"I order myself to return to my original appearance!"
Graham's body quickly became taller and his skin pale skin shed, exposing a darker tone. The shed skin layer evaporated and disappeared into thin air. In just mere seconds, he had returned to his original self.
"Don't want the man to be seen near here, do we, Val?" he muttered.
Graham kept the pink shirt that he was wearing and then went to his office. He sat in the chair leisurely and lit a fire with his lighter.
"I ask that you float"
The flame rose in the air and he put down the lighter back on his desk, near his pencils and pens.
Concentrating on the tiny floating flame in front of him, he began asking the questions he wanted to get answers to before starting his mission.
'Where can I get evidence of Konrad Dykman's wrongdoing?'
The tiny flame burned brighter and slowly, an image began to form in it. It showed a house that was probably half the size of Ruben Arnaud's house but was still considered big. It had two floors and a big front yard with a garden. After that, the image shifted to that of a white office room with documents littering the desk. Behind the chair were giant glass windows that provided the view of the city from above. The office seemed to be on a high floor.
"His house or his office. Hmm... Since this is still office hours, it would make more sense to try his house first. But to be safe, let's divine our target's location before anything else, Val," Graham said while stroking his chin.
'Where is the current location of Konrad Dykman?'
The flame burned brighter while Graham was concentrated on it. Slowly, an image appeared and it was of a street with a lot of stores that he recognized as Grotemarktsraat. The image didn't show the man he was looking for, however. After that, it disappeared.
Graham raised his right eyebrow and leaned back in his chair. He showed a slight confusion in his face.
"What is the man doing there? Neither his office nor his house is located on Grotemarktstraat. And why does my divination only show the street? It would usually show the person I'm looking for,"
He became suspicious, so he thought of another question about the man in his mind.
'What's the current condition of Konrad Dykman?'
The tiny floating flame in front of him burned brighter again. However, the was no image shown even after waiting for several seconds. His divination had failed!
Graham wore an expression of slight surprise. He rested his chin on his right hand.
"What does it mean... This case doesn't seem to be just a simple evidence gathering case, Val. Something suspicious is going on here," he said.
Graham brought closer the envelope that Frits Melchers had given him and analyzed the document again. The information he was looking for was the name of the company that he currently worked at. According to it, the company was called 'De Adviseur', which was a consulting firm with the head office located on Bloemstraat.
Graham then decided to investigate the company first.
"Konrad Dykman was appointed a manager despite the reason for his termination was embezzlement of the company's fund. The new employer should have this kind of information, right, Val? So their decision must hide an ulterior motive,"
Graham concentrated on the flame again and asked a different question in his mind.
'Who was the person giving the manager position to Konrad Dykman?'
An image appeared in the floating fire in front of him and it was a man that he recognized. It was Zeger de Witt, the politician who was the target of theft designated by Fratello Maggiore!
"That guy is the one we stole the artifact from! So he is involved in this, Val! But what is actually happening?"
The more Graham knew, the more confused he became. He leaned back farther in his chair and began forming his theory.
"I think it goes like this, Val. Our guy is currently missing and his last known location was Grotemarktstraat. Or he is currently there but we cannot divine the specific spot. Since Zeger de Witt, a powerful Contractbound, gave him the position of manager, it is safe to assume that he has a hand in the disappearance of Konrad," he paused. "I need some chocolate,"
He got up from the chair and went to the kitchen where his fridge was. He opened the door gently and the light inside lit up with its orange glow. There were various snacks, mostly chocolate flavored, and drinks in the fridge. Graham's hand reached out to the back where he had kept the chocolate bars that he had bought the night before and took out one bar of Dolcebambini.
"Nothing beats this brand of chocolate, Val, especially the one with these jelly bits inside," he said while letting the piece of chocolate melt in his mouth.
Graham ate some more pieces of chocolate before putting the remaining bar back in the fridge and went back to his office. The floating tiny flame was still there.
Sitting in his chair, he muttered, "So infiltrating the company using Konrad's appearance is a big no. If Zeger or anyone involved saw us, they would know right away that we are an impostor. His house is our only option for now."
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
He focused on the flame in front of him and asked a question in his mind.
'Is it dangerous for me to go investigate Konrad Dykman's house?'
The flame formed an image that gradually got bigger and bigger. In the image, he saw a piece of paper being burned. The flame slowly consumed the whole paper, turning it into ashes. After that, the image disappeared.
"So it is dangerous, but the level of danger is something I still can handle. However, we must still be careful, Val. There is someone who can conceal Konrad's condition, so maybe my divination couldn't detect the actual level of danger because of that person."
After that, Graham stood up and grabbed his briefcase that was empty. He had to change his plan a little because of the unexpected circumstances, but the basic was still the same. He would enter the house using Konrad's identity to avoid suspicion by neighbors. It would also act as bait to someone who might know the man's actual circumstance and was watching his house.
"We need to be very careful, Val," he said while grabbing spare clothes from the wardrobe. He stuffed the clothes inside his briefcase and closed it firm.
Graham went back to the office and crouched down near his safe to open it. He took his beloved revolver along with its holster and the bullet pouch that he wore around his waist. He then took a black coat from the rack and put it on before buttoning it to cover the pink shirt that he was wearing.
"I ask that you disappear!" he said to the still floating tiny flame over his desk.
The flame vanished into thin air, leaving nothing behind. After that, unlocked his door before opening it.
