Chapter 41 – Searching
The streets were virtually empty at this time of night as SJ headed towards District 6. After accompanying Yawnee back home, she helped in the workshop until the daily quotas were reached. She enjoyed helping them when she had time, though she lacked the skills to handle the technical aspects. Dinner was pheasant stew, which Yawnee had been slow-cooking since first thing that morning, and it was delicious as usual, with crispy vegetables. SJ had then excused herself and gone up to her room, where she had done some tailoring to pass the time before she headed out.
It was past 2 AM, though some beings were still on the streets, as Asterfal never slept; the numbers were much lower, and the market square had been empty when she returned. The stalls were all covered and emptied as they were every evening. No trader ever left wares on their stalls; it was too tempting an opportunity for theft.
The store's position made it clearly visible from all sides of the square, and SJ watched for several minutes before eventually flying over and down to the entrance. It was slightly recessed between the two front windows, offering her some cover from prying eyes. Anyone looking across at the shop would see her, but those glancing towards it were unlikely to see the black-clad being now standing in its doorway.
SJ tried the handle, which moved easily, but was restrained by the lock. She knew it wouldn't have been unlocked, and taking a knife from her inventory, she pried at the door lock. With her increased strength, it didn't take her long to hear a grinding sound and then a loud snap as the lock gave way under the force of her actions. The sound of the lock breaking echoed in the empty square. SJ froze, scanning the surrounding area.
Luckily, there were no signs of anyone, and she quickly entered the door, which squeaked loudly as she did, making her wince. She froze, looking back out of the window. There was no one nearby, only a couple of rats in the square, nibbling or fighting over the remnants from the stalls. Cautiously, she slipped inside, closing the door gently behind her. The lock was broken now, so anyone who tried would discover it was damaged.
I wish I could pick locks, SJ thought as she entered, allowing her vision to adjust further to the darker shop interior.
"You could learn the skill, but you will never become proficient in it," Dave said.
As SJ's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could make out the various scattered items that remained in the store. Several fragments of cloth littered the floor, reminding SJ of samples. It was clear there were a front and a rear area, accessible through another door. Several mannequins remained, their ghostly appearance filling SJ with apprehension.
The floor was covered with a thin layer of dust, and as she moved, she left telling footprints behind. It may have only been closed for a couple of weeks, but dust in a city soon built up. She scanned the front of the store, checking the counter area and a set of shelves with empty boxes. There was nothing of interest. She then moved over to the rear door and tried the handle. There was no resistance, and the door opened easily. The room was in total darkness; the ambient light from the night did not penetrate deep enough into the store for her to see.
SJ removed a torch from her inventory and shrank to her miniature form. She then lit the torch; the tiny pinprick of light would be hardly visible to anyone outside. She then entered the room, grew, and, as she did, closed the door behind her, preventing the now clearly visible light from giving her presence away.
The torch cast its flickering glow around the rear area. It was a combined storage room and office. A desk sat against one wall, while the others were lined with shelving, except where a fireplace stood. SJ moved to the desk, where there were several sheets of parchment scattered across its surface. She placed the torch down on the edge of the desk as she looked through the notes.
Several of the sheets were blank contracts; there were no details or names on any of them, making them completely anonymous and giving her no further insight into the scheme. She then moved to the shelving and searched through several empty boxes, finding further scraps of material, but nothing of value. The place appeared as though it had been emptied in a hurry; there had been no care taken, and a couple of boxes lay on their sides on the storeroom floor.
This isn't looking very fruitful.
"No, there really isn't much here at all. Whoever used it seems to have cleared up well enough not to leave any forwarding signs."
SJ was about to give up hope when she spotted something in the ashes of the fireplace in her vision. A hint of something out of place. As she brushed the ashes to one side, she revealed a half-burned book. Carefully, she lifted it, blowing off the soot and ash. It swirled into a thick cloud in the air before settling again. She took the ledger back to the desk and set it down before carefully opening the book; the pages were burned, and there wasn't much left. She read any information that was still visible on the scorched paper. Several numbers were written down, partial names and locations, but they could relate to anything, with nothing to reference them against. It may have been a ledger, but she really couldn't be sure.
