103 Business as Usual

Graham woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. It was still eight o'clock, so he had a lot of time before his meeting time. The previous day, they had agreed to meet up today at midday and go to Erbarmelijk Bazaar to sell the stuff they didn't need.

He was curious about the event yesterday, so he quickly grabbed his coat and went out. He wanted to buy today's newspaper because surely it would be reported there. He had tried using divination but all he got was a fuzzy image that he could barely discern.

"Val, I'm highly positive it was the Pale Society again, and they must have someone powerful who can interfere with divination within their ranks. I wonder what the official version of this event is," he muttered.

Graham arrived at the small street stall that sold all sorts of stuff at the side of the street, around the corner. There were numerous newspapers and magazines being displayed there, as well as other stuff like books and keychains. The owner, who was of Khartoum descent, was always friendly as usual. His youthful smile hid his actual age, although his balding head couldn't lie. He saw Graham and although he didn't buy newspapers every day, he still recognized the detective.

"Good morning, Mr. Detective," greeted the middle-aged man with a heavy accent.

"Good morning. I'll take De Telegraaf," responded Graham.

The newspaper seller reached out to one of the newspapers on display and picked it up. He then carefully handed it to his customer.

"Are you also curious about the collapsed building from yesterday? It made the headline news!" said the stall owner.

"Yes. It looked like it was a big deal yesterday when I passed that street," responded Graham as he paid one penning to the seller.

"Crazy, isn't it? Many things are happening nowadays. I shouldn't be glad about it, but it actually boosts my sales. I just hope we all stay safe," he said.

"I hope so too. Have a good day," replied Graham as he left the stall.

He walked quickly back to his apartment with the newspaper in his hand. There were other people that came to the stall to buy newspapers after he left.

"Val, it seems a lot of people are curious about the incident," he muttered.

He arrived at his apartment shortly after and sat in his office chair with the light on. The newspaper that he had just bought was laid on the table. He read the headline news, which was exactly about the collapsed building on Noordparkstraat.

"And I'm guessing this 'terrorist organization' is in fact the Pale Society. I wonder how the Police will deal with them now that they've carried out their attack in public."

Graham put down the newspaper and went to the kitchen to make a cup of hot chocolate for breakfast. He was feeling lazy today so he didn't want to go out for one.

Ding dong...

Just as he was taking out the milk from the fridge, someone rang the door. He put the milk back and scratched the back of his head lightly.

"Val, we're a professional. We shouldn't ignore a potential customer," he said, making up his mind.

Graham went to the door to answer and opened the wooden door. Behind the door, there was a couple, probably a husband and a wife, with a distressed look on their faces.

"Good morning. Please come in," he greeted them warmly.

The couple entered the detective's office and took a seat; the wife on the sofa and the husband on the chair opposite the host's. Graham closed the door and tightened his coat to cover his bare chest, and then sat down in his own spot with eyes observing the couple closely.

The man and the woman were both wearing a ring on their left hands, further strengthening his belief that they were married. They looked to be in their early thirties, their worried look made them appear older.

"Mr. Hymes, we need your help," said the man. His voice was wavering.

"Val, why does almost everyone just jump the gun around here. Don't they know I need to know who they are first...," he muttered quietly.

Graham put on a smile and looked at the man in front of him.

"I will listen, but you two need to tell me your identities first," replied Graham.

"Oh, we're sorry. I'm Levi Baenen and that is my wife, Anne," replied the man.

Graham looked over his shoulder again.

"Another Levi and another Anne. Those names sure are common, eh Val?"

The man saw the detective speaking quietly to himself but he didn't hear exactly what he was saying. Levi Baenen decided to ignore it and went straight to business.

"We are desperately in need of your help. Our daughter has been kidnapped, and we cannot go to the Police or they will kill her," said Mr. Baenen.

Graham's eyebrow rose. It wouldn't be his first kidnapping case, but it was the first one since he had become a Contractbound, so it should be easier.

