Lora of Two Worlds

I shook my head. ’Nay! I did but wish to make certain of a thing.’

I went up again to the second floor, and laid flour in sundry corners. When this was done, I came back to the ground floor, bade Vivienne Locke lock the door, and made ready to leave.

Elara asked, ’Where do we go now?’

’The Watchmen are not yet returned, and I am hungry. Let us eat first. Did you not say you would stand us to roast duck?’ I said.

Vivienne Locke grew eager. It seemed the maid was, in her daily life, a lover of food. ’I know a near way. I will lead you. The roast duck of the House of Plenteous Cheer is most famed. You have, I warrant, never tried the ’one duck in three courses’...’

I cut her short. ’You shall have none of it. Go you back to the Watch branch, and do some tests for me. Test, above all, the remnants in the nasal passages of the dead, and the stomach and bowels. See if there be any stimulant therein.’

Vivienne Locke, dashed with this cold water, went pale. ’Did you not say I might not open the bodies?’

’No matter. What I had to prove, I have proved. You may open them as you will,’ I waved my hand.

’Oh. I know.’

After Vivienne Locke had gone, Elara laughed. ’Soren, you are shameless! So sharp to the maid!’

’She laid the wager and lost. It was said she should be our driver at no coin. Must I feed her as well?’ I gave a cold laugh.

’I see you are no tender man to all alike. But I like it. Ha, ha!’ So saying, Elara gave me several heavy claps upon the back.

At such praise, my face grew hot. I made haste to turn the talk. ’I think the test will yield little. But the way of exclusion must be walked.’

’Is it not, then, as the last case was?’ Elara asked.

’Nay. We have, even now, some progress. It is but slow. Let us wait and see,’ I answered.

We three went to the House of Plenteous Cheer. The roast duck here was, in sooth, dear. One bird cost above four hundred coppers. With other dishes and the service-charge, the whole came to six or seven hundred. But Elara paid with a free hand. I asked her, ’You spend freely, you drive a finer carriage than your captain. Does your Watchman’s pay suffice?’

Elara poured a cup of cider. ’Ha! My pay is but pin-money.’

’Is your house, then, rich?’

She winked. ’A secret, for the present. It is not stolen, nor robbed. Eat, and be at ease.’

We ate well. When we were done, I set aside a portion for Dane. He was alone at the inn, and must be lonely.

In the afternoon we went back to the Watch branch. The Watchmen who had been sent out came back one by one. I bade them gather in the second-floor council hall. Sir Bancroft Ash, too, was there. But the look he cast upon us was full of thorns. It seemed the fellow had not been beaten into submission by Broderick!

I bade them set together what each had found. Most of the Watchmen had discovered nothing. A few had taken imprints of cats’ paw-prints, but, when matched, they were plainly not the prints we sought.

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In truth, from what Zhang Liu-er had told us, I misdoubted whether this cat was, in fact, a thing of flesh.

I asked the Watchmen of the technical crew, ’What of the tests?’

A Watchman answered, ’We have tested but a few.’

He explained to me. There are more than a hundred kinds of stimulant. They must test them one by one. Thus far they had but tested buphedrone, cathinone, diethyltryptamine, and amphetamine. All had shown negative. For the full result, they would need three or four days.

I nodded, and in brief set out the tasks for the time to come.

There were several things to be done. First, to sift the messages in the dead man’s message-rune. Second, the dead had been a wholesale chapman; to see what dealings of gain he had with other men. Third, to look into the empty house opposite the scene of the murder, and see if it had been let of late. Fourth, to fetch the daughter of the dead, for I had words to ask her.

At this point, a Watchman raised his hand. ’Counsellor Soren, the kin of the dead have kept this matter from the daughter. The maid is but twelve, and away at her books. To tell her of her parents’ death, is it not ill?’

I sighed. ’It must be told, sooner or later. Can you hide it from her all her life?’

That Watchman spoke on. ’If you would inquire, would not the kin of the dead serve as well?’

I asked, ’How many uncles have you?’

The Watchman was at a loss. ’Four.’

’Then tell me: on what day was your fourth uncle born?’

The Watchman was struck dumb. I explained, ’Kin are often more strange to one another than friends. The one who knows a man best is his own flesh and blood. Fetch the girl, and that is enough!’

When the tasks were set, I bade them disperse. On the morrow, at break of day, we would meet and bring our findings together.

All had gone. Two remained: Vivienne Locke and Sir Bancroft Ash. Sir Bancroft Ash, with his hands behind his head, in a careless air, said, ’Great Detective Soren, what would you have us do?’

I drew out a sheet of parchment. I had drawn it at the noon meal. Upon it were three patterns of stage-masks. I cast it to him. ’Go find a woodworker, and have him fashion these three masks. On the back of the parchment is written a list of alchemical herbs. Get them for me, as set down.’

Sir Bancroft Ash, in wrath, rose to his feet. ’Would you have me run errands?’

I answered, ’Save running errands, what can you do? I have but now inquired into your record...’

’Why do you ask after my father?’ Sir Bancroft Ash cried in anger.

I was amused. The fellow thought all men cared for his Lord of a father. I said, ’I inquired into your record. Three years in the Watch. You have taken part in some dozen inquiries. You have broken but two cases. One was a theft. The other was a murder, and in that, the suspect gave himself up.’

For a fellow like Sir Bancroft Ash, who had come in by favour, the rate of solved cases was, of course, not high. I had a mind to prick him where it hurt!

Sir Bancroft Ash stared, and pointed at my nose. ’You...’

I said, ’Get the things ready for me. Bring them here this evening. Disobey my command, and you shall not remain in this company.’

’Then I shall not remain!’ Sir Bancroft Ash rose to go. Vivienne Locke called to him in a low voice.

I called after him. ’Think well. This case is a great case in the province. The provincial Watch Council has its eye upon it. And since I became counsellor, my rate of solved cases is perfect. This is a rare chance for you to win merit!’

Sir Bancroft Ash had to swallow his wrath. He took up the parchment, glared at me hard, and went out.

Vivienne Locke, who had more knowledge of herself than he, asked, ’Shall I, this afternoon, still be your driver?’

’No need. You are a pathologist. To be a driver is beneath you. Do that which falls within your own craft,’ I waved my hand.

Vivienne Locke, beyond measure pleased, said, ’Command me!’

’Go and get me two white mice,’ I said.

’What... what?’ Vivienne Locke’s cheek twitched. ’Ho! Pray you, respect my craft!’

’Good. Then do a full autopsy upon the three corpses. Assess the degree of mechanical injury. Look for complications of injury and hidden lesions. Examine the brain, the marrow, and the joints. Look at the grey and white matter of the spinal cord. I also need slices of each major organ, and separated samples of serum and platelets. Write me a report of five thousand words, and bring it to me on the morrow.’

I spoke it all in one breath. Vivienne Locke’s eyes went wide. She had, I think, not looked for such knowledge of the pathologist’s craft in me. After a long while, she stammered, ’That... how large must the white mice be?’

’Two or three months old will serve,’ I answered.

When Vivienne Locke had gone, Elara could hold it in no longer. She fell upon the table, and laughed, and beat the board. ’Soren, you are wondrous! Did you see her face? It was as though she had eaten dung! Ha, ha, ha, ha! I cannot bear it! My belly aches from laughter!’