Art Has No Morality (Phoebus x ChocolateStrawberry)

Ellie looked at the map. The area he indicated was fairly non-discript, an ordinary section of office buildings and chain coffee stores. She had thought the Artist would find someplace more exciting to work from. With a shrug, she helped fold up the map.

"You're better at this then I'd thought," she said. "This really narrows down where we'll be walking today." That part she liked. No matter how comfortable her shoes started out to be, they always hurt after walking for a few hours. The smaller the area to travel, the less her feet would hurt.

"Tell you what, Max," she said as they got to her car, "after our search, I'll buy you lunch. Anything you want is on me."

He nodded gently, going right to his phone, and doing research. His brow furrowed in a slight grimace, as he peered down at his phone. Maxwell's hand fished in his breast pocket, finding a hastily made note pad. This was nothing more than a few pieces of printer paper, and a staple. He jotted down a few notes, as well as addresses.

When he had finished, he turned to Ellie, with a sigh. "Just as good as the news was, it's gotten worse. It seems, in this area, there are 14 buildings that can see these locations, that he could possibly see. Getting information on these individuals is not going to be easy, either." He looked down at his notes, with a slight look of disgust. "This is one of the most expensive parts of town... Guards and secrecy... I'm not sure what we can do here." He looked to Ellie, a skeptical look as to how good of a lead this actually would be.

Ellie smiled, not at all put off from the news. "Well, they can't stop us from taking a stroll, can they? And if anyplace has apartments for rent, we can pretend to be looking. I didn't think we'd just stumble across him today, but it gives us a good lead." A lead, she believed, the police didn't have yet. That idea thrilled her to no end. It was like being in on the biggest secret.

Slidding her arm around his, she said, "I don't think I tell you enough about how great you are. I've never known anyone as efficiant at their job as you. I just hope you never try to get my job, Max. I fear you'd be better at it." She gave his arm a friendly squeeze to let him know she was teasing.

Standing this close to him, she noticed his cologne for the first time. If anything made Ellie weak in the knees, it was a good smelling man. Whatever Max used, it was amazing. She made a mental note to find out and, when they completed this documentary, to get him some as a gift.

"Efficiency is what you hired me for, after all." Maxwell said, in his typical, flat tone. He continued his stroll, half leading her to the high-end part of the city. The buildings slowly became more aesthetically pleasing. Bright white marble, and rich, shiny granite monoliths burst from the concrete, reaching for the sky, each one more successful than the next. Windows reflected sunbeams onto the pristine, white sidewalk. Vehicles, of various shapes, and sizes, each one more extravagant than the next bustled next to them at their own, stop and go pace.

A variety of people walked along side the pair. Some were eclipsed by them, moving at not more than a saunter. Still others overtook them, their destination clearly in mind. And still others would simply stand, typically tourists, taking in the sight of the large, fabricated expanse before them.

Maxwell slowed, finally, taking a quick look at the map. "We are on the very edge. It seems our killer is most likely on one of the next three blocks, or the block to the east of the next one. That's about 96 buildings. However..." he said, with a hint of relief in his voice, "We only need to worry about buildings with more than 27 floors. The first one is just up ahead." Maxwell pointed ahead, at a rotating door. The building was white, stretching far above a few of the surrounding buildings, and out of view, at their angle.

"If you can get us somewhere near their main computers, or their books, I can get a copy. That should give us a good number of leads." he said, a slight, mischievous gleam to his otherwise dull eyes.

Ellie licked her lips, looking up at the apartment building. She would have to get the people in charge as far away from the computers as possible to allow Max time to get in them. Well, that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

"Just go along with whatever I say," she whispered. She was already forming a plan. Walking in the lobby, she made her way to the main office. She knew she presented a nice picture, possibly looking like some rich man's spoiled blonde daughter. That suited her just fine.

Walking in the main office, she took a few seconds to look around and build her character. She had done some acting in college, and she was pretty good at if she said so herself.

"Can we help you, ma'am?" A very dry-looking man came up to her. Ellie put on her most charming smile.

"Yes. I am very interested in an apartment here. But I would love one as high up as you can get. Heights are really my thing. The view has to be amazing," Ellie said, twirling a lock of her hair. She almost wished she had worn something sexier, but worked with what she had.

"We don't have any apartments open on the top floor at the moment," the man said.

