"Stuff's back, Charles," said Ashley as she spoke to him in the Freeside security agency command room.

"You gave it back to the NCR?" Charles asked.

"First thing our people did," Ashley replied.

"Fine, put my stuff in the changing room, also is there a snowglobe in there? " Charles said
"Yeah Jack wanted you to have it so its in the changing room
"Good." said Charles

Walking to the nearby changing room, Charles grabbed his hat, equipped his laser rifle, and put on his armor plate and jacket and got the snowglobe.
After leaving the changing room, Charles noticed the Freeside agents watching him. Some saluted, and he nodded in acknowledgment.

Heading upstairs, he saw that the NCR soldiers were gone, likely on their way to report to Colonel Moore. Charles knew it might be hard for them to explain the missing equipment left in Holventien, but he hoped they'd leave that part out, now that they had everything back.

Jack was nowhere to be seen upstairs, but Karl and Joseph were there. Charles approached them and said, "I see you guys changed alright cool, what about Hugo he get his stuff back?"

"Yeah he did but he isn't here anymore, he went off. Said his mother was around in Benver. You sure you trust him to run around Charles?" Karl asked.

"He's cool, trust me," Charles replied confidently.
"Well, alright. Anyway, while we were in Holventien, a murder happened in Benver, and apparently, there was a note addressed to us from the terror group," said Karl.

"Securitron reported it on your Pip-Boy?" Charles asked.

"Yeah, Joseph got it too," Karl replied.

"I must have missed it then. Let me check."

Charles checked his Pip-Boy and saw the message. After a brief pause, he said, "Alright, I see it. But before we go, I got one thing to do."
Charles grabbed his snow globe from his jacket pocket, handed it to a Securitron, and said, "Give this to House."

The Securitron responded, "Yes, sir," and then rolled away to complete the task.
"Alright that's the last thing I had to do, let's go guys." said Charles
Walking into Benver, Charles noticed the rising tension and chaos among the people, which he assumed was due to the increasing Securitron presence. As he entered the town, one of the NCR soldiers approached him.

"It's chaos here, sir. The terror group killed one of the Benver investors from California, and they left a note addressed to you," the soldier reported.

"Damn. Escort me there," Charles said.

As they made their way through the streets, chaos surrounded them—people were running in panic, though a few seemed unusually calm amid the turmoil.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Charles saw the victim lying dead on the floor, blood swelling from his mouth. A note was tucked into his clothing. The crowd inside the restaurant looked terrified, but as the EONV team entered, the atmosphere began to calm.

Charles raised his voice, shouting to the crowd, "What happened here, and why does he have this note?"

Someone from the crowd spoke up, "We were just eating when we saw him choke on his food, convulse, and die. Someone checked on him, and that's when we found the note in his pocket."
Investigating the body, Charles took the note, which read:

"The Freeside Organization of Free Individuals sends its regards. You may call us the 'terror group,' though you have not granted us the most basic right—the right to exist without fear of NCR bastards taking all our stuff. This is what happens if any more NCR bastards come here, especially the rich ones. Send this to those EONV bastards: Charles House, Karl Smith, and Joseph Martin."*

Noting little beyond the blood and the lifeless body, Charles said, "Clean this up, soldier. I'll be questioning the cooks."

Heading into the kitchen, he saw the cooks, some visibly shaken, though a few continued cooking as if trying to keep calm. Charles, sternly, asked, "Who cooked the meal for the man who died?"

One of the chefs, his voice trembling, replied, "Well, since William was one of our more elite guests, only the head chef made his meal—with a special sauce reserved only for him—but he's gone now."

"Do you know where he lives?" Karl asked.

"We've got no clue. None of us do, as far as I know. Unless one of the other chefs speaks up, we don't know where he lives. He was always secretive about that kind of stuff."

"Alright, just give us his name," Charles said.

"Yeah, the chef's name is John Gothwell."
"Alright, well give us the sauce then, and we'll be on our way," Karl said.

"The head chef took it with him, so it's gone," the chef replied.

With no positive results other than the chef's name, the EONV team left.

As they walked toward the bank in Benver, the streets remained somewhat chaotic, though they had calmed slightly since the NCR soldiers dragged the body away. Inside the bank, the lobby was filled with people, mostly wealthy NCR capitalists—a necessary price to pay for getting them involved in New Vegas.

Approaching one of the employees, the staff member recognized Charles and said, "Great to have the EONV here."

"Yeah, let's get to the point. You have the location for a man named John Gothwell?" Charles asked.

"I understand you're with the EONV, but I don't know if I can give you that information without speaking to my superiors first," the employee hesitated.

"We're your superiors now. This situation is critical for the town, so we'd appreciate it if you gave us the information immediately," Joseph said with a slightly threatening tone.

"Alright, fine. I'll inform my superiors later, but I'll give you the info now."

The employee typed on the terminal and then said, "He lives at house 9212."
With the gathered information, the EONV team left to search for the house.

They located it by matching the address on the house post with the coordinates on Charles' Pip-Boy. After knocking on the door and receiving no response, the EONV decided to kick it down.

Inside, the house was completely abandoned—nothing remained except a few empty shelves and tables. Joseph scanned the room and said, "Place is fucking abandoned. Our guy must've run off in a hurry."

"Looks that way, Joseph. We might as well search the place before calling in the agency, right boss?" Karl added.

"Yeah, let's get to it," Charles replied while clapping his hands
After searching the house for about 20 minutes without finding anything useful, Charles called in the Freeside Security Agency.

When the agents arrived, one of them said, "We'll clean up this mess for you, see if you guys missed anything."

"Yeah, that would definitely help," Charles replied.

The agent handed Charles a letter, adding, "Also, got this for you. Iris wanted you to have it."

Charles opened the letter and read it in his head:

"Hello Charles House, you have been invited to Hoover Dam to hear our president, Aaron Kimball, speak at around 7 AM tomorrow."*

"Well, guess no drinks tonight," Joseph said with a smirk.