Continuing to play his part of the shadow, Ben gradually changed lanes to keep after his mark. It was little surprise that the trolley was jam-packed. The deep blue waters of the Pacific would be a pleasant sixty degrees or so around this time of year, a great place to beat the heat and spend a fine summer day basking in the sun, or boating, for the more affluent. Ben had removed his hat and shrugged out of his jacket, sleeves rolled up to his elbows as the automobile became more reminiscent of an oven. Drifting his eyes from the road, Ben fiddled with the climate controls on his vehicle, pushing the fans to their limit. By the time he looked back up, he was gazing directly into the dame's eyes. 

There was a moment of brief apprehension as Ben's large fists tightened on the wheel in a white-knuckle grip, but the woman seemed lost in thought, gazing into that far-away middle space that only she could see. Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, Ben flexed his fingers out with a satisfying pop of joints. Watching Jacqueline disembark from the tram, Ben continued down the avenue to park in the sparse shadow of a palm tree. The entire while, Ben kept his eyes on his subject - from his periphery vision to the reflection in his car mirrors.

Nestling his hat back over his head, Ben swung himself out of his vehicle with an appreciative sigh for the caress of the breeze coming off the sea. Folding his jacket over his arm, Ben doubled back to the path Jacqueline had taken. Leaning in the afternoon shade of a boardwalk storefront, Ben slipped his camera from the coat pocket and snapped a shot of the John Jacqueline conversed with. They seemed cordial enough, but no more familiar than a pair of chums might be. 

It was a challenge to eavesdrop over the sound of the warf and the sea, but the occasional nugget drifted to Ben's trained ears. Fumbling for his notebook, Ben scribbled on a fresh page. At a glance, he was just a freelance photographer stuffing a reel for a publication. 

[i]Johnny; bouncer? Vin- Vinny? Vanessa??[/i] He circled Johnny's name and connected it to Jacqueline's with a line, repeating the process with the unknown third. He'd have gotten the whole name if it wasn't for that goddamn shipping horn. When Jacqueline passed through the gate, Ben found himself facing a rough decision. Johnny was a burly brute with a physique that reminded Ben of a gorilla. Ben wasn't close enough to tell, but he'd bet hard cash that the fellow had the pitted knuckles and cauliflower ear of a seasoned pugilist. 

"Aw, hell..." he muttered, scratching at the scar on his chin with the soft rasp of freshly-shaved stubble. If he confronted Johnny, chances were that Ben would get his bell rung if they fought clean. That was why Ben carried a set of knuckle dusters in his pocket. The office that Jacqueline entered was in the open, making a stealthy approach a challenge. Taking a deep breath, Ben pinched at his nose. He needed a photo of this other character, and an idea of their name. Something to build up the case, especially when it was just starting to get interesting. He snapped a photo of the squat little office, just in case he needed to circle back for a late-night B & E. 

Ben shook his head, dragging a calloused hand down his face. He wouldn't need to know about this other character. He just needed the photos. He wasn't doing a full dossier for the OSS, for Christ's sake. Taking a deep breath and puffing out his cheeks, he mirrored Jacqueline's path to where he could see through the windows flung wide against the heat and to welcome the same brisk and salty breeze that Ben was enjoying. He didn't have an extension for his shutter, so his zoom would be less than ideal, but he had a piece of a name, a location, and after a few clicks, he'd have... a fuzzy approximation of a face.