John hurriedly walked in the direction of his shop. The formerly blue skies are now filled with dark gray clouds. Even though it is afternoon, the fog has settled in the city.

He had spent most of the day getting acquainted with some of the regulars and promoting his shop inside the club.

'I didn't expect the weather to change so much. Especially with such skies in the morning.' John cursed as he frowned at the gray sky as he passed by other people.

After walking a while, John returned to the familiar street where his shop was. The street is mostly empty, and the rest hurriedly walked to their destination.

"Thankfully, someone left their coat in the club.' John mumbled as he hug his body as a breeze blew by.

When John was just yards away from his shop, he noticed that a stranger exited his shop holding a sack full of things. It was odd since the man was wearing a well-kept jacket, but his pants and shoes were ragged and full of patches.

'Was that a customer? Did Lucia and Elma return early?' John thought as he increased his pace to the shop. 

In front of the shop, everything looks normal. As soon as John reached out and grabbed the doorknob, he knew something was wrong. He swung the door with the rattling loose doorknob. Inside the store is a mess. Merchandise and papers are strewn on the ground.

John's heart sank. His face contorted from shock, disbelief, and grief to anger in just a few seconds.

"...Shit!" John was only able to let out a word.

John decisively put the box he is carrying behind the door and took a cane lying on the ground.

John quickly exited his shop and scanned toward the direction the culprit went. Through the light fog, John makes out the outline of the man going straight south beyond the intersection.

John hurriedly closed the door, crossed the street, and followed behind the man. After a minute or so, John was just an earshot away from the man.

John was ready to wack the man with his cane, but he suddenly heard incoherent mumbles.

"....lord of prayer.... hahaha... Soft embrace.... thousand people.... prayer dust.... hahaha"

Slowly checking his surroundings, John found that the mumbles are coming from the man in the front.

"Something is wrong with this person...' John thought as he hesitated in his track.

But seeing the sack under the man's arms, John resolves himself and charges toward the man's back. John used his shoulder to tackle the man to the ground. 

"Ugghh." 

A painful grunt came from the man as his body hit the cobbled street. John used the man's body to cushion his fall. Relatively unharmed, John stood up. While ignoring some stares from nearby passersby, John took a look inside the nearby fallen sack. 

In it are several familiar items to Jack; most of the items have their tags still on. Using the tags, John confirmed that the items are his.

"Okay, next, I need you to give that jacket back," John said to the man, not caring for the man's answer. John flipped the dazed man to his back, but this caused the man to sober up.

"Where is my sack? That is mine... mine... mine!" The man furiously flailed his arm at John. His eyes stare at John like a feral beast.

John pushed himself away from the man and quickly stood up. As the man hurriedly tries to get up from the ground, John grabbed his cane and quickly swung it at the man's head.

"Thump."

With John's practice in handling walking canes, John perfectly landed a hit at the side of the head.

The man still tried to stand up, albeit wobbly. After taking a few uneven steps, the man slumped to the ground.

'Did I just do that! I was able to knock that guy out. When did it start to rain?'

John thought as he dazedly stared at the fallen man. Then, a woman's scream woke his stupor.

"Kyaaah! Help! Murderer! Help!" A woman further away from John's location screamed while pointing toward John. 

With his fast thinking, John quickly checked all the pockets of the man's jacket. Anything and everything in the pocket was stuffed inside the nearby sack.

Soon, the woman's scream attracted people. Some are inside the buildings looking through the windows, while others are in the streets slightly further away. Seeing that it is just a matter of time before the police arrived, John quickly ran to a nearby alleyway.

John ran into alleyway after alleyway and crossed street after street. Before long, he was in the western district of the city. Even in the rain, John can see people around him working nonstop. Some are loading cargo from the warehouse to the carriage, while others are loading boxes from the carriage to the warehouse. He can see from here the outline of the large towering steam engines and steam towers that power the western district of the city.

Tearing his gaze from the scenery, John searched for a nearby store; he bought an umbrella from it. 

 

The rain had turned to a weak drizzle when John returned to his store. Outside was police wearing a raincoat standing guard at the door. 

"Okay, I just need to act like this is the first time I saw the scene," John murmured to himself.

John ran towards the store. 

"Stop! This place is under the jurisdiction of the city police." The officer outside stops John.

"What do you mean your jurisdiction? This is my shop!" John agitatedly said.

"My superior inside can you fill in the details." The officer replied while motioning toward the shop.

Along with the original mess are muddy footprints that litter the whole store.

Next to the counter are two police officers talking. John overheard as he walked toward the two officers.

"This is the fifth burglary this week."

"Detective William, do you think they are all connected?"

"All the places hit were different. The only thing they all share is that they left the place a mess. But I have a feeling that all of them are connected."

"Is this your ..."

Sensing John's approach, the two stop their conversation. 

'The two of them look familiar,' John thought before talking. "Police officer, please tell me you found the one responsible for this." 

"I assume you are, Mr. Shelby."

The female officer ignored John's acting and asked. John can only nod with a solemn face.

"It is still too early to say anything about the investigation, but I assure you that we are doing our best."  

The two officers then returned, examining the room.

John opened the storage room and saw Elma picking up the mess with a sad expression. 

Elma tried to greet John, but John could see her body trembling.

"Ma... master John, I ..."

John walked closer to Elma and embraced her. 

"It's okay. At least you weren't harmed." John said as he tried to soothe her.

In this quiet room, the two hug. To John, it reminded him of moments when his grandpa soothed him when he was a child.

"Th... Thank you." Elma's voice broke the silence.

 John let go of Elma. He noticed that his wet clothes had transferred to Elma. Her clothes are now a bit wet, making them stick to her skin, revealing her nice figure.

Seeing John's gaze, Elma looks down at her body. She quickly realized the situation and faced her back toward John.

Seeing Elma's action, John sighed and went out of the room.

Just as he stepped down the stairs, he saw Lucia coming down from the second floor.

Her face was pale and full of stress. She saw John at the foot of the step, so she hurriedly went down. However, she didn't even notice that there was still one more step of stairs making her fall into John.

John caught her in his chest without falling back. Just as Lucia tried to get away from John, John hug her.

"I'm sorry, I should have been here for support. Thank you."

"What... what? It's not your fault!" Lucia replied with a higher tone, attracting the gaze of the two officers. 

Lucia breaks free from John's arm.

"You're wet. Go upstairs and change your clothes. I can handle the rest, " Lucia shyly scolded John. Lucia then went to the two officers.

Meanwhile, John went upstairs. 

'Thankfully, that man only stole on the first floor.' John thought to himself when he first saw the second floor.

John carefully examined the second floor for anything strange. Finding nothing, John went inside his room.

After changing into a set of dry clothes, John sat down on his chair. He took the sack he hid inside the coat.

"The officer might have noticed the bulge. Thankfully, they did not question me." 

John said as he spreads the items into the table. He categorized the items that that seems familiar or with tags on one side. What is left are money and dirty trinkets.

John reached out into the pile and unfolded a worn piece of paper. 

"This looks like a poster about some kind of play?" John tried to figure as he look carefully at the faded picture and smudged words.

After folding the paper, John grabbed an old tin can.

"It's ...empty. but judging from the wear and tear, it's regularly used."

Just as he was to throw the rest, something caught his eye.

It was a small black cross. In the center of it is an eye.

"I don't know any religion that uses a cross with an eye in the middle," John murmured as he examined the cross carefully.