Chapter
6
Jasper opened the door for two short men
dressed in suits: dwarves with their stocky builds. One of them wore a suit
that was of good quality and had an aura of superiority about him. The other
dwarf was about the same height as the first, yet either he was lower in status
or played a smaller role, his shoulders were hunched making him smaller than he
was. As the visitors were shown their seat on the leather couches, the one in
the nicer suit removed his hat and sat down while the other took his place
beside the first.
“Thank you for coming, Lord Altberg and Mr.
Weizberg,” Jasper addressed to the first dwarf.
Lord Altberg was very good looking with a
trimmed beard complimenting his chiseled face and regal nose; his thick dark
hair neatly combed back; his eyes were bright with intelligence, but also held
a threatening fire that burned if one stood in his way. The dwarf with the
hunched shoulders, Mr. Weizberg, was a balding dwarf with a plump round face
that was clean shaven, gold rimmed rectangular-shaped spectacles sat on his
nose as he wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.
“Allow me to introduce to you my assistant and
secretary, Ms. Fullerton. Ms. Fullerton, this is Lord Altberg – Lord Baron
Franz Altberg, current president of Nordican Blue Mountain Banks, and his
secretary, Mr. Ron Weizberg.”
I nervously served tea to Lord Altberg and Mr.
Weizberg. Lord Altberg accepted his cup in silence while Mr. Weizberg thanked
me quietly for his own.
“I was told you have received a lead regarding
my family diamond.” Lord Altberg spoke with a gruff roll of Dwarvish accent.
“Yes, we have,” Jasper answered, “Presently, it
is stowed safely under the care of the Oxen Basin Rangers.”
There was a look of displeasure on the dwarf’s
face at the mention of the rangers. “Mr. Blake, I thought we have an
understanding that this is something we would like to keep hidden from public.”
“And I assure you that we have. The rangers had
been good to their word in keeping the matters private.”
Lord Altberg straightened his back as he looked
down at Jasper from this regal nose. “That is if they are good in their promises. You humans tend to make
promises you do not intend to keep, let alone bending and breaking rules at
your convenience.”
I bristled. At that moment I decided I did not
like what our client said, but I remained silent for a deep part of me knew
there was some truth in those words.
“Ms. Fullerton, was it?” I snapped to attention
at my name.
“Yes, Lord Altberg,” I replied. The president
of the bank examined me from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. I felt
like a cattle in a livestock auction.
“Tell me, Ms. Fullerton. Let us say there is a
piece of land. In this land is a buried treasure. A man enters the land and
finds that treasure, knowing it
belongs on the property, yet there were no indicated property lines. If you
were that man, what would you do?”
The story sounded much like the one Jasper had
just told me. I replied, “If I were the man, I would be very tempted to take
the treasure. However, because that treasure does not belong to me I would
leave it.”
Lord Altberg continued to study me as if he was
trying to read past what I have given him. “You said you would be tempted, but
chose not to take the treasure because it was not yours. What made you give
such an answer?”
“If one had studied history and the mistakes
people made in the past surely would come to that conclusion.”
The dwarf sat in silence. I began to wonder if
I had said something that would insult him. A smile curled at the corner of his
mouth.
“So it is true that these gold-eaters are
clever and civilized. I thought those
dragon-bellied humans only cared for the gold in their pockets and little for
the affairs of the world.”
Gold-eater?
Did he just call me by a derogatory word for Darconians (the official word for
Eastern Kingdomers)? I bit my
tongue as I held back my retort, keeping my face expressionless.
“Lord Altberg,” Jasper stepped in, “We would
like to ask in regards of how you came about discovering your loss.”
The dwarven president waved at his secretary.
Mr. Weizberg wiped his brow and said, “Lord Altberg visits his family grave
twice a year – once in spring and once in fall. It was during his yearly fall
visit this past September that the diamond was taken from his family crypt.”
“Where was the diamond cave for the Altberg
family located?” Jasper asked.
“The Altbergs have their own places in the
diamond caves built inside the Dwarven Orthodox Church. The church has a
basement with nine supporting pillars, each bearing the names of the founding
dwarven families.” Lord Altberg explained, “It is on one of these pillars that
the Altbergs have their family diamonds.”
“Could you please describe in detail what the
diamond looked like?”
