Montag didn’t really know how to react to Mary’s response. In a way, it felt as though she was slightly patronising, but the sincerity of her words felt genuine enough for that not to be the overwhelming factor. And, after all, she was probably right in her evaluation of him, and it’s not like he wasn’t used to being talked down to. The mention of an assignment had him curious though, and he mulled over the thought of it silently in his head, sipping his drink and smoking his cigarette all the while.

Having not heard the ring of a new entry, Eduard seemed ever so slightly bewildered, having snapped out of a daze of thought and cigarette smoke, as a new figure suddenly stood by him and Mary. He looked up at her as she spoke, her striking and fiery red hair along with her more than idiosyncratic accent giving him a clear idea of where her origins probably laid. You didn’t need to be a detective to figure that out.

The silences between Mary speaking to each of them in turn drew longer each time she finished saying something, and though there was no tension in that, it was something they were probably all thinking, and something she quickly addressed. It felt almost like a family matriarch pushing three awkward cousins into saying ‘hello’ to each other. But, Montag guessed he was as good a person as any, necking the remainder of his drink and placing the glass back down on the counter with a contained bang. 

[color=goldenrod]“I’ll start then. My name’s Eduard Montag, but just Montag or Monty will do. Or, I guess, Eduard as well. I’m a private investigator, or detective, whatever you wanna call it.”[/color] He took a long drag from his cigarette as he thought of what to say next, smoking it right down to the filter before exhaling a long plume of misty grey smoke and extinguishing the cigarette on the ashtray between him and Mary. [color=goldenrod]“I’m guessing I’m here for the same reason as you.”[/color] He gestured to Abigail. [color=goldenrod]“And you too as well now, I suppose.”[/color] He nodded to Vi, glancing down at her letter on the counter. 

[color=goldenrod]“But that’s pretty much my story. Or as much as I wanna say for now. Nice to meet you guys though.”[/color] Montag didn’t really feel it necessary to say anymore about himself, or his past given how little he knew of these people, and how irrelevant most of it probably was to the situation. They seemed nice enough though, but he guessed he’d find out more fairly soon.