Contract: An Elusive Thief is a witcher contract in Novigrad. A merchant named Sylvester Amello has posted a notice asking for help with a thieving imp that keeps stealing goods from the merchants’ guild stalls. It sounds like an easy job, and a slightly silly one.
The trail leads Geralt into the Bits, the city’s poorest and smelliest district, and then on towards Farcorners. With his witcher senses, Geralt soon works out that the so-called imp is not an imp at all, but a doppler, a shapeshifter who can take on anyone’s appearance. Dopplers are usually harmless, clever and very good at surviving, and this one has simply been trying to get by in a city where the Church would happily burn him.
That leaves Geralt with a choice. He can kill the doppler and collect the full bounty, or spare him and settle for less coin, with the doppler promising to stop stealing. It is a classic Witcher 3 contract: the monster is not really the problem, and the right answer depends on what kind of witcher you want Geralt to be.