When Max got home, he immediately headed for his basement, flinging his coat off and onto a hook, as well as switching on a light with a snap of his fingers. As he hurried down the stairs, he also made a quick list of what he needed. Now at the bottom of the stairs, Max took some time to survey the basement. He was quite proud of it after all.
This basement doubled as his lab for practicing magic and alchemy. It was simple enough, a small concrete and steel room with a trio of tables that sat in the middle of the room. There were also various rows of shelves that lined the back wall of the room, with numerous vials, books, flasks and other objects adorning them.
Max gently placed his bag on the table, and quickly set about removing the contents, which consisted of a few boxes of bullets, numerous thick glass vials with multi-colored liquids in them, a first aid kit, writing utensils and paper.
He sighed and began to work on repairing the mesh, using a pair of pliers and a sheet of steel mesh from the table to patch up the tear. After finishing his task, he quickly packed the bag again, and added a knife and a few more vials.
Max took the bag with him when he went upstairs. He set it down on a table in the hallway that led to his bathroom, and then went and gathered a set of clean clothes. Next, he went and showered quickly and left the bathroom now wearing a black shirt and gray cargo pants, along with his boots and jacket, which had gone unchanged.
He grabbed the bag as he walked past the table and slung it over his shoulder as he went downstairs. Once he got to the bottom of the stairs, he realized that he hadn't eaten yet. Max hurried over to the kitchen and grabbed a frozen biscuit from the freezer and put it in the microwave. A couple of minutes later, Max grabbed it from the microwave and ate it on his way out the door, having finished half of it by the time he had locked his door and gotten over to his car.
Max got in, put the key in the ignition, and turned it. The engine stalled for a few seconds and then sputtered to life. He sighed and decided to take the car to the shop later. Max pulled out of the driveway and turned left, heading in the direction of the library. The trip to the library was short, but he used the time well, organizing his thoughts and deciding on a list of questions to ask the person he was going to see.
As the library came into view, Max's phone rang. He fished the device from his pocket, and answered it without checking the caller ID.
"Hello?"
"Is this Maxwell Locke?" The caller's voice was most certainly female, and she spoke with a hispanic accent.
"Yeah, but I'd prefer to be called Max. Who is this?"
"I'm Olivia. I understand that you're looking for Galgan's killer?"
Without another word, Max hung up. While this most certainly provided her with an affirmative answer, he also had no idea who this woman was. Galgan's death was not public yet, which left him with even more questions. Max took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. He pulled into the parking lot and took some time to gather his thoughts.
Who was Olivia? It was unlikely for the goblins to bring in another detective, especially one he'd never heard of. In theory, she could be an elf, as her voice passed for that or human. Potentially, someone could have used magic to alter her voice, but he decided to tuck this question back for later. How did she find out? She wasn't at the scene, at least as far as he knew. She had to be associated with the goblins or with the elves. He knew all the police, and while it was possible that a fake name could have been used, her accent didn't match anyone from the department.
She wasn't one of Stallone's people either. Once again, he knew all of them, and the only woman in Stallone's gang was the singer, who would still be on stage at this time. This left him with two more questions. What did she want, and why was she involved?
Max racked his brains for a couple minutes, but decided to also put this one on the back burner until he had more information. With that, he got out of the car and headed inside the library.
The Fargo Public Library was a very large building, constructed of gray brick and white concrete. The walls were gray, while the roof and pillars were white. In the current lighting, the entire building appeared to be gray. Max went inside quickly, taking care to dodge patches of ice as he walked.
The library was warm, and Max took a deep breath upon entering, and then began to observe the room. Rows and rows of bookshelves stretched from end to end, lined up against the walls and approximately a yard apart each. Two rows of tables fit in the space between the shelves, but didn't extend back anywhere near as far as the shelves. Against the back wall of the room was the front desk. It was a hard marble thing, with rounded corners and a bumper guard around all the edges to prevent people from injuring themselves.
However, Max's attention was not focused on the desk, rather at the person behind it. A mousy girl with poor posture and long, curly hair that was long enough to hide behind who appeared to be in her mid twenties stood behind the desk, with a cup of tea and plate of cookies beside her. She clicked away at the computer, occasionally taking a break to nibble on a cookie or take a sip of tea.
As the library was empty, the sound of the door closing echoed from the front entrance all the way to the back of the building, startling the girl.
She looked up to see who had come in, and upon seeing Max, she seemed to shrink back a step, very clearly uneasy.
Max sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before walking towards the desk. He rarely ever spoke to this girl anymore, nor had he ever harmed her. Then again, given her usual customers from his neck of the woods, he knew that she had every right to be nervous.
"Hey, Liz." He said once he was within earshot.
"Hello, Max. What can I do for you?" Her voice was shaking, and came out as more of a squeak than anything else.
"Relax, I just need to ask a few questions."