"Can you show me what you do have? I've always wanted to live here. Daddy said I could get an apartment here, so I really want to see them."

"Daddy?"

Ellie named off some rich tycoon she had met once, one who normally kept his kids out of the limelight. The man looked impressed, unaware that the tycoon only had sons. With a smile, he started to lead her to the elevators. Seeing Max, he said, "Isn't your friend coming too?"
"Oh, he's my boyfriend," Ellie said. "He can wait here. He's scared of heights."

As the elevator closed, the man said, "Why get a high apartment if your boyfriend is afraid of heights."

"Shh," Ellie whispered with a wink. "He doesn't know he's on the outs. I'm more into mature men."

Though she smiled and flirted, she felt sick. Get the names, she prayed. And hurry.

The moment he heard the elevator door shut, he walked behind the desk, looking calmly down at the computer. His shoulders were relaxed, his form perfectly natural. His hands worked quickly, looking over the screen, as he looked for the correct file. The search finished, as he pulled open the spread sheet, along with how much each person owed.

Two more clicks, and he was able to close out all the files that were open. He waited at the keys for a moment longer, before he felt the buzz of his phone, confirming the file was stored. He looked up, seeing a woman, and two children standing at the desk.

"Excuse me... I've locked my keys in my apartment. Can you help me."

"Ma'am, you know we aren't allowed to help you for security reasons" he said, without blinking. The woman only sighed, glaring at him.

"I am a paying tenant, you know. You people need to start treating us better"

"My hands are tied, ma~"

"I won't stand for this! I demand that you let me in..." Maxwell picked up the phone, dialing a few numbers on the pad. The woman looked at him, her brow arched in a painful angle.

"Hello, Mr. Rovetti? Maxwell. We have a supposed tenant who doesn't..." Before Maxwell could finish his statement, the woman hurried off, mumbling under her breath. As she exited the door, Maxwell took his place again in front of the desk, waiting for Ellie's return.

For her part, Ellie was not having a good time. Her tour guide was as dull as drying paint. She forced herself to smile and flirt, hinting to him how much she liked mature men and what erotic things heights did for her. She thought the old man was going to trip over his tongue by the time they were done.

"I will let Daddy know how great this place is," Ellie said happily. "This is really what I'm looking for."

"We can sign the papers now," the man said.

Ellie gave a twittering laugh. "Oh, not yet. I have to tell Daddy first. He'll come here personally to sign the papers."

They went back to the lobby and Ellie motioned for Maxwell to follow her. She kept the act up until they were a few feet from the building. "Oh, God," she moaned, moving closer to Maxwell, "I thought that man was going to bore me to death. Or paw me to death." She sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder for a moment. "Tell me you got the list. Please, Max."

He waited to answer until he was outside the doors. "Of course. It's rather easy to find things once you know what you are looking." As he spoke, he gently patted his phone, continuing down the path. "Excellent story, by the way. Something like that should work on most of the buildings here."

He eyed the addresses of the buildings, before stopping at another one. This one, much like the one before, was large, and white. The doors, however, were guarded by a doorman. Maxwell furrowed his brow a bit. "This one is going to be impossible to enter. That doorman isn't going to let anyone in that doesn't belong here." Maxwell sighed gently, before guiding her down an alley way.

He stopped, looking about for some sort of window, or other opening. His eyes lingered for a moment on a fire escape. He studied it for a moment, before looking to Ellie. "You're going to need to get up there. Once in, make your way down to the main office. Tell them that you are house sitting for room 1103, and you need the password to the router. I can get our information from there." He stood below the ladder, hands interlocked, creating a makeshift step.

Ellie nodded, stepping on his hands. He boosted her up to the ladder and she started to climb. Looking down once, she said, "One of these days, Max, I swear I've got to learn how you know all this stuff. You just amaze me."

She quickly made her way into the building. Stopping by a mirror, she made sure she looked presentable and walked to the main office. Trying to look harmless she told them her story. Luckily, they didn't question her, as she must belong there if she was in the lobby.

Getting the router number, she thanked them and walked to the elevators. She had to go to the eleventh floor, just in case they were watchign where the elevator went. Slipping away down the hall, she texted Maxwell the numbers.

"Should I head back now, or wait," she added.

Maxwell looked about the alleyway, brow furrowed just a bit. He was looking for any sort of clue; weapons, materials, maps, anything. He peered inside a dumpster, rustling around a bit. He couldn't find much, in the little time he was searching.

