LogDead Drop Vienna-Jason-5

Game log for the 2020-09-06 session of Dead Drop: Vienna, as taken by Jason

Betts is still away from the team, being a groupie for Clementine Paddleford, the author of a new and popular-in-its-niche novel called An Inconvenient Attachment.

Bartolo Vivendi Courier Service is a local chain that moves packages all around Italy and southern France, headquartered in Venice. Winston researches their top-level employees and finds it's a partnership between Bartolo and Vivendi, which started as a water taxi service in 1920s Venice and expanded into small trucking for time-sensitive cargos. Their other top-level employee is their lawyer, Michael Bugatti, who arranges most of their contracts. The entire firm has maybe a dozen employees, tops. Solomon Shapiro uses them a lot.

Maribelle consorts with smugglers to see what rep Bartolo and Vivendi have. This Jacques LeClerc fellow, who she's known since shortly after the war. He says that boat is the easiest way to smuggle these days, and that the Italian authorities tend to be easier to coopt than the French. He gives her some tips on where smugglers typically get caught.

Wilmer goes looking around to understand the criminal ecosystem in which BVCS operate, and discovers that Bugatti is widely reported to be a member of the local Mafia. Most of their work is officially legitimate, but they're doing it on behalf of, or as part of, criminal work. They might have a completely legal contract to move goods, but the goods might be a huge amount of cash needing to be laundered. Bugatti seems to be their main source of contracts, and he's tied into the local mob, but it doesn't seem like BVCS does a lot of business with the local mob. In the full picture of the local mob, Michael's the idiot nephew. Having him on staff might be BVCS's favor to the mob, a sort of HR version of protection money.

Ditch breaks into Bugatti's house to see what he can discover, and finds exactly that one might expect from a mob lawyer in the 1970s. There's cocaine all over the coffee table. His answering machine has 30 messages on it. There's hair from two different women on the 1200 thread count pillowcases. The kitchen drawers are full of unopened bills. When Ditch listens to the calls, he finds some from Bugatti's cousin Vincenzo, a major figure in the local mafia. Vincenzo wants to go out for drinks with him. The overall picture is that Michael Bugatti isn't big time yet, but really wants to be.

Angel arranges to meet Michael at a bar, thence to pump him for information. There's this other girl, Carla, who's all over him, and keeps interfering with the conversation. She finds that he's not stupid. He's well-spoken, but he has the bravado of insecurity.

Our plan evolves toward a sting. We'll create a scenario where it looks like Michael is betraying his family to another mafia family (the Constantini) for money. We'll offer him money to give us intel, and tell him that if we refuses, the local mob get our trumped-up evidence of his betrayal.

Scene: Ditch, Winston, and Wilmer are in a cafe, meeting with Giuseppe Costanzo, from the leading crime family of Milan. We're pitching him an opportunity to seize some mint plates that BVCS will be moving. Giuseppe is, understandably, skeptical about the whole proposition. He asks where our intel came from, and Winston names a name from French intelligence. Giuseppe asks some questions, Winston asks Wilmer, and Wilmer answers in English. He sounds sure and confident, and Giuseppe buys it, but he also picks up in the fact that Wilmer's American, and Ditch just makes him nervous. In the end he agrees, provided that Ditch acts as the triggerman. Winston and Mr Costanzo shake on the deal, and establish the means by which the attack will be set in motion.

Angel's in a nightclub with Michael Bugatti and Carla. Her mission is to convince him to get some Family business for BVCS. She winds him up with some flattery about how he can make all the deals happen. Mirabelle, in the background, schemes for a way to get Carla out of the picture. She tries chloroforming on of the bathroom towels, but some other woman grabs it first, and passes out. Maribelle complains to the bouncer that Carla's dealing bad drugs in the woman's room. The bouncer checks on the situation, calls for some help for the unconscious woman, and then a bit of a commotion starts as the rest of the club picks up that something went wrong. Carla, for her part, urges Michael to leave with her. While she was out, Angel made her play, and got him to agree to do business. He's also a little suspicious, but he thinks he handled it all in a sophisticated way and passed some sort of test. When Carla gets back, they all leave together. Michael tells Angel they can do business with Carla present, so long as they speak in English.

At this point the session paused to discuss metagame issues.