A Penguin's Generosity

After the warning and slight threat, the receptionist led Mathison directly to Penguin's exclusive private room while along the way introducing him to other places that he should stay away from. Mathison marveled her professionalism, he never would have guessed she had been trying to kill him just moments ago.

　　"Here we are. Up ahead is the Boss's room. He'll talk to you in there."

　　She had stopped and pointed to the dark doorway in front of her.

　　"I suppose this is where we part ways then. But before I go may I have the honor of knowing your name?"

　　"I'm just the receptionist here. You don't need to know my name to conduct business here"

　　"But that's where I digress, you are no ordinary receptionist, and I don't just mean because you work for Mr. Cobblepot."

"What are you talking about?"

Mathison wasn't entirely sure himself what exactly was wrong with the receptionist in front of him, but he knew she's been acting weirdly. When she had pulled out her gun earlier there was a small flicker of realization as if she knew it was empty by the weight, but she still acted like she was going to fire it. When she dropped the same gun later, it looked like it was out of fear but to Mathison, it seemed too smooth – like she had practiced it a hundred times.

"I'm a master of disguise you see, I can tell when someone doesn't act right. In my eyes, such a low-grade receptionist shouldn't be acting the way you do, even if you are one of the Penguin's subordinates. So tell me, what is your real identity?"

　　Mathison's gaze flickered as he noticed the woman in front of him stiffened for a split second even with his excellent eyesight and years of practice, he barely caught it, but even so it confirmed his suspicions.

　　"… I'm not a receptionist, I'm just here to fill in for the day. If you want to know who I really am, you'll have to ask the boss."

　　"Fair enough, but could you at least tell me you name"

　　"It's Marvie; Marvie Brandon."

　　 Marvie said coldly.

"Now hurry in the Boss doesn't like to be kept waiting"

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"So Marvie, is this the rumoured Kaito Kid who played Gordon like the blubbering fool he is, and you say he's now come to offer me Adam's Star?"

　　In the luxurious room behind the door, a short fat middle-aged man in a suit and black bowler hat was sitting on a sofa with an umbrella pinned in his hand, and like Kaito Kid, he was wearing a monocle, only without that magical backlighting.

　　In total, there was only three people in the room. Penguin felt safest in this room. He was confident that no one would be able to break through here and get to him. Maybe there existed one who could eight years ago, but he had faded away.

　　But if that unlikely scenario did happen, he had plans that allowed him to run away quickly. No number of bodyguards will be able to protect him in this place if that person cam so he decided not to bother. He didn't get the far by putting all his eggs in one basket a hoping no one will reach for it besides him.

　　Meanwhile Mathison also had figured out Marvie's real position. It turns out that she was Penguin's secretary. Mathison was honestly surprised when he found out; He never would've guessed. And here he was thinking she was some sort of undercover agent or something like that. He mentally gave himself a kick for ignoring the obvious.

　　"The infamous Penguin, I am honoured to meet you."

　　A familiar smile spread across Mathison's face.

　　"I don't like to be called that."

　　The Penguin's face became cold.

　　"In that case… forgive me, Mr. Cobblepot, for my overfamiliarity."

　　Mathison mentally shrugged, unconcerned by the penguin's warning.

　　"Marvie, I distinctly remember asking you a question, so why have you not answered me yet!"

　　The Penguin snapped around to the only other person in the room.

　　"Boss, he has brought Adam's Star with him."

　　Marvie walked over to Penguin and told him everything that had just happened. When Marvie got the to fighting part, his face became indescribably angry.

　　"Marvie!"

　　He was hissed a low roar full of anger at Marvie, and she who knew her boss's temperament well, slightly trembled in fear.

　　"How many times have I told you that we are businessmen and that we never break the rules of our own territory! No businessman would turn down his own customers!"

　　The umbrella in the Penguin's hand hit the floor with a heavy "thud".

　　"Robbing a customer of the goods he wants to trade? Do you have any idea how your actions could stain the reputation of the Iceberg? The biggest black market in Gotham that I've managed to build could be ruined!"

