Chapter 72: The Investigation Begins with an Interrogation, Apparently

Normally, the zing of lemon zest and sugary icing didn't taste so bland. Or sooty, like charcoal. Yet today, the ashen pall that settled over the Breakwater Inn kept the mood grim. The four of us sat around a table, barely speaking. The faint early morning light cast rays through the open windows, lighting up broad slices of the steam rising from our coffees.

I was ravenous. There weren't enough scones in the world to fill my stomach. I even kept the hob going longer than needed to make coffee for us and our guests, just to make some sausage and eggs.

Apparently, all the training I was doing was showing up in my appetite. And maybe I was imagining things, but I thought I could see new definition in my arms and shoulders, too. I certainly felt stronger and more capable. Not quite fight off a legendary pirate enforcer strong, but maybe pose in a gym mirror if the lighting were just right strong.

Maybe that's what made me feel confidently proactive.

I cleared my throat. "So, what's the plan for today? We just wait around and see if pirates show up?"

"Somebody has to stay here and look after our guests. They'll be waking up soon for breakfast and coffee. Whatever you have planned next, leave me out," Wynnie said.

Shivai jerked her thumb at Wynnie. "I also had Breakwater upkeep on my mind. Figured I might draw more runes. Assuming tonight is as hot as last night, we'll need a way to keep cool."

"My deputies know I'm here," Lady Talia reported. "If they've found anything since they went out searching last night, they'll tell me. In the meantime, I'll stick around for protection."

Shivai groaned, but I was actually relieved to hear it. Despite the tension between the women, I felt a lot more comfortable having two people around who knew how to handle weapons. Surely, with the shared goal of keeping pirates away, they'd find common ground. Maybe they'd even get along.

For the safety of the town, I sure hoped so. Lady Talia's description of the deputies didn't inspire much confidence. For all I knew, they were no better in combat than I was.

I'd had what, five days of training with blades? Six? Couldn't have been much more than that. If we were going up against pirates anytime soon, I'd want to hide behind people who actually knew what they were doing. Both the demonkin and dragonkin exuded raw capability. Meanwhile, I could keep morale up with affogatos and sgroppinos.

I pushed my plate away, leaving the last few bites uneaten. It was a triumph of self control. Shivai had no problem leaving most of her food untouched, and Wynnie managed to conquer her breakfast despite piling it on a bit heavy.

Meanwhile, Lady Talia eyed the small pile of eggs and the few remaining sausages. She looked at me, then at Wynnie, asking silent permission. When we both nodded, she reached out to serve herself a sausage, but then paused, glancing at Shivai. Shivai shrugged, and the constable availed herself of seconds.

With all that patrolling she did, she must've had no trouble getting her steps in.

As she tucked in, I thought about doing the dishes, warning the guests about vindictive pirates, and training, roughly in that order.

"Okay. Guess it's time to get started, then." I dusted my hands off against each other uselessly. I don't know why—I just felt like it was something people did before they started actual work. "How long do you think it'll take before your deputies find anything, anyway?"

Lady Talia shrugged. "Who knows? They're mostly nitwits, so it could be a few days. Then again, I guess they could always get lucky."

A knock sounded on the door. Our heads all swiveled in that direction simultaneously.

Tension in the air grew so thick you could drown in it.

Nobody moved, frozen with curiosity and dread.

So, I took charge. Pushing my chair back, I stood, pursed my lips, and took in a calming breath. I reached the doorknob just as a second knock came.

Greeting me on the other side was a blood-red demonkin man with a single broken horn. He was a bit shorter than me, coming up to about chin level. A black leather vest covered his tunic, which was soaked through with sweat in the early morning heat. He wiped a layer of perspiration off his forehead as he greeted me.

"Good day, sir. I'm looking for the proprietor of this inn."

"Well, technically, that's mostly Wynnie, but I could probably help," I offered.

"Sure, sure. It's just that there's, erm, danger afoot, and, um," he glanced over his shoulder as if afraid he'd been followed, "ah, danger and possible mayhem, you see."

My brows shot up. Somehow, I didn't think he was trying to tempt me with a good time. "Mayhem? I don't think Wynnie wants any part of that," I said, treating him like the world's worst door-to-door salesman. "But I know a dragonkin who might be interested."

He brightened, and I glanced back at the girls. They were still seated around the table. Lady Talia rolled her eyes as she watched things unfold. With a hearty slug of coffee to help her swallow, she called out to our visitor.

"Oh, come in, Donald! You look like you're melting out there!"

"Oh! Lady Talia! I didn't see you there."

