someplace else? I'm sure if you mentioned it to him he'd have done it. Even begged the Queen for it.” The boy said an odd word, something Tor didn't know but suspected wasn't very nice. It seemed directed at Quavel.
Or whatever his real name was.
“When I had to walk the communications plate in after the L attack down south? He said that if I was to be beaten for it, he'd take it for me personally. No one ever mentioned it, any kind of punishment for it at all, but Sally, the house mistress in charge of me? She told me later that she'd gotten orders from the King for it. Anyone willing to take a spanking for a little kid can't be all bad.”
The older man sighed.
“Well, I'm sure he'll get in this next year. Really though Tor, make sure you aren't at the cross table, will you? It's just… wrong. Or at least build a higher float like you've been using.” The strange thing was that the man actually sounded worried about it.
“I'll take it under advisement.” That, for some reason got a laugh from the back seat, where Smythe and three Royal Guards sat. It was Wensa, Veren and Kara, the dark haired woman with a hawk like nose.
They all laughed though.
Was it funny? Maybe. They laughed harder when Quavel said, “very good sir.”
Luckily Trice was flying, since Tor kept twinging and aching enough that it would have distracted him. As it was he kept feeling like he'd forgotten something. Something big. It niggled at him the whole trip, all three minutes of it, and didn't go away when he walked into his house, to find seven Austran agents sitting in a meeting room waiting for them to get in. The staff had served refreshments.
Well, that was better than handing out beatings at least. Kind of set the tone for this not being a dangerous punishment or something like that.
Tor passed out Truth amulets and worked out that none of the people in the room was a deranged killer and got Trice to take notes as to any other contacts they knew of in kingdom. The numbers kept growing, more agents coming through the day, but no one knew anything, until a woman of about twenty-five came in.
“I work as the Cartwright’s helper. The one by the south wall?” She said when asked. Tor actually knew where that was, it being on the way to Debbie's bakery. Three buildings down, a kind of large place with a fenced area for the carts to pull in.
That reminded him of his dream. Box. Right. Sighing Tor shook his head, figuring that it would be totally wrong anyway, but needing to ask. After all, it was an investigation.
“Hey, um, did you ever get any information from the new baker at Debbie's?” He made his tone light, and carefree. It was a bit leading, but the truth amulet didn't waiver at all.
“Oh, sure. He told me about lots of things. Daria Serge introduced us. Kind of ad him working for her she said? Names of girls that no one would think twice about and that. Very friendly man. Little creepy though.”
“That's true.” Karina said softly. “I offered to, you know, service him, at the shop and he never wanted too, which I figured was just because his sister was right there, but he always watched me. It was strange. That's why I didn't go to visit, even when I got lonely. There's just something off about him.”
There was a time when Tor would have blushed at hearing a woman openly talk about servicing a man like that, but then, in this case it was him that had told her to do it. Oh, he'd been teasing, but still, it was a little strange the guy hadn't taken her up on it. If not at the shop, then later. Tor would have. Box had never struck him as the shy type overly at least. The first time they'd met he'd asked “Kari” to bed, hadn't he? Tor thought about it for a second, trying to remember.
Yes, he begged her pardon for being a bit vulgar, suggesting King’s week was a good time to get laid, then asked if she was interested… So refusing her later was a little odd.
Hmmm.
Tor decided to go and check on the man a little later, still not wanting to believe that it would turn out to be anything at all. He hoped not. But… The Cartwright’s helper had said that Box had openly given her names.
Of dead girls.
Before anyone even knew the murders were going on? Yeah, that was pretty telling. Even the woman being told had found it odd, but Daria had set it all up, before she left Noram. As an agent she had to just do her job, didn't she? Her part wasn’t asking questions of her boss and the information was good.
So, in a way, that meant Box had been working with the foreign girl and knew it too.
Freaking heck.
He needed to go and pay a visit, didn't he? Tor felt like crying instead, but didn't, just getting word to Kolb that he might be needed. After all, some of his people actually kind of knew Box and Debbie. If someone had to take them in, it might as well be their friends.
The ride over was slow and had four vehicles in all, working through the streets, fighting through the crowd. Tor got it, there was no good landing places by the bakery and it was likely to be full of holiday traffic, being mid- afternoon. Tor went in first, to find a harried Debbie scrambling to run between the bakery, and then dash to the little store to the side, where she sold devices that Tor made. If he could recognize the metal plates from across the room, she was also carrying some other works now. Guide-fires and Sam-mills. Lyn had some things in too, by feel, though Tor couldn't see the devices, being round the corner.
“Tor! Help! Box didn't come in today, probably off sleeping off the celebration. I can't blame him, given the end of the war, but it's a pain.” She was wiping her hands on a rag, and trying to ring up a sale at the same time. She stopped and stared at all the people with them, Royal Guards and huge fighters, but the pause didn't last long. She was busy after all.
“Debbie, we need to talk. Um…” Looking around Tor tried to arrange who would work best where for now, and found he only really had two choices to work with, as funny as it would sound to everyone.
“Rolph, could you handle sales in the device shop? Kari, the bakery? It smells like there's product in the oven, so watch for that.” It came out as a command, but no one, not even Smythe, bristled at it. The royal kids were already working by the time Debbie finished up with the costumer she was serving hand pies to and turned around to give him a hug.
Tor stood back and slipped a Truth amulet over her head, starting the device with a flick, making her glow suddenly with a soft cream and golden yellow striped aura.
“Debbie, are you now, or have you ever been a spy?” He asked without pause.
“What? I'm a baker… I mean no, but…” She looked honestly confused at least.
Tor nodded since it was just the truth. That was reassuring.
“Did you have anything to do with the death of the girls in the Capital?”
“No… what’s this about?”
“Do you know if Box did?” The words were soft and not happy sounding at all.
She winced, her good looking face pinched a little. For a long time she didn't say anything, Smythe started to re-ask the question, but Tor put out a hand and touched his arm gently, getting him to stop. Finally, after nearly three minutes she spoke.
“I… Don't… honestly know. But… he's never been right, has he? When he was a child he'd kill animals if you didn't watch them closely. He just showed up here in the Capital last year during King’s week and said it would be fine for him to stay on, since I needed the help, but later I got a note from home and no-one knew where he was. He said he'd just forgotten to say where he'd gone, but Tammy Mills left at the same time from the Copperton. Everyone thought they must have run off together… He wouldn't say.”
Tor gave her a hug, more relieved than he'd thought he'd be on hearing that it wasn't her. That his friend was innocent at least. This one.
“Do you know where he is? Or might be?”
Debbie didn't hedge, giving the name of every place she could think of, every person she thought might know where he'd be. Trice took notes. Finally Smythe took over and patted Tor on the back.
“I have this now. Let's secure this location and set up here in case he comes back. Sir Kolbrin, if you'd see to that for us?”
The giant bald man just nodded darkly.
Debbie started crying. Which made sense didn't it? It was her brother and he might be involved in some fashion with some very dark things. He probably was. It made Tor’s heart ache to consider, so he didn't.
Instead he got Rolph and Karina packed in to a carriage with Wensa flying, Veren in the back seat. Debbie with them, because she needed some familiar faces and comfort. Tor hugged her again before they all left, lifting
