"Thank God we're out of Innovation Valley, Adalet! I swear, if I see one more robot, I'll scream!" Frank proclaimed while side-eyeing the coffee maker.
Adalet rolled her eyes, "quite glaring at the appliances, Frank! They're not out to get you... Look on the bright side, we're in Paradise City now! Home of seizure-inducing neon lights..."
He smirked, "the only thing people care about in Paradise City is having fun! I came here once before. I drank so much I forgot my own name."
"Sounds pretty quiet by your standards, Frank!" Andrea teased as she joined the two officers, "anyway, Paradise City isn't heaven. Gambling, prostitution, drugs - the list goes on! Not only that, but the number of robberies is going up! Specifically in the big casinos at the strip! This town needs to be put back in the straight and narrow! And Adalet's the one to show these corrupt locals how real police work's done."
Adalet saluted, "you can count on it, Chief!"
"And if we happen to play some poker in the process, what's the harm in that..." Frank hums in thought.
"No way, Frank! I don't need a gambling addict on my team!" Andrea yelled, crushing the detective dreams of playing poker later.
"But, Andrea! That's like showing a man a steak dinner and then telling him that he could only eat the salad! Everyone gambles in Paradise City!" he argues.
The Chief's glare hardened.
"Oh, alright," he relented, "come on, Adalet. Let's go check out the Strip, see if there's any crime that can take my mind off the casinos."
Leaving the station, Adalet and Frank began walking along the Strip. The neon lights glowed brightly this late at night, some pulsating to a certain pattern. Adalet could feel a headache already starting, so she pulled out her sunglasses and slipped them over her eyes. While she was stopped something caught her attention in her peripheral vision.
Slumped against the rail of a water fountain was a man dressed in a green vest and matching plastic visor. Though it was the gold stick shoved into his left orbital socket that made Adalet pay more attention. Looking around the body, she notices an open box to the right of the man that was filled with colourful poker chips. She also found some broken pieces of something that glittered under the neon lights that had almost fallen into the fountain.
"Woah, Adalet! How do you do it?!" Frank asked after he had doubled back once he noticed his partner had stopped, "we're just having a look around the Paradise City Strip and you find a body! I guess you could hardly miss the guy with a stick in his eye! What is that, anyway?"
Adalet examined the opposite end of the stick, "It looks like a croupier stick! Makes sense since we're on the Strip..."
"They use them in casinos for moving your winnings around... that's if you win, of course!" he joked, "so someone used that croupier stick as a murder weapon! Talk about bad luck!"
"And while I haven't been in a casino recently, judging from his clothes, our victim's a casino croupier himself," she says, getting a better look at the man's uniform.
"Maybe a disgruntled customer offed him?" he suggested, "what did you find to help figure this crime out? Those broken pieces look quite expensive, put them back together!"
"They're very shiny," Adalet agrees, begging to glue the pieces back together, while she was doing that she tapped the box she had found with her foot, "and check this out, Frank!"
"I like your thinking, Adalet. If this guy was killed with a croupier stick, then maybe that gambling set is connected to the murder! Let's look through it!" Frank grins, for once kneeling and getting to work himself.
Adalet suspected he might be looking for some chips to cash in, but she wasn't going to fight him for doing his job... Sort of.
While Frank was looking through the box of poker chips. Adalet finished glueing the pieces she had found back together. She now had a small ladybug broach in her hand that was adorned with glittery jewels coloured to match the colour pallet of the ladybug.
"So, those broken bits you found on the Strip form a ladybug jewel! Looks pretty classy!" Frank commented as he stood up, holding something in his hand, "what was it doing next to a murder victim? Think Yann can find something on this jewel to clue us in on its owner?"
"If anyone can, it's Yann! Let's get it to him!" Adalet replied, bagging the jewel before looking at the t-shirt wearing, pink teddy bear Frank was holding, "you found a teddy bear in that box of casino supplies from the Strip? What th-"
"Hey, now! That's my teddy bear! Give it back to me!" a woman orders, swiping the bear out of Frank's hand.
"The teddy bear is yours? What's it doing next to a dead body? And who are you?" Frank asked back.
"Why, I'm Betty Wyatt! My divorce just came through and I'm in Paradise City to PAAAAAAAARTAY!" Betty cheered, waving her teddy bear around.
"Didn't you just hear what I said about the dead body?!" he growled before sighing, "we will need to talk to you, Miss Wyatt!"
"Miss Wyatt, I'm Capt. Adalet-"
"Say cheese, Capt. Adalet!" Betty produced a camera from somewhere and began snapping pictures of the cop, "thank you for finding my teddy bear! I dropped that and my gambling set on my way to the casino!"
"I'm afraid your teddy bear was found at a murder scene," Adalet repeated Frank's earlier words, "Have you ever seen this man before?"
The divorcée took a brave look at the body, "that guy's been killed?! But... I know him! He was a croupier for the Mennagio casino poker tournament! The man's name was Alfie McNaulty. He could spin the cards faster than a toupee in a hurricane!"
"He worked for the Mennagio's poker tournament? Interesting," Frank mused, "we should check that place out, Adalet! Thanks for your assistance, Miss Wyatt."
"No problem! If you need me, you can find me on the slot machines or at the buffet! Hallelujah, I love Paradise City!" Betty yells, holding her arms up in a celebratory pose.
Once backup had arrived to take over the scene, Frank led Adalet further down the Strip to where the Mennagio Casino was located. Entering the lavish building they found the gambling room that the victim worked in and began looking for clues that would help their investigation.
Around the room, they found a faded card attached to a lanyard that had been forgotten on one of the poker tables. That wasn't a weird clue as the still visible parts of the card displayed that it was a competitor's pass for the poker tournament, specifically competitors number five. What was a weird clue was the ankle monitor Hunter picked up from around the slot machines.
"Come on, Adalet, let me have just one game of blackjack!" Frank pleaded, "I feel like a dieting kid in a candy store!"
"Then consider me your personal trainer, no!" Adalet shot back jabbing her finger in his chest, "no poker while working on a murder investigation!"
"Meh, you're no fun! So what did you find in the casino? A pass for a poker tournament? So what?" he questioned.
"Did you forget what our victim's job was?" she replied, opening her case on top of a poker table.
"Oh right, our victim was a croupier for the tournament! Whoever this pass belongs to might be able to tell us more about him... if you can retrieve their picture!" he added, "And what's with that weird watch Hunter found?"
"I don't know where you get your watches, but I typically go to a store, not the local Penitentiary!" she jokes, pointing to the logo printed on the monitor.
"Oh, I see! That's the Penitentiary logo! This must be a monitoring bracelet, prisons use them to keep track of criminals on parole! What's it doing in a casino?!" he wondered, looking around for any potential criminals, "it looks like it's locked. Think you can unlock it and find out who was wearing it?"
"Let's see..."
For it being a monitoring bracelet, it only has four buttons on top for Adalet to press; the lock symbol, 1, 2, and 3. So it only took her a couple of tries to guess the code and have the red lights turn green.
