Some time later

Grevil was listening to yet another officer report on the findings of the case on the black market artwork so far (which seemed to amount to basically nothing) when Anne slipped inside the large meeting room and walked covertly to his side.

"Sir."

Grevil tipped his head toward her to listen as she bent to whisper in his ear while the presenting officer paused for a fraction of a moment.

"It's the boy, Kazuya - he's here to see you."

"Kujo?" Grevil repeated, glancing up at his assistant. She gave a tiny nod.

"He says it's urgent." She explained.

Grevil frowned. Normally, he would have chided Anne for interrupting the meeting because of a teenage boy's insistence… but where Kujo was involved, Victorique was usually not far behind. The thought cinched his decision. Grevil gave Anne a small nod.

"Bring him in."

Kujo finished speaking, panting a little after his long outburst. He hadn't been the slightest bit fazed to find himself across a large meeting room, filled with high-ranking police officials, from Grevil. Anne had to admire his spunk. Grevil was decidedly less impressed.

"... And that's everything?" Grevil asked at last in a bored tone once Kujo stopped explaining about all the strange things that had happened to him at Jeantan, including his stumbling on a terrified girl in the department store's basement.

"Yes!" Kujo nodded frantically. "So hurry up and send police officers to Jeantan-"

"I've heard enough of your rubbish." Grevil cut him off. "As you can see, we're busy here."

"Inspector!" Kujo argued. "There was a girl in that basement and she asked me to get the police! No matter how you look at it, something's wrong!"

Grevil just yawned, and Kujo insisted, "It's a case!"

The door to the meeting room creaked open and the man nearest the door jumped up as soon as he saw who it was.

"Superintendent General Signore!"

Everyone shot to their feet in an instant, even Grevil, while Anne watched as a bespectacled man with a friendly face walked in.

"Grevil! It's been a while."

Signore strode over to Grevil, barely paying heed to anyone else as he greeted his friend boisterously.

"And that's because you never come to visit. Jacqueline is worried about you too."

Grevil avoided eye contact with the other man and he mumbled evasively, "Er, I've been busy with many things..."

"I've heard of your reputation." Signore agreed, reverting comfortably to business. "I'd like you to demonstrate your exceptional ability by solving the museum piece smuggling case."

Grevil smiled tightly while Anne sighed. He had dug himself into this just a little bit (not that he knew she knew it, given he had no idea she knew about Victorique) but she did pity him. Still, Anne thought as she glanced covertly at Kujo, it was a good thing the boy had come to report what he had when he did.

Apparently, Grevil was thinking along similar lines as he abruptly barked at the teenge boy, "Don't just stand there!"

Kujo jumped, looking faintly confused.

"Let's go!" Grevil said impatiently while gesturing to Anne to join him as well.

"Uh, okay!"

Kujo hurried to join Grevil, who swept past the Superintendent with a polite but brief nod.

"Excuse me, but I'm in a hurry." Grevil excused as he strode off, leaving the Superintendent looking a little bit surprised.

"Sir." Anne nodded politely at Signore before following Grevil out the door. He held the door for her without much thought before joining Kujo as they all walked together down the hallway.

"I'm grateful." Kujo said to Grevil as soon as they were alone. "But why the sudden change of heart?"

"You told me, remember?" Grevil answered in an annoyed tone. "Something suspicious is going on at Jeantan."

Grevil's voice lowered and he was almost speaking to himself as he continued, "No matter what it takes, I have to live up to expectations. Their expectations."

Kujo looked confused while Anne glanced at Grevil discreetly before moving her eyes back to the front. It wasn't her place to say anything; and it wasn't time yet for her to act.

"Well?" Grevil asked impatiently.

The trio were standing at the entrance to Jeantan, the largest shopping mall in the city.

"Um..." Kujo muttered as he looked around. "If I remember correctly, I first asked that man where they sell the blue rose paperweights."

He pointed to one of the purple-suited employees. However, when they questioned the employee, the man simply bowed deferentially and spoke in a perfectly polite tone.

"I don't remember seeing you before, sir..." He said apologetically, clearly surprising Kujo who stared at the employee in confusion.

"He's a little hard not to remember, isn't he? There can't be that many oriental teenage boys who come here." Anne piped up, but the man just bowed again.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember seeing him before, ma'am."

"Is that so?" Anne asked just as politely. The man nodded while Grevil frowned.

"What exactly is going on here?" Grevil hissed at Kujo, who seemed frozen as he stared around at the nearest shop.

