Operation: Black Hand - Log 3
Aug. 9th, 2022 10:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsDarcy and Artie follow up on Margaret Rushman's erstwhile allies, the Karnelli Family.
The Flushing area of Queens was never a place that anyone would come on a lark. Despite the lines of gentrification sneaking in, the neighbourhood they were in was still largely dominated by light industry; rows of old warehouses, small factories, professional trades, and lots closed with big locks and barbed wire. The Karnelli family operated the bulk of their business out of a century old garage and auto lot. Like the other families, they had respectable offices in Manhattan for the Dons to work from, but this was where the underbosses and the Maggia soldiers got their marching orders.
Darcy looked like any other nebulously aged 20s or 30s white woman getting a late dinner in Chinatown, a takeout container of dumplings slowly emptying as she made her way down the blocks nearest the warehouses, sticking closely to the bits of sidewalk with the most people and best lighting. Her face lit up with a wide smile as she met up with Artie at a planned intersection, everything outwardly indicating a chance run-in with a friend and excitement about catching up. She tipped the box of dumplings in his direction with a questioning eyebrow, silently asking if he wanted a snack as they continued to walk.
He smiled and gave her a hug and quick peck on the cheek, shaking his head at the food. They'd rented a vacant shop for the job, the kind with a small floor and an office-kitchen upstairs. If anyone asked, there was a cover story. No one had asked.
Artie began to guide the two of them back. Inside, in the control room, the various fixed point cameras they'd placed allowed long distance surveillance to back up what they saw.
With the doors closed, Artie finally spoke, holding up a series of three projected images of various Karnelli members. "Well? Are we right? Did any of them come on schedule?"
Darcy nodded, signing a "yes" with her free hand as she set her food down. "If not precisely so, then close to it. But two's got more variance in the schedule, and he's chatty too. Lot of sucking up to the suits, bit of a toady. Wouldn't recommend him as the guy we copy, but..." she broke off with a thoughtful hum. "Dude in green is pretty quiet, does a lot of driving and not a lot of talking. Pretty meticulous about the schedule, but he lets it slip a little on Thursdays when that birria truck stops by the park between 12 and 2."
She popped another dumpling in her mouth as she looked over Artie's projections, vegetables giving off a light crunch in the quiet. "Third panel's a no, they seem to be bottom of the totem pole. Great for a setup, shit for useful information."
Artie nodded and turned back to the screens. They only had limited cameras indoors but the surrounding streets were well covered. "Hold on, I need to review what happened when we were out," he signed and set the screens to run at high speed. This - parsing multiple camera streams at once - was where his powers excelled.
Darcy hadn't really seen this application of Artie's powers before, but it was fascinating. She split her attention between him and the screens, catching snatches of the main members they'd been keeping an eye on while the rest of the feed blurred together. Once the images had caught back up to present time, she spoke. "That's pretty amazing. Get anything useful from it?"
Artie shrugged. "Maybe. It's more about the body language in number two and three. He's got a stiff shoulder and a sore back, look." He projected an image with his powers, showing her. "I'd get Kevin to do three to get in and two to move around, even with the talking. As long as he can pull off the body language."
Darcy let out a pleased, appreciative noise as Artie’s projection hovered between them. “I’m sure he can do it if we give him some footage to work with along with actual notes,” she replied with a shrug. “I still think green would be best. You overhear the wildest shit when people have demoted you to just a driver or otherwise The Help in their minds. But I do like the two-person idea, and I don’t have an issue deferring to your experience here.”
Artie nodded. "Honestly, I really have no idea how much normal people notice about that kind of thing."
"Dismissing people who look like the help? Probably at least as often as people assume you're deaf and therefore less intelligent just because you're using sign to talk."
Artie whistled and nodded. "Fair!" He stared at the screens again, watching the Karnellis. "Two iron clad dupes and a dossier on everyone else who is there, just in case. Kevin's a pro but having backup faces won't hurt anything."
Darcy flashed him a bright smile as she added their notes and images to the file for Kevin. "Plenty of decent options, if he needs to slide around forms to get in and out. Think we're about ready to wrap it up here?"
