Lonely Thieves

Act IV, Part VIII

Kolya and Ingrid's Side (April 14, 1:00 am)

Kolya and Ingrid drove out to one of the suburban residential areas on the fringe of the Morning Star district. This was supposedly the place where the original Night Hunter Raven was last seen, by an elderly woman who happened to be watching the stars that night.

Kolya didn't know what Raven would be doing out in a suburban neighborhood, but his actions seemed to resemble the kind of actions he himself was taking while in the Sunshine district. He seemed to be showier than he usually would, as if he were trying to catch the attention of the police.

Before Kolya could continue that train of thought, he heard the car slow to a stop as Ingrid arrived at the house the witness lived in. He looked around the neighborhood and found a normal, everyday street with normal everyday people. A Night Hunter should have absolutely no business here.

Kolya got out of the car and glanced around. "When was he seen here?"

"Earlier in the evening," Ingrid answered as she hopped out of the car herself. "The witness living in this house said she saw him duck into one of the houses on the other side while sitting on her porch."

"She was just sitting on her porch? Doing what?"

"Just people watching, apparently. Guess it gets lonely living by yourself."

Kolya glanced at the house Ingrid claimed was the house Raven dipped into. "Who lives there?"

"No one. It's for sale right now. Police already checked the place out, but they left pretty quickly. We might be able to find something they've missed."

Kolya nodded and followed Ingrid to the house's front door, which was unlocked. They quietly entered the empty house, taking care not to make too much noise just in case someone was around.

Inside, the house was bland and empty, bereft of furnishings and decorations. The house was well-cared for, but it was clear that no one had been living here for quite a while.

"It's possible he was using this place as a hideout," Kolya mused.

"I'd agree," Ingrid remarked. "but there are much better places to hide in the district. Someone like him would stick out too much in the suburbs."

"Isn't it possible that he was counting on people thinking that?" Kolya asked, not particularly looking for an answer. He scanned the house casually from room to room, but there wasn't much that immediately stood out to him. He then headed up to the second floor, which was similarly empty.

Kolya peeked into one of the bedrooms and took a look around. There was nothing of notice except a closet in the back of the room. Kolya pushed open the sliding door and looked around. Nothing. However, Kolya knew that if Raven hid anything here, he wouldn't make it so easy to find.

Kolya knelt down and inspected the floor for only a few seconds before finding a small switch under a floorboard. Smirking a bit, he pressed the button, causing the floor to flip up and reveal a secret compartment in the closet.

"Looks like he was using this place as a safehouse," Kolya mused. The compartment held several guns and ammunition, as well as a secondary partition for holding rations.

"So he was here to pick up some supplies?" Ingrid asked, her brow furrowed. "Did he really need to come all the way out here just for that?"

"Possibly," Kolya remarked. "Unfortunately, I don't think that's going to help us find him."

Ingrid sighed. "Well, now what? We don't have any other leads to go on."

"Not exactly," Kolya said as he pulled out a radio. "There's still the good old-fashioned route."