2-11 “Specters of Revenge”

The note is written in code. I can't make any sense of it. I've seen a few but this one is new. Hopefully, the investigator can figure it out.

Investigator Freeman shows up with a few men from the guard house. He starts pointing out things to take into custody for examination and perhaps some divining magic. Almost all of the dust is swept into a container and taken back. The magic stone downstairs, and the small cloth scrap from the broken window are taken in as well. While they are going around securing evidence, Ken comes up and asks me what I'm looking at.

“Coded message, I think its calling for a hit on someone. Ran into a local informant who was ordered to bring it here as a job for Peter Moldmaker. He said Peter was some sort of hit man. Can't figure it out though, not a code I've seen before. It takes me forever to figure these out.”

“Mind if I have a look.”

I hand it over to him, couldn't hurt. He looks it over for a few seconds.

“Looks like whoever the boss is thought that some people going missing on their side were revenge killings for some form of sabotage they pulled on a rival gang. No names of targets, though. Looks like he was just supposed to pick some people out from whatever this rival gang is. Peter was supposed to receive a bag of 50 platinum sovereigns as pay. 'The Pigeon,' probably whoever was carrying the message, has the money and was supposed to give it to Pete if he accepted the job. Though if it isn't meant to be a hit there are a few other possible meanings.”

'The Pigeon'? Well, looks like Vinnie finally got away with something, assuming his boss and Pete don't turn up again. I don't agree with the assumption that these missing criminals are revenge killings. If they were, I'd think that the perpetrator would have left some form of message, a warning perhaps. But there was no calling card here, no note, just a mess and an abnormally large amount of dust.

“You got all of that, that fast?”

“If I'm alright in assuming that it was meant to be a hit, like you said, then this one is almost uselessly easy, just enough code to say it isn't a code in court. Man, one guy back home had what everyone called 'Idiot Code', a system where letters were pretty much swapped randomly, and every time one was repeated it was a different letter. The first 'A' in the note would actually be a 'D' and the second 'A' would be a 'Q'. You'd know it was a code, but it was damn impossible to figure out. At least, until someone managed to steal one of his very select few translation sheets he gave to his most trusted contacts, it was. Then he went and changed it all around...”

Freeman finally gets around to asking what else we may have found. I give him the coded message. Ken fills him in on what he figures it means, and I fill him in on what I learned from my 'local informant.'

“So one culprit down, one to go? Assuming that this guy really is out of here. If my hunch is correct, and this dust and the other piles your informant heard about, are the remains of bodies, we might have a very powerful wizard running around disintegrating people. That's all I can think of that'd leave piles like this around.”

Ken chimes in, “Perhaps a vigilante, if all of the targets are criminals.”

Freeman shakes his head negatively, “I don't know if they all were criminals though. It's actually fairly unlikely, considering the amount of them. Too many people have gone missing after the shift to this area of the city.”

“Any idea where to look next?”

“No, I want you two back on standby at the guard house. If there's a wizard strong enough to do this to people running rampant, we'll need magical assistance to bring him down, and I don't want to lose any men just because we weren't prepared for who we find. I will keep you updated for when I find out our next move.”

Looks like its back to business as usual, for at least a little while. I hate being on standby, it always makes me feel useless. At least I'll be able to have a few training bouts with Ken.

2-10 “Unwilling Informant”

A quick thrust of my halberd and I tip the ladder back and over to pin the guy between it and the building on the opposite side of the alley. He wraps his knees around the ladder rungs to keep himself from dangling off.

Lanky build, red hair, scruffy clothes – it's Vinnie again. No matter how many times I try to scare this guy straight, he seems to get under the thumb of another gang leader or crime lord. He isn't so much malicious as he is amazingly unlucky, constantly pulled in to be a stooge or messenger boy. How I keep running into him, I don't know. He's never quite doing something illegal, but he's constantly running around delivering messages and the occasional piece of contraband that he 'had no idea was in that package.' Which is true, when put in a circle of truth we found that they don't even tell him what he's delivering. It's easy enough to spook him into talking and then he hides from whoever he got caught, and ends up working for another person who will tell him even less than the last boss did.

“We gotta stop meeting like this Vinnie. Breaking and entering is illegal, you know.”

“Denwatch? The 'ell are ya doing 'ere? An' I wasn't breakin' in. Why would I yell out for 'im if I was trying to bust inta 'is place? Can you let me down? This ain't a very comfy spot ya got me in.”

