Chapter 35 - The Elusive Char Char

A black, brass-trimmed carriage pulled by a single horse pulled out of the gates of the medium sized manor and headed down the path out of Whitehare Crescent.

Finn mulled over the case in his mind. It consisted of twenty two missing people in the past three months, with the common thread being some sort of connection to the Cloud Peak Monastery or the area around it.

For a city with a population of several hundred thousand people, this number was quite small. Their office received hundreds of missing cases a month, and their department was constantly overworked. Finn had spent a good portion of his initial time in the unit filing paperwork for cases that had been closed by the more senior detectives and officers.

Finn had been the one to bring up the connection to the Cloud Peak Monastery to the chief. He had also been the main person who had gathered the information for the report submitted to back up the theory. Although twenty two missing people was not a significant number, this only counted the cases directly related to the monastery and its immediate surrounding area.

The fact was, a dark cloud had hanging over the entire police force for the past six months. The lands outside of the city were becoming increasingly dangerous, with reports of increased bandit activity in the roads to the south and west. While the southern roads in particular had always been dangerous, the roads within Kumin had been considered safe enough for unguarded travel.

Two months ago, the Noga City Department of Security released a confidential report to the police force that stated that the royal forces were occupied in assisting issues in the Huan province to the west. The matter was to be kept quiet from the public to avoid unnecessary fear and panic, and to keep watch for strange occurrences and foreigners in the coming months. During that time, the number of travel related incidents continued to increase. Private security companies were being overwhelmed as travelers began to worry about their safety outside the city.

So far, only citizens and companies directly involved in travel were aware of this problem. The city council’s efforts to keep panic down appeared to be succeeding. However coming over the horizon in just two weeks was the Five Kings Festival, the largest event in the province, that celebrated the victory of the original Lord Noga in the Battle of the Five Kings one thousand years ago. There would be two weeks of festivities, with visitors from across the continent. The temples would be packed with people praying to Lord Noga for protection and guidance. The police department always needed to be at peak performance during the festival - and with the issues plaguing travelers outside the city and the royal army occupied outside the province - tensions were quite high.

Twenty two missing persons was not a significant number, but considering that the Cloud Peak Monastery was one of the main attractions and prayer locations in the area, it was worth investigating. The only reason Finn had not yet gone to the monastery was that he had spent most of the previous day hunting down Edwin.

“Regardless of if Char Char has the lodestone,” Finn watched the scenery pass through the gap in the curtained window. “We should procure a police carriage and make our way to the monastery this afternoon.”

“Okay.” Edwin nodded from the seat across from Finn. The monk looked at Finn quietly and said, “I noticed something. You haven’t written anything down this whole time. Do you keep notes at all?”

“I don’t need to.” Finn didn’t stop gazing out the window as he simply gestured to his head with a bored look on his face, “I keep it all up here.”

The coach arrived in front of the small, low clinic and Edwin and Finn disembarked, thanking the driver for his help before he took off back to the manor.

They stepped into the clinic to find its lobby quiet, with a couple sitting in the waiting chairs reading the morning paper. A nurse with long, curly brown hair sat at the reception desk filling out some papers. She smiled politely as they entered the room.

“Good morning officer, how can I help you?”

“Good morning. I’m looking for a patient that you have here, we just need to ask a few quick questions.” Finn said.

“What’s her name?”

“Char Char Zhao.”

She stood up and gestured to the chairs, “Please take a seat, I’ll go inquire with the doctor.”

She disappeared into the back and the pair took a seat on the side of the room opposite the couple. Finn frowned as they sat down. He had caught a small flicker of worry in the nurse’s eyes right when he had spoken Char Char’s name. She had hid it well, recovering her smile almost immediately. He looked over to the monk who didn’t seem to have noticed anything amiss.

A moment later a pale man with curly hair approached from the back, followed by the nurse. Finn stood and stepped forward with a congenial smile on his face, holding his hand out to shake hands in greeting. The doctor received it firmly, though he had a look of concern in his eyes.

“Hello, officer. I am Doctor Ilec. I hear you are here to see a patient?”