The dwarven president slammed his fist on the
couch arm, both his secretary and I jumped.
“Damn you, human! Read the papers! I did not
hire you for your idiocy!”
“With all due respect, Lord Altberg,” Jasper
said coolly, “I would much prefer to have my facts clear and straight from the
individual – to get accurate and speedy results. If you wish, I’m sure the rangers
at Station House 22 would be glad to assist you.”
“Hmph! I would rather be in a dragon’s belly
than set foot in a station house filled with bullheaded humans and airheaded
elves.” Lord Altberg sat back, “Very well. It is clear white in colour,
possesses high clarity with 99 facets, oval shaped, the size of a chicken’s
egg, and two merged dwarven runes encased in the gem’s centre. The runes should
be S and A.”
After writing down the details, Jasper brought
out what looked like a written contract and set it in front of the dwarven
president with a pen in hand. “If I could have your signature here, and here,”
Jasper pointed on the document, “We will be able to present this to the station
house and reclaim your diamond.”
Taking the pen from Jasper, Lord Altberg
muttered something about unnecessary human legalities as he signed.
“Thank you, for your time. I will personally
deliver the diamond to you.” Jasper strode to the door and opened it.
“We are not done yet,” said the president. “I hope you understand that I want that
diamond to be personally delivered by you.”
“Because we have your written agreement to be
presented as proof, we will make sure of that.” Jasper said with a nod.
Lord Altberg narrowed his eyes and placed his
hat on his head; his secretary nervously gathered his things.
“I will be expecting you tonight at 8:25 sharp
at the Masonry Hotel.” Lord Altberg said with a low growl.
“Thank you for the tea, miss. Mr. Blake,” Mr.
Weizberg tipped his hat and followed his boss.
The moment Jasper closed the door behind them,
I exhaled slowly.
“I know what you are thinking,” Jasper said, as
he watched me cross my arms glaring at the door half-expecting Lord Altberg to
come back.
“He was rude, Jasper!” I said.
“But you have to understand that these people were
treated the same way by humans – and
I am not saying just a handful of random humans on occasion. I am talking about
dwarves who lived over two hundred years
in a country that promised equality
amongst races and still are looked down upon because they are dwarves.”
I shook my head in disbelief.
“Cassisa,” his voice was gentle as he took a
step closer to me.
I looked up and saw his eyes both sad and kind.
“Please do not hate the dwarves all because of
one unpleasant incident. Do remember that there are dwarves of good character
as well just as there are humans of good and bad character.”
“I don’t hate them, Jasper,” I assured him as I
looked away, “I just feel hurt by how he had treated you.”
He smiled. “You don’t have to worry about me.
Now then,” he strode towards our meeting room, “we have an appointment with the
Oxen Basin Rangers later this afternoon. In the mean time, let’s finish our
meeting, shall we?”
I took my seat with my ledger as Jasper took
his place by the blackboard.
“Since we will be working closely together,” Jasper
began as he brought out his pocket notebook, “I will give you information of my
finds. We will compare notes and our speculations from now on.”
I voiced my agreement.
He flipped open a page. “Let’s start from the
beginning: We both know that Gavin Tiller was killed at St. Eleanor’s Chapel on
Saturday, October 7th, sometime late at night.”
“Did Merl mention about what time he was
killed?” I asked.
Jasper looked at our file on Gavin. “It says
here he died between one and two o’clock in the morning that Saturday.”
“That’s rather late to be at a chapel, let
alone a church.” I commented.
“True. Unless he was seeking sanctuary,” Jasper
mentioned, “I spoke to the priests who ministered at that chapel, they
mentioned that Gavin had come to their door begging sanctuary at around
midnight. A priest named Brother Ruben said he let Gavin in to the chapel.
Gavin asked the priest for some time alone, he thought it was for prayer
because Gavin appeared to be disturbed about something – and that was the last
time he was seen alive.”
“So who found Gavin after that?”
“Well, that’s where it’s kind of strange. The
priests said that it was Brother Simon, another priest who also works at the
chapel, that found Gavin, but it was three days later.” Jasper flipped another
page in his notes, “The priests work in rotation cleaning and tidying the
chapel each day. It was Brother Simon’s turn the morning when he made the
grisly discovery. That would mean there was a three day period of the body not
being found.”
