Crime Scene

 After dinner, the Duke led Kiran, who carried the packs of both missing hobbits, to the side yard where the dogs were kept and requested Herschel and Wilhelmina. The attendant, a gawky boy in  early adolescence, whistled three short notes. A brown-and-white dog trotted to the gate. “Here’s Herschel,” the Duke said, giving the hound a pat. The lad whistled a long rising note, a short note and a long falling note, summoning a mostly-brown dog with white spots on her face. “Wilhelmina. Bring them back here when you are done with them. Brennan will be off-duty by that time, but one of the night guards ought to be in the area.” He looked at Brennan. “Make sure whoever is relieving you knows to expect Lord Mani. Good luck.”

            “Thank you, Your Grace,” said Kiran. He stooped to pat the heads of both hounds. Brennan walked towards the fence to fetch leashes. While he affixed the leashes to the dogs’ collars, Wilhelmina sniffed at Kiran’s face, rubbing her moist nose into his face. The fur surrounding her nose tickled slightly, leaving an odd sensation in Kiran’s mouth as though he’d licked velvet. The paladin shifted his face away, grimacing and laughing. Herschel yawned as Kiran stood, both leashes in his right hand and the diminutive hobbit packs hanging from his left. “Come on, you two. Have a good evening, Brennan.”

~*~*~

            The paladin refrained from having the hounds sniff the packs right away. It would only confuse them if they were anywhere on the grounds. Folco and Lindo’s trails would be all over. Instead, he guided the dogs to where he’d had his discussion with the wee halfling children before held Folco’s bag to the canines’ noses. After a pause, they began sniffing around the ground near Kiran.  Soon, they tugged at their leashes. The paladin started to walk, allowing the dogs to guide him, restraining with a pull only when Wilhelmina and Herschel started to move too fast. They guided Kiran first in loops around the vicinity that suggested the prince and the other children had been ambling aimlessly around the various booths, then in one continuous direction suggesting where the fuming prince had stomped off. They next led Kiran along a road of merchant booths, all vacated with their wares locked away for the night. They then followed one of the prongs in a fork. These booths were also shuttered, their merchandise either removed, locked away or visibly protected by spells. At a few points, the dogs veered off toward a stand indicating that Folco had stopped to look at merchandise. The smaller road eventually broadened into a clearing filled with yet more closed shops. At this point, the dogs stopped, whining as though confused. Kiran did not notice their bewilderment. He was too busy staring at the scene with a sinking heart, fervently praying that the scene before his eyes had nothing to do with the  young prince or his friend. 

            Fragments of broken clay pots littered the ground in front of the booth Kiran knew sold them. Blood stained the jagged edges of an entire base. Torn-off bits of fabric littered the ground. Even a civilian would recognize the faint smudges of blood on the booth and the ground as an ominous sign. None of that evidence, however, surpassed the motionless masked man on the ground with his front covered in blood. Even a toddler would know something foul was afoot. 

            Fortunately, Kiran knew where the family who owned the shop lived. Their house less than a quarter-mile away. Unfortunately, he also knew the young couple had a liking for taverns and tended to vary their patronage. If they had already gone out in hopes of forgetting the devilry near their premises, assuming they were even aware of what happened, it would be an interesting time trying to locate them.

            Then again, he thought, he could just leave an official summons to Headquarters for questioning in regards to the scene before him.

            Slipping the loops of the leashes onto his wrists, Kiran rushed to the side of the unmoving brigand. The source of blood was a round wound. It varied in depth around the line of the grotesque circle imprinted in his lower belly.  Kneeling, Kiran picked up his arm to check his wrist for signs of life. The bandit stirred feebly. 

            Kiran removed cuffs from his belt, attaching them to the wrists of the unconscious man. Once this was done, the paladin rested his hands on the unconscious man’s stomach next to the wound, envisioning the etched circle knitting together with the will of Heironeous. He did not want him waking yet, but he certainly would not permit the man to bleed out. Warmth emanated from within the core of his being to his hands. The wound closed before his very eyes, although he remained unconscious. This man was not meant to die. No, he was to be brought to Northchester’s City Watch Headquarters once he got the message to one of his people to have someone fetch the brigand. To ensure that this would happen sooner, he removed a long silver whistle from his pocket and gave a drawn-out blast that lasted until he no longer had air to exhale into the pipe. 

