Industry & Intrigue (36 page)

“
Imperial Branch are stuck and
the emperor has asked us to take over the
investigation
,” said Nolan. “The two of you need to go through the files
as fast as you can and then head to the university. The courtyard
remains sealed off, the guards are already aware of our
involvement, so you will have full access. Questions?”

Fiona and Kendrick both
replied
, “No
sir.”

“
Good. As you are aware this is
a delicate situation. You will report all of your progress directly
to me. I want updates at the end of each day. We don’t have long to
solve this. The Galrians have given the emperor till the end of the
week to hand over a culprit or they will take their own action. We
all know what that will mean.”

Both of them
nodded.

“
Agent Jamieson take the files
and start studying them. There’s still something I need to discuss
with Agent Badenoch.”
Fiona leaned over and handed Kendrick the files,
he tapped them against his head and gave a sloppy
salute.

After he left,
Nolan asked, “You
are certain you want him working with you on this? I know he’s your
partner. But for something like this, I can put another agent with
you.”

“
Sir, he may be odd,” said
Fiona. “But he’s smart. He has one of the best set of eyes I’ve
ever seen. He’s spotted clues that even I’ve missed. For this I
wouldn’t want anyone else.”

“
If you
say so Agent Badenoch,” said Nolan,
acquiescing to her judgment. “Work it fast and bring me something
the emperor can use to placate the Galrians.”

“
Yes sir,” she replied and left
the director’s office.

S
he arrived at her desk opposite Kendrick
and he said, “I can see why the watch had such trouble with this.
It’s not much to go on.” He was flipping through the
files.

“
We’d best get moving,” she
replied. This was one of the most urgent cases she had worked on
and she didn’t want to get tied down in the office. Kendrick would
end up rambling about his current fascination for the week. At
least at the scene he would be actively moving forward.

The Imperial Intelligence
building was
located on the east side of the Government district, but
fortunately there was a steam tram station nearby. The building was
made of dark-grey stone and had an old-fashioned pillar design. It
had previously been used by the Ministry of Security, but they had
moved to a new building during the upgrades twenty years ago and
the fast-growing intelligence organization had taken over the
building. It had been a big step up from the small set of offices
they had previously occupied.

Fion
a and Kendrick stepped on to a tram
and took seats near the back. “Give me the secondary file,” she
asked. Kendrick handed it over.

“
Don’t you want to see the first
one?”
he
asked.

“
I already know everything
that’s in there. If you’d been following events you would as
well.”

“
I’ve
been busy,” he said
defensively.

“
Yes, you always have a
new experiment. Too
bad they never turn out to be useful. We’re intelligence agents. If
a high-level assassination takes place, we need to be prepared to
investigate.”

“
I’m building up a set of tools
for future use, ba
sed on the cases we have worked. I can’t predict what cases
we’ll be assigned before we get them.”

Fiona ended the conversation
and looked through the file. There wasn’t much she didn’t already
know.
The
watch had missed details about how the assassin had made their
escape from the tower. One of the rooms on the top floor of the
building had been smashed out, but the watch had taken the word of
the students working there that the cause had been a lab
experiment. That was where she wanted to start. The students had
been questioned, but she wanted to do it herself.

The next issue was the
dead
elf on
the south road. The timing and place was far too similar to be
coincidental. Had there been more than one assassin? Had they come
to blows?

Without knowing who the elf
was,
it was
hard to tell. Kendrick could discern a clue from the scene or the
dead elf. Fiona didn’t ask his opinion. He hated being asked to
form an opinion without all the relevant data from a
scene.

The tram came to a stop at the
university station and they alighted.
A watch officer was there to greet
them and lead them to each of the scenes. “Take us to the chemistry
lab on the top floor first,” she asked him.

“
Follow me,” he replied and led
them through a tree-lined path towards the back of the university.
They reached the science department and Fiona admired the
stonework. This was one of the oldest parts of the university,
dating back to its original founding in 1468.

They reached the lab after a
steep stair climb
. The watch officer unlocked it and let the two of them
in.

“
Thank you
,” said Fiona. “We’ll take it
from here.”

She watched Kendrick as he
surveyed the room.
She always let him take over on a scene like this; it was
what he excelled at. He moved around the benches, carefully
examining the glass and left over chemicals from the explosion. He
then moved over to the broken window.

“
Fiona, over
here
,” he
said and she walked over. He had his head out the window and
pointed upwards and to the left. “Up there.”

She put her head out as
well
to see
where he was pointing. She could see the tower, where the
assassin’s gun had been found.

“
How difficult do you think it
would be for so
meone to make their way down from that tower to here?” he
asked.

Fiona thought for a moment. Most folks
would slip and fall it they tried. “If someone with good reflexes
was determined enough they could make it.”

“
Uh-huh
,” said Kendrick in agreement. “On
top of that there’s this.” He broke off a shard of glass and showed
it to her. There was the tiniest speck of red on one side of it,
but it was a darker shade of red than the color of the chemical
stains.

“
Someone cut
thems
elves
on this glass,” she said.

“
It’s not much. It could have
come from the two students. But I suspect this is the route the
assassin came. We need to question them.”

Kendrick was as good as ever.
She wouldn’t
have spotted the blood herself.

