Fine Blue Steele (Daggers & Steele Book 4)

by Alex P. Berg

  I’d already lost one dead hobo. I didn’t plan on having it become a habit.

  21

  I repeated a mantra to myself as we walked to the army base. Stay calm. Be polite. He’s not a threat. And after some thought and reflection, both overnight and during the walk, I’d come to the realization that Agent Blue, in all honesty, probably wasn’t the monster I’d made him out to be.

  Shay was right. He’d acted professionally in all our interactions, even if he had lavished my partner with a little more attention and good cheer than she otherwise deserved. While he had interfered in our investigation, he’d done so as a duty of his profession, and he hadn’t insulted me or belittled me or looked at me the way businessmen eye gum on the soles of their shoes. I, on the other hand, had behaved like a petulant child whose favorite toy had been taken away, screaming and crying and kicking my feet in the direction of anyone dumb enough to get within striking distance—even the people I cared about. That must’ve been what set Shay off…

  I was a bigger man than that, even if I didn’t always show it. So what if Agent Blue had a fancy college degree and multiple commendations? So what if he wore a crisp uniform that accentuated the best portions of his lithe frame instead of a worn leather jacket that made him look like a walking sack of potatoes? So what if his elven ancestry had blessed him with immaculate features, a full crop of dark hair, and a smile that could make panties suddenly lose their elastic properties? Neither Shay nor the Captain had said I had to like the guy. I merely had to behave myself in a civil manner, and I could do that…so long as his advances toward Shay didn’t progress beyond the cordial.

  He met us at the door to the MP building and ushered us into his office, his face more drawn than I remembered it. He pointed us toward his guest chairs as he took his own.

  “Detectives,” he said. “Thank you for coming over on such short notice.”

  A couple beads of sweat dotted his temples, which I initially took as a sign of anxiety but soon realized might’ve been environmental in origin. His office was hot. Whichever janitor or maintenance engineer whose job it was to stoke the building’s central fires must’ve fallen asleep on the bellows.

  Shay took note of the unseasonable warmth, as well. She loosened and removed her scarf, setting it on the army sleuth’s desk as she took a seat. “Not a problem, Agent Blue. Detective Daggers was both awake and alert when we received your missive, which is a rarity at this time of morning.”

  “And I’m on my best behavior.” I splayed open my jacket, hoping the extra air would help, as I showed the agent my crossed fingers. “Scout’s honor.”

  Blue nodded, a slight amount of the tension draining from his face. But only a little. “I’m glad to hear that.”

  “We would’ve arrived sooner,” continued Steele, “but another matter drew our attention. So what is it you wished to discuss, Agent Blue?”

  The elf took a deep breath and sighed. “No point in beating around the bush, detectives. Privates Chavez and Delvesdeep are gone.”

  I leaned forward in my chair reflexively. “What?”

  “They deserted?” asked Steele.

  “How did that happen?” I asked. “Didn’t you have them locked up?”

  Blue held up his hands to stem the tide of questions. “The pair were under supervision, but not under lock and key. Somehow they slipped their guard detail, or perhaps convinced them to look the other way for a few minutes.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but Blue stopped me before I could. “Trust me. I’m as upset about this as you are. More, in all likelihood. Not only is it a poor reflection on me as the lead investigator in this inquiry, but it now adds a whole new pile of unsavory work onto my plate. I’ll have to examine if there was a breach in conduct that allowed the two privates to escape and determine who precisely was involved. And I can assure you, there will be consequences, regardless of whether my new investigation unearths any actual malice or merely rote incompetence. The important piece of information for you is that they’re gone. We suspect they deserted around an hour before dawn, give or take thirty minutes. And while such an action is far from a tacit admission of guilt in yesterday’s murder, it doesn’t look good.”

  Shay turned to face me, tilting her head and lifting her eyebrows. Based on the blank look I responded with, I think she realized I had no clue what she meant.

  “I think we should tell him,” she said.

  “Tell me what?” asked Blue.