"Nice work unlocking that monitoring bracelet you found at the casino, Adalet!" Frank grins as he took the bracelet to examine it, "how did the criminal who was wearing this monitor manage to get it off?"
"Hopefully Hannah can help us out!" Adalet replies while dusting the poker tournament badge she'd picked up, "and check this out!"
"You cleaned up that poker tournament pass you found at the casino in no time! So this kid played poker with our victim as his croupier," he hums, taking in the picture of a nerdy-looking young man on the badge, "why don't you have a look at the casino's client database, Adalet? I'm sure you'll find that boy's name in no time!"
Leaving the tournament room, Adalet and Frank tracked down a casino employee and asked for access to the casino's database. After explaining why they needed it, the employee showed them to an office and pulled up the database of tournament competitors for them. After a few minutes of scanning the pictures of the competitors, Adalet found the form for competitor number five; Danny Moto.
"Good goin', Adalet!" Frank clapped her on the shoulder, "that poker pass belongs to a certain Danny Moto! He doesn't look old enough to go to the bathroom on his own, let alone a casino!"
"Well, he got in somehow, and since our victim worked for the tournament, maybe Danny can tell us more about him," Adalet says after thanking the employee for access to the database, "let's go talk to Danny!"
After checking some of the other gambling rooms, they found Danny sitting at a slot machine making calculations on his calculator. When he saw them approaching, he shoved the calculator into his shirt pocket looking like a deer caught in headlights.
"Danny, I'm Captain Adalet and this is Detective Frank," Adalet introduced, "may we ask you a few questions?"
"What's this about, Capt.? I didn't do anything... You can't prove anything!" Danny cried.
"I'm sure you didn't. We're just here to ask you abou-"
"Okay, I admit it! I shouldn't be in this casino! I'm underage! You can arrest me, Capt.! I'm guilty!" he cried, holding out his wrists to her.
Adalet blinked, having not seen the kid's age listed on the registration form, "wait, if you're underage, how did you sign up for that poker competition?"
"Fake ID, of course. I just wanted to go to a casino. I'm fascinated by all the card games, all that money being counted, probabilities, all the... mathematics!" Danny rambles, "but the croupier at my table was on to me. I thought he was going to have me thrown out!"
"Actually, we're investigating Alfie's murder," Frank informed the rookie gambler.
"He's dead?! Oh gee, maybe I shouldn't have come to Paradise City!" Danny gulps audibly, "I've learned my lesson, Capt. Adalet! I'm never gambling again! I'm going straight home to study for my exams!"
Later at the station...
"This corpse you brought me is one guy whose luck definitely ran out! I've heard of a poker face, but I'd never heard of a croupier-stick-face until now!" Roxie laughed, holding the murder weapon in her hands.
"Hahaha, nice one! Looks like all the bets are off with this case!" Frank joked back.
"And if we don't stop with the puns, we're going to fold on this case!" Adalet chimed in with a deadpan tone.
"Sorry, Adalet, I'll get to the facts. The stick jammed into that guy's eye socket skewered his brain, killing him instantly," Roxie explained, raising the croupier stick, "I found no DNA anywhere, but that croupier stick had a story to tell! I found a tiny bit of shellfish residue mixed with ketchup, horseradish and lemon on it."
"Shellfish, ketchup, horseradish and lemon? Sounds delicious. Like a shrimp cocktail!" Frank remarked, licking his lips.
"Exactly, Frank!" she points the croupier stick at the detective, "it's shrimp cocktail residue! Adalet, your killer eats shrimp cocktails!"
"Sadly for the killer, I don't think they serve shrimp in prison!" Adalet says as she updated the profile, "did you discover anything useful about that ladybug, Yann?"
"Adalet, this ladybug jewel you found on the Strip is beautiful," Yann said as he held up the small bag holding the jewel, "I'm going to have a replica made for my daughter!"
"Why don't you just give her this one?" Frank asked, nodding at the jewel.
"Firstly," he held up a finger, "that's unethical. Secondly," he added another finger, "I found faint traces of your victim's blood on that jewel. That would be a horrible gift!"
"Our victim's blood? This jewel's connected to the murder!" he deduced.
"It looks pretty expensive," Adalet commented as she eyed up the sparkling jewel.
"Adalet's right," Frank agrees, "there's no way a croupier could afford this! It must have belonged to the killer!"
"Frank, for once you've got it right!" Russell announced taking the bag with the jewel from Yann.
"Oh no..." he groans, "what are YOU doing here?!"
"Yann called me. The ladybug is a lucky symbol across Europe and America. And what you have here is a charm - an object specifically designed to bring good luck. Your killer is superstitious!" he lectured.
"Ha," he grinned, "everyone is superstitious around here! Anyway, the killer's luck is about to run out! Let's go get 'em Adalet!"
"Before you go hunting, Frank, let's see what Hannah got from the monitoring bracelet!" Adalet replied, turning to the tech expert.
"Monitoring bracelets are used by prisons to track criminals on parole. And the one you found at the casino belongs to a certain Louis De Rico!" Hannah reports, pulling up the man's mugshot photo on the monitor, "Louis's a small-time gambler and a big-time con-man. His criminal record is huge: fraud, racketeering, even jewel thieving - he's done it all! He spent six years in prison, but was released on parole a couple weeks ago! A guy that slippery, I'm not surprised he was able to wriggle off this monitoring bracelet!"
"An experienced criminal so close to a murder investigation smells fishy. Adalet, let's go talk to this guy!" Frank declared
Returning to the casino, they began searching for Louis in order to question him about his monitoring bracelet. They found the ex-con sitting at one of the blackjack tables playing a game with a few other players, but Louis paused as Adalet got his attention.
"Captain, no one respects the law more than me," Louis began proudly, "but I have a game of blackjack going and I'm on a winning streak, so let's be snappy."
"Capt. Adalet will take all the time needed, Louis. We know you took your monitoring bracelet off. Care to tell us why?" Frank demanded.
"That bracelet was cramping my style! And I always say, if you ain't got style, you ain't got nothing," he answered with a satisfied smirk.
"So your monitoring bracelet comes off on the same night a croupier gets killed... His name was Alfie McNaulty, ring a bell?" he inquired.
"Alfie? I played at his table. Talented croupier. Good dresser," he complimented, "you guys don't think I was involved?! I was only at the casino to play poker! I've been dreaming about the game from my prison cell for six years! I'm a changed man, Capt. Adalet. No more crime, I promise - cross my heart and hope to die..."
Later, at the office...
"Adalet, I made it! I got this far without playing a single hand of poker! Phew," Frank wiped some sweat from his brow, "I've been thinking of nothing else all night!"
Adalet cocked an eyebrow, "not even our case?"
"Of course I've been thinking about the case! I've been thinking about motives, for example. Who would want to kill a croupier?!" he wondered.
"Well so far all of our suspects play poker, so it's possible Alfie served all of them!" she reasoned, looking at the suspect line-up on the large monitor.
