Hello everybody!

Before you read this story, please note that
A) English is not my first language,
B) I have no clue about the British judicial system and police ranks and
C) this is my first fanfiction.
Please let me know what you think about my attempts at writing. Feedback, be it positive or negative, is very welcome.

A great thanks to my patient and helpful beta, Vernacular Jargon.

I do not own Merlin.

17.3.2012, 11.36 am

It wasn't a dark and stormy night. Neither was there a storm raging above the city, nor was it dark – or night for that matter. In fact, it was a warm, slightly clouded midmorning in March, a day like any other (if with less rain than other days), when an inconspicuous looking silhouette of a man carefully forced open the door that lead to the garden terrace and entered the large, expensive mansion.

The man had an air of confidence as he crossed the living room and headed straight towards the office. He could have found the way blind – the floor plan had been very helpful.

He entered the office, spared a quick glance for the massive oak desk standing on his right side, and then came to a halt in front of the wall located opposite to the desk to examine the (admittedly rather ugly) painting of a still life that hung there. Wasting no time, he grabbed the frame and lowered the painting to the ground.

A scornful snort broke the silence of the empty house.

The alarm system hadn't taken him more than a minute to crack and the safe that was now exposed was all but a joke. "Pity," the man thought, as he surveyed the door, "I really thought the house of a Member of Parliament would be a bit more of a challenge. How disappointing." He shrugged and set to work.

A few minutes later the man left the house the same way he came in, but with a heavy file full of extremely controversial paperwork safely tucked under his arm and a satisfied smile on his lips.

Meanwhile in the office, there was a small, brown and white striped feather of a falcon lying in the half opened safe. Its tip was gilded. Merlin had struck again.

I know the prologue is very short, but the chapters will be much longer, I promise.