Three days a body was in the sanctuary and
no-one bothered to check. Priests in rotation, one for each day for clean up
duty.
“That would mean there should have been two or
three rotations in between the days when Gavin was alive and dead.” I
calculated, “So who else were on rotation those days? And how come Gavin wasn’t
found then?” An idea came to me. I stood up and left the meeting room.
“Cassisa?” Jasper followed me.
I searched for a calendar and found one sitting
on Jasper’s desk. “Jasper, may we use this?” I asked. Getting a nod from him, I
compared my notes with the dates on the calendar.
I circled Monday, October 2nd and
wrote “Gavin left for work”. Then I circled Saturday, October 7th
writing “killed between 1-2 AM”. I marked an X on Tuesday, October 10th
with “Gavin found dead in Chapel”.
“Could there have been a festival? A large one
would be noted by most of us, but one that only a small community would
remember.” I suggested.
Jasper’s eyes grew with revelation. “Of
course!” He grabbed his coat and hat, making for the door. He stopped. “Aren’t
you coming?”
I grabbed my things and followed him.
The place we visited was Lady of Mercy’s Parish,
a local parish located in the northwest of our city that had connections with
St. Eleanor’s.
“Yes, our parishioners celebrate the Emperor’s
Tear Day. On the new moon of October, we take the time to reflect the darkest
hour the Emperor’s son, our lord Ishual, had to endure while died on the Iron
Tree.” Father Lucius, the Parish father explained. “I take it you know the
story about the Iron Tree.”
“It was the story of the Eternal Emperor having
to let his son die in the hands of his enemies to free the people of our world
from darkness and evil.” I mentioned. “The Iron Tree was a living iron parasite
that lived off of the lives of people. Ishual’s sacrifice on it destroyed the
tree stopping the need for people sacrifices.”
Father Lucius nodded. “During the Eve of
Emperor’s Tear Day, we have a special mass when we fast and pray for healing
and forgiveness within our community and our city. On Emperor’s Tear Day, we
celebrate by breaking fast at the church. This year we decided to hold a
community event at this building.”
“Do you have this event every year?” Jasper
asked.
“Oh no, this was the first time we held such a
community event. Because it was our first time, we asked our sister churches
and chapels to participate to interact and get to know other parishioners.”
“So what happens if one needed a place to pray
or go to sanctuary?”
“Usually we keep the church doors open. Our
communities are generally safe, so we saw no harm in keeping the places open
for prayer or sanctuary. That was until poor Mr. Tiller died.”
“Now that we have an idea of why the chapel was
empty, we should probably confirm the priest’s alibis from St. Eleanor’s.” I
suggested as we walked out of the parish.
“I already got them,” Jasper held up his
notebook.
“When?” I asked.
“While you were in the lavatory.” He flipped to
a page. “All the priests from the chapel have been attending that mass. I have
even found their names and signatures in the visitors’ book they have at the
parish entrance.”
“So the priests have alibis, but we still have
a body with no weapon and still no potential suspects.” I mentioned, “Something
is missing here.”
“What is bothering you?”
“Well, perhaps it’s the cynical part of me
saying this, but if there was this community event going on and the priests at
the chapel were involved, how come they did not mention this?”
Jasper stopped walking and looked at me.
“I know I am sounding unreasonable, though I
believe the priests are telling the truth, yet I feel like we are missing this
piece about why they did not mention this.”
“Perhaps it’s more that it just happened rather
than why.” Jasper assured, “We have moments in our lives where each of us have
our knowledge of something as ‘commonsense’ when in fact, for people who are
outside of that knowledge it is not commonsense.”
“True. Though part of me hopes it was just that
and not something else.” A nagging feeling inside me would not go away.
“Well, now we have some pieces to our puzzle,
perhaps we should move forward and pick up that diamond?”
We walked to the station house for the Third
Division, coincidentally located half an hour walk south from the parish. What
waited for us there was not only the diamond.
Jasper and I entered the station house Captain
Peere met us at the front desk and brought us to his office with the following
news.
“We have just arrested the murderer this
morning,” Captain Peere told us the moment he closed the door behind us.
“What?!” Jasper and I chorused.
“Who?” I automatically asked.
“One of the cooks at a Zenian restaurant,
that’s who?” Captain Peere said finishing his cup of tea. “Someone gave us a
tip that Gavin had done a favour for them only to have it backfired on him.