"Good point, all our suspects so far play poker. Like that crazy tourist Betty Wyatt!" he snorted, pointing to each suspect's image, "and Danny Moto, too. The victim found out he was in the casino underage... But he looks harmless. Could ex-con Louis have some other motive for being at the casino beyond "just playing poker"? I don't trust that guy!"
"Hey, Adalet! I've got a lead for you! You know Andrea mentioned all those robberies taking place here?" Hannah inquired as she joined the two in front of the monitor.
"Yes," Adalet confirmed, "what about them?"
"Well, a few days ago, a jewelry store was robbed. Thousands of dollars worth of jewels were stolen!" she explained, pulling up the robbery case file up on the monitor to show them.
"We're in the middle of a murder investigation, Hannah," Frank reminded the tech expert, "let the local cops deal with it! Why should we care?!"
"Because, if you'd let me finish, I just hacked the CCTV records, and recognized your victim! He was there during the robbery!" Hannah points to the images of their victim inside the jewelry store during the time of the robbery.
"What? Alfie McNaulty, our dead croupier, was involved in a robbery then got himself murdered?!" he summarized, shocked.
"It looks that way. Adalet, I would get to that jewelry store and untangle this mystery, if I were you!" Hannah advised, sending the address for the jewellery store to the captain's phone.
Adalet checked the device to make sure she'd received it, "will do, thanks, Hannah!"
Arriving at the jewelry store, Adalet and Frank let themselves into the old crime scene. The store's lights were bright and illuminated the shattered display cases where the jewelry had been stored for customers to look at. Walking around the room, they searched for anything related to the murder.
There was a postcard addressed to their victim forgotten on top of a display case, but the message had faded. On another display case, they found some torn photo paper.
"Adalet, we know the victim was in this jewelry store when it was robbed. What did you find?!" Frank calls from his place examining the shattered display cases.
Adalet held up her finds, "a postcard addressed to Alfie, and a torn photo!"
"Let's clean up that message and see what it says!" he says, noticing the missing message, "and if you think that torn photograph is important, you'd better piece it back together!"
Adalet examines the torn photograph first. After finding a display case that hadn't been destroyed, she laid out the pieces and arranged them into their original order. After placing some strips of tape onto the photo, she held it up to the light to see what it was.
"Nice job, look! There's the victim! " Frank points to the man in the image.
"There's also Louis and Danny in this photo!" Adalet remarked, recognizing the other men in the image.
"But who is that woman?" he wondered, referring to the last person in the image, "she looks like someone I want to get to know! Let's get this photograph to Hannah, see if she can figure out who this fox is!"
After putting the photo into her case for safekeeping, Adalet grabs the postcard. She dusted the faded message and gently blew off the excess powder to read the recovered writing.
Adalet whistled, "whoa, the message on that postcard to that victim says, "You're a dead man, Alfie"! It's signed by a certain Louis..."
"Wait! Do you think that could be Louis De Rico?!" Frank suggested.
"I don't know anyone else named Louis!" she replied.
"Louis told us the only thing he did after leaving jail was play poker... But he didn't mention knowing the croupier well enough to send him death threats!" he growled, "Louis's just reached the top of our list! Let's go bust his chops, Adalet!"
After dropping the photo off at the station for Hannah to analyze, Adalet and Frank returned to the casino to find out why Louis De Rico threatened the victim. This time the ex-convict was sitting at the bar with a shrimp cocktail in front of him as he took a break from the gambling.
"Louis," Frank greets as he and Adalet slide up to either side of the man, "if you don't want to wind up back in jail, you'd better start talking. Why did you send the victim this threat?"
"You found my postcard? Man, I knew that was dumb! I was just so mad, I was off my game!" Louis tugged nervously at the collar of his shirt, "six years ago I was planning a casino heist - a big one. I had the whole thing planned, down to the shrimp cocktail I'd order at the poker table!"
He held up his cocktail for emphasis, "I needed a croupier to keep watch for me at the casino. So I approached Alfie, offered him some dough. But Alfie turned me in to the cops! He gave away my whole plan and got me locked up for six years!"
"So you sent him that note, and when you got out, you went to see him at the casino. To get even!" Adalet summarized, adding her own conclusion at the end.
"Yes! I was going to beat him good. But I saw a black cat on my way there. That's bad luck! I decided to get him another day," Louis explained, "I suppose my luck improved since someone else got Alfie before me!"
They left Louis to his cocktail and made note of the new evidence against him as they left the casino.
"Adalet, I'm starting to wonder about who exactly our victim was! Six years ago, he refused to work with Louis and turned him in to the police," Frank muses, "but then he decides to rob a jewelry store? Was our victim a good guy, or a scoundrel?"
"Maybe he just had a selective sense of justice," Adalet offered, shrugging, "for now, let's just keep moving forward. We'll find the answers!"
Analyze Photograph...
"I can see why you're interested in this photo you found at the jewellers, Adalet. The woman in the middle is gorgeous!" Hannah complemented.
"Yeah, do you have her name? Maybe a phone number?" Frank inquired.
"I thought you'd be off women after all that stuff with your ex-wife..." she hums knowingly.
His face fell, "thanks for reminding me. So, who is this dame?"
"She listed her name as Grace O'Brien to enter the poker tournament. But I can't find anything about her on the database. She's a mystery," she reported, handing Adalet the paperwork of the gambler's information.
"Hmmm, a mysterious poker-playing lady," Frank mused as he read the file over Adalet's shoulder, "finally a suspect worth talking to! Adalet, let's go chat her up... I mean, interrogate her!"
Adalet rolls her eyes, "sure, Frank, sure..."
Once back at the Mennagio Casino, they hunted down Grace O'Brien to ask her about playing at the victim's table. They found her wrapping up a game of blackjack and waited until her competitors had left to speak with her.
"Ms. O'Brien, we're investigating the murder of Alfie McNaulty, a croupier at this casino. You played poker at his table," Frank shows the woman the picture of her and the victim.
"Oh yes, I remember him," Grace confirmed, "he was charming. He brought me a shrimp cocktail and dealt my cards fast. That's all I want from my croupiers."
"And, uh, did you notice anything weird about him? Was he nervous? He was killed after the game..." Adalet explained.
"I don't pay attention to the people who deal the cards, I focus on the poker Capt. Adalet. Cards are more interesting than men," she hums, fanning herself with a handful of cards.
"I'm sure there are some men more interesting than cards..." Frank suggested.
Grace smirked, "if so, I have yet to meet one. I can't help you, Capt. Adalet. My relationship with that croupier ended when the last card was dealt."
"Adalet," Frank whispered as they walked away, "did you see the way Grace was looking at me? She was smouldering so much I thought she was gonna catch fire!"
Adalet held back an eye roll, "that maybe, but more importantly, she didn't tell us much about our case. Only that she played poker at our victim's table."
"Like all the other suspects..." he grumbled.
"Since all our suspects came here...." she began as she looked around the room, "we'd better have another look around the casino!"
