"We have to move quickly, Adalet! A certain Merv Waylon apparently has precious information about the upcoming heist! We need to intercept him and get him talking!" Andrea declared, "but watch out, Adalet. Waylon is a gun trader, and he's also a known con man. When he sees you coming, he'll most probably try to run. So you need to act fast!"

"Hunter's ready for a chase!" Adalet replied, the dog at her feet barked in agreement.

She nods in approval, "he's checked into a seedy motel in town. Amy will join you there. Now go and catch Waylon before he can make a run for it!"

Adalet and Hunter left the station and sped over to the motel to meet up with Amy. The rookie officer was standing beside her vehicle waiting for them and Amy directed her partner towards the room the victim was renting. Climbing up the staircase on the opposite end of the motel with their guns drawn, Adalet sent Hunter ahead of them to sniff out anything suspicious. Walking not far behind the dog, they soon found themselves in front of Merv Waylon's motel room door. With Merv Waylon's body nailed to it by several knives.

"On no, Adalet," Amy groans, putting away her gun, "we found Merv Waylon... but he's dead! He's been skewered by knives! We got here too late! Now that he's dead, we've lost our chance to use him as an informant on the heist!"

"Luckily we know a woman who can make the dead talk!" Adalet replies, pulling out her phone, "there's still hope that Roxie can get him talking! Let's send the body for autopsy right away!"

"And look! Hunter found a briefcase which has our victim's name on it!" she remarked as Hunter trotted over with a briefcase dangling from her mouth, "good eye, girl! Ready to rummage through it?"

"Arf!" Hunter yipped, gently placing the briefcase on the ground.

Adalet chuckled, "careful, she might tear something with her claws... But check this out, Merv's body was covering this door hanger on his motel room door!"

"This could be a huge lead, but you'll have to retrieve the faded parts first!" Amy pointed out as she clicked open the briefcase.

While Amy was searching through the victim's briefcase, Adalet used the balcony railing as a table for her to dust the door hanger on. She recovered a faded message written below the motel's name with a pair of playing cards drawn below it.

"Way to go, Adalet, you revealed the message on that motel door hanger. What does it say?" Amy inquired as she paused her search through the briefcase.

"I got dealt a better hand, Merv."," Adalet readout.

"Could the killer have left this as a calling card?" she wondered.

"We had better send this message to Russell so he can tell us what it's all about!" she declared, turning to face her partner, "nice catch, Amy! This matchbox you found in the victim's briefcase has a message written on it!"

"The message reads: "Merv, meet me here" Hmm, it seems a certain Louis wanted to meet the victim here at the Gold Saucer motel," Amy muses, her eyes scanning the message again.

"Louis?" Adalet echoed, "like Louis De Rico, the con man I've been dealing with?"

"What's that, Adalet?" she looked up, "well, by the sound of it, I wouldn't be surprised if that Louis was involved in this investigation as well. Let's go ask him why he wanted to meet with the victim!"

After Roxie had arrived and taken the body and door hanger back to the station for them, Adalet and Amy drove out to the most likely place where they would find Paradise City's resident con man; the Mennagio Casino. They find Louis De Rico sitting at one of the many slot machines scattered around the room and Adalet pulls out the matchbox to ask him about meeting with the victim.

"Louis," Adalet put the hand holding the matchbox in front of the screen to block the con man's view, "we found this matchbox you gave to Merv Waylon. You asked him to come to the motel, where we found him. Dead."

"Merv's dead?" Louis seemed genuinely surprised, "that's unfortunate. Reliable suppliers are so hard to find, Capt. Adalet!"

"Suppliers? What kind of supplies did you need from the victim, Mr. De Rico?" Amy inquired.

"Ah, all kinds. Merv could get you anything. Fur coats for my lady friends, caviar, tickets for the best shows in town," he listed cheekily, "he was handy that way."

"Are you sure you didn't need him to supply you for an upcoming heist instead, by any chance?" Adalet argued, crossing her arms.

"Oh, Capt. Adalet, my days of crime are long gone. You know I've changed. Everything I do these days is legal and non-violent. Call it a midlife crisis, if you want," Louis hums innocently, "but Merv was all about violence, money and guns. The last time I saw him, he was getting ready for the big gun convention. That's where I'd go looking for his killer!"

