Chapter 13: Beneath the Gatehouse
Alex arrived at the quiet building that looked as though it had been forgotten. Like it had no business existing at this time. Alex walked through the gates as they clicked open on their own, no guards, no locks, just permission. Or surveillance.
The white walls hadn't changed. Neither had the stillness around it. Not even the birdsong made it this far in.
Raymond was where he always was, behind the desk that looked too bare to belong to a man who knew too much. The notepad in front of him was blank, a black fountain pen rested in his fingers like it hadn't moved in hours.
He didn't look up.
"Well?" he asked, with a calm voice.
Alex stood for a moment, unsure. He wanted to talk. But what part of what he saw could even be explained? The market had felt like a stage, and he was the only one who hadn't seen the script.
Still, he said nothing about the man with the strange riddles. The beggar. Something about that encounter felt... off-limits. Not because Raymond couldn't be trusted. But because Alex didn't fully understand it himself. Not yet.
"I didn't speak to anyone," Alex finally said. "I just observed."
Raymond looked up at that. "Observed what?"
Alex stepped forward and pulled a folded note from his pocket but didn't hand it over.
"Patterns. Prices are rising and dropping for no reason. Some stalls looked more like checkpoints than businesses. Like they were logging movement, not sales."