Taking a closer look around the casino's central roulette table, Adalet found a couple of clues that would help the investigation. She picks up a forgotten Ace of Hearts and a locked cell phone off the roulette table, while Hunter was busy sniffing a silver serving tray resting near the fountain. Frank quickly grabbed it before the dog could try and lick away any evidence.
"Adalet, why did you pick up this playing card? There must be millions of them here!" Frank reasoned as he joined his partner.
"I think someone wrote a message on it," Adalet replied, noticing faint traces of ink on the card.
"Well, better clean it up and see if you're right!" he says, placing the tray down on the table, "that mobile phone you picked up is locked. I'm going to let you unlock it, Adalet. After all, you're an expert at these things!"
She glanced at the tray, "is there a message on that shrimp platter, Frank?"
He looked at it more closely, "well I'll be damned... Who writes on a shrimp platter?! The message reads, "Meet me outside now!", and it's addressed to the victim!"
"We know the killer ate a shrimp cocktail before killing Alfie..." she hums.
"You think this message was from them? " Frank guessed, "then you'd better collect some of that weird yellow stuff on the platter!"
Adalet dusted the faded card first. It was quick work to recover the faded message, and she handed it off to Frank for him to read while she began collecting a sample of the yellow substance her partner had noticed on the shrimp platter.
"Nice work!" Frank grins as he takes the card, "the message reads, "You will pay for this, Mr. Croupier." Ha! It looks like the victim was as good at annoying people as he was at dealing cards. But how can we know who wrote on this card?"
"Maybe Russell can find out who wrote it?" Adalet suggested, finishing up her collection of the yellow powder.
"Think Russell know-it-all Crane can help? Alright, I guess we've got nothing to lose," he responded, pocketing the card, "great job collecting that yellow powder from the shrimp platter. Let's send it to Yann and see what he can tell us about the killer!"
With those two pieces of evidence out of the way, Adalet moved on to the last item; the cell phone. She connected it to her tablet and launched the code hacking program. A few seconds later the device was unlocked and displayed a recent text conversation.
"Nice work hacking into that phone, Adalet. And look! there's a text message!" Frank peered over his partner's shoulder for a better look, "I'm gonna damn-well murder that croupier!", and it's from Betty Wyatt, that tourist we met on the Strip!"
"What did the victim do to her, and how far did she go to get revenge?" Adalet wondered as she packed up her case.
He shrugged, "let's go talk to Betty, Adalet!"
Given that they found the tourist's cell phone inside the casino, she couldn't have gone too far. Walking outside to the strip, they spotted Betty several years down The Strip. They called out to her and Betty stopped walking to let them catch up.
"Betty, we found your phone, with a message on it saying that you wanted to kill Alfie! Care to explain?" Adalet asked, holding up the device to show the screen still displaying the text.
"Oh damn, I didn't expect you to find that message, Capt. Adalet!" Betty cursed, "I lost $10,000 at Alfie's poker table last night. But I was sure a big win was just around the corner! I was wearing my lucky hat after all. I was on my sixth shrimp cocktail and having fun when that croupier tells me to leave! He said that I was losing all my money and that I shouldn't play anymore! I was so mad I could have smashed his head in! If Alfie had just let me keep playing, I would have won! He's the reason I'm broke!"
"We had better not find out you murdered that croupier just for doing you a good turn, Betty, or it'll be jail for you!" Frank promised.
Analyze Yellow Powder and Threat for Victim...
"That yellow powder your killer left on that platter gave me such a buzz... literally! It's pure energy!" Yann jokes, "the yellow powder is pantothenic acid! It hot-wires your brain, giving you an energy boost so you can work longer without getting tired!"
"Wait, some people want to work LONGER?" Frank cried.
"Yes, Frank. This type of acid is used in energy pills," he produced a bottle from his lab coat pocket and shook it, "they're very popular in Paradise City, poker players take them so they can keep playing all night!"
"So our killer takes energy pills! Well, they're going to need one hell of an energy boost to keep ahead of you, Adalet!" he smirked.
"And if Russell can give us something useful about that threat to the victim, we won't need any pills to stay up all night!" Adalet replied, facing the profiler.
"You know, Adalet, playing cards originally came to the West from Persia. They were also used as currency, advertising and as a place to write secret love letters!" Russell lectured as he held the card in his hand.
"That's very interesting, Professor," Frank didn't sound interested, "but the playing card Adalet found in the casino didn't have a love note, it had a threat."
"Well, I used my graphological skills to analyze the script on the message. Do you see how the garlands between the letters are curled and elongated?" he points to the markings he was referring to.
Adalet nods, "what about them?"
"Whoever wrote this message is someone highly educated and used to writing in Arabic. Most probably an Arabian prince!" he reasons, "and as luck would have it, Hannah tells me an Arab prince registered for the tournament. Sheikh Abdullah bin Faisal - Sheikh Faisal, for short."
"You win this round genius," Frank admitted reluctantly, "come on, Adalet, let's go see why this Sheikh threatened our victim!"
Getting the address for the hotel Sheikh Abdullah bin Faisal was staying at, Adalet and Frank headed over with the card in hand to speak to the Arabian Prince. After asking the hotel receptionist to call the Prince's room and inform him of their arrival, the cops waited several minutes before a man dressed in fine robes appeared from the top of the stairs and began descending the steps towards where Adalet and Frank stood.
"Salaam, Capt. Adalet," Faisal greeted, "how may I assist you?"
"Salaam," Adalet returned the greeting as she pulled the card out of her pocket, "it's about Alfie McNaulty, sir. We found the threat you sent him."
"The croupier at the casino?! That snivelling heap of dung! I have never been more insulted in all my days in this country!" he roared, enraged just thinking of the man.
"What did he do, Prince Faisal?" she inquired, keeping her voice neutral.
"First he seats me, a prince, at a poker table in the worst part of the room! Then he wouldn't let me keep my lucky dagger with me!" he ranted, holding up a gold and sapphire encrusted dagger up for the captain to see, "he even refused to interrupt the game to fetch me another shrimp cocktail! Insolent wrench!"
"So you threatened him because he treated you like a normal customer? If anyone needs to get some manners, it's you!" Frank argued.
Adalet held back a wince, not needing her Omni-sense to see what was about to happen.
"How dare you!" Faisal exploded, "I'll complain to your Commander! You will pay for that insult, believe me!"
Later, at the office...
"Adalet, I never thought Paradise City would be full of gambling-obsessed, shallow, entitled losers! I thought everyone would be happy, but just look at our suspects..." Frank gestured to the suspect line-up, "first there's Louis, who wanted to beat up the victim for helping the police send him to prison six years ago. Then there's Betty, who threatened to kill the victim when he tried to stop her from losing her money! But the biggest mystery of all is our victim himself! Was he a good guy, or a jewel thief! We still don't know what he was doing in that store!"
"Frank, I'm going to KILL you!" Andrea announced, storming over, "what did you say to that Arab Sheikh?!"
"I didn't say anything," he assured his boss, "ask Adalet!"
