The police question me for awhile after the case is done, and I collect the money that is granted to me by the city, for solving the case. Some of the officers show their respect parting the way as I make my way out of the apartment. Iskandar took off right away he was clearly upset that I had swept the rug of the case out from under him. Rena slapped me on the back, "If you ever get in trouble you can count on the rising eagles to have your back. The rising eagles personally owe you a huge favor. I always pay my favors in full stay safe kid!" I nod at her, "It was nothing if anything I should be thanking you for your help in piecing this case together." I wave as I part for the apartment, Korn waits at the steps leading to the apartment. Korn says, "Sir Gingerbread excellent work on your first case I had no idea that one of my men was doing something so nefarious. You have my gratitude I have put in a good word for you when it comes to your grade." I smile, "Thanks officer Korn hopefully we will cross paths again on another case you were very helpful, and did your job with perfection."
Korn looks away slightly bashful he nods, "Have a safe trip home sir, and yes I would like that." I move on occasionally nodding to officers as I make my way back to the subway station. I pay the fare, and head onto the train to go back home towards my place in the heart of Sweetwater. I take the same seat from earlier, and begin sketching the apartment from memory. Korn mentioned my grade, in addition to being the judge of cases, they also have a hand in grading the detective that solves the case, and giving a report of the events of the case. The recommendation for a grade is then sent to the council responsible for finalizing the grades of each case. Depending on how you are graded your prestige will go up. Grades are based on how quickly the case was solved, how much competition the case had, and how complex the case was, and how well the detective articulated the conclusion.
Not every case is created equal some cases are considered lower priority, and as such the amount of prestige you earn may not be that high. This can be determined by the payout, and this case pays about 5,000 mints which is basically just a beginner case. The amount of money as I explained isn't terrible I can use the extra cash even if I am not exactly hurting on money. The main draw is the prestige, I won't get a lot for this case, but getting any is a good thing. There is a class system among the detectives in this city. The classes range from D to SS, and as a newbie I am in the lowest class D class. C class detectives can have their own personal police officer, and B class can start their own detective agency. My dream is to start my own agency, and be the best agency in the city, I have always admired detectives. Detectives are artists, and they are truly free when they solve cases. I want to be the best detective in the city, and share my art with everyone. I want to put a smile on the faces of everyone in the city, and have them share in my fun.
I may be laughed at for my dream being childish, but that's my goal, and in order to do that I need to work my way up from D class to B class for starters. I step off the train my face turning to thoughts of my home, and my family. For one thing I want to prove my mother wrong, she doesn't believe in me never has. I make my way to the outskirts of the downtown area solid brick streets, and buildings cover my view. The heart of the town has a short of old fashioned look despite the town itself being on the cutting edge of science. I turn to a large apartment complex this is where I was staying for now my parents had given me enough funds to make it, but eventually they would cut off that funding. It was the strict love that they had always given me I had to forge my own path in life never with any help from them. I also lived alone it was lonely at times, but that would change now that I had gotten my detective license from the city.
I played with the card in my wallet as I entered the key into the door of the first floor room, this ID was my pride and joy. I had studied since I was 14 even when I was in school to be able to hold this in my hands now. I had to undergo test after test to be given the license to be a detective of the city even with my parents name as a backing. I open the door the quiet room waiting for me it was desolate no pictures on the wall, an open concept building with white walls, and wood flooring. It had only been a month or, so since I had moved in, but so far it has been comfortable even if it never really feels like home. After all that had happened today I was a little tired even if it was only around 12:00 pm. I decide to make myself a sandwich, and put up my feet the email for my grade would come in later. I turn on the TV they are showing political jargon I swap it to the local news station of our city. I half expected them to show the case on the TV, but they were talking about another case, well I don't know what I was expecting. I lay my head down for a few hours until I pass out until 2:00 pm.
I receive an email from the the DDA the Detective Grading Agency it would seem my report is in excited I check it out. The highest grade you can get is a S grade, and lowest you can get is F, but at the top of the page I see in big bold letter Grade: B. I figured as much even with Korn's good word it was hard to get anything higher than this for your first case. The DDA often showed some bias towards families of higher status, and the Gingerbread family was not such a family. I looked at the scoring section of the page. I got a A for pacing (how long the case took to reach its conclusion, B for competition, C for complexity, and B for articulation. This averages out to a rating of B which I suppose makes sense even if I don't completely agree. I wouldn't be rewarded a lot of points towards my next grade, but it should get me at little less than a quarter of the way there. Grades are harder to earn the more you go up the bracket, but still this is a good start since this is my very first day.
The rest of the night goes by pretty quickly I spend the remainder of the day sketching different places I had visited today, and creating an image that captures my first case completely. I have been told that I am rather obsessive over details like the layout of buildings, or the details of cases, but everyone had their quirks this is just one of mine. I started sketching crime scenes when I was young I would sometimes watch my dad work, and that is when I picked up the habit. I loved watching my dad in action he seemed like a super hero he always knew exactly how to get to the heart of any matter. In my daydreaming of the past I almost miss my phone buzzing it would appear it is another email this one has the Gingerbread family stamp at the top of the page. My mother has picked another case for me, but I told her after this case I wanted to pick my own.
I read the email its rather short my mom was never the type to write a long email it basically just listed the job, pay, and finer details of the next case. Seems she got word that my first case went well because she normally never provides even the smallest of details. Last email I got from her just told me the time to show up, and where the crime took place, and she sent it late everyone else arrived long before me. This time she sent the email in a more timely manner, but on closer inspection it would appear this case didn't just occur like the last one. The case has apparently been open for awhile now. Odd why had this case not been solved yet there was plenty of competition in the city.
Cases are usually solved the same day they appear in this city, and it is extremely rare given the competition that cases stay open very long. The case my mom sent has been open for weeks now, and nobody has solved it. I read some of the details, and my mouth twitched truly an appealing case for me. I see my mom's first case must of been a test for me, the case she just sent me was her telling me to give up on my dream. This case was sent to me as a means to make me give up, and crawl my way back home a true challenge. My lips curled into a smile a laughed a little bit I would prove her wrong, and this case would be the catalyst to do so.