The otter graciously accepted his share of the upfront payment and pocketed it in the proportionally larger pocket within the leather vest. He took a moment to adjust the vest and backpack as he watched the proceeding interaction between the female half-genie and the gentleman, before the half-genie took her leave.

Without paying much attention to who stayed and who left, Soot hopped down from his perch and quickly slunk his way over to the man on all fours, before standing up and posing a question:
“How’s the mayor of your, errrr… [i]fine[/i] town handling the situation? Your bureaucratic people types? The guards? Just out of curiosity, you know.”
He gave the man a sly smile, masking his suspicion of the particular branches of the government behind a guise of simple inquisitiveness. Abraham's face contorted into what may have been an attempt at a smile, but looked more like a grimace as he responded:
"They're... doing their best. I'm not one to speak ill of those in authority. However, the Sheriff doesn't have enough manpower, and there's just not a lot of evidence for him to go off of anyway. Mostly they're just trying to keep the remaining people safe as opposed to searching for those that have gone missing, which I can understand, but just sitting here twiddlin' our thumbs and toes ain't gonna get nothin solved."
The otter nodded in an expression of feigned agreement, raised a paw to stroke his chin and pondered on the old man’s answer. He certainly had no ground to stand on in judging a man for trusting their government, but was simultaneously probably the best person in the room to tell just to what lengths governmental folks were willing to go to stay in power. The otter hummed before resuming his questioning:
“I don’t suppose you know if the sheriff, the mayor or anyone like that would be open to discussing with our kind?”
"I don't, to be honest. You could always give it a try, though."
The gentleman responded with a shrug. The otter nodded once more before giving the man a brief thanks and scampering out the doorway, down the hallway and down the stairs.

He stopped on the final step and considered his options. Something gave Soot the impression that he wouldn’t be leading the investigation on this one, no one seemed particularly like the following type and a few seemed like they’d be even more inclined to lead than him. So Soot figured that he would resign to more of an advisory role, hoping that whoever took charge would be willing to hear him out. The otter hopped down the last step, stood up on his hind legs and started slowly sauntering into the bar.

During the short stroll, he considered where to start and how to approach that start. The mayor would likely be one of the more clued-in figures within the town, but was also in such a position of power that they’d be less inclined to speak candidly about the issues plaguing the town. Whoever was in charge of the law was a good bet for an initial line of inquiries, but such an encounter could also easily go sideways. This town was full of vagabonds and scum, and many saw no distinction between such individuals and mercenaries - an apt title for what this motley crew was at the moment. They might as well end up being arrested or hunted down if [i]someone[/i] continued their chatterbox ways in front of the sheriff. The otter sighed and stood near the bar, continuing to ponder an appropriate next move on his lonesome...