"He says you insulted him! And now he's challenged you to a game of poker at his hotel!" she shouted.
"What?! You can't be serious!" he cried, shocked and confused by the threat.
"I've never been more serious. If you lose, he's going to sue the police force and get Adalet thrown out of Paradise City!" she informed the two cops.
"What?!" Adalet cried, "but Frank's the one who got on his bad side!"
Frank was too busy sweating to argue with his partner, "but, Andrea! He was being such an-"
"I don't care! He's challenging you to a game of poker. If you win, he'll drop the charges," Andrea cut in, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, "Ordinary, I'd arrest the man for obstructing an investigation, but we've only just arrived here and can't afford to annoy powerful people. So you'd better win!"
"You want me to play poker? I thought you said no gambling in Paradise City..." he quoted.
"Don't play smart with me! Adalet, please," she sighed, "go with him! Help him win!"
At the Sheikh's hotel...
"We meet again, Capt. Adalet. Your partner will pay for insulting me!" Faisal proclaimed, a sneer adorning his face.
"We're in the middle of a murder investigation, pal! We've got a killer to find, this is no time to play poker..." Frank tries to reason with the prince.
"Well, to show I'm a good sport, maybe I could help you with your investigation. The deal is this: if I win, you leave Paradise City and I sue your police force! If you win... I'll give you a tip about your croupier's last moments. Do we have a deal?" he inquired, staring down his nose at the cops.
"Deal! Don't worry, Adalet," he whispered to his partner, "no one's ever beaten me at poker... apart from my ex-wife. But she didn't play fair!"
Adalet felt her nervousness rising, "if you say so, Frank..."
One tense hour later, at the casino...
"I have you now, little police officer! I'll meet your bet," Faisal smirks as he shoves his chips to the center of the table, still holding his three cards close to his chest.
"Um... I'll raise..." Frank countered, sweating beading at his forehead, "you've not beaten me yet!"
"Cry, little man! Three kings!" he declared, slapping his cards face-up on the table.
"What?! That's impossible! I mean the only hand that could possibly beat that is..." the detective flipped his cards around, "three aces! You lose, your Highness!"
"What?! No one is that lucky!" Faisal roared.
"Capt. Adalet is, and it must've rubbed off! Now tell us what you know about the murder of Alfie McNaulty!" Frank ordered, tossing his cards down.
"Fine. All night, the croupier was muttering to himself. Something about a jewelry store. It seemed important," he huffed before making his exit.
"The jewelry store, again!" Adalet remarked, "this store and its robbery must hold the key to this case! We should get back there as fast as we can!"
Returning to the jewelry store, Adalet and Frank took a closer look at the broken display cases. They found a green messenger bag with Alfie's name embroidered on the front, a half-faded wanted poster, and finally some broken pieces of metal.
"Right, Adalet. Do we finally know why the victim was obsessed with this jewelry store? Obsessed enough to apparently rob it before he was killed?" Frank inquired.
Adalet deposited all of her new clues on the counter, "well, there's a few things here that might give us a lead!"
He grinned, "you did find something! This wanted poster's got our victim on it, and it says he was... a thief! I can't believe it! Our victim really was a scoundrel! Who'd have thought?"
"Whoever made this poster," she joked, grabbing the pieces of broken metal to begin gluing them back together.
"There was someone else on this poster with him. Work your magic and retrieve their partner in crime's face, Adalet! And there's the victim's name on this bag! Let's have a look inside!" he says, eyeing up the remaining clues, "and you'd better piece together those broken bits of metal fast, Adalet, because the clock waits for no one!"
"Well, the clock doesn't have to wait for me!" Adalet smirked, holding up the repaired statue.
"Those broken pieces were a statue of an owl? What's that got to do with our murder, Adalet?" Frank wondered.
She turned the statue around, "the victim's name is written on the base!"
"But... why?!"
"We don't have time for riddles, but we know someone who does. Let's get this owl to Russell!"
Putting the statue away, Adalet moved on to the faded wanted poster. She dusted the area beside Alfie's picture and name and recovered the printed image of the other wanted person along with their name.
"That wanted poster was for our victim and... Grace O'Brien!" Frank cried as he read the name under the woman's picture, "seriously? That bombshell we met earlier is a thief? Why does every woman I meet turn out to be on the wrong side of the law, Adalet?"
"I'd say you have bad luck, but you managed to keep me from being deported so arguments out the window," Adalet quipped.
"I can't believe it!" he spat angrily, "let's go get answers from Grace, Adalet!"
Adalet stopped Frank from storming out of the jewellers before she could have a look through the victim's bag. Inside the bag was an assortment of magazines, some watches (possibly stolen), and a couple of wallets (also possibly stolen). But sticking out of one of the magazines was an old newspaper clipping.
"Okay, you found a newspaper clipping in the victim's bag. What does it say?!" Frank asks impatiently.
"It's been damaged," Adalet remarked, "but the headline reads, "Croupiers Beware"!"
"No wonder the victim had this, but why should "Croupiers Beware"?" he wondered, "come on! Clean up that article and see what the rest of it says!"
Since her dusting kit was still out on the counter, Adalet brushed the missing image of the article and recovered it along with the brief message below it.
"This newspaper clipping was talking about Danny Moto!" Adalet remarked recognizing the young man's face in the image before a blackboard covered in equations.
"It says that little geek we met earlier was "ripping off casinos"! I knew there was more to that kid!" Frank declared, "c'mon, let's go talk to him!"
They dropped the owl statue off at the station for Russell on their way back to the casino to question Danny about him ripping off casinos and confront Grace about her criminal past. They ended up finding Danny first just outside the casino room, the young man using a small table to count his poker chips.
"Not so sweet and innocent after all, are you Danny?" Frank questions, shoving the newspaper clipping into the younger's face, "this article says you ripped off casinos!"
"I knew I should have told you the truth, Capt. Adalet! Please, don't send me to prison!" Danny begged.
"Explain the article then Danny," Adalet ordered, crossing her arms.
"Mathematics is my passion. I spend every day working on calculations. Sometimes I take energy pills, just so I can study more! But being good at math doesn't pay school fees, it doesn't even pay for shrimp cocktails..." he rambled, "however, I realized that being good at math could help in a casino! I counted cards and won big. Enough to pay my school fees!"
"But you got caught," she guessed, "how did you manage to enter that poker competition?"
"Luck. Registration didn't cross-check my name, and the security guards didn't recognize me... But Alfie did! He told me to leave his table if I didn't want him to call security! I said a good luck prayer as I ran away, hoping Alfie wouldn't tell anyone. Looks like I was lucky after all!" Danny beamed.
"Lucky?! The man is dead! Here's a sum for you, genius: what do you get if you multiply a whole lot of evidence with a greedy, scared little kid?" Frank asked.
"That's not a mathematical-"
"One long prison sentence!" the detective answered, cutting the teenager off, "we'll be in touch, Danny!"
