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~~The New Year's Days Special + Mon/Wen/Fri Double (page 4 of 6)~~
'Maybe they had to leave in a hurry,' said Hector.

'Maybe. But none of those notes mentioned direct attacks on the agents themselves. It sounded more like someone was sabotaging their attempts to cultivate a network of informants. And if these agents decided to leave because that task became impossible, then they should've either destroyed all this stuff or taken it with them.'

At length, Hector found what appeared to be some sort of logbook. It was filled with nothing but names and timestamps, to the point that only the last few pages were blank. He showed it to Garovel.

'These appear to be the comings and goings of various personnel over the course of... several months? Maybe years, even. This thing is quite thick, isn't it?'

'If they were undercover, why would they document all this?' said Hector.

'Only one reason, really. Security concerns.'

'The notes did mention a leak. And being compromised. Do you recognize any of these names from your time with the Vanguard?'

'Mmmm. Keep flipping pages.'

Hector did so.

'Stop.'

Hector did that, too.

'Yep. That one's pretty distinct.' The reaper pointed to the middle of the page at a hastily scrawled name. 'Eckard. It doesn't seem to appear much in this book, which suggests that the guy didn't visit this place very often.'

'So... he was a high-ranking officer checking on his subordinates?'

'That's what I'm thinking. And as I recall, Eckard was also the name of a Captain General of the Vanguard.'

'So this really WAS their hideout, then.'

'Looks like it. Keep flipping.'

Hector did as the reaper asked. He tried to keep an eye out for the name Eckard now, but he didn't see it all--until the last few pages, that was, where it appeared several times.

'Well, now,' said Garovel.