Owner Pose
Tomie Kawakami James L. Charlton III was a consumate company man. He did his twenty five years competently and with few complaints. He was proficient, dedicated, a team player and ...

... a profoundly average agent. One of the many suits that fill out the ranks. Never too big a bust, never rocked the boat, and, most of all, never innovative. All of this amounts to a career that never really accomplished of true import, despite all those years at his desk. When he retired, it was probably more with relief than anything else. His turn to private security and investigation was probably inevitable. Bills to pay. A mortage, two ex-wives, child support, a boat that was of course more a hole in the water he poured money into, and an extensive bar tab at a particular Florida establishment. He'd caught up with Cael for drinks when he stopped in town. He didn't elaborate on why he was here but there was clearly something that had him unsettled, and so when he vanished a few days ago, it was just the sort of thing that might pique her interest. Locating where he was staying took a little time, as he did his level best to fly under the radar, but for a crack investigator with contacts it's not really THAT difficult. Just time consuming.

Fineggling one's way into his room? Also not difficult. It's not a particularly expensive place, but the do not disturb sign on the door means its undisturbed and the fact that it was paid a week in advance said he'd been planning to be here a while longer.

Inside, it's neat and efficient, but smells of stale cigarettes and booze. Charlton never was able to kick either habit, too in love with the image of the noir private detective and his love of the Chandler classics. Maybe this is what he wanted to be doing all along.

Still, notable is the cardboard box on the room's table, a laptop sitting beside it, and the folder full of papers beside that.
Cael Becker     "Well, Charlie..." Cael mutters to herself as she surveys the room. He'd hated being called that - always, and adamently, which only eggs Cael on. She turns full circle, taking note of other hiding places in the room she might check. After all, there's a chance there's a hidden camera in here - recording whatever happened in this place. Or hidden weapons, or more documentation, or an SD card filled with photos...
    For the moment, though, she starts with the most obvious place. With gloves on, she pickes up the file, and begins to flip through them, a curious and determined expression on her features.
Tomie Kawakami The folder contains maps of various Gotham neighborhoods. Google earth, you know. Some of the buildings have circles drawn around them in red pen. There's also a missing person's report for a woman named Barbara Rodriguez. Seems she went missing a month ago and the investigation quietly got shoved into the back corner, ice cold. A glance at the papers can see why. Barbara was on her way home from her job as a cashier at the supermarket. She was last seen getting into her car and driving away. Her car was later found parked on a street corner with the trunk open and there being no sign of her, no sign of struggle, no sign of, well ... anything. The connection between her and the maps becomes quickly clear to a seasoned investigator: a bit of comparison has them in a radius around where her car was located.

A cursory look inside the box, on the other hand, shows it was big enough for the lap to be included. There's a pair of glasses inside and two pairs of ear buds. The glasses look expensive. Smart glasses, no doubt. Live streaming. A piece of paper sitting beside them has tersely typed text on it.

"Please wear these pursuant to your contract."

It's clear he decided not to bother, but whoever was supposed to be on the other end of them might know more.
Cael Becker     Cael eyes the glasses with deep suspicion. Tech work was not her //thing.// If she still had Alis here - she might have some idea of how to hack the glasses or follow their signal - but her sister was gone. She leaves the glasses where they are for the moment, and turns the computer instead, fully expecting it to be locked to her. She looks surprised when logging into the device is- simple. Easy, even as the password seems to be input already. "Huh. I thought modern computer security prevented that sort of thing," she remarks. How old is this thing?
Tomie Kawakami Beep. The laptop is compact enough to be relatively new, but it's as non-descript as possible. Functional, small, and perhaps custom.

The ear buds light up, clearly receiving a signal as soon as the computer is booted.
Cael Becker     "...fine," Cael mutters, putting in the ear bud with a reluctant frown - whilc trying to find the computer settings. If she can turn off the bluetooth to the earbud, maybe she can just have the audio come through the computer's speakers which - somehow she's just more comfortable with, compared to wearing some weird device. What if there's more inside that tech than just audio tech? She wouldn't know, would she?
    God she's paranoid these days.
Tomie Kawakami It won't be that hard.

As she searches, however, there's a voice on the other end. Distinct. Refined. East-Asian accent, but it's slight. "You're overdue by a considerable margin. Please relay your findings."
Cael Becker     There's a moment of silence as Cael's brain works overtime. Can- they hear her? Is the computer's mic on? "Your man's missing," she finally says into the air. "I'm trying to track //him// down." What else can she really say? Maybe they give her more information. Maybe they cut her off. ...maybe they cause something in the room to self-destruct. But that's crazy Hollywood spy stuff. Not //actually// real, right?
    ...Cael, you work for SHIELD.
Tomie Kawakami A pregnant pause.

A muffled sound of irritation.

She can hear Cael, it seems. Maybe it's webcam port turned on too? It does have one, but there's no light there indicating it is or is not. That may be deliberate, of course.

"I did warn him not to go off on his own. He should have listened. He did not. I was hoping you were him, finally doing what he was *supposed* to do in the first place." She's calm, but her choice of words do indicate her irritation with him. This sort of behavior is out of character for Charlie to Cael, but then, he was retired and playing private eye. He might've just let it get the best of him. It woudln't be the first time someone did that.

