It took about half an hour to meet the president of the toy factory, Mr. Helmut Hauke. He was an old man, wearing the usual outfit of a businessman: jacket, shirt and tie, pants and shoes. All of them, by the look of it, were from prestigious and expensive brands. The old president sat behind his desk, then invited the four students of Heisen to do the same. Vas refused to sit down for a little longer, explaining the motives of their visit as he did before with the guards. Once the old man agreed, Erik then began to read the questions.

- Ehm… First of all, we would like to ask you if something out of the ordinary happened in the last months. Whatever event you might think is strange is fine – asked Erik.

- Let’s see… - the old man scratched his thick beard, looking the paintings in his room for some inspiration - Well, nothing out of the ordinary to tell the truth. Or at least, nothing I can remember.

- Ok, so next one… Is there someone or some organization that could have a grudge against you, or against the company? – asked again Erik.

- A grudge? Uhm… we have some competitors out there, but I’m not sure - said Hauke. Then he remembered something – Oh, that’s true. Maybe something out of the common did happen some time ago!

- Is that so? Tell us, sir! – Sam invited the old man to continue.

- About a month ago, there was a discussion in our branch office with one of our employees. I don’t recall well his name, but he claimed a design of a popular stuffed animal of our company was stolen to him by a younger designer.

- Oh, that seems like a good reason to burn down an entire building – commented Vas – I think this guy is our culprit. Tell us more about the matter, sir!

- Well… I don’t have a pretty good memory, you see. Try asking to my secretary, he knows for sure all the details – said Hauke.

- That’s what we’re going to do! Ok, guys! – Vas called his companions – Let’s move!

Vas and the others took their time to speak with Hauke’s secretary about the matter: a man around his forties named Paul Brauer accused Margarete Kaplan, years twenty-one, of stolen one of his original designs an presented it to the company as a design of hers. Brauer claimed since the launch of a new toy (a stuffed animal of an imaginary creature) that the creation was yours, but couldn’t provide any proof of his paternity. The stuffed animal was a huge success, especially among middle and high school girls for its particular cuteness and girly colors. Baurer continued to annoy the administration of the company and, after many times of being ignored, he was found stalking the young designer. He was reported to the police and, after that, he lost his job. Since then, nobody had news about him. Vas, showing again his false ID, asked for the address of both Brauer and Kaplan to continue their investigations. The secretary, looking at the badge ignoring it was a fake, did as he was told. Few moments later, the four students of Heisen were outside the building, feeling relived they could drop the act.

- Now, what, “Mr. Detective”? – asked Ste looking at Vas, who was deep in thought.

- Uhm… If this Brauer is really the culprit, our presence would alarm him, eventually escaping again. I guess we could get a close look without being noticed, but would be troublesome if all of us go there at the same time.

- Then, should we split? – suggested Sam.

- Good call! – agreed Vas – I want to check out that chick’s house, so let us meet there. Erik, come with me to pay a visit to our suspect!

- Yessir! – joked Erik to the call – See you later guys!

- Then we go to meet this young designer, uh? I’m fine with it! – said Ste.

- Be careful, you both – said Sam before departing with Ste – Who knows what could they do to us if we get hurt for acting on our own!

Brauer’s house was relatively close to the main building of the toy company, so Erik and Vas took just about ten minutes by feet to reach the place. When they arrived, they were surprised to found instead of a humble and little house, a burnt lot of land. The carbonized remains of which was the structure were still there, behind stripes with the sign ‘WARNING’, a poor way to discourage whoever would try to access the place.

- This is not why I expected – said Vas with an astonished expression – Hey, Erik! Are you sure this is the place?

- I am, man! Look here, the navigator on my Wristphone is indicating right this place! – Erik showed the holographic image of the device he was wearing in his left wrist – These things rarely are wrong. So, or you gave me the wrong address or the place is just burnt to ashes!

- The place is right. For now, let’s take a closer look to this place.

Vas crossed the line marked by the stripes and walked around the debris. He immediately noticed how both the land and the rocks were totally dark, as if there was any spot spared by the flames.

- Do you feel it, Erik? This weird sensation… This kind of… chill… - asked Vas as he touched one of the burnt beams.

- Uhm… now that you mention it, it’s a little colder now, right? – even if Erik was wearing only shorts and a half open shirt, he thought the change was nonetheless abnormal.

- Exactly! Dunkel energy somehow feels cold to the touch, so I guess the fact this area is colder than outside the lot, it means this place was burnt down by a powerful Dunkel energy attack!

- And if this was the house of that weird guy with the lamb head, that means…

- That he destroy his house to destroy any evidence – Vas interrupted Erik, completing his reasoning – This was the right lead after all!

- But, if that guy burnt down his own house, that makes harder for us to find his location – thought Erik aloud.

- I think he would be hidden for a little while, so it’s ok – said Vas – He was hurt by one of Sam’s attacks, I saw how he lost control over one of his arms after the impact, so I guess he has to recover before trying anything else. Call the others and said them we’re coming!