Detective Chuck “Knuckles” Battersby awoke face-down on the floor of his office. A bottle of gin and a broken Xbox controller were next to him, lying motionless like a pair of cheap whores. He’d passed out after two weeks trying to unlock every achievement in Rockstar Games' LA Noire. His hangover was the toll to pay for too many nights spent on the case instead of in bed where any smart fella would be at four am on a Monday. But he’d done it. Solved every case the scofflaws of virtual LA could throw at him, and handed a beatdown to every mug that had it comin’. Finally he could turn off the Xbox and get some sleep.
That’s when she
walked into his office. The dame
was bad news. Knuckles Battersby
had never met a dame who wasn’t bad news, but this one wore trouble like
perfume, he could smell it on her before she even entered the room, and he knew
he would be in trouble long after she was gone. Her name was Dahlia L Cain, but her monogrammed bag just
read “DLC”.
He could tell that DLC was going to cost him. Both his time and his money. She was irresistible. She was mysterious. And worst of all, she made it sound
like she was doing him a favor by letting him pay to take on her cases.
DLC had four new cases for him. She’d let him have them for just four dollars each. Two of
them were ready to investigate now, “The Naked City” and “A Slip of the
Tongue”. But Knuckles would have
to wait until June 21st before he could try to solve the mysteries
of “Nicholson Electroplating” and “Reefer Madness”.
DLC also had a pair of new suits for him. A buck or two for a suit wasn’t
so bad, but he had plenty of suits already. Still, DLC wouldn’t take no for an answer. She offered him everything she had if
he’d just pay ten dollars up front.
He’d learned the hard way to never trust a dame who sells herself for
ten bucks, but he couldn’t resist.
Four new cases for LA Noire, plus
two new suits for ten dollars? No man could say no
to that.
He handed over the money and watched her walk out of his
office, but Chuck “Knuckles” Battersby knew he’d be seeing DLC again. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow,
but soon, and for the rest of his life.
Knuckles fired up his Xbox again. It was going to be a long night. He grabbed the cup of coffee he’d left out the night before. It had too much milk, no sugar, and
spent the night next to an open window.
Cold, pale and bitter. Just
like that dame…