From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe

Summary

Nathan Dolbian's fledgling Three Eye Detective Agency tackles its first case: the murder of a man in a software company. Corporate backstabbing or something else?

Souvenir

Letter from Providence Software

This letter of thanks from the Providence Software corporation sits somewhere in the planning room of the Three Eye Detective Agency. It is a reminder of the case known as:

All’s Fair in Love and Business

It all began when Detective Nathan Dolbian was sent to a corporation, Providence Software in Steel Canyon, to investigate the murder of a man named Chris Ames. He was introduced to three of the “tops” in the company, a Mr. Levesque, Mr. Westwood, and Alex Vendros, who was barely out of college and already high up in the organization. They explained that Chris Ames was murdered while finishing a deal with the Agosti Company; they were trying to acquire a device that would allow a person to learn any sort of skill with ease. Chris Ames was chosen to be the one to make the deal, beating out Alex Vendros, along with several others, who were vying to make the deal themselves. Despite being disturbed by the idea of a “skill” device, Dolbian questioned the three. He discovered Chris Ames was murdered the night before right outside the building in a drive by. Dolbian was getting an odd feeling from the young Mr. Vendros. Small sparks of static flew out from the man whenever tension rose. When asked for his alibi, Mr. Vendros explained that he was with his sister, Amanda Vendros, travelling to New Hampshire. He gave Dolbian her number to confirm it. After some more questioning, Dolbian left to investigate the murder scene.

The PPD had the scene locked down, with one of the detectives holding on to the briefcase that was on Mr. Ames at the time of the incident. Dolbian was given the briefcase and found a cell phone. There were several numbers listed for work and what not, one for his son named Sean, and the other number for “AV”. Dolbian recognized on a second glance that the number for “AV” was the same one as Amanda Vendros. Somehow she was connected to Chris Ames. With this in mind, Dolbian returned to the agency headquarters/basement.

The three-eyed detective tried to first call Amanda Vendros, only to find no answer. Dolbian called the Agosti company to find that they had no idea of the death of Chris Ames, saying that because of this their deal was most likely over with. He then tried to call Sean. Before he could get any questions though, the man on the other line cursed at Dolbian and hung up the phone. The detective realized that was the voice of a Bone Daddy named Rigormortis that he and some other detectives busted some time ago in Kings Row. However, the charges didn’t stick and now he was back out. It was time to pay an old friend a visit.

After keeping his ear to the street for a while, Dolbian discovered the warehouse where Rigormortis was hiding. Much to his surprise, he found the woman known as Daisie lounging about the entrance of the warehouse, tossing her “lucky” coin casually in the air. After a series of questions, none of which lead Dolbian anywhere, he finally asked Daisie to help him with the Skulls, to which she agreed (in her own, Daisie way of agreeing to help). The two charged in to the warehouse and took down Rigormortis and his gang. Daisie pinned the Bone Daddy to the wall with a web grenade, allowing Dolbian to question him. Dolbian didn’t believe Sean would kill his own father, but he had a hunch that some questioning might lead him to discover who was in the car the night of the drive by. Reluctant to help at first, Dolbian struck a deal with Sean; he would be cleared of all charges if he quit the Skulls and helped the investigation. Sean agreed and was cut down from his webbing. Dolbian questioned him about Amanda Vendros. Sean informed him he didn’t know the name, but knew that his father was seeing a woman in secret. It had to be Amanda Vendros. Dolbian asked Sean to call her up and leave a panicked message, asking Amanda to call him back. The detective then requested Sean find out where she was staying and inform them immediately. The two then lead Sean to Kings Row, keeping him there under protective custody.

Sometime later, Sean called back Dolbian, giving him an address in Steel Canyon where Amanda was staying. Daisie and Dolbian found it was an old office building taken over by Outcasts. Upon entering, they overheard an Outcast speaking with Alex Vendros over the phone, assuring they’d keep Amanda safe. The two made their way through and eventually found Amanda Vendros, defeating the Outcasts who were guarding her. Dolbian tried to bluff a confession out of Amanda, claiming to know everything that happened. Unfortunately, Amanda believed he was talking about her being an Outcast. It was discovered that Amanda didn’t know about the death of Chris Ames. Amanda confirmed that she was with her brother in New Hampshire the night before, then explained that her relationship with Chris Ames had to be a secret due to the age difference, and also because of her ex-boyfriend, an extremely jealous troll named Unter, though she mentioned being extremely thankful to her brother, Alex, for introducing her to Chris Ames. When this was discovered, Daisie commented that she believed Amanda to be poisonous. Dolbian ignored Daisie’s comment and broke the news to Amanda that her boyfriend was murdered. After consoling the woman, Amanda suggested that Unter may have been jealous and killed Chris, but she believed that was impossible, since only she, Chris, and her brother Alex knew about their relationship.

After many failed guesses, deductions, and bluffs, Dolbian finally discovered the truth behind the case from Daisie’s comment. Amanda Vendros –was- poisonous, in a sense. Her brother wanted Chris Ames out of the way, and so he had his sister go out with Chris, knowing that her ex-boyfriend was extremely jealous. A simple call to Unter, letting him know she was with someone else, would ensure Chris Ames’ death and competition for Alex removed. Amanda Vendros was infuriated, ready to kill Alex herself, but Dolbian insisted that he and Daisie would take care of things. The two brought Amanda into protective custody and then went to look for Unter, the Troll.

Dolbian and Daisie tracked down Unter in an old warehouse, busting all of his gang in there. Unter went down easily enough, yelling that they should’ve never trusted that “Outcast bitch”. Daisie placed the murder weapon in a bag, and the two set off to arrest Alex Vendros.

They found that he fled the corporate building, knowing that Dolbian was on to him. His possible route of escape was through the green tram line. Dolbian and Daisie left the building, running to the tram station. In anticipation, Dolbian hit a button in his pocket, causing the motorcycle he had stored in a garage nearby to fly out, meeting them at the tram. The two arrived to see Alex Vendros on the departing tram. Dolbian leapt onto his motorcycle, with Daisie sitting behind him, and then burst through the protective barrier for the tram, driving on the thin rails. The two quickly caught up to the tram, seeing a very surprised Alex Vendros staring at them. With Daisie’s help, Dolbian shot out the windows of the tram, as they were now over the waters of Talos. Alex shot bolts of electricity at the two, Dolbian maneuvering his motorcycle to tilt over the edge of the rail to avoid the bolts. Daisie lobbed a web grenade at Vendros, then leapt in to arrest him. The tram came to a stop at the Talos Island station, where Dolbian and Daisie handed Alex Vendros off to the proper authorities, bringing this case to a close.

Afterwards, Dolbian and Daisie returned to the agency headquarters. Dolbian offered Daisie a job working with him in the Three-Eye Detective Agency. After her usual wordplay, Daisie accepted, becoming the first person to join Dolbian’s newly formed detective agency.