MEHR Ch.53 Snippet 3 (Patreon)

"Oh dear... I assume he needed an exorbitant 'initial investment'?"

"Actually, no, he didn't. Apparently someone had already provided him with the necessary equipment for a previous job..." Bhatia wrung his hands together in worry. "I had the meat thoroughly checked, but..."

"It's still technically illegal."

Bhatia's eyes darted around to see if any C-Sec officers caught that. He breathed a sigh a relief when no one reacted. "...Yes, it is."

"Don't worry," said Ramsus, his tone reassuring, "I won't tell. I am curious, however: what was the expert's name?"

"Rudy Cullen. I have his contact information right here..."

~[h+]~

If Yang Wen-Li had learned anything from studies of the Mongol Empire, it was that behind every great man stood an even greater woman, visible only to those who cared to read between the lines printed in a history book. The Chettinad Eatery had only opened recently, and yet according to its extra-net reviews it was already incredibly popular with the locals. Yang found this a little suspicious, and when Bhatia had said that his greeter had put him in contact with a biotech expert to provide him with meat, Yang decided to investigate the claim further.

Yang's mechanical avatar had been rapidly tapping away at the terminal on the greeter's podium when Tenma approached, saying: "Found anything interesting?" The fashionable detective had tried to hide his dismissive tone, but he had betrayed his disdain for paperwork.

"Actually," replied Yang. "I did: It appears that the greeter — Vina Baccha — was responsible of this restaurant's success... and its previous incarnation, Hwang's Authentic Oriental delights..." Yang brought up several emails on the podium's holo-display. "She used the contacts she developed during her career as a prostitute to put people in the seats, and encouraged word of mouth to spread within the upper crust of Citadel society."

"Hm... quite the entrepreneur, that one."

"Indeed. There were a few more interesting details I noticed: her biotech contact, Rudy Cullen, was actually the owner of Hwang's, operating under a disguise."

"Wait," Tenma frowned. "An occidental pretending to be an oriental? Who even does that?"

"Someone really dedicated to their advertising, apparently, but back on the topic: According to Thárros, Rudy Cullen had been serving the first week of his sentence for fraud when an unknown party arranged for him to be put on early parole."

"And by 'coincidence', Cullen had received the funding necessary to do some illegal bio-printing."

"Quite fortuitous for Bhatia's business, if the reviews for his beef curry are any indication. But even more coincidental is this: Baccha had recently had some cosmetic work done..." Yang's mech handed Tenma a card. Printed on it was the name Chin Shu Oh, under the logo of Queens Hospital.

"Hm... fascinating."

"From what we've seen here, and Baccha's absence, we can assume that Adam Jensen was trying to question her about the hospital, and what he found there motivated him to destroy it."

"The body doesn't belong to Baccha?"

"No, the police identified the victim as Delphi - No last name, apparently."

"I'd like to see the body, if you don't mind. I might be able to glean what transpired here."

~[h+]~