Observations

Having received the Priscus of Ventrue's prompt reply, Lina Moretti found herself in another meeting in her office wherein she was sitting behind her desk, ready to do work. Given the Prince's direction, it was time to give Rebecca Simmons a reasonable chance to explain what had gone on one particular night not so long ago that had found its way into the Sheriff's attentions.

By way of attire, the youthful-looking Sheriff wore a practical outfit of tasteful athletics shoes, black pants, and a white tank-top with a leather jacket on top. Her knife, ever present, was hanging on her hip. In the background, Lina's computer was quietly playing Nirvana ("here we are now, entertain us!) over a couple of speakers. A white legal pad was on the desk with a pen on it.

The door was wide open for the Harpy's arrival.
Matrixchild

Formal Court had been tense. Lina and Rebecca's relationship was...unusual. Several times the Grand Wyrm had assisted Rebecca, though she knew it was never purely out of the goodness of her heart. Other times they were on opposite sides. It was an ever shifting tide of help and harm. Rebecca was not sure what topic Lina wanted to discuss that evening, but she went to the Sheriff's office nonetheless.

Her outfit was simple. Black dress. Fashionable shoes. This was not formal court but she was not going to appear at Nox underdressed. Her face was wrapped in a mask of pleasantness and friendliness, as she always did. As she approached the open door she looked in on the woman whose beast caused Rebecca's to want to lash out. Unfortunately for Rebecca she knew that only one of them had permission to spill blood within Elysium. She found it more than a little unnerving. But she did not show any sign of discomfort when she smiled and knocked lightly on Lina's door frame. Once the direct woman looked her way Rebecca offered her a bow of her head and said, "Good evening Sheriff Moretti. You wanted to see me?" Rebecca suspected she wasn't summoned for the woman's capacity as Grand Wyrm.

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2019-04-29 22:11:29		Rebecca rolls 6 to Tatemae (Man+Exp+Kamen) (10 Again)		3, 9, 2, 3, 2, 5		1 success

The press of Rebecca's familiar monster brought a set to Moretti's jaw that required a moment and a blink. It was nowhere near as harsh a kick as it was the first time two Kindred met - no, Lina and Rebecca's Beasts were well familiar with one another, a Danse most common - but there was never a moment where the presence of another vampire was totally comfortable unless they were both blessed with the Cloak so common among the Mekhet and Nosferatu.

"Priscus Simmons, hello," she said pleasantly, gesturing to the seat across from her. "Come on in. Would you get the door, please?"

Giving the Ventrue a minute to do so and to settle in, the Sheriff picked up her pen.

"I've had a matter come to my attention that I wanted to ask you about, something that is a bit uncommon that I have to look into - duty calls, you understand. I understand that there was a Ventrue Clan meeting that happened recently, and something went on involving a Carthian by the name of Finley with respect to his Acknowledgment? I hear he was a bit of an asshole?"

Her tone was pleasant, but there was a lift to it at the end that suggested that Lina knew what happened, but that Rebecca's version was being requested.

"Of course," she said with a smile as she turned to close the door, then took the suggested seat. As she made herself comfortable she listened to the Sheriff's inquiry. She did not miss the suggestion at the end though and she could see where this was going.

Rebecca offered a smile and said, "he was quite rude. I had personally notified everyone of the meeting start time and yet he arrived late. So late in fact that I had already acknowledged a separate new arrival, a man by the name of Wilhelm Schroder, and discussion over who should serve as Whip had begun. I am of the First Estate. You know this well. But even beyond that, every Priscus Lord I have ever been under valued punctuality, even if they were not Invictus. When he arrived he merely apologized for being late, then went to sit. My response was to tell him he owed a boon to those he insulted for his tardiness. He then ignored the topic of prestation completely until we had already moved on to his Acknowledgement, which is when he finally refused. Now we both know prestation is agreed upon, and as such we both have been refused before. But this man attempted to then insult me for my handling of his insult to those who arrived on time and ready to discuss pressing clan matters. Even going so far as to claim I did not afford him an alternative time to meet privately, something he never requested or even suggested until that moment."

