Vados glances at Cindy and Garion as they examine the cloth. He moves to the front of the shop and looks in the window, trying to see the basic layout of the shop.
I would rather not break the window further, would you be able to pick the lock on the door. Mikal will then examine the 'dirt' that makes up the smug to determine where the dirt may have come from. After examining the smug, he informs everyone, This appears to have been made by a human, probably a teen or small adult judging from the relative size of the fingers to the palm.
knowledge (geography)
Nodding, Talathel moves toward the door and starts picking the lock.
"Can Skyfire fit through the hole? I cannot see it that well in the shadows.", Aria asks quietly.
"My pardon, friend Cindy, but perhaps your visage would not make the best first impression on someone, most likely someone already scared and worried, answering their door late at night."
Talathel quickly picks the lock, getting it open in less than thirty seconds despite the high quality of the lock on the front door.
The interior is dark, though a bit of light leaks in from those windows not boarded up. At the east side of the shop thin lines of glowing can be seen through the sides of a large brick oven, still hot coals locked away inside. The room is warm, a nice change from the chilly night air. The aroma of freshly baked bread fills the entire place.
Two lines of shelves occupy the middle of the room containing loaves of bread, rolls, pastries, and other baked goods.
Several crates rest on the floor in the southeast corner.
Next to the door, on the west side is a waist high counter. A cushioned stool sits behind the counter.
The dry feel of flour floats through the air.
Vados moves to peer in through the large front window. Shelves stand in the center of the shop, round baskets sitting atop them. The dark interior makes it impossible to make out much more than that.
As with their previous break-in that night, Talathel sends his bright floating orbs cascading across the room, providing light to illuminate any pertinent details as they look around.
"I don't suppose you have a more subtle form of light, Talathel. I hate to think what would happen if people saw us in here." Aria sends Skyfire to look for anything pertinent or unusual, squeaking and screeching in their strange language.
Aria looks in the street behind them to make sure they were not seen. (Perception).
Mikal checks all the windows for interior shutters, if they are there he closes them all. He then moves back to the window where the intruders entered, and looks for anything that might be relevent (perception take 20).
"I fear that the baker may have erased any clues by trying to get his shop cleaned up and reopened. We may have to come back and speak to him later if we don't find any leads."
After examining the window, he looks about the bakery, taking in the smells of the bread. "It is a good thing my father made maps, if he were a baker I might never have left the shop." He thinks about grabbing a sweetroll, but decides against it.
"Unfortunately, no. But if we close the door and ensure the blinds are drawn tightly, we should be fine at this hour."
Vados turns back to Cindy and Garion.
"Are you ready to enter? We will need a source of light once inside.
I see well in the dark. Cindy explains. Perhaps Garion can create a light.
"Yes, once we get inside, I will cast a light for us to see by," says Garion.
Please see to the door Vados. I do not believe anyone is in the shop.
Talathel and Mikal move about the room closing the shutters while Aria keeps an eye out the door, leaving it open just a crack and watching the street.
While the shop owner clearly keeps a clean shop Skyfire gives out a squawk after spending a moment hopping about the room. He tilts his head to one side giving Aria a look.
Aria tears away from her scouting position to see what Skyfire has found.
"This is interesting. There's some mud, here... wasn't really expecting to find that."
She examines the mud carefully, (with Skyfire on her shoulder once again), to see if there is anything remarkable about it. (Perception, take 20 with Awareness).
Seeing that Aria has found something, Mikal moves over to check it out. "That is strange." Mikal then checks for anything unusual about the shelf. "How do you suppose mud got there."
Talathel moves to the door, closing it and balancing a vial on it like he did in the previous shop, then joined them at the shelf.
"Well, it's possible someone scraped their boot on the shelf. That's rather disgusting in a bakery. That would be someone who had no respect at all for the establishment."
Aria and Mikal bend down to the floor to get a closer look at the mud. The shelf sits over the top of the mud hiding it from view for someone standing by it. There isn't a lot mud and it is dried out, but clearly visible are the prints of several toes from a humanoid foot - on the small side of a human adult.
Vados fiddles with the lock for a minute, finally just giving the door a swift kick - the crack of snapping wood as the frame splinters echoes ominously off the buildings across the street. The three move inside quickly pushing the door shut behind them and casting them into utter darkness save the light coming in through the large front window.
Garion utters the words of his spell and a light springs forth in the room. A variety of fruit sits in baskets on the shelves in the small shop - surprisingly fresh given the time of year. Apples, peaches, bananas, strawberries, plums, guava, pineapple and more.
Mikal checks the shelf and the floor for any sign of a secret or trap door to explain the footprint half buried under the shelf.
Cindy mutters a few arcane words herself as she enters the shop. She pauses by the door and casts Mending on the broken frame.
Vados takes a careful look around the shop, looking for any clues as to what happened here and who robbed the store.
Mikal feels around carefully underneath the shelf and all around it, looking for something else. No new clues are uncovered though.
Cindy quickly mends the door frame, repairing the damage done by Vados.
