Swamped

"But first, I need to know where you got that mask," she says, eyeing you suspiciously.

"It belonged to somebody else. I don't know his name. I'm very confident he had nothing to do with this whole mess, though."

She frowns.

"Well, time's short enough that I'll have to take my chances. Those masked hooligans were carrying a cauldron. Unfortunately, it wasn't the one I'm looking for - just some kind of sedative gas. I'm sure they're up to no good with it, but the one I'm looking for is more important."

"Is it filled with a red ooze from a spiked terror?" you ask. "Because if so, I can tell you where it is."

She blinks.

"I've been searching for it all day. How did you..."

"Stumbled on it while looking into something else. It's in a dressing room at Patterson's bar. What do you need it for?"

She hesitates for a moment before deciding to answer.

"The bar? Not here? I was sure I was on the trail when I found some inside... bah, no time to figure out what they were planning. The important thing is neutralizing it before dawn. I have a lot of other fires to put out, though, some of them literal, so if you can take care of that and bring me proof you did it, then we'll talk. Meet me back here in one hour."

"Wait," you say. "How am I supposed to prove it?"

"You say it's from a spiked terror. Bring me a needle from it, and I'll be able to confirm you did the deed," she replies. "And I think I've put up with you long enough. I've lost too much time finding Jack Flame already."

She drops a vial on the ground. It shatters, and then she vanishes. Well, so much for clarifying that Flame ran off with the terror. Perhaps you'll be lucky and you can find a stray needle in the dressing room... though you doubt it.

You also aren't entirely sure how to neutralize it, but you can at least see if the doctor's made any progress with his analysis.

Before you head off, though, you notice something on the ground. Perhaps she dropped more than just the vial.