Dead Letter (21 page)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

A
Father's Shame

Preparation for this moment had been a history of
internal fantasies, rewritten time and again in the lonely hours of
night and the vacant stares of daydreams. The first time Kettna
imagined herself meeting Rix’s parents was soon after he spoke her
name. It was a common maid’s romantic conception of a happy family
picnic on the green — something a student of the Order could never
have. The novice dreamt she would be welcomed by a charismatic
father-in-law who made her laugh and a mother-in-law who doted on
her like the daughter she never had. Real life wasn’t like that.
Later, Kettna discovered that Rix had watched his mother suffer a
violent and fatal seizure when he was a young boy and his father
had raised him alone in the Cauldron, teaching him his letters and
numbers with leather and stitch. Rix’s talent for magic was
illuminated when the boots he was tasked to polish began to glow,
prompting his father to petition the Order to give Rix a chance at
a better life.

Kettna
wanted Rix to build that life with her. They were to have married
after the trials, if she hadn’t dragged Rix down with her troubles.
Once the thought of visiting Rix’s home had filled her with
delight. Now, it was nothing short of gut clenching nervous dread.
How could she tell her love’s father that she thought Rix was
either dead or caught up crawling the underbelly of the city? How
did she begin to tell that to any father?

The walk to the Cauldron was depressing. Street by street,
the wealth of the city flaked away like the old paint on the
tenement timbers. Once golden brick facades browned under mildew
while moss and lichen fortified the shadowed alleyways. Cordwainer
Furth kept a small house on a quiet corner not too deep into the
Cauldron. Here, people still had hope of rising above the hardships
that circumstance dealt at birth. Out front, Rix’s glowing leather
boot hung from the eve and a sign in the window read
Quality New and Used Boots, Shoes and
Sandals
. The storefront door was open and
painted bright yellow with a bronze seal of the Leatherworkers
Guild nailed proudly at eye level. Kettna smiled at the quaint
shoehorn shaped door knocker. This place was exactly as Rix had
told her. He had missed home sorely and described it in great
detail through stories of his childhood.

Inside,
a hammer tapped away in a conversation of repair. Kettna grasped
the door knocker and gave a precise and polite rap. “Cordwainer
Furth?”

The
hammer stopped and a man with thin greying hair emerged from behind
the display shelves of shoes and boots. “You have him,” he said,
peering over spectacles to take a careful look at such out of place
customers. “Forgive me for staring. I was not expecting a visit
from the Order? Dear Nathis, what has he done?”

“
Perhaps you can tell us that,” replied Lanuille with cold
interest. “Have you seen him of late?”

The shoeman removed his glasses, but clutched the small
hammer he had been using with white knuckles. “I sent a message to
the Order. I asked for help over and again and I’ve only had one
reply.
The Order of Calim is not
responsible for those outcast
. So why’d
four mages,
four
,
come for a trip now? Who are you, really?”

“
I’m sorry to overwhelm you with so many of us.” Kettna waved
off the twins. “Wait outside would you?” The illusions obliged her
and waited on the street.

Lanuille’s eyes were on the Cordwainer’s hammer. “If you
don’t mind, I’ll remain here. You both must have a lot of catching
up to do. Don’t let me distract you.”

“
Catchin’ up?” asked the Cordwainer.

“
Lanuille, please!” Kettna flushed with embarrassment.
“Forgive me, Cordwainer. I regret that we have never been
introduced. I studied as a novice with Rix. I knew your son quite
well and—”

“
Kettna?”

“
Inspector Kettna,” interrupted Lanuille, who received a
pointed glare sharp enough to puncture steel plate.

“
I am so very sorry for what happened to Rix.” Kettna’s voice
cracked and she bowed low, hiding her face. She didn’t want him to
see her eyes with tears.

“
Dear girl, I never thought I’d be so ashamed the day I met
you. It’s me that must beg forgiveness for my son’s terrible
judgement.”