"I don't know about you, Adalet, but I don't believe a word of what this De Rico guy says," Amy proclaimed as they left the casino, "I think he was giving us the run around with that gun convention talk! I can't even believe they'd have actual gun conventions here! I guess anything's possible in Paradise City!"

"Don't we know it!" Adalet chuckled, "but Louis made a good point, Merv did come here for the gun convention so we should go check it out right now!"

After looking up the address for the Gun Convention Centre, Adalet and Amy headed over there to investigate the vendor stands for clues related to Merv's murder. Looking around the many stands showcasing the multitude of guns, they found a crate filled with weapons beside one of the first stands and a pile of broken stone pieces a little further into the convention.

"So this is the gun convention the victim supposedly attended... All this weaponry is intimidating, and it's crazy that anybody can buy guns just like groceries," Amy gulps nervously, looking around at the array of weaponry, "I see you're already onto something, Adalet! You think something could be hidden inside this crate of weapons?"

"Where else would a suspect hide something?" Adalet smirked, picking the broken pieces up off the floor.

"And what do you intend to do with these scraps, recycle them?" she teased knowingly, "I'm joking, I know you never pick up anything without good reason. I'm ready to be impressed by your restoring skills once again, Adalet!"

Adalet repaired the broken pieces first and took over the nearest booth as her workstation. She glued the pieces together and repaired the object which turned out to be a statue. It looked to be of African origin and was of a warrior kneeling holding a dagger in each of its hands. Tied around its neck was a tag addressed to the victim.

"What a... peculiar statue you restored, Adalet! It looks like a tiny warrior!" Amy remarks, "and there's a label that reads, "For Merv"! Who would give such a gift to the victim? It looks so menacing!"

Adalet chuckled, "for everything weird, Russell can provide a clear explanation."

"He's so amazing... I mean professionally, of course!" she quickly added with a deep blush.

The captain smiles knowingly.

"Sorry, Adalet... let's just send the creepy statue to Russell!" Amy says, taking the statue to hold onto.

Adalet dug into the crate next. Carefully looking through the assault rifles, handguns, and belts of bullets, she found a picture hidden among all the weapons.

"You always have the best hunches, Adalet!" Amy praised, "you found a picture of the victim hidden among those weapons! Waylon is next to a woman... She's holding a bunch of cash in her hand, while Merv looks annoyed..."

"And if she annoyed him, then we need to find her!" Adalet declared, grabbing her tablet.

Pulling up the database for Paradise City, Adalet submitted a brief description of the woman and waited for the program to populate some results from her to pick from. After scanning through the various images in the results she found the one that matched the woman in the picture and pulled up her file.

"Her name is Mary-Lou Waylon," Adalet says as she reads the report, "according to the file, Mary-Lou is the victim's sister!"

"I would have never guessed, they look so different!" Amy confessed.

"You have seen Magnus and I side by side, right?" she questioned, teasingly.

"Yeah, but you two aren't biologically related!" she argued, "so that doesn't count!"

"I shared a crib with him more often than not, and for the amount of times he kicked me I earned the title of being his twin!" she laughed, "but biologics aside, we need to go talk to this Mary-Lou."

"Lead the way, Adalet!"

Checking the file Adalet found the woman's address on it which showed that she lived at the local trailer park. Leaving the convention centre, they handed over to the trailer park to inform Mary-Lou Waylon about her brother's death.

"Miss Waylon, I'm sorry to bring bad news about your brother. But we found him murdered earlier today," Adalet broke the news once the women had answered the door.

"Merv's dead? But... who's going to pay my cable TV bills now?" Mary-Lou cried, "Capt. Adalet, I have three children by four different fathers, none of whom pay any child support! My brother was the only decent guy in my life!"

"Your brother supported you financially, Miss Waylon? That's very generous of him... Do you know how he made his money?" she inquired, ignoring the incorrect math the woman said regarding her children.

"Oh, I... didn't ask too many questions, Capt. Adalet. Merv had a bit of a temper..." she shakes her head, "I didn't want to push my luck."

