October 13, 2017:
Kate Bishop finds herself on the other side of a case from Jessica Jones - though neither know that quite yet.
Bishop Investigations
Characters
NPCs: Elise Campbell (emitted by Clint Barton)
Mentions:
Plot:
Mood Music: [*\ None.]
Fade In…
*
Kate received an email from a potential client a few days ago. It's from a woman named Elise Campbell, and she's having issues with her business partner. She requested an appointment to explain the situation in-person.
*
Kate — being very prompt and quite techno-savvy — replied back within an hour of receiving the email. An appointment was offered and put in the books, and Kate refrained from asking a single follow-up question. Get the info in person, her mentor had taught her, so that's what she plans.
The Bishop Investigation offices are on the third floor of a six-floor building near Hell's Kitchen. Her door, complete with the classic frosted glass inset, identifies her offices, and it opens to a small waiting room with an office just adjacent. Kate doesn't have a reliable receptionist, so she's behind the desk, tapping away at the keyboard while she waits for Ms. Campbell to arrive.
*
Elise shows up promptly on-time. She's tall and slim with close-cropped black hair. She's wearing a flared skirt in pale pink with a high necked sleevless top and a cropped jacket. She looks trendy, if a little bland. She's got an attache case over one shoulder, in the kind of quirky design you'd expect to see on Etsy. "Um, hi. I'm Elise Campbell. I have a 1 o'clock appointment?"
*
Kate looks up, fingers poised above the keyboard when the door opens. She brightens with a smile, taps a single key that closes the window she's working on and secures the desktop, and sweeps out of her seat. The P.I. dresses the only kind of simple that money can buy — no labels or obvious designer names, but a tailored and neat ensemble of denim jeans, loose tunic-style top, and a leather jacket over. She steps forward and offers the woman a hand, smiling as she does. "Hi. Ms. Campbell, right? I'm Kate Bishop." She bobs her head. "Yup, you're my 1 o'clock." She gestures into the adjacent office. "Come on in."
The neighboring office is clean and simple with a desk and two simple, but comfortable chairs — probably the IKEA variety — across from it. Kate moves to take a seat, but pauses by a modest freshment bar. "Can I offer you a cup of coffee? Bottle of water? Anything like that?" She's got this part of the business down, that's for sure.
*
"Oh, no, no thank you." Elise looks a little nervous. She bites her lower lip as she's led in. "I'm sorry, I've never hired a private investigator before. It's not…I mean." She takes a deep breath. "I don't like that I have to do this but I don't see that I have much of a choice." She seats herself and sets the attache case down. "I've been having problems with my business partner."
*
Kate catches the nervousness, and that only amps up her good-naturedness. She smiles a bit more comfortingly, trying to give Elise a safe space in the confines of her office. She grabs herself a cup of water despite Elise's refusal, and moves to take a seat, inviting Elise to do the same. Kate perhaps pulls a fast one, and actually sits on the same side of the desk as Elise, occupying the other IKEA-brand seat. "Well, there's a first time for everything," Kate offers, trying to break the ice a little. She clears her throat. "Why don't you tell me your problem and we'll see if a private investigator is the best course of action, okay?" She invites Elise to continue, reaching for what looks to be an iPad and a stylus so she can take some notes.
*
"Well, um. So my partner, Melody and I own a little shop called Melody fur Elise." Oh the cringe. "We met back in school and we've been running the shop for about a year." She's soft-spoken, but she's clearly trying to get the story out as efficiently as possible. "We've butted heads on a few things. I want to do things a bit more…well, not mainstream, but trendy, you know? Be agile and reflect trends on Insta and Pinterest. And be a trendsetter with our own accounts. But Melody is a bit more…artistic, you know? She's been wanting to make us more a gallery space. Which…" she holds up a hand. "I'm OK with. It's her shop too. We came to an agreement a few months ago, but…"
Elise trails off and looks elsewhere for a moment before looking back to Kate. "Well, she has gone a little…crazy lately. She swears that I broke a box of merchandise and she has this grainy video that conveniently disappeared from our CCTV archive. And I found out that she signed contracts with an artist without talking to me, which according to our partnership agreement, she's not supposed to do." As she gets on to the crux of it, she looks more tense, and her voice goes higher.
*
"Melody fur Elise?" Kate repeats as she writes the name out on her tablet, and then looks up with a furrowed brow. "What sort of business is it?" That question seems quite important despite Kate's interest levels. She then tilts her head as she listens to the details, and then she frowns. "How long have you known Melody? Is this rather unusual behavior for her?" She keeps a careful eye on Elise while she asks her questions, trying to casually look for typical tells of lying or anxiety. She does this without being too obvious about it though, only tilting her head slightly and keeping her focus on the woman.
*
Elise is anxious, yes. She's clearly uncomfortable to be there. Everything about her body language is closed off. "We're a gift shop and gallery space. A few pieces of housewear, objects d'art, home decor, that sort of thing." They're a Pinterest board IRL.