"It's because you're so short!" she called. Then, quieter, but still loud enough to hear, "And not very perceptive."

Donald waited blithely, still holding his hat in his hand, proving he'd earned the constable's assessment of his perspicacity. Perhaps wisdom was his dump stat.

Actually, judging by his stature and demeanor, maybe he had a few dump stats.

"Well, you heard the lady. Why don't you come on in?" I motioned him to follow and led him back to the main room, where everyone was waiting. He stood a few steps back from the rest of us and fidgeted nervously with his floppy black wool hat. "Where were we? Danger and mayhem?"

"Ah! Yes. And general skullduggery, I'm afraid." He performed a quick and pointless bow before continuing. "Begging your pardon for the interruption, masters, but we found the site of the fire. There are some curious things there that I thought you might want to investigate."

Every sentence that tumbled stiltedly from his mouth seemed less confident than the last. I'd only just met the man, and I already lacked confidence in his ability to do much more than deliver a message.

"I don't suppose you tried to investigate the scene yourself?" Lady Talia asked.

He shook his head. "No, ma'am. I wouldn't want to get in the way. Or accidentally mess anything up. I know how you would hate that."

The constable let out a long, tired sigh. For a few seconds, she buried her face in her hands. When she re-emerged from her frustration cocoon, she cocked her head in my direction.

"I don't suppose you have any experience investigating crimes, do you?"

"No, but I watched a few police procedurals on TV."

She blinked several times. "Is that a yes or a no?"

"I'm sure I could manage." The basics didn't seem that hard. Look at stuff, but don't touch anything. Hell, if I could follow that rule in a strip club, I was sure I could do it in a higher-stakes atmosphere. "Are we going to check out an arson?"

"If you're up for it. We'll have Donald here watch over the inn while I'm gone." She set her gaze on the fidgety demonkin. "Donald? Can I trust you to keep these ladies safe?"

"Yes, ma'am. Of course, ma'am. No harm will come to these women under my watch, believe you me." He grimaced. "Unless I get overrun by pirates, of course. Don't think I could stand up to the Dreaded Pirate Robertson, no sir-ee."

Getting the whereabouts of the fire out of Donald was a laborious chore. Lady Talia's deputy could barely stammer out a coherent reply to every detailed question we asked. By the time we hit the road to the outskirts of town, it felt like we'd lost valuable time. In reality, it took maybe five minutes. Yet five minutes in anything resembling an emergency can feel like a lifetime.

The overbearing, still heat of the late morning crept into my bones as we walked. Insects buzzed a constant drone, permeating the otherwise placid air. All around us, the foliage wilted, unable to stand at its full height under the oppressive heat.

Lady Talia's skin glistened more than usual. Even though she was dragonkin with a hint of scale over her smooth, almost alabaster skin, apparently she still had sweat glands.

And apparently, I still had a thing for women who showed their exertion. I couldn't stop stealing glances at her. After my sixth or seventh surreptitious glance, she whirled around.

"Why do you keep looking at me?"

"Sorry. I guess I was trying to think of what conversation to make, but nothing was jumping out at me."

"You could ask me how I slept. Or where we're going. Or what I usually eat for breakfast." She looked almost annoyed listing them off. "Really, if you want to make conversation, you should just make it. Don't just look at me. It makes me self conscious, like maybe I have a stain on my shirt and you're too polite to say anything."

Damn if she didn't have a point. Usually, I was so comfortable and confident when talking with women. Yet after how awkward everything had gotten the day before, I felt completely on my back foot.

Might as well go for one of her talking points and see how it went.

"So... how did you sleep last night?"

"Terribly."

"...Oh."

"Sharing a bed with a criminal is rather low on my list of life highlights. Even with Wynnie to separate us, I'd have to rate my experience quite poor." She measured my reaction and offered some conciliation. "Don't worry. I don't expect that's the usual guest experience at the Breakwater Inn. I'll just chalk it up to a uniquely bad experience and leave it at that."

"Great. Thanks, I guess." I scratched the back of my neck. "Were you afraid she'd, um, steal something from you?"

"Besides the covers?"

"Did she steal those?"

Lady Talia pursed her lips. Suddenly, the ground under her feet appeared very interesting to her. The drooping fauna. The faint, wispy trail of a cloud overhead. Finally, "Did she say something?"

"No."

"Well… not really, no. She didn't steal the covers. I might've been hogging them, but I didn't realize it. We, um, had a chat." Her typical stiff grumble came through strained and ice cold, like a good martini. "I might've mentioned that, uh, I'd be willing to share."

