Ace reaches the rear service entrance, where the apartment building gives way to a narrow alley of brick, rainwater, and rusted fire escapes. The city hums beyond the walls.
The footprint trail breaks apart in the runoff. Pale grit clings to the threshold, then scatters between overflowing bins and a dented delivery cart.
Harold Pike
The rain has erased the direction. But not everything.
Harold points beneath the delivery cart. A torn envelope lies pinned by a wet stone, its paper stained but its printed destination still legible.
Ace
The grit is caught in the envelope's fold, not washed across it.
Harold Pike
That address is a warehouse district parcel office. If the thief sent the photographs there, the clerk may have seen who came to collect them.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the torn envelope
“I inspect the envelope for a name, postmark, or other surviving clue.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Perception, rolled +1)
Ace angles the envelope away from the runoff and studies the surviving paper fibers, printed lines, and cancellation marks.
The return address is intact beneath the tear: Morrow & Finch, 18 Calder Street. The postmark reads yesterday, 4:10 p.m., Parcel Office District.
Ace
The envelope was mailed after Vale met the thief.
A second impression emerges where the wet paper folded over itself: a parcel reference, PF-7714, written in blue pencil.
Harold Pike
That reference can be traced at the counter. Someone had to present the parcel number to collect it.
Harold steps clear of the fire escape and opens his notebook, copying the address and reference while rain ticks against the cart.
Beyond the alley mouth, a police car turns onto the street, its roof light washing the wet bricks blue. Harold looks from the approaching cordon to the envelope.
Harold Pike
Do we take this to the parcel office now, or leave it for the police before the rain destroys the rest?
“I ask Harold to shield the envelope”
SUCCESS (Fair Willpower, rolled +1)
Ace
Harold, shield the envelope from the rain.
Harold closes his notebook and steps over the cart, placing his body between the envelope and the runoff.
Harold Pike
Right. Keep the paper flat, and the marks may survive.
He spreads his coat over the cart's edge, making a dry canopy above the torn envelope without touching its fibers.
Harold Pike
The parcel reference is our cleanest route to whoever collected the evidence.
The police car stops at the alley mouth. An officer raises a hand toward the cordon, while the protected envelope remains visible beneath Harold's coat.
Harold Pike
The paper is safe for the moment. Do we carry the reference to the parcel office, or surrender the envelope here?
“I ask Harold to assess the pale grit”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled +1)
Ace
Harold, assess the pale grit without disturbing the envelope.
Harold Pike
I can see enough from here. It is coarse, pale aggregate, not plaster or brick dust.
Harold angles the coat's edge, letting a thin blade of daylight reach the grit caught in the fold.
Harold Pike
The grains are too uniform for alley debris. They came from a handled surface, likely a loading floor or packing yard.
Harold Pike
This points toward the parcel office's warehouse district. Whoever carried the evidence passed through an industrial area before reaching Vale.
The parcel reference now has a physical match: PF-7714 leads toward a district where this grit is ordinary, but the envelope remains under Harold's coat.
Officer Dunn
The cordon is going up. Are you turning that envelope over, or are you giving me the parcel reference and moving aside?
“I take possession of the torn envelope”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -1)
Ace moves before the next gust can reach the paper. His fingers slide beneath the coat edge and take the torn envelope by its dry margin.
Harold Pike
Careful. Keep the fold intact.
Ace lifts the envelope free in one smooth motion. The pale grit remains caught in the crease, and the parcel reference stays legible.
Harold Pike
He got it without smearing the evidence.
Harold withdraws his coat, leaving the cart and its wet boards exposed to the rain. The envelope is now in Ace's possession, sheltered against his hand.
Officer Dunn
Then show me the parcel reference and step beyond the cordon, or hand over the envelope for the evidence log.
Police tape snaps across the alley mouth. The warehouse-district route remains usable, but Dunn's approaching hand makes the next choice immediate.
Quest Complete
Secure the torn envelope
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Great→Superb
+ New Item Acquired
Torn envelope