Victor sighed and nodded his head before reaching inside his pocket to pull out a small, dark blue notebook. He cleared his throat, then began briefing them on his findings.

  “The two previous victims are both young children, one girl and a young boy, no older than ten. They were running errands at the time of their disappearance. This seems to be the commonality between all three victims.”

  “What about their parents? Backgrounds? Any other point of similarity that might tell us why they were targeted?”

  Hearing this, Victor smiled. Clearly, he was waiting for this question,” This is the interesting part. The caretakers of both victims are single parents; one worked in a factory, the other at the dock. Both are in Port Ratt.”

  Immediately, Victor noticed Captain Ottis exchanged glances with Ulrich. Was there a deeper implication behind this that he wasn't aware of?

  “Something wrong?” He asked.

  “Funny you say that they are both single parents, and that they work for Port Ratt.” Captain Ottis coughed lightly, then turned to Victor with a rather deep smile,” Guess who else fit this description?” He said, glancing toward Manfredi Francis's residence.

  At this moment, a cold wind of the night blew against the coats of the three men. During this time of the night, the lamp post on the street was the only source of light. Being such an impoverished area, it would constantly flicker, producing ominous shadows.

  This matter… is it just like what Captain Ottis thought? A case of human trafficking? It started to make sense.

  If the parents of these children are financially troubled, and their background is trivial, then they would have no manpower or money to sort out the trouble. Not to mention, all of them are single parents with little connection, meaning they are socially isolated. In a way, they are the perfect target, as they have no way of ‘fighting’ back.

  Upon reaching this conclusion, he took in a deep breath. The stench of Portsmouth has never irked him in the slightest, yet with that puff of air, he can’t help but feel sickened. The foulness of humanity was like a bottomless abyss, infinite and beyond his comprehension.

  At this moment, Captain Ottis took the initiative to break the silence and asked another question.

  “When did they first ‘disappear? Did you find any abnormal traces?”

  Victor glanced at his notes, looking at the date written at the top, then solemnly answered,” I ‘checked’ the scene; there was nothing. The first child, Nora, was last seen on May 5th, which is three months ago. Harris disappeared the month after, June 4th.”

  Hearing this, Captain Ottis quickly added,” Albert disappeared three days ago, that’s July 5th. Is it a coincidence?”

  One month, one child. The implication of this revelation was so shocking that it rendered the three men silent.

  Looking at it, besides the strange snowflake left behind in Albert’s case, there were no concrete clues or traces that connected the three cases. Children under the age of ten? That’s a connection, but extremely loose. Single parents, financially troubled caretakers? There are many in Belham.

  In the entirety of the outer district, how many children go missing each year? Even the Union can’t give a concrete number, a rough estimate maybe, but not precise in the slightest.

  However, looking at the corresponding date of when each incident occurred, they were sure that the three ‘separate’ cases might be the work of a single entity. Each month, one child, all under ten years old, all of whom are under financially troubled single parents…

  At this moment, Ulrich can’t help but raise a rather compelling question:” What's in Port Ratt and who's the owner of the factory?”

  “That would be under a man named Rufus Bradley, who owns the Mill Factory where Nora’s parents work. As for the Harris parent, he worked at the dock, the same one that Mr. Manfredi ‘used’ to work at.” Victor paused, his lips curled slightly. It was like he was waiting for someone to ask the next question.

  Say everything at once! Ulrich instinctively reached for the revolver by his waist, but stopped himself when Captain Ottis asked, “You have something else to add?”

  “Yes. Rufus Bradley also owns the dock, coincidentally.”

  Hearing this, Captain Ottis fell into contemplation. After about thirty seconds, he spoke again with a solemn voice,” I’ll return and have Freddy take a look at the sample of blood.”

  At the same time, his eyes darting between Victor and Ulrich,” The first disappearance started three months ago. Why? Is there a new organization, or power in Portsmouth?” He paused, raising a slight smile as he stared at Ulrich.

  “I know you have a good connection with a certain man. Why don’t you ask around?”

  I already planned on doing that.

  In addition to that idea, Ulrich would personally verify the matters through his own ‘divinations’. However, he couldn’t exactly bring up this matter directly, as it would require him to ‘explain’ how he managed to acquire such a skill, as well as verify its authenticity.

  Which is why he intended to use the Shelby family as an excuse when presenting his findings; this way, it wouldn’t raise as much suspicion. Since Ulrich's intention with the Ministry was to find Selena, and at the same time, obtain a complete rune. It was best that his ‘slate’ remained as clean as possible, so as to expedite the Ministry’s trust.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  In such a case, what he revealed and how he acted were extremely crucial, especially under the scrutiny of the Ministry.

  While Ulrich was contemplating his actions, Captain Ottis turned to Victor,” Go to the dock, raise some questions. If possible, get an interview with this ‘Rufus’, I want to know if he has any connection to the kidnapping cases.”

  “Alright.” Victor's voice was muffled as he held the handkerchief to cover his nose,” It would be much easier if we had a Seer…”

  Captain Ottis' gray eyes closed, and after a few seconds, he shook his head,” Indeed.”

  With that said, they left for their respective destination.