             Sure enough, two street guards came to him in less than five minutes. When they saw who had signaled for reinforcements, they inclined their heads respectfully. “Sir?” said Watchman Nathan, a paunchy middle-aged man, gaping at the bandit.

           “He is to be taken to City Watch Headquarters,” said Kiran, handing the leashes to Nathan’s partner Zachary. He  put manacles on the thug’s wrist and removed the ankle-cuffs so he’d be able to walk. “Make sure you find out everything you can about what he was doing, including who was around, especially what race anyone around was, what mischief he was up to around here, any accomplices he has and where they went- the usual.”

            “Yes, sir.” Nathan and his partner Zachary lifted the bandit, who was now fully aware of his company, and cursing, to his feet. “I’ll leave my report under your door.

            “Good. I will be seeing what was going on with this booth myself- in fact, have any robberies in this area been reported?”

            “No, sir.” 

            “Very well. I am going to pay the potter a visit.”

~*~*~

            The potter and his wife lived with their infant child in a small house. As Kiran and the dogs approached, he saw several articles of clothing hanging from a line that extended from the side of their home to a nearby tree to dry. Several bed linens were spread out on the thatched roof. The smell of turnips emanated from the house. The paladin walked up the steps and tapped on the door.

            The potter, a balding ruddy-faced man, answered the door, a mug of ale in his hand. He did not look in the least bit surprised to see someone from the Watch on his doorstep. “Good evening, Constable,” he said. “Come to pay a friendly visit?” Kiran frowned. “No uniform,” the potter elaborated.

            “Right,” he said, remembering that he was in his everyday clothes. “Anyhow, I need to ask a few questions. Firstly, who was working at your venue today?”

            “I did in the morning,” the potter said, “and my wife from mid-afternoon onward.”

            “And did anything out of the ordinary occur?”

            His face darkened. “Yes, as a matter of fact, my wife and I intended to pay City Watch Headquarters later this evening after my sister-in-law came back from work. She was robbed earlier this evening.”

            “In that case, I will need to get a statement from her. May I speak with her now?”

            “Yes, of course, come on in.” As his visitor crossed into the house, the potter shouted “Hilda, City Watch is here!” He gestured toward the table in the middle of the larger room of what looked like two in the home.  “Would you like a spot of ale?”

            Taking his seat in the potter's rather dilapidated chair, which shook as though it might come apart beneath his weight, Kiran replied, “no, thank you.” He leaned back against the chair, rummaging through his pockets for a bit of parchment and a quill. He could hear a baby squalling in the other room and the couple’s hushed voices. 

            The woman entered, looking rather flustered. “Sorry I didn’t go to Headquarters, I had to see to my wares and my daughter.”

            Kiran nodded. “Please explain what happened this evening,” he said evenly.

            The woman took a deep breath and started to speak. “I was waiting at my booth for my husband to help close and I saw this thin boy with curly hair- at least, I thought he was a boy at first.. He was walking very fast in my direction. I then saw a second, it looked like he was chasing the first and shouting something, though I couldn’t hear- possibly the first one’s name?” 

Kiran winced; he hoped they weren’t who he thought they might be. “Anyhow, when he turned and yelled “what?!” I knew from his voice he no little boy. They started arguing about something, some foolishness young people argue about, but then those thieves came like bats out of the low world” She grimaced, renewed fear in her eyes. “They went for me, demanding money and threatening to use me as a knife sharpener if I didn’t give it to them.”  The woman shivered. “So I had no choice, me with a baby and all. One of the men shoved me after I handed over the moneybox,” she flourished a bruise on her arm, “and one of the halflings- I think the taller one- said to leave me alone.” 

