In case any of these is useful and assuming this is not meant to lead to any specific RP scenario and is only for getting information on where to start in earnest.
Salvo will tag along with Faith when she asks about Willoughby. But will wait outside and observe if anyone follows her or seems overly interested in her.
Faith tours the museum, paying extra careful attention to the Gems and Minerals room where the case for the Heart of Darkness once stood. For now, there is just a depression in the carpet where a pedestal once rested. A small placard on a narrow stand mentions the Heart, describing it as, "A large mineraloid of unknown origin and exceptional size, first recorded in 10th century Baghdad" It was nestled among other opal exhibits, most of which are Australian in origin, though includes a few on loan from a museum in Addis Ababa.
One item, on display next to where the Heart was previously shown, does not seem to fit the room. It's a silver pendant necklace. The plaque before it states, "Silver pendant purported to be located with the Heart of Darkness. Experts believe it was crafted in the early 11th century. Lapis lazuli chips form a star pattern, with engraved lines forming an unknown constellation."
She notices the normal array of security measures scattered about the museum. Hidden cameras, various aural and motion sensors, and steel gates to lock access down protect the entire building. There are also guards, of course. Breaking into this building would be challenging, to say the least. In her experience, it would take top-tier thief to get in and out without tripping an alarm, and even then, that individual couldn't avoid being spotted on camera.
One such guard keeps a wary eye on visitors, but seems approachable to Faith. His name tag reads Security Officer Fitch. Fitch is a tall, handsome man with a dad-bod. He smiles when Faith first starts talking to him, but as soon as she mentions Willoughby's name his eyes dip to the floor. He softly apologizes, "Oh, ma'am, I'm sorry to tell you this, but Marvin died very recently. He probably would have been my boss in a year or two. I really miss him and I'm sorry for your loss, he was a good mate to us all here."
From outside, Salvo notices something odd. After Faith enters the museum, a car briefly double-parks out front. A few moments later, another car pulls up behind it. A young man gets out of the first car's passenger side and talks to the driver of the second car, gesturing towards the museum and hustling inside. The first car drives away and the second waits for a parking space to open up. Unfortunately, the young man disappears from view quickly.
"How did he die?" Faith asks, sounding crestfallen at the news. "Has the funeral taken place yet? I'd like to pay my respects to his family."
Assuming Salvo notifies Faith of the odd events with the two cars, she keeps watch for anyone fitting the description of the person who entered after she did.
"He, uh, shot himself," he blurts out before quickly adding, "While cleaning his gun. Tragedy. It was a private thing, his funeral, but we had a wake. Me and his mates from work. Got troppo that night." he adds with a bittersweet grin.
Salvo's voice comes through on her earbud and she looks around, but doesn't see the person.
Fitch shrugs, "Say, if you want, I get off soon. I could buy you a beer, trade stories about Marv?"
"That would be nice. What time do you get off? I'd like to look around a bit more." Faith gives him a slightly flirtatious look.
Even though he is staying back at the safe house to do some research, Stringer still sends Snoop along with Faith and Salvo to perform overwatch and allow him to try to sniff any radio or other communications.
Faith just can't spot the person Salvo describes, but does nail down a time and place to meet Fitch. He suggests a simple bar a few blocks from the museum in three hours.
Faith wraps up her time in the museum and heads back out. She has a few hours so she tries to set up a meeting with her team to look at any video footage Snoop may have got of that incident with the limo and the guy that headed into the museum after she entered. "If we can ID anyone or anything about that, it gives us another lead to investigate. Then I'll see what I can learn from my new friend the talkative security guard."
Hibo patiently waited his turn in line at the museum, several other customers between him and Faith. He didn't like walking in unarmed, but he assumed that museum would at least have metal detectors, and he didn't want to draw any attention to himself or others if he could help it. As he waited, he mentally replayed the vision over and over in his head.
Once inside, he began looking around and admiring the art work, looking for any signs of a crescent moon, as well as long hallways or corridors.
Stringer and Snoop both come up short trying to spot the odd individual Salvo noted, but Hibo very obviously notices the man ditch his coat shortly after walking into the museum. The young man stays with crowds, but is quite obviously stalking Faith as she moves about the building.
Hibo does evenetually lose sight of Faith's tail when he notices the the pendant in the opal room. The silver gleams from afar, a beam of sunlight touching the exhibit lighting it up like a beacon. The pendant Hibo took from Joao Carlo seems to vibrate as he approaches it.
Back at the hotel following the museum visit, Stringer pulls up a variety of useful intel on Fitch. His socials reveal him to be a divorced father of two with a love of bowling, garage bands, and his mother.
Stringer can also review footage well enough to spot Faith's tail. He is an average caucasian mane in his late twenties or early thirties. He slips out just ahead of Faith and watches her leave before getting into a car that pulls up moments later.
After the briefing back at the Safehouse.
”I’ll tag along with you.”Looking at Faith.”When you meet with the guard. Be waiting outside in case Mr. Blonde shows up again. Maybe I’ll be able to have a little chat with him.”
