Qiao grins and takes the paper from her on which he'd scribbled his previous thoughts, setting it beside his other paper so that they lay together on his desk like an open book.
"Okay. First you're gonna want to see Laerdya again and ask her some straight questions. It sounds like she was distracted by the larger group, so see if you can't get more from her one-on-one. Remember: she asked for you. You're the professional and she's a frightened mother. You want to know what this kid of hers likes to eat, drink, play. Whether she's got medicines she has to take. Things the Redfangs would need to acquire in order to keep her happy." He makes a face. "If you can't get through to her, take another crack at that Luther guy. He sounds like an asshole, but if he didn't keep that diary from you I can't see why he'd lie about the kid's tastes. Sounds like he wants her back, just for his own reasons, eh?"
"Then you're gonna want to hit the Northside markets. I have a friend who's big in shipping--like, actual legit shipping; he's a big stern dragonborn by the name of Wuljhan. You can pretend to be one of his clerks; I'll let him know in case word gets back to him. You should have some idea of the goods you're looking for at that point--either from Laerdya or Luther--so you can go around to the merchants and ask how well that specific stuff is selling. Best case, they'll have gotten in a big order. You'll ask 'from who'. They won't want to give you a name at first--they don't want you to sell direct to the Redfangs, after all, and cut into their business--but you can assure them that Wuljhan doesn't sell direct and is just trying to gauge his client base. Merchants understand these things; there's no better way to ruin your business than to ship down a bunch of stuff on speculation that then doesn't sell."
"After that, you'll want to hit up the Nightdocks." He looks thoughtful at this. "The amount of drugs they'd need to keep this girl under is way more than a street-seller is going to have on them. The Redfangs would have had to go direct to a supplier, and that could be dangerous for you; I don't want your face cut open as a warning against being too curious. Hmm. But street-sellers do gossip. Tell you what: hit up a halfling named Halwan down by that old ruined pier near the burned out warehouse they keep threatening to rebuild. She's a street courtesan and sells dream-dust on the side. She's also the biggest collector of gossip in all of Brilight, I swear. You'll have to pay her for her time--she doesn't work for free--but if someone's bragging about unloading forty pounds of euphoria on a posh Northside client, she'll have heard about it and she'll be ready to dish."
He folds the notes and hands them up to her. "About this ranger," he says with a chuckle. "Rangers observe shit in the wild by holding still. Cities are the opposite: you hide by moving. A girl standing in one place all day is suspicious; a girl shopping on her day off is invisible. The Redfang neighborhood spills right out onto one of the little side-markets in Northside; I marked the address down for you. My advice: take that bag of silver Laerdya gave you and spend the day 'shopping' while you watch who comes in and out of the neighborhood. Hell, if you can work up a romantic taste for beefy orcs, you can even dreamily ask the shop-keepers who's who without arousing a lot of suspicion. Hope your Ranger likes men, kiddo."
Qiao frowns then, ever the mercenary. "And, Ka? When you save this wizard's kid and she's over the moon with you for it, you make her promise to heal Caro and your family in the first batch, okay? Gratitude doesn't live long. Seize it while you can. You've earned it."