Anne however was staring at the same thing - just not as openly as Kujo. The employees were all watching the boy carefully: it wasn't obvious, they continued to serve their customers; but they were all watching Kujo coldly out of the corners of their eyes.

"Is there a problem?"

Anne noticed the way Kujo flinched before he turned to face the speaker. Anne turned too to see a broad-faced man sporting a good-natured smile. Anne glanced briefly at the pretty blonde female who walked slightly behind the man - clearly his secretary or assistant for all intents and purposes - before she refocused on the man again as he stopped in front of Grevil.

"I'm Garnier, the owner of this establishment. Can I help you?"

"Um… we met earlier, didn't we?" Kujo began . "After that, I-"

"What may you be referring to?" Garnier asked in a puzzled tone.

Kujo looked shocked again at the man's words, as if wondering why he would tell such a barefaced lie. "O-On the top floor, there's a room with an oak door. There was a glass case inside-"

"Pardon me," Garnier cut off the boy to look at Grevil questioningly, "but what is this oriental boy talking about?"

"Well, uh…" Grevil paused as he glanced at Kujo.

Anne could see that his patience was wearing thin but Grevil trusted the boy to a large extent - even if he would never admit it - and as such he was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now. Kujo meanwhile seemed to slowly realize what was going on and he stood a little straighter as he understood these people were going to frame him as a straight-up liar. Anne watched the boy curiously. 'What will you do now, Kujo Kazuya?'

"An oak door." Kujo repeated more firmly and clearly this time. "The wallpaper is brown and the floor has a checked pattern of black and white tiles. Let's go to that room. That way, you'll know that I'm speaking the truth!"

Anne had to admit, she was impressed by this boy. His sense of honour was astonishing - she could see why Victorique would have been intrigued, given the child's upbringing. However, Anne had to pity the boy because he clearly had no idea what he was up against. Unfortunately, she knew Grevil wouldn't either.

And as she suspected, Garnier was more than happy to take them upstairs and he opened an oak door that Kujo apparently recognized… only to find a room that Kujo didn't recognize.

"Well?" Grevil asked as he glanced down at Kujo, who looked dumbfounded as he stared around a red carpeted room with gold wallpaper.

"I-It can't be." The boy muttered, running into the room and staring at the marble table that had apparently not been there just hours ago.

Anne meanwhile sniffed delicately, inhaling the room's smell without Garnier or his assistant noticing, even as Garnier asked smugly, "Are you convinced?"

But Kujo was not so easily beaten. At his insistence, the group headed down to the basement. Garnier looked slightly more nervous as they did - his hands clenched just slightly and his breathing was a hint faster. Grevil didn't notice it, his attention on Kujo as he watched the boy with growing disapproval and exasperation, but Anne saw the way Garnier tugged at his collar just a little bit to try and ease his nerves. She also saw the way he tensed when Kujo shot out of the elevator when they reached the basement and headed straight for a pile of crates nearby.

"In here! There was a girl in here!" Kujo explained before he opened the crate… to reveal a mannequin stuffed inside.

When she saw what was inside, Anne frowned just slightly - she had expected it to be empty but what did a mannequin mean? Clearly Garnier hadn't been aware of the missing girl, not with how nervous he had been… had the girl done the switch? Unable to trust the boy she had sent to fetch the police? Just how horrific was her current situation that she had risked the possibility of being saved out of fear of being recaptured?

"Impossible..." Kujo was too stunned to process what was happening. "I'm sure there was-"

"W-What are you trying to pull, Kujo?" Grevil demanded when Garnier began to chuckle.

"Boy! You actually mistook a mannequin for a living human being, of all things!" Garnier laughed.

The man walked away, apparently to get his laughter under control while Grevil scowled darkly at Kujo.

"Kujo..."

"T-That's not it!" Kujo protested. "Please believe me! There really was a girl in here! She was in here!"

He looked desperately at Anne for help, but she just shook her head while Grevil snapped, "I'm a busy man, you know!"

As Grevil continued to scold Kujo, Anne glanced over his shoulder to where Garnier was whispering something out the corner of his mouth to his secretary. Anne quickly averted her eyes but her mind whirled. The pieces were starting to fit together but there were still so many things missing. Things Kujo would no longer share with the police given the way Grevil was scolding him now. Things the police wouldn't likely find especially now that Garnier was on high alert.

