The feeling of belonging is like nothing Claudia could describe. Her whole life the only person she had ever felt she belonged with was her brother and when he left, for a second time, well that left Artie. Artie was the closest thing she had to a father and therefore she wanted nothing more than to please him.
Yet it seemed like nothing she did caused him anything but grief, he was stuck in the past and her trying to bring him to the twenty first century just seemed to annoy him and occasionally resulted in an accidental artifact reanimation. Even thought her calculations were usually correct, he was still more likely to ignore her advice until Myka, Leena or Pete could convince him otherwise. So when Artie asked her to look into a lead Claudia knew it was her chance to prove herself worthy of this family she had found at the Warehouse.
Knowing that Artie had only asked her to check out this lead because he didn't think it would pan out and didn't want to waste Pete and Myka's time, Claudia was even more excited since her research seemed to indicate that it would actually lead to a viable suspect. She could already imagine how impressed Artie would be if she managed to find a clue that would help them solve this case. Maybe she would finally become an official junior agent. Claudia walked up the long path to the Victorian house with shutters drawn and no lights on that she could see. "Creepy" she muttered to herself as she stepped over broken boards on the steps. She knocked twice not expecting an answer so she jumped a little in surprise when the door swung open to reveal a young, good looking, man neatly dressed in a polo and jeans.
"Woah, O.C." Claudia mumbled. "I beg your pardon" said the young man. "No, I mean, sorry ...ah ...I'm Claudia Donovan and I'm doing a story for the local paper on ...um...historic buildings in the town and I was wondering if you could tell me anything about your house or you know any special objects that may be in it from previous owners". "I'd love to, why don't you come in" the young man stepped aside to let Claudia pass. She didn't notice the bolt latch as he shut the door and ushered her into his sitting room.
Pete and Myka had followed Artie's instructions and were checking out the last two places that artifact activity had been observed. So far they hadn't found any evidence indicating why these locations and people had been targeted. The house was decorated sparsely and Pete's attention was drawn to the framed photographs placed among the bookshelves. "Myka take a look at this" Pete held in his outstretched hand a photo of a young man standing next to the owner of the house who had been the unsuspecting victim of the artifact. "I recognize this guy, there was a photo of him at the last house too," Myka said as she took a closer look at the photo, "in it he was with the owner of that house as well. Let's take this photo back to the Warehouse and see if Claudia can get us an id."
"Artie where's Claudia? We found a picture of a possible suspect and we wanted to see if she can id him for us". "I sent Claudia to research one of her crazy ideas to keep her happy, and out of my way. Let me see what I can do for you." Artie's face fell when he saw the framed picture Myka handed to him. "What is this?" he asked gruffly. Pete grinned and said smugly "We told you Artie. This guy has a connection to both crime scenes. We finally got a lead."
"This is the guy I sent Claudia to interview." The words left Artie's lips and Pete's grin disappeared immediately as Myka let out a gasp. "Artie, this is bad. Claudia only knows a few very basic defensive moves. We haven't had time to work on anything more than a face to face assault" said Myka grabbing her jacket and heading for the door. "She's tough though...she'll be ok" Pete said solemnly, more for himself than anyone else.