It was around this time last week that Paul surprised us with the news that he had gotten hold of Peter Crane. He and I, as well as Peter Quora, met with Peter Crane in his residence in Ligam proper, where he told us a bit about himself.
Mr. Crane had finished his college education at the University of Gymia, where he got his degree in Finance. He then landed a job at the First Bank of Gymia, where he became acquaintances, then close friends, then romantic partners with Jenna Wright, whom he would eventually marry in 1287.
He was formerly a supporter of the Foundationist Party, siding with the Diplomatic Party in the 1280s after the dissolution of the Foundationists. Mr. Crane, however, was not so keen on supporting them when they took their militant stance against the Darkfire Community, which he thought was unnecessary political aggression. As a result, Peter turned his support toward a lesser-known local third party known as the Independent Conservative Party, which apparently held very much the same beliefs as the former Foundationist Party.
After the 1309 Revolution, the new Prime Minister, Holz Finzi, had enacted legislation abolishing the existence of banks as private firms and re-establishing them as public institutions. Mr. Crane was not very keen on supporting this, believing it too radical. This sentiment was, of course, shared by the Independent Conservative Party, which, later that year, had voted to merge with the National Establishment Party. Peter supported this move, but was also attracted by prospects in Pimdan.
After leaving the Republic in 1309, the province of Pimdan voted to join the Linbraean Regiondom in the Kingdom of the Great North. As a result, the Linbraean Royal Treasury acquired Pimdan's financial infrastructure, and virtually took over every aspect of Pimdan's economy. They turned Hywater Bank in Lake Paron into one of their District Branches while doing what the Big Five Banks in the Early Republic did to real estate ten years ago; that is, evicting all of those of the working class and converting their properties to higher-value mansions to sell to those in higher social classes. They are still doing that today, with the only exception being that they are also felling trees and developing former protected land into real estate.
Nonetheless, Peter Crane was given an opportunity to move to Pimdan to pursue what he saw was a good opportunity. This was because Tom Kearney, after the 1311-12 War, moved to Pimdan and befriended two significant business figures: Roger Styff and Bobrich Korn. The credentials of those two made them look good for the Royal Treasury, who in turn hired them and gave them money and capital to buy cheap land in order to develop it into valuable real estate. These two men did so and, in turn, bought and then sold two adjacent pieces of land to Mr. Kearney. Mr. Kearney, in turn, sold most of the land he developed, keeping a small portion of it to build a retirement cottage for himself and signing agreements to the Royal Treasury in order to keep their names and addresses confidential.
Seeking potential buyers, Mr. Kearney considered Peter Crane and Kara Martins. He knew that they were not seeing eye-to-eye, and intended to have them reconcile or at least be on professional terms with each other, if not friendly.
Well, that is what Mr. Crane seems to believe.
In any case, Mr. Kearney had Peter and Kara sign a joint deal to buy up the land that he was selling in order to renovate the newly-constructed houses on it and resell at a higher price. As part of the deal, Tom Kearney, Peter Crane, and Kara Martins would get equal share of the profits. This apparently took a lot less time than Peter anticipated, as he and Kara sold their properties around the beginning of 1314, gaining a "much larger sum in profits than anticipated." Peter refused to say how much money was involved or where these addresses were, or even where Tom Kearney had retired. He did, however, admit that while this was not the most moral thing he had done, that this had helped him "pay off some important debts."
But therein lies another issue: Kara Martins. Ms. Kara Martins said absolutely nothing of this ordeal. In fact, I feel that she will refuse to say anything on this.
However, Peter Quora insists that Kara may know more than anyone on where Tom may have retired, since it seems she was the closest to him during that time. Also, while Peter Crane has too much moral resolve and emotional composure, Kara is more charismatic and more likely to speak her mind. Mr. Quora feels that, with the right kind of conversation, Kara may end up giving the information we need.