Leaving Danny to continue counting his chips, Adalet and Frank entered the casino to talk to Grace. The thief was sitting at a slot machine clearly winning some money from the game.
"There I was," Frank began. Laning against the slot machine beside Grace, "thinking you were just some random attractive poker player, but you were on a wanted poster with our victim!"
"So you think I'm attractive?" Grace purred.
"Yeah, I'm strange like that, I've got a thing for liars," he deadpanned, "quit the games and tell us the truth!"
"Seriously? You thought I was just going to casually mention: "Oh yeah, me and Alfie used to be jewel thieves together"?! Not that I'm ashamed. Working with Alfie, being a jewel thief... it's the best fun a girl can have with her clothes on!" she laughed, "making plans, staying up all night with nothing but some energy pills and lock picks for company! But, that's all in the past now. Alfie and I went to jail and paid our dues. I don't take risks anymore. Hell, I don't walk under ladders or on the cracks!"
"Nevertheless, I've seen a lot of attractive faces in my time, and yours has "guilty" written all over it. We're not done with you yet!" he promised.
Analyze Owl Statue...
"This owl you found at the jewellers is fascinating, Adalet! Owls are mysterious creatures. In England, they symbolize wisdom, but in Finland, the word for "owl" means "idiot"! While in Arab-"
"Russell, if I wanted to learn geography, I'd buy an atlas! Tell us something useful!" Frank ordered.
Russell rolled his eyes, "I was going to say that in Arabia, owls are seen as bad luck."
"Wait, we've got someone from Arabia in our suspect list! D'you think Sheikh Faisal could have wished bad luck on the victim?!" he wondered.
"Most definitely. After all, he did write the victim's name on the base..." he hums, pointing to the writing beneath the owl.
"Alright, so you were useful... again," he reluctantly admitted, "c'mon, Adalet, let's go shakedown that Sheikh!"
Returning to the hotel Faisal was staying at, Adalet and Frank got the prince's room number from the concierge and banged on room 284 and waited until it was opened to ask Faisal why he cursed the victim.
"You two again! Won't you people give it a rest! That croupier is dead! Forget about him!" Faisal orders, going to slam the door shut.
Adalet shoved her foot in the path of the door, "we won't rest until this killer is caught. So why don't you tell us why you sent Alfie that cursed owl?"
"Ugh, it's hard to be regal when you are surrounded by peasants! I have to take energy pills just to find the strength to talk to you commoners! Last night, I lost $100,000 at that poker table. This was small change to me, but I still needed to defend my honour, so I performed a little card trick..." he tells them, "but that damned croupier saw and accused me of cheating! Me! A prince! In front of everyone! It was... humiliating. So I had a servant give that owl to him. He didn't realize it was a curse! But my honour was restored."
"Honor?! How far does "defending honour" go, Faisal? Far enough to kill someone?" Frank suggested, "don't leave the country, your Highness. We're not done with you!"
Later, at the office...
"I don't know, Adalet, one of these suspects is the killer! But I think everyone's wearing poker faces!" Frank complained, "I mean what was going on with our victim?! He's a jewel thief! And Grace used to be his partner in crime! But does she have what it takes to murder someone? And that Danny, with his "I'm just a poor innocent math genius" game. Is he playing us for fools? Dammit, if we only had more time!"
"Adalet! I've been looking everywhere for you! It's almost morning and the city council wants to reopen the Strip!" Andrea informed them as she marched into the office.
"But that's our crime scene!" Adalet cried.
"If there's any more evidence left, it'll be lost! C'mon, Adalet! Let's get back to the Strip before it's too late!" Frank grabs the keys off his desk and runs for the exit.
"Right behind you!"
Rushing back to the scene of the crime, Adalet and Frank took a closer look around the fountain Alfie's body had been found leaning against. Adalet found a golden ashtray from the Menngaio casino, and a small neon sign right beside it that read SERVICE underneath a large spatter of blood.
"This is our last chance to solve Alfie's murder, Adalet! So what have you got?" Frank asked.
"An ashtray and a neon sign," Adalet responded, pulling on a pair of gloves.
"An ashtray?! Jeez, Adalet, we have five suspects who could run at any minute, a crime scene is about to be shut down and a giant murder to solve, and you pick up an ashtray?!" he ranted.
She cocked an eyebrow, "I am aware of the circumstances, Frank, which is why I'm searching it for evidence!"
"Fine! If you think there's something in there, go through it fast!" he held up his hands in surrender, "and that neon sign you found is covered in blood! Better collect a sample!"
With her gloves protecting her hands, Adalet sifted through the ashtray. Moving aside the cigarette butts and random bottle caps, she found something blue, shiny, and expensive-looking mixed into the ash. It was a small, square-shaped sapphire.
"How did a sapphire end up in an ashtray, Adalet?! If I had a rock that big, I'd keep an eye on it!" Frank joked.
"It could be linked to Alfie's murder," Adalet mused, "since it was on the crime scene!"
"Then there's not a second to lose! Let's get this to Yann!" he says, holding open a small evidence bag for her.
After dropping the gem in the bag, Adalet grabbed the neon sign and swabbed a sample of the blood for Yann to also analyze.
"Great!" Frank grins as Adalet placed the swab into a protective vial, "let's get that blood sample from the neon sign to Yann. It might hold the crucial clue to catching this killer!"
Analyze Sapphire Gem and Blood...
"Adalet, that sapphire you brought me had quite a story to tell! You couldn't see it with the naked eye, but it was as dirty as a bathroom floor!" Yann informed them, all too happy with his analogy.
"Yuck, spare us the metaphors, Yann!" Frank pleaded.
"I'm not even going to try and see that!" Adalet announced, turning a blind eye to the gem.
Yann chuckled, "the sapphire was covered with traces of shrimp sauce and pantothenic acid, which happen to be two pieces of evidence Adalet has already uncovered."
"So you're saying this sapphire belongs to Alfie's killer?" Frank inferred, "that's great! And Adalet, if there's one thing to know about Paradise City, it's that people care about their bling! Our killer WILL have replaced that sapphire, you can trust me on that!"
"Alright, I'm trusting you on this one, Frank!" Adalet responded, "and I'm trusting Yann to give us the last piece of evidence we need to arrest the killer!"
"I know you don't have long, Adalet, so I'll be brief! That blood you found on that neon sign is the victim's!" Yann explains, "but there was something else in there! When I applied a polymerase chain reaction to the blood, it picked up someone else's DNA!"
"That must be the killer's DNA! What can you tell us about them? Are they tall? Short? Fat? Thin?!" Frank demanded.
"It was only a partial strand. But I was able to get enough of the genetic sequence to find the enzyme that denotes hair colour! Your killer has brown hair!" he tells them confidently.
"Great! Adalet, let's get out there and find this brunette killer before it's too late!" he says, turning to his partner, "this is the part I love, Adalet! You've got everything you need and I bet you know who the killer is, don't you?!"
Adalet smirked, "we wouldn't get to the fun part if I didn't, Frank!"
"Come on, then! Let's go and arrest Alfie McNaulty's killer!"