Rebecca paused for a moment. "I know that I am not usually quick to anger, but in that circumstance I felt as if he had insulted me and attempted to undermine my authority as Priscus. I told him that I would not acknowledge him, that he would have to return at the beginning of April and meet with me privately and accept the debt, after that we would discuss acknowledgement. Now in my mind the debt was for his insults and separate from acknowledgement all together, but after Mr. Finley left Mr. Garcia pointed out that his Acknowledgement appeared contingent on the debt. And after I had the moment to calm down, I realized he was right and I agreed to rescind the boons completely but the Carthian was already gone. When he did not make contact with me I attempted to reach out to him on two separate occasions but he has not replied."

Again Rebecca paused. "While I had not intended for his acknowledge to be directly connected to prestation, it nonetheless came out like it and I have not be able to correct my error, at least not at this time. Punishment is for you and Her Majesty to decide."

Lina sat back in her chair, taking a note here and there in an investigator's shorthand, the kind of notes that would get translated into a report for a client and filed - or, in this case, burned after they'd formulated a report back to the Prince. It really was a straightforward case.

"You know, when I first got the testimony about the issue, I sent a letter to the Prince about it saying I figured you'd be straight with me about it, and lo and behold, here you are, being straight with me. I appreciate it, and I'll let the Prince know you plead out and played it legit. A suggestion for next time: when your guy tells you that he thinks something looks like you broke a Law, it looks even better to come in and cop to it right away."

A guilty plea was good. Turning oneself in was better. The pen found the notepad, which had very few notes on it. It wasn't a tough case.

"Just so I've got the gist right: guy comes in like an asshole and late to boot, you got a little heated, his Acknowledgment got blocked by the apparent Prestation issue, and this wasn't your intention but he'd already left. When you got told by Garcia about it, you tried to fix it but it was too late. Is that a fair and accurate summary?"

Swift justice was best justice.

Rebecca offered the Sheriff a nod of her head, her expression never changing in the slightest. "That's a fair and accurate summary. And I'll keep that in mind, but I believe that when one makes a mistake, like I did, one should learn from it and never repeat the same mistake again. Though I must admit I have made several mistakes as of late. But that only means I still have room to learn things." Rebecca may look like an old dog, but she could learn new tricks.

"That's a good way to do things," Lina agreed, peering for a long moment at Rebecca with a look of curiosity on her face, but it faded quickly. A few quick shorthand words went back onto the page, and the Sheriff replied, "Speaking of mistakes made: I wanted to talk to you about two other things. The first is that your Whip apparently is going around telling people I'm something to the effect of a Crone-hunting zealot. The Prince runs an egalitarian Domain where all Kindred can live without worrying about being hunted for their Covenants. My Deputy is the god-damn leader of the Crone. There is only one member of the Circle of the Crone in the world that I specifically want dead, and she's nowhere near here."

Last she heard, her Sire was a long way off - or, perhaps, in torpor...?

"I figured I'd give you the opportunity to handle it internally first, since he's one of your guys. I assume he isn't speaking with your authority when he is spreading lies about me."

"Now this is news to me." She paused for a moment, her eyes staring at Lina as she thought. "He did mention something during the discussion for Whip that you appeared to have a dislike for the Crone, but I don't recall him going so far as to accuse you of wanting to hunter all Crone down, and I would never have believed anyone who claimed such. But I will be looking into these rumors because they are not under my authority. You and I may not always be on the same side of everything, but what we said in Court was true; we will always work out our problems and work back towards being allies, and I would never authorize the spread of slanderous information against you."

"Exactly. And I can tell you, if you're wondering, why I said what I said in Court. You might find it illuminating as to my philosophy of law enforcement," the Sheriff replied. A hand came up in a soft pat to the air, like she was cushioning something. "Now, to be fair, the person who told me this information fucking hates Jack, so I'll give your Whip the benefit of the doubt and accept that what you told me he said is what he really is saying, instead of the nastier interpretation that was given to me."

Moretti paused. Her face went flat, deadly serious.

"Still, it needs to stop, because that benefit of the doubt only gets given once. Saying things that would undermine the strength of Her Majesty's law enforcement by driving wedges between my Deputy and I once is an oopsie. Saying it twice..."

"Only just became Whip and already hated. Hopefully the minor rise hasn't gone to his head, if he is truly spreading such false rumors. As soon as I get the opportunity I will confront him and find out if he truly is trying to spread lies about the respected Sheriff of Sacramento. Of course, should it come to light that the source of this information has improperly embellished or outright lied themselves well...I will not be kind to them."

She then shifted in her seat slightly before continuing. "I would be interested in learning more about your philosophy on law enforcement."