That sounded promising to me. Just the fact that they'd spoken at all was a good sign. I almost wondered if they'd passed the Bechdel test.

Fortunately, I knew better to ask.

"So, you figured out the cover situation? Sharing sounds easy."

"Hmmph. Sure. Gotta start somewhere, I guess. Turns out we have a bit in common, I guess."

"You both like sheets?" I chuckled.

She clenched her jaw. "Right. That. Did you want to ask me other questions, or have you got that out of your system now?"

We were on the dirt road heading down to the south part of town. I'd been down it once or twice before. The first time was when I was first reborn in this world, and Lady Talia found me in a ditch.

If we kept going, it would lead us to Farmer Cal and Yvonne's place. Beyond that, much farther down the coast, and we'd reach the next town. I still hadn't seen it yet. I knew there was a whole world for me to explore, but so far I'd seen surprisingly little of it.

I was about to ask her another question—one she'd suggested. Out of practicality, I was thinking of asking where we were going. Maybe extend that to more of the little port towns down the Silver Coast.

Yet, out of personal curiosity, I still wanted to know more about the rift between the town's main lawmaker and its only known thief. It was stupid, but I had to know. As long as they were going to spend more time together, I needed to know how to keep the peace.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a smart way to reopen the subject.

"I guess I have another question," I said.

"Okay. Go for it."

"I hope you don't think less of me for um, allowing Shivai into my life. More than just hiring her."

She side-eyed me, arching a dangerous brow. "That wasn't a question."

"Besides the criminal thing, is there something about her that you don't like?" I had a guess, but I didn't want to assume too much. "I get that she's a bit bracing and chaotic, but she has a good heart."

For several seconds, only the sounds of our rapid strides punctuated the droning of insects. I could practically feel the consideration Lady Talia was giving to her reply.

Finally, she spoke up, noticeably careful about her phrasing.

"It’s about trust. Demonkin are descended from demons. Their infernal legacy is nothing like that of a true demon, but there are aspects of their lineage that simply cannot be denied. Shivai exemplifies every aspect of that reality."

"What do you mean?"

"They are passionate, impulsive, and unpredictable. What's more, they have a tenuous relationship with rules."

"You seem to thrive on rules," I observed. "Is that a dragonkin thing?"

Her hand tightened into a fist by her side, and her shoulders tensed. It reminded me of the way she'd stiffened when we talked about her parents on the beach.

That had ended with her demuring. I wasn't any less curious now, though I immediately got the impression I'd remain just as curious after her answer.

With visible effort, she unballed her fists.

"I think it's just a me thing. Although I definitely got it from my parents. Most dragonkin appreciate rules, law, and order, but that's just because we…" She paused, then threw me an accusatory look of surprise. "Hey! Wait a minute. We're not talking about me right now. This is about Shivai."

I stifled a laugh. "Right. We're doing gossip, not getting to know each other."

"Gossip! Hah!" Her sparkling, iridescent face tinged rose. "Shivai has a checkered past here. She doesn't work. She doesn't contribute to society. For years, she's followed the same playbook: Find some poor, unsuspecting sucker and mooch off them. I don't trust her. She's a thief."

"Do you think she's stealing from us?"

"I don't know. I don't run your books. Is she?"

Bookkeeping was something I'd been doing. Well, me and Wynnie, but mostly me. It took less than an hour per day, and I was a bit loose with the numbers—without a digital point of sale system, we had to do a lot of guesswork.

But one thing was for certain: Since hiring Shivai, our numbers had changed. Dramatically.

Yet not in the way Lady Talia might expect.

"I don't think she's stealing from us. Actually, I think she's doing everything she can to help us succeed." Strategically, I left out the part where she'd used magic to influence patrons, making them overindulge. We'd nipped that in the bud. "The ultimatum you gave her really rattled her. Working with her has been a blessing. Our numbers have gone up significantly since she started."

Instinctively, the constable checked her sword. Then, she made sure her armor was strapped on tight; she'd more or less loosely tossed in on as we were leaving. Only during the walk had she adjusted things until they fit right.

My guess was that talking about Shivai put her on edge. Probably just as much as walking to the scene of an actual crime. The whole weapons-and-armor bit was more about putting up mental defenses as practical ones.

I could hear her murmuring, too.

"A rapscallion. Ne'er-do-well. Burglar and con artist." Even though she was muttering to herself, she kept getting louder. "Like playing with fire. She's tempestuous and mercurial. Dangerous."