“You're right Vinnie, but I could probably take you in for this one anyway. Though I might let you off with a warning if you let me in on what Pete here has to do with your boss.”

“Wait, ya don't know? Why're ya even 'ere then?”

“I'm sure you've heard about the recent surge of missing persons.”

“Shit, I knew Pete was a real nutter, but I didn't think all of 'em were 'is.”

“You're still not telling me anything, and my partner will be back soon with men from the guard house.”

That got him, now he's sweating and shaking, but not enough to loosen his dead grip on that ladder.

“Hell, Pete finds ways to lure guys inta private and knocks 'em off. I hear 'e like strange clothes an steals 'em from those that don't need 'em no more in 'is free time. 'ats all I know 'bout 'im. Been tryin' to reach 'im since yesterday but 'e wasn't in 'is usual 'aunt, and so I decided I'd come 'ere. To tell the truth I don't want to be anywhere near the guy. Lot's of people that 'ave done business wit' 'im are just gone. Maybe they left,” he appends quietly, “but I don't think so.”

“Like who, where?”

“Andy Alchemist on west side. Gary Padfoot, maybe others. I wouldn't bother check for 'em though, they're just gone. Places 'ave since been cleaned of everything but dust.”

“Dust?”

“Not blue dust! All 'ats left where they used to work or live is a pile 'o dust now.”

“Well, all that's left here is a pile of dust, too. I'd say you should stay out of trouble if you don't want to end up the same. So who's your boss and what's this job? Let me know and I'll let you off for now.”

“He'd 'ave my 'ead if 'e knew I was telling ya, but 'e's gone missin' too, probly safe to give it to ya. Just say ya found it 'ere, an' I'll say I left it in 'is room, an' no one'll know any better.” He pulls out an envelope. I pull the ladder back with the hook of my halberd and he hands it to me. Once I have the letter he drops down the ladder quick as he can, folds it up impossibly small, and bolts. “I'm outta 'ere!”

Something to read until the investigator shows up.

2-9 “Crime Scene”

Inside is the shop area of the statuary. On shelves all around are small metal statues some are minimally mobile. The area is tidy, and the shelves are full. Whoever broke in either didn't come downstairs or wasn't here to rob the place. A few days worth of dust coats everything except the works that move.

Through a door in the back is a workshop area. Bars of various metals, from lead to platinum, are carefully arranged near a furnace and tool set. I assume that the bags of plaster were used to make the molds for his sculptures. On one table is a polished stone that glows softly. In one corner is a safe, still firmly closed and locked.

From the workshop leads a stairway to the second floor. A small kitchen and dining space. A store room and at the end.

The last room is the bedroom. The sheets are tossed about from the bed. A dresser and nearby wardrobe have been pushed about. The wardrobe is broken open and empty. It's also more solidly built than most I've seen, thicker doors and sides. Judging by the way the wood is splintered, it was broken out from the inside. There is a very large amount of what looks like dust on the floor near the bed. A night table is upended near the window, a candle that was probably on the table is on its side on the floor.

“What happened here?”

“Signs of a struggle, nothing seems to be missing. Except for whatever was in that wardrobe. Looks like someone broke their way out of there doesn't it?”

“Yeah, that wouldn't be an easy feat, it's very sturdily built for a wardrobe. Wonder what he was keeping in there.” He open a drawer of the dresser nearby. “Just clothes in here, looks like.”

I move toward the window, not much glass in the room. Looks like it was broken outward. A small torn piece of fine green cloth is stuck on a shard sticking out from the frame.

“Go up to the trader's guilds and find Inspector freeman, I think he'll want to look over this place before we tramp all over it any further. I'll stay here and keep an eye on things.”

“Yes, sir.” He salutes, and heads back down the stairs.

The place is very quiet once I stop moving around. There's something unsettling about that pile of dust, or maybe it's this room that doesn't feel right.

There's a sound coming from the alley below the window, someone is walking around down there. I withdraw my halberd from my magic pouch quietly. A ladder is put up toward the window.

A voice call up from below, ascend to his floor “Oi, Pete, what 'appened to ya window? Well no matter, boss 'as a choice job for ya, so you'll be able ta replace it roight quick.” I know this voice.

A face pokes over the lip of the window, surprise quickly covering it. “Aw, shit. You ain't Pete.”