Chapter 5 - The Dead Gambler Had a Name
Tasha took Mason to the only place open at four in the morning where nobody cared if a man glowed faintly copper.
A twenty-four-hour laundromat.
"Start talking," she said.
Mason showed her the token.
Tasha stopped chewing gum.
"Where did you get that?"
"Old guy in an alley."
"Skinny? Gray beard? Wore a red bowling shirt?"
Mason stared.
"You know him?"
"Everybody who works nights knows Lou Avery. He slept behind casinos and somehow tipped better than executives."
Mason searched the name.
A local article appeared.
LOUIS AVERY, 71, FOUND DEAD NEAR DOWNTOWN MOTEL.
Date: three days ago.
Mason felt cold.
"I met him tonight."
Tasha leaned away. "I officially miss the part where our biggest problem was your rent."
The Ledger opened by itself.
[PREVIOUS HOLDER IDENTIFIED: LOUIS AVERY.]
[TITLE: BANKRUPT IMMORTAL.]
[STATUS: DECEASED.]
[CAUSE: FORTUNE EXTRACTION.]
Mason swallowed.
"Who killed him?"
[ANSWER COST: 10 FORTUNE.]
He had seven.
Then the laundromat's coin machine spat out three quarters for no reason.
[FORTUNE +3.]
Mason glared at the system.
"That's suspiciously convenient."
He spent the ten points.
One answer appeared.
[LOUIS AVERY WAS KILLED BY A MEMBER OF THE AURORA CROWN.]
A second line followed.
[THE KILLER HAS ALREADY TOUCHED YOU.]
Mason looked at Tasha.
She looked at him.
"Please tell me your weird ghost app doesn't think it's me."
---
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