Family Ties

The Inquisitor Part 42

Raymond looked at the information in front of him while Skye watched TV. Finally, they seemed to be getting somewhere. Kevin was raised in an orphanage and won a scholarship to study. There was mention of a brother, but no other information seems to be available on that. Scrolling through the photographs for an inkling of a clue, then he realised that Kevin's brother was no longer in many of the photographs.

With a sigh, he shut the computer. Hopefully, he could get the information he needed without any problem, but he had a feeling that people were paid off to forget certain things. His next step would be to visit the orphanage and milk whatever information he could find on Kevin or his brother.

"Oh, I remember them!" An elderly woman standing behind the desk exclaimed looking at the photo Raymond showed her. "They were such an odd pair." She immediately stopped what she was saying. "Why are you looking for them?"

"I can believe they were odd, seeing as how they were like night and day." He laughed trying to set her at ease so that she would be more forthcoming. He only needed one to talk, but it seems as if this was the place where they all clammed up if you asked too many questions.

When it didn't work, he knew he had to find another way to loosen their tongues.

"Do you think I could speak to the director, please?" He smiled at her again, pushing his business card toward her. "I think she'd be very interested in a donation?" He dangled the carrot, which she immediately took.

"Ms Thompson, do you have a moment for me?" He walked into the office, where a frazzled-looking woman was pouring over stacks of papers.

"Mr Schmidt? This really isn't the best time. If you'd rather come back..." She looked at the blond-haired, bearded man with his heavy German accent.

"I think that we can help each other." He smiled, taking a seat across from her, quickly scanning the documents on her desk. "It seems as if you could use some... financial support, and I could possibly help you with that."

"In return for what? People don't simply walk in off the street and offer to solve our financial problems." She looked at him incredulously. She'd been through the system herself and knew that everything came at a price. The question was, what was this man willing to pay for?

"I would only have a small favour to ask. Nothing meaningful even and in return I will make a sizable donation to the orphanage."

"When you say donation, how much are we talking about exactly?" She asked suspiciously. She didn't know what sort of information he could possibly want, but he was offering money and at the moment they needed every cent to stay afloat.

"Enough to make the problems on your desk disappear."

"Why should I believe you? I've never heard of you, Mr Schmidt." What this man was proposing was to spend a fortune for a favour. It must be something really important.

"I am a man of my word, I assure you." He leaned forward, smiling at her. "I'm here to try and find Kevin Nelson and his brother and I was hoping that you could help me or help me talk to the staff."

"Why are you looking for them?" She was suspicious again.

"They had an uncle who recently passed away and there are a few things he left for them." He leaned back in his seat. "It is proving very difficult to find them, so I thought I could speak to some of your staff who may remember them."

"It doesn't seem like it is something to pay that much for. There must be another reason for this."

"Ma'am, if you are unwilling to take up my offer, then please say so, so that I can be on my way." He got up, lifting his briefcase.

"No, no, please have a seat. You must understand that I can't let anybody come in to interview the staff when they want to."

"I understand your predicament, but you must understand that it's important to find these men to give them what was left to them." He set the briefcase in front of her and opened it. "I hope that this small gift will help you see that I only have the boys' best interest at heart." He smiled at her, stepping back to give her some space to take everything in.

"But, but this is...!" She jumped up and pointed at the stacks of bills that were tightly packed into the briefcase, her eyes bulging.

"It's my way of thanking you in advance." He politely smiled at her.

"Well, I suppose a few questions won't do any harm if it's in the boys' best interest." She closed the case and walked with him to the door with a wide, open smile.

When he left the orphanage armed with enough information to keep him busy for the rest of the week, he lightly hummed to himself as he got to his black sedan. Ducking his head to throw some files on the backseat, a movement through the rear window caught his eye.

A red muscle car had just pulled up in the bay behind him. Quickly scanning the men in the car, he got in behind the wheel. His eyes again darted to the men in the car. They looked out of place and the way they were dressed, gave him a moment's pause.

"To hell with it!" He grunted as he put the car in reverse and rammed into them.

Still sitting behind the wheel, he watched as the two got out to inspect the damage. They definitely didn't look like the type of guys who'd visit an orphanage out of the goodness of their hearts. His dads would kill him for this, but he had a feeling that he had to intervene.

"Are you serious man?!" One of the men asked, sizing Raymond up, pointing to where Raymond's rear fender was stuck to their once immaculate car.

"I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened." He bent over to look at the damage, quickly glancing over the two men and the car for clues.

"You're gonna pay for that, man." The other took a step closer to Raymond.

"Of course, here's my card!" He reached into his wallet to hand them his business card. "I'm sure my insurance company will have to problem."

"Johann Schmidt, huh?" One looked Raymond up and down. "Well, tell you what, Johann, how about I let you off the hook for this one, if you get into your car and disappear?" He threw the business card at Raymond's face, taking a menacing step closer. When his friend nodded toward the orphanage, they turned and stalked off.

"Hey, guys!" Raymond called after them. "You didn't give me your card!" He watched as they turned around incredulously, one walking toward him.

"I told you we would let you off the hook this time Johann, but if you carry on like this, I'll beat you right back to whatever country it is that you came from." He took a step closer to Raymond, grabbing at his shirt.

Within an instant, Raymond had him on the ground writhing in pain, looking up as his friend stormed toward them. With two very swift blows to his throat and chest, he fell to the ground gasping and grunting. Reaching into their pockets, he quickly sifted through their wallets.

"So, you work for Saul." He commented throwing their wallets at them. "Now, I'm going to wait until you two drive away from here, but first, I have a message for my dear friend Saul!" He handed one another of his cards again and leaned forward to whisper in his ear.

His eyes widened and he looked down at the card and back to Raymond again. He quickly stumbled back, jumped up and grabbed his friend, dragging him to the car. The moment Raymond had moved out of their way, they left at high speed.

He chuckled to himself as he looked at the card in his hand. At least the Inquisitor's reputation was going to keep this place safe for now.