Case 15: Entry 1

I've got a job in Monterey investigating street performers. Huh. I'm really not sure what to expect on this one. It could turn out that they're vampires or something I could wind up running for my life (which is something I'm very good at; I've been putting in time on the treadmill and I can find my way around most cities pretty well) from or it could be more like Case 14, at the end of which I had to explain to my client that his house wasn't haunted and that his real problem was that he had a psychotic desire for self-importance that he was treating with paranoid delusions. My client didn't respond well to that news. Anyway, the client for this case (who just so happens to be obscenely rich) claims that these nomads are up to a lot of general mischief that happens to include the theft of a particular artifact he's eager to have back. He's supplied with with pictures of several members and a list of cities in which they've been spotted as well as any firsthand accounts of them he's managed to dig up. I made sure to send copies of everything to a friend of mine at the Agency. He'll look around the archives and see if the nomads popped up in any old investigations. Which just goes to show that the secret to looking like a miracle worker is not telling people about all the favors you called in or how long you had to practice your inspector from a random bureau impersonation or how many times you just grabbed the police files while no one was looking. Even when you're dealing with real magic the most mundane tricks sometimes work the best.

Anyway, there's all kinds of lore about nomadic groups like this. In some stories they're monsters that come into town, feed, and leave before anyone catches on to them. In others they're under some curse to wander forever, and if you beat them at some challenge then you can win all kinds of treasure but if you lose they become free and you take their place. Then there are stories about tricksters, beggars who test compassion of those they encounter, and all kinds of other beings. The stories cover pretty much everything on the malevolence-to-benevolence spectrum. As things are, all I really know is that this group seems to be made up mostly of street performers and vendors and that whenever they are always accompanied by an increase in odd, possibly supernatural, occurrences.

Well then. Off to Monterey.