“Fucking hell, I hate the rain. Too bad he didn’t call me on a sunny day,” Duncan told himself. Duncan Thurston was a private investigator, grizzled from his years on the police force. He left the Imperium Police Department when he was investigating into an odd case, something he hadn’t seen for the past 8 years working the streets or as a detective. The murder scene had symbols similar to occultism, but there were no known satanic cults in Imperium to his knowledge. However, while he was working the case, something went wrong. One by one, his fellow detectives on the case disappeared or died over time and the trail went cold and as a result, he was forced to drop the case. It all went downhill there, with his wife leaving him and taking his kids and disappeared for another man. Loveless and a career going down the drain, he decided to leave the force and become a private investigator, to catch criminals without being restricted by the typical red tape. Duncan suddenly snaps out of his flashback and pays attention to the road, continuing to drive towards the village in his reliable Land Rover Exploration. He spots the offramp to the village up ahead and turns into it and into the village. After a couple minutes of driving around, he finds a bar, Smitthy’s Pub. His client told Duncan to meet him there and so he parked up in front of the bar and then walks in. It’s a pretty cozy atmosphere, with the jukebox playing some rock and two other patrons drinking their whisky and one lone middle-aged man sitting in the back of the bar. Duncan asks the bartender for a glass of whisky which he gets and sits with the man in the corner of the bar.
Duncan: “So, I assume you’re Alexander Paterson?”
Alexander Paterson: “Yep, that’s me,” then taking another shot of whisky."
Duncan: “Alright, how did you manage to find me?”
Alexander: “I got your information from a police friend.”
Duncan: “You’ll have to be a bit more specific here my friend, I’m not a psychic.”
Alexander: “Okay, her name is Olivia, she’s a detective in Imperium.”
Duncan suddenly remembers Olivia from the case he worked in Imperium, being the only other detective that didn’t end up dead or missing.
Duncan: “Alright, tell me everything you know and why I’m here.”
Alexander: “I’m hiring you to find my sisters’ murderer,” becoming visibly shaken and takes another shot from his glass.
Duncan: “Take it easy mate with the whisky, I need you sober for the story.”
Alexander begins describing his sister and her husband, Jack, and how great their marriage was, blissful and jovial. Duncan was thinking whether to tell him whether he should tell Alexander to speed along but decides against it, then Alexander begins telling him why he doesn’t think Jack was the murderer.
Duncan: “Don’t worry, I’ll get to the bottom of this.”
Alexander: “Thank you, I’ll be grateful for this.”
Duncan: “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ll need the keys to their house and $1,250 to cover my expenses.”
Alexander: “Don’t worry about, here’s the check and the keys. God be with you.”
Duncan says goodbye to him and hops back into his Land Rover Exploration to go find and log into his motel room. Once he gets there, he closes the curtains in his room and then turns on the lights in the room. “I just have a bad feeling about this case,” he thought to himself. He smokes a cigarette and then puts away his Gaston 17 pistol, a reliable sidearm back when he was in the police department, and then takes a shower. After that, he looks at the case files in the Manila folders. According to the files, the killer should have blood stains on him but Jack didn’t, conflicting with the official police report. “The hell? This case is getting odder by the minute, I’ll visit the house later tomorrow after I get some sleep.” He then turns off the lights and resigns into the bed of the room, still tense with thoughts about the case.