"I'd like to help you find him."
Cael Becker     "I'm all ears. Why don't you tell me what's going on?" Cael remarks calmly, bringing up the computer's Task Manager as she tries to figure out what programs are running on this computer. Who is this person? How are they talking to her? Can the connection be traced?
    She really should have listened to Alis more when she went on about computers - damnit.
    She also runs over in her mind who she should call in as //her// back up. Jon and Sara already have a lot on their plates. Robbie, perhaps? What if his 'rider' gets the better of him? Chas?
    Fat fucking chance of that.
Tomie Kawakami There are indeed a bunch of programs running. Several of them have obscured titles, of course, but shutting them down would inevitably shut her down. It's basic logic. No doubt a mobile hotspot of some kind.

"A woman vanished. I asked him to look into it. H4e agreed to the terms of the job, though he clearly had some reservations over the digital oversight I asked for and chose not to engage with me directly. Seems he did not like the technology involved." Not surprising from what Cael knows. One of the reasons he retired.

"I assume you've already looked at the paperwork I sent him and know he was looking into a missing person's case. I believe it's tied to a local urban legend."
Cael Becker     "I didn't see mention of an urban legend," Cael replies. The skepticism dripping from her voice is palpable. "Tell me about it?" she requests, as she continues to look through the running programs - expanding each one to get as much information as she can, and snapping a few photo with her cellphone. Is that the best way to record the information she's seeing? Well. ...it's the best idea she has right no.
Tomie Kawakami "Of course you wouldn't. It's not in the paperwork I gave him. Why would it be?"

The voice seems to find her skepticism enchanting more than anything else.

"While your waryness is welcome, I assure you that my precautions about my identity aside, Mr. Charles was fully aware of what he was getting into, even if I do not think he took it seriously as he ought to have. If you would put on the glasses, we could identify where he has likely gone from what locations her's already ticked off on the list we spoke about."

"The only witness that they could identify was an indigent figure. The police dismissed their report on account of their addiction, but they claimed they saw a woman with no eyes and blood streaming down her approach her before she vanished. It goes to a story -- Eve the Bloody-Eyed. It first appeared earlier this year, and this isn't the first time that area has had a reported sighting of the 'Bloody-Eyed'. Before he decided to go off grid, we had created a grid of sightings. You're familiar with the concept of geographic profiling. He explained it to me, and each sighting had been in the victinity of one of the red circles on the map you saw -- thrift stores, oddly enough."

A poorer area of town WOULD have a number of those, after all, so it makes sense. "He didn't believe the story. I did. Either way, he clearly found something."
Cael Becker     "I mean. ...there's weird shit in the world," Cael replies - but her tone still sounds dubious. Eve the Bloody-Eyed? The fuck? "What is your interest in this girl, and this supposed urban legend?" she asks bluntly. "Are you after the girl - or the ghost?" No, she doesn't really think it's a ghost - though that could be a possibility. She knows for a fact ghosts are real now.
    She just liked how the phrase sounded.
    "And what do you mean 'It first appeared earlier this year, but this isn't the first time?' Are you refering to other incidents earlier this year? Or stretching back how far? Are there other missing people?"
    Her eyes go to the glasses, and after picking them up, and turning them over hesitantly in her hands, she closes the Task Manager on the computer screen and only //then// puts on the glasses, casting her gaze over the paperwork once more.
Tomie Kawakami "There are other sightings. I can't tie them to disappearances. My interest is in both. Why would it have to be one or the other?" Still, she doesn't sound all that alarmed.

"Ah, thank you. Now I can see. If you'd keep those on, I'd appreciate it. Now, let's hve a look at the papers, shall we?"
Cael Becker     "I'm not in love with the idea of you watching my every move when I have no idea who you are," Cael remarks dryly. And she has no way of corroborating the woman's information. She makes a mental note to take a look into some of this stuff independently - and see what can be confirmed. Because who knows what she's walking into?
    All of this makes her uncomfortable. Why the hell did Charlie do this without back u-
    Right. What the fuck is she doing now? Then again - she does have a boyfriend who can teleport a single panic button away.
    "Well. This is all I found - as far as paperwork goes," she remarks as she thumbs through it slowly.
Tomie Kawakami "Neither was he. If he had listened, he might not be in whatever trouble he got into," she points out calmly in her ear. "I only ask that you stay in contact with me out of an abundance of caution. Now, he marked off about eight of the buildings I asked him to examine, which leaves two left. I will provide an address and see if we can locate his rental car."
Cael Becker     "How long since he lost contact with you?" Cael asks. "If the police slapped it with a '72 hours abandoned vehicle' notice, of the rental company reported the car as stolen, it could very well not be there anymore. We'd have to try to get information from the police on where it was towed from." Of course - flashing an FBI badge sometimes helped with that...
Tomie Kawakami "Forty eight hours. I don't really want to wait, do you?"
That's the answer.
Cael Becker     "No. I'd rather not wait," Cael admits with frustration. She looks down at her phone, considering who she could call in, and lets out a heavy sigh. "Alright. What are the addresses?"
Tomie Kawakami A pair of addresses are listed. They're within the radius on the maps, yeah, the only two areas that weren't already checked off.

"Proceed with caution," she adds.
Cael Becker     Cael looks at the addresses, and pulls them both up on google maps, studying the street-view to get a feel for the neighborhood in question. It's... charming. Isn't Gotham always, though? After getting a feel for the place, and what cover might be available, or possible locations for some sor tof ambush... She pulls out her phone, looking away from her screen as she unlocks it.
    She lifts it to her ear after calling one of her contacts, as she asks without pre-amble, "Hey Chas? What're you up to?"