Trinithy slugged down the last of her gin. “You need to think long-term, Ollie. Not having a television will be very useful in six months or so when she wants to finagle an invitation to his house.”
Kadin felt heat rise to her cheeks, but she wasn’t sure if she was reacting to the idea of going to an unattached man’s house or being so mercenary as to finagle an invitation.
“You raise a valid point, Miss Gold.” Olivan slid the paper back into the file and closed it. “Well, that is all the information I can provide at this juncture.” He picked up his glass. “So I propose a toast to Kadin and her new job. May we soon be toasting its end.”
Chapter 2
Kadin alit from the autobus in the Covenant District, where most of the middle class families in the city lived, and coughed as the retreating vehicle puffed exhaust fumes in her face. The twin full moons lit the way in front of her as she hurried down the two blocks to her house. She tried not to think they were a bad omen, when good things were finally coming her way.
She stepped through the wrought iron gate at #14 Springtown Lane, a not-too-shabby white townhouse with a green door and shutters, and went around to the back door. On the stoop, she exhaled into her hand and sniffed, checking to make sure her breath didn’t smell like alcohol. Trinithy and Olivan had talked her into her a second drink, against her better judgment. Her palm seemed clean, and she felt some tension go out of her shoulders.
She unlocked the door and pushed it open. She stepped into the room her family used for dining, a cheerful space with yellow walls and a brown linoleum floor. Soft jazz drifted in from the radio in the other room, and the scents of buttered spinach and ham with brown sugar glaze filled the air.
“Where have you been?” An attractive woman in her late twenties with dark brown curls pulled back from the short fringe on her forehead stood in the entrance to the small kitchen to Kadin’s right. The woman placed her hands on the cinched waist of her green and white striped dress, which had a frilly white apron covering the full skirt. “You know I need to get dinner ready for your brother by the time he gets home, and I can’t do that and watch the children at the same time.”
“Sorry, Octavira.” Kadin wondered if her sister-in-law could have finished dinner faster if she hadn’t waited at the door for Kadin. “What do you need me to do?”
Octavira pointed a wooden spoon toward the stairs. “Go check on the children. And then get back here and set the table.”
The floorboards creaked as Kadin hurried through the living room and up the stairs to look in on her niece, Drena, and nephew, Aberon. At three and four years old, respectively, they didn’t need to be in the presence of an adult at every moment, but Octavira worried over their safety even when she could see them.
The upstairs of Kadin’s house featured a hexagonal-shaped space, where each wall contained a door that opened into a bedroom. Kadin opened first door to the right and beheld a small room with toys scattered all over the floor—robots and autocars for Aberon, doll dresses and dishes for Drena. She picked up the scent of watercolors, and noticed the papers hanging on the wall depicting colorful blobs that likely had great meaning for the children.
“Auntie K!” A small girl with her mother’s brown curls ran toward Kadin from the pretend kitchen set up against the wall.
Kadin bent down to give her niece a hug. “What have you been doing today?”
“I’ve been taking care of Manzy.” The girl held up a rag doll. “She’s sick.”
Kadin shaped her mouth into a wide “O.” “Oh no! Did you take her to the doctor?”
Drena stamped her foot. “I tried. But Aberon said he didn’t want to be a doctor. He wanted to be a ‘vestigator.”
Kadin looked over at the chubby boy who made noises for a tiny autocar as he rolled it across the carpet. “You don’t want to be a doctor? But your father is a doctor.”
“No!” Aberon shook his head but didn’t look up from his toy. “’Vestitators are better! Mummy told Papa that if he was a ‘vestitator, he would be able to buy anything he wanted.”
Kadin crawled over and laid a gentle hand on her nephew’s head. “Your father saves dying people. That’s more important than buying anything you want.”
Drena bounced up and down on her knees. “Aren’t you a ‘vestigator, Auntie Kadin? Does that mean you can buy anything that you want?”
Kadin reached out to tickle her niece, who giggled. “No, I’m just an assistant investigator, and I’m only doing that for a little while. Someday soon I’m going to get married and be a housewife like your mother.”
“Mummy says that’s going to be a zisaster.” Aberon trundled his autocar over to Kadin and made it roll along her leg. “She says Auntie K can’t step into the kitchen without burning something.”
I’m going to have to talk to Octavira about what she’s saying to the children. Kadin laughed to herself as she thought how well that would go over.
“Yes, well—“
“Kadin!” Octavira’s strident tones came up from the ground floor.
Kadin gave Aberon and Drena each a quick kiss on the head. “I’ve got to go help your mother. I’ll see you at dinner in a bit.”
“Kiss Manzy too!” Drena thrust the doll under Kadin’s nose. Kadin obeyed her niece’s wish and then hurried down the stairs.
“I don’t ask that much of you, Kadin.” Octavira turned away from the gas stove as soon as Kadin set foot in the kitchen. Without burning anything, she thought as she retrieved the brown floral dinner plates from the white cabinet and took them out to the table.
Octavira returned to stirring the corn. “But you know that your brother works diligently to save people’s lives for very little compensation.”