It wasn't until she reached the back of the book that she discovered a folded piece of parchment; it was charred but in much better condition than the rest of the book. The parchment contained what must have been the initial rental agreement for the store. It detailed a six-month lease period, and from the timing, SJ knew it was probably still current. That could be the reason the store had been left empty; if the owner had received their rent payment in advance, they wouldn't be bothered about the property until it was due to expire. SJ was aware that several beings in the city, from wealthy noble families, owned buildings throughout the districts, collecting rent as a secondary source of income alongside their main businesses. It was a standard practice among the wealthy, always increasing their coin where they could.
The lease agreement was signed by T. Evergreen and another name of the owner or a subordinate of the owner. G. Lapswing. It detailed not just this one property but also two others, one in District 8 and another in District 10; their addresses were listed. Three stores in total, across various districts.
I wonder if there were others. If they had three from one owner, there is nothing stopping them from having stores from other owners as well.
"That's true. If there were fifty beings Yawnee is aware of here alone, and several other storefronts in other areas, it could be a significant money-making scheme. It would be nice to understand how much they had taken in investments."
We may never know without finding the account ledgers, and they appear to have attempted to clean up before they left, however poorly, leaving this behind.
"It still doesn't really give us much to go on."
No, but it's better than nothing.
SJ folded the lease agreement back up and added it to her inventory. At least she had another name to consider.
I don't think there is much else to get from here. There were no stairs in the store's rear or exit. It was as SJ had suspected, separate from the living areas above.
"It's still early enough; we should head over to the other locations and see what we can find."
SJ extinguished the torch before opening the rear room door and making her way to the front of the store. After checking outside to make sure there was no one there, she opened the door just enough to be able to fit through in her miniature form as she shrank. She pulled her hood tight around her face as she took off and flew up into the night sky.
District 8 was the closest, and SJ wondered where the location was. Daxe's smithy was located there, and she had seen several craftsmen and traders but wasn't fully aware of the district's details. She also knew that there was at least one guild there, 'The Bludgeoner's', and had completed a quest in the area since she had joined the assassins' guild, although she hadn't spent time looking around, the city was just too vast for her to know everywhere with the limited time she spent in Asterfal compared to Killic.
I'm not sure where this place is. It says it's on Darver Street.
"The best thing to do is probably try the market squares?" Dave said.
SJ opened her map, the display translucence allowing her to still fly as she viewed the area. She was aware of several market squares in the district, and she cut across the nearest one from her current position. The store's name was 'Threadbare', and on arriving at the first one, there was no storefront with that name. So she headed to the next; it wasn't until she arrived at the third area that she located the storefront. Silver writing above the window named the store. The store sat in the corner of the area, smaller than the first store she had visited, and again looked abandoned. There were no mannequins in the windows as she landed by some stacked barrels outside the entrance to a nearby bar. The bar was closed at this hour, and she checked her surroundings before growing again and crossing to the store.
A lantern light flickered off the building front, down an adjoining street, and SJ quickly moved back to the crates, shrinking, staying low. The heavy footsteps of metal boots could be heard as a group of three district guards appeared. They all wore similar armour, chainmail, carrying spears, with the lantern attached to the tip of one of them as they patrolled. They chatted to each other, not really paying any attention to anything around them as they passed through the square and left via another road.
Hopefully, they won't be back for a while, SJ thought as they left. Again, she crossed to the store before growing. The door was bolted, not just locked; she could see the bolt across the gap in the frame. She wasn't going to break in the front easily and could only assume there had to be a rear entrance if it was bolted. She headed around the side of the building, and a tight alley ran between where it was positioned and the next building over. The alley was strewn with rubbish, and she wove between it, avoiding the puddles of water that had never evaporated from the recent rainfall the city had seen.
At the rear of the property, there was a six-foot wall. She jumped up, grabbed the tiled edge, before pulling herself up and over, dropping into the rear. It was also cluttered with rubbish, and she wished she had shrunk now before doing this, as she landed on something that squelched under her foot.
She wiped the sole of her boot on the ground, wishing she had shrunken and flown now, scraping off whatever it was she had landed on, not wishing to know and glad that in the night's light it wasn't perfectly clear what it was. The yard smelled musty and damp, with scattered debris littering it. A wooden gate stood at the rear, which must lead out into another road or wider alley, perhaps. She wasn't interested now, though, as she headed to its rear. The building was only two floors, which was unusual for many in the district.
