An Elusive Thief – Witcher 3 Quest

This guide is a walkthrough of a contract side quest in the Witcher 3 for the area of Novigrad. The guide is composed of a map, map legend, and walkthrough to show readers exactly where to go and what to do to complete the quest.

Map Legend

1 – Kingfisher
2 – Market / Sylvester Amello
3 – House
4 – Temple Guard
5 – Doppler Fight

Background

You’ll receive this quest when you read the note “Contract: Imp” on the notice board by the Kingfisher in Novigrad (#1).

Walkthrough

From the note, you’ll learn that an imp has been stealing from the market on the eastern side of Novigrad, and that it’s caused the merchants there “irrecoverable financial loss.” To learn more about the thief, you’ll need to talk to Sylvester Amello at the market (#2). He’ll be there during the day. Amello will tell you that the imp looks like a “mean, fat cat,” and that it recently jumped over a nearby fence as it scampered away with some of his goods.

To follow the thief, you’ll need to turn on your witcher senses so you can detect its footprints. The footprints will lead you to the east, through the river, and into a house. Inside the house (#3), you’ll find a Short Letter on the main floor. Reading the letter will reveal that the thief is a doppler named Janne. Learning this information will earn you 25 xp. Then when you go upstairs, you’ll catch the scent of lavender, which you’ll be able to follow.

The lavender scent will take you to the east, where you’ll find Janne impersonating a Temple Guard (#4). When you talk to him and reveal that you know his secret, he’ll flee to the north, but he won’t run very fast, so you should be able to keep him in sight. When you eventually catch up to Janne (#5), he’ll take your form, and he’ll attack you. Janne will have access to swords and signs, but he’ll only be around level 12, so he shouldn’t be too difficult to defeat.

When Janne surrenders, you’ll have two options for how to continue:

• You can finish Janne off. He’ll drop a Doppler Mutagen, a Doppler Trophy, a leveled version of Mountain Folk Boots, and more when he dies. Then when you return to Amello, he’ll pay you your negotiated fee, and you’ll also earn 245 xp.
  
• You can evict Janne from the city. He’ll agree to this, and he’ll give you the diagram for the steel sword Gnomish Gwyhyr plus 215 crowns when he leaves. You’ll also earn 25 xp. But when you return to Amello, he’ll be upset that you don’t have any proof of your work, and he’ll only pay you half of your negotiated fee. However, you’ll still earn the full 245 xp.