Kiran groaned inwardly. Instinctive though it would be for Folco to intervene, if it was indeed him, it was quite a foolish thing to do given his current situation. “Then they realized the witnesses were no children and went after them.” The paladin tightened his grip on his quill, left hand clenching the edge of the table. “They grabbed the smaller one but the one who shouted got out of the way and the  ruffian with the knife said he’d better stop trying to get away to squeal on him to the Watch or he’d cut out his tongue. The halfling didn’t take too kindly to that.” 

Kiran winced involuntarily. What did those two get themselves into? Aloud, he asked “so what happened next?”

“The halfling went for his belt like he was going to pull a weapon himself only to realize he didn’t have one,” she told him. Kiran frowned; both hobbit lads were indeed used to carrying a weapon at all times enough to completely forget they were unarmed. “The bandit laughed and swiped at him, and he took one of my pots, it and threw what was left- it hit him in the stomach. I don’t think the halfling ever drew blood on anyone before, he looked really scared suddenly. His friend yelled at him to run but he didn’t, his friend was trying to make the men holding him let go but they just picked him up off the ground while the others made this semicircle to trap him. He was outnumbered. He tried to use the pot as a shield but he was outnumbered and outmatched, the one who had the dagger now smashed the pot in his hands.” 

Kiran remembered the smudges of blood against the booth; now he knew where it had come from. He could almost see the young hobbit realizing he was in a situation he could not escape and shrinking up against the booth. “You didn’t try to help him?” he said before he could stop himself.

The woman looked stricken. “What could I do? I had no weapons! Besides, City Watch could have stopped it, where were they?!”

“I apologize,” Kiran said instantly, inwardly castigating himself for his hasty words. He would need to atone for those later. Because he could not very well name the true reason he was upset, he went with a partial truth. “The likes of ruffians feeling the need to take on someone half their size several to one disgusts me is all. It would have been foolish for you to do anything without a weapon.” He privately felt that she ought to have done something anyhow, but he had to remember that not everyone had qualities paladins had- such as a proclivity to run into danger to aid others even when chances of emerging unscathed were zero.

Mollified, the potter’s wife continued, “I thought they were going to kill at least one of the halflings but their leader said not to and to grab hold of him so he couldn’t run, and then their leader said to just search them for money. Neither of them had any, so the leader just had them knocked unconscious with the hilt of the dagger… then they tied the halflings’ hands and put them on the half-starved horses those bandits had with them, the poor beasts...”

“Which way did they go?” Kiran asked sharply.

The woman, startled by the constable’s brusqueness, indicated to the northeast. “That way, if you’re watching the sun set. Please, sir, the bandits didn’t say where they were taking them or what they’re planning on doing with the halfings!”

“I believe you,” said the paladin quietly. “And what of their compatriot?”

“Said to just leave him, he’d probably bleed to death. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more, I was just scared and afraid they’d hurt me too! I wouldn’t want to be those halfings if you ask me, not in the company of those louts!”

Kiran sighed. “Neither would I,” he said. After a final round of questions with the woman and a chat with her and her husband about how he was planning on ensuring the area was more closely watched by his people, he took leave of the couple and began to walk back to the Duke’s so he could return the dogs and update him on the ill-boding news and discuss how to handle the quandary.

Author's Note

I divided the chapter called "Grim Tidings" into two chapters. As of 7/9/2014 I haven't made any changes other than dividing one big chapter into two smaller and sandwiching "Twice Fallen" between them. If you've read the previous (long) version of Grim Tidings, please feel free to proceed to the next chapter.

Reviews

[NoelHC]

I am enjoying the pace, and alternating between Lindo and Folco in one chapter and Kiran in the next, it is interesting to see the two points of view.

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

Yeah, it's fun going around between different points of view. And more will come later on in the story! Still contemplating whether I ought to slip in the Aftermath novella, but then it'd be a deluge of chapters from Dremeadow's side before returning to the "traitors" and the "murderer"

[jjwilbourne]

Ahh, I think I've read and reviewed this in it's previous form. on to the next part.

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

Yeah, I split some chapters. Thanks for dropping in!