Inside is the shop area of the statuary. On shelves all around are small metal statues some are minimally mobile. The area is tidy, and the shelves are full. Whoever broke in either didn't come downstairs or wasn't here to rob the place. A few days worth of dust coats everything except the works that move.
Through a door in the back is a workshop area. Bars of various metals, from lead to platinum, are carefully arranged near a furnace and tool set. I assume that the bags of plaster were used to make the molds for his sculptures. On one table is a polished stone that glows softly. In one corner is a safe, still firmly closed and locked.
From the workshop leads a stairway to the second floor. A small kitchen and dining space. A store room and at the end.
The last room is the bedroom. The sheets are tossed about from the bed. A dresser and nearby wardrobe have been pushed about. The wardrobe is broken open and empty. It's also more solidly built than most I've seen, thicker doors and sides. Judging by the way the wood is splintered, it was broken out from the inside. There is a very large amount of what looks like dust on the floor near the bed. A night table is upended near the window, a candle that was probably on the table is on its side on the floor.
“What happened here?”
“Signs of a struggle, nothing seems to be missing. Except for whatever was in that wardrobe. Looks like someone broke their way out of there doesn't it?”
“Yeah, that wouldn't be an easy feat, it's very sturdily built for a wardrobe. Wonder what he was keeping in there.” He open a drawer of the dresser nearby. “Just clothes in here, looks like.”
I move toward the window, not much glass in the room. Looks like it was broken outward. A small torn piece of fine green cloth is stuck on a shard sticking out from the frame.
“Go up to the trader's guilds and find Inspector freeman, I think he'll want to look over this place before we tramp all over it any further. I'll stay here and keep an eye on things.”
“Yes, sir.” He salutes, and heads back down the stairs.
The place is very quiet once I stop moving around. There's something unsettling about that pile of dust, or maybe it's this room that doesn't feel right.
There's a sound coming from the alley below the window, someone is walking around down there. I withdraw my halberd from my magic pouch quietly. A ladder is put up toward the window.
A voice call up from below, ascend to his floor “Oi, Pete, what 'appened to ya window? Well no matter, boss 'as a choice job for ya, so you'll be able ta replace it roight quick.” I know this voice.
A face pokes over the lip of the window, surprise quickly covering it. “Aw, shit. You ain't Pete.”
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