The Finder [ABANDONED]

The Hunt Begins part 2

The next morning, before sunup, Thomas tapped a landing site just outside of Penarth. I hugged Thomas.

“Thank you for your help Thomas. I’ll not be forgetting you. Tell Margaret that I appreciate her hospitality, please.”

“Argh lass, you’ve brought youth, brightness, and the Phynsae language back into our home; even if it’s just for one night. Now off you go, before it gets too light for you to land incognito.” One last hug, then I tapped out the transport sequence, the last thing I saw was Thomas waving at me.

I landed in a bushy area of a park in Penarth. The sun was just starting to rise, its pink glow took on a greenish hue as it filtered through the leaves. I stood there for just a moment, appreciating what was likely the last of the nice (though brisk) weather. Frankly I was on Thomas’ side, regarding the hitchhiking/walking – November is not a warm time, and I had noticed the need for both of my heating units; even if they were only on low. I took a deep breath, and shivered as the brisk morning air sent a burning sensation through my sinuses. I put my case down and dug out my scarf, and wrapped it around my nose and mouth in addition to the hat and gloves that Thomas had insisted I wear before we left his home. I couldn’t help but smile as I thought of Thomas.

Instead of hanging around in the cold I decided to get a move on and head to a cafe to wait until the car hire office opened. Thomas had already mentioned that I may have to pay extra to be able to drop it at the depot in Cardiff or have it picked up (whichever option the rental outfit actually offered). I couldn’t say that a nice cup of something hot wouldn’t be welcome. Such a pity that I have had no opportunity to become a connoisseur of Earth beverages, delicacies, and other consumables.

It turns out that there is a bus from Penarth to Cardiff, so I didn’t need to spend long in the cafe at all. In fact, it was the waitress at the cafe who told me about the bus. It was a short trip, all things considered, and I was in Cardiff before the mid-day meal. There weren’t very many people on the bus, and they were all fairly ambivalent – neither happy nor grumpy. Actually, they seemed to be fairly keen to get on their way. I checked with the woman running one of the ticket sales booths about the best way to get to Rumney.

With an over enthusiastic grin, and overly peppy tone, she explained and drew the directions on map that she whipped out of her drawer (and then charged me for). I smiled, just; and thanked the woman before heading out of the building. I added the directions to my tactical map, and the pulled up the small file of additional information that came with my orders and sifted through it for the address at which Tobar was last listed as residing at. There was a note in the file that Finder Corfield has thoroughly searched the small flat and found nothing; well I will discuss the findings with her on Friday; but in the mean time it will give me a shelter that I can keep warm easier than my tent (that I have nowhere to pitch), even in I do need to use my camp bed in the hall – and there is the added bonus of not having to pay for it.

On my arrival at the flat, I retrieved my very useful skeleton key. Which is not a key at all; that is a Human phrase for a key that will open any lock, and the Phynsae adopted it – using the phrase seemed apropos at the time. The ‘skeleton key’ is actually a scanning device; it scans the inside of the lock (any lock), and mimics the necessary components and flashes a small light when ready to turn or otherwise open.

Inside the flat smelt musty, it has clearly been unused for some time; all doors and windows shut, curtains too I note as I stroll carefully through the centre of the floor spaces, being careful not to touch anything. I wrinkled my nose at height of the dust, based on that alone I would say that Tobar left the same day his summons arrived. Time to break open the covert op case again. I rigged up all of my scanners, throughout the house, stepped out onto the front step and turned them on. Now I know the precise date that Tobar left, and the date and time that Finder Corfield was here doing the same thing as me. I have the latest tech upgrade though, so I’m getting a bit more than what Finder Corfield would have, in theory.