"Melody swears she didn't sign the contracts and I admit her signature looks a little funny, but…" She pulls out her phone which is a white iPhone with a shimmery jelly case. She flips through, then turns the phone around. There's an image of a woman and a man - a black woman with neat braids and trendy makeup, cheek to cheek with a young white man with green hair and a nose ring. They're drinking boba tea. "That's Marc Trenton, the artist she signed the contract with. This is his Insta feed."
*
Kate frowns slightly at the presence that Elise has in her office, and she tilts her head slightly. "Is there maybe someone who might be trying to see your business deal with Melody come undone? If the signature looks a little off, maybe we're dealing with someone trying to pit you two against each other." There's a certain helpfulness in her Kate's tone, but also an openness to hear more.
She looks at the phone as its offered, and she leans in to get a good look at what she's being shown. She furrowed her brows a bit, tilting her head as she does. She raises a finger to scroll through Marc's feed, but only if Elise gives the go ahead. She talks as she scrolls. "Did Marc confirm that Melody signed the contract? Like, as a witness?"
*
"I texted him, but I haven't talked to him in person." Elise lets Kate scroll through. It's what you'd expect the Instagram feed of an artist to look like. Lots of arty shots, a few broody self-portraits, and pictures of himself at trendy food and wine spots. "I don't know if Melody knows about that picture. He didn't tag her. Which is a little weird."
*
As for someone pitting them against each other? Elise frowns deeply and shakes her head. "I can't imagine why. I mean, it's not like we have enemies. There's people we butt heads with but not…" She takes a deep breath. "But it seems too elaborate. I mean, the video that Melody has…is weird. It kind of does look like me. But I was visiting my sister in Westchester when the video is timestamped."
*
Kate scrolls back up to the picture that has Elise concerned, and she looks at it a bit more closely. She scans over the various comments, or people who have liked the image, but the mention that Melody wasn't tagged in it draws a small frown. "Huh, that does sound a bit odd." She makes a note on her iPad before she sits back, apparently done scrolling. "Well, Ms. Campbell… sadly most everyone has some kind of enemy, and if there is someone trying to sabotage your business, it might not be anyone your associated with, but instead Melody. It's not an easy question to answer." She frowns thoughtfully at the mention of the video. "But you don't happen to have a copy of it?"
*
"No," Elise shakes her head. "Melody took a video of it with her phone. And then the video got deleted from the camera. The tapes do recycle, but it's…they shouldn't have recycled that early. I don't…" she draws in a breath. "I'm not really sure how the system works." She puts her phone away and bunches up handfuls of her skirt. "Will you take the case, Ms. Bishop?"
*
Suspicious. Kate casually pulls out her own phone and opens up her messages. "Let me see if I can get a tech guy in on this, and we can see if we can find a copy of that video." She taps away, testing her good friend Clint Barton. Clint— client needs help with getting a video off a friend's phone. Sounds like spy work. Don't you think? :D :D :D. Then she looks back up at Elise. "Yes, Ms. Campbell, I will definitely take your case. There's some small paperwork to be done, but my first step is trying to learn more about thsi Marc guy and if he actually saw Melody sign the contract. Then, if it's alright, I would like access to your security system to see what I can do about figuring out if your system was tampered with."
*
Elise nods, eyes wide. She relaxes a bit when Kate says she'll accept. "All right. I um, I think I should disclose to my partner that I've hired you. In case you want to talk to her." She looks like she's not looking forward to this, but pulls out her phone anyway.
The response from Clint is fairly rapid.
Sounds like spy work, for sure. Hang on, I think I have the way to make this happen.
.
.
.
Why don't you ask the friend if you can see the video? If this friend has nothing to hide, she'll show you. C'mon, Bate…Berate…
.
.
ducking autocorrect
*
"That'd be a good idea," Kate says with a small smile. "And let her know that I'm not out to get her, but to see if there's something else going on that is causing all of this to unravel. I will definitely want to talk to her." She then tries to be a bit more encouraging. "This is my job now, I'll make sure we get to the answers you need."
Kate glances down at her own phone, looking at the messages coming in, and she tries not to grin too broadly. She casually types in another message.
Don't gotta be so mean, Clink. I mean, Clint. :D :D :D You better stop ducking your autocorrect. That's how Siri gets jealous.
Then she looks back up at Elise.
*
Elise bobs her head. "Okay. I'll talk to Melody. And I'll try to get her to cooperate. I can't promise she will. She's angry at me about the sculptures she says I broke." She stands and smooths out her dress. "You have my number. Um, please text me if you need anything. Just um, email over the paperwork and if it all looks fine I'll e-transfer you your retainer."
forced autocorrect is not funny, cake. comes the reply.
*
Um. I prefer pie. (kidding, no, I like cake. You should get some cake.)
Kate send this only after she nods and sees Elise to the door of her office. "I'll definitely text you, and send you an email with all the needed paperwork. If you don't object, I'm going to go ahead and get started though."
*
"By all means," says Elise. "And…thank you."