(Jackpot.)
Interview Rapport: POSITIVE
(+1 Shared Pokémon evolution stage)
You introduce yourself to Zick, and he seems a bit surprised about what you found, but nonetheless, quite happy about it.
"There were some rumors going around that some newcomers were looking into these Stalkers," Zick tells you with a reassuring smile. "Wow, glad the rumor's true! Trust me, the police force of Serenity Town is understaffed and I'd hate to say it, but Adom and I are the only ones left. So it's nice to see someone's willing to help!"
He looks over the sudoku puzzle first, and smiles and nods that it's been solved.
"This definitely has to be NTH's," Zick reaffirms. "Whoever it is, they're obsessed with numbers and I'm not surprised to see they did something like this again. I'm just not sure why NTH cremates their victims and if that has anything to do with numbers. Maybe there's a connection, maybe there's not."
"987," Zick reads the numbers to the solution. "Sounds like the combination to a lock or something. Let's keep a lookout for anything that looks like a combination lock or something like that. That might be where NTH is trying to hide something freaky."
"It also seems to link with something else I found," Zick tells you. "NTH has an affinity for Xs. At first, I didn't know why, but I'm thinking in algebraic terms and numbers, that usually means a variable, some unknown number, or something like that. I've spent hours trying to work it out and what unknown number it might be referring to, but then I got to thinking... what if it's not something with an unknown number? What if it's an unknown place? I've gone through the public records, and there's one place that stands out. No one knows the name of it."
He points to a personal map he owns, and places his paw on (36) Vacant House.
"This place," Zick explains. "I checked it out and there's no name in the town records. Meanwhile, there's this really weird statue of a Victini in the front, but it's missing pieces. I tried to bust through the door, but it's sealed shut and I don't even think the brawniest of Pokémon could bust through it. Maybe you could find something that I haven't. I'd say it's worth a check!"
You then show Zick the ripped-up poem, and he's happy to see it. In fact, he excitedly copies the poem and makes note of it.
"Now this is definitely Koax's work," Zick explains. "NTH's a numbers freak while Koax has something with poetry all over the place. And hearts. Lots of hearts, both the literal and figurative. As for the handwriting, I'm not sure. I don't know who could ever have freaky handwriting like that, but it's definitely not normal."
"Here's something I just don't get," Zick tells you. "I don't know why Koax rips up their own poems. And it's not just ripping up. I've found cases where they've written some creepy poem, but also crossed it out, smudged it over, or basically tried to destroy what they wrote. Now, I've seen plenty of weird cases in my time as an investigator, but my best guess is that it almost seems like they're trying to fight themselves in some kind of cycle of create, destroy, create, and destroy again. Creepy, isn't it?"
"One last thing," Zick tells you. "There's something I've been noticing a lot of when it comes to the Stalkers. I keep seeing the word 'SUNKEN' appear. Check out your puzzle, it's on there too! I wasn't sure what it meant and it kept me up at night a few times. And then, when I was playing around with the letters, I made the connection."
"S for Shadefetch. U for Undone. N for NTH. K for Koax. E for Epitaph. And N for Non," Zick tells you slowly. "S-U-N-K-E-N.That word refers to the Stalkers and it reinforces the fact there's got to be six of them. And what's also weird is how they like to keep burying everything. As in like sunken in the ground or something like that. I dunno, maybe the burying thing is just a hunch, but it's weird. It gets me wondering if they just have an affinity for doing stuff underground. Maybe literally or figuratively? As in underground secret places or just doing things without anyone's knowledge? Heck, I'd bank on both if you'd ask me!"
"Anyway, hopefully that helps," Zick tells you with a smile. "I'm still working at this, but let me know if you come across anything else. Man, you don't know how happy I am to know Adom and I are not in this alone. I owe you and your friends a favor, Laura!"
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