“
No. You have it wrong. Despite what you’ve been told, Rix was
a brilliant practitioner, far more worthy than I. He should never
have been outcast; I should have. It was a terrible mistake.”
Kettna walked to Rix’s father and took his rough hands in hers. “He
always spoke so fondly of you. You can be proud of him. Know that
to be true.”

A tear
streaked down the shoemaker’s wrinkled cheek and Kettna wiped it
away.

Cordwainer Furth smiled at Kettna through his tears. “You’re
the very picture … he never stopped talkin’ of you, said you’d come
visit us.”

“
I wanted to, but the Order wouldn’t allow it. I stayed in
contact through magic, until he cut me off … Where is he? I fear
something has happened.”

“
Wish I could tell you good news, but I’ve not seen him for
over a moon. We argued … I said some harsh truths. He never came
back. He kept on about leavin’ the Courier Guild and makin’ it big
on some scheme or another.”

“
What scheme was that?” asked Lanuille.

“
He’d not say any specifics. Before it went sideways, he asked
if he could quit running for the Couriers and start cobblin’ with
me, like he should have from the start. I was too hard on him and I
regret it. I told him he’d never have the patience for my slow
work. I chided him about how he missed his chance with you and
should have done different. He could have done well with himself in
the Order. If he didn’t knuckle down and do well by the Courier
Guild, he’d make no name for himself worthy of a good wife. Without
a guild at your back you’re nothin’ but chaff in the wind. I wish
I’d said different now, for I fear he’s fallen in with the worst
sort. All I see is his silver, but I don’t want no shine if I don’t
get to see my son.”

“
What do you mean?” asked Kettna. “Where did the shine come
from?”

“
He was distracted. Nervous. I took a nosey through his
things, and under his cot I found a satchel full of what I thought
were sherbet wraps. Sweets, I thought. It weren’t. Why’d a grown
man keep such a thing hidden? No, I reckon it was that blaze the
Cauldron is getting messed up on. Must have been selling it, but
what if he was on it? I’m waiting for a collector to turn up and
announce him in the Hall of the Dead.”

“
Maybe he was just keeping it for someone else?” suggested
Kettna. “Maybe he was running another job on the side?”

“
Whatever it was for, it was not right and not proper. He’s no
fool. Why’d he be gettin’ afoul of all that?”

“
Who do you think these bad elements were?” asked
Kettna.

“
Boilers workin’ for Bloody Agnus, no doubt. Foreigners too.
There was a sly elf-touched lad always lurkin’ outside his window,
calling him out at all hours and bringin’ him back full of ale and
nectar. No consideration for the workin’ tradesman needin’ to be up
at the crack of dawn.”

“
I spoke with Postmaster Yarvin already and he explained that
Rix was suspended for turning up to work intoxicated. Do you think
he is merely ashamed to come home? Maybe he has taken work outside
Calimska.”

“
I doubt that. Last thing he tells me is he’s landed a job up
top. Sings his success and I was so happy for him, really I was,
cause he was so happy right then in that moment. Says his boss
appreciated his skill, but he couldn’t say what he did or with who.
It was all secret like. He said he’d be swimmin’ in shine and never
have to give over to no guild trying to take their cut. He was
through with the guilds, so he must be walking the wrong side of
the law, cause no man I know makes more than his bread outside a
guild. Ain’t a nameless man in this city that’s not on struggle
street.”

Lanuille
appeared to soften, hearing Cordwainer Furth’s story. “You said he
left you silver. How? Who sent it? It might help us track back to
where Rix is.”

“
I was delivered a pouch of silver a few days after he left
with a note from him sayin’ more would come. Then another one not
two days past. I’ve not used none of it though. What else could it
be, but crooked? Once you taste a payment from Bloody Agnus, she’ll
own your soul.”

“
I see that he is in trouble,” said Kettna. “But trouble is
better than dead. I am determined to find him.”

