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You pull it out pinched between two fingers now, a business card. It's simple and generic, white background with stamped black text that carves a scowl into your face.
'If you remove my hat, I will die.'
Your fingers pinch the corner where you grip it and you stare. You shift your eyes up and meet her glazed stare and sticker smile.
"I have a hat for you, darling." She nods towards the table. "I was told to give it to you free of charge!"
"Right. What if I don't want a hat?" You say carefully.
"I was told to tell you that if you put on the hat your questions would be answered. Face to face."
"Face to face with who?"
"My son!" She replies cheerfully. "He has trouble making friends, that's why I encouraged him to try out for the baseball team you know. His father played when he was his age."
"Mark." Hawthorne's voice appears in your ear. "I heard you got the hat vendor, I got word that plainclothes got the Anarkist. Added assaulting an officer to his charges too, but he's cuffed up."
"Good." You reply quietly. "Only issue is, I found a card on grandma. Says if we take off her hat, she's dead."
"Motherfucker. He can do that?"
"I don't know. Don't really wanna risk it."
"Well don't, we can take her in and let our techs check it out."
"It's not just that. She had a list of names, mainly the people close to the investigation... except for Grey."
"He's on the backend of things, most of his work's been in an office. Maybe without their moles they're blinder than we thought."
"Yeah but so are we... she offered me a hat. Probably the patrol cap... said my questions would be answered face to face if I took it."
"Face to face with who?"
"That's what I asked, said her son. But sir, any son she'd have is gonna be putting money into a 401k. Definitely not playing little league. I have a hunch if we look into it we'll find her on a missing persons list from an elder care facility."
