Silver waved at Tails and walked outside of the agency building with Espio. He looked over to him and sighed.
"So, have you had much luck since we parted ways?" He asked with a tint of hesitation.
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"I actually got a hold of someone who knew the Casino co-owner. Apparently he's on vacation in another country." He walked with Silver to the first spot. "I asked about Vivian's father, but no luck."
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"Oh, well at least we know the casino is a dead end for now. Doesn't Vivian join in the investigation tomorrow? And the bonus is forfeited?" Silver kept walking next to him to the address that showed a warehouse location.
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"I suppose. Maybe not if we tell her the mafia is involved." They walked until Espio stopped, looking ahead at a spacious building. "Stay here, I need to check if anyone's inside." He turned invisible and approached the warehouse. He listened for any voices whilst looking through crevices along the structure.
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Silver watched him go invisible and he waited for him to get back. He looked around at his surroundings. They stood in front of what looked like an abandoned warehouse, it was a dark dingy grey and looked suspicious.
Silver started to feel nervous about Espio being found. He didn't want to reveal him though so he stood his ground.
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He went around the entire building, but returned to Silver and turned visible, shaking his head. "Nothing. Let's search in the next location." He started walking in the opposite direction.
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Silver nodded and started following Espio to the next location. He stayed mostly quiet for the whole way there. He was in deep thought.
"No one at all?"
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"Not even a rat." Espio kept quiet for most of the path, partly to focus on the correct location, partly because he couldn't think of anything to say. The next location turned out to be a hotel.
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Espio and Silver reached the hotel and watched as Espio turned invisible again. The hotel was much bigger than the warehouse so he debated on whether or not to come with him to investigate.
"Hey, do you prefer that I stay here?"
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"Hmm, you could help in unlocking certain doors, but you won't be able to come in with me unless you stayed the night to avoid seeming suspicious. Which hotel did you say you were at?"
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"The Enterprise." He looked up at the building. "I can't believe I slept this close to the Mafia." He sighed and nodded with Espio about the plan.
"Yeah, I would happy to open some doors, but I can't afford another night here."
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"That's okay. Hopefully the person at the front desk doesn't remember you leaving the key. I'll follow behind you then lead when we're in the elevator."
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Silver walked into the Enterprise hotel. He had been here for about a week and the receptionist was a nice human girl. He had talked to her about places he should go see and he figured they were on friendly terms.
He walked up to the counter and smiled at her. "Hey, Angela." He smiled and hoped he could get a key. The woman looked up at him and smiled back, "Hey, Silver!"
"Did you get a chance to check out the beach?" She gave him her full attention. Silver set his elbows on the counter and leaned forward as if this was the best conversation he would ever have.
"I did, actually. I got a huge ice cream from that tuck you mentioned." He flashed a grin and he then acted surprised. "Oh-dang it!" He facepalmed.
"I turned in my key yesterday morning and didn't even realize I left my bag!" He rolled his eyes, "Is there anyway I could get a key and take a quick look to see if it's still there?"
Angela's eyes went wide and she nodded. "Oh, of course. I mean the cleaning staff didn't report anything but-" she was clicking her computer mouse and was getting things arranged. "Here you go." She handed him the slide card to his old room. "Just bring it back once your done." She smiled sweetly.
Silver took the key and did a small salute that made Angela giggle. He turned and made an embarrassed face. He power walked to the elevator and made sure it was just him and Espio.
The door closed with a ding.
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"Good work." Espio patted Silver's shoulder with an invisible smile. "They're on the fifth floor. You should wait in the room so you aren't seen by anyone. I'll go ahead and come back to let you know if the floor is too risky for you to stay."
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"Oh, okay. Thanks." He felt Espio pat him on the back which was unsettling at first since he couldn't see him but he shrugged it off.
The elevator stopped on on the 3rd floor, this was Silver's stop. He stepped off and headed to to his old room. He swiped the key card and entered the room. He turned on the lights and let his guard down.
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Espio continued onto the fifth floor. When the doors opened, it was just as he had expected. He recognised a few of the men: the bulbous minion, the brothers who couldn't stop bickering, and the slender fellow who whipped around corners like a snake, but Canstella was not in the hall. He listened into several rooms, but mostly heard the snores or rustling of bags. That is, until he heard someone say something about "Jon."
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The small hotel room had a couple of Canstella's right hand men. It was a male coyote and snake talking about the operation.
"Jon was supposed to come back with that Casino owner, ugh-what was the name?" He snapped his fingers as if it would jog his memory. "The bat."
The snake let out an irritated sigh. "Victor."
"Yeah, yeah. Do you know where he could be? We haven't heard from him. Canstella is so busy with this memory device thing he must've forgotten about the casino job completely."
"Apparently no one's seen that green hedgehog around. Canstella will kill him himself he finds out Jon turned his back on the Mafia." The snake crossed his arms annoyed at the thought.
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Victor? Casino owner? Vivian never mentioned that crucial detail. No wonder she offered such a large sum of money. It appeared that Eggman wouldn't be involved with this, but the mafia was definitely no improvement.
That Jon individual-he was a green hedgehog...and turned his back on the mafia? Hm. Where could Victor be, then? And what casino job...?
Espio moved away quickly as his eavesdropping was interrupted by a man who opened the door and called the coyote and snake out. Fuck, he just wanted to see if he could catch the name of a location-anything to find either Victor or Canstella.
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As the coyote and snake walked out of the small room the coyote whispered, "Hey, Silas, meet me at The Pavilion tonight." He gave a discreet wink.
Silas let out a huff and started to walk in the opposite direction as if embarrassed.
Silver paced his room. He couldn't spend too much time here or else it would be suspicious. He figured it would be okay to head down to the front doors and wait for Espio there. He left his room and got into the elevator.
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Perfect. Espio waited for either someone to enter the elevator, or simply look away for the right timing to get in and leave. It took longer than expected, but when the doors opened, he headed to the third floor and knocked at the door he'd seen Silver enter. "I got exactly what we needed." When he received the answer of silence, he awkwardly asked, "...Hello?"
Figuring he must've left, he went down to the lobby and saw him speaking to the receptionist.
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The girl was talking to him about fancy restaurants and he was somewhat amused. Her enthusiasm was a positive thing but Silver needed to go. "Anyways, thank you for the key." He flashed a quick grin and when he got a nod from the girl he walked away.
He noticed Espio and they walked together out of the hotel. "Did you get anything?" Silver hoped he was successful in finding something.
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"There's a guy named Jon who was supposed to find Victor. Also, he's the casino owner. I don't understand why Vivian didn't care to include that. He's nowhere to be found, though. Apparently Jon is betraying the mafia, but Canstella doesn't know yet. Canstella seems to be more preoccupied with Tails' device than whatever Victor is involved in."
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Silver absorbed the information and started to tear the information apart in his head. Dammit, he knew Vivian was being secretive. He knew that it was imperative to keep Tails safe.
He cursed again in his mind again. They really should get Sonic's help or at least more help of some kind. "Okay," he looked around and then back to Espio. "Is there anywhere to go next?"
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"Yes. Two of his men are meeting at The Pavilion this night. We might be able to grab some information from them somehow..."
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Silver thought for a moment. That sounded familiar. He shook his head slightly.
"That's a black tie restaurant." He blinked and looked at Espio.
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"So?"
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"Oh, nothing. It's going to be expensive, but I guess you could just sneak in there and eavesdrop." He shrugged. They started to walk back to the detective agency.