A Perfect Crime (TWS)

For a moment - just a moment - I considered saying I was a cop looking for bribe money. My paycheck's a little thin, after all.

But I quickly dismissed the thought. My currency card isn't set up to accept bribes, after all. I'm a rank too low for that, and there's no way I'd be able to pull off a bluff like that.

So I needed to think quickly. I looked around to gauge her interests, and that's when I noticed a few things.

First of all, every one of her goons was wearing boxing gloves. Second, the room was covered in posters for various famous boxing events. She was a boxing fan, then, and that gave me an opening.

"I'm sure a refined lady like you has a good grasp of the boxing scene in this marvelous city," I began. "But there are matches in the wider world that are... shall we say, difficult to watch in here."

"The national championship," she said, thoughtfully. "I haven't seen one since, well, you wouldn't have been born yet, would you. You can bring me news of the championship?"

"Even better. I can get you a champion. Give me a passable boxer, and I can see to it he rises to the top. Against overwhelming odds that would mean quite a bit of money to anyone who bet on him."

I almost gave myself away with a "ne" there, but I realized just in time that a foreigner more than likely wouldn't be used to the Council's intricately planned system of pronouns.

"Money that wouldn't be accepted here," she shot back at me. "I'm not looking for foreign holdings, they're no use in this city. And picking the champion? Not from these worthless goons. None of them could even be plausible as a phony. It's not worth the risk to smuggle one out."

Hmm. I had her interest, but I wasn't closing the deal. I'd need to refine my pitch a bit. Offer her something she couldn't get here in the city, and was willing to take some risks for.

But what?