Tenebrous Game

Case #04 - The Paris Catacombs

It's late at night. Because of the time zone, Collins and Rivers arrive in the beautiful capital of France at around 2am, since they left the central after Raven, Brandi, and Andrew had already departed from where they were. Collins always lacked an expression on her face, in fact, it was more like a serious face. No one knew the mysteries that this medium-haired blonde woman could hide. Always using a tank top or a light shirt, probably to not compromise her agility, Collins was a master of stealth, but that didn't mean she couldn't afford to have a little vanity: she was always wearing a pair of golden earrings.

The duo leaves the airport and head in directly to their hotel rooms, booked by the president himself. When they arrive, they go straight to bed, following what Andrew and Brandi both had done a few hours earlier. But Raven wasn't in the same page. The detective spends the whole night awaken, planning on how she could find the mysterious Schooler again. At around 6am, she leaves the room when no one was seeing to find an acquaintance in town.

After a few minutes, Brandi wakes up and sees a message from Andrew on her phone, telling her to meet him as soon as she gets out of bed. She does so, messaging him back to come to her room. Andrew comes and tells Brandi that he thinks Raven is hiding something. He doesn't believe that the man in that Red Room in Seattle was killed in self defense, and also thinks that she was doing something else everytime they split up in Danvers. The commander says that they were like a duo in the Red Room case but that didn't quite work out, due to their extremely different personalities. So, he asks Brandi to come up with an excuse and stay by Raven's side during this case. The former agent still holds a grudge on the detective, but gives in and decides to help Andrew. After all, she was willing to also unmask any hidden details that Raven could have been holding.

Brandi leaves her room and knocks on Raven's door, but she's not there anymore. She goes down, taking the elevator, and talks to the man in the reception, asking if she saw the detective she describes. The man hesitates, but Brandi shows her badge and demands his cooperation. He reveals that he gave the detective an address of the nearest clock repairing shop.

Meanwhile, Raven arrives at the address given by the receptionist. She enters the old shop, where the door has a little bell to announce an arrival of a customer, and immediately goes to the clerk, who was also the owner of the store. Fixing an old vintage pocket watch, the old man with grey hair only on the sides of his head and a white beard, and wearing some old glasses, looks to the customer who had just arrived. Surprised, he lifts his eye brows but gives a big smile.

"Raven?! Now, there's someone I didn't expect to see today." He says, with joy on his words and a big French accent.

"Patrice... It's good to see you." Raven replies with a little smile on her face and proceeds to hug the old man over the front counter.

"What can I do for you?" Patrice asks.

"Well... J'ai besoin d'aide, Patrice. (I need help, Patrice)" She starts to speak French.

"Que puis-je faire pour te, ma chérie? (What can I do for you, my darling?)"

Raven puts the bullet she acquired from the house of Schooler's mom on the glass counter. "J'ai besoin que tu déterres ton passé... (I need you to dig down your past...)"

Patrice takes off his glasses and puts them on the balcony as well. "Raven..."

"Patrice... Please... I really need your help."

The man thinks for a while and sighs loudly. He gets the bullet and takes a closer look. "This is from a custom gun."

"Made for a special client." She answers.

"It'll take a couple of hours for me to identify the composition and a few more to contact some old folks to check who could've sold it." Patrice says, looking at Raven.