  Part of me rebelled against relating anything of use to the ACIC agent—the part of me that ruled the roost yesterday—but in the spirit of renewed cooperation, I agreed. “Might as well. In the light of what he told us, I’d say it’s relevant.”

  Blue’s eyebrows furrowed.

  “There was another murder this morning,” said Steele. “Another transient in the Delta district. Same modus operandi as yesterday’s slaying. No obvious witnesses to the murder, although it’s possible we’ll find some. We came straight here from the crime scene.”

  Blue’s eyebrows drew together even further. He cupped a hand and pressed it over his mouth and chin. “I…don’t understand. Why would Privates Chavez and Delvesdeep murder another vagrant?”

  I leaned back in my chair and suppressed a smile. Agent Blue’s use of the word ‘another’ indicated he’d suspected the pair, and perhaps Sergeant Timothy as well, of culpability in Lanky’s murder, which was more than he’d revealed on the matter during our time with him yesterday. I enjoyed his slip of the tongue, but that wasn’t what made me want to smile. It was his immediate conclusion to our news. The obvious conclusion. A conclusion that made me feel somewhat better about his possibly undeserved degrees and commendations.

  Meanwhile, my mind raced forward at a mile a minute, cranking through the implications of our own murder discovery combined with the details of Kelly and Drake’s escape. But I didn’t share my thoughts, and not because I wanted to stymie Agent Blue for my own personal enjoyment. Mostly, I needed time for my theories to coalesce…although one additional thought came to mind that helped seal my lips.

  Blue and Steele both sat in thought. I broke the ice with a conservative reply. “It doesn’t make sense, does it? But I’m sure there’s a logical explanation to their actions and that we’ll be able to ferret out said explanation. Assuming we can find Drake and Kelly.”

  Blue removed his hand from his chin. “You’re right. Our first order of business should be tracking down and apprehending the two privates. Unfortunately, while the army takes desertion seriously, it’s not something we devote a lot of resources to outside of the occasional hearing and court-martial. You, on the other hand, do this sort of thing on a regular basis. If we could start a city-wide manhunt—”

  “Not going to happen,” I said. “The death of a couple hobos, while concerning, doesn’t boil the public’s blood enough to justify that expense. And even if it did, we’d need solid evidence that Kelly and Drake are the killers. Right now all we have is speculation and hearsay.”

  “So how do you propose we find them?” he asked.

  “Steele and I will head back to the precinct,” I said. “Gather a few of our fellow detectives. Maybe a few beat cops. I doubt we’ll be able to convince our captain to spare more resources than that, but it’s a start. I’m not entirely sure what your chain of command is like, but if you could do the same thing, it would help. Our side would begin by canvassing the privates’ haunts, which I’m hoping you could provide us with, after your team talks to the other members of their squad or division or whatever it is you call it.”

  Blue nodded. “We can certainly do that. I’d already planned much the same thing. What else?”

  “Stay in touch,” I said. “And stay nimble. On your toes. Speaking of which…” I glanced at Steele. “We should do the same, but in the literal sense. The clock is ticking.”

  22

  As we stepped from the stifling heat of the office into the cool air outside, the hamster manning the wheel
in my brain slowed from a full on sprint to a steady jog, and though I hadn’t been completely forthcoming with Agent Blue, I had told the full truth about one thing: our need for speed.

  I hailed a rickshaw as we exited the army base, and one manned by a skinny youth with a shock of yellowy-orange hair slid to a halt in front of us. Shay climbed in first, and I followed.

  “5th Street Precinct,” said Shay to the driver.

  “Scratch that,” I said. “Take us to the DEITA immigration station.”

  “What?” said Steele. “The DEITA station?”

  The driver gave us a confused glance.

  “Ignore her,” I said. “The DEITA station. Now. Chop-chop.”

  I flicked my hand for him to go, and we lurched forward as the young man put his wiry muscles to work.

  “Hold on,” said Steele over the clatter of the rickshaw’s wheels on the cobblestones. “Did I black out for a minute back there? You did say we were going back to the office, to get backup for a search, right?”