“
I agree
,” she said. She had already arranged
for them to be waiting in the university chancellor’s office. They
could go and visit them anytime. “Anything else?” she
asked.

“
Not that I can see. Once we’ve
questioned them, we’ll see where i
t leads us. What about the dead
Talfey?”

“
There’s a temporary watch
station on campus, his be
longings and clothes are there. First, I want to
go and see what the two witnesses have to say.”

Fiona knocked on the
chancellor’s office and he let them in
. The two male students were seated
on a couch against the left wall. “This is Reese Galius and Michael
O’Grady. Michael is the one whose experiment caused that mess in
the lab,” said the chancellor. The way he said that, indicated he
wasn’t happy with Michael.

“
Could you please leave
us
?” asked
Fiona. “It’s important we have privacy.” The man nodded and left,
leaving the two agents with the students. Fiona looked at them.
They didn’t look afraid or worried. “I’m aware the watch has
already questioned the two of you and I’ve read their report. But I
would like to hear it myself.”

Michael explained
what he had been
doing and how it had gone wrong. Fiona nodded, interjecting with
the occasional question for clarification.

When he was
finished
,
she asked, “And neither of you tried to stop the glass from falling
or cleaned up afterwards?” They both shook their heads.

She smirked. “There’s something you’re not
telling me. I’m no mere watch officer, I’m an Imperial Intelligence
agent and I’ve had double agents try to match wits with me. Do you
think you’ll succeed where they failed? You best tell me what it
is, unless you want to see the inside of our interrogation
rooms.”

They
stared at her. Now they were
afraid.

Michael spoke
up
,
“Alright, we didn’t see much.” The other boy looked at him with a
hint of anger, but he didn’t say anything to stop him. “The
assassin came through the window right after the explosion. The two
of us were hiding behind the benches. Whoever it was didn’t see
us.”

Fiona still glared at them. “And why
didn’t you tell the watch?”

“
We were scared.
W
e didn’t
think it through clearly.” He then gave her a description of the
person they had seen. Kendrick noted it all down in a
pad.

“
Alright, get out of my sight,”
said Fiona. “I don’t think you’re involved, but the two of you have
incredibly poor judgment. Next time you witness something, tell the
truth.”

They stood up, nodding and left
the room.
Fiona looked over at Kendrick “That
description…”

He held up his hand.
“Don’t jump to
conclusions, it’s too early. Let’s check the elf’s belongings
first.”

The description the boy had
given was
familiar to both of them. The hooded grey cloak was a
common outfit for the Arm of Assassins, a powerful organization
based in Longhaven.

Fiona
had been hoping it wouldn’t lead to
them. They had been behind the most high-profile assassinations on
the continent. No one had managed to catch one of their number in
over a decade, when a Yarali highlord in Gorpura had been
assassinated. If an Arm assassin was captured, they never let
themselves be taken alive.

Her fears were confirmed when
the
y
examined the belongings of the elf. They were in a small tent the
watch had set up in the university courtyard. Kendrick discovered
several rubies in a hidden pocket of the elf’s clothes. The Arm
used rubies as currency. There were as good as coins, but far
easier to carry a greater value of wealth. He held the gems in his
hand and Fiona’s nerves flared.

One final check was
needed to confirm
her suspicions. She pulled back the elf’s right eyelid. There it
was, an intricate black tattoo on the inside, indicating his
membership in the Arm.

“
Fuck
,” said Fiona. “Fuck the damned
Creator for leading us to this.”

It was the Arm of
Assassins.
Imperial Intelligence had not had dealings with them.
Though there were rumors about certain unofficial operations that
used the Arm for missions. Fiona dismissed those as speculative
rubbish.

“
What d
o we do now?” he quietly
asked.

“
We report everything to the
director
,”
she replied. “And then we book passage on the fastest ship to
Longhaven.”

“
Ship? Won’t it be easier
to go by train?”

“
It is
,” she replied. “But it’s also easier
to be detected and easier to be held up by a delay on the rails. A
ship will be better. We can get into Longhaven unnoticed that way.”
She swore again. She did not want to go to Longhaven.

The city was infamous
fo
r its
crime and corruption. It still functioned as a city, but word was
that the mayor was bought and paid for by the largest criminal
enterprises of the city, including the Arm. Fiona was not looking
forward to reporting all this to Director Talmach.

Chapter 34

It was five minutes
after nine o’clock
when the knock on his door occurred. Lawrence was waiting in his
chambers with anticipation. He opened it and his personal guard,
Captain Flint McLaren said, “Queen Clara of Estara to see you, Your
Imperial Majesty.”

“
Thank you
, captain.” He stepped back and
let the queen enter. Flint had served as his personal guard since
he had been a child. He could be trusted not to utter a word of
this to anyone.

Clara
closed the door behind her and pulled
back the green hood of her robe, revealing her gorgeous face. He
took her in his arms and kissed her.

“
How did you get past
your ever watchful
general?”

“
She is not the only one who
guard
s me.
There are others who are loyal, but less intrusive. Besides Ursa
has business to attend to, she may soon be back in command of an
army.”

Lawrence smiled.
“So
, she was
pleased to hear about my gift?”