"Let's go, Val," he said decisively.
He left his apartment and then locked the door securely. After that, he went down to the street and hailed a public motor carriage that was driving by.
"Please take me to Kerkstraat," he said to the driver. That was where Konrad Dykman lived.
The driver nodded and drove away at once. The traffic at that hour was not bad, so they arrived not long after.
"It will be seven pennings, Sir," said the driver politely.
"Can I get a discount? This is Tuesday after all. I heard there is such a thing called Tuesday Free Rides," said Graham.
"I'm sorry, Sir, but there is no such thing. Now please pay up," replied the driver without any annoyance in his tone. He seemed to have met a lot of similar customers asking for discounts and had lost the ability to react emotionally.
Graham took out seven penning coins from his pocket and gave it to the driver through the gap in the glass separator.
He had arrived at Kerkstraat and was welcomed by the busy street where people were just casually walking by. He quickly went somewhere quiet where no one was watching and unbuttoned his coat. After that, he quickly chanted.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Cunningness and Transformation, hereby change my whole being to that of Konrad Dykman"
His whole skin itched and he quickly assumed the appearance of his target. He became shorter and a little fatter, just like the real Konrad Dykman. With his new face, Graham got out of the secluded alley and walked towards house number 74 where the man lived.
Graham's current body felt heavier to walk in and he got tired a little bit more easily. However, thanks to his boosted stamina from becoming a President, the downside was negated to some extent.
"This man needs to do more exercise," he muttered quietly so that the other people in the street couldn't hear him.
He arrived at the house around three minutes later and stopped in front of the black gate. Graham concentrated and tried to sense if there was someone watching him currently. When he felt nothing, he approached the gate and pretended to unlock it while muttering.
"I order you to unlock yourself!"
The padlock locking the gate made a low click and it opened on its own. He then unlatched the heavy bolt and opened the gate carefully. He did so in the manner that the real Konrad would have done based on the memory he got from Frits Melcher.
"This man should have a wife and a daughter, but the house looks empty," said Graham. The pitch of his voice was now higher and there was a hint of shadiness in the tone.
He walked past the garden that looked well-maintained until probably a couple of days ago, seeing as the grass had just started growing. He stopped by the door and reached out to the handle. As he expected, the door was locked.
"I order you to unlock yourself!"
The door made a low click sound and Graham opened it with ease. He closed it behind him carefully and entered the big house. The first room that welcomed him was the living room, where everything looked neatly arranged and tidily cleaned. Suddenly, Graham stopped in his track as he felt the presence of someone else inside the house.
"Oh, Meneer Dykman! You are finally back! I thought you would come back with the Mevrouw and little Ami next week," said the person who seemed to be a maid. Her voice showed surprise and slight fear.
Frits's memory didn't include this information since he didn't know about Konrad's private life-- besides him having a wife and a daughter. Graham only knew she was a maid from the way she addressed him and the way she dressed up; a black long dress and an apron.
"Yes. There is a change of plan," he said shortly.
Graham walked closer to the maid who was carrying a feather duster in one hand. He then looked at her right in the eye while the maid was flustered.
"I order you to fall asleep!"
The maid was slowly overcome with sleepiness and fell asleep right there. Graham dropped his briefcase and caught her collapsing unconscious body. He then dragged her to the sofa before laying her down carefully.
"It's easier to get information like this than to ask her questions directly, Val," muttered Graham.
He then focused on the sleeping middle-aged woman in front of him and chanted while thinking of the information he wanted.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Cunningness and Transformation, ask to read the memory of this woman!"
He once again felt like he was underwater without being able to move. In front of him was a glass window that showed scene by scene of her interactions with her employees, but mostly with Mevrouw Dykman. He was also focusing on getting information about their current whereabouts and some other things about Konrad that he could use. Since his power was limited, he couldn't use that ability to get everything he needed. Graham could only scrape what he could and then broke the connection.
"Val, no wonder she seemed a bit scared when she saw us. The bastard is a scum when he is angry. And a smart one. He never used physical punishment so the maid could not actually report him for abuse. The lady of the house is no better," he muttered while resting his chin on his hand.
"So the wife, Astrid, and the daughter, Ami, are currently away in their villa in Rijssen. How much money has this bastard taken from the company to be able to afford a villa there?"
"Anyway, Val, I have stored Astrid's appearance, so I can transform into her. However, I am now at my storage limit of three people, so if I want to transform into someone else, I have to erase one of them from my 'storage',"
Graham then left the sleeping maid alone and went to the study room of Konrad. He got the location of every room in the house from the maid's memory, so he easily found the one he was looking for. The room was locked, as he had expected, but it wasn't a problem for Graham.
"I order you to unlock yourself!"
Click!
The door was now unlocked so Graham let himself in. After all, he was currently the owner of the house.
"Let's search the desk. I'm sure we can find proof of his slandering Frits Melchers' company. While we're at it, we might also get a clue of his whereabouts,"
Graham approached the desk and started going through the documents there. Those documents were mostly work-related, but nothing was what he wanted. He then tried to open the drawers, and luckily, it was unlocked. There were several more pieces of white paper there and he read them one by one carefully.
"Val, this is what we need!" he exclaimed while holding a piece of a handwritten document, "And maybe even the clue to his current location... and also de Witt's involvement in this!" he added seriously.