"Before getting to the obvious, I'd first like to comment on the mysterious: it seems your victim was tortured a great deal before dying," Roxie announced, going over the report in her hand, "Merv Waylon was burnt numerous times, cut, beaten... you name it, he endured it!"

"That's brutal alright," Adalet agrees, "but why would you say it's "mysterious"?"

"Because your victim must have been screaming in agony! Everybody at the motel would have heard it!" she reasoned, waving her hands around for emphasis.

"Oh right! So that means he WASN'T tortured at the motel," Amy deduced, "otherwise someone would have done something! But where was he tortured, then?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out... I will get back to you on that, promise. But until then, let's talk about the obvious: your victim was perforated by half a dozen knives, all thrown from a distance," Roxie picks up the tray holding the knives, "the first two knives pinned Merv's hands to the wall. The last knife put him out of his misery when it expertly punctured his heart. That's your murder weapon! And let me tell you, for the killer to have thrown those knives so expertly from a distance, they must be very skilled! This was no lucky shot!"

"Yeah, knives aren't the easiest projectiles to throw," Adalet hums, "I remember when my little brother Tómus first tried throwing one, that poor vase never stood a chance..."

"So the killer is an expert at throwing knives! That should help us cut through the case, Adalet!" Amy grins as the doors to the morgue slid open.

"Do you enjoy card games, Adalet?" Russell inquired as he entered the morgue, carrying his lab samples in his arms, "you shouldn't be surprised that you found drawings of cards on that door hanger, we're in Paradise City after all!"

"We get that these are playing cards, Russell, but do they have a particular meaning?" Amy inquired.

"The meaning's clear. There are two cards drawn, an ace and a 10, with the message: "I got a dealt a better hand, Merv." In other words, the winning hand! You see, in terms of numbers, these two cards equal 21: this is the best hand you can get in blackjack. It's unbeatable!" he rambled, "your killer wanted to boast that no matter how Merv played it, he would have lost. And they got that message across the only way they knew how: with violence and blackjack!"

"Thanks for this Russell! Now that we know the killer plays blackjack, it's time to show them who owns the game around here, right, Adalet?" she inquired.

"Right!" Adalet agrees, "what about the statue, Russell?"

"This statue you brought me is a true ancient masterpiece! It's specific to the Mayakan tribe in Africa," Russell explains, holding up the statue, "and according to Mayakan tribal tradition, this statue signifies a business agreement."

"How can a warrior figure, brandishing knives, represent a business agreement, Russell?" Amy inquired, slightly nervous.

"You have to know the tribal tradition to understand it. I asked Hannah to track down the only man currently in Paradise City who is from the Mayakan region. He goes by the name of Papa Quansah," he hands the blonde a piece of paper with the man's information, "watch out, from what I could uncover about him, he seems to be a warlord in his country. Very fascinating, but obviously dangerous."

"Since the statue was addressed to Merv, they were obviously in business together. But how did our victim get mixed up with an African warlord in the first place?" she wondered, examining the eye-patch-wearing man's picture.

"There's no point theorizing just yet," Adalet says, taking the statue from Russell, "first we need to find Papa Quansah and question him!"

Returning to the Gun Convention Centre to talk to Papa Quansah about the statue he gave to the victim, they found the warlord admiring some weapons at one of the booths. Adalet had to admit to herself, the large assault rifle strapped to the man's back made her a little nervous, she'd never been happier to be nearly bullet-proof in her life.

"Mr. Quansah," Adalet got the man's attention, "it would appear that you're visiting Paradise City for business?"

"Absolutely! Paradise City's annual gun convention is not to be missed!" Papa grins, gesturing around the convention centre.

"Capt. Adalet found a statue that you gave to Merv Waylon," Amy holds it up, "it seems you had a business agreement together?"

"Merv lost my statue?!" he gasped, seeing it, "that's a very bad omen, Capt. Adalet!"

"Actually, Mr. Waylon was found murdered this morning. Which could be a bad omen for you, if you don't get talking!" Adalet glared.

"Murdered?!" Papa exclaimed, pulling out a cigarette, "...I gave that statue to Merv as a token of my trust. He was my go-between for a deal. But now it looks like the deal's been called off."