"I think she might be all those things you said." From what I knew about her, it checked out. "But I think there's more to her, too. It would be a shame if you only got to know her on a surface level. She runs deeper than you might think."

The constable let out a surprised scoff. Her brows furrowed as she tried to reconcile my revelation with what she knew about the succubus. Still, despite her performative show of disbelief, she edged closer as we walked. She tilted her head in like a concerned parent trying to get the scoop on their teenage kid.

"And her impulsivity—it hasn't backfired? She hasn't done anything to infuriate a guest? Or put your operations at risk?"

"Um, well…" I almost let slip that she'd been using a subtle charm effect on some of our patrons to make them order more. Barely caught it in time. "I actually find it endearing. Where I'm from, people hide their feelings. They're afraid of vulnerability. Her openness is refreshing."

"Typical succubus. Immodest even with her feelings. Bah!"

Beneath the puritanical judgment, I thought I caught an almost wistful edge. A suggestion of mild envy. As though Lady Talia wasn’t free with her feelings not because she didn’t want to be, but because she wasn’t allowed to.

Perhaps what I’d said had struck a chord. The muttering, head shaking, and scowl told me as much. I didn’t want to push it any further.

After all, there were only two other places to take the conversation. Either I’d have to double down about what I saw in Shivai, or Lady Talia would have to investigate her own emotions. That wasn't what she'd come out here to investigate. And she'd already fended that discussion off once.

“I believe you, you know. It must be nice hearing someone tell you they love you. That you matter to them,” Lady Talia said, breaking the silence. “That they’re proud of you.”

“Um, yeah.” I studied the constable, wondering where that last part came from in particular.

“But you must be careful. When people act based on emotions rather than duty and justice, they become easy to manipulate.”

Ah. There it was.

“Dragonkin culture thing?”

“My parents were very clear. Act according to what’s right, not just what feels rewarding.”

I stifled a groan. “I think I’m doing what’s right.”

"Hmph. We'll see. I wouldn't be surprised if she simply has you charmed. You and Wynnie both." She offered me a pitying look. "No offense, but succubi can wield powerful magic. It wouldn't be a surprise if any of your feelings for her were simply the product of magical psychological manipulation."

I didn't think that was true. Yet in the back of my mind, the question was always there.

How did her charm magic truly work? What were its limits? And could we ever know if she’d used it?

Even if Shivai protested it, what did that even count for? She'd deny using her powers to influence us, of course. She might've charmed us the second she first walked in to ask for a job. Everything could have been a lie.

I didn't believe it, of course.

But that was just what a charm spell would make me think.

"I suppose we'll find out sooner or later. I just hope she'll be able to prove you wrong."

A beat passed. The constable's voice came out a low murmur. "Me too. I just don't want anyone to take advantage of you. I can see that you have a kind heart, a sound mind, and surprisingly strong moral fiber. You're a good man. My apologies for being so protective of you. I really… I really don't know why."

I was starting to think I did, but that was a conversation for another time.

In the distance, I saw something recognizable. Almost recognizable. My stomach dropped.

Gently, she snagged my elbow and pulled me down a path off the road. My heart sank to where my stomach was. My stomach fell into my hips.

I knew where we were.

"The arson is this way. Just a short walk."

The familiar path was less well kept than the road. Hooves and cart tracks dimpled and rutted two lanes of mud, and the center and sides were overgrown with grasses. It looked like any countryside driveway I'd ever been down. Unfortunately, it also looked exactly like the path to Farmer Cal and Yvonne's farmstead.

I could barely focus. All I could think about was my friends. I needed to know they were unhurt. My pace quickened, and Lady Talia had to bear down to keep up. The lingering trail of dark smoke led us the rest of the way. It rose from the charred remains of the barn. We were still a few hundred meters away, but I was already taking in the details.

Aside from the barn, everything was as I remembered it: a minimal farm. Some pasture with a few grazing livestock. A house not too far off, miraculously untouched.

We were fast approaching the still-smoldering barn. The smell of wood smoke and char lingered in the stale air.

The corpses of two charred horses lay in the torched field in front of the structure. Their bodies were blackened and almost unrecognizable.

"We're here. Follow my lead. It's time to investigate." Lady Talia looked around, searching for details in the scene.

But I’d already zeroed in on one. "One step ahead of you. Whatever Donald looked for earlier—what do you think the chances are that he saw this?"

I pointed at a note posted with a dagger, stuck into the body of a dead but unburned foal. Scratchy, still-visible writing flapped gently in the wind. My gut told me it wasn’t a message for Cal and Yvonne, or even for the constable.

It was for me.