"Thank God we're out of Innovation Valley, Adalet! I swear, if I see one more robot, I'll scream!" Frank proclaimed while side-eyeing the coffee maker.

Adalet rolled her eyes, "quite glaring at the appliances, Frank! They're not out to get you... Look on the bright side, we're in Paradise City now! Home of seizure-inducing neon lights..."

He smirked, "the only thing people care about in Paradise City is having fun! I came here once before. I drank so much I forgot my own name."

"Sounds pretty quiet by your standards, Frank!" Andrea teased as she joined the two officers, "anyway, Paradise City isn't heaven. Gambling, prostitution, drugs - the list goes on! Not only that, but the number of robberies is going up! Specifically in the big casinos at the strip! This town needs to be put back in the straight and narrow! And Adalet's the one to show these corrupt locals how real police work's done."

Adalet saluted, "you can count on it, Chief!"

"And if we happen to play some poker in the process, what's the harm in that..." Frank hums in thought.

"No way, Frank! I don't need a gambling addict on my team!" Andrea yelled, crushing the detective dreams of playing poker later.

"But, Andrea! That's like showing a man a steak dinner and then telling him that he could only eat the salad! Everyone gambles in Paradise City!" he argues.

The Chief's glare hardened.

"Oh, alright," he relented, "come on, Adalet. Let's go check out the Strip, see if there's any crime that can take my mind off the casinos."

Leaving the station, Adalet and Frank began walking along the Strip. The neon lights glowed brightly this late at night, some pulsating to a certain pattern. Adalet could feel a headache already starting, so she pulled out her sunglasses and slipped them over her eyes. While she was stopped something caught her attention in her peripheral vision.

Slumped against the rail of a water fountain was a man dressed in a green vest and matching plastic visor. Though it was the gold stick shoved into his left orbital socket that made Adalet pay more attention. Looking around the body, she notices an open box to the right of the man that was filled with colourful poker chips. She also found some broken pieces of something that glittered under the neon lights that had almost fallen into the fountain.

"Woah, Adalet! How do you do it?!" Frank asked after he had doubled back once he noticed his partner had stopped, "we're just having a look around the Paradise City Strip and you find a body! I guess you could hardly miss the guy with a stick in his eye! What is that, anyway?"

Adalet examined the opposite end of the stick, "It looks like a croupier stick! Makes sense since we're on the Strip..."

"They use them in casinos for moving your winnings around... that's if you win, of course!" he joked, "so someone used that croupier stick as a murder weapon! Talk about bad luck!"

"And while I haven't been in a casino recently, judging from his clothes, our victim's a casino croupier himself," she says, getting a better look at the man's uniform.

"Maybe a disgruntled customer offed him?" he suggested, "what did you find to help figure this crime out? Those broken pieces look quite expensive, put them back together!"

"They're very shiny," Adalet agrees, begging to glue the pieces back together, while she was doing that she tapped the box she had found with her foot, "and check this out, Frank!"

"I like your thinking, Adalet. If this guy was killed with a croupier stick, then maybe that gambling set is connected to the murder! Let's look through it!" Frank grins, for once kneeling and getting to work himself.

Adalet suspected he might be looking for some chips to cash in, but she wasn't going to fight him for doing his job... Sort of.

While Frank was looking through the box of poker chips. Adalet finished glueing the pieces she had found back together. She now had a small ladybug broach in her hand that was adorned with glittery jewels coloured to match the colour pallet of the ladybug.

"So, those broken bits you found on the Strip form a ladybug jewel! Looks pretty classy!" Frank commented as he stood up, holding something in his hand, "what was it doing next to a murder victim? Think Yann can find something on this jewel to clue us in on its owner?"

"If anyone can, it's Yann! Let's get it to him!" Adalet replied, bagging the jewel before looking at the t-shirt wearing, pink teddy bear Frank was holding, "you found a teddy bear in that box of casino supplies from the Strip? What th-"

"Hey, now! That's my teddy bear! Give it back to me!" a woman orders, swiping the bear out of Frank's hand.

"The teddy bear is yours? What's it doing next to a dead body? And who are you?" Frank asked back.

"Why, I'm Betty Wyatt! My divorce just came through and I'm in Paradise City to PAAAAAAAARTAY!" Betty cheered, waving her teddy bear around.