He turned, looking to the ground. A soft smile took his lips, as his phone vibrated. Reading over the text message, he started typing out a response, while kneeling. His hands reached down, picking up a small object, before standing again. He examined it, holding it to the light. When he was satisfied, he sent the message.

"The sooner the better. This may be the building."

Ellie smiled, seeing the message. The idea that this could be the Artist's building made her weak in the knees, and yet so filled with energy. She quickly took the elevator to the second floor and found her way out on the fire escape. As quickly and quietly as she could, she shimmied down the ladders to the ground.

"Come on, let's get out of here," she said. The excitement was evident in her voice, despite her trying to whisper. "I owe you lunch."

A little worried they'd get caught, though she was sure they hadn't done much wrong, she took him as far away from the apartments as she could. She knew of a little bistro and got them a seat in a back corner.

"What did you find," she asked. "If that is the place, this calls for a celebration."

He held a black feather in his hand. It was far too long to belong to anything that naturally within the city. 6 inches long, it was thick, for a feather, and had a stiff quality to it. At the end, there was a small stain. Blood. Maxwell handed it to her, as they walked.

"We're too far away from the crime scene for this to have blown over here." His words were starkly less enthusiastic than hers, bored even. "We can attempt to pull prints from it, but I doubt we'll find much. What we do need to do, however, is find some way to confirm that this sample belong to the victim."

His brow furrowed a bit, as he looked over his notes. "We'll have to see if we can buy some...support...from one of the forensic groups." His brow furrowed a bit again, as he seemed to remember something more. "Of course... we're also going to need a sample of the victim..."

Ellie's good mood evaporated. "That's going to be tricky," she said. "I can barely get close to the crime scenes with that detective hovering over everything." She thought a plan of action through. The detective was very territorial and none of her normal femimine wiles had worked on him. Though, she mused, she hadn't tried the whole damsal-in-distress approach.

"Let's work on the forensics team," she said. "Unless I can think of a way to get our least favorite detective to warm up to us, I think he's a dead end. He simply doesn't like us."

Ellie didn't really like it when people didn't like her. It was so hard to get someone to help her out if they didn't like her. This was her first big project, her chance to break free of butterflies and documenting flowers. She had to make this work. She needed better access to the bodies and the forensic reports.

Hell, she had to find the Artist.

Maxwell only nodded at this. He wasn't sure of how he could make these contacts. Still, if anyone could do it, it would be him. He was already reading through his contact list, looking for someone who could make something happen.

He turned his attention now to the task at hand. He managed to get into the network, from his phone. Adept in the workings of program writing, Maxwell was able to use a few applications to get into the main computer's files, and take a copy of the file. Maxwell looked to Ellie, and nodded, signifying he acquired the document.

This made Ellie smile again. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Max," she said. She really didn't. How did she ever get along without him? To that end, how would she ever get along if he decided to leave? She had to keep him.

"Listen, Max, you're so much more then just my assistant. How would you like to be made a full partner? I'm sure that after this, I'm going to be famous and I want you to stay by my side." She wasn't sure how he knew all the things he did, but she was glad for it. "What do you say? Full partners in this project, and in any others that come our way?"

He nodded gently at her offer. "I would be honored. Thank you very much, Ellie," he said, with a slight smile. He was proud of his work, glad that he was being recognized this early on in his career, to be offered partnership.

This, however, was not a time to stop for celebration. He went back to his notes, with a slight sigh on his lips. "The fact is, however, getting DNA results are going to be difficult. We are first going to have to sneak into the morgue, or get a dirty cop to steal us a sample... Then, we need to find a lab to test it... That's not going to be easy.... Unless they have the equipment there..." He looked at the feather, glaring a bit.

"It may be better that I make this... my project. That is, if you don't mind."

Ellie nodded. "You can make it your project, Max. You have my blessing or whatever." She smiled, feeling that she had made the right decision. Now all she had to do was find the Artist. She was sure she was on the right track. He was watching her, she was positive of it. After all, he wanted her to look at his art. That thought sent a thrill through her. It would have scared an ordinary person, but Ellie was sure she wasn't in any danger.

"Let's head back over to the museum to get more shots of our Fallen Angel," she said. "I think our least favorite detective won't be there, so we shouldn't have any problems." She shrugged softly. "I can't think of anything else to do. We can always celebrate our partnership tonight."