  “I did.”

  “So…you lied to Agent Blue.” She rolled her eyes. “So much for being on your best behavior.”

  “It wasn’t so much a lie as an omission of truth,” I said. “And besides—I hadn’t organized all the key points in my mind yet. I’m still not sure I have. Let’s just say some of them are in a state of flux.”

  “And what key points are these?”

  “Well,” I said. “You remember our original theory regarding Tim, Kelly, Drake, and Lanky?”

  “The beating gone wrong?” said Steele. “Of course I do.”

  “Then you’ll also remember something that didn’t fit our narrative. Lanky’s presence in the street. If Tim and Drake attacked Lanky after his unsuccessful sexual assault on Kelly, why move him out of the alley?”

  “We already went over this,” said Steele. “Maybe the fight spilled out that way.”

  “Possibly,” I said. “But that’s a stretch given how deep in the alley the brawl started. It’s a weak explanation for our observations.”

  “So what are you saying?”

  “Take the evidence we’ve gathered today,” I said. “Kelly and Drake skip the army base, and shortly thereafter Burly shows up dead, which is extremely suspicious. But let’s consider the more important question. Why?”

  “Why, what?” said Steele.

  “Why kill another hobo?” I asked. “What’s their motive?”

  Shay settled into the cushions of her seat and moistened her lips with her tongue. After a moment of silence, she shook her head. “I don’t know. I can’t think of anything.”

  “Exactly,” I said. “They don’t have one.”

  My partner narrowed an eye. “So are you saying you don’t think they killed anyone? Neither Burly nor Lanky?”

  “What if they were telling the truth?” I offered. “Not about everything, mind you. Just about Lanky. Maybe he did run at them, bleeding and screaming bloody murder.”

  “But that’s ignoring the testimony we got about the argument and the woman’s voice,” said Steele. “Not to mention Sergeant Holmes and Private Delvesdeep’s injuries.”

  “I have a theory about that,” I said. “Did you read the personnel files we took from the army archives yesterday?”

  “I glanced at them this morning, but I didn’t go over them with a fine-toothed comb.”

  “Good,” I said. “Then I think it’ll all make sense.”

  Steele lifted her eyebrows at me, silently urging me to divulge more of my secrets.

  “You’ll find out soon enough,” I said. “At least, I hope you will. If I’m wrong about Kelly and Drake, then I’ll spill the beans and ask you for your help. Besides, we’re almost there.”

  And we were. Our driver, thanks to his long, lean legs and the energy of youth, was flying down the streets of New Welwic. Up ahead, I could see a gap in the skyline—the intersection of the city with the western banks of the Earl. The DEITA building wouldn’t be far from there.

  A few minutes later, after some furious huffing and puffing on behalf of our ginger-haired driver, we skidded to a halt in front of the DEITA station’s majestic exterior. Three stories high, with spires at each corner and constructed out of alternating dull red and cream bricks, the square building took up a solid city block—or it would if half of it weren’t balanced over pylons driven into the shallow banks of the Earl. Originally, the station had been constructed entirely of timber, but despite the presence of the river, the entire thing had burned down a mere three years after its christening. The newly refurbished version—new being a relative term in a city bursting with buildings who’d celebrated their bicentennial birthday—looked great from the outside, but I knew the inside would make a county fair look like a deserted street corner at four in the morning. At least I’d be able to put my bulk and surly demeanor to good use pushing through the crowds.

  I gave the driver a generous tip and leaped to the ground. Shay followed me.

  “Stay close,” I told her. “It’s a jungle in there, and I don’t want you getting lost.”

  “I’m not a puppy, Daggers,” she said.

  I frowned. “That’s not what I meant. It’s busy. We could easily be separated.”

  Shay regarded me with a warm glance and a thin smile. “Yes. I know what you meant. Don’t worry. I’ll stay close. Now, what are we looking for?”

  “Kelly and Drake,” I said as I approached the central doors.

  “No kidding,” said Shay. “I meant, where should we look for them? As you’ve pointed out, this place is a zoo.”