He nodded. "We'll keep the remote surveillance but we don't need to be here any more."
The Flushing area of Queens was never a place that anyone would come on a lark. Despite the lines of gentrification sneaking in, the neighbourhood they were in was still largely dominated by light industry; rows of old warehouses, small factories, professional trades, and lots closed with big locks and barbed wire. The Karnelli family operated the bulk of their business out of a century old garage and auto lot. Like the other families, they had respectable offices in Manhattan for the Dons to work from, but this was where the underbosses and the Maggia soldiers got their marching orders.
Darcy looked like any other nebulously aged 20s or 30s white woman getting a late dinner in Chinatown, a takeout container of dumplings slowly emptying as she made her way down the blocks nearest the warehouses, sticking closely to the bits of sidewalk with the most people and best lighting. Her face lit up with a wide smile as she met up with Artie at a planned intersection, everything outwardly indicating a chance run-in with a friend and excitement about catching up. She tipped the box of dumplings in his direction with a questioning eyebrow, silently asking if he wanted a snack as they continued to walk.
He smiled and gave her a hug and quick peck on the cheek, shaking his head at the food. They'd rented a vacant shop for the job, the kind with a small floor and an office-kitchen upstairs. If anyone asked, there was a cover story. No one had asked.
Artie began to guide the two of them back. Inside, in the control room, the various fixed point cameras they'd placed allowed long distance surveillance to back up what they saw.
With the doors closed, Artie finally spoke, holding up a series of three projected images of various Karnelli members. "Well? Are we right? Did any of them come on schedule?"
Darcy nodded, signing a "yes" with her free hand as she set her food down. "If not precisely so, then close to it. But two's got more variance in the schedule, and he's chatty too. Lot of sucking up to the suits, bit of a toady. Wouldn't recommend him as the guy we copy, but..." she broke off with a thoughtful hum. "Dude in green is pretty quiet, does a lot of driving and not a lot of talking. Pretty meticulous about the schedule, but he lets it slip a little on Thursdays when that birria truck stops by the park between 12 and 2."
She popped another dumpling in her mouth as she looked over Artie's projections, vegetables giving off a light crunch in the quiet. "Third panel's a no, they seem to be bottom of the totem pole. Great for a setup, shit for useful information."
Artie nodded and turned back to the screens. They only had limited cameras indoors but the surrounding streets were well covered. "Hold on, I need to review what happened when we were out," he signed and set the screens to run at high speed. This - parsing multiple camera streams at once - was where his powers excelled.
Darcy hadn't really seen this application of Artie's powers before, but it was fascinating. She split her attention between him and the screens, catching snatches of the main members they'd been keeping an eye on while the rest of the feed blurred together. Once the images had caught back up to present time, she spoke. "That's pretty amazing. Get anything useful from it?"
Artie shrugged. "Maybe. It's more about the body language in number two and three. He's got a stiff shoulder and a sore back, look." He projected an image with his powers, showing her. "I'd get Kevin to do three to get in and two to move around, even with the talking. As long as he can pull off the body language."
Darcy let out a pleased, appreciative noise as Artie’s projection hovered between them. “I’m sure he can do it if we give him some footage to work with along with actual notes,” she replied with a shrug. “I still think green would be best. You overhear the wildest shit when people have demoted you to just a driver or otherwise The Help in their minds. But I do like the two-person idea, and I don’t have an issue deferring to your experience here.”
Artie nodded. "Honestly, I really have no idea how much normal people notice about that kind of thing."
"Dismissing people who look like the help? Probably at least as often as people assume you're deaf and therefore less intelligent just because you're using sign to talk."
Artie whistled and nodded. "Fair!" He stared at the screens again, watching the Karnellis. "Two iron clad dupes and a dossier on everyone else who is there, just in case. Kevin's a pro but having backup faces won't hurt anything."
Darcy flashed him a bright smile as she added their notes and images to the file for Kevin. "Plenty of decent options, if he needs to slide around forms to get in and out. Think we're about ready to wrap it up here?"
He nodded. "We'll keep the remote surveillance but we don't need to be here any more."