Stringer relays the information about Fitch to Faith. "You've also got a shadow." He describes the man spotted on the footage.
A search of public databases pulls up no information on the identity of the man. However, a deep dive into either Stringer's own corporate database, or Oyama's might yield more information.
Faith prepares for her 'date', touching up her make-up, brushing her hair, a spritz of perfume, and a sexy top that shows some cleavage. She takes her weapons concealed in various places under her jacket.
She heads out to the meet after checking that her comm link is working.
Faith heads out to meet with Fitch at a local bar a few blocks from the museum. She has a fleeting moment of concern standing at the door. The last bar she entered had a lot of surprises and danger, after all. But she opens the door and the jazzy sounds of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's "The River" leak outside, already telling her this is a far more relaxed and tourist-y business.
Fitch spots her immediately and hops off a bar stool to greet her. He's wearing his street clothes, not his guard's uniform, and looks like he snuck off for a quick haircut before arriving. "Hey! Let me grab us a booth and we can have a yarn." He waves down a hostess who seems to know him and escorts you to a nice booth. Waiting for your drinks, he makes awkward small talk about the rest of his day and politely inquiring about Faith's.
Hibo, somewhat transfixed by the pendant, continued to approach it. Suddenly he stopped, blinked, and looked around. Not quite thinking it through, he focused his vision to look for psychic auras, paying particular attention the pendant.
.
Faith used some of the time before meeting Fitch to concoct the details of her cover story of knowing Willoughby from what she can glean from his social media posts, working an angle that doesn't involve specific individuals likely to have met Fitch.
Faith takes a quick look at the people in the bar as Fitch is approaching and after taking a seat, she takes quick glances to get a second impression of the people in the place, watching for anyone watching them more than the band or their table-mates. She also notes where Hibo is.
During the discussion about Willoughby, Faith mentions that she heard about a jewelry heist at the museum. "That sounds exciting! I love movies like the Thomas Crown Affair and Ocean's Eleven. I guess real life probably doesn't work like the movies, of course. Still ..."
When Faith heads out for the meet. Salvo tags along in another vehicle.
He will park in a position to be able to observe the entrance. While still close enough to get inside quickly, should it become necessary. He will keep a lookout for the 'guy' from the museum.
Does anyone looks out of place ?
Hibo's mystical perceptions reveal a strong aura. The longer he gazes at the amulet, the more he realizes the powerful supernatural energy's ebbs and flows are nearly identitical the amulet recovered from Klaus' cyborg bodyguard.
Posted up down the street, Salvo watches the bar's entrance. Almost everyone coming or going seems to just be another patron stopping in for a pint. One woman does stand out, to him. A shorter woman with long blonde hair pulled back into a sharp pony tail.
She appeared from an alley a few meters from the bar's entrance nearly as soon as Faith entered. Salvo watches her scan up and down the street holding a phone in one hand and an unlit cigarette in the other. She speaks to someone on the phone then stands near a window at the bar, peeking in from time to time after lighting her smoke and not actually smoking much of it.
"Well, not that exciting! Sure didn't see Frank Sinatra or Pierce Brosnon!" Fitch says with a chuckle. A moment later his face darkens and he glances at the foam of his beer then shakes it off and looks back at Faith smiling. "So no, it doens't seem to work like real life. I hate thinking it, but..." he hesitates then decides talking to the pretty lady makes it okay to admit his concern. "I just have a bad feeling it was on Willoughby. I can't imagine what would make him do something like that. He was a good man, but, I know it wasn't me and...Oh, I'm sorry, Faith! Ha! Whew, give me a moment, need to run to the loo." He quickly rushes off the find the little bloke's room and reframe his attitude so he can impress the attractive tourist when he returns.
Faith smiles and nods that she understands as Fitch exits for the bathroom. She speaks into her comm link as she gets up. "Call me paranoid, but I don't like Fitch being out of my sight, at least before he tells me what Willoughby did."
She pretends to wander around looking for a spare napkin and watches for anyone else following Fitch. She ends up looking at a picture of some Australian celebrities enjoying the restaurant and keeps herself close to the exit to the bathrooms.
Not trusting himself around the mystical powers emanating from the amulet, Hibo slowly retreats out of the room and eventually the museum all together. Once outside, he communicates that he suspects a mystical connection or relationship between the museum's amulet and the one taken from the cyborg.
"They're auras are near identical. I don't understand why. Time studying it might reveal more, but I may not even understand what I discover, and we'd have to relocate the amulet to do so, but there is definitely a connection between the two."
It takes a few minutes before Fitch comes back out of the bathroom. "Oh! Hey! There you are, sorry about that! I'd been holding that in a bit," he chuckles. He sniffles and glances back at the table. "Hey, I'm a little hungry, want to grab something?"
Faith agrees that food would be good. "I was curious about those pictures on the wall. I'm afraid I don't recognize most of those celebrities."
She orders a Blooming Onion and a mixed drink. She does not pester for more details about the deceased but eventually she will bring up his comment that about what Willoughby did that enabled the robbery. She sips the mixed drink but is careful not to drink enough of it to impede her senses or reflexes.