"Oh, okay." She seemed to calm down a little bit, but still looked terrified.
This sheepish woman was Liz, or Elizabeth Ruffen, or quite literally the most dangerous woman in Fargo. She was the city's information broker, and while it wasn't by choice, she had enough dirt on both the natural and supernatural sides of the city to effectively control everything and nearly everyone in power. Thanks to being such a wealth of information, she was also in the most danger out of anyone in the city, with numerous kidnapping attempts and one actual kidnapping in her past.
Naturally, Liz was a nervous and paranoid wreck due to being on top of the most wanted list, and her usual nervousness and paranoia was increased significantly due to standing face to face with the only person in the city that she had nothing on, that being Maxwell. Just because he'd never harassed or strong armed her in the four years they'd known each other didn't mean he wouldn't.
"Look, I assume you already know Galgan was killed last night, and that I took the case. I just want to know everything you know about this situation." Max spoke softly, trying his best to sound kind and unthreatening.
"Honestly, there isn't much to know. You already know that he was killed by an assassin and met with an elf and a goblin before he died. In this case, I legitimately don't know much more than you." Liz's voice was strong now, as it always became when she talked business. This was one of the few things her mother had taught her that she'd actually been willing to remember, and had practiced this voice to the point of it being a subconscious activation.
"I see. All right, um, have you ever heard of a woman named Olivia? She had a latin accent, knew my name, and knew enough about this case to know that Galgan was killed."
"I do, actually. She's a thief and mercenary on the supernatural side of things. She came to town recently, and I've heard that she can use magic to some degree, although likely not to your or my level."
"Any clues on why she's here? I mean, there isn't too much to steal here, so she has to have been hired as a mercenary, right?"
"I would imagine so."
"Thanks, I'll, uh, see you around, I guess." Max turned to leave, but before he'd even gone a step, the woman spoke up.
"Wait a second. Information isn't free, especially not mine."
"Right, right. How much do I owe you?" Max asked, fishing his wallet out of his pocket. He looked inside and gulped, hoping that sixty dollars, a few quarters, a penny and a coupon for a free cheeseburger was enough.
"No, I don't want your money. Tell me about yourself." She said, waving for him to put the wallet away. At this, Max sighed in relief and then smirked.
"You know, if you wanted to go on a date, you could have just asked." He said, tossing a mischievous look her way. Liz turned a shade of red he didn't even know existed and threw her hands over her face. Apparently, she wasn't used to being flirted with. While she struggled to come up with a response, Max chuckled.
"Eh, honestly there isn't much to know about me. I can use magic, and my reputation often leads people to be underwhelmed by me when we first meet." Without waiting for a response Max strode out the door, grinning to himself as he left.
Upon hearing the door close, Liz took her hands away from her face, which was gradually becoming less red.
"Jerk." She muttered before returning to her tea and cookies.
***
Max got back into his car, and pulled out of the parking lot. Olivia was becoming more and more intriguing with every question he asked, and he wasn't quite sure what to make of her. Since she was a mercenary, she obviously couldn't be trusted until he knew what she was hired for, and who she was hired by.
Meaning, that it was time for Max to actually begin the searching portion of his investigation. He turned right, heading into a broken down portion of the city. Had there been people out today, there wouldn't have been any here. In fact, they would have been avoiding this area like the plague. Why? Because it was the entrance to Goblin Town.
Goblin Town, as it was called by the goblins themselves, was not in very good shape. Decaying buildings, broken windows and shattered streets and sidewalks greeted Max. Some goblins sat on the curb, looking hopeless, and others, mostly children, played together under the eaves of a broken building.
On the surface, Goblin Town was the broken down husk that Max stood in now. However, should one look beyond the surface of the city, they would see something very different.
Max got out of his car and locked it behind him. He slung his bag over his shoulder, and then traced a symbol on the hood of his car. From this symbol, a thin layer of white light spread over the vehicle, slightly more dense just over the symbol. This was a shielding rune, something Max wasn't super great at using, but also knew that using this would be better than simply leaving his car unprotected.
He walked over to the broken down building in front of his car, pulling his hood up as he did. It was quite cold, after all. Upon reaching the door, Max knocked loudly. A few seconds later, the door slid open with a loud creak, and Max walked in.
"Going down?" A rather chubby goblin dressed in a small and grubby security guard's uniform, presumably the one who had opened the door, asked him.
Max nodded, and the goblin nodded back, waddling over to another door and pushing it open. Max followed, and stepped into the room. The goblin followed, and shut the door behind him and then pushed him slightly, indicating that he move over a few feet. Max obliged.
A loud metallic shriek sounded as the goblin pulled a hatch open on the floor. The hatch had hidden a metal ladder that looked much newer than the rest of the building did. Max thanked the guard and handed him a twenty, who took it and quickly shoved it in his pocket, despite there being no one else around.
Max sighed and began the climb down to his next stop.