<hr/><div class="floatleft">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/f2/Beardycox.jpg)</div><br/><strong>Name:</strong>Avery Burnham<br/><strong>Faction:</strong>Law Dogs (1)<br/><strong>Date:</strong>May 12th, 1876<br/><strong>Time of Day:</strong>Morning<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Burnham Detective Agency<br/><strong>Tagged:</strong>Ginny, Bella (mentioned)<br/><hr/><br/>Avery took Virginia's offered hand in his own and brought it lightly to his lips with a gentleman's nod.  When she spoke, however, something discordant passed briefly through his eyes.  The heavy accent was unexpected.  Native to the American south, he supposed.  He had never actually heard one in person, Kansas being the furthest south he'd gone before heading west.  The methods for mangling the King's English seemed to be inexhaustible in this country though.   Yet it seemed incongruous to the woman's carefully arranged appearance somehow, and he almost wondered if she was putting him on.<br/><br/>"Ms. Ginny then," he replied after a moment, smiling politely.  "Very kind of you.  Avery will suffice for me as well.  I hope I can be of some service."<br/><br/>And so the lady began to explain.  By the time she'd finished, he had found his seat behind the desk, folding down the curled edges of his magazine while again wondering if he was being led into some elaborate joke.  Had Charlie Flatbush entered the office that moment, grinning, he would not have been entirely surprised.  The Whateley woman seemed quite sincere though.  She actually did seem to believe that the new songbird from Babel's had taken up the art of poisoning for the rare honor of singing to room full of drunken miners in a Gomorran brothel.  It struck him as just slightly unlikely.<br/><br/>For weeks now, he had been hoping for an interesting first case with which to prove himself, something that would get people whispering his name as a man who produced results.  This was most assuredly not that.  The town might be whispering if they got wind of it, but hardly in the way he was wanting.  To top it all off she was now brashly spinning a gold eagle across his desktop while promising to make it worth his while.  No doubt a crude display of wealth intended to entice him, but it mostly just grated.<br/><br/>This whole week was starting to grate in fact.  First he'd wasted an entire night in transporting a drunken stranger home when the tables were bound to be at their softest.  Now he was being hired for a fool's errand.  Worse he was being hired for it by a Whateley, the very family that was on his short list of desirable clients.  He couldn't simply turn her down, not very easily, not if he wanted to see any more clients from their social circle come his way anytime soon.  Especially with the prospect of being genuinely broke growing perilously nearer with every passing week.<br/><br/>So that was decided then.  Almost without his input it seemed, which did not do much to improve his mood.<br/><br/>Not that he let that show.  Avery was far too polite for that.  Even his insults were often indiscernible from compliments, particularly to those used to the gruff bluntness of your average Gomorran cowpoke.  "An interesting…theory, Ms. Ginny.  My goodness.  I admit one I might not have settled on as a first possibility, but then I am new to this town.”  Perhaps this sort of thing went on with great frequency here, women poisoning each other willy-nilly for the chance to entertain in dancehalls and crib houses.  He rather doubted that too.  "I can certainly look into it for you.  I can't promise you'll receive the results you want of course."  For reasons that should be fairly obvious, he would have liked to add.  "One is, ah, not likely to just admit to a bit of light poisoning, you know.  Rather hard to prove on the whole."<br/><br/>He looked across the desk at Ginny with her fine clothes and golden eagle, and made his decision.  If she was passing out her excess money, he may as well be the one to take it, and so make the best of the situation.  There were undoubtedly worse places to spend one's time than the Babel's Hotel, after all.  "Something like this, I think it's best to approach things with a soft touch.  We wouldn't want to besmirch Miss Capri's name unfairly, after all, or offend Mr. Solomon by starting rumors about his staff.  Give me a couple weeks and I will make some private inquiries, see what I can unearth about Ms. Capri, perhaps get her talking if I can."  Which was one of the job details he was anticipating as being something less than a misery, actually.  Perhaps even enjoyable. "I'll require fifteen dollars a day, which includes expenses, as I'll obviously need to spend a good deal of time at the hotel and they tend to frown on non-paying customers, I imagine."<br/><br/>Avery stood again, offering up another polite smiling.  "I'll also require the first week's pay upfront, and I can give you an update in five days time, if you like.  If there's some backroom scheme at play against your friend, I'll bring it to light, Ms. Ginny."  He then extended his hand to help her up and escort Miss Whateley back outside.  The thought that Ginny might intend to supervise his investigation personally having never yet even crossed his mind…<br/>