A Mysterious Assignment

As you pound away at the workhouse "tread-mill," you hear Sam Yao, a well-meaning heir to a large fortune, being shown round by the owner. Sam's watch is stolen by a young lady and you are sent in pursuit, Sam Yao following.

You chase the pickpocket towards the Thames Tunnel. Sam reveals his uncle is an engineer building an underground railway and that the stolen watch is important to him because it's the last thing his parents gave him before they died. The thief hops the barrier to the tunnel.

You and Sam race through the tunnel under the Thames. He tells you he's thinking of spending his inheritence on making workers safer. The pickpocket climbs the stairs towards the maze of Wapping's back streets.

You and Sam have the thief cornered, but are surrounded by her menacing gang. Sam hands over his money and pleads for the return of his watch, which contains a music box. The thief agrees as long as Sam follows her. She wants to show him something connected to his uncle.

The thief, introduced as Amelia, shows you and Sam a pipe stamped with the logo of Sam's uncle's engineering company. It's a ventilation shaft from his underground railway, and it's giving out an awful gas. The workhouse owner arrives, and Amelia forces you to run.

Amelia explains that family members of her street gang have gone missing after working for Sam's uncle. Sam promises to investigate, and asks you to help. Tomorrow you will visit his uncle, Lord Ernest Van Ark.