"Didn't you just hear what I said about the dead body?!" he growled before sighing, "we will need to talk to you, Miss Wyatt!"

"Miss Wyatt, I'm Capt. Adalet-"

"Say cheese, Capt. Adalet!" Betty produced a camera from somewhere and began snapping pictures of the cop, "thank you for finding my teddy bear! I dropped that and my gambling set on my way to the casino!"

"I'm afraid your teddy bear was found at a murder scene," Adalet repeated Frank's earlier words, "Have you ever seen this man before?"

The divorcée took a brave look at the body, "that guy's been killed?! But... I know him! He was a croupier for the Mennagio casino poker tournament! The man's name was Alfie McNaulty. He could spin the cards faster than a toupee in a hurricane!"

"He worked for the Mennagio's poker tournament? Interesting," Frank mused, "we should check that place out, Adalet! Thanks for your assistance, Miss Wyatt."

"No problem! If you need me, you can find me on the slot machines or at the buffet! Hallelujah, I love Paradise City!" Betty yells, holding her arms up in a celebratory pose.

Once backup had arrived to take over the scene, Frank led Adalet further down the Strip to where the Mennagio Casino was located. Entering the lavish building they found the gambling room that the victim worked in and began looking for clues that would help their investigation.

Around the room, they found a faded card attached to a lanyard that had been forgotten on one of the poker tables. That wasn't a weird clue as the still visible parts of the card displayed that it was a competitor's pass for the poker tournament, specifically competitors number five. What was a weird clue was the ankle monitor Hunter picked up from around the slot machines.

"Come on, Adalet, let me have just one game of blackjack!" Frank pleaded, "I feel like a dieting kid in a candy store!"

"Then consider me your personal trainer, no!" Adalet shot back jabbing her finger in his chest, "no poker while working on a murder investigation!"

"Meh, you're no fun! So what did you find in the casino? A pass for a poker tournament? So what?" he questioned.

"Did you forget what our victim's job was?" she replied, opening her case on top of a poker table.

"Oh right, our victim was a croupier for the tournament! Whoever this pass belongs to might be able to tell us more about him... if you can retrieve their picture!" he added, "And what's with that weird watch Hunter found?"

"I don't know where you get your watches, but I typically go to a store, not the local Penitentiary!" she jokes, pointing to the logo printed on the monitor.

"Oh, I see! That's the Penitentiary logo! This must be a monitoring bracelet, prisons use them to keep track of criminals on parole! What's it doing in a casino?!" he wondered, looking around for any potential criminals, "it looks like it's locked. Think you can unlock it and find out who was wearing it?"

"Let's see..."

For it being a monitoring bracelet, it only has four buttons on top for Adalet to press; the lock symbol, 1, 2, and 3. So it only took her a couple of tries to guess the code and have the red lights turn green.

"Nice work unlocking that monitoring bracelet you found at the casino, Adalet!" Frank grins as he took the bracelet to examine it, "how did the criminal who was wearing this monitor manage to get it off?"

"Hopefully Hannah can help us out!" Adalet replies while dusting the poker tournament badge she'd picked up, "and check this out!"

"You cleaned up that poker tournament pass you found at the casino in no time! So this kid played poker with our victim as his croupier," he hums, taking in the picture of a nerdy-looking young man on the badge, "why don't you have a look at the casino's client database, Adalet? I'm sure you'll find that boy's name in no time!"

Leaving the tournament room, Adalet and Frank tracked down a casino employee and asked for access to the casino's database. After explaining why they needed it, the employee showed them to an office and pulled up the database of tournament competitors for them. After a few minutes of scanning the pictures of the competitors, Adalet found the form for competitor number five; Danny Moto.

"Good goin', Adalet!" Frank clapped her on the shoulder, "that poker pass belongs to a certain Danny Moto! He doesn't look old enough to go to the bathroom on his own, let alone a casino!"

"Well, he got in somehow, and since our victim worked for the tournament, maybe Danny can tell us more about him," Adalet says after thanking the employee for access to the database, "let's go talk to Danny!"

After checking some of the other gambling rooms, they found Danny sitting at a slot machine making calculations on his calculator. When he saw them approaching, he shoved the calculator into his shirt pocket looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"Danny, I'm Captain Adalet and this is Detective Frank," Adalet introduced, "may we ask you a few questions?"

