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We’ve sealed the Child Bank.

Excellent. How is MARY? I want a full medical to see her status after her little adventure.

We don’t have her.

Explain.

She wasn’t there.

She escaped again?

No. It seems that she was never there.

But the outbreak. She must have been there, just for a short time.

No. They were all adamant she was never there. A lot of them know Vander Girin-Charris, and they’re all certain he never came there with a friend. However, two of the assistants were very close to him before he moved out, and he occasionally came back to visit them.

Well then, ask them where he is. He must have confided in someone.

Unfortunately, one of them, a boy called Scratch, was the initial case, and he …

Yes?

Well, he is dead.

Yes, as you say, unfortunate. What about the other one?

The other one is a girl called Barb. She’s disappeared.

Disappeared? Before or after all this happened?

After. She came back with this Scratch and looked after him. It seems that they were partners. When he died, she left.

So she had gone by the time you got there?

Not exactly.

You lost her.

To be fair, we didn’t know we needed to keep her.

You were told to seal the Bank.

Yes.

I’m really not sure why I keep you in this job. Fine. Fine. Well, you had better find where she’s gone. And I would do it quickly. Otherwise, the trail will go cold.