Chapter Four

  Part Two

  They moved into the inn, where once again Line’s nose was assaulted by the smell of stale booze. The portly woman behind the bar was being slightly harassed by a drunk patron, but she had probably dealt with this kind of behaviour regularly. But Line walked straight past them and headed up the stairs to the second floor.

  As Ali walked past, she flashed her monastery token and under her breath whispered “God, I love this thing”

  Line came to the third room, which would line up perfectly with the open window they saw outside. She pushed at the door, but found it wouldn’t budge. It was locked.

  Ali seeing this this said “move aside, I can get used in” she then bent down, pulling lock picks from her sleeve.

  “or, we could just ask the lady down stairs if she has an extra key”

  “Where’s the fun in that”

  “Ali. Is it alright for you to be back here?”

  Ali shrugged “Kidd was my boss. So as long he doesn’t report me to higher ups, I should be fine for some time”

  It didn’t take long, before a soft clicking sound came from the lock. Ali then pushed the door open and moved aside for Line “after you”

  Line moved inside, and was met with a sweet fragrance mixed with a slight metallic smell. There was indeed a pool of wet blood to the side of the room, with what looked like drag marks. Other than the puddle of red iron, the rest of the room was unbothered.

  Line moved through the room to the desk. There were a few papers here, but the thing she was looking for wasn’t here. She then looked through the oak dresser. Moving aside vibrant coloured clothing, but she still couldn’t find it.

  “Miss Barnes’ hairpin is not here” Line said.

  “Line. We had to unlock the door ourselves. If she was murdered, where’d the killer go?”

  “keep looking”

  Ali nodded, and went to the window.

  Line knew another room in this inn had a hidden compartment. So she moved to the corner, mirroring the other room. She lifted up the loose floorboard to find the compartment empty. “Ali? Is there other places like this?”

  “Line”

  Line looked up at her. Ali was still staring out the window. Line stood from her kneeling position to look at what Ali was seeing. But what she saw caused a little annoyance to spark inside her. Standing outside was Prince Vax’dian, fan in hand gently fanning himself. A little away from him was Hyde, he was talking to someone. The body of Delilah Barnes was being taken away on a stretcher by some guards.

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  Prince Vax’dian caught Line’s eye, and he gave a little bow. Line just shook her head and moved back into the room.

  “Ali. I need to know if there are other hidden compartments in this room”

  Ali moved from the window “oh, I’m not sure”

  “what do you mean?”

  “well. I don’t usually use this inn, I mostly use the one over the river”

  “Well, would there be more hidden compartments?”

  Ali nodded.

  “look for them”

  “There should be a bigger one. In all The Sect owned buildings, there’s always secret passages. It’s why Sect members usually use Sect buildings for assassinations”

  “alright, then first, wouldn’t that just give away those buildings? And second, our killer is not a Sect member. Your people don’t kill like this. So they shouldn’t have known about the passage ways”

  “to answer your first question, Sect assassins just kill their targets. But the inn owners move the bodies somewhere else. On the second point, other people within these Sect buildings may know the all the hidden compartments”

  “Then what’s the point in them being hidden?”

  “Because inns do get normal guests. It’s how The Sect earns money”

  “alright. You keep looking in here, I’ll go talk to the owner”

  *

  When Line had moved downstairs, the familiar visage of Prince Vax’dian was waiting for her.

  “My good Inspector”

  “Prince Vax’dian”

  Hyde moved past her and walked up the stairs, giving a slight nod towards her.

  “are you following me?” Line asked.

  “do you want me to?”

  Line felt the urge to roll her eyes, but fought against it. She instead moved to the booze-stained bar. The portly woman was no longer being harassed by anyone, but was cleaning out a thick looking glass tankard.

  “Excuse me, ma’am?”

  The woman looked up at her, tucking a golden lock of hair behind her ear “what?”

  “are you aware of the murder that just happened?”

  “what of it”

  “I was hoping to ask you some questions”

  The woman scoffed “I don’t need to answer shit. The other lady flashed that monastery token, I ain’t saying anything to you lot”

  “do you not like Candour Monastery?”

  “please. The king practically owns you, of course I dislike that monastery”

  Line glance at Prince Vax’dian from the corner of her eye, but seeing his gaze unchanged she chose to ignore the woman’s statement. But she also knew that this woman wouldn’t be telling her anything any time soon “then I’ll be leaving you alone”

  When they moved away from the bar, Prince Vax’dian spoke up “people outside said that the body just fell from the window. They didn’t see anything else”

  “of course they wouldn’t” a pause “do people not like your father?”

  “some don’t. The only ones who say that favour my older brother”

  “family drama?”

  “everyone has some family drama here and there”

  “I’m sure”

  “Do you not?”

  “I haven’t seen my family for over fifteen years” as soon as she said that, she knew she shouldn’t have.

  “Fifteen years? Do you miss them?”

  She thought for a moment ultimately deciding, until eventually she said “I do”

  “Then why haven’t you met with them?”

  “...I’m not ready”

  “Ready? Ready for what?”

  She began to speak but was interrupted by a “Line!”

  Ali had run down the stairs was calling out to her “we’ve found it!”