Diamond City was one of the largest settlements in the new Commonwealth, built up around the ruins of an old baseball field. They boasted their own security force, water purification system, farming, and multiple bars, with more permanent residents than Goodneighbor and Bunker Hill combined. They even had their own private eye – except that he had vanished while investigating a recent case.
Nick Valentine, his name was, and by all reports he was a good guy. Begrudgingly respected by the community, he enjoyed helping people get justice for their missing or lost family members, tenaciously getting to the bottom of every case brought before him. He had been helping a distraught father find his daughter when he disappeared, and while rumors abounded as to his whereabouts, nobody had the motivation to go looking.
His assistant offered a bounty for helping Nick, which is where I entered the picture. I hate to think what my life will become, the endless search for what passes as currency these days, but I kept reminding myself it was for a good, perhaps the best, cause. She let me pick though his recent case files and suggested a few toughs who may know more about Valentine’s disappearance.
I may not have the experience or regular caseload that Nick did, but I like to think I can put two and two together when the need arises. It sounded like he really helped a lot of people around Diamond City, and if there was anything I could do to bring him back, I was happy to give it an honest try.
A local layabout finally coughed up the name of “Skinny Malone,” a small-time gangster who fashioned himself a real mob boss. Apparently he and his crew, the Triggermen, spent time at a nearby factory where they could conduct business in private. It seemed like a good lead – Valentine had ruined a number of their business operations in the past and his disappearance could be payback.
If that were the case, I’d need to move quickly in order to find him alive.
