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The Company
Time: Monday, August 19, 2013 (c. 23:00).
Place: Geneva, Switzerland.
Last Event: Searching Asuka's chambers.
A long day of flying followed by an evening spent turning Asuka's rooms inside out looking for clues finds the Agents inclined to wait for morning to follow up on the evidence they've found. Everyone agrees that it looks as though Asuka has run off with a techno musician who goes by "Lu©a." Jili gets the late-night duty of digging around online for any signs of the man. She learns that he isn't secretive about anything but his real name, and is downright aggressive about advertising his gigs; for instance, he's in the lineup for a party in Milan on Friday. After discussing this briefly, the team decides to take up the Artist on her invitation to stay the night and then leave for Milan come morning.
On Tuesday morning, the Agents have breakfast with the Artist and ask her about Asuka. They volunteer nearly all of the information they turned up the previous night – everything but the drug residue and the crusty panties, since they're uncertain how their host would react to that. It soon becomes clear that the Artist wouldn't be even a little shocked. As Qoqa pries, she learns that Asuka has gotten "chaotic," "messy," and "out of control" since the team last saw her – and the Artist indicates that this isn't merely her own opinion but also that of Sakata. Qoqa's analysis is that the girl's rough past has caught up with her, psychologically speaking.
Meanwhile, Jili spends some more time researching this Lu©a person. She learns that he isn't merely playing in Milan, but is based there. His real name continues to elude her searches. She finds something almost as good, though: the name and contact information of the promoter of Friday's party.
After breakfast, the Artist's "ninja" offer to lend the Agents a couple of the household vehicles – two black Mercedes S-Class sedans – for their trip to Milan. Without further ado, the group hits the road, with Klas and Paul driving. They make it to Milan by noon, where their top priorities are checking into a decent hotel and then getting some lunch. It's mid afternoon by the time everyone is unpacked and refreshed.
The plan for the remainder of the afternoon is for Paul to drive Klas, Lev, and Qoqa to the promoter's offices. If it looks as if the place isn't too overrun with people who might get in the way, the four of them will shake down whoever they find for information on Lu©a's whereabouts. To this end, Qoqa will play the role of an Eastern European gangster in the party-drugs business, while the lads portray mob muscle. Since it seems prudent to hold some fresh faces in reserve, Anabel, Jili, and Wen will stay out of this (and, at Anabel's insistence, go shopping).
Paul drives Qoqa, Lev, and Klas to the address provided by Jili. The area is shabby, but in a subdued way – more quiet and forgotten than boisterous, graffiti-covered, and gang-ridden. It isn't hard to locate the promoter's digs, in a small space behind an out-of-business café. Leaving Lev to watch the car, the other three head over to the door.
Opting for surprise over caution, Klas barges right in. He moves toward the lone person in the room and forces him down in his seat as Paul enters, makes a point of checking the area for danger, and then holds the door for Qoqa. It's soon apparent to the Agents that the only person here is a not-so-tough-looking geek with a computer and a blaring digital sound system, sat in a hip-but-grungy room decorated with posters advertising bands and parties. The look on the young man's face suggests genuine fear rather than indignity or anger.
The whole Eastern European drug-dealer act has the desired effect. The pencil-necked promoter is quite willing to believe that Lu©a crossed some gangsters. With Klas towering over him, Paul glowering from the only exit, and Qoqa barking questions in her nastiest Chechen accent, all resistance dissolves in seconds. Before long, Qoqa has not only Lu©a's address here in Milan, but also the promoter's promise not to call ahead with a warning. A menacing "Don't make us come back here!" cements the deal.
Minutes after arriving, the four Agents are on the road again, this time headed for Lu©a's supposed address. Paul makes sure that nobody is tailing him, but the fact is, the streets in the area are empty. One thing that is odd, however, is how nice the real estate gets as the car approaches the squad's destination. It soon becomes apparent that if this is truly where Lu©a is based – and Qoqa got no indication that the promoter was lying to her – then the musician either is far more successful than the team thought possible or lives in his parents' basement. Smart money is on the latter.
Realizing that Lu©a's neighborhood isn't the sort of place where a big, black Mercedes full of gawkers can park unnoticed, Paul decides not to pull over. He does slow down enough to let Qoqa snap good photos, though. Everybody in the car is impressed with the residence, which is a fully detached three-story home sitting amidst trees on a fair-sized property, surrounding by a low wall. It looks as if learning more will require a night visit.