Take care of the killer now!
"You've placed your last bet, Grace O'Brien! We know you killed Alfie McNaulty!" Adalet declared.
"What?! Me kill Alfie? Where's your proof, Capt. Adalet?" Grace demanded with an overconfident smirk.
"There's that ladybug charm you dropped at the crime scene. You could have used that luck!" she began, holding up a picture of the jewel.
"That's not mine," the gambler denies, "you can't prove a thing!"
"Then there's that cute message you left on that shrimp platter, luring Alfie outside to his death!" Frank took over.
"You think I wrote a message on a shrimp platter? Who does something that weird?!" Grace laughed, almost dropping the cards she was holding.
"And then there's our trump card! Capt. Adalet found your DNA mixed with the victim's blood at the crime scene! What happened? Did Alfie put up a fight and cut you?" he inquired.
"Ha! Are you serious? Alfie couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag! He was a weakling!" Grace sneered, "a week ago, I asked Alfie to help me rob that jewelry store. Just like the good old days! But the pathetic wretch refused! He said he wasn't a criminal anymore! He had become so... boring!"
Adalet rolled her eyes, "yes, following the law, so dull..."
"I went to rob that jewelry store alone... but Alfie followed, trying to stop me! He even threatened to go to the cops! That's when I knew he wasn't trustworthy anymore. I had to get rid of him. So, I went to the casino, played a round of cards at his table. I wrote him that note on the shrimp platter - it was the only thing to hand!" Grace explained, "he met me outside... He was carrying his croupier stick, and that's when I had the idea. I knew if I didn't kill him, he'd be a thorn in my side. I did what had to be done. I thought I'd covered my tracks, I've always been so lucky..."
"That luck just ran out. You're under arrest!" she informed the thief turned murderer, locking the cuffs around the other woman's wrists.
To the courthouse!
"So, Grace O'Brien. You went from reformed jewel thief to murderer in one swing of a croupier stick! Not exactly a winning strategy, was it?" Dante commented.
"Your Honor, you seem like a betting man. Maybe we could cut some kind of deal? Tell me, how good are you at cards?" Grace inquired, still somehow holding a full hand of cards like a fan.
"I don't make bets with murderers, Ms. O'Brien. How am I to know your promises are worth anything?!" he complained honestly.
"That's the risk of gambling. The luck of the draw, the roll of the dice, the thrill of-"
"I'm not so much for thrills, thank you," he interprets, reaching for his gavel, "but I hereby sentence you to 20 years in prison for the murder of Alfie McNaulty. Is that thrilling enough for you?"
"Wait! You can't do this!" Grace cried, struggling against the officers who began escorting her out of the courtroom, "this isn't over! I'll be out in no time!"
Dante smiles, "would you like to bet on that?"
"Nice work, Adalet!" Frank praised as they left the courthouse, "we've only just arrived in Paradise City and you've already solved a murder! Do you think your luck might work on the poker table? We could make a fortune, Adalet!"
"One," Adalet held up a finger, "my Far and I are banned from gambling due to our unfair advantage."
A second finger went up, "and two, all these gamblers have left me with a bad taste in my mouth..."
"Oh, I guess you're right, meeting all those gambling addicts and cheats is enough to put anyone off gambling..." he agrees, watching the sun rising over the horizon, "let's go to the bar instead!"
She laughed, "you're buying!"
The Big Heist: Part 1...
"Congratulations on another solved case, Adalet! You've already become the talk of Paradise City: a lot of people are betting on you," Andrea jokes as an unknown woman in a zebra print coat enters the office.
"Ah, Capt. Adalet, there you are! My name is Eugenia Hestentrope," the woman introduces herself, "and I'm the owner of the Mennagio casino."
"Yeah, we just solved the murder of one of your employees," Frank boasted from his spot relaxing in his chair.
"Exactly, which proves you're the best there is, that's why I need your help! There's been a string of heists in Paradise City, led by a master thief..." Eugenia explains, "and I've got the feeling these thieves are preparing to rob MY casino and I can't let that happen!"
"You want us to investigate a robbery that hasn't even taken place?" Adalet questioned.
"This could be the biggest heist of the century! And I'm certain Louis De Rico is the one behind it. He's surely putting a team together as we speak!" she insisted furiously.
"I'm sorry, but accusations aren't much to go on ma'am," Frank spoke up.
Eugenia looked nervous, "look, the jewelry store that got robbed was part of the Mennagio. Maybe they robbed the place as a warm-up before the casino itself!"
"She makes a good point, Frank," Adalet agreed.
"Fine," Frank grumbled, "you're lucky Capt. Adalet is willing to go to the jewelry store to see if there are any leads to go on."
"Wait up, Adalet!" Roxie calls as the cops were getting ready to leave, "a certain Betty called, she wants to talk to you. Can I go see her with you? I'd love to show you around Paradise City!"
"Don't hit up any bars without me, Roxie!" Frank ordered, "Adalet, I'll be waiting at the jewelry store while you help Betty out at the casino... Huh, why can't it be the other way round?!"
Adalet snickered, "guess I'm Lady Luck today, Frank!"
While Frank headed to the jewelry store to wait for Adalet, Roxie and the captain drove out to The Strip to ask Betty what was wrong.
"Oh, Capt. Adalet, thank the Lord you're here. I've been cheated!" Betty cried.
"In Paradise City? That's a surprise!" Roxie commented.
"What happened Betty?" Adalet questioned.
"I was playing blackjack at the casino and when I won big, they claimed I was cheating and threw me out!" Betty answered, pointing to the casino across the street.
"Hm, I don't trust casinos but I don't trust you either, Betty. If we discover you're lying to us, there'll be trouble! That said, we'll look into this," Roxie promised before turning to her teammate, "casinos have really good surveillance systems, so maybe we could use it against them! Let's go find the recordings of Betty's blackjack game at the casino!"
Heading back inside the Mennagio Casino, Adalet and Roxie looked around for the surveillance camera the coroner talked about. They found the camera that was angled at the blackjack table, and Adalet climbed on top of a slot machine to unscrew it from the ceiling.
"If I could fly this would e a Hel of a lot easier," Adalet grumbled.
"Don't you mean Hell?" Roxie questioned.
"No I mean Hel," she confirmed, unscrewing the last screw, "this certainly isn't Valhalla!"
Adalet jumped down and landed beside Roxie, "this camera faces the blackjack table, so it must have filmed Betty playing."
"It's a sure way to know whether she cheated or not!" Roxie agreed, "of course, the camera's locked, but I've heard that's never been a problem for you!"
Examining the keypad of the CCTV camera, Adalet punched in the code most likely to be the passcode. She really was lucky tonight, the screen flashes green and unlocked.
"Great job, Adalet! You unlocked the surveillance camera in no time!" Roxie cheered.
"Russell could have a look at that footage and analyze Betty's behaviour when she was playing! He could tell us if she cheated or not!" Adalet theorized, passing the camera to the coroner.
