You get the feeling he's not telling the complete truth. The upset father thing isn't an act, but there's something else going on. Why is he only hiring mercenaries? Why not go to the police?

Kit smiles and stands mercenarily. 

"Sounds tragic," Elero says. "How can we help?"

"And how much would this little rescue pay? And we are assuming, you want this done quietly." Mark says with a raised brow.

Vishtai the kalashtar communicates with you telepathically. "I have always beleived that Caden would be killed, regardless of Al­den's actions. Please, save Caden and return him to his father. House Orien would owe you a great debt, and you see how broken the man is, this prize is more valuable that money. There is an enclosed lift five buildings north of this estate. Look for the medusa inside. Make sure you're alone, as this lift will take you down to the dig site and, hopefully, Caden." Vishtai looks at you all seriously and leaves to find Alden.

"Whoa."

Elero turns to the others. "He didn't mean a real Medusa, right? Because, you know, looking at them...is..." His voice trails off.

"If you look at them, what?" Centurion queries. "Hmmm.. Well, Let's head out folks.."

If no one has any more question you all head over to the lift described by Vishtai. It has an 'Out of Order' sign above it, and just pressing the button on the lift does not open the doors. On a double check, this is definately the lift described by the kalashtar. What do you do next?

Elero would like to see if there's any way to get the lift working, or to simply open the doors, if this lift is actually a passage instead of a lift.

If applicable, Investigation check: 17

Also, if he discovers the problem, and casting Mending will help fix it, he'll do that.

...but with that roll, he likely doesn't discover the secret.

"Whew," he says. "At least it's not a real Medusa."

You don't discover the secret. But the noise you make searching illicits a response from inside the lift. "Is there someone out there?" Someone is in there, and they were not expecting someone to come knocking.

Mark will look around for a secret entrance into the lift, “Depends who’s asking.” He will say in response. 

Investigation: 20

"What is a Medusa" Erix asks to Elero.

Mark - The voice speaks back at you. "You know this lift is broken right, you should probably go find another one or something." A female voice, sounding bemused. When you pull on the 'Out of Order' sign, the door slides open to reveal the inside o fa 15-foot cube made of stone with etchings of unicorn patterns covering its walls. A magic orb in the ceiling illuminates the lift. Two young adults - a shifter and a well-dressed human-talk nose to nose, cradling each other's faces in a corner of the elevator. The female noble turns to you. "I thought I told you to leave. What do you want?"

Also as an aside. I let characters re-roll skill checks as long as they are proficient in a skill. So Mark that was completely cool you doing that. Just for future reference to avoid that thing where everyone rolls a check.

"It's a...creature," Elero mutters as he walks into the lift, agape, "that can...turn you to stone...if you look at it." He stares at the couple. "What is this place?  How did you make it?  This is amazing."

"Hmm doesn't sound great I guess, but erm, could you ride it?" Erix asks with curiosity.

After which he looks at the couple

"Well we would like to use the elevator to go down of course."

"We are looking for a kid named Caden, do either one of you know who or where he is?"

Kit is bemused listening to Erix and Elero. He fancies the sounds of riding this so called madusa into the sunset. 

“No Caden here sir” the noblewoman replies. “Just a Dragonmarked noble asking you VERY politely to leave.” An edge of malice in her voice now. “Unless you want to deal with the Watch as well. I have quite a few contacts.”

“This lift is broken. Has been for months.” She says to Erix.