  Victor headed toward Port Ratt, while Ulrich made his way to 75 Dudley Street, the Slough House of the Shelby Family. As for Ottis Owen, he returned to Cartwright Security in order to have Freddy ‘inspect’ the trace of blood waste from Albert’s crime scene.

  By the time Ulrich made it to 75 Dudley Street, it was already late. Most of the bar was closed, and if not, they were getting ready to close. Fortunately, Slough House was one of the few that remained open past midnight.

  As such, he wasn’t worried that it would be closed when making his way to meet Donnie Shelby. While Ulrich made his way to the door, he noticed that Billie was absent. In fact, there was not a single person guarding the entrance.

  Are businesses that bad? he mused, pressing down on his black cap, before shaking his head and entering the bar.

  Inside, a couple of patrons lying on the table, knocked out their senses. The bartender stood behind the counter, wiping his glass, but stopped when he noticed Ulrich’s arrival.

  “Here for a drink?”

  “No, thank you,” Ulrich curtly answered, before asking,” Is Donnie still in?”

  The bartender nodded, and when he did, Ulrich noticed a fresh scar on the man’s top cheek. Clearly, he had been in a fight recently, perhaps even as recently as yesterday.

  Must be really bad business if they are using bartenders as firepower… He didn’t speak those words out loud and leisurely walked to the back room.

  In the back room, there was only one person, Donnie Shelby, in the flesh. He sat against the couch with his eyes closed. He wished to remain rested, but Ulrich's footstep was too audible, to the point that he couldn’t help but open his eyes.

  The moment they landed on Ulrich’s black coat and expressionless face, his brown eyes darkened, as though Ulrich was the incarnation of misfortune.

  “Now, what the hell do you want?” He blurted out, and before Ulrich could answer, he sighed,” I have a feeling I’ve seen you too much as of late.”

  Hearing this, Ulrich lightly chuckled,” You mean to say I’m bad luck?”

  “Not all the time, ay?” Donnie replied with a blank look. With that said, he leaned forward, staring at Ulrich in the eye, man to man, then waved his hand,” You visiting this late at night, must be urgent.”

  At the same time, Ulrich didn’t feel the need to exchange pleasantries and spoke earnestly,” Just an inquiry.”

  “No, no, this is not just any inquiry, and if it was, you wouldn’t be standing here this late at night.”

  “So tell me, to what do I owe the pleasure of assisting you tonight?”

  Ulrich noticed that Donnie was not in a great mood.

  To his understanding, the only thing that can affect this man’s mood would be business-related. However, Ulrich didn’t want to touch on this topic; after all, he did not wish to be entangled with the Shelbys’ family matter, at least not at this moment. At most, he would ask about it in passing.

  Subconsciously, Ulrich wore a slight smile, perhaps out of guilt or to ease the mood, before asking,” Have you heard of any new players in town? Power? Or organizations?” While speaking, he trained his eyes on Donnie Shelby face.

  He’s surprised? Ulrich noted. Why would Donnie be surprised by such a question?

  “You… what kind of inquiry is this?”

  “Why are you acting surprised?”

  Donnie Shelby grew silent. After about ten seconds, he took his eyes away from Ulrich, before resting it on the monotone brown wall, "No, there haven’t been any new players in town, at least not that I, Donnie Shelby, am aware of.”

  At the same time, he raised a question of his own, “What is this about? Are you coming out of your little hermit cave?”

  Hearing this, Ulrich laughed while fixing his black collar,” Personal matters, nothing important. By chance, have you heard of the recent missing children?”

  Almost instantly, Donnie Shelby's face crunched like he ate a lime raw.

  He’s confused and caught off guard by my questions… he doesn’t know either. Ulrich fiddled with the coin in his pocket while shaking his head,” Forget it.”

  At the same time, he recalled Shelby’s strange state of emotion, as well as the matters relating to those particular crates of ‘weaponry’.

  “The deal with the resistance, it looks like that didn’t go as planned?”

  Donnie Shelby's eyes twitched, as though he was having an allergic reaction to the name ‘Resistance’. He wanted to shout, or curse, or do both at once, but facing Ulrich, he took a deep breath to calm himself. It was a struggle, one that was fought internally.

  However, knowing Donnie personally, Ulrich could already see the outcome of this battle.

  “Fucking bollocks, they had the balls to lower the price by fifty percent! This was not what we agreed upon.”

  “I did say in the past, in the matter of handling business, negotiation is often the most difficult and crucial step,” Ulrich mused.

  “It was easier in the past,” Donnie retorted as he raised his feet to rest on the table.

  “Because I made it look easy.”

  “…”

  He wanted to counter his words, but realized they were true.

  In the end, the silence grew. There was no sound, almost no sound, until the screech of chairs grinding against the floor arrived from behind the door, interrupting it. Eventually, Ulrich let out a sigh as he walked out front.

  However, before he fully exited, he paused, head lowered. Ulrich was still fiddling with the coin in his pocket when he whispered.

  “The Resistance, when did they arrive?”

  Donnie Shelby subconsciously wanted to blurt out ‘why’, but stopped himself, then answered in that familiar Portsmouth accent.

  "May 1st, Year 1329."

  Ulrich repeated, the coin stopping between his fingers.