Salvo keeps an eye on the blonde woman as well as any other anomalous persons or things.
”Blondie watching from the sidewalk. No other targets spotted. Yet. Remember the distress word is pimento.”
He then continues to scan the area
Fitch chuckles at the mention of a Bloomin' Onion. "Never had one, and they don't have them here. You would need to head to the tourist quarter. I have had a Chocolate Thunder From Down Under. Loved it. How about the king prawn skewer? I don't know what they use to season them, but they're amazing."
Fitch and Faith chat while they wait for their shrimp, and upon it's arrival Tony notices the woman throw out her cigarette and use her phone to text. She then puts the phone away and walks off. Before she turns a corner moving out of his line of sight, she glances at the intersection opposite Salvo and puts her finger on her nose.
Her body language tells him she is signaling someone, and when he follows to where she was looking he can see a drone similar to Snoop sitting on a window ledge on the fourth floor of a nearby apartment building.
Back safe and snug in the safehouse, Stringer monitors comm channels and video in between reading a popular electronics magazine and watching an Australian rugby match on tv.
"No Bloomin' Onions?" Faith exclaims with mock disappointment. "Next thing you'll tell me there are no crocodile wrestling demonstrations on the weekends either."
She tries to find a tactful way to ease back to the discussion of the robbery.
Stringer quickly gets results on the blonde, named Rebecca McGuin, a local private eye who has a contractor record with Oyama.
She is known to Oyama as the leader of a freelance team of surveillance experts. In addition to Rebecca and Gregory, her team typically includes Chinatsu Shimizu, a tech expert, and Joseph Njoroge, a corporate-trained bodyguard turned independent operator. Their team has a solid corporate reputation for a small group of contractors.
When Fitch gives her the right opening, Faith gently nudges him to open up a little about the theft and death of his coworker and friend. "I just don't understand it. It had to have been Marv. Why else would he...do what he did? I know it wasn't me, Carter can't even tie his shoelaces without an adult, and Martinson had a weird superstitious streak and always said the Heart was cursed. They might be onto something, because it don't make sense what happened."
He sighs and sips his beer. "I just don't know what made him do it. Especially since it was that stupid silver pendant he was fascinated by, not the opal. He told me he thought it had a history. The first time he saw it he just stared for a good five minutes."
"Blondie is on the move. But she has a friend. Her version of snoop. Apartment building directly across from the restruant, 4 floor ledge. There is too much pedestrian traffic for me to take it out without being noticed."
He briefly considers following the woman. But decides to stick with Faith.
"Wow. It's strange you mention the occult, because that's always been something I've been fascinated about. I've read all of Carlos Castaneda's books on magic and shamans. What did Marv do?"
"Ah, hell, to be honest, Faith? I'll save it for my therapist," Fitch says, trying to laugh it off. "It is all still so raw. Him...hurting himself like that. Him nicking that damn opal. It is all just too much. Y'know, I'm getting tired, maybe we should call it a night?"
Faith raises her eyebrows. "Of course, I'm sorry to bring up bad memories. But before we leave, you say he took the opal?"
"It had to be him." Fitch shakes his head, clearly feeling a mix of emotions he can't easily process. "I just don't know why."
"Sorry I brought it up. Sounds like a tough case to solve. Glad I'm not a detective. Anyway, it was nice to spend some time with you. Gives me a bit of closure on poor Marvin."
Faith offers to pay the check or at least split it if he insists. Assuming she has heard the chatter about someone in a high location, Faith pretends to drop something and as she's bending low to pick it up, she quietly says into her transmitter, "Is it safe to leave?"
"Checking," Stringer responds as he puts down his magazine and switches Snoop to active surveillance mode.
Nothing jumps out at Stringer or Snoop as abnormal and Faith ends up splitting the check with Fitch who insists he ate all the prawns so had better chip in. He tells Faith to give him a call before she flies home so he can bid her a farewell and thanks her. "It does kinda feel better to talk about it some, and I wasn't thinking of how you knew him too, I didn't mean to be selfish, but thanks. Maybe I really should talk to a therapist. The tightwad director actually offered to pay grief counseling," he chuckles and tries to give her a hug before he heads out.
Salvo watches Fitch leave. "I'm going to follow him for a bit, to see if anyone is following hime."
Faith leaves a moment after Fitch, waving as she heads in the opposite way. She quickly ducks into any alcove or alleyway she can find and scans the buildings nearby, looking for the figure reported by Salvo. She pulls a pair of binoculars from her pack to help.
Faith tries hard to spot the woman Salvo described, but comes up short.
Salvo trails Fitch and he is relatively sure after fifteen minutes that no one else is following the man, who walks briskly in the direction of his apartment, stopping along the way to grab a six-pack from a corner store.
Faith notes, "We've seemed to have played out these leads. How about we focus on one or all of these other possible leads: the museum director John Bellingham, the local mine owner/operator, Winston Smythe, and the local gem expert, Joey Miller. Are we superstitious about 'splitting up to cover more ground' or can we each take one and see what we can come up with?"