Tsk, typical!” Clucking his tongue the captain put his cup and saucer on his
desk.
“But –” I began to protest, but Jasper laid a
hand on my shoulder stopping me.
“Was there proof?” he asked.
“Oh, there was proof all right! A bloody
kitchen knife was in a pail of fish guts. Messy job to get it out, perfect
place to hide the murder weapon. The man
in question was about to wash the blood, but my men caught him red handed.” The
captain puffed his chest in pride. “Case closed, and one less thing for you to
do, Blake.”
“But it’s not him!” I argued.
“Come again?” the captain’s tone had an edge.
Jasper groaned as I went off on my tirade, “Of
course there would be a bloodied knife at the kitchen – especially after they
prepared meat! Why did you make an arrest on such a stupid –”
“That’s enough, Cassisa!” Jasper barked. I
jumped at his raised voice. He turned to me with a grave expression on his
face. “Apologize to the captain,” he ordered quietly.
“But –”
“Do as you are told!”
I felt my teeth clench behind my closed lips. I
knew I have insulted the captain, but I did not lie. The rangers made the
arrest on the wrong suspect; in fact, they had just made their conclusions
based on rash choice and possible prejudice. I also knew that if I apologized
now, Jasper and I would be off the hook for insulting the officer of the law,
but it would mean that those who made the arrest were in the right. Either I
was too proud or could not agree with the decision I just could not make myself
apologize for the judgements made on the accused.
“Excuse us for a moment,” Jasper told the
captain as he led me out of the office. The moment the door closed, he turned
to me and said in a dangerously low voice, “DO you realize what you just did?”
I opened my mouth to argue, only to have him continue,
“You may have thought that you were doing him a favor by making a statement.
Did you ever think that you have just embarrassed yourself in front of someone
who is not only a figure of authority, but also someone whom I have worked with
for years with all that shouting?”
The realization hit me: I thought I knew what I
was doing, but I was wrong. In fact, I did not know anything about dealing with
this case. Jasper was right. My actions had become my label and with my
thoughtless words I ruined the trust he had worked hard to build between
Captain Peere and himself throughout his detective career.
I felt tears pool my eyes and fall. I was an
idiot. I knew crying was not going to help, but the tears kept falling. My
heart hurt knowing I insulted my superiors. I was saddened and, being a Pilgrim
who kept in touch with Ishual, I knew Ishual was saddened as well. Not only had
I just disappointed both Ishual and Jasper, I disappointed myself too. I
inhaled and a tearful whimper escaped my lips as I exhaled. What should I do? I
did not believe that what I said was wrong, but how I said it was. I silently
prayed what I should do in this circumstance.
The air around me was stifling and almost
silent except for the busy movements of the rangers, the ringing of the
telephones, the typing at the typewriters, and the voices of those who worked
at the station house. Though I did not look at Jasper, I could sense him
waiting for me to make my move. After a silent prayer for courage and the right
words, I turned and knocked on the office door.
When the captain gave permission, I entered.
What followed was painfully humiliating, but also relieving.
“Captain Peere, I apologize for my…unlawful
behaviour towards you who is a representative of the law,” I said in my firm
voice.
The captain’s look was hard as he listened.
“However,” I added, “I cannot apologize for my
principles.” I braced myself for a charge or sentence from the captain.
“Well,” Captain Peere’s voice was frighteningly
low, “I am glad you have made the right choice of approaching me and
apologizing. However, because of the behaviour you have demonstrated, I will
have to arrest you and put you in custody for three days.”
I nodded. “That is fine. I am aware that there
are consequences involved in the matter.”
“Look at me, Ms. Fullerton.” I obeyed.
“You gold-skins think you are so smart, don’t
you?” the captain said his eyes hard like two dark stones, “Behaving quietly,
patiently and unyielding in your principles. Very well, I will have one of my
superiors examine the case – including your behavior towards a captain of the
Rangers. Is that clear, Ms. Fullerton?”
“Yes, sir,” I agreed.
Captain Peere opened the office door and said,
“Both of you get out!”
As Jasper and I complied, I overheard the
captain whisper to him, “You have really gotten yourself quite a filly, Blake.”
He called one of the officers to take me to a cell to spend for the next three
days.
