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~ Whenever Detective Clip found herself traveling to a location that was a proper touristing destination, it was always her preference to travel lightly. For this particular occasion, she'd managed to keep to a moderate backpack and an arrival during the broad light of day. Creve Coeur would be quiet enough for her tastes until night fell, when the casinos would spin up their lights and music with the fervor appropriate to visitors' spending.

~ With a glance at the local eateries along the route, Detective Clip made a fairly direct path from the spaceport to her most reliable source of information. It was while she was sifting through title, deed, and transaction logs in the local library that Creve Coeur's governor located her. He had a fairly thin envelope of papers with him.

~ The jackalope frowned a bit with the arrival of the meerkat, waiting for him to speak first.

~ "Ah, I'm so thankful that you came all the way out here on account of the kind Diplomat's disappearance, but I will have to apologize that we've already resolved the matter."

~ Detective Clip regarded the governor with a sideways glance, "...Uh huh?"

~ "Yes, well, it turns out that the Diplomat passed away of natural causes.", pulling out the medical file from the envelope. The jackalope slid the pages apart somewhat to glance at their contents. The coupons in the second page, clearly meant for her, did little to bolster her confidence in the accuracy of the file.

~ She declined to disagree, for a moment, pointing to her telecomm screen instead. "So, this place has one of those Intra-planetary Titling Nodes, right?", trying to goad the governor into boasting.

~ His pride did not take the bait, his tone somewhat confessional, "Well, you know how we've something of an industry in... expedient marriages, yes?", spreading out his hands to indicate data fluttering away, "They don't make nodes for just that; so the planet had to set up a full service node just to let the whole galaxy hear of every couple's joy. We can still do properties and such, but the larger houses of business have enough traffic to fetch lower fees, and you know how money goes."

~ The detective nodded, "Folks want to buy it at the lowest price.", with a bit of a grin. She liked his honesty in this matter, at least. "I'll let you know if I need a wedding." She glanced down at the medical file.

~ The meerkat seemed somewhat more anxious while she decided.

~ "I believe that trying to bribe me is a matter for local law enforcement.", fixing him with a look of apathy, "I will leave the matter of reporting this incident in the hands of the governor."

~ The meerkat seemed even more anxious for a moment, before transitioning to a resigned defeat by way of a detour through panic. He watched as she left, exiting the library off towards what he assumed was her hotel.

~ [Scene Change]

~ With night having settled in over the casino and bar, and the sounds of enticement echoing through the streets outside, Detective Clip relaxed on a bar stool with her glass of FizzleGrape. She smiled to the bartender, who's own grin seemed a bit more earnest once she actually left a tip on her tab.

~ "Oh, I'm just waiting until the moment feels lucky.", she explained to the badger behind the bar. "You know how it is. Things just aren't, you know, right for gaming."

~ Though his grin was honest enough, the bartender's nod was down by rote. "Yup."

~ After two more samplings of the bar's non-alcoholic offerings, Clip noted the gryphon's shift ending and happily slipped over to one of the card tables and laid down a stack of rather low value chips.

~ "I would like to be dealt in, please.", the jackalope beamed to the fox who'd taken over the gryphon's table.

~ Quite to the detective's expectations, when she was down to about half of her stack of chips, someone who looked to make the fox dealer nervous showed up to the table to take a seat. The tiger grinned to her as he explained, "You had the floor manager properly fooled, you know?"

~ Clip looked to the tiger, who's name tag read simply 'Pete', with mock confusion, "Oh? Are you the owner, or a bouncer?"

~ A hearty chuckle from Pete, "Owner. You're fine." He leaned over to slide the chips she'd lost so far back into her stack. "Ya' know, it's one of the first things taught, yeah?", fixing Clip with an intent stare of the moment.

~ The detective met this stare and waited for him to explain, "First lesson being how to hide our antlers.", the tiger tapping his own forehead for a moment.

~ Reaching up to lightly tap her own anter with a finger, "So, who starts speaking first?", Clip inquired of the casino's owner.

~ Pete's grin resumed, "Well, I've mostly got just the one question. Why did you want to talk to me?"

~ The jackalope grinned herself, relaxing somewhat. "Well, I'm here on a case. Which you likely know. And I've figured out several things, but not what connects these dots." She pulled a chip out of her pile placing it down on the table.

~ Indicating this chip, she noted, "Diplomat visits here.", pulling out another chip to indicate, "And someone wagers a piece of property on a world at odds with the Diplomat's home."

~ Plenty of chips in the stack, she indicated only the one remaining to be needed, "And then our kind Diplomat wins big on some game", then indicating a spot where there was no chip, "And is never seen again."

~ The tiger nodded along, "And what you need to know is if it were crimes, that connected these dots."

~ The jackalope waved her hand across the trail of chips, "Without crimes, I can just report on whatever's at the end of the line as being perfectly fine." Fixing the tiger with a friendly gaze, "No lies, no more truths than needed."

~ The tiger grimaced a bit as he reckoned the best options of those available, before gruffly motioning to the spots between the chips. "Diplomat inherited that land, that he couldn't sell without making bad politics.", then to another spot, "We can technically take in property as wagers, but don't usually since it's bad for vacations", then with both hands to either side of the last chip, "For a fee, we sometimes let folks play games with the cards face up. He cashed out his winnings and retired."

~ Detective Clip thought along with the story woven by the casino owner, finding no particular flaws in the events. "And you'll tell me how to contact the Diplomat, so I can verify this?"

~ The tiger gave her a concerned look. "You'll be discreet with his number?"

~ The jackalope nodded. The tiger obliged.