Chapter IV

It started to rain as inspector Zavey walked across the academy campus towards his car. The light drizzle at first reminded him of when he used to stand on the conning tower of the Titan and let the ocean breeze spray gently against his face. By the time he was back at HQ on the civilian side of the Plant, however, it had turned into a full downpour. "God bless Plant technology." he muttered to himself as he climbed the steps and entered the building. Lucky for him, he had left his overcoat in his car and so had some protection from the rain. He removed it and shook it out in the entranceway, then placed it under his arm and walked over to the elevators. As he emerged and walked towards General Waltfeld's door, the guard sitting at the desk adjacent stopped him. "General Waltfeld asked me to give you this." The guard reached into his breast pocket and produced a small piece of paper. The detective opened the communiqué and found only two lines written:

norton manor

2:00

"He said for me to give you directions if you needed."

"Yeah, that'd be great." replied Zavey as he folded the paper and stuck it in his briefcase. The guard then handed him another piece of paper before he replaced his cap and walked back towards the elevators.

XXXXXXX

When Miriallia arrived back at hotel room after the lengthy tour of the military museum and later the victory arch, she quickly flopped down on her bed. Her feet ached and her head still hurt from listening to the tour guide rail on about how Zala's brilliant leadership had ultimately won the war. Of course, it was all sugar coated to the appease the tourists, saying that the war is over and they must learn to put their hostilities behind them. She sighed and rolled over, staring up at the ceiling for a few seconds before remembering the envelope. She blinked and rolled over, grabbing her bag. With the clasp undone, she pulled out the envelope, flipped it over and ran her finger beneath flap. She lifted it and reached inside, grabbing hold of what felt like a piece of paper. It was a photograph depicting about 14 men. Some wore ZAFT officer's uniforms, black with red shoulders, while the others wore the distinctive blue council members attire. One man in an officer's uniform had his head circled in red ink. He was too far in the background to have his face made out, but when Miriallia turned the picture over, she found the some writing. It was rough, but she was able to make out the cursive.

General Tenko Rykiel

1984 Klauson Plaza

She raised an eyebrow at it then flopped down onto the bed and rested the photo on her chest. I'll figure this shit out later she thought as she reached out and placed the photo on the nightstand. She sat up and reached down to take off her shoes, then laid back and fell asleep.

XXXXXXX

Zavey pulled his car up to the large estate that laid nestled in some woodlands not too far from Glenn Park. He stepped out and took a look around before approaching the front door and cautiously opening it. He stepped in and saw in front of him a grand staircase. To his left he could see a doorway leading into a dining room. "Ahh, Zavey!" The colonel turned his head to see that the General had appeared at the top of the staircase and was slowly descending. "So you like it?" he asked jokingly.

"I like the scenery, but the decorum must change." replied Zavey as he motioned around the room. "Is it yours?" he asked.

"It is now. The late general Zaccarias Norton left it to us."

"What do you mean by that sir?"

"After you left for the academy, the DNA results came back. The body is that of Zaccarias Norton. Since he has no one else to watch the house, it becomes police property."

"Hmmm." replied Phil. The name sounded familiar, but it was one of those that shrouded in controversy and mystery. He knew that the man had helped in Zala's rise to power, but what he specifically did during the war he knew nothing about.

"You know much about Norton?" asked Waltfeld as he stopped a few feet away from Zavey and leaned back against a credenza with his arms folded.

"No more than you sir." replied Zavey, trying not to sound insolent.

"Well, that's not saying much. Anyway, that's not why I've brought you here," said Waltfeld as he passed Phil and walked into dining room. The inspector followed and saw the general motion for him to sit down. "Here have a seat." he said as he pulled out a chair. Zavey seated himself while the general pulled out another chair at the corner and sat down, tossing his cap and the table.

"What's this about general? You seemed a bit concerned."

"I am. That's why I had us meet out here, I knew the Securitate would leave a man like Norton alone. As of right now only you and I know about Kreuze." Andrew leaned forward and placed his hands clasped out in front of him. "Kreuze may be a fucking phycho, but he's not stupid."

"That I know. He was onboard the Titan for a few weeks during the war."

"Good, then at least you know what you're dealing with. Kreuze can be a dangerous enemy, and the last thing I need is for one of my best officers to be on the receiving end of his malice." Zavey remained silent. "Just be extremely careful with him. You can't afford to have an enemy like him."

Zavey paused for a few seconds, and then slowly began to nod his head. "Yes sir."

"Good. Now, let's see….it's 2:50, and it was suppose to be your day off. Why don't you go home?"

"You're sure sir?"

"Absolutely. Take the rest of the day off, because we'll probably need you tomorrow,and if anything comes up, we'll call you."

"Thank you sir." replied Phil.

The two policemen gathered their caps and walked out of the mansion, each to their respective car. Phil sat in the driver's seat, though, and waited for general Waltfeld to drive away before he turned to his videophone and dialed a few numbers. A message saying please hold appeared and stayed for a few seconds before Dearka's face appeared on the screen. "Oh, Phil, I'm glad to see you, listen, the DNA results…."

"Yeah, Waltfeld told me. Listen, Dearka, I need you to do me a favor."

"Yeah?" replied the blonde haired officer.

"See what kind of information you can get on this Zaccarias Norton. This case has just gotten fucking complicated."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Good, have it sent to my apartment. I've been given the rest of the day off."

"What? But Phil…." The inspector paid no attention as he switched off the videophone and started up the ignition.