Chapter 7
On the night I spent in the cell, I discovered
that it was a cold and uncomfortable place to be in. It was so cold that I
asked one of the guards for another blanket, only to receive a smirk and my
request ignored. As I lay on the cot waiting for morning, I hugged my limbs and
curled up in the only blanket they allowed me to have wishing I had my shawl
with me.
I dreamed that night…
I was
on the grounds at St. Eleanor’s and saw Gavin running. He came to the chapel
and pounded on the door shouting, “Sanctuary! Sanctuary!”
The
door, unlocked, swung open inwards. Gavin stumbled in. At the threshold, he
immediately turned to his pursuer with a determined look on his face.
“Is
this what you want?” He held up a white stone in his fist.
Suddenly,
I was looking through the eyes of the killer as he scanned his surroundings. He
hesitated to enter though he could see no one else. His eyes darted to the
stone table at the front of the sanctuary, and then he looked at Gavin who had
a look of triumph on his face.
“You
may try to hide your acts in darkness, but he –” Gavin pointed at something behind
the stone table, “he sees
everything!” The gardener emphasized the
last two words.
The
killer closed his hand over whatever he happened to be holding and swung it.
Gavin dodged at each blow as he headed further into the sanctuary shrouded by
darkness. Gavin gave a cry.
I woke up screaming.
“Ai-yah!” I heard a male voice from the next
cell call out and said something about someone trying to get some sleep in
Zenian.
“Du-wei buchi (Sorry),” I apologized in Zenian.
The owner of the voice asked in Zenian, “Are
you a Zenian?”
“Are you
a Zenian?” I asked in return.
“I am. Did those officers throw you in here
too?” the man asked.
“I am here because I insulted an officer,” I
said quietly.
“Wah!
Not good!”
“And you, sir, why did they put you in here?” I
inquired politely.
“I was thrown in here because they found a
bloody knife in our restaurant thinking we used it to kill someone! So stupid!”
I heard a rustling sound that suggested the speaker was changing positions.
“Those idiots can’t tell if the blood on the knife was from a person or some
fish we were preparing that day!”
“How did they come to that conclusion?”
“Are you siding with them?” asked the voice in
suspicion.
“I only want to know the truth.”
“Well, here’s my truth: the bloody knife was
from our kitchen. We were preparing a huge wedding feast and had some fish
cleaned. I was washing some dirty knives when one fell from the counter and
landed in the pile of fish guts we were about to toss out. That was when the
rangers came in searching the place and found our knife, said something about
‘hiding evidence in the garbage’.” Immediately the man cussed then continued,
“Those bastards only wanted to find an excuse to hurt us.”
“Why did the rangers come to the restaurant?”
“Did you hear about the murder?”
“The one with a little man killed?” I asked,
using “little man”, a Zenian word for riluds.
“No, the other one!”
“There was another one?”
“Yes, it was the one with one of those giant
people. They say he was stabbed in his home, but could not find the weapon.”
The man used the Zenian word “giant people” which literally meant the elves.
“Do you know who was killed?”
“A very important man. His name was
Willowdale.”
Willowdale? “Are you sure?”
“Sure, I’m sure. You’re calling me a liar?”
“Well, I have never heard of this happening.” I
explained.
“Ah, I see, I see,” the man explained, “Mr.
Willowdale was found dead yesterday morning by his daughter. They heard a
rumour about us having some connection with him, something about diamonds. Such
lies!”
I listened and began piecing together what had
unfolded. Mr. Willowdale was killed, a rumour (likely, a strange one) that
Zenians were related to the diamond business because of an indirect connection
with Tiller who just happened to be asking about diamonds.
The sound of a key turning in the lock
interrupted my thoughts. The cell door swung open. A young officer with light
brown curly hair whom I have never seen before stepped into the cell. He
appeared rather young, until I noticed that the back of his hands were hairy
with mousy brown hair; possibly a rilud, since they age slower than their human
counterparts and their statures were shorter. I noticed that this rilud did not
have short stubby horns; I assumed they were hidden in the mass of curls.
“Ms. Fullerton?” he asked.
“Yes?” I replied.
“Come with me, please.” The officer stepped out
of the cell allowing me to exit.
As soon as I walked out, he closed the door
behind me and led me up the steps, to the main level where Captain Peere’s
office was.