Imagine if he had a job like mine and could buy anything he wanted. Kadin placed the last plate on the table and returned to the kitchen for silverware.
Octavira lowered the heat on the corn and turned her attention to the spinach on the next burner. “The least we can do for him is make sure that dinner is ready when he gets home.”
Kadin sighed as she folded a napkin and placed a fork on top. “I know, Octavira, and I really am sorry.” Her brother, who was ten years older than she was, had done so much for her, looking after her when their parents had passed away and taking her in after their grandmother and guardian had died five years ago.
Octavira bent down and opened the stove, drizzling more brown sugar on the ham. “I hope that this new job of yours will allow you to spend the proper amount of time on your responsibilities at home.”
“Oh, well, I think they said that I might have to work some extra hours with this position…” Kadin took in Octavira’s narrowed eyes and tapping foot. “But I’m sure they’ll understand that I can’t do that.” Or at least hold off on the overtime until I can come up with a better excuse.
Kadin had finished filling the last water glass when the door opened and her brother entered, a broad smile on his face. “How are my two favorite girls this evening?”
Like Kadin, Tobin was tall and sturdy, with brown eyes and a strong nose and chin. His hair was several shades darker than Kadin’s, more of a brown with a touch of red. He wore a white doctor’s jacket over his plaid shirt and solid brown tie.
“Everything is almost ready. You’re right on time, as always.” Octavira wiped her hands on a dishcloth and gave her husband a kiss. “Kadin, would you be a dear and get the children washed up?”
“Oh, don’t be silly. I’ll do that.” Tobin stepped around his wife and moved toward the living room.
“Darling, you should rest,” Octavira said. “You’ve been at the hospital all day, up to your elbows in Deity knows what.”
“Do you think I should rest, or do you think I still have blood and guts on my hands?” Tobin smiled and shook his head. “Believe me, I’ve scrub
bed, and caring for my own children is hardly work. Besides, Kadin’s been at the office all day too.”
Drena and Aberon jumped up and ran over to their father as soon as they saw him and behaved in a far more cooperative manner with him than they would have with Kadin. The two adults got both of the children down the stairs and seated at the table as Octavira brought the final steaming dish out of the kitchen.
“How was your day?” Octavira asked Tobin as she spooned a portion of spinach onto each of her children’s plates.
“Oh, the usual.” Tobin speared a piece of ham and put it on his plate. “Lots of people needing surgery, but only so many resources available.” As a doctor, Tobin was a Valeriel City employee, and he frequently complained about the budgetary restrictions. “I have one man who keeps calling me about his mother’s kidney condition, and I don’t have the heart to tell him I can’t move her up on the list unless her condition worsens.”
Kadin took a bite of her spinach. Like everything else Octavira cooked, it was perfect. It had a buttery flavoring and just the right hint of garlic. “And yet you think criminal investigations should be run by the state as well? You want everyone to have to wait for years to find out who murdered a loved one?”
Tobin huffed and took a sip of water. “Better to have a slow time frame than what we have now, where many people can’t get investigations at all.”
“I don’t want ham!” Drena crossed her arms and pouted, as her mother slid her daughter’s plate in front of her. Aberon giggled as he picked up a piece of corn with his fingers and shoved it in his mouth along with half his hand.
Kadin sliced the skin off her ham and savored the smell of the salty meat laced with a hefty dose of brown sugar. “Most people have investigation insurance to cover the costs.”
Tobin stuck his knife into the butter with more force than necessary. “But there are tens of thousands of people in the city without insurance, and they are forced to go into debt or else present in court with no sanctioned evidence for their case! And even for people who have it, premiums are going up every year! And where is all the money going? To rich merchants who want it to buy another beach house in Barring! Or to pay for giant corporate parties, while I have to deny care to non-emergency cases because the hospital is short on stents!”
Kadin smiled as she raised her water glass to her lips.
“You don’t need that much butter.” Octavira pulled Drena’s knife away from her, as the girl tried to cut two tablespoons worth off the stick. Aberon made a chain of spinach and corn around the inner rim of his plate.
Tobin leaned forward and pointed a finger at Kadin. “It is unreasonable to expect a society to continue to function in this manner, and if the Assembly weren’t entirely populated by wealthy Merchants protecting their own interests and selfish Imperials who have never had to work a day in their lives, people would see that. In fact—“ Tobin broke off when he saw Kadin’s expression and then resumed speaking in a calmer voice. “But you know all this and want to watch me rant for your own amusement.”
“I know you like to get it out of your system every once in a while.” Kadin didn’t know which side of the debate to socialize investigations she stood on, but her pragmatic side knew that change wasn’t going to come any time in the near future, so she had to deal with things as they were.
“I don’t see why you complain so much.” Octavira sat down in her chair and began cutting her own food while keeping a steady eye on her children. “The kingdom isn’t perfect, but it’s still better than anywhere else we could live. Imagine if we were in Ruathala, where the Church stones people for telling lies, or Crestor, where families are lucky to have a single room of their own. We’re the most prosperous country in the world, and we should appreciate it.”