“Yes, may we have a moment with Char Char Zhao? We just came from her grandfather’s estate at the direction of Corbin Nao, her grandfather’s assistant. She might have an item that belongs to Edwin, here.” He gestured to Edwin, then added, “It’s nothing serious, we are simply stopping by as it was conveniently on the way to addressing an unrelated matter.”

Finn chose his words in such a way to alleviate any anxieties the doctor might have about the inquiry into his patient. Hearing that it was nothing too serious, Dr. Ilec smiled and said, “I see. Please, come with me.”

The nurse stayed in the front while Dr. Ilec led the way to a patient room in the back of the clinic. He opened the door, revealing an empty room.

“Char Char was indeed with us overnight, however she disappeared from her room at some point this morning. We suspect that she snuck out while the nurse on shift was tending to another patient.” Ilec sighed, “Since Mr. Nao was scheduled to come in the afternoon, we were going to wait and see if she returned by then, and otherwise report her missing at that time.”

“You don’t seem particularly worried.” Finn commented.

“There’s not much I can do, we are quite short staffed as it is. But it has weighed on my mind heavily this morning. ” Dr. Ilec pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. “Actually, when I saw you had arrived I was worried that you were here to inform me that something had happened to her.”

“No, nothing of the sort.” Finn said. “Perhaps she just went out for a walk, or maybe she is on the way home by herself.”

“That would be the best case.” Dr. Ilec smiled.

“Did she leave behind any belongings?”

“No, just the clothes she came to the clinic with. We think she is still wearing her hospital gown under one of the coats that we have for the patients if they’re cold. The rest of her belongings are gone so she must have taken them.”

“Did any of those belongings include an orb made of crystal? About this size.” Finn gestured with his hands, describing the lodestone as Edwin had described it on the way to the clinic.

“No, not that I recall.” Dr. Ilec shook his head.

“Very well, then. Thank you for your help, Doctor Ilec.” Finn shook the doctor’s hand once more and then turned to leave the clinic.

“That’s it? We’re leaving so soon?” Edwin trailed behind, his eyes glancing back at the room with a look of confusion.

“If she’s not here there’s nothing we can do.” Finn shrugged, “It doesn’t appear she had it.”

“But then where could it be?”

“I’m not sure, perhaps you misplaced it back at the manor. Or maybe someone other than Char Char took it.” Finn said nonchalantly as they stepped out into the sunlight. “Regardless, I think the best action at this point is to take a trip to the monastery.”

Edwin looked like he wanted to object, but the dismissive attitude of the police officer kept him quiet. He fumed silently as he wondered where the lodestone had disappeared to.

They started walking down the street into the city. To Finn, not finding the orb wasn’t a big deal, so as soon as he heard that it wasn’t at the clinic, he immediately shifted his focus to his main plan. His next step was to head to the police headquarters to reserve a coach. It was a fair distance away, but once they reached a main road he would be able to rent a public carriage to hasten the trip.

“What if my master isn’t there?” Edwin asked.

“If he had made it to the monastery as planned, then we will be able to ask if they are aware of his whereabouts.” Finn said. “If not, at least we can ask some questions and find out more information.”

In a sense, he felt fortunate that he had been able to meet up with the monk. It gave him a legitimate reason to enter the monastery. If he was simply to arrive alone the monks might not be inclined to speak to him. They wouldn’t even be required to open their doors. Without an official warrant or documentation, he would have no authority to continue his investigation within the monastery.

To Finn, the subject of Edwin’s missing master was only interesting insofar as it was related to the overall case of the missing persons related to the Cloud Peak Monastery. From what he could tell, there was nothing connecting the various individual cases other than the Monastery itself. Was it coincidence? Or was there something deeper going on?

His entire argument for the pushing the case had been that these connections were significant. This was his initiative. His theory.

If he visited the monastery and came up with nothing for the effort, the case would probably be dropped and his reputation in the force would take yet another hit. He could just picture the Chief berating him for wasting the department’s time, before throwing him back on another four months of paperwork. Just the thought of it put him in a bad mood.

From behind him, a cheerful voice spoke up.

“Thank you for helping me, Officer Mackenzie. I hope we find my master there.” Edwin chimed.

“Yeah.” Finn said. “So do I.”