The fruit stores offer up no clues as Vados looks carefully at the different baskets and shelves. The front counter has a few shelves underneath it where a few cleaning rags sit. A more careful look at the shelves shows where part of the wood is lighter in color. The coloring is in the shape of a rectangle where something once sat on the shelf but has been removed.
Satisfied that he has found everything he is going to find, Mikal turns to the others. "Well, there are no secret doors or such. It looks like our intruder here was either a small adult or maybe an older child. The mud may suggest that he came from the sewers, as there is nothing else close by that would be a good source for it. What do we know about the owner of the shop, does he have any ties that might have made him a target?"
Vados looks back at the repaired door, and nods to Cindy.
"Thank you. The lock was...troublesome."
Vados takes his time searching for any clues. He finds the lighter spot on the shelf and runs his hand over it.
"What do you think sat here? The coin box?"
The place where the box sat is about 8 inches wide and 6 deep.
The old watch tower ruins south of the city are haunted. Long ago the guards took a witch prisoner and tortured her to death. With her dying words she cursed the entire tower. The spirits of both the witch and her captures still inhabit it.
Be careful around the sewers drains and grates around the city, the sewers are inhabited by giant rats.
Some crazed wizard caused an oak tree to grow overnight in the western slums the other night. The wizard destroyed a home when she did it.
Radgar the Butcher has returned. He murdered two dozen people the other night. Best not to be out at night or he will find you.
Travel to the Ioso islands is no longer safe. Pirates sail the seas and are taking captive all those they run into and selling them into slavery.
Talathel tries to recall what he can about the store and its owner.
We should head back to the inn and aait the others so we can comare notes. Mikal moves to the door, hands Talathel back his vial from the door latch, and opens the door a crack to look out onto the street before exiting the building. Once it is clear he exits and heads back for the inn.
Aria nods at the sagacity of the advice and makes for the street also. She and Skyfire also move on to the inn once the coast is clear.
Talathel leaves last, closing the door behind him and using his lockpick to lock it again from the outside and cover their tracks.
Having come to an impasse for the time being everyone regroups at a inn to share notes before retiring for the evening.
The old tattered strip of cloth recovered by Garion and Cindy Lu, viewed under the better light of a lantern hanging overhead shows signs of much use, having been coated in mud and dirt and washed countless numbers of times.
Upon rising the next morning, Mikal gathers with the rest of the group in the sommon room of the inn. We should talk to the shop owners and see what else they could offer by way of information. We could start with the baker and then move on to the fruit vendor.
Upon returning to the bakery the following morning the fresh of smell of baked goods is stronger than ever, the somewhat plump woman who owns the shop and her two children having been at work for several hours already preparing for the day.
"Come in, come in. What can I get for you today?" her voice is friendly. Her son is busy helping customer, placing several loaves of fresh bread in a linen sack.
"Good morning, we know you are busy but were hoping you could answer some questions for us. We are with the guild and are investigating the burglaries that occured earlier this week." Mikal gives the woman some time to digest who they are as the group of armed and armored heroes enter the bakery.
"Was there anything of great value taken, or anything unusual for a common burglar? Did they leave anything behind?"
Aria stands back, allowing Mikal the chance he needs to speak with the woman. She watches the children, however, to see if their reactions might give additional information.
Vados quickly scans the room for any obvious signs of damage from a break-in.
"Oh. Oh my." she pats her hand to her chest as she realizes who you represent. She gets a little breathless as she relates the story, "Well they broke the window over there and left quite a mess - tracked mud all over the place. But we don't leave the coin box here at night, which is just as well or I'm sure they would have taken it. Gave us a bit of a fright coming in and seeing the mess though. And they did take a dozen loaves of bread and some pastries." She thinks for a moment, "They also made a mess of my paperwork, probably looking for valuables I guess. I'm just glad we were gone at the time, especially with all those murders the other night - could have been us if we'd still been here." Her cheeks are flushed as she finishes.
"Did they take any of your papers?" Mikal asks, hoping this may explain the break in. Seeing the reaction she is having to the questions and reliving the experience he decides to try to comfort her. It sounds like it may have been some hungry street people, taking advantage of the chaos on the night of the murders. I am sure you and your children will be safe. I will pass by on occasion to make sure everything is fine."
She frowns, then goes over to the counter and pulls out a dozen papers and goes through them carefully. This causes her to frown more deeply, "There is a page missing here. These pages here", she pulls two from the pile, "are my daily expenses and income. At the end of the week I tally those up and have a weekly expenses and earnings, but that page is missing."
"Did you purchase anything unusual in the past week?" Aria asks.
As unobtrusively as possible, Garion casts Zone of Truth.
"Hmmm, no, just the usual." She looks through her papers again and hands one to Aria. "These are my expenses so far this week."
The paper lists mundane baking ingredients. Flour, eggs, yeast, several varieties of fruit, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Next to each is listed a quantity and purchase price.
"Has anyone threatened you or demanded protection money?" Aria asks a last question, brushing Garion aside when she realizes what he is about to cast.