The officer knocked on the door. When the
captain granted us permission to enter, the young officer opened the door. In
the office was the captain, Jasper and a tall elven man whom I did not recognize.
The man in question had light brown skin with
silver hair that was trimmed and combed back. He had a nose that reminded me of
a hawk’s beak and a pair of strikingly sharp dark green eyes that made him even
more hawk like. He wore a high collared uniform dark green with silver buttons,
a short black cloak about the shoulders and polished black boots that went up
to his knees. Under his arm, he had a round flat-topped cap with a silver crest
of the Nordican Emerald Knights.
As I was brought into the office, the officer
who brought me in closed the door behind me and stood guard in front of it.
“Sit down, Ms. Fullerton,” the captain said, nodding
to an extra seat that was conveniently placed at the corner of his desk closest
to me. I obeyed.
“This is Brigadier General Edgar Aspengroves of
the Nordican Emerald Knights,” the captain introduced.
The general greeted me with a nod. I nodded in
return.
“The general has looked into the case and
suggested that you are to be free and join Lieutenant Blake upon further
investigations of the dwarven diamond case.”
For a moment I was confused with Jasper’s
title, my unexpected pardon and return to the case. Then I remembered that Ian
told me something about Jasper being a former knight himself and the symbol I
saw on Jasper’s badge.
I turned to the general. “Thank you, general,”
I said holding out my hand.
The general smiled a handsome smile and warmly
shook my hand.
“I am glad to see that Jasper had finally hired
someone to work with him,” the general said in a deep melodious voice.
“And Ms. Fullerton,” the captain’s voice
stiffened as his face had a shade of pink, “I have heard that your talents in
the cultures and languages of the Eastern Kingdoms will be of great asset for
the lieutenant’s investigations. I wish you all the best.”
I
guess this would be as close to an apology I will get from him. “Thank you, captain,” I smiled politely.
The moment Jasper, the general and I walked out
of Station House 22, the elven general turned and said with a smile, “I guess I
should let you loose from here.”
“Yes, thank you, general.” Jasper shook hands
with General Aspengroves.
“You always find ways of getting yourself into
hot water, don’t you lad?” the general leaned in and winked.
“I would not say it was my fault this time.”
Jasper said wryly.
I looked away embarrassed.
“Really, Lieutenant Blake?”
“What he says is true, general.” I put in,
looking up at the tall elf.
The general grinned like a school boy who
received a delightful piece of sweet. He looked at Jasper whose ears were
turning red, then he chuckled. “I see! So that’s how it is!”
Jasper smiled somewhat painfully at the
general’s reaction.
“Ah! Good to hear you have finally found
someone,” the general gave Jasper a friendly slap across the back and added, “to
work with. Papa’s very pleased!”
“Papa? Who’s p– ” I tried to ask, but was
interrupted.
“She’s my assistant,
Edgar,” Jasper argued, dropping the formalities.
I blinked, but the general didn’t mind.
“Finally, Jasper! Just like old times! I was
wondering when you would drop the formalities.” Edgar Aspengroves continued
cheerfully, “I must say you have good taste in women. Have you popped the
question yet?”
“What?” I heard myself ask.
Red with embarrassment, Jasper’s mouth moved to
make a protest but no sound came.
“No? Mind if I take her off your hands?” Edgar
joked.
“Yes, I do!” Jasper sputtered loudly, “And for
the love of heaven, you are already married!”
“Hmm, yes, you are right. Angering my wife
would only have me on the porch tonight. Not a good thing!” The general was
clearly enjoying this!
“I think, we should move on from here,” Jasper
put in putting his arm about my shoulders and drew me towards him. “I’m sure
your men are waiting for you.”
Edgar gave an exasperated sigh and a shrug. “If
you insist, I will see you again!” With a laugh he walked away.
“Jasper, what had just happened?” I asked him.
Jasper looked down at me and explained, “You
were just released from prison, my dear.”
“That is not really what I am asking. What I
want to know is: how was I released in one
day even though I have insulted an officer of the law verbally and was told to
stay in prison for three?”
“Oh, that,” he said as if it was a simple
question, “Edgar told Peere to release you.”
I immediately made my way back to the station
house. Jasper stopped me.
“Where are you going?”
“Back to the station house so I could to finish
serving my time.”