The rear door and windows appeared warped, and one of them had a cracked pane. The store looked as though it were not just abandoned but derelict and in need of much care to get it back to a decent standard. SJ shrank and flew straight to the broken window rather than worrying about the door. The recent rain must have been directed at the building, as the floor inside was damp where it had entered. Little ambient light entered the building through the remaining grime-covered glass at the rear, and it took her time for her eyes to adjust. It wasn't perfect, but she could see well enough without a torch.
The room was a small square and appeared to be a cleaning cupboard. A mop and bucket stood against the wall, and several discarded rags sat in a pile on the floor. Nothing of interest. The door was slightly ajar, and SJ moved to it, peering through the open gap. It opened out into the immediate shop front and wasn't very large. To the rear side by the door, a very steep set of stairs twisted as they headed to the first floor. There didn't even seem to be a counter area downstairs, and there were no signs of anything having been left behind or used recently. A distinct smell heightened her senses.
SJ flew to the rear stairs and headed straight up. The darkness became all-consuming as she did, and she had to pause and relight a torch again before she could continue. The upstairs area was open; there were no rooms off it, and the windows at the front and rear were covered with hanging blankets, preventing any light from outside from reaching the interior. A coppery smell hit her nostrils, and she froze. The smell of blood had become something she recognised these days easily. In her miniature form, the torchlight hardly reached more than a foot, and she called her claws to her hands as she landed and then grew.
As the torchlight filled the space, the reason for the overhanging smell of blood became clearly visible. A body lay on the floor, not ten feet from where SJ stood. It looked like a murder scene, a pool of blood forming under where it lay. SJ approached cautiously; the liquid still shone in the torchlight, meaning it was wet and that whoever this was hadn't died that long ago.
The being was a man, perhaps in his early twenties, and several strips of cloth were wrapped around his wrist. They were soaked in crimson, and he had tried to staunch the flow of blood from a wound. SJ reached down and peeled the cloth away from his wrist. A large, jagged gash ran for almost six inches along his forearm, cutting deeply enough to have cut through his artery.
There was a small sleeping area with piled blankets, torn pieces of cloth, and a plate with scraps of food. The setup was along the side wall of the room, and a half-burned candle sat on a small metal plate. With a backpack acting as a pillow. This man had been staying here by the looks of it, which didn't surprise SJ, seeing the state of it from the outside. It had appeared abandoned.
SJ felt sympathy for the dead man. A wave of sadness filled her. After finding Holly and the boys beneath the bar, she learned of the desperation of so many in the city, and this man, looking at his possessions, had only been trying to survive.
"I don't think that was just rain on the floor downstairs, and this is probably why the window was broken," Dave said.
I would guess so, too. It looks like he may have cut himself entering, but I'm not sure how, if he was already set up in here.
"Maybe he forgot his key," Dave said.
SJ rolled her eyes at his comment. The wound looked torn, rather than cut, and she could only assume that, as he had entered, he had fallen or slipped, causing him to tear his wrist open on the broken glass of the window. It was the only logical explanation, as there was no sign of an altercation.
I should report this.
"Really? And how do you explain the fact that you discovered a dead body in an abandoned shop? That's the most preposterous idea I've ever heard. You may as well just loot him and leave."
I can still report it anonymously. I don't have to do it in person. I'll drop a note at one of the guard posts.
SJ could imagine Dave shaking his head as he replied. "If you must."
SJ didn't just loot him but physically checked his pockets. She didn't want to take anything that could make it look like a murder, more than the freak accident she assumed it was. He had nothing of value. A few coppers which she left, a pocketknife and a small pouch containing some herbs. She had no use for any of it, so she left it as she had found it.
I will not hang around here. SJ thought, scanning the room. It was empty apart from a couple of old crates, and she doubted that the shop had ever even been opened, despite the painted sign at the front. She shrank again before going back down, extinguishing the torch, and leaving the building again the way she had come in. This time, noticing the patches of what must have been blood rather than her assumed water.
There was still time to visit District 10 as SJ took off again and headed straight there.
'Patches' was easy to locate. It was in the district's main trading area. She knew this district better than many after her run-in with Ulyian and the gangs, quickly locating it in the corner of a row of crafters' shops. The tall buildings stood crammed together like squashed townhouses. Narrow-fronted yet long and thin. She had been in several before, and it wasn't far from 'The Emperor's Arms'. Of all the districts SJ knew about, 10 was renowned for the gangs that had previously run the streets. Not that anything really remained for them now, after SJ and Fas's take down.