"What's this about, Capt.? I didn't do anything... You can't prove anything!" Danny cried.

"I'm sure you didn't. We're just here to ask you abou-"

"Okay, I admit it! I shouldn't be in this casino! I'm underage! You can arrest me, Capt.! I'm guilty!" he cried, holding out his wrists to her.

Adalet blinked, having not seen the kid's age listed on the registration form, "wait, if you're underage, how did you sign up for that poker competition?"

"Fake ID, of course. I just wanted to go to a casino. I'm fascinated by all the card games, all that money being counted, probabilities, all the... mathematics!" Danny rambles, "but the croupier at my table was on to me. I thought he was going to have me thrown out!"

"Actually, we're investigating Alfie's murder," Frank informed the rookie gambler.

"He's dead?! Oh gee, maybe I shouldn't have come to Paradise City!" Danny gulps audibly, "I've learned my lesson, Capt. Adalet! I'm never gambling again! I'm going straight home to study for my exams!"

"This corpse you brought me is one guy whose luck definitely ran out! I've heard of a poker face, but I'd never heard of a croupier-stick-face until now!" Roxie laughed, holding the murder weapon in her hands.

"Hahaha, nice one! Looks like all the bets are off with this case!" Frank joked back.

"And if we don't stop with the puns, we're going to fold on this case!" Adalet chimed in with a deadpan tone.

"Sorry, Adalet, I'll get to the facts. The stick jammed into that guy's eye socket skewered his brain, killing him instantly," Roxie explained, raising the croupier stick, "I found no DNA anywhere, but that croupier stick had a story to tell! I found a tiny bit of shellfish residue mixed with ketchup, horseradish and lemon on it."

"Shellfish, ketchup, horseradish and lemon? Sounds delicious. Like a shrimp cocktail!" Frank remarked, licking his lips.

"Exactly, Frank!" she points the croupier stick at the detective, "it's shrimp cocktail residue! Adalet, your killer eats shrimp cocktails!"

"Sadly for the killer, I don't think they serve shrimp in prison!" Adalet says as she updated the profile, "did you discover anything useful about that ladybug, Yann?"

"Adalet, this ladybug jewel you found on the Strip is beautiful," Yann said as he held up the small bag holding the jewel, "I'm going to have a replica made for my daughter!"

"Why don't you just give her this one?" Frank asked, nodding at the jewel.

"Firstly," he held up a finger, "that's unethical. Secondly," he added another finger, "I found faint traces of your victim's blood on that jewel. That would be a horrible gift!"

"Our victim's blood? This jewel's connected to the murder!" he deduced.

"It looks pretty expensive," Adalet commented as she eyed up the sparkling jewel.

"Adalet's right," Frank agrees, "there's no way a croupier could afford this! It must have belonged to the killer!"

"Frank, for once you've got it right!" Russell announced taking the bag with the jewel from Yann.

"Oh no..." he groans, "what are YOU doing here?!"

"Yann called me. The ladybug is a lucky symbol across Europe and America. And what you have here is a charm - an object specifically designed to bring good luck. Your killer is superstitious!" he lectured.

"Ha," he grinned, "everyone is superstitious around here! Anyway, the killer's luck is about to run out! Let's go get 'em Adalet!"

"Before you go hunting, Frank, let's see what Hannah got from the monitoring bracelet!" Adalet replied, turning to the tech expert.

"Monitoring bracelets are used by prisons to track criminals on parole. And the one you found at the casino belongs to a certain Louis De Rico!" Hannah reports, pulling up the man's mugshot photo on the monitor, "Louis's a small-time gambler and a big-time con-man. His criminal record is huge: fraud, racketeering, even jewel thieving - he's done it all! He spent six years in prison, but was released on parole a couple weeks ago! A guy that slippery, I'm not surprised he was able to wriggle off this monitoring bracelet!"

"An experienced criminal so close to a murder investigation smells fishy. Adalet, let's go talk to this guy!" Frank declared

Returning to the casino, they began searching for Louis in order to question him about his monitoring bracelet. They found the ex-con sitting at one of the blackjack tables playing a game with a few other players, but Louis paused as Adalet got his attention.