Tobin reached over to help Drena butter her roll. “At least in Ruathala criminals are punished. The lower classes here live in anarchy, because no one has investigation insurance, and the courts won’t admit any evidence that isn’t certified by a detective.”
Octavira made an exasperated noise. “But that has nothing to do with us. We’re decent people who do have insurance, so we don’t need to worry.”
“But what if something happened to me? You would only have whatever insurance the territory was willing to pay for.” Tobin shook his head. “I can’t believe King Ralvin didn’t veto that bill to cut spending to the widows and children investigation allotment.”
Kadin sliced her ham into even pieces. “Well, King Ralvin only ever gets involved in the Assembly’s affairs if he has to. He didn’t veto the bill for the state to pay for all murder investigations either.”
Tobin speared a piece of corn with his fork. “But he didn’t need to because that one didn’t pass. We would be so much better off if Duke Baurus ruled the kingdom. He at least passes legislation to help the people instead of sitting and doing nothing.”
Kadin snickered. “Yes, but he forgets about governing the state entirely when Queen Callista isn’t sleeping with him.”
Octavira sniffed. “Kadin! Don’t say such things in front of the children.”
Kadin looked down at her plate. “Sorry. But the Assembly is full of people who have been wealthy for generations. None of them have any idea what it’s like to be a regular person, and they don’t care.”
Drena bounced in her chair. “What’s a ‘ssembly?”
Tobin leaned his head down to be closer to his daughter’s. “The Assembly is the group of people who make our laws. Each territory has three members. One seat is taken by the duke, who also rules the territory and inherits his position. The next representative is chosen from among the Merchants Guild, the group of businessmen made of anyone wealthy enough to pay for membership. And the last one, the assemblyman-at-large, is voted for by all the people, but in practice it’s always an Imperial or a Merchant.”
Kadin didn’t think either of the children understood most of what Tobin was saying, but her brother never passed up the opportunity to teach his children.
“What territory do we live in?” Tobin asked the children.
“Hmmm.” Drena put her finger to lips and made a show of thinking.
Aberon bounced up and down in his chair. “Baleriel!”
“That’s right!” Tobin reached out to tickle his son’s ribs. “Valeriel City is the newest territory. It used to be part of Sultan, but King Drakan decided that the city had enough people form its own duchy. So he made his second son Corwin the duke of the city, and now Duke Corwin’s son Baurus leads the city.”
Tobin opened his mouth, no doubt to impart further knowledge of government upon his children, but before he could Aberon knocked his cup of milk over, causing rivulets of white to seep into the green tablecloth. Octavira shrieked, and Kadin hurried to mop up the mess before the liquid damaged the pine table underneath.
When they finished supper, Kadin helped Octavira with the dishes and then assisted in getting the children ready for bed. When she finally had a moment to herself, she sat down on the chair in front of her bureau’s floral-painted mirror and studied her face.
By nature, Kadin was not possessed of better-than-average attractiveness, but she had spent many years learning how to make herself appear to her best advantage. She couldn’t make her dark red hair stop clashing with clothes that would otherwise look well on her, but she could select lipstick that complemented the unique shade. A subtler shade of blush accentuated her cheekbones, and mascara and eyeliner made her round brown eyes appear even larger. She must have been doing something right, because everyone knew Detective Fellows didn’t hire homely aides.
She glanced at her closet and knew she had better finalize her choice of outfit for the next day, the day she would meet her—she hoped—soon-to-be fiancé Dahran White. She had settled on her most form-fitting black pinstriped dress with the tapered skirt and sweet
heart neckline, but she couldn’t decide between the green cardigan, which looked better on her, and the red one, which looked better with the dress. She had almost decided on the green when she remembered she needed to borrow Octavira’s shoes.
Kadin crept across the landing to her brother and sister-in-law’s room, careful not to wake the children, and had lifted her hand to knock on the door when she heard Tobin speak. “I am not having this conversation again, Vira.”
“Yes, you are.” Irritation rang in Octavira’s tone, and Kadin suspected that, had the children not been sleeping, their mother would have spoken at a much higher volume. “We are going to keep having this conversation until you come to your senses.”
“I think I am being sensible, as you well know.” Tobin’s voice was not as strident as Octavira’s, but it held the same level of frustration.
“She’s twenty-two years old. It is high time she was out of this house. It would be past time if she were living with her parents, and it’s absurd for her to be staying with a brother this long.”
They’re talking about me. Kadin had long known that her continued presence in the house annoyed Octavira, but Kadin’s eyes still stung at her sister-in-law’s words.
“What do you want me to do, cast my only living relative out onto the street?” Tobin sounded almost amused at the idea.
Octavira made an exasperated noise. “She is not your only living relative. You have your children to think of as well. And she wouldn’t be homeless. She has a job. She probably makes more money than you do at this point. She could get an apartment and live perfectly well on her own.”
Kadin knew she should walk away. She didn’t want to eavesdrop on her brother’s conversation, but she couldn’t make herself stop listening.
Catching a Man Page 3