Fas had never confirmed whether he had located the brothers' stashes after the affair was over.
The storefront was clean and well-maintained. The narrow window held a mannequin, and the sign swung in the night's gentle breeze with 'Patches' painted on it. The street itself wasn't very wide, possibly allowing only a wagon and horse to pass each other, while the surrounding buildings created dark pools of blackness where the moonlight didn't reach. The shop had a side window that looked onto the other street, and another mannequin still stood in that window as well; this one even still had a frilly-looking blouse hanging from its frame. Towards the rear of the building, along its side, was another doorway, and SJ assumed it led into the back of the store. There was no signage as SJ investigated.
Scratched into the wooden frame were several names SJ believed were residents who might have lived in the upper floors, and a sodden note hung from a nail. Deliveries for Patches. SJ tried the door; it was unlocked, and she pushed it open gently. It swung open on well-oiled hinges, and she entered the dark corridor. Light filtered down the stairs from the first floor, and SJ could see a short corridor next to it that ended in a doorway. Roughly painted across its surface was the name Patches.
SJ approached the rear entrance and turned the wooden doorknob that held it closed. The door moved in its frame but was held in place by a lock. She bent down and checked. She couldn't see any signs of a bolt holding it closed, and again took out her knife as she pried it into the lock area.
Footsteps sounded above her, and she froze, listening as a being walked across the floor above her. Then she heard them start down the stairs. She shrank and, taking off, flew up underneath the underside of the wooden staircase. Her pulse raced as she heard whoever it was leave through the side door out onto the street. She breathed a sigh of relief as she again grew returning to her task of breaking into 'Patches'.
The lock wouldn't give in, so SJ returned her knife to her inventory and called her claws to her right hand. The deep green of the blades looked as ever lethal in the darkness, and SJ gave a quick jab with them into the area by the lock. The claws penetrated the wood with ease, and she withdrew them before again making another short, sharp punch. Two more, and the lock gave way as the wood surrounding the doorknob splintered. She removed her claws as she slipped inside, closing the door behind her.
SJ lit the torch again, allowing its light to fill the back of the store. The building's narrow profile only allowed for a single rack of shelving along one wall. Several crates sat on them, unopened by the looks of them, and she moved forward where two desks sat side by side. A door separated the front from the back of the store, and she focused on the desks. Paper littered their surfaces, yet this wasn't as haphazard as her first location. There was still a semblance of the store being used. It hadn't been fully cleared out. Either it was still being used as a front, which was possible, or it was being set up as one.
A nervous shiver ran down her spine. Had she just broken into a thieves' guild operation unwittingly, believing that it was abandoned? She hurriedly looked through the papers. Similar contracts, all unnamed, just requiring the unfortunate beings' signatures; spaces for the investment amount to be entered. She pulled the desk drawer open and found a ledger. Rifling through it, she discovered a list of names and coins taken so far. The sum was already significant, and she wondered how long this scheme had been running. Several leaflets sat neatly stacked on the second desk as handouts advertising the investment opportunity. She took one and added it to her inventory, along with the ledger. This was still active.
After prying open a couple of boxes on the shelves, she found materials neatly folded inside. They looked luxurious, but on feeling them, SJ knew they weren't. Her tailoring skill allowed her to identify the difference in their quality from their looks. There was no way she could hide the destroyed rear lock. It was obvious now that someone had broken in.
Damn it. I'd better make it look at least like a burglary.
SJ scattered the remaining leaflets onto the floor and the parchments from the desk, leaving the drawer open, before quickly moving to investigate the narrow storefront. Peering into the open space, she spotted some clothes laid out at the base of the mannequin, not visible from the raised window. These were still to be dressed up to perpetuate the scheme's false narrative.
It was nearing 4 AM, and SJ knew, with the appearance of one already leaving, that others might be up soon and out on the streets. She hurried back through to the rear, pulling some of the material from the crates as she did, before checking the corridor was clear and slipping back out into the night.
I think I will come back in the daylight and see who I find. SJ thought as she shrank, taking off as the very first hint of morning was creeping over the distant horizon.
