nicholas—benson started following you

nicholas—benson:

“Oh, yes, thank you, Mr. Miller, that’s very kind of you to say,” Nick answered, as he blushed a moment, and then stared at him. He could see that he was studying him, and saw a flicker of something that may have pleased him. Nick himself eyed the man and thought he wasn’t so bad himself. 

When he asked him if had a case for him, he shook his head and smiled softly. “Well, actually, yes, I do, Mr. Miller. I was out for my usual evening stroll around the City last night, and I was mugged by a group of thugs. They came upon me from behind. So I didn’t have time to react or stop them, before roughed me up a bit…”

Nick’s words trailed off, as he did his best to keep the charade going. He knew that is boss would want to get some Intel on the cops,and what they knew about him, so he did his best to get all teary eyed for a moment. He rubbed his face with his hands and then his mouth, before he steadied his nerves and continued his tale. “Two of them pinned me up against the wall, and while they held me, the third one hit me in my back with the butt of his pistol. He reached inside my pockets, not too kindly either, stole my wallet and my I-Phone, and then the other thugs kicked me down onto the sidewalk, Mr. Miller…”

He once again stopped talking, as he wrung his hands in his lap and stared down at the floor, trying to compose himself again. He sighed loudly and looked up at man and finished his story. “Sorry, I keep stopping, I just, it was a very traumatic experience for me. I’ve never been robbed you see, so I was scared, and I still am. The lead man pointed his gun right at the back of my head. Said if I told anyone, they would come after me, and finish the job. But, well, I had to cancel all my cards and I’m still waiting to get my new I-Phone. I was really too scared to come to the Police, but I didn’t know what else to do. These men are still out there, and what if they come after me again? They have my address now? Can, can you help me?” 

The man before him started talking, and the Master detected a sudden change of aura. He was barely listening to the story Mr. Benson had to tell, he had heard those way too often. There was something else, something about the man himself that had caught his attention. He eyed him carefully; now he looked just like all the other apes, whiny and unstable, despicable. If he had walked into his office like that, the Master wouldn’t have deigned a look at him, but that was exactly the point.

The sudden change of aura in the room was due to the sudden change of the man’s personality. His face was different now, the aloofness was gone. Something wasn’t right…
Was this man telling the truth? He sure looked like he did, and the way he described the robbery sounded veracious as well.

After Mr. Benson had finished narrating, the Master hesitated a moment to answer. If this was one of his usual clients he would’ve been harsh and insensitive, just for a tiny bit of sadistic enjoyment for a change in the boring life of the friendly Jason Miller, but he had to test this man first, so he decided to keep up his act.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Mr. Benson. Unfortunately more people than you’d think experience this. The crime rates in this city seem to be getting higher, and we’re not really sure what that’s down to. It’s quite unlikely that they’ll come after you again, those gangs are usually only equipped for street robbery, not for breaking into a house. I cannot guarantee anything though, it’d definitely be advisable to get an alarm system if you haven’t got one already.” He walked over to a table to get a piece of paper, then went back to his desk to write something down.

“It’d be helpful if you could describe all the men to me as best as you can. Later on I’m going to send you to my colleague to create a facial composite. If you remember any of their weapons that would be helpful as well.” After a short pause he went on, “you look like a man who’s familiar with guns.” The Master said that casually, but with serious intention. This man didn’t look familiar with weapons at all, the traumatized expression on his face was suggesting that he’d never even touched a gun. But this was to test his reaction.
“Oh and have you tried tracking the phone already?”