"Tell me the detail," he said.

The man looked at his wife who was sitting with hands pressed together and the latter nodded.

"This morning we got a call from someone saying they had got our daughter with them. They even let her speak to us. They then said that we have to pay them one hundred guilders for them to release our daughter and that we can't call the Police or they'll kill her. Their voice sounds threatening, and I don't want to risk them harming my beloved..." explained the man hastily.

"Why don't you just pay?" asked Graham curiously.

"We will, but we also need reassurance. I want to make sure our daughter is safe even after they take the money," replied Mr. Baenen.

"Val, we should salute the man for still thinking rationally despite the stress,"

Graham wanted to tell the couple that he would rescue their daughter and to give him the ransom money instead, but he held back. He didn't want to sound like a shameless person. Besides, one hundred guilders is a very large sum, enough to buy a small house in the outskirt of the city.

"You don't have to give them a single penning. I'll make sure your daughter will come home safely before midday today. Just show me a photo of her and tell me her full name," said Graham.

The wife heard Graham's words and stood up suddenly from the sofa. Her face was full of hope with tears just hanging from the corners of her eyes.

"Really? Can you do that??" she asked in expectation.

"Yes. You can trust me, and I'm sure the person who told you to come here also said so," he said confidently.

"Please, find our daughter..." begged Mrs. Baenen.

Mr. Baenen was quickly searching for something from inside his pockets and wallet before finally taking out a piece of photograph. There was a young girl with braided hair and blond hair, just like the couple in front of him.

"This is our daughter. Her name is Sophie. She is seven years old now," said the husband while sliding the photo across the desk.

Graham studied the photograph carefully and remembered the girl's features and name. He had now all the information he needed to divine her location, and unless someone was interfering, he should be able to find her quickly. He wanted to finish before noon because that was his meeting time with Luuk and Jacco.

"Thank you. I'll start working right away, so you two should go home and wait for her return. Oh, and please write down your address on the back of this photograph," he said.

Levi Baenen borrowed the pen on his desk and wrote what Graham had asked for. He then looked at the detective in front of him with expecting eyes.

"Please, make sure our daughter is safe. I don't care how much I have to pay you," Mr. Baenen said.

Graham's eyes became green with greed.

"Then, in that case, you can pay me with a third of the total ransom,"

It was a reasonable amount. Even the amount of money he got from Ruben for finding his son was less than that, although he got something else much more valuable from that commission.

The husband and the wife looked at each other and then back at Graham.

"We will give you half of the money as long as our daughter is safe," said the wife.

Graham's mood was suddenly very good. The prospect of getting fifty guilders easily already made his day better.

"Then now, please leave me alone. I need to get to work right away," he replied.

Graham got up from his chair and showed his two restless guests the door. If he hadn't done so, he was afraid the two of them would stay in his office until their daughter was found. Those parents with young children were sometimes too protective of their offsprings.

With his two clients gone, he now could start working. Graham sat in his chair and took out his trusted lighter and lit it. He concentrated on the flame in front of him while repeating a question.

'Where is Sophie Baenen being held captive?'

The flame slowly created an image showing an aerial view of Sloten and then zoomed in a little over the Oosteinde area, where there was now a red dot glowing from one of the buildings on Oostparkstraat. Graham memorized the location of the dot before the image disappeared.

"Speaking of which, my divination is now definitely more powerful. It used to only show the buildings and we had to manually look for it," he said in satisfaction.

The next thing he needed to divine was the danger level of the mission and if it involved any Contractbounds. The response to both of his questions was negative, meaning it was not dangerous and there was no Contractbound involved. After that, he also used divination to determine the condition of the place where the target was being held, and it showed there were a total of six people in an empty house, each armed with a knife.

Neither Graham nor Valentine had any group control ability, so to ensure their target's safety, he should not be detected by them.