  “Keep an eye out for ships headed north along the Earl,” I said. “Anything leaving within the next hour.”

  Shay grabbed onto my jacket, and I pushed through the front doors and into the maelstrom of warm bodies, angry shouts, and stale sweat odor within. With my partner clinging to me for dear life, I shouldered my way through the seething masses at the foot of the immigration lines and in the direction of the boat terminals. I had to fight against a tide of immigrants unloading from a nearby barge, but after surviving the swell, I made it to an island of relative safety between the arrivals and departures.

  I took a deep breath—regrettable, once the body odor reached my nostrils—and looked around. Humanoids of every size, shape, and skin color swirled around us in a blur of activity.

  “See anything?” I asked.

  “Not yet.” Steele pointed further into the building, toward the docks. “Should be that way, though. I see ships through the windows.”

  I ventured further into the abyss, feeling like a ping pong ball as I bounced between groups of backpack-clad goblins, dwarves dragging carts piled with family heirlooms and legacy mining gear, and half-breed ogres lugging enormous trunks under their arms. Tall, stately elves blended with packs of fair-skinned fey, all of them clad in the muted blacks and browns and navy blues of winter.

  My eyes glossed over, and I began to despair that even if I’d guessed correctly, I’d never find Kelly and Drake in such a madhouse. That’s when I felt a yank on my coat.

  “Over there!” said Shay, pointing into a crowded section of benches.

  I had to search for a second before I noticed them, sandwiched between a guy who looked like Quinto’s younger, fatter cousin and a pair of twittering gnomes. I wouldn’t have recognized them—both Drake and Kelly wore uninspired civilian gear—but thankfully Shay’s eyes were better than mine. Perhaps she’d also noticed the chalkboard above them, listing a departure for The Laughing Jenny a half hour from now.

  “Nicely done,” I told my partner.

  I made it to within about twenty feet of them before they spotted me.

  “Oh, shit!” said Drake. He grabbed Kelly by the arm and darted down the aisle, knocking the poor gnomes to the floor and setting off a series of distraught yells.

  I whipped my badge out in a flash, wielding it before me as if it were a torch in a cave. “Police! Stop! Out of our way!”

  My proclamation did
n’t have the desired effect. A full third of the people around us did exactly the opposite of what I asked, standing and flailing about and getting in the way. Thankfully, they did the same to Drake and Kelly, who collided with a pack of old ladies dressed in yachting attire.

  I pushed past faux-Quinto and caught a glimpse of Drake’s face as he scrambled to his feet. His eyes stretched wide, his nose flared, and his jaw muscles bulged—the look of a frightened wild animal.

  Even though I felt confident in my ability to run down and apprehend the pair, I knew fear, crowds, and confined spaces could make for trouble, as evidenced by the gaggle of grousing grandmothers on the ground. An extended chase in the middle of the DEITA station could result in a full-blown panic, not to mention a few people getting sent to the hospital. I needed a quicker, more elegant solution.

  “Wait,” I called as Kelly rose to her feet. “Don’t run! I know you didn’t kill anyone!”

  That made the pair pause, which was all the time Shay and I needed to close the gap.

  Kelly’s face looked much the same as Drake’s as I reached them. “Oh, damnit, Drake,” she said. “Damnit! I knew we wouldn’t get away before they found us. I told you I could deal with it. Now, look. We’ll get tossed into military prison, for sure!”

  “No one at the army knows you’re here,” I said. “Now calm down. Nobody’s getting thrown into prison.”

  My patented old lady charm was apparently in remission, as the pack of old crones started to badger me over Drake and Kelly’s reckless behavior. I threw around some reassuring platitudes before shooing Shay and the former soldiers in the direction of the most secluded corner of the DEITA station I could find.

  After clearing the area of rubberneckers, I turned my eyes to the privates. They stood against the wall, their eyes on their shoes and their arms crossed, like teenagers who’d been busted on misdemeanor drug charges. Each wore a tightly packed rucksack on their backside, likely filled with all their earthly possessions.