The hall is better lighted, with two windows on the far side of the room. There are some decorations on the walls here, mostly plaques celebrating the Coal and Ore Company for giving money to big charity projects.
In the middle of the room Nillian sees a large wooden desk. It has low section for a secretary to sit behind and work on, and a higher platform for visitors. Currently no one is sitting behind the desk, so Nillian walks over to check the desk. There are a lot of papers lying on the low section, and several brochures are lying on the high section. There is also a small bell standing on the desk, with a note saying "Ring if desk is unmanned". So Nillian takes the bell and rings it.
A few seconds later one of the doors in the corridor opens, and a young woman walks toward the desk.
"Can I help you sir?"
Nillian hesitates, then decides to change his tactics. His earlier experiences with the sullen clerk rattled him, and he wants to inspire some goodwill before he starts.
"Good morning, I am Nillian Luckett, and I am a writer. I am here doing some research for my latest book, and I hoped you could help me."
After hearing he is a writer the secretary flusters and her eyes widen as she nods. It seems that even the mention of being a writer makes Nillian an instant celebrity. Knowing he is on the right track, Nillian continues, giving her his most charming smile.
"The research I am doing at the moment is on a certain project done twenty years ago. Regarding this project I am trying to find the records of their coal supply, but sadly I have no idea where they got their coal from. But as you are the largest coal suppliers today I hope that your records list this transaction, so I can use that for my book."
"Yes, of course we are willing to help you. I ... don't have the records here, so I will take you to our record keeper and clerk, Robert."
She quickly gets up from behind the desk, and quickly leads the way, fidgeting at her dress. She leads Nillian deeper into the building, past several offices. Then they go down a flight of stairs, and end up in the basement. It is lighted by several gas lamps hanging from the ceiling. At one side of the basement there is a whole section filled with file cabinets, lined up in several neat rows.
On the other side there are several offices, created by wooden walls partitioning off sections. It is there that the secretary walks to, and she knock on one of the doors.
"Enter!"
The secretary and Nillian enter the office, which is cluttered with stacks of papers and books. There are also several stacks of ledgers from the company, lying in a corner. Robert is sitting behind a small desk that is also overflowing with papers. There is a small line of empty inkbottles next one full one, which is being used at the moment. Robert is an older, bald man. When he sees that the secretary is not alone he gets up, and walks over.
"Robert, this is sir Luckett. He is a writer doing some research, and is looking for some records from twenty years ago."
"Then he has come to the right place. Welcome sir, Robert Match, at your service."
"Pleased to meet you. So you can help me?"
"Hmm, twenty years ago? We were just starting then, I think. So there shouldn't be too much records from that period, making it easier to search through them. What kind of records are you looking for?"
"A large purchase of coal, made for a University project. It was probably requested by a Miss Gerardina Nott, from Kataras. The point is that I am not sure which company filled the order, so that is why I am here, as you are the biggest company on the market."
"Ah, right you are. Well, let's have a look then."
The secretary keeps looking at Nillian during the conversation, seemingly taken in by his demeanour. When Robert leads Nillian toward the file cabinets outside the office she starts following them. Robert notices it, and turns to her.
"Say, Sue, thanks for bringing sir Luckett here, you can go back to work again. How is it going with the new rosters?"
"Good, good. But I don't mind to ..."
She is interrupted by the ringing of an bell, coming from above. Startled she looks op, then quickly makes her way upstairs, leaving her sentence unfinished.
Robert looks at her walking way, then turns back to Nillian.
"Right this way."
They make their way to the back of the basement, where the file cabinets look like they haven't been opened in a long time. Robert blows some dust of the cabinets' nametags, to be able to read them. The third cabinet is the one they are looking for, and it slides open with some difficulty, the hinges being a bit rusted. Robert takes out some files and leafs through them.
"Hmm, Nott right? Let me see, nothing in June or May.... July neither. Ah, here it is. August 20th, twenty years ago. One Miss Gerardina Nott bought a ton of coal. Well, requested a ton. At that time we didn't have that much coal in stock. Yes, we had to collaborate with Choke Inc. to fulfil the order. We delivered the coal to them, and they took it to wherever Miss Nott wanted it."
Nillian, looking over Roberts shoulder, is both elated and disappointed. He has found more proof that Gerardina Nott was working on a secret project, and knows that it was a big project, otherwise they would not need that much coal. But he still does not know where they went to. Hoping that the other company has more information Nillian asks Robert about it.
"Do you perhaps know where I can find the offices of this Choke Inc.? I would like to know the exact location where the order went to."
"Hmm, I am not sure, but I think that Choke Inc. does not exist anymore. Let me ask Larry."
Robert walks over to one of the other offices, and knocks on a door, calling Larry. After a minute he returns and shrugs.
"Yes, sadly they are gone. Their offices were burned with the rest of the old city centre, and after that they had trouble getting up again, and went bankrupt. So I am afraid it is going to be very difficult to trace those records..."
Nillian sighs. Then he quickly looks up again and smiles to Robert.
"Well, at least I have this information. Thank you very much for all of your help! I will be sure to name you and the Coal and Ore Company in my book."
"Thank you! And you good luck with recovering those other records."
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