　　"Marvie, you've been by my side for a while now so you should know what kind of punishment will follow."

　　At those words, Marvie's face turned pale.

　　Mathison watched but didn't intervene, Marvie's end was probably going to be miserable, but he wouldn't speak up for someone who tried to shoot him.

　　What he hadn't expected was that the Penguins actually valued their "reputation", which was ironic when you consider that even heroin sellers take the purity of their goods very seriously. All of them are "professional businessmen" who demand quality, compared to some legitimate businesses.

　　At first, Mathison thought the Penguin would turn on him, but merely just the Adam's Star alone is not enough to make Cobblepot go desperate for it; besides there were many other goods traded here worth far more than the gem.

　　Of course, he survived up to now only due to his strength, if he was killed by a shot from Marvie, Penguin would have merely given an order to get rid of his corpse.

　　With this thought in mind, Mathison sat down graciously opposite the Penguin and placed Adam's Star on the middle of the table.

　　"Ah, Kaito Kid, I apologize for what just happened and also appreciate the fact that you chose our place fine establishment to trade. So, what would you like to trade Adam's Star for, money? Gold? Or anything else?"

　　The penguin immediately reverted his face to the one of a businessman, with a big smile on it. Mathison unintentionally thought back to a used car salesman he met in his previous life and struggled to take this transaction seriously.

　　"I am in need of a large sum of money very quickly, the amount does not matter much, and I trust that you, Mr. Cobblepot, won't make me a wild offer."

　　Although the market valuation of Adam's Star was up to $170 million, black market transactions are not based on the normal price. Usually, the amount would be reduced by 20 to 30 percent.

　　It is possible that an auction would fetch a high price, but the starting price would be much lower than the normal price, and the bids would vary from territory to territory.

　　He wasn't partially greedy for the maximum amount possible, after all, his parents had left him quite a bit of money, but he wanted to establish an exclusive base for Phantom Kid, and if he used his own family money he might be traced, so he had to use these unrecorded funds.

　　"In that case, based on the market valuation, you get 170 million dollars as an apology for Marvie's rudeness earlier."

　　The Penguin lit a cigar and took a puff.

　　"Oh? Wouldn't you be pulling a lot of money out of thin air then, Mr. Cobblepot? I didn't know you fancied the magical life."

　　Henr- no Mr. Cobblepot was offer a premium deal on the car- no the gem, which meant he was going to get the cash to that amount even if he had to use his own funds. Mathison couldn't believe his good luck but couldn't let it show. Nor did he think this came just because he met some trouble earlier.

　　"Don't overthink it, I'm not in the business to lose money," said the Penguin, a veteran of the business who can easily predict Kid's thought process, "Someone in New York just happened to want the jewel at a high price. How high? A cool $200 million."

　　"With a little operation we could have raised the price even higher, and if it weren't for this buyer, I honestly wouldn't have any interest in the gem itself."

　　"But if you want to ask who this buyer is, then I have no comment."

　　Mathison realized that he indeed had been over thinking it. Penguin offered not because he wanted a favor but because he was already getting a payoff on this. By making it seem like he was generous before he made it impossible for any person of dignity to raise the price and by extension think more favorably of him and be more inclined to visit again.

Mathison was beginning to wonder why Penguin would reveal this but decided to stop thinking about it for fairly obvious reasons.

　　In any case, with the agreed price settled upon, the transaction was carried out straight away. 170 million dollars was transferred to a virtual account that Mathison had, opened in advance so that even if the transaction records were traced, no one would know whom it belonged to.

　　Once everything was done, Mathison had no reason to stay so he decided to leave. Getting up he tipped his hat to say goodbye but he didn't stop there. In the one fluid motion of bringing his hat down he had changed into a middle aged man, and then walked straight outside to the auction house.

　　Penguin realized that Kid could change his appearance at will and that it would be next to impossible to track him in the middle of a crowd.

Watching Mathison disappear past the door, Penguin chuckled meaningfully.

　　"Kaito Kid huh? … What an interesting guy. Gotham will be lively again in the future with someone like that prancing around hehehehe~"