Paul nods, his mind trying to figure out what it all meant. But there are no easy answers, and he spends the rest of the trip quiet.

***

"Of course. I'm hardly a trained detective, but this is not my first investigation." He thinks back to Emberhead and the snooping around he did there. He hardly found much out, but it was better than having no experience with this sort of thing.

"Oh, no thank you," he says, guarding his luggage and wanting a repeat of Emberhead. While Thomas could likely be trusted, it would be awhile before he felt comfortable offering someone else his belongings. "But if you could show me where I could store them I would be most grateful."

Once he's situated, he puts on a smile and tries to appear more confident that he could get to the bottom of this than he felt. "So, where should we start? If you don't mind, how about you tell me a little about your uncle and his disappearance, and if I have questions, I'll jump in."