Sly Cooper 5: Promises Made By Thieves

Chapter 38: Sly

When it comes to setting up shop for a hideout at a place out of Paris, sometimes we find suitable caverns and other times we find empty huts or houses and squat for a few days. To properly keep our eyes on the Silvios in the big city of London, we decide the best course of action is to stay at another hotel. With Bentley and Murray and Dimitri's honest savings, they can easily afford it. And apparently all three of them said to their bosses that they had a family emergency and had to take time off work. Off work!! My, have I missed a lot.

It was kind of heartbreaking to hear my gang has gone legit. Now that we're back, I don't want us to never be a gang again. With the team of Sly Cooper, Bentley and Murray, we have been able to accomplish some of the world's most legendary heists. The thought of the gang breaking up only when it got reunited feels all kinds of wrong. Hopefully after we're done here we can do one more secret heist or two, away from everybody else without any conspiratorial hassle stressing us out.

I don't say any of this to anyone, though. Right now is the time to look into this so-called Branwell. Around town we've noticed a few Wanted posters, but Branwell's face isn't the most threatening.

I actually saw a faded Wanted poster of me too, and when I asked, Bentley said my disappearance was fairly big news in Paris, but the hype has kind of blown over.

Carmelita's still back trying to get leads on Branwell, with Murray having a digital job for once, taking notes of some companies the Silvios are aligned with, and Bentley is once again inspecting our broken time machine. All of us have really just gotten up, and Dimitri and McSweeney and I are now looking around for something to do.

Murray gives us a list of addresses to look at, and Dimitri shows me two more binocucoms. He explains in his overcomplicated jargon how he thought more than one would come in handy, and Bentley suggests the three of us maybe do some reconing.

I've never done this thing with others by me before, but with backup there's no way I'll just disappear from the lives of my gang again. A few missions with a fair bit of company and I'll be perfectly fine again before I know it.

As we leave the hotel with our binocucoms, the three of us probably resembling bird watchers or something, I think back to the picture I was shown of Roger and Ambera Silvio. They're both skinny looking but generally well-built bulls. Apparently from our findings they both make a lot of money but they prefer wearing run-down clothes like overalls and sole-toed shoes. It would make sense if their main workplaces have a lot of hands-on management, which I heard R&A Pack & Ship had.

Our main walk ends up bringing us to the docks, close to where we took a ferry with our van (and Carmelita's red police car) earlier. We are able to confirm the main business with the big R&A logo painted on the side of their factory, but we suspected it way before from all the bulls dressed in security clothing roaming the outside of the complex.

"This shipper couple has clear as disco night never operated a nightclub," says Dimitri. "If you want to make your way of income fashionable, or at least not conspicuously naughty, don't put detail badges every which way."

"And why would a shipment company need eight security patrols?" asks McSweeney.

"Let's crouch down somewhere and get some photos," I say. "Best thing to do until Bentley can hatch a plan."

"Are you getting these?" I ask Bentley as I get a picture of three guards chatting about I-don't-care-what.

"Well, Dimitri was right. A regular shipment company does not need three security guards, let alone five. Maybe Branwell was onto something more. Or maybe this is because of Branwell."

"I see Roger," says McSweeney. All three of us get a picture of him stepping out of his car.

"A 2013 Limited Edition Roarsche," says Bentley, commenting on the car. "Indiscernible."

"Roger may drive a fancy car, but he looks like an everyday mechanic," I say.

"Could be part of a cover-up," says Dimitri.

Behind Roger is a truck that, based on its wallpaper, is for a kitchen appliance company, and we watch, while Dimitri gets shots, of security patting down the driver once he gets out, and inspecting the paperwork closely.

"Looks like we're not getting in through the front loading," says McSweeney. "What about underwater?"

"The sexy pop star is on it!" I see Dimitri take out a snorkel and air tank from his bag, the same one from his grandfather. I give him an impressed look and he actually gives a face of humility. "Figured we'd need to go beneath surface somewhere."

After Dimitri sneakily submerges himself, I notice and take a picture of a ventilation shaft about ten feet above ground on the side of the building. If I could be thrown up there or borrowed a ladder, I could easily climb through that thing. I also note security cameras making that potentially difficult.

"Okay, Sly," says Bentley, "I'm now going to patch you into Dimitri's feed. It's a little upgrade I've since put into our comms."

The two of us see what Bentley identifies as a scanning device a few feet beneath the surface of the water. It doesn't take a master thief to note a lot of space underneath. Dimitri actually goes right for it and swims under it and he takes a picture of a pipe filled with slime and seaweed that's probably long forgotten. But it looks big enough for Dimitri to swim through if it got cleared. I'd say we've hit a goldmine of possibilities for sneaking into this factory, or warehouse, whatever it is.

"Funky lizard heading back over," says Dimitri through his snorkel.

"Sly, before you come back, I should tell you something."

"Yes, Bentley?"

"I did some network hacking on my downtime and found out where Branwell's parents currently live, and it's not far from your position right now."

"That's not surprising," says McSweeney, tapped into our feed. "His parents were affiliated with this company for years before they were terminated. Would make sense to live near them."

"They might have some idea of where Branwell could go," says Bentley. "But it might be best not to reveal who exactly you are."