009a. Manilla

Braum wakes up in a hotel room, alone, with a stack of manilla envelopes.

Braum wakes up in a hotel suite, with the sheets kicked off the bed and 12 tidy manilla envelopes on the floor. Checking the clock, he sees that it is shortly after 7am. He rises, and looks at the envelopes, all but one of which are sealed.

He checks the living room area, and finds three large empty bottles of cheap whiskey. In the closet, there is a woman's trench coat and wide-brimmed hat. Checking behind him, the bathroom door is open and the tub is full, yet has nobody inside. He double-checks the bathroom and other areas, finding nobody, and that the water in the tub has cooled down to room temperature.

The coat's pocket contains a small figurine of The Thinker, with glyphs on its back - there is a sense of Glamour about it. He sets it on the nightstand and sits back in the bad, trying to recall anything of the previous night. He knows he left the freehold, and is *pretty* sure Kyoko left with him. However, the coat doesn't seem her style.

In the other pocket of the coat, he finds a gun: a snub-nosed revolver. It is fully loaded, and has no indication of having been recently fired. Braum brings it into the bathroom, wipes it down with a clean towel, and uses the towel to return it to the coat pocket.

Returning to the envelopes, he holds the unsealed one at arm's length, and opens it… it is empty. Holding the others up to the light, he can tell there are papers inside the rest.

He checks the room's number, and discovers that it has the same number as Fala was staying in. He heads to the phone, and dials the front desk, and enquires as to whether "his friend" had stepped out, and though he gets no direct answer to that question, he is told that she has not checked out.

Verifying that he has no injuries or other markings, he opens one of the envelopes and finds a sheet that is blank aside from the border and signature from the Duchess that was found on the warrant Fala had produced at The Spark. He finds no sign of invisible ink, but manages to get a paper cut (despite his tough skin) and drops some blood on the paper, the envelope, and the sheets. He quickly wraps the finger, puts the paper into the first envelope he had found, and crushes the bloody envelope, tucking it into his coat. Contemplating the sheet, he cleans the spot with some club soda from the mini fridge.

Braum checks the garbage in the kitchenette, trying to get a sense of how many people might have been in the hotel room the previous night, but finds only the wrapper from a sanitary napkin, implying the presence of a woman since the room was last cleaned.

Braum grabs his coat, checking the pocket, and finds his wallet and keys, as well as another wallet - belonging to a man by the name of Marcus Smith, whose driver's license is from Utah, and the picture looks like Kenwyn. There is $20 USD, $5 CAD, no debit or credit cards, and a hotel room key. Braum takes the keycard and leaves the wallet, before leaving the room, taking the "Do Not Disturb" sign off the doorknob.

He returns the keycard to the front desk, checks the hotel's restaurant for Fala or Kenwyn, but finds neither, and so heads back up to Fala's room. Tearing off a piece of the envelope, he writes "I know. Call me before this gets out of hand. - B" and slips it under the door before leaving the hotel.

Braum heads back to the Spark, in search of Kyoko.