"And we promised Frank we'd wait until work's over to hit the town. I don't know what will be the hardest: waiting for the lab results or not going out drinking!" she laughed.
While Roxie took the camera back to the station, Adalet and Hunter joined Frank at the jewelry store to investigate it for anything related to the big heist Eugenia believed was coming. A cleaning crew must have been inside since they last investigated the place because the broken glass had been cleaned up. There was still a small mess, but it wasn't hard to find a newspaper article half-hidden behind a display case counter
"Okay, Adalet, so you found a faded newspaper article. It won't be any use to us until you've retrieved the faded text, though..." Frank teased.
Placing the news article down on top of the display case, Adalet dusted the missing information to recover it.
"So there's a picture of an open money vault... and the headline reads: "Robbery series: a witness shows up"," Adalet summarized what she'd recovered from the article.
"Andrea mentioned that there had been a string of robberies recently," Frank recalled the Chief's earlier words, "and this article says there may have been a witness!"
"We need to send this article to Hannah; we need to find that witness!" she decided.
Analyze CCTV Footage...
"Adalet, I took a look at the CCTV footage you found in the casino. Sure enough, there was Betty at the blackjack table!" Russell shows them a still image from the recording showing the woman sitting at a blackjack table surrounded by other players.
"And was she cheating?" Roxie questioned.
"No, Betty was telling the truth, which is rare for people in Paradise City. There are at least seven different techniques to cheat in card games, from manipulating the deck to switching out cards," he rambled, "but Betty didn't do any of those maneuvers. In fact, the main thing she is guilty of is having an excellent poker face. The way she keeps her cool but still maintains conversation without added body expressions... In fact, that's why the casino was convinced she was cheating!"
"So Betty won the game fair and square? That's surprising..." the coroner remarked, "but that means the casino owes her a lot of money: I guess honesty does pay! Come on, Adalet, let's go tell her!"
Returning to The Strip they tracked down Betty to tell her the good news regarding her amazing win.
"Betty, Adalet proved you weren't cheating at the casino! With this proof," Roxie held up the CD Russell had gotten Hannah to make, "you can claim your money back!"
"Oh, I knew I could count on you, Capt. Adalet! Now that I can get my money back... I can keep gambling! You've just gotta love Paradise City!" Betty cheered, taking the CD.
"Aren't you scared of just losing it all again?" Adalet asks with concern.
"Honey, you've got to lose a few to win a few. That's just the way the Universe works! And now that I've lost my husband, I hope to win plenty more too!" Betty assured the women, "but in case I do end up losing all my money, let me first take you shopping for some new outfits! Come on, Capt. Adalet, it's your lucky night too! Woohoo!"
Analyze Newspaper Article...
"So I checked out that article you found and looked into the details of the robberies it mentions. There's been a string of carefully operated robberies in Paradise City recently. And they all target big casinos... The gang has been nicknamed the Phantom Thieves because nobody has ever seen them..." Hannah summarized.
"Until now! Did you find out who the witness was?" Frank asked.
"Yes, it turns out you know him, though I wouldn't trust him: it's Danny Moto," she answered.
"You're right, an underage kid who's cheating at poker is not the most trustworthy witness..." he sighed, "but we need all the information we can get! Let's go talk to Danny, Adalet!"
After calling Danny into the station, they brought the teenager into their interrogation room to ask him about what he saw regarding the series of robberies.
"Danny, we have discovered that you were a witness in the recent series of casino burglaries... You saw those so-called Phantom Thieves?" Adalet questioned.
"Ha, like anybody cares about what I saw!" Danny scoffed.
"Huh? What are you on about, kid?" Frank asked, confused.
"When I went to the Police with my story, they didn't even listen to me. They just gave me hot cocoa and told me to run on home, like I was a child!" he complained, folding his arms angrily.
"They didn't even hear you out? Wow, the Paradise City cops sound even lazier than me!" he remarked, sounding proud of himself.
"I even took a photo of one of the thieves, but they wouldn't look at it! Then the newspaper printed that article, and now I'm worried the thieves will come after me!" he says, already begging to sweat nervously.
"You took a picture of one of the Phantom Thieves? Where is it?" Adalet inquired.
Danny gulped, "I... I tore it up and threw it on the Strip. I didn't think anybody cared!"
"Frank, we need to look for that photo on the Strip!" she declared, facing her partner.
"But first, let's go get some Paradise City burgers!" Frank says, rubbing his hands together in excitement.
Later on The Strip, after a quick lunch...
"Good job, Adalet, you found a torn photo!" Frank grins as he sees the torn paper Adalet had picked up, "let's restore it and hope it's the one Danny took!"
Working carefully on the guardrail of the fountain, Adalet taped together the picture. The image was certainly of a robber, a man dressed in all black clothing with a large white cloth bag slung over his shoulder. The man was facing the camera and it was easy to identify who he was.
"That guy in that picture you restored... We know him, you're right! That's Louis De Rico!" Frank exclaimed, "and there's no doubt about it, this photo shows him looting a place! Louis must be one of the Phantom Thieves! Looks like the Mennagio owner was right to suspect him of being behind those robberies!"
"That may be so, but this photo isn't enough to arrest Louis," Adalet argues.
"Of course," he agrees with a growing smirk, "but Louis doesn't know that! Let's hide our cards and get him talking. I just hope he doesn't call our bluff!"
Heading back to the Mennagio casino one last time to question Louis De Rico about the burglaries.
"Louis, you're done for! Capt. Adalet found a photo of you taken during one of your heists!" Frank informed the man as Adalet held up the said photo.
"I didn't know I was so photogenic!" Louis bragged, "but that photo doesn't prove anything: it's just me with a bag over my shoulders."
"It's you in a robber's outfit with a bag of loot!" he argued.
"Let's agree to disagree. I'm just a simple folk trying to steer clear of trouble after my stint in prison," he hums innocently.
"About that, for taking off your parole monitor bracelet earlier, we're fining you!" Adalet announced, quickly writing up a ticket and giving it to the man.
"My, my - you couldn't beat me so you have to humiliate me? Fine, but I'll have the last laugh, Capt. Adalet. You'll never catch me!" Louis declared, ripping the ticket out of the captain's hand.
Later, back at the station...
"So, Capt. Adalet, did you find anything that proves Louis De Rico's going to try and rob my casino?!" Eugenia inquired nervously.
"Not exactly," Adalet confessed, "we discovered Louis De Rico is behind the previous heists, though we're still lacking proof to arrest him. But don't worry, we'll find some."
"Thank you, Capt. Adalet!" she let out a breath of relief, "the Mennagio is the biggest casino here, that's why those thieves are keeping it for last. I can feel it!"
"Well, we need to go on more than just a feeling," Andrea argued, "but that's why I've given Capt. Adalet the order to investigate and gather all the information needed. And don't worry, ma'am, unlike most people in Paradise City, you can count on Capt. Adalet: she never loses!"
A/N: Where finally here, Paradise City! It's been a long time coming but the waiting has paid off!