On returning to the hotel, Klas, Lev, Paul, and Qoqa decide to get some rest, in case they're the ones dispatched for late-night shenanigans. It's early evening when Anabel, Jili, and Wen return from their shopping trip, laden with fashionable clothes for everyone. Qoqa fills them in on what she and the lads found out this afternoon. This spurs Anabel to hit the Internet to do a little research.
Anabel soon learns that the property her colleagues cruised by belongs to the Turatello family. Although a Luca Turatello does live at that address, the owner is one Lorenzo Turatello. Lorenzo is a successful businessman who made his fortune by investing the profits of an import/export business in real estate. Anabel manages to find a few pictures of him, which she shows around. Wen is surprised when she sees these, as she recalls catching a glimpse of the man on a sensationalistic TV show about mob-dominated business in Italy. This doesn't exactly prove anything, but it does suggest that the group exercise caution in their investigations.
As night approaches, the Agents agree that it would be best if nobody who visited the promoter this afternoon visits the Turatello house. Anabel points out that if she, Jili, and Wen go, then it would make sense for them to wear sexy clothing under their coats, so that they can pose as Lu©a's groupies if caught. Naturally, Anabel has just the wardrobe ready . . . for all three of them. The others know better than to argue with Anabel, and get ready for work.
It's well after dark when Paul drives past the Turatello property with the lights off, taking care to roll by smoothly and silently. He slows at a bend to let Anabel, Jili, and Wen hop out, and then keeps going. As soon as the car is gone, the three women dart into the shadows of the front wall. Fortunately, with AC Milan playing PSV Eindhoven in an away game, it seems likely that anybody charged with watching the street is staring at a television instead. At any rate, there's no reaction to the Agents' arrival.
When Jili notices what she believes is a sensor wire running along the top of the stone wall, she recommends not simply climbing over. Fortunately, the neighboring property is on higher ground, and Wen spots a wall from which the Agents could enter the yard. Once Jili confirms that this barrier isn't rigged with sensors, the three women stealthily make their way through the adjacent lot. Then Wen leads the way up and over the wall.
With Wen still on point, the Agents steal across the lawn to one side of the Turatello residence. Wen keeps her eyes peeled for sensors concealed in the yard, but detects nothing like that; this is a home, not a bank or a fortress. The obvious options for entry are a well-lit front entrance; any of several ground-floor windows, most of which have lights visible through the curtains; or one of the basement windows, all of which are dark. Wen suspects that there's probably a back door, too – but since people are milling around on the ground floor, the decision is to enter through the cellar.
It takes Jili just a few seconds to disable the alarm on the nearest window, whereupon Wen quietly pries it open and drops into the basement. By the light of her phone, she sees that she's in a "tasting room" adjoining a larger chamber lined with climate-controlled wine-storage cabinets. She signals for the other two to join her. They soon ascertain that they're in a large wine cellar with two exits. One door is locked and boasts and alarm, though it's clearly designed to keep people out, not in. The other is unremarkable and bears no security measures.
A quick peek through the less-challenging door reveals nothing but a large, musty storeroom full of cloth-draped furniture. There doesn't appear to be anywhere else to go from there. Since the other exit from the wine cellar almost certainly leads toward the stairs up, the Agents decide to get ready before continuing. All three take off and hide their coats. Then Anabel uncorks some wine and everybody takes a swig. The hope is that, if caught snooping around, they'll they look more like sexy girls hunting for booze than investigators looking for clues.
Still, the first line of defense is not being caught. To this end, Jili carefully disarms the security system on the wine-cellar door, after which Anabel quietly disengages the lock. Wen ventures through first and finds herself in a hallway. The well-lit stairs up are directly opposite, but there are also several closed doors. The Agents quietly agree that it would be best to check out the basement before risking the ground floor.
As it turns out, almost all of the doors are unlocked and lead nowhere exciting. One reveals a pantry stuffed with canned goods and hanging cheese, another is full of tools, and further discoveries include cleaning supplies, gardening tools, and yet more furniture. However, the door directly to the left of the wine cellar, set into the same wall, is another matter: it sports both a lock and an alarm. Jili points out that it's rather unusual that the wine cellar would have a keypad lock, yet this door would have a mechanical lock – and a high-security one at that.
This piques the Agents' interest, and they decide to investigate. As usual, Jili tinkers with the alarm. Once she's certain that it's disabled, she nods to Anabel, who picks the lock. Then Anabel eases the door open to let Wen sneak in. In the glow of Wen's phone and Jili's penlight, the three are surprised at the room's contents: guns, guns, and more guns. Apparently, the Turatello family believes in being well-armed . . .