"Captain, no one respects the law more than me," Louis began proudly, "but I have a game of blackjack going and I'm on a winning streak, so let's be snappy."

"Capt. Adalet will take all the time needed, Louis. We know you took your monitoring bracelet off. Care to tell us why?" Frank demanded.

"That bracelet was cramping my style! And I always say, if you ain't got style, you ain't got nothing," he answered with a satisfied smirk.

"So your monitoring bracelet comes off on the same night a croupier gets killed... His name was Alfie McNaulty, ring a bell?" he inquired.

"Alfie? I played at his table. Talented croupier. Good dresser," he complimented, "you guys don't think I was involved?! I was only at the casino to play poker! I've been dreaming about the game from my prison cell for six years! I'm a changed man, Capt. Adalet. No more crime, I promise - cross my heart and hope to die..."

"Adalet, I made it! I got this far without playing a single hand of poker! Phew," Frank wiped some sweat from his brow, "I've been thinking of nothing else all night!"

Adalet cocked an eyebrow, "not even our case?"

"Of course I've been thinking about the case! I've been thinking about motives, for example. Who would want to kill a croupier?!" he wondered.

"Well so far all of our suspects play poker, so it's possible Alfie served all of them!" she reasoned, looking at the suspect line-up on the large monitor.

"Good point, all our suspects so far play poker. Like that crazy tourist Betty Wyatt!" he snorted, pointing to each suspect's image, "and Danny Moto, too. The victim found out he was in the casino underage... But he looks harmless. Could ex-con Louis have some other motive for being at the casino beyond "just playing poker"? I don't trust that guy!"

"Hey, Adalet! I've got a lead for you! You know Andrea mentioned all those robberies taking place here?" Hannah inquired as she joined the two in front of the monitor.

"Yes," Adalet confirmed, "what about them?"

"Well, a few days ago, a jewelry store was robbed. Thousands of dollars worth of jewels were stolen!" she explained, pulling up the robbery case file up on the monitor to show them.

"We're in the middle of a murder investigation, Hannah," Frank reminded the tech expert, "let the local cops deal with it! Why should we care?!"

"Because, if you'd let me finish, I just hacked the CCTV records, and recognized your victim! He was there during the robbery!" Hannah points to the images of their victim inside the jewelry store during the time of the robbery.

"What? Alfie McNaulty, our dead croupier, was involved in a robbery then got himself murdered?!" he summarized, shocked.

"It looks that way. Adalet, I would get to that jewelry store and untangle this mystery, if I were you!" Hannah advised, sending the address for the jewellery store to the captain's phone.

Adalet checked the device to make sure she'd received it, "will do, thanks, Hannah!"

Arriving at the jewelry store, Adalet and Frank let themselves into the old crime scene. The store's lights were bright and illuminated the shattered display cases where the jewelry had been stored for customers to look at. Walking around the room, they searched for anything related to the murder.

There was a postcard addressed to their victim forgotten on top of a display case, but the message had faded. On another display case, they found some torn photo paper.

"Adalet, we know the victim was in this jewelry store when it was robbed. What did you find?!" Frank calls from his place examining the shattered display cases.

Adalet held up her finds, "a postcard addressed to Alfie, and a torn photo!"

"Let's clean up that message and see what it says!" he says, noticing the missing message, "and if you think that torn photograph is important, you'd better piece it back together!"

Adalet examines the torn photograph first. After finding a display case that hadn't been destroyed, she laid out the pieces and arranged them into their original order. After placing some strips of tape onto the photo, she held it up to the light to see what it was.

"Nice job, look! There's the victim! " Frank points to the man in the image.

"There's also Louis and Danny in this photo!" Adalet remarked, recognizing the other men in the image.

"But who is that woman?" he wondered, referring to the last person in the image, "she looks like someone I want to get to know! Let's get this photograph to Hannah, see if she can figure out who this fox is!"

After putting the photo into her case for safekeeping, Adalet grabs the postcard. She dusted the faded message and gently blew off the excess powder to read the recovered writing.

Adalet whistled, "whoa, the message on that postcard to that victim says, "You're a dead man, Alfie"! It's signed by a certain Louis..."

"Wait! Do you think that could be Louis De Rico?!" Frank suggested.