He quickly shifted his gaze to the rows of shelves behind him, his voice thick with a desperate, professional urgency as he tried to change the subject.
"I have the finest imports from the Columbus terminal, Sir," Bill said quickly, his hands moving automatically to pull a heavy roll of charcoal-grey wool from the shelf, his voice rising in an artificial, frantic pitch.
"Look at this weave. It's a triple-blend cashmere, perfect for the winter curfew. And the bags... I have custom leather totes in the back room that can hold three stones of weight without a single seam splitting. I can design a full suit for you—something elegant, something that masks the... the lines on your face."
Mahito didn't look at the charcoal wool, merely stared at Bill his expression shifting from amusement into a disgust that made the tailor's throat dry.
He was still waiting for his answer.
"The hat, Bill," Mahito repeated, "how do you plan on making it"
Upon hearing this, Bill looked towards the door with a sense of urgency and slowly reached for the scissors on the table not far from him ready to force his way for an escape.
"Ring"
Luckily, Alice opened the door her eyes filled with uncertainty,
"Step away from the table, Sir!"
She ordered her distance at a threshold while her breathing came in shallow, her service weapon drawn and held in a perfect, two-handed grip. She had received the alert from the precinct monitor less than five minutes ago—a forced entry within the perimeter of the clothier's secure line.
Mahito didn't flinch. Slowly, with a lazy, aristocratic elegance, he turned his head over his shoulder, his long cashmere coat swinging in a slow arc as he took in the sight of the detective.
"Ah, you must be Detective Janvis," Mahito said, his dark smirk returning with ease.
"The vice is here then I just have to wait for the Commander to also pop up just like the American style. Quite impressed by your response at least compared to Nobushi you guys are quite diligent ."
Alice didn't lower the weapon. Her eyes locked onto Mahito's face, her knuckles turning white against the grip of her pistol. "The clothier is a registered asset of the county unit, Sir. His architecture is off-limits until the registry updates, you interfering with his production logs before the curfew, the federal director will flag your entry for immediate deportation."
Mahito let out another soft, silver laugh, stepping back from the table with his hands still shoved deep into his coat pockets. "The federal director doesn't care about the clothier, Miss Alice. My contractor seems to find Bill here...as a sore sight and thinks I should put a leash on him if you wouldn't "
At this moment it was now clear to Alice that the man standing before her was the Japanese Yakuza from two months ago in Paris according to the reports she had. But what surprised her was that Vince Duchy data in each of their personnel was something kept in secret. How did Mahito know about her and Bill even down to Quive who was the head.
Is there a traitor within the organization or have the higher ups found us incompetent? She thought, hesitation becoming obvious in her eyes.
" You need not worry as my contractor finds your commander competent. Just make sure you stay away from the girls if you value yourselves " he added as walked past her smiling.
"Keep the blue velvet, Bill," Mahito murmured closing the door of the shop. It wasn't until mahito left that Alice lowered her weapon, her jaw tightening as she clicked the safety back into place. She walked over to the cutting table and immediately hit her fist against it.
"You're unaligned, Bill," she said, her voice dropping into a flat, professional chill. "If he had his weapon, your entire body would be in pieces in here. Why did you have to attract the attention of some unknown person?"
Bill sank into his heavy leather chair, his large hand reaching for a blue handkerchief on the counter to wipe the cold sweat from his neck. "He doesn't seem hostile at least," he rasped, his shaking voice gradually returning to its calmness.
"Listen to me," Alice said, leaning over the table until her face was inches from his. "We have an additional problem to Mahito's visit. Dr. Gadhi Lauren has just arrived at the regional hospital's pathology department. She brought two senior consultants from the Detroit—Julian and Adams. They've already moved their personal luggage into a short-term residential flat on the west side of the university block."
Bill looked up, his eyes narrowing under the amber light of the chandelier. "The MACE researchers? Which group is that?"
"They seem to be an independent organization with a similar name to the ones we're all currently tracking," Alice sighed, checking the window blinds. " If we were to investigate them directly we'd end up spooking them just like France and might end up loosing a few men. You are to ignore the visitors completely and had better be a lot more discreet when you visit there for work".
At this point it's clear that part of the government agencies are aware of Bill's abducting patient of low priority while also supporting his harvest in which most of them were used for the creation of pills ...or something else.