Mara Quill slides between Dallas and the open corridor, one hand near her holster, the other extended toward the records bundle. The file room feels smaller by the second, all ozone, dust, and old glue.
Mara Quill
Hand over the bundle, Fontaine. Official processing, now.
Elena Vane
Official? You mean burying it before Bell gets here.
Dallas holds position as the corridor silhouette stays back in the dark. Murderbone bristles at the threshold, low and silent. Quill does not look away from the folder in Dallas's grasp.
Mara Quill
If Bell reaches this room first, the evidence disappears. If Fontaine trusts me, I can still pull this clean.
Dallas Fontaine
The carbon copy slip is the weak seam. Quill wants it contained.
Elena tightens her grip on the records bundle, eyes hardening as she reads Quill's face. In the hallway, the far silhouette shifts deeper into shadow, waiting for an opening.
“Is Quill part of Bell's cleanup?”
NO (Likely, rolled 75)
Quill's eyes flicker toward the dark silhouette in the hall, her hand dropping away from her holster as she exhales a sharp, steadying breath. She is not here to bury the truth, but to salvage what remains of the department's integrity.
Mara Quill
I am not Bell's errand runner, Fontaine. I have been tracking his paper trail for months, and I need that bundle to make the charges stick.
“I ask Quill what Bell removed tonight”
SUCCESS (Legendary Interrogation, rolled +0)
Dallas Fontaine
What did Bell take out tonight?
Mara Quill
The annex intake sheet. He came for the removal log, and the cleanup copy with the clerk initials.
Quill reaches into her coat and palms the empty sleeve of a file folder, like she can still feel the shape of what vanished.
Mara Quill
If Bell took the intake sheet, he knows exactly which drawer was touched and who signed it.
Elena Vane
And he does not leave paper behind unless he plans to burn the room with it.
Murderbone stays rigid at the doorway, nose angled toward the hall, while the shadow beyond the corridor shifts once, then stills.
Mara Quill
Bell removed the original tonight, before I got to it. But the carbon copy stayed in the bundle. That is why I am still here.
Quill slides the recovered copy toward Dallas, revealing a clerk stamp and a second handwritten time, later than the official pickup.
“I press Quill for Bell's cleanup route”
SUCCESS (Legendary Interrogation, rolled -3)
Dallas lets the silence hang, then turns the copy so the late time catches the lamp. His questions come out flat and precise.
Dallas Fontaine
Walk me through the cleanup route, Quill. Who moves the paper, and where does Bell send it after the drawer is touched?
Mara Quill
North corridor to records intake, then the loading lift. Bell uses the service stair if he wants it out of sight. The file never goes to one place, it gets split.
Quill taps the carbon copy with one finger, tracing a short loop on the table like a map she has memorized by force.
Mara Quill
He tags the clerk log, strips the removal sheet, and hands the cleanup copy to whoever is waiting by the stairwell door.
Elena Vane
So the route is internal. Bell keeps it inside the annex until the handoff.
Murderbone shifts at the threshold, still staring into the hall. A shape deeper in the corridor slides once toward the edge of the light, then stops.
Mara Quill
If you want Bell in the open, the stairwell is where he favors. He will come through there when he thinks the room is already swept.
“I ask Quill who waits by the stairwell door”
SUCCESS (Legendary Interrogation, rolled +0)
Dallas Fontaine
Who waits by the stairwell door?
Mara Quill
Bell's runner. Young, gray coat, left ear split. He takes envelopes and never asks questions.
Quill's eyes flick to the corridor, then back to Dallas. The carbon copy stays pinned under the lamp, its stamped time glaring like a bruise.
Elena Vane
You know him by sight?
Mara Quill
Enough to know he is not Bell, just the hand that carries Bell's orders.
From the hall, a shoe scuffs once, then stills. Murderbone lifts his head higher, body hardening at the threshold.
Mara Quill
If he came early, he heard enough to ruin the handoff. That means he is deciding whether to run or knock.
“I have murderbone bark and create a distraction so I can stealthily get close to him.”
SUCCESS (Fair Stealth, rolled -1)
Murderbone breaks the silence with a sharp bark at the doorway, and the corridor answers with a startled shuffle.
Dallas slips out from the lamp’s hard circle, moving low along the table’s edge while the sound draws every eye toward the hall.
The stairwell runner appears in the strip of light, gray coat half-open, head turning too late as he tries to place the bark.
He hesitates instead of bolting, caught between the door and the corridor shadow behind him.
Dallas closes the distance without a word, reaching the runner’s blind side before the man can call out.
Murderbone keeps barking at the threshold, holding the hall’s attention as Dallas settles into position behind the courier.
The runner’s hand drifts toward his coat, then freezes when he senses Dallas too close behind him.
“I grab the runner before he can bolt”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled -1)
Dallas clamps an arm around the runner’s chest and pins the man before he can turn. The courier’s heel skids, and the corridor swallow closes around them.
The Stairwell Runner
Hey, wait, I did not say anything.
Murderbone’s barking cuts off at the doorway, replaced by a low, satisfied rumble. The hall goes still again, except for the runner’s quick breathing.
Dallas Fontaine
Split ear. Courier. Bell’s man.
Dallas wrenches the man’s wrist back just enough to make the coat gape. A folded slip and a brass stairwell key flash in the light before dropping into Dallas’s hand.
Mara Quill
That key opens the lower service stairs. Bell uses the courier route.
Elena Vane
Then he was here to pull the files, not just watch us.
Down the corridor, a door latch clicks once, then stops. The runner stiffens in Dallas’s grip as footsteps gather beyond the frame.
✓ Quest Accepted
Stop Bell’s runner from escaping
+ New Item Acquired
Folded slip
+ New Item Acquired
Brass stairwell key
“Drag the runner into the file room and slam the door shut to block the hallway. I tell him if he shouts he's dead.”
FAILURE (Fair Strength, rolled -1)
Dallas hauls the runner backward into the file room. The man stumbles over the threshold, but his shoulder catches the jamb and twists free before Dallas can get the door closed.
The Stairwell Runner
Get off me!
Murderbone lunges in and bars the runner from the hall, but the door swings half open under the impact. The latch fails to catch.
Dallas Fontaine
Shout and you are dead.
The runner goes rigid, breathing hard, trapped between Dallas and the dog. Beyond the cracked doorway, those footsteps stop short, listening.
Mara Quill
He is not getting out that door. Keep him quiet while I see who is in the hall.
Elena Vane
If he yells, Bell hears us. Hold him still.
“Drag the runner into the file room and slam the door shut to block the hallway. I tell him if he shouts he's dead.”
SUCCESS (Fair Strength, rolled -1)
Dallas hauls the runner deeper inside and drives him sideways into the wall. The man's boots skid, then lose traction. The door slams hard enough to rattle the file shelves.
Dallas Fontaine
If you shout, you are dead.
The runner swallows the sound in his throat and freezes. Murderbone plants himself at the jamb, shoulder braced against the gap, keeping the hall sealed out.
The Stairwell Runner
Don't let them hear me. Don't let Bell hear me.
Mara Quill
Door is shut. Nobody move.
Elena snatches the partly open latch with one hand and forces it flatter, while the loose strike plate scrapes uselessly against the frame. The corridor outside goes still, listening.
The Stairwell Runner
He told me to bring the key back. That is all.
The brass stairwell key flashes in Dallas's grip beside the folded slip, now firmly inside the room. Mara turns toward the door, waiting for the next sound from the hall.
Quest Complete
Stop Bell’s runner from escaping
Attribute Upgrade: Strength Fair→Good