“Really, Cassisa! You are being ridiculous!”
“Jasper, I appreciate that you have gone out of
the way to – have the captain release me, but I still owe him two days!”
Jasper peered into my face. I nervously took a
step from him.
“Are you suggesting that I pulled strings to
release you?”
I felt my face grow warm. “Well, that is what I am hearing,” I pointed out.
Jasper snorted and began to laugh.
“What?”
“You really believed that I was capable of
doing that?” he asked with an amused look on his face.
“Well…” I was not sure how to respond, but I
did believe so.
Though he had stopped laughing his eyes still
had that twinkle. “Walk with me, Cassisa, and I will tell you.”
We walked along the main street. It was a
lovely day out which matched Jasper’s present mood.
“While you were held in custody this morning,
Peere had a meeting with Edgar. Edgar was sent by the head of the rangers to
meet with Peere because there had been complaints coming from the rangers about
his questionable behaviours and judgements regarding his recent arrests. Peere
was a good ranger captain, however he had allowed his prejudices to cloud his
judgements, and sadly it had occurred more frequently as of late. According to
the Nordican law, Peere had been bending the law of humanity.”
I remembered which law Jasper was referring to,
the law stating that “all persons and institutions in Nordica remained free
only when freedom was founded upon respect for moral and spiritual values”.
“When you came to Peere’s office this morning
that was after he had a meeting with Edgar regarding his malpractice.” He
stopped and turned. “Also, though I would like to mention that I have worked as
an Emerald Knight under Edgar’s command in the past, I am no longer one of
them. In fact I have not worked as one of the knights for over ten years.”
“So you are saying that you had no influence on
your part in my release?” I asked.
“Exactly, it all just worked out that way.”
When I tried to process what we have discussed,
he asked, “What are you thinking?”
“You’re not mad at me? For my behaviours, I
mean.”
He looked surprised at my question, but gave me
a gentle look. “What you said I agreed with, however, how you have said it as well as the timing and the place to say those
things I did not agree with.”
I looked away, unsure of how to respond.
“Are you
angry at me?” he asked.
I shook my head. “What you told me was not
wrong, though how you said it was hurtful, but I believe I deserved that
response.” Suddenly, I felt a gentle hand behind my head as he brought me to
his chest. My face grew warm as I noticed that I did not dislike his touch. In
fact, I welcomed it.
“Jasper?” I heard myself ask, “Is something
wrong?”
“No, nothing’s wrong,” he said as his arms
tenderly surrounded me and held me close.
I lifted my head and looked at him.
He looked back at me sadly, he asked, “Will you
forgive me?”
“Whatever for?”
He let out soft sigh his eyes melted into
relief. I saw him lean in, then I felt something warm land on my forehead. I
jolted in surprise. Did he just kiss me?
Stepping away, he led me by the hand avoiding my eyes.
After my release from my one night stay at the
station house, Jasper and I ordered soup and sandwich at Digger’s shop. Over
our brunch, Jasper himself explained to me what had transpired during my
absence overnight.
While I was in custody, Jasper went back to Captain
Peere and spoke about making the diamond delivery to Lord Altberg.
“We
found the owner of the diamond.” Jasper said, as he held up a document that
Lord Altberg had signed earlier. “Our client had given us permission to hand
deliver it to him.”
Captain
Peere took the signed document and opened the door, calling an officer by the
name of Ryans, he requested the diamond.
Within
a few minutes, Officer Ryans came to the captain’s office with a tray
containing the diamonds. Captain Peere took the tray from Ryans and presented
it to Jasper.
“I
trust you know which one that dwarf wants,” the captain said as he picked up a
cigarette from a box on his desk and lit up.
Though
all of them had runes in them, Jasper immediately picked the largest gem.
“Was
this all the diamonds that were turned in?” Jasper asked as he wrapped the
stone in his handkerchief and put it in his pocket.
“That
is it.”
Jasper
stared at the tray for a moment in disappointment, and then took his leave.
He met
with Lord Altberg at the Masonry that evening at 8:25 sharp as requested. The
president of the bank came with his secretary, his steps firm with purpose and
his face hopeful.
“Did
you find it?” the president asked immediately upon Jasper’s arrival.
Jasper
revealed the diamond unveiling it from the folds of his handkerchief. The
dwarf’s eyes grew with want, he reached for the stone, but Jasper withheld it
from his grasp.
