The Cathedral

The young man is bent over at the foot of the steps, searching for the pin. The cathedral towers above, with its orange turrets, pointed gothic windows and grey-and-cream walls that can gleam orange themselves in strong sun.

“Excuse me.” You touch the young man’s shoulder and he jumps.

“I’m sorry – so you’re looking for a golden deer pin?” you ask, and he straightens, grabbing you by the collar.

“Yes! Have you seen it? I need it! Otherwise I’ll lose my membership to… ” He stops, biting his lip as you gaze at him, intrigued.

“To what?”

But he looks up at the cathedral for a moment. “It’s all there, even if they don’t accept it. I tried to tell them, to make them believe. They’ll have to take the consequences now.”

“Don’t accept what?” you ask, but just then a voice calls, “Ram!”

A young woman strides towards you both. She’s wearing paint-smeared overalls and carrying a bucket with spray cans in it. “How’s things?” Ram looks at her apprehensively. You feel irritated at the interruption but then she pulls something off her finger. A ring. She throws it at him. “I’m leaving you. Doing what that sign says!” She points to the kerb beside the steps and oddly, there’s a white-lettered sign saying LADIES ONLY. What a strange city this is, you think.

“Ciao. Gotta go to work! Hosier Lane awaits!” She walks past and continues up Flinders Street. Ram shouts “Sita, wait!” He picks up the ring, abandoning the search for the pin, and starts after her. That’s when your phone pings. An anonymous number. Two words: Cathedral Arcade.

Do you:

Hosier Lane: Follow Ram and Sita to Hosier Lane? Ram is clearly hiding something, which could be important for solving the case. Your informant themselves told you to find The Golden Deer. How would you find Ram again if you let him go now? So you shadow them along Flinders Street and left at Hosier Lane.

OR

Cathedral Arcade: Follow the anonymous instructions and go to Cathedral Arcade? Perhaps someone else wants to tip you off about the case, which might be more concrete than witnessing a lovers’ spat. You let the couple go, and walk right up Flinders Street, cross to the other side of Swanston and walk right to reach Cathedral Arcade.