<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline">Claude Baldwin - The Cooperative Police Detective</span></div><br/>He looked down at James’ eager demeanour and gave him a light, appreciative pat on the shoulder. The way the boy saluted, Claude almost saw his brother’s kind face the moment he looked his way, blinking a few times to reveal the young assistant rookie underneath his daydream. There was something about this kid that Claude admired, but couldn’t quite put a finger on it. Perhaps it were his confidence for his age, much like Alexandra - it reminded Claude of himself as a kid, and that zest for life one exuded when they craved a name for themselves. It was a funny thing, getting older, finding your rhythm, reinforcing your already established name - that sense of urgency just wasn’t the same motivator anymore.<br/><br/>Discussions of the chances of Mr Silverman being poisoned took over the room’s route of conversation as Alexandra stepped out of the office. Poor lady, he thought, it’s already hard for<span style="font-style: italic">me</span>talking of your father in this way. Turning his head to follow her out, he felt subconsciously protective of her wellbeing. Not just because he was the crew’s main muscles and bodyguard. This family gave him opportunities to live the job of his dreams… Claude felt indebted to her father to look after her, ensure that this Silverman won’t fall into any unnecessary traps again.<br/><br/>Upon Tommy’s question of whether or not they knew if the cause of death was something cardiovascular, Claude gave him a sort of defeated look as he nodded towards the terribly poor autopsy report revealed to the group by Bert. The old lawyer’s comment made Claude’s brows flinch upward, an amused smile quirking its way across his face in response to both the ass-wiping joke and the seemingly passive aggressive insult. “Unfortunately, you speak the truth. The PD is not kind to this company. Could be why the department never understood my intentions of working here… Their work for us has become more of an apathetic legality the more we work together.” Claude never understood why the police acted the way they did towards Silverman’s business and so was not too offended by Bert’s remark (although the roundabout way of calling Claude incompetent did leave a faint crinkling of the nose and a clenched grip onto his mug for a moment). Was the PD afraid of competition? Jealousy? Whatever the case, Claude worked here for a reason. Every story has an ending, and with the company of these intelligent peers, he enjoyed great pleasure proving the police wrong.<br/><br/>When James piped up again, asking to be more involved, Claude hummed in positive reinforcement. “Mm, well, we can’t say you’re not a keen learner. I like your spirit. What do you lot think?” As soon as Alexandra stepped back into the scene, the police detective reckoned it was about time for some actions to be made. It was time to compensate for what their government couldn’t do. A tight, reclusive society such as theirs needed people like them to speak up and give a voice to the voiceless.