“Give
me the stone!” the president demanded.
“First,
let me ask you a question,” Jasper’s voice was gentle, but firm, “Were you
given another stone by mistake?”
The dwarf’s
face grew a shade redder. From where he stood, Jasper could see the dwarven
president’s secretary standing behind him wringing his hands as though he were praying
that there wouldn’t be a scene.
“Are
you accusing me of stealing?” the president’s voice was low with anger.
“Not
at all,” Jasper replied, “I just remembered that you have mentioned something
about your distrust in the station house. Could it be that someone gave you the
wrong gem?”
“Yes,”
the president mumbled.
“Could
you please tell me what had happened?”
The
president nodded and invited him to the hotel lounge; there the president told the
story.
“About
a month ago, when we discovered our loss the news reached the newspapers not
long after that. We were shocked for we knew that the church would not make
such announcement, yet there it was in the papers. We went to the station house
to claim our diamond; they gave us the diamond that fit the description, but
the wrong one.”
“They
gave you the diamond with the wrong runes,” Jasper said.
The
president, who now looked relaxed, nodded. “They gave us a diamond with a
single rune in it. Of course, those idiot humans could not tell the difference
between one dwarven rune from another. They didn’t care!”
“So they
made you leave with the wrong diamond.”
He
nodded. “I tried to return the gem to them, but they refused to take it, saying
they have done their job. Now that I have the diamond I should be on my way.”
By now, Lord Altberg looked more hurt than sad; all he wanted was to do what he
believed was the right thing – return what really did not belong to him and
find his real diamond.
“Do
you have that diamond with you, Lord Altberg?” Jasper asked.
Lord
Altberg reached into his pocket and brought out the other diamond. The diamond
was about the size of a chicken’s egg only this one was cut in a rose cut with
a single golden rune inside. Jasper brought out the one he had gotten from the
station house and laid it on surface of a low table we sat at.
“Your
diamond for mine, a peaceful exchange and we will be on our way.” Jasper
assured.
The
president pushed his stone towards Jasper. Jasper brought his closer to the
president. Like a solemn ceremony, the two men picked up the diamonds they came
for and put them into their pockets.
“Thank
you, Mr. Blake. I am glad we came to you.” With his face filled with peace, the
president stood and said to his secretary, “Let us go.”
As he
took a few steps towards the exit, Lord Altberg turned back and asked, “If I
may ask: where is your assistant today?”
“She
is on an errand,” Jasper lied.
“I see.”
Lord Altberg tipped his hat as he made his way out of the hotel. The secretary
gave a nod to Jasper in thanks and left with the president.
By the time Jasper finished his tale our meal
was done and paid for. We went to our office where I saw him reach into his chest
pocket. Freeing the stone from his handkerchief he offered it to me.
I held out my hand as he dropped the round cut
diamond into it. As I held the diamond up in the light, it sparkled with a
single golden rune captured inside.
“So, whose diamond is this?” I returned the
stone to him.
“It belongs to the Blake family – made of the
ashes of my brother, Jacynth Blake.” The diamond disappeared back into his
pocket. He then walked behind his desk and brought out a silver cigarette case
from one of his drawers. He held it out to me. I took the case and opened it.
Inside was a slightly aged photograph of a group of young soldiers, over one of
the faces (located about the second person from the right) was a hole that
appeared to have been from a bullet or a burning end of a cigarette because of
its darkened edges.
“See if you could find me in there.” Jasper
said.
I studied the photograph and saw a face that
shared some resemblance. “Is this you?” I asked, pointing to the individual.
He peered at the picture and said, “That is
Jacynth, my adopted brother.” He pointed at the hole where a young soldier’s
face would have been. “This was me.”
“You defaced your own face?” I asked, unsure
what to make of the disturbing act.
“I didn’t do that,” Jasper reclaimed his cigarette
case with the photograph and closed it. “The photograph belonged to my brother
when they found him badly injured from battle.”
He stood there for a moment, his fingers
playing on the case surface like a flautist fingering a tune. He took a deep breath
and said, “I want to ask you something.”
I faced him and listened to his serious tone.
He began to pace nervously for a moment and
stopped. Turning sharply, he asked, “Actually, I have a confession to make.”
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