Murdered and Missing, Sammy Lugerfelt.

Part 4- A Good Neighbor Never Tells

A shadow casts over the detective's face, the two horseshoe, yellow eyes shine dimly under the brim of his hat. He lifts the fedora gently, getting a glimpse inside. He takes a step in, taking a cigarette out from his pocket, followed by a match. He places the cigarette between his grey, scarred lips. Striking the match against his coat, he raises it to the end, letting it burn for a moment, shaking the match to put it out, before dropping it, crushing it underneath his boot. He takes a drag of it, before bellowing out a cloud of smoke.

Beside him, Sammy steps in, looking around. He's most certainly surprised as to what a mess this place looked like. A couple of people stood and sat around benches, reading a book, newspaper, doing chems and such. The pinnacle of being free. He takes a good look. “Welcome to Goodn-” “Who the hell is that?” Sammy mutters to Nick, interrupting his aesthetically suiting line. He points up to a window to the left.

In the window, a person seems to be getting way too excited. A red and white clothed person. They had their face and hands pushed against the window, jumping up and down before running away. Nick looks. “Oh that, that’s uh..”

The door down on the bottom floor swings open quickly. “NICKY VALENT-” The voice erupts. Before they could even make it out of the building, they fell down the small set of stairs, face planting the floor. Sammy winces for the person, and Nick simply laughs. Some of the residents of Goodneighbor chuckle under their breath. The person gets up, groaning a bit in pain, but their cheery attitude returns. “Nicky Valentine!! What’s good, my metal man?” The person approaches, with open arms to Nick. He, however, doesn’t respond as such. “Hancock..” Nick mutters. He hugged Nick, picking him up, swinging him around slightly. Nick seemed quite unresponsive to it. Either it was typical, or maybe Nick was a bit broken.

He sets Nick down, starting to chat like wild. Nick looks at Sammy. He takes a handful of caps and drops them in his hand. “Go get yourself a coffee. Daisy can get you one.” He pats his shoulder afterwards. Sammy holds the caps, nodding and heading off.

He looks around nervously, it may be a small entrance area, but it’s still intimidating. He looks up to the signs. “Kill or be Killed”. He looks inside. A tall robot stands, with a feminine body type. An assaultron. He’d seen these before, in Nick’s files. But he’d never seen one in person, especially one with the laser. He gulps. The assaultron glances at him. He stiffens, turning away and walking off. He looks up. “Daisy’s Discounts.” The woman he’s looking for. He enters the store, looking up to the clerk. His eyes catch to her face. It’s all..malformed!! The skin is all way too wrinkly, her eyes dark and sunken. He screams, covering his face, flinching backwards. She looks at him, then beside him. “What’s with him?” She asks, leaning on her elbow. Nick steps up to Sammy, putting an arm around him. “He’s never seen a ghoul. Diamond City kid.” He pats Sammy’s back. Daisy laughs. “What a child. Come on, you should consider yourself lucky that I ain’t a feral.”

“Isn’t that the truth, Daisy. Can we get a coffee, we’ve got a long case to deal with.” He gestures for Sammy to pay. He slowly and shakily extends his arm, dropping the caps on the counter before moving back in a flash. Daisy rolls her eyes. “Coming up.” She takes the caps, turning around to make a cup for him. Nick comforts Sammy. “You’ll have to get used to these faces. Ghouls are just as nice as you or me. They’re just..sick, from the radiation..” He chuckles under his breath. “You have no clue how many people I’ve convinced, that I’m just a really sick ghoul.”

Sammy laughs a little. “I can see the resemblance.” Soon, the clerk turns back around, handing the cup over. A mug, filled with hot coffee. “Since you didn’t scream profanities at me, have a treat, on the house.” She slides over a box of Fancy Lads Snack Cakes and a pack of cigarettes. Sammy takes them gently. “Thank you..sorry I screamed, in general.” He takes the treats, handing the cigarettes to Nick. He glances at them, smiling softly. “Thanks.” He puts them in his pocket. “I don’t blame you, you Diamond City folk hate ghouls. That’s why we’re here. A place where everyone's welcome. Except for one specific person.”