<div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Ashburne - Amberthorne</strong><br/><br/><div class="floatleft">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/0/05/Graham_Ellery_1.jpg)<div align="center"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Graham Ellery</strong></span></div></div><div class="floatleft">(http://)</div>Graham watched her in silence, realizing that his request was not an easy one for her to fulfill. A necklace was one thing. An object. An heirloom. It had sentimental value, but it had still been bought at some point. It wasn't of the very hands of her late father. Those notes? They were. He had held the quill and he had penned down the ink. He felt like he should say something as she placed the papers before her, even though he felt the urge to just silently take them and start flipping through them with a morbid interest in this latest riddle that needed solving. No. He had been raised better than to be so selfish. He circled the table again and picked up the documents, his eyes trained on Meg, who took parting with them rather hard.<br/><strong>"Do not worry, my lady. They will be returned to you intact, without a blemish, and completely,"</strong> she would have to trust him on that, which he certainly understood wasn't exactly easy to do.<br/><br/>He waited for to answer Asher's questions, looking over the papers after laying them down on the table. Neat handwriting, that would make things significantly easier already. But, beyond that, he was already detecting something strange about some of the entries. Especially the longer sentences almost had a cadence to them; something suspicious. He would already bet what little coin he had left on those sentences containing what he needed. Of course, knowing where to look was only one step. The most time consuming, by far, was trying to figure exactly how to interpret the information. For that, the original cypher would have been ideal, but he was going to have to make do without. No matter. He had the time, and even though it would aggravate others, odds were high mulling over the stack would actually help him relax. It would put his mind on other matters, allow him to focus on something that wasn't his personal business. It was a dire situation for her, certainly, and his involvement had now implicated him as well, but the puzzle was there. It needed solving. It was a simple focus, and it worked.<br/><br/>Once the other two finished their discussion, he straightened his back and gathered the papers. <strong>"I believe we are done here for now,"</strong> he turned to Meg first. <strong>"I suggest you get some more rest. There is little else you can do to help your situation right now. If anything else comes to mind that may help us dig out proof to exonerate at least your family name, then do not hesitate to bring it to my attention. Beyond that, just recover. The trek you made was not one that will be without consequences for your body, best not exert yourself further,"</strong> Graham explained, his voice factual as ever and lacking a degree of sympathy. He was an odd man. He meant what he said, and it always came from a good place. He just had trouble relaying that very same sympathy to the people he offered it to.<br/><br/>He then turned to Asher. <strong>"Put your sources to work. I would rather you do not undertake the legwork yourself. I need you here to tend to security. If the lady O'Hourihane's adversary does not make an attempt to cause trouble, I will be quite surprised."</strong> He did not mean to frighten her, but sometimes it was better to know that the threat was out there, and that guards could only do so much. At the end of the day, she was the only one who was with her at all times and could keep her eyes peeled for everything she could deem suspicious and potentially dangerous.<br/><br/>With his wishes made clear, the meeting was adjourned.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>A few days had passed, with progress seemingly moving at an absolute snail's pace. Graham had been focusing a significant amount of time and effort on figuring out how best to approach the process of making sense of the documents. He'd read them through, front to back, many times, but beyond the feeling that certain sections were more important than others, he had not made any headway. It was surprising to him that her father had been caught to begin with, for he seemed extremely adept at covering his tracks. Of course, his own father had believed himself just as sly, and look where that got him and their family name? More than once did Meg's situation remind him of his own. Specifics and results differed, of course, but there was no denying that the similarities were uncanny. More than once did he wonder if there was any correlation between the group that Meg's father had gotten involved in and the one that had doomed the Ellery house to obscurity and ridicule. It was all wishful thinking, an undying hope that maybe one day there could be some modicum of retribution.<br/><br/>He closed a book of notes. It was late at night. Asher would likely be waiting for him to join him. As always, the other man had been nothing short of the sturdiest of rocks to lean on in all of this. His plan to use this conundrum as a means of switching his focus to something marginally enjoyable had already backfired. Tired eyes were rubbed and he rose up, locking away the documents and his notes safely in a vault, before leaving his office. He hoped Asher still had some energy left from his own long day, as in all honesty, Graham could use some stress relief of an intense nature...</div>