Moving Pieces Into Place

[stolenlives]

There were a few principles Jerrard lived his life by and first among them was: Never give any anything for free. Every act of charity for a price, even if it was not readily apparent. It was all in the planning. That was the problem with the criminal element these days. No patience. It was all ostentatious displays and maniacal cackling. No respect for the long con.

Tonight's act of benevolence was an art display at the Brooklyn Museum. He'd made some... acquisitions back in 1874 when excavations were ongoing at the Abri de la Madeleine shelter and such things weren't readily missed. And if they were, a few coins cleared the problem right up.

Jerrard smoothed down the lapels of his suit as he circles the glass cased displays. They aren't even his favorite pieces in his vast and varied collection, but they make an impression and that was his goal. The museum had been overjoyed to be loaned the prehistoric carvings and weaponry. It had generated headlines and press, building up his name in precisely the way he wanted.

A waiter passed with a tray of champagne flutes and he took one, sipping idly and keeping watch over his assets.

Comments

[stolenlives]

No beating around the bush with this one. He likes that. "I suppose I'll have to claim crawling. I've lived here for some time, but only recently made my debut in the social realm."

Of course, he'd also had that batty 'hero' running around, making trouble. Difficult to be in the spotlight when there were rats with wings lurking about. And speaking of rats, now to the real reason he wanted to speak to Brooke.

"I very nearly wasn't able to attend this event, sadly. There was an attack on my club last night. A strange woman maimed a couple of my bouncers and some police officers without any provocation at all. It was quite an experience." He sipped his champagne and frowned thoughtfully. "I can't be certain, but I believe she said your name when she was screeching. Something about having heard 'better insults from Brooke Wyngarde'. You wouldn't have made the unpleasant acquaintance of a unbalanced redhead recently, have you?"

[hellfire_empath]

"Have you looked around the city?" Brooke asked. "New York is filled with more unbalanced redheads than the rest of the world combined." She sipped her champagne. "There's only one I insult on a regular basis, though, and only one who's obsessive enough to namedrop me to a total stranger." Was she going to need to take out a restraining order? "Let me guess. Tacky heels. Acted tougher than she was. May or may not have had an accent that marked her as Cajun trash. Pretentious in a way to show that she was tough and strong and witty, but in truth is kind of lame, pathetic, and trying too hard?" It's not that she enjoyed insulting Alisa, it's just that it was so damn easy to.

"I'm sure I've had the displeasure of her acquaintance many times in the past, Mr. Prideaux. I'm only sorry that you were affronted with her presence last night. It's not something I'd wish on my worst enemy." She paused. "We are talking about Alisa le Beau, aren't we?"

[stolenlives]

"Oh yes, New York has more than its fair share of crazy. Still, this one was... special." In the less flattering sense of the word. Not that he'd seen much flattering about her. "And yes, you're quite correct. She barged into my club, complaining about its lack of illegal fights and moonshine, threatened the life of my bartender, maimed my bouncers, and attacked a group of police officers. It was quite the display."

Pathetic display. He'd seen more class in a whore house.

"I was surprised to hear a name like yours from someone like her. Although, I wasn't terribly surprised to hear she'd been insulted by you. I'd have been more shocked to discover she ever heard anything else."

[hellfire_empath]

"Goodness, but she has come undone," Brooke said. "Either that, or she's finally realized the error of her ways and is embracing her swampy, trailer trash roots." She smiled thinly.

"We're not friends, she and I, as you may have surmised." They weren't enemies either. "We merely attended the same institute for a short amount of time." Though Alisa had barely lasted a week, and Brooke was still there. "She didn't have what it took to make things work." She didn't even need to explain further. Jerrard would have seen for himself how unhinged of a person Alisa was. "I'd say she has issues, but really, she puts the New Hampshire Gazette to shame." Considering it was the oldest newspaper still in print. Lots of issues there, too.

[stolenlives]

"I did guess that, yes." She did seem to have more than the expected amount of pity for the girl, though. That was interesting. He'd expected more of a self-centered nature from a young woman with her family background.

"A library's worth?" He smiled. She was taking it a lot better than he expected, too.