“
If you do, my dear, talk him out of his madness. Tell him
I’ll teach him my trade if that’s what he wants. I don’t want
what’s better for him any longer. I only want him happy and
safe.”

“
It’s what any parent would want,” replied Kettna. “It’s what
we all want.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Pelican

Kettna
didn’t stay with Cordwainer Furth for much longer. It was too
painful and accomplished nothing. She had to get to the bottom of
the glassware theft. For the Inspector knew that solving the
mystery of the heist would solve the mystery of Rix’s
disappearance. First thing she needed to do was go back to Master
Mertin and find out why he didn’t tell her that his money troubles
were wrapped up in unsolved crimes.

Finding
the way to Mertin’s Alchemy and Sundries via the winding streets of
the Cauldron wasn’t half as confusing as navigating the dead ends
and doglegs of her investigation. Kettna had a murder with an
untouchable guard as the prime suspect and a heist that involved
her landlord mixed up with Jandans and her lover mixed up with
Bloody Agnus. All things considered, it was a wise choice to rent
the room at the Cog and Wheel, for her dream of moving in with Rix
was for naught if he was gone and her mother’s dream of her living
under the careful watch of Master Mertin was looking less likely.
What would she say said if she knew the alchemist was working with
Jandans? Surely, she would never have sent her to Mertin if she
knew.

When
they arrived at Master Mertin’s, the shop door was hanging open and
inside they heard voices raised in anger from the upstairs room.
Strongmen had returned to bully Mertin into paying his debts.
Kettna held a finger to her lips, urging Lanuille to keep quiet and
crept through the entrance. The shop was empty of customers and
Mertin had begun to clean up the mess caused by the previous visit
from unhappy debt collectors. The shelves were neatened and the
drawers had been replaced. The signs of trouble started by the
stairs, where a broomstick lay snapped in half and glass shards
glittered on the wooden floor. It appeared Mertin had the shop near
ready to open again and was interrupted.

“
I don’t want to hear your excuses, Mertin,” rumbled a voice
humid with a storm of threat. “We need assurances!”

“
You have my word!” creaked Mertin, his voice quaking with
fear. “Just tell him to put that knife away.”

“
Take a finger.” There was a scuffle of feet.“Keep
still!”

“
No! Please no!” yelled Mertin.

Kettna
ran up the stairs with Lanuille and the twins close behind. “Drop
your weapons!” she ordered. The two thugs standing over the
alchemist looked up in surprise.

“
Don’t like your odds now, do you?” spat Lanuille. “Who sent
you?”

The man
with the knife on Mertin had an eye patch and blacked out forearms,
an outcast of the Warrior Guild turned hardman. His ugly
pox-scarred face screwed up in anger, knowing that he wouldn’t
survive a fight against so many mages. The other thug was no more
fortunate in looks, having both his eyes, but a crooked bulbous
nose and cauliflower ears. He raised his calloused hands in
surrender. “No harm done! Right, Mertin? Just business.”

“
You were going to remove his finger!” said Kettna. “Buy or
sell. Shine or shell. Fingers are not business here.”

“
Mertin knows we’d never cut him up. Don’t you,
Mertin?”

The
alchemist’s eyes darted between Kettna and the standover man. “I
should hope not.”

“
I think we toss them over the city wall,” said
Lanuille.

Mertin
gathered himself up, seeing the opportunity to push back with a
strong message. “Violence won’t be necessary. Things got out of
hand, but our business is done. Tell your employer that if he harms
a brother of the Order, he will have all of us hunt him down. That
goes for you too.”

“
Are you sure you don’t want to make a complaint?” asked
Kettna.

“
Just, let them go, Inspector,” said Mertin. “But I’ll be sure
to let you know if they return without their manners
again.”

Lanuille
reluctantly stood aside to let them down the stairs. “Shut the door
behind you, vermin.”