"A deal? Was Mr. Waylon selling firearms to you? What did you offer him in return?" Amy interrogated.

"A natural resource that is abundant in my country: diamonds! Precious stones for guns - simple! But I need to find a new dealer now!" he chuckled, not seeming to broken up about the death of his last dealer.

"You'd be better off finding a lawyer if you get caught smuggling guns," she advised, "and if your deal went sour and you killed Merv, nothing will save you from prison!"

Leaving Papa to his gun shopping, Adalet and Amy left the convention centre and headed back to the station.

"Well, this Papa guy definitely didn't try to hide the fact that he's a warlord in need of guns," Amy rolled her eyes as they got into their hummer, "and it's obvious Merv didn't care who he sold his guns to, as long as he got money for it. To be honest, I'm not sad he's dead, Adalet..."

"Adalet, our meeting with Merv Waylon at the motel was supposed to give us some answers about the big heist... But instead, we found Merv pinned to a wall! It looks like the killer beat us to it this time!" Amy complained as they stood in front of their monitor, "to recap: the victim's sister, Mary-Lou Waylon, was only interested in her brother's money. But did she benefit from his murder? Too early to tell."

"Louis De Rico claims he had a business meeting with the victim... but he wouldn't reveal the details. We suspect it's to do with the heist, but of course, Louis denies it," Adalet rolls her eyes, "ad there's Papa Quansah, a warlord from Africa, who had a "diamonds for guns" agreement with the victim. Just when you think it couldn't get any more sinister."

"Guys! You're not gonna believe this! Merv did turn out to be an informant after all: he revealed everything to me!" Roxie gasped out and she barreled into the office.

"What? How could Merv have revealed his secrets to you? He's dead!" Amy reminded the coroner.

"I wouldn't be interested in his secrets if he was alive! No, I'm talking about his murder, and what I found on this body after I took a second look! I told you before that Merv had been tortured somewhere else before the killer pinned him to the motel room wall. And now I know where it happened!" she rambles, pulling up a map of Paradise City on the monitor, "I examined the victim's lungs and found signs of lead poisoning. It is usually caused by exposure to dust and fumes in very old buildings. But the time of the lead poisoning matched the time of death, so the victim could only have been exposed to lead in the place where he was tortured!"

Roxie points to a red dot she had added to the map.

"I called the City Hall to check if any buildings in Paradise City still have led as a component, and it turns out there's only one: the basement of the Mennagio casino!" Roxie concludes, referring to the location she was pointing to.

"So our victim was tortured in the basement of the Mennagio?!" Amy exclaimed, "there's not a second to lose, Adalet, let's go there!"

Once the partners had arrived at the Mennagio Casino, they had an employee show them to the entrance to the basement. After turning on the dim and flickering lights, Adalet and Amy ventured down the stairs to look for evidence from Merv's torture.

Searching around the dirty, dark, and damp basement, they found an old chair on top of a blood-stained blue tarp. Near the chair, they found some broken pieces of wood and metal with wires sticking out of them. Adalet also spotted a camera mounted to the wall with a perfect view of the whole basement.

Amy shivered, "this place gives me the chills, Adalet! Just think, Merv was sitting right here when the killer tortured him!"

"At least this surveillance camera might contain useful footage," Adalet offered, climbing a stack of pallets to reach the device, "once I've unlocked it, that is!"

"And maybe this device got broken during the killer torture session. We should try to repair it!" she decided, grabbing some gloves and glue from Adalet's case that rested on top of a crate.

As Amy was gluing the broken pieces back together, Adalet unscrewed the CCTV camera from the wall and took a look at the access panel. It only had six buttons for the code and since the last person to use it must have had grease on their fingers, it wasn't hard to guess the code.

"Now we can send this camera to Hannah!" Adalet announced, jumping down from the stack of pallets.

"Ugh, this old turntable is covered in blood!" Amy gagged, turning away from the gruesome item she had finished restoring.

"Wow, look at that blood!" she gasped, "it has to be a couple pints worth!"

"No, I don't want to take a closer look, let's just send it to Yann, please!" she begged, rushing to get her dirt gloves off her hands.

"So Hannah, are you done watching the footage from the surveillance camera we found in the casino basement?" Adalet inquired.