"Val, stealth is your specialty. Let's switch,"

Graham went to his bedroom and lied down on the bed with his eyes closed. He focused on his breathing to help him fall asleep faster, and not even three minutes later he had already been asleep. Valentine woke up just a couple of seconds later.

Since the mission required stealth, Valentine put on tight stretchy clothes that would make moving around easier. He also packed only the necessary stuff because he didn't have a lot of pockets currently.

Once he was ready, Valentine left the apartment and took a public motor carriage heading to Oostparkstraat. Since the street was rather busy that morning, it took the driver longer than usual to reach the destination. When they finally arrived, he paid the driver and got out of the motor carriage.

"G, we're here. Based on your divination, there should be a small street leading to the back part of this street, right?"

Valentine walked several meters and finally found a smaller street. He turned to the street and kept walking carefully while searching for the empty house where the target was in. The street was very quiet at that time, so Valentine had to be cautious because he didn't want to alert the kidnappers. Once he felt that he was near the location, he started chanting quietly.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Secrets, hereby declare my presence a secret!"

A thin yellowish mist began to envelop his whole body before disappearing. His smell and sound of footsteps had been concealed, and people would have the instinctive reaction to ignore him if he was nearby.

Valentine put on a facemask and approached the house. It was a dilapidated two-story house without much front-lawn area. From the windows, it would be easy to spot him if he were to pass by, however, since his presence had been concealed, he wasn't worried about lookouts.

Valentine took a piece of rock from the street and threw it at the second-floor window.

Smash!

The glass broke with a loud noise. He could then hear the footsteps of people inside the house going to the second floor to check. Valentine quickly used the opportunity to get to the door and quickly picked the lock before entering the house silently.

"They appear to be amateurs..." he muttered quietly.

There were sounds of footsteps coming from the second floor, so Valentine quickly hid behind the wall.

"Must have been the brats. That's why I hate kids!"

Judging from the footsteps, there were two men approaching Valentine's position. The moment he could see them, Valentine chanted quickly.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Uncovering, hereby put you under interrogation!"

One of the men suddenly froze in place with a blank expression on his face. The other one saw the abnormality of his partner but suddenly he felt pain from his neck before losing consciousness. After that, Valentine quickly punched the frozen guy on his chin, which he tried to dodge because of his boosted sense of danger but failed.

Valentine gently put the two men's bodies down on the floor to avoid alerting the others. He then quietly went upstairs where four more kidnappers were sitting around on the mezzanine. Although he was walking their way, they didn't seem to notice Valentine and kept on chatting loudly.

"I told you, we'll be rich tomorrow! No need to care about some brats breaking windows!"

"Hahaha! Yes! Let's drink some more now!"

"But don't you think those two downstairs are too quiet?"

Suddenly, the man who had just spoken had a blank expression on his face, and then a loud whack was heard. One of the men who were drinking was now lying unconscious on the sofa he was sitting on.

"What the?!"

Whack!

The other man was also knocked unconscious. Valentine now got behind the man that was put under his Interrogation and choked him with his arms until he passed out.

"That's five down. The last one must be watching the girl,"

Valentine went to the room where the red dot was, based on his memory. He then knocked on the door. From inside, someone approached the door and unlocked it. It was a chubby man with a stupid look on his face looking through the gap.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Uncovering, hereby put you under Interrogation."

The man's expression suddenly turned blank. Valentine opened the door wide and went to the sleeping girl on the bed. Her hands were untied, but with the man in the room, she couldn't have escaped. After making sure the girl was safe and sound, Valentine knocked the last man unconscious.

"Hey, wake up," said Valentine while shaking the sleeping girl.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked at Valentine in surprise and confusion.

"Sshh... it's alright. We'll go see your mom and dad now,"

The girl nodded, but she still looked confused. She had just woken up, so she didn't understand what was going on.

"Wait here, I'll need to tie up those kidnappers first. You wait here,"

After tying the kidnappers with a rope he found in the house, he left with the girl. He also asked a passerby to call the Police to get the kidnappers arrested.