The window let out into a narrow alley, but one that was open on both ends and to the sky as well, so while it was not in direct sunlight, it wasn’t dark.  The morning sun was already beginning to bake the city and the alley still held the cool of the night in it’s stone. At first, there seemed to be nothing of note on the other side of the window.  It simply looked out into the narrow alleyway at a wall directly across from it.  In fact it seemed as if it was only there to let in a little natural light.<br/><br/>The alley way wasn’t ‘dirty’ per say.  At least not like the stories she’d heard about some of the dark and filthy alleys back in the faded lands that were used as refuse dumps.  The shifting sea winds brought a rain storm almost every single day to Laelith, sometimes lasting literally only minutes, other times for an hour or so, but because of the weather, and the fact that the entire city was built on a slope, refuse didn’t often collect easily in the city.  It made it’s way down ancient time worn gutters and into the sewer systems.<br/><br/>But, on a hunch and still under the effects of the infusion, Velma scoured the area for any signs of clues.  It was because of her knowledge of the city that led her to the first significant clue.  While there was nothing around the window, she found a scrap of cloth caught on the edge of the corner of the building.  It was as if someone, in a hurry to get into or out of the tight alleyway, scraped against the building, and their clothing caught on the edge, between the joint where an ancient stone met more recent reconstructed mortar.  The scrap was barely more than a few dozen threads cross stitched together, barely a half a finger’s length, and half that in width.  But it was something, and the fact that it was dry said that it couldn’t have been there for longer than half a day.  It had rained yesterday afternoon for a short while, and this fabric had none of the stiffness of material that had gotten wet and then baked to dryness in Laelith’s heat.<br/><br/>Then, in a dark shadow she found her second clue, a dead rat.  She examined it closely.  While it was in fact, just a normal sewer or dock rat, there was something about it.  The last vestiges of magic clung to it’s lifeless body.  While it had no signs of being anything other than a normal rat, there were the faintest whisps of compulsion still clinging to the remains.  A charm spell perhaps, or maybe some form of mind control?<br/><br/>It wasn’t a lot to go on, but it was more than Velma or the Defenders had half an hour ago.<br/>