Anne kept her face politely blank, with a hint of disappointment thrown in for Kujo, but in her mind she made her decision. She somehow needed to steer either Kujo or Grevil to Victorique. The girl would be able to pick up on the fragments of the truth and solve the mystery for Grevil, rescue the children and women being kidnapped, and give Kujo a little bit of revenge for the merry jig Garnier was making him dance. And if Anne's guess was right, they would solve Grevil's black market art trade case while they were at it too.

Although, if she had to guess based on Kujo's expression and what she knew of the honorable but inquisitive boy, it wouldn't take much for Kujo to go to Victorique for help.

"I've just about had enough!" Grevil was still scolding Kujo as they exited Jeantan.

"None of the employees have seen you before, the room you insist you were in doesn't even exist, and neither does the girl!"

"But Inspector," Kujo pleaded as they stopped in front of Grevil's carriage. "I really did-"

"Get your shopping done and go straight home, boy!" Grevil snapped before he turned to his carriage.

He held out a hand like the gentleman that he was to help Anne get in first; but she sent Kujo one more glance before she took it. He stared back at her glumly. The boy was disheartened, his confidence trampled - but Anne had a feeling he wasn't so easily beaten. She sent him a small smile before she stepped inside the carriage.

'Call Victorique.' She mentally requested of him as Grevil got into the carriage behind her. 'Trust your instincts. Have her mind help you where your heart has taken you.'

As if he'd heard her (although he had probably just done as he saw fit, which was what Anne was starting to like about the boy), Kujo acted fast.

Not an hour after Anne and Grevil had left Jeantan and returned to headquarters, a frantic teenage girl appeared crying for Inspector... Gevril. Anne almost laughed at the girl's mistake but she couldn't when she saw the poor thing. She was extraordinarily thin, clearly malnourished, and her eyes were almost wild with terror as she avoided anyone who tried to come near her while she screamed bloody muder for Inspector 'Gevril'.

Anne managed to calm the girl down while Grevil introduced himself and together they were just about able to convince the girl to give her statement. She had just stuttered out Kujo's name as the person who sent her when Kujo arrived with a street urchin in tow, claiming the boy could prove that there had been several cases of young women or girls disappearing into Jeantan but never coming back out. The young boy was clearly an orphan living on the streets, but at Kujo's insistence and Anne's prodding Grevil allowed the boy, Luigi, to prove himself. Anne left to sit in on the Superintendent's interview of the girl, Anastasia, as moral support for the poor girl who seemed to run at the sight of men while Grevil supervised the urchin boy as he picked out photos from a large line up.

Anne arrived for the end of Luigi's test after the Superintendent was done with his interview with Anastasia and Anne handed the girl off to a kind nurse they had called from the local hospital. The girl needed food and rest, and with her part done they were determined she would get exactly that. And when Anne walked into the room where the boy, Luigi, was working through the photographs she had to admit she was impressed by what she saw.

Luigi was pointing to each photo he recognized, scanning through at an incredible rate as he recited the exact date and time when each girl disappeared into Jeantan. She could tell from the officers' expressions and Grevil's as one of the men reported to him off to the side, that Luigi had probably just accounted for a good deal of the people reported missing.

They all cut off as Anne and the Superintendent walked in, waiting for his opinion on the interview. Anne moved to rejoin Grevil and Kujo while the Superintendent informed the group gravely, "I've questioned the girl. Something does seem wrong with Jeantan."

Everyone tensed as the Superintendent confirmed their suspicions.

"A daughter of a wealthy family, she was exiled out of her country during the Russian Revolution in 1917. She then lost both her parents and came to Sauville with the help of her few relatives. We are currently confirming her identity. We should be on the right track. And then we have… well..."

The Superintendent paused here awkwardly as he relayed the one part of Anastasia's story that didn't seem probable.

"The whole live sacrifice to the demons thing she claims to have witnessed inside Jeantan…"

The Superintendent trailed off with a hopeless shrug on that point, and Anne murmured to Grevil softly, "Sir, I believe the girl may have witnessed something she didn't understand. Possibly the other girls being sold off, if Luigi is to be believed that they were never seen coming back out."

Grevil sighed and nodded, before he grabbed Kujo's arm. Pulling the boy out of earshot of everyone including Anne, Grevil hissed, "There's no other way. Go give that thing a phone call."

"You mean Victorique?" Kujo sighed, annoyed. "Inspector, why don't you call her yourself instead of asking me-"

"No!"

An awkward silence followed Grevil's too-loud retort and Grevil straightened before he coughed into the silent room.