The Shadow of Winter

Chapter 15

        A car passed by in the street, throwing up mud and slushy snow onto the sidewalk. It was one of a slow trickle of vehicles, as night had come, and most daytime workers had left to their homes hours ago. Though Central City continued to be an active place at night, much of the activity remained in the downtown shopping streets and districts. The business section of the city was quiet, and many lights had been turned out.

        Detective Espio was waiting outside Carter & Trade. He had parked in an empty lot of a business that was closed for the night and had sneaked to the trading company under the guise of invisibility. For an hour he had stood still and silent next to the building as much of Carter & Trade's employees finished their shifts for the night. The building lights stayed on but now there were few people working.

        The purple chameleon watched as one last employee approached the glass door. He swiftly maneuvered to it, slipping inside just as the man held it open for himself. Golden eyes scanning the lobby, he saw there was nobody in sight. Yet, he stayed invisible, because during the Chaotix's previous investigation he had noticed security cameras on every floor of the building. Keeping a low profile was imperative to this operation.

        As he stepped lightly to the elevators, his padded boots creating no sound, Espio was very aware of the replicated fingerprints being kept safe in his glove. They were in a small plastic casing that he would open once the time came. With one of those fingerprints, the detective would be able to enter CEO Remington Carter's private office—that is, if he had managed to swipe the correct print used to get inside. There was a large chance he had not, and the investigation would suffer for it. With no search warrant and no proof of misdemeanor against the company, the Chaotix Detectives would be forced to put their current case on hold. Espio certainly did not want that to happen, not when the life of an innocent child was in danger.

        An elevator was waiting wide open, and Espio stepped inside it. He pressed a button that sent the cab skyrocketing to the top floor where the highest-ranking officials of the business had their offices. The detective wasn't too worried about being caught riding the cab—at the most, the guard watching the security cameras was a tad confused at how the elevator seemed to be operating by itself. However, seeing as no one entered the cab, the guard likely put it off as a technical glitch.

        When the elevator doors slid back upon reaching his destination, Espio crept out and looked around with narrowed eyes. He and his fellow detectives had not been shown to the top floor during their investigation earlier that day, but the chameleon was not surprised to see a large part of it was a clean and elegant lounge. Three offices were spread out around the lounge—one at the left wall, one at the right wall, and there was a slightly smaller office straight across from the elevator. Espio determined the offices belonged to the CEO, director, and supervisor of the company.

        There was a single security camera attached above the elevator. The chameleon only found out about it when he heard it move with a mechanical scratching sound. Lips pressed into a thin line, he froze and counted the seconds it took until the camera moved again. 60 seconds. It wasn't much time, but Espio was known for being quick with his hands as well as his feet. He'd be able to unlock Mr. Carter's office before he was caught.

        Crossing the lounge to the right, Espio had to turn back as he saw the name plaque just under the window of the office door was that of the director's. Assuming the CEO also had a large office, he passed by the smaller room across from the elevator and headed to a door along the left wall. There stated the name of Remington Carter, beautifully ingrained into a silver plaque.

        Detective Espio watched as the security camera turned his way. He held still patiently for the 60 seconds it took for the camera to direct its sight elsewhere. Then, with the replicated fingerprints in hand, he tested each one of them on the scanner located just beside the door lock. The first flashed invalid, then the second, and the third. One print remained, and time was running out. A grimace beginning to show on the ninja detective's face, Espio pressed the last print to the scanner and was rewarded with a green flash. The lock clicked open and the invisible body swiftly slipped inside and brought the door to a close. Seconds later the camera turned, none-the-wiser.