Burglary and Thievery

The late afternoon sun was setting in the west, casting the downtown area's buildings in a warm orange glow. At this hour, people were returning to their homes from work; businesses were either closing or winding down into the nighttime hours; and a young, well-dressed man was hurriedly walking down the main thoroughfare, his demeanor a troubled one.

Diedrich hurried down the street, shoving past any civilians and totally forgetting his usual kindness and politeness. Soon, he arrived at the Monte Carlos Police Department, which was abuzz with activity as officers and regular employees either hurried about on nondescript errands or sat at desks filing reports or answering 911 messages. At the help desk sat a rather portly man who appeared rather tired and uncaring. Thankfully, there wasn't an actual line to wait in, allowing the teen to walk directly to the front.

"Yeah, how can I help ya?" the clerk asked, his eyes heavy with fatigue.

"I'd like to report a theft, please," Diedrich stated, his foot tapping incessantly and his entire body feeling jittery.

The clerk gathered together a pen and paper and asked him a series of questions, namely what was stolen.

"Several books from the magic section of the store, sir."

At that, the man called for someone known as "Versailles Amaranth".

For a mere moment, Diedrich was bewildered by the young woman's appearance. A set of vulpine ears and a tail were clearly visible. At first, he reassured himself she was simple eccentric in terms of fashion. Yet, as the tail swished and swayed and the ears twitched slightly, his reassurances were broken. Clearly this young girl wasn't human; at least, from a physical standpoint. Still, he couldn't let his surprise get the better of him.

So, after merely a second's worth of pause, he performed the action he normally did when introducing himself to a woman. He took hold of the brim of his black bowler hat and dipped in down slightly whilst giving her a nod in greeting.

"Of course, Madame Amarath. I believe there may be a fair few queries I have need to ask, though sadly none come to mind, at the moment."

His worries were temporarily gone as the Grand Duke's characteristic politeness set in, though he figured it wouldn't last.

While Diedrich was somewhat off-put by Versailles's opening the door, he kept silent and took the polite act for what it was. He was semi-displeased by having his compulsion to open the door himself be refused. Granted, the fox-like woman likely had no idea about Victorian customs, and such customs were likely extended to all, as opposed to having certain acts be performed by men, while women did other, unrelated things.

Diedrich uttered a word of thanks before stepping forth onto the street, which was relatively empty of any walking pedestrians. While the teen was curious to know about her features and why they were that way, he felt that discussing such information would be especially rude and inappropriate. Still, that doesn't mean he couldn't inquire into other subjects. He fast-walked down the sidewalk, as he wasn't in the mood for a leisurely stroll to the crime scene.

"For how long have you been employed in the service of the police department?" he asked, turning his head towards the intern.

Diedrich continued his fast pace, all the while listening to Versailles's response. While he did desire to follow up his line of questioning, one particular query stuck in his mind. "Who was it that decided to name you 'Versailles,' pray tell?" Personally, he found her given name to be rather queer sounding. After all, who would name their child after a palace in France?

Soon, however, the two arrived at the bookstore itself, which was locked up tightly.

It seemed his question made the young woman uncomfortable, as evidenced by the flattening ears. The sight intrigued Diedrich, but he said nothing of it. As the two arrived at the store, he unlocked the front door and held it open for Versailles to enter, with a bell ringing audibly. "It's quite an intriguing name, madame," he said, entering in after her.

The interior appeared relatively normal, save for how dark it was. "I do that to save on electricity," he explained, equating it to gas lights in that there was only so much to go around. With a flick of a switch, the light bulbs and fluorescent lights flickered on and gave the space a light yellow haze, indicating their age.

"I'm unsure where the perpetrator entered, in all honesty. I didn't hear the door creak or the bell ring, so perhaps they entered in through a window? Also, I was upstairs at the time, restocking shelves in the fiction section."