Volka was on her knees beside her husband, holding a bag of ice to his throbbing jaw for him, a slight smirk on her face.
Evidently she felt the bruised chin made for a good teachable moment for him.
“No way these two knuckleheads were working alone, it has to be someone who knows the market right?” Erica said as she cleaned the flour off her face with a wet towel; “I mean how much could they possibly hope to collect doing this anyways?”
“Yes, and I agree with what Grant said before, there isn’t a sexual component to this, at least on their side of things.” Volka concurred; “That shop boy seems mostly naive, not truly violent.”
Nina gave a quick nod and took up her hammer.
“I’ll get them to talk.”
But before she could take more than a couple steps, Grant caught her shoulders.
“I think… a more delicate touch is what is needed here.”
“My hammer is delicate.” She said, glaring at him until he took his hands off of her.
His expression shifted into bewilderment at Nina’s matter of fact declaration.
“Once again, I don’t know how to answer that.”
Before Nina could say anything else, Ophelia stepped forwards.
“Dearheart, and Aegis Semper, perhaps I could try?”
Grant scratched at his chin for a moment, glad to have the giant’s attention off of him as he mulled it over.
“How about it rookie?” He turned and asked Nameless; “The clerk was your collar after all.”
After a quick glance at Ophelia, who was practically oozing confidence at him, Nameless nodded, not speaking for fear of hurting his jaw.
Grant smiled knowingly.
“Alright, the Flutterby is up, show us what you got.”
“Not going to call me a rookie too?” She asked archly.
He snorted.
“Just get to it. We need to know who else they were working with.”
The Gigas was pouting pretty fiercely though and still blocking the way into the interrogation room.
“Nina, I can do this.” Ophelia assured.
The little red monster had a sour look on her face, but after a few seconds she sighed.
“Fine, but I’m in there with you. And stop using your reasonable voice at me.”
The graceful Flutterby smiled and spoke in a sing-song.
“Where hammers fail, reason prevails.”
“And quit rhyming.” Nina groused as she opened the door and glared at the prisoners.
Ophelia smile widened, but she said nothing, instead stepping into the room where Milly and Bruti were guarding their captives. Nina followed right behind her while the others watched through the large window in the hall.
The Flutterby sat on the little bench across from the two young men and took a moment to smooth out her shirt before addressed the prisoners, her focus on the clerk.
“I know you didn’t want to hurt those poor Lambdas, maybe you got into a tight spot and you couldn’t see another way out? Or maybe someone put you up to it?” She suggested gently.
Nameless recognized that tone, he was a well behaved child, but on the rare occasion when he wasn’t, Ophelia was more than capable of coaxing a confession out of him.
Indeed, Marvin the shop boy was fighting to hold back tears, though he kept shooting desperate looks at his sullen friend.
But the other one in the yellow shirted just stared ahead, stony faced.
And so, with no cues from his compatriot, he cracked almost immediately.
“I-I can’t go to a digsite! I just can’t!” he blurted out.
“Shut it Marv! Don’t nark!” His friend finally hissed, only to let out a yelp when a Gigas stepped on his toes.
“You shut it, or I’ll squish your foot.”
Ophelia ignored them and placed her hands on the panicked youngster’s arms.
“I’m afraid that isn’t up to me dearheart, your past actions are not likely to be ignored. But whether or not you spend time in a digsite could very well depend on what you do here and now. So why don’t you tell me what you were doing with the wool?”
“I swear if you say anoth-” The older one’s threat ended in a hoarse scream as Nina deliberately set her hammer down on his foot.
“Told you.” The Gigas said flatly.
“Nina!” Ophelia exclaimed in shock.
“What? I warned him didn’t I? Isn’t that the rule? One warning, then I can hurt people?”
“That sounds made-up.” Milly said uncertainly.
Nina huffed.
“Fine! Then that’s the rule going forwards, now everybody shut up so Ophelia can finish torturing the other one.”
By the time she finished speaking Grant had his face in his hands.
“This is going to mean paperwork.”
“I-I am so sorry!” A red-face Nameless stammered.
His superior sighed, but shook his head.
“It was a foregone conclusion with a giant. The first time I took Bruti into the field we were scooping the crims up with a bucket. Never mind that now, our priority is ensuring that this crew doesn’t victimize any more girls. Pay attention.”
Evidently, seeing the Gigas smoosh his friend’s foot had been all the incentive the younger teen needed as he was currently spilling his guts on the other side of the glass.
“Ethan’s ranch! There’s an overgrown shed in the back of his south field, that’s wh-where we were bringing the wool!”
“Ethan… Davis?” Milly said and the young man nodded; “But isn’t that-”
“The latest ranch to be hit.” Ophelia finished Milly’s thought.
Nameless’s worry about his superiors’ disapproval vanished as he took in the information.
“A smokescreen.” He heard Volka mutter beside him even as the girls in
