There was a sharp metallic snap from within the safe – the door swung open, its corner crumpled and buckled by the hammer’s impact.
Inside, there was a sheaf of neatly-stacked papers – written in the same hand as the annotations on the leaflets, but more neatly – and a small, ornate metal box, as might contain a ring or some other gift. Curiously, it had been repeatedly wound round with duct tape, holding the lid shut.
Examining the leaflets, Jericus could make little more sense of them than the Provost – the Interrogator’s notes were written in some kind of idiosyncratic shorthand. It would take much more time and effort than he could spare to decipher their full meaning.
Papers in the Safe
SpoilerThe papers seem to be some rather more formal notes on the Star Children, interspersed with some more general information relating to Sector 963. There are a lot of them, but if you look through them, you can recognise:
- A timeline of the sect’s arrival and expansion, seemingly composed by the Interrogator himself.
- Biographical backgrounds of Alexei Lysenko and other members of the sect.
- Copies of the official documents for the Star Children’s holdings in the sector, including details of purchase and floor plans.
- A reasonably up-to-date register of births, deaths and marriages in the sector.