The search for the man who had left a gold nugget on the grounds of Archibald Walters' ranch in Alice Springs, Australia continued to go slowly, mostly because of how careful the man had been and how little many of those that might know something actually did know. They'd found enough information to know that the man was interested in Animalia and Animalians, even if he didn't want to convert and become an Animalian. There was probably a political element to it, possibly one that might be designed to enrich Australia's Animalians, based on the patch that the suspect had on his jacket, but that was all just something that the police could guess at and thus couldn't be fully sure on and that was what they felt to be the most frustrating.
For the actual crimes the suspect had commented didn't seem to be all that much. A slight measure of "vandalism" could be used as a charge for throwing a rock at the pole that Archibald Walters had put up to hold his security camera, but the officers were well aware that could probably be argued down in court to say that no damage was intended and that it was pure coincidence that the rock hit the pole. The only thing that might truly stick would be the trespassing charges that would relate to the activities the man had engaged in as part of these actions, which had included leaving behind a second gold nugget at another portion of Archibald Walters' ranch. That had been confirmed when the police brought in one of their dogs and tracked where the man had been... that path then went about half a mile west from Archibald Walters' ranch, crossed the street and then went onto the grounds of another ranch and even crossed the grounds before coming up on a stock pond and disappearing into it.
The police wanted to circle the pond, but finding some snakes sunning themselves was enough to get them to decide not to press on. From there, they had asked the owner of the other ranch if he knew about the suspect being on his property. The other rancher made no mention of seeing anyone on his property and was shocked that the police dog had tracked the suspect across part of his ranch and agreed to put together trespassing charges. Those trespassing charges would be about the only charges that would stick, and based on the lack of real damage done, it would be likely that the "mystery nugget suspect" would only face minimal punishment for it if found and convicted. That only added to the mysteries about the issue, for the suspect also had to have some access to wealth, given his leaving gold nuggets behind, and further made it seem odd that he would be engaging in such small-scale actions. And that left the detective in charge of the case only further perplexed.
"Have we gotten any updates from the levels above us?" the detective asked to one of the dispatch officers as he came into that part of the offices.
"Nothing at the moment," the dispatch officer answered, "though, we also did give all the required offices your contact information, so if they find anything... it should come directly to you."
"You're sure?" the detective asked as he looked over the various lights that indicated the various phone lines that came into this section of the station, most of it was in connection with the means to call to report a crime.
"Of course, it would make our work here, easier," the dispatch officer responded, "has something gone wrong?"
"I wouldn't think so..." the detective sighed, "I just haven't gotten any answer... no call. No email.. and that only leaves me with the questions concerning who this guy is? Where is he? And what is he trying to pull off here?"
The dispatch officer gave a nod and let the detective leave. He then left that portion of the station and then said under his breath, "and I have no rational reason as to why this guy would go so far and do so much to cover up what would come off as rather petty..."
The detective then made his way through the hallways as he ran through the options he had. In many ways, this gold nugget suspect wasn't that much of a threat, as there was no threat to harm Archibald Walters and no true destruction to his property. But with the more that had been found out about him, from the image of the man on the security camera and the fact that he seemed to have some vested interest in the success of the Animalian colonies in Australia, at least, and had some access to wealth only fed the suspicion that there was something bigger afoot. What they'd found was only the surface and not the entirety of things, and they needed more information on this suspect. Things like a name, at least, would go a long way to figuring many of those things out and the detective was still wrestling with these things as he made his way through the station to find his own superior, and was ducking and dodging other officers as they either went about their business or had to go to a restroom or were heading out.
Eventually, he made it to his superior's office, and he knocked on the door, hoping that he was in. It wasn't long before the door opened and police captain in charge of the detectives stood in the doorway.
"Inspector Cohan," his superior spoke, "have you found something?"
The detective, or inspector, gave a sigh and shook his head, "so far we're still waiting for any report on whether or not or mystery gold nugget suspect might have connections to other criminal groups operating outside this area in Australia or on an international stage... and a part of me is wondering if there is anything or not... given how well he's managed to avoid things here since first planting that gold nugget on Archibald Walters' ranch."
His superior blinked and nodded, but for the moment he said nothing. This let Inspector Cohan bring up what he'd been thinking over while making his way through the station.
"And that's what has had me thinking on a change in strategy," Inspector Cohan spoke, "particularly to try and open things up."
His superior stepped back and ushered Inspector Cohan in.
"Go on," his superior spoke in a calm tone.
Inspector Cohan shut the door behind him as he came in and then moved to sit in the chair opposite his superior's desk while his superior moved to sit in his own chair.
"The biggest thing right now is that beyond the face of the suspect, we don't have anything," Inspector Cohan spoke, "we know he has some interest in the Animalians, but they largely haven't seen him before... and those that have seen him haven't had enough of an interaction with him to know his name or where he lives and so on."
"So, you'd want to publish the image that Walters' security camera caught?" his superior asked.
"Right now... it's the logical next step," Inspector Cohan spoke, "we know elements of what this guy is interested in Animalians, has money, and has to have some measure of knowledge on survival skills and so on... and it leaves us with more questions than answers... only a face to look to. What we need is a name. But while this many may have hidden many things... he can't have done that completely to everyone. Either someone in Alice Springs has seen him and managed to get his name... or it's known somewhere else... and even if someone HERE hasn't seen it, given the internet..."
"Once published, it may go out over the internet and someone who does know may see it," his superior nodded, "hopefully, whoever sees it that does know is helpful."
"You approve?" Inspector Cohan asked.
His superior nodded, "take a copy over to the papers and provide the request that we will need... meanwhile, I can add the same information to our own website's "wanted" page. It may be a general request... but as you said, it is the next logical step, given what information we have."