Retribution

Innocent

Sulma Tan looked up from her desk as we entered. Her chamber was large, thirty-foot square, lined with polished wooden shelves. On them stood various objects of art, a scattering of scrolls and ledgers. An opaque, yellow-glass skylight above permitted daylight into the room, directly onto her desk, which faced the door. She was dressed casually in a simple white shirt, and with her dark hair pinned up. Her skin glimmered in the gentle light.

She immediately stood and came to greet us. I shambled towards her, with Leana’s support.

‘You should be resting but now you want to know who the victim is?’

‘If you wouldn’t mind,’ I replied.

‘Who told you?’

I tilted my head towards Nambu.

Sulma Tan brought over a small stool, and one other chair. ‘Please, Princess, take my seat — it has more cushioning.’

As if this was as common an occurrence between the two as a greeting, Nambu walked around to the other side of the desk and sat down. Leana took the stool while Sulma Tan insisted I took the chair, and guided me gently to it.

‘You haven’t recovered properly,’ she told me.

‘You almost sound concerned for me,’ I said, as I eased myself down, cringing under the strain on my torso. The agony soon became a gentle, manageable throb.

‘It is of interest to this nation that you are well,’ she said, after some consideration. She stepped around the side of the desk, searching for something on her shelves.

‘I’m sure it is,’ I replied.

She turned to face me, her gaze almost disabling me with its intensity. Her words came softly. ‘Besides, you have a good heart, and there are too few people around with good hearts. It would be a shame to lose another.’

I didn’t know what to make of this sudden display of kindness, so decided it was best to get straight to business. ‘What can you tell me of the third victim?’

She glanced across to Nambu, hesitating, processing.

‘It’s all right,’ I said. ‘She’s under our protection, so she’ll do what we do, and hear what we hear. She’s proving to be rather useful.’

There was a pause, then, though not an awkward one for me. It must have been strange for Sulma Tan to see someone speak so casually of her nation’s princess.

She eventually continued. ‘The victim, Lydia Marinus, was a lady in her fifties. For generations her family have owned large tracts of land along the coast, as well as salt mines further inland. I wouldn’t say she was a public figure in the same way that Tahn Valin and Grendor were — she was content to live a quiet life. Her body is with us, and is to be inspected later by Carlon.’

‘Are the wounds the same as the others?’ I asked.

‘She had been tortured, yes,’ Sulma Tan said. ‘There has been no dismemberment, but her body shares the characteristic small wounds as the two men.’

‘Where was her body found?’

‘It had been dumped in the street near one of the markets. Another busy place.’

‘She lived in the city?’

‘Not for the most part. She had a dwelling within this prefecture, but a much larger residence nearer the coast. That was where she spent most of her time.’

‘We have another body deliberately left for the world to see,’ I said. ‘Has anyone looked into it so far?’

‘Not yet. But there’s more. There was a note with the body, addressed to you. We opened it.’

‘Addressed to me?’

Sulma Tan opened up a book in which she’d stored the note to keep it protected. It was a small folded piece of paper, tied with string. She handed it over. ‘As I say, this was attached to the victim.’

The note was grubby, though not stained with blood, and it was written on the cheapest type of parchment, which one might find anywhere. The handwriting was considered, and in capitals. DRAKENFELD was emblazoned on the top.

I opened the note, assuming the others had already read the message. It said simply:

REMEMBR, OFICER DRAKENFELD.

WE ARE INNOCENT.

We. Plural. More than one killer. A team of people, perhaps, or just a pair. Deliberate misspellings, maybe, or the results of partial education. Indeed, most people in a city could not write at all, so that indicated a level of sophistication consistent with someone who lived in this prefecture.

I tried to pick apart the meaning behind it. On the assumption it was written from the viewpoint of the murderers, it implied — with them being innocent — that they were attempting to justify what they had done. But then again, it could have been written on behalf of the victims. That they were innocent people, who had no reason to die. Or that it was an attempt to throw me off the scent entirely.

A more disturbing realization was not simply that whoever did this knew who I was, for a good deal of the court already knew. But that they knew I’d get to see the next victim — and had transformed it into a public spectacle, with me in the front row of the audience.

I revealed my thoughts to the others, before adding, ‘And this note was definitely attached to the body of the corpse?’

‘Tied to the collar of the victim,’ Sulma Tan replied. ‘Does it prompt any thoughts?’

‘It prompts thoughts, all right,’ I replied. ‘But are any of them helpful? Probably not. It’s vague enough to give nothing away from their point of view — other than the fact that we’re not dealing with a single murderer. Then again, committing such crimes alone would have been very difficult. No, this note is the worst kind: cryptic, with no hard evidence, confession or lead. It can keep a mind bubbling over for days as a distraction. That might even have been the aim of it.’

‘You have had notes like this in other cases, yes?’ Sulma Tan enquired.

‘Not all that many, but a couple. None of which were very helpful.’

A silence lingered, while I still looked at the note, each of us considering our own thoughts.

Eventually it was Sulma Tan who spoke: ‘Leana gave me an update on what else you’d managed to find out before your attack, and I am impressed. Do you have anything else to add to those matters?’

As much for my own benefit as Sulma Tan’s, we quickly went over the previous discoveries. I even mentioned the letter that the jeweller had just sent. As I spoke she moved over to examine a ledger on one of her shelves.

When I finished I asked, ‘What have you got there?’

‘I’m examining a list of our major importers and their goods. .’ She paused as if following a hunch. ‘No, nothing. I had hoped we would have records. However, I do have an address for Naval Exports, which you may find useful.’ Smiling, she made a quick copy of it and handed it over.

‘Thank you,’ I replied. ‘Did you ever make a list of places where these people could have been tortured?’

Sulma Tan regarded me with a tired glance. ‘Yes, yes, of course. However, such a request is ultimately futile — there are hundreds of buildings with workshops attached to them — this city is built upon such crafts as leather-working, tanneries, butchers to handle the meat, and so on. The more I looked, the more I found. That is, of course, if you limit yourself to merely workshops. Any room could be suitable for such grim deeds.’

‘What about the list of people who are worth more detailed research?’

‘There are seven hundred and forty-six people who are of a class you seek and who are of those trades you suspect interact with the victims.’

‘Ah.’

‘My sentiment was similar.’

‘Do many individuals stand out as potential suspects?’

Sulma Tan gave a shake of her head.

‘Do you think, from those names, there are some whose business connects with both the military and religion, or religion and trade?’

‘I can whittle down the list, if you think it is necessary?’

‘I do,’ I said. ‘Is the map coming along OK as well?’

Sulma Tan nodded. ‘On it I have begun to plot locations of murders and those fitting the class profile within the prefecture.’

‘And then we can search these places.’

‘I will enlist good soldiers,’ she added, ‘ones I can trust.’

I resisted the opportunity to make known my opinion of the nation’s soldiers, given my recent beating. ‘But now, we still have much to do.’ I pushed myself up, pressing my eyes shut as pain shot through my body.

‘You should take things gently,’ Sulma Tan said. ‘You are no good to anyone if you’re injured, am I correct?’

‘If I should do anything,’ I said, smiling, ‘it will be to inspect the body.’

‘Can I come?’ Nambu asked.

‘You think you can stomach the dead, young lady?’ I replied.

She nodded, but I wasn’t so sure. There was only one way to find out.

‘Lead the way then,’ I said to Sulma Tan.

As I made to move I stumbled; she dashed to my side and levered my arm around her shoulder. ‘It seems I have little choice but to lead, unless you wish to crawl there.’

‘I have no desire for that,’ I replied.