Sunrise stains Far Harbor Dog Park a bruised gold. Dallas Fontaine stands at the gate with a paper cup of coffee and a head full of hangover static, while Murderbone strains at the leash, nose already working the wind.
A photograph sits in Dallas’s coat pocket, damp at the edges from last night’s handling. Too many faces. Too many people who should not have been in the same frame.
Across the grass, the smoking hot girl crouches beside a bench, pretending to tie her shoe. She is watching the path instead of the dog run, like she is waiting for someone who has not arrived yet.
Clara
You found me faster than I thought you would.
Murderbone pulls hard, low growl in his chest, then freezes. His ears lock forward at the girl, then past her, toward the empty park beyond the trees.
Dallas Fontaine
She knows the photo.
The girl rises slowly, one hand visible, the other hidden in her coat pocket. Her smile is sharp, but her eyes keep flicking to the coffee in Dallas’s hand, then to the dog, then to the photograph bulge in his pocket.
Clara
If you want the truth, Detective, you should hear it before somebody else does.
From somewhere beyond the fence line, a phone starts to vibrate, loud and insistent, cutting through the birds and the morning hush. The girl’s expression tightens. She glances toward the sound and says nothing, waiting to see whether Dallas answers the call or keeps his eyes on her.
✓ Quest Accepted
Hear the truth from the smoking hot girl
“Keep my hand on the leash and step closer to hear her out.”
SUCCESS (Good Psychology, rolled +1)
Dallas keeps the leash firm and closes the distance, careful and calm. Murderbone moves with him, every step measured, until the dog and the girl are close enough to speak without raising voices.
Clara
Good. I needed you here, not over there.
Clara
The picture you have, it is not a random crowd. It is a handoff. Your daughter is in the background because she saw the exchange.
Dallas Fontaine
She is watching his face for the part he already knows.
The girl slips one hand from her pocket and holds out a folded receipt, creased thin from being hidden too long.
Clara
This got dropped after the meeting. Same time, same place. If you want the rest, you need to tell me what you recognize.
“I ask who else is coming”
SUCCESS (Great Interrogation, rolled -1)
Dallas holds the silence a beat too long, just enough to make her feel it.
Dallas Fontaine
Who else is coming?
The girl’s eyes flick once toward the fence line, then back. Her hand tightens on the receipt.
Clara
Not a crowd. One man, maybe two. A city man with clean shoes, and someone who keeps his head down.
Clara
They are already nervous. That is why I wanted you first.
Murderbone lets out a low, warning rumble, but stays planted between them. The girl swallows, then taps the receipt against her palm.
Clara
If I say the name on this paper, you will know why your daughter was there.
“I ask what the receipt proves”
SUCCESS (Great Interrogation, rolled +2)
Clara
It proves I did not make it up. The receipt is from the diner on Wharf Street. Same hour, same table, same cash drop.
She opens it just enough for Dallas to catch the ink stamp, then turns it so the sunrise does not wash it out.
Clara
Your daughter was there because she saw who passed the envelope. She wrote the plate number on the back, in a hurry.
Dallas Fontaine
Show me the back.
Her thumb slides under the fold, careful and reluctant, and the hidden side faces him at last.
Clara
You see? That is why I wanted you first. If they know I have this, I am finished.
Murderbone’s ears lift, not at danger, but at Dallas’s attention fixing on the paper, as if the dog can smell the truth changing hands.
Quest Complete
Hear the truth from the smoking hot girl
Skill Upgrade: Interrogation Great→Superb