Arrived in my appartment in New York today (again a nice "buy of guilt"-present from John). Awesome view of Central park. Nice closeby for my morning run.
And with my new work at the NYPD homicide squad only starting in a week or so, I've got some days off to check out the tourist sites we didn't visit a couple of years back.

Ok, he's a bookstore owner, but this alliterates better :P.
This morning I found an invitation in my mailbox (small business card with some nice handwriting on the backside) inviting me for coffee in the Central Perk coffeebar.

He told my about some former government organisation which went rogue and were looking for someone who could clean up their mess occasionally and somehow my name popped up, due to my "cleaning skills" I had shown in my last assignment. They are probably the reason I didn't get a dishonourable discharged (don't think it was John this time, because his influence doesn't reach into police departments, also the way how I can keep a low profile, away from him)

So he offered me a choice, not much unlike Keanu in the Matrix (have to watch that one again), although this times no pills were involved.

I'm enjoying breakfast together with Blue, having some nice crisps, when some dude all of a sudden comes in handing Blue a small note. At the same time my phone beeps to indicate an incoming text.
Dunno what the note says, but my text says something along the lines of having to meet up at a bookstore on the corner of 9 and park. It's signed A-cell. No frikkin clue what this is about, but after yesterday's meeting with Larry I'm kinda intrigued.

Half an hour in the bloody New York traffic later and I'm trying to find a parking spot near Tompkins Library.
Inside I meet with Larry as this turns out to be his bookstore. But beside him, there's a couple of other guys and gals too. An old fellow called Ed (or at least that's waht Blue has been calling him, and yeah, turns out in some weird way that Blue also got invited to this tea-party). There's this girl with very weird hair called Valerie; She looks a bit like the girl from the Scott Pilgrim comics which Blue had left lying around on my coffee table. Next to Valerie there's this old weird woman called Grace. And of course there was Larry.

All these people turned out to work for the same agency where I was just recruited into last night. and Larry as the head-honcho of our cell had received some orders about a crime-scene which needed cleaning up and some evidence which needed faking. Ity's becoming a lot clearer now what I actually signed up for yesterday...

Alliance

We arrive on the Alliance Military Airport (Larry had found some tickets which were delivered to his store as we were discussing in the backroom what to do). There a taxi was waiting to bring us to a Motel where we were to stay for the duration of the invsetigation. Once there some reporter started bugging us but Larry quickly took care of him with his professional "no comment" speech.

Some bloody crime scene

Ok some homicide investigation this will turn out to be; two dead bodies on the pavement and street in front of the Ridgeway house (ok chalk outlines, they won't leave the bodies out to rot on the street for hours obviously). Anf then there were seven more outlines in the kitchen of the farmhouse.
But first of course the mandatory local street cop trying to forbid us entering the scene. Larry flashed some badge and I had a friendly chat with him. So a few seconds later we were examining what had gone on here.

There was the number on the pavement we were to take care ofand some fed taking pictures and gathering evidence. I hope somebody payed good attention in photography 101 to tamper with those photo's.
I send the fed inside to gather more "evidence" from the kitchen, so Blue and Ed could adjust the number a bit; At least that would mean that a part of our mission is done.
Inside I was talking to the sheriff to find out the about this Ridgeway family and how they were related to their murderer Michel Wei. As the assignment mentioned something about doctoring a relationship between the mother and Wei I dropped some hints about that. But the sheriff, nor the responsible fed (Adin Conner) picked up on this, or at least didn't show this.