treasures in the world. Untold sums of money would come from selling it.

"All of these people were killed because they sought it out. And Yuka was killed because I sought it."

[Jessica Jane]

"Okay, slow down a second." Jess put up her hands to help slow him down, just in case her words weren't enough. "Not to throw water on your ideas or anything, but you mean to tell me that all of these people were killed because they were chasing after some ancient pottery-- and that you managed to uncover that in a half-hour of online searches when no one else on the police force even noticed? Now, I've been known to throw my lot in with the conspiracy theorists on occasion (not really) but even that's pushing it."

She leaned back in her chair and frowned, trying to digest all of this information. Slowly, she realized that while Thoma had claimed that Yuka had been killed to get at him, he had never qualified just why anyone would want to get at him. She'd assumed that it was just because he'd screwed someone over on a deal... but assumptions weren't always right.

"Okay... so let's start at the beginning and get this sorted out. What's this ancient thingamajig, who's the boogy-man killing them, and how do you know that?" Maybe if she could have it walked through for her benefit, she'd catch on. Maybe.