Sorry for the late update but here's the next chapter : )

Merlin and Arthur reached Bromley and they both got out of Merlin's car and walked up to the block of flats that was recently on fire. Police and firemen were surrounding it. There was a barrier around the house. Police tape was strung across the house saying 'do not cross'. Merlin walked over to the nearest policeman.

"No passing, sir." Merlin smiled gently and reached into his pocket and pulled something out.

"Martin Emrys." He said, holding up a silver badge.

"We've already got a detective on the case."

"Oh, I was called in by officer… Harry. He said he needed two detectives on the case."

"Okay, detective Martin Emrys." The police offers said, holding up the tape and letting Merlin duck under it. "Wait, who's this?" he asked, pointing to Arthur.

"Oh, he's my assistant." Giving him a 'how-could-you-not-know-who-I-am' look, Arthur followed Merlin.

"Faking an ID Merlin?" Arthur asked, eyebrows raised.

"Well… technically not. I was a policeman in 1934."

"A policeman, is that like a knight?"

"Yeah… less arrogant in most cases,"

"Knights are not arrogant." Arthur defended.

"Okay whatever you say Arthur." Merlin grinned.

"Why did you call yourself 'Martin'?"

"I can't go calling myself Merlin Emrys, people will make connections."

"Why not change your surname?"

"The old religion told me to not deny who I truly am." Merlin said almost sadly. "Anyway let's search the flat."

They walked up the stairs; luckily the rest of the building hadn't been damaged too badly. They entered the damaged apartment. The walls were black with soot and several pieces of the furniture were half gone.

"It must have been a powerful fire." Arthur said. Merlin frowned. He had faced many fires and it took them a while to go through a piece of thick wood.

A man in a grey suit with a wrinkled, clean-shaven face and dark brown eyes came over. "Inspector George Boyce," The Inspector introduced.

"Inspector Martin Emrys and this is my assistant Ar…Archie Pendragon."

"Archie?" Arthur mouthed in anger to Merlin, who shrugged.

"I'm sorry… I thought I was the detective?" The inspector said irritably, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah well he wanted two detectives."

"Look kids-"

"We're not kids, I was a-"Arthur got a sharp stab in the ribs by Merlin.

"I can assure you, we are not kids, we are professionals thank you very much."

"Fine, you see if you can find any clues in the bedroom and kitchen." He said, handing them a pair of plastic gloves each. Merlin nodded and the two of them walked over to the bedroom.

In the bedroom, there was a smashed window. Merlin carefully walked over to the window, stepping over the small shards of glass, and peered outside. It was a short distance down and an alleyway below.

"Strange." Merlin said softly.

"What?"

"Well normally the glass would blow out in a fire."

"And?"

"Well the glass is in the inside."

"So someone must have broken it from the outside."

"Exactly, the man on the news said that the man saw a shadow."

"A trespasser,"

"But why would they come in here?"

"Gold? Money?"

"There must have been another reason."

'Maybe they know the people living in this house.' A voice that sounded like Gaius said.

"Maybe they know the people living in this house?" Arthur repeated the voice out loud.

"Possibly."

'Arthur, look on the floor. What do you see?'

Arthur studied the floor; he saw something glint among the shards of glass. He edged closer and saw a gold locket. He carefully picked it up. He hissed in pain as it burned his flesh, he quickly dropped it but it stopped in mid-air. His faced turned to see Merlin's hand stretched out, his eyes focused on the necklace.

"I'll never get over the fact that you can do that."

"I know but you'll get used to it." Merlin said eyes still focused.

"It's hot."

"Hot, the fire was put out ages ago."

"Metal stays hot."

"But it would have cooled down by now."

"One second." Merlin said before his eyes flashed gold. He let go of the necklace and it fell into his palm. "I cooled it down." But I had to do magic to do that. The warlock studied the locket sitting in his palm.

"I think this is real gold. A delicate chain, fairly old with the initials 'C.E.' engraved in them."

"C.E.? What could that stand for?"

"I don't know but it'll be interesting to find out."

"Is there anything in the locket?" Merlin tried to open the locket.

"I can't. Its sealed shut."

"Merlin you really need to get stronger."

"I mean it." He said. His eyes flashed gold again. "My magic's not loosening it."

"Give it here." Arthur said. After several attempts, he finally gave up. "It must be pretty old."

Merlin frowned. What could be old enough to escape his magic?

They searched the room. They couldn't find anything else. No footprints, no fingerprints, no blood or other parts of the body that could be traced back to the owner. The trespasser was certainly good at keeping themselves hidden but there were no other reasons for why they were there.

X

After getting out of the house a couple of hours later, they decided to visit the hospital. Merlin had secretly tucked away the locket, out of sight of Boyce. Whatever this was, it might be dangerous and he certainly wouldn't let it go into the hands of the police and let it go public.

They visited the couple who had been in the flat, who were staying in the hospital after the husband got a burn. They went to ward 2 where the couple were and knocked on the door. Merlin slowly entered followed by Arthur.

Mr Mitchell was lying on a bed, sitting upright, his arm in a sling and watching TV. Mrs Mitchell was sitting on a chair on the right hand side, also watching the screen. They were fairly old, in their mid-60s. The wife was plump and had grey hair in a bun with a pale face and round eyes, a thin coat of red lipstick placed on her small lips. Mr Mitchell was very thin with a thin layer of grey hair, watery eyes and a pair of round spectacles.

"Hello dear." Mrs Mitchell said brightly. "Do we know you?"

"No, I'm Martin and this is Archie."

"You're not damn reporters are you?" The man asked, eyes not moving from the television.

"No, we won't invade your privacy, we promise. But we would like to ask you some questions."

"Pull up a chair." She smiled. Merlin and Arthur did, sitting next to the woman. The news was on; pictures of a girl were being shown. She was an 18 year old with heavy mascara and eyeliner hair long and loose, smiling at the camera with white teeth, it swiftly changed, she had gotten thinner and you could visibly see her sharp cheekbones. She was not smiling. It changed back to the news.

"That was Celia, the girl that disappeared over a fortnight ago. The police are still looking for her but we just wanted to say that if you have seen this girl please contact us-"The TV turned to a black screen.

"We knew her." Mrs Mitchell said sadly. "We used to visit her back when she was little, such a sweet little girl."

"Before she got on bloody drugs,"

"Michael!" Mrs Mitchell said. "We don't know that."

"That's what all these children do these days. Get addictions and then go missing. I fear for the future generations."

"But not Celia, she's not that type of girl."

"She's not a child, Rosie. They grow up. Make their old decisions. Poor Celia didn't stand a chance with all them kids in her area. Peer pressure, that's what made her start."

"Do you have any idea what this locket might be?" Merlin asked, handing them the gold necklace.

"Never seen it," Mr Mitchell said.

"It's not mine. Gold doesn't suit me."

"Did you hear anything, before the fire?"

"A slight rustling but we saw a rat the other week. We called the pest exterminators but maybe there were more." Said Mrs Mitchell.

"And nothing else?"

"A shadow, but my glasses were off then so who knows what I saw?" Mr Mitchell said. Merlin nodded.

"Thank you. We better go. Archie."

Arthur sat still, looking at the floor. "Archie." Merlin repeated, nudging him.

"Oh, me?" He realised getting up.

Merlin and Arthur left the hospital. There had been a trespasser in that flat.

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