From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe

Summary

A brand new school in the rough-n-tumble Kings Row has been burnt to the ground. Who would do such a thing and why? Fortunately, the Three Eye Detective Agency is on the case!

Souvenir

Amer Longo's Insurance Card

This insurance card was given to the Three Eye Detective Agency to try and help them write off various damages to public property. It’s a reminder of the politics behind crime fighting, and also the mystery known as:

Flushing Away Debt

It all began with the burning of a newly built school in Kings Row. The president, a man named Jonathan Botte, called the agency wishing to track down the culprit. Dolbian and Daisie met the man at a pizza place in Kings Row, where a man named Eddie Snowden happened to be eating. Jonathan Botte explained the situation to the two; the school was being built to help promote education amongst the poor in Kings Row. They were receiving funding from a man named James Vulpis, who was the CEO of a skin care corporation. While the school was burning, witnesses claimed to have seen a man matching the description of Chad Halls fleeing the scene. Botte believed Halls burned down the school; he was angry that the school refused to hire him as a gym teacher, on account of his criminal past and unethical methods. Dolbian requested information on where Halls lived. Botte explained that all their records in the school were burnt down and that they would have to go to Vulpis’ corporate office for the backup records, however he warned that he hasn’t been able to reach Vulpis all day. With that, Daisie and Dolbian left, but not without Eddie Snowden offering his help. The three set off for Steel Canyon.

They shortly arrived to the floor for the skin care corporation. The secretary’s desk had a small pile of envelopes, each with large red letters reading, “DEBT OVERDUE”. Dolbian requested to see Vulpis, only to be told by the secretary that he wouldn’t be in until tomorrow. The secretary cleaned off the envelopes from the desk; Daisie spotted an insurance card for an agency in Talos Island, run by a man named Amer Longo. She quietly took the card for further use. The secretary asked why the three wished to see Vuplis; when Dolbian explained that they needed information on Chad Halls, the secretary offered (after some convincing by Dolbian) to go into the office and get the information, as the group was not be allowed inside. The irritating man walked into the office, while the group overheard two men in suits speaking about how the corporation was “shitty” but had amazing bathrooms. Curious about it, Daisie and Eddie went to investigate, though Eddie barely walked into the woman’s bathroom before being kicked out. Daisie wandered into the men’s bathroom and saw the floor was made of fine marble, with state of the art bathroom technology along with a plasma screen television. Eddie claimed to have seen the same in his brief exploration of the woman’s bathroom. The secretary returned, giving the group the address where Chad Halls lived in Galaxy City.

The three made their way to the apartment, only to find it completely trashed; furniture was destroyed, windows broken, and there was no sign of Chad Halls. A note was left in the middle of the living room, near a large scorch mark on the wall. Eddie Snowden noted that the scorch mark was from the Hellions, suggesting they had something to do with this. Dolbian picked up the note; it was from Chad Halls. He wrote that if they were looking for him, they were too late, then admitted to burning down the high school, claiming they deserved it. Eddie Snowden suggested that either Halls was a Hellion, or he was being framed. Daisie believed the note wasn’t true, stating (in large psychology terms) that had he done it, he would want to see the group’s faces when they discovered the culprit. No matter if he actually wrote the letter or not, this was their only lead. The three left the apartment and searched various warehouses, looking for the Hellions and Chad Halls.

The group eventually found where the Hellions were hiding, passing by some workers taking down a billboard for Vulpis’ corporation. Before entering, Daisie stated that Chad Halls did not write the note. If he wanted to brag about burning down the school, he would’ve done it in person. After some more thinking, Daisie came to the conclusion that either Chad Halls did not write the note, or that he wrote it for some reason other than to brag, perhaps to leave a hint that he had been kidnapped. Eddie Snowden offered his own suggestion that perhaps Chad Halls had an evil twin. With these in mind, the three stormed the Hellions’ warehouse, finding it full of freshly bought merchandise. One of the Hellions exclaimed that they were going to be “filthy rich” once their leader, Big Celsius, returned. The three easily dispatched the Hellions and found Chad Halls stuffed in a box. He explained that he did not burn the school down, and that he wrote the note as a way for someone to come find him (debunking Eddie’s evil twin theory). Chad admitted that he was in the school to steal some of the books while it was burning down, but insisted he was not the one who started the fire. Eddie suggested that they go to the site where the school was burned down for him to see if the Hellions did it. On their way out, Chad commented that the leader of this group of Hellions, Big Celsius, was still on the loose, overhearing he went out to finish some business.

At the school, Eddie quickly came to the conclusion that it was the Hellions who set it on fire. Now all they had to do was find out where Big Celsius was going and cut him off. Daisie suggested he went to collect an insurance policy. She explained (after numerous word games) that of course, Big Celsius couldn’t take out an insurance policy on the school; only the owner of it could. That owner was James Vulpis, the man funding the school. Dolbian questioned why he would do so, and Daisie reminded him that Vuplis enjoyed very expensive bathrooms. Eddie chimed in, saying that perhaps he was broke and needed money, as evidenced by the numerous debt letters on the secretary’s desk. They came to the conclusion that James Vulpis took out an insurance policy on the school, then hired the Hellions to burn it down, in order to collect the insurance money to fund his bathroom needs. Daisie took out the insurance card and told the group they would find Vulpis and Big Celsius there in Talos Island.

Outside of the insurance agency, James Vulpis went into a limo that where Big Celsius and some of his goons were waiting. They sped off quickly, at which point Daisie pointed out to the clueless (at the moment) Dolbian that their suspects were getting away. Eddie Snowden surfed off after them on his ice board, while Dolbian hotwired a truck for Daisie and himself to give chase. Big Celsius and his gang of four Hellions began to shoot at Eddie Snowden, who covered the street ahead of the limo in ice, then created an ice wall to protect the nearby civilians from being hit by the vehicle. Vulpis and the Hellions climbed out of the limo and retreated into a nearby alleyway; Dolbian and Daisie leapt out of the truck and gave chase with Eddie. The four Hellions fired wildly at the three, but Daisie quickly fired an explosive arrow, raining down fire and shrapnel on the four Hellions. The three continued forward, following the tracks of Big Celsius and Vulpis. They spotted them running along Spanky’s Boardwalk. Dolbian radioed in for PPD back up as they ran down the stairs to the boardwalk. As they landed on it, the group encountered Big Celsius, who threw a large fireball at them. Daisie dived into a nearby dumpster, while Eddie and Dolbian ducked down to avoid it, noticing that Vulpis was running down one of the docks towards a small motorboat. Dolbian shot at Big Celsius’ ankles, sending him down to a knee, and Eddie Snowden finished him off with a THWACK from his guitar. Dolbian saw Vulpis was escaping on his boat; Eddie took off across the water on his ice surf board, while Daisie shot a hail of exploding arrows, one of them landing straight in the boat’s engine, causing it to slow. Eddie created a small iceberg in the water to completely halt the boat, but was suddenly thrust backward as the arrow in the engine exploded. Eddie quickly was back on his feet and threw Vulpis on the iceberg, creating ice shackles along his feet. The corporate man threw his hands up in defeat, as PPD helicopters flew in over the scene. It was over.

The three returned to the agency’s headquarters, where Eddie Snowden became an official member of the Three Eye Detective Agency. The next day, Dolbian received a letter in the mail from Amer Longo, saying to give him a call if he needed to take out an insurance policy or get out of any public property damages. The insurance agency’s card slipped out of the envelope and onto Dolbian’s desk, where he keeps it for any future needs.