Speed Saunders and the Hilton Diamond, 3: The Trail Gets Warm!

Yesterday, we left as The Biggest Diamond Merchant in Europe, Elias Brent (a.k.a., "Mr. Brandon") was pumping bullets in Speed and Jim with a forty-five, one-handed, bent-armed, and with no noise-protection.  How very European!

But of course the bullets completely miss Speed and Jim!

Oh.
Ow. Ow ow.
I may have spoken a bit too soon.

Well. That's embarassing.

Given that there was one Bang, one Bam, and one Boom, we can presume that Brent/Brandon shot at least three times in what apparently must be described as a Withering Blast of Bullets, after which Speed and Jim fell to the floor. So... they simply MUST be dead.

NOPE; JUST FLESH WOUNDS.

Of course; I should have realized that no mere bullet would dare harm Speed Saunders, not even at close range.  Besides Brent is a European who obviously doesn't know how to handle a forty-five.  Speed, through sheer force of will and in the interest of time, manifests a Viennese-style doctor to treat the wounds (they are European wounds, after all). Speed explains his presence and Brent, who recognizes Speed because everyone recognizes Speed, simply apologizes and toddles off, despite having just SHOT someone From Headquarters.

"I shoot a lot of people, you see; it's already in my budget."

Jim, playing audience surrogate, helps us realize that Speed was just trying to fool Brent/Brandon about Jim's father's death being a suicide.

"Jeez, Jim, how stupid ARE you?  I'm unadopting you."

Fortunately, although not even fully out of the room, Brent can't hear their plan, probably because he wasn't hearing ear protection when he fired a forty-five. They've got to follow him (which you can't do by tesseracting or shadow-traveling) so they take a taxi.

Okay, Jim, the son of a diamond merchant; exactly how and why do you know that Darnell is a fence for stolen goods?

Then Speed says something that no other English-speaker has ever said.

Trails only get cold, Speed; they do not "get warm". That is not how English works. Or entropy.

Speed, obviously thinking that Brent/Brandon stole a diamond from Jim's father before murdering him and has just sold it to Darnell The Fence, goes to test his theory.

Have you notice that no one has questioned why Brent is traveling under an assumed name? Or is that just something that European Diamond Merchants do on the regular, for security reasons?

I am eager to see how Speed approaches this interview. "Hi, Darnell; have you recently fenced any stolen diamonds? I'm from Headquarters."

I can already tell this interview will not go well.

Tomorrow: the intervew does not go well!