responded with “Of course.”
“So you can hurt them to stop crimes more easily than a hunk of rock officer?” Arthur asked.
Morgan reflected on what the Dollmaker said as he picked the mans hand off of his shoulder. He couldn't quite bring himself to agree with him completely. The Doll's moved and sounded too much like people, even the stone one had, especially in death. What he couldn't deny though was that Arthur was right about it being her or them.
“She was dangerous." Morgan admitted. "I just hope she didn't hurt that lady.” He said with concern as he crawled over to the desk, carefully pushing away the image of the stone Doll clutching her chest from his mind.
“What lady?” Arthur asked, the confusion as evident in his voice as his face.
Glad that he was turned away to hide his smile Morgan replied. “The one that was screaming at me from the door to smash things. She sounded so scared.”
Coughing and sputtering came from behind him as Arthur attempted to find a dignified reply, Morgan broke into a full, hearty laugh as he reached under the desk. Poking out from behind the inside leg area of the desk and wedged against the wall was a bundle of cloth. He had seen it after diving for the shotgun and managed to pull it out. Sliding out to lean against the desk and let his companion see, Morgan unwrapped the bundle to reveal a thick leather bound book.
“My notes!” Arthur lunged forward with a cry and snatched up the book. Greedily he combed through the pages with alacrity, mumbling to himself as he checked the volume over.
With Arthur distracted Morgan crawled back under the desk again and groped in the small slot between the desk and wall where he had found the notes. His fingers found another cloth bundle that he rolled towards himself until he could grab it. The cloth had come off as it had rolled apparently and his hand grasped something smooth with a few jagged edges. Pulling the object towards himself he knew as soon as he touched it that this was what they had come looking for.
Looking at the prize, a large uncut diamond rested in his hand. Almost the size of a fist the diamond had a very obvious imperfection right in the middle, making it worth no where near what a diamond that size should be, cut or not. It didn't speak to him or glow from the inside but somehow he knew that this was the spirit that could be made into a Doll. The rare centre that Arthur had spoken about. Morgan almost felt like he could see her face already, but that was just his imagination playing on his knowledge of what it was.
“This what else you were looking for Arthur?” Morgan offered up the stone on his open palm as he picked himself off the floor with the desk. Soreness had seeped out from his bones, where it had been hiding during the fight, and soaked into every muscle in his body.
Arthur put down the book and carefully, almost reverently, accepted the diamond with both hands. “At least he cleaned it off for me.” The man said as he inspected it closely. He shot Morgan an odd look. “How did you know?”
“Seemed right.” Morgan shrugged, stooping to pick up his shotgun with a groan. “And when someone tries to kill me and I find a big diamond after, it is probably involved.”
The Dollmaker gave him a rueful smile, considering the other man carefully once again. “I suppose that makes a lot of sense.”
Morgan surveyed the room tiredly to make sure that nothing that needed to disappear was left behind. The police would toss the place quite thoroughly after he called in the cavalry.
The pair made their way out of the office. Morgan lumbered down the stairs with his shotgun and Arthur followed behind with the book and diamond clutched in his long limbs.
“So where do you think this Seamus guy got to?” Officer Morgan asked as they descended.
“GET AWAY FROM THERE!” Someone yelled from the shop floor. There, a red headed man was striding across the shop from the open door with a plastic convenience store bag in his hand. He was heading straight for the table of weapons. “MILLIE! CANDICE! Where are you? I see you there Arthur! You won't take them!”
Morgan racked the shotgun hard, letting an unused shell drop to the floor. A waste if it came to a fight but it served it's intended purpose as the man froze and stared up at the gun pointed at him. Nothing gets a person's attention like the sound of a shotgun being racked.
“Seamus I presume?”
“Who the heck are you?” Seamus demanded, his voice the same deep, suave tone that had threatened Morgan over the phone.
“If the uniform isn't cluing you in yet, I am Officer Morgan.” Morgan replied, setting the butt of the shotgun against his shoulder and double checking by feel that the safety was off. “Back away from the table, drop the bag and put your hands in the air NOW!”
Seamus hesitated then bolted for the door. He only made it about three steps before he froze in place, a cough like sob escaping his throat as he stared at the doorway.
Mei-mei stood in the door. She had a long gash on her arm where some blade had sliced through her dress and into the wood beneath, but seemed otherwise unharmed. The Doll stood with a mace in one hand, the other dragged the body of Seamus' purple-eyed doll by the ankle behind her. The purple eyed doll lay in a lifeless heap, the motionless form had nothing left in it to care about being dragged around.
“You have a lot to answer for Seamus.” Morgan said as he came carefully down the stairs without lowering the gun which was still trained on the red headed man.
Seamus had fallen to his knees and was simply staring at the broken doll that Mei-mei held in her hand. It dragged behind her with a conspicuous scraping sound as she walked into the room. Morgan almost felt sorry for the man who looked so distraught at the destruction of his Dolls. Anger quickly replaced sympathy as the Dolls would not have had to be destroyed if not for the man and his greed.
“A lot of murders and thefts in my city that need to be accounted for. As well as a whole host of other charges.” Morgan said.
“You can't prove anything! I never killed anyone.” Seamus finally responded, a smug but panicked look on his face as he looked up at the officer.
“Yeah perhaps not, but I would put money on you having handled all those weapons over there which, by the look of them haven't been cleaned since someone killed with them. I could probably tie you to half a dozen murders just with that. And you are in possession of a number of stolen materials that were taken from sights connected to the violence and murders.” Morgan put down his shotgun and stepped up to the man, slapping a cuff forcefully onto his wrist and twisting it behind his back. “Conviction should be pretty easy. Though if I were you I would simply confess. Unless you want me to hand this problem over to Arthur and Mei-mei to take care of?” The man shook his head with a horrified look. “No? Then I think this case will wrap itself up quickly. Unless you think someone will believe the truth?”
Morgan cranked the cuffs tighter onto the man. Seamus merely whimpered and let himself be hauled off the floor. Morgan spoke “You have the right to remain silent...”
After reading the malicious Dollmaker his rights, Morgan sat the man back on the ground awkwardly by the door and called it in on his radio. Mei-mei stood in front of Seamus and stared unblinkingly at the man with mace in hand. Her expression was innocent, somewhat blank and she was humming again, but that just seemed to add to the pall of menace she exhumed. It didn't help that Arthur had told her to break his legs if the man tried to run.
“Neither Mei-mei or the doll she brought in were too badly damaged. She was probably that watch you smashed first.” Arthur took a place beside Morgan leaning against the workbench. “So what now Officer Morgan?”
“Well I suggest you disappear before the cavalry shows up.” Morgan sighed out, watching Mei-mei and Seamus as he did. “This place pretty much speaks to all the crimes he is connected to. If he had taken some effort to cover his tracks this would have been a lot messier to clean up. Luckily you Dollmakers are pretty arrogant.”
Arthur opened his mouth to respond but paused before frowning and giving a grudging nod.
“What about
you?” Morgan posed.
“We'll take our regained items and disappear for now. I had originally planned to go back to Kansas, quiet places are good for the work. This town is growing on me though.” Arthur looked around as if to emphasize his point. “And I think you and I still have things