Chapter 9: Revenge

"Revenge is a confession of pain."

-Proverb

Modecai had walked through the front door of the Little Daisy Cafe many times before. He was frequently seen there some years ago, but one day, he just...stopped coming.

Today, that would change.

Mordecai, dressed smartly, walked into the Little Daisy, and hung up his hat on the rack, pitching his umbrella under it as well. He looked over at Ivy, who sort of...stared for a moment.

"Mordecai? What're you doing here?"

"Business." He coldly walked upstairs, and didn't knock on the door before entering. "Mitzi." He said, standing in the doorway.

"Mordecai? What on earth are you doing h-"

"Tell me what you know about Atlas' murder." He said. He shut the door and sat across from her.

"...I beg your pardon?"

"Tell. Me. About. Atl-"

"I knew what you meant." She retorted quickly. She crossed her arms. "Besides, what does it matter anyhow? Not like I know much."

"Don't lie to me, I know you're working with Dominic Drago, and I know that he stops at nothing to get his man."

"This isn't your case to solve, Mordecai. What, do you think you're just gonna...rip the rug from under me?" She crossed her arms. "Forget it."

"I'm trying to help you."

"You could've helped by staying, you damn turncoat son of a bitch!"

What?

"What did I even do to make you this ups-"

"WHAT DID YOU DO!? What the HELL do you mean 'what did you do'!?" She slammed her hands on the table and stood, shouting down at him. "You LEFT me like I was nothing!"

"Everyone gets left behind in this business, even the big fish. There isn't any security in this business." He stood to meet her. "Or did you think it would be hard for everyone but you? Did you just figure that your looks and charm would carry you to an easy victory, like some sort of picture sh-"

Mordecai...felt a sting. He wasn't facing Mitzi anymore. Had she…

"...you just slapped me."

"What, didn't think a dainty little ol' southern belle could actually hit someone?"

"MITZI." He barked, uncharacteristically, seeming annoyed. "I am trying to help you."

"Bullshit you're trying to help me! I lose my husband and you just...take off! And now that it's relevant again you want in!? He was my Husband! You have no idea what that's been on my sho-"

"He was a fath-" Mordecai interrupted her, and the room fell silent. He sat down. "...he was important to me." Mitzi slumped back in her chair.

"Why, Mordecai? Why'd you jump ship and then crawl back?"

"I figured it would be lucrative." he said. "I knew that after Atlas died, after everything in New York, I was doomed to not enjoying my employer. I wasn't sure you had running a speakeasy in you and Asa Sweet is a madman who thinks the flies are working with the police department." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I figured I wasn't fated to enjoy my work, but whether or not I felt satisfied with my employer didn't matter to the landlord."

"So you kneecapped your lover and went away?"

"That was a necessary evil and he and I have since reconciled."

"I sure hope so." Mitzi pulled out some things from her desk. "...simply put, the best we have is that someone sold information to someone at the Marigold. Possibly named Wes."

"Hmm. He's been acting up recently." He said. "No one's really sure why." He thought a minute. "It could've been him." Mordecai added.

"Seems...obvious, doesn't it?" Mitzi asked. "Are we sure it wasn't someone entirely different?"

"Who could it have been?" Mordecai asked. "Couldn't possibly have been Wes' helper, Fish. Not enough clout."

Mitzi rubbed her eyes. "It just doesn't add up t'me. Wes buys information, gets into the house, then just leaves? Isn't he more destructive than that?"

"It's more that he isn't clean enough to pull it off. But...Fish could be." He said. Mitzi shook her head.
"Never even heard of this Fish man."

"That's how he got away with it, I think." Mordecai walked over to the desk. "He's so unassuming he gets into practically anywhere he wants. I've seen him walk into a prison off of confidence alone. He's sharp, too." Mitzi gasped and remembered something. "The knife."

"The knife?" Mordecai's ear perked up and he leaned over. "What knife?"

"The knife they found on the scene...I doubt it's still got prints on it but it might look familiar."

"I'm afraid not, this was all before my time there." Mordecai slumped. "Unless it's got a big F on it, there's really no way to tell." Mitzi thought for a moment.

"Only thing we had other than that and the instructions was a shoe."

"Shoe?" Mordecai asked. He looked a little more optimistic about this one, which is to say that he showed an emotion other than melancholy.

"It was big, too...size 11 I think."

"Fish has big feet."

"So does that Wes fella, and so do lots of folks in this business." Mitzi said. "It's just...common for folks t'be big."

"Best case scenario is that we've narrowed it down to two people I come into contact with on a daily basis." Mordecai stood up. "Frankly, I'd say we have the beginnings of an answer."

Mitzi smirked. "I s'pose we do, Mister Heller...now you go run along, haven't you got a job you work at?"

"Not until 4." He exited without any fanfare and walked to his car...well, 'his car' being a company car for the Marigold. He sat next to the driver, Serafine.

"Any information, Peekon?"

"It was either Wes or Fish. Or someone else with a size 11 shoe."

"Dat's a hard ting to test for an' not be suspicious, eh, Mordecai?"

"It's all we've got right now." He said. He looked down. "She was mad at me for coming now."

"Maybe de part where you left her high an' dry an' den decided to go for her biggest enemy?"

"Exactly that." Mordecai said. "I figure this will be a sort of redemption for me. I feel as if my time at the Marigold is coming to an end...that's good."

"Sure. Pretty good." She drove, and they ended up on another pointless whack job for Asa Sweet. The nights were growing to be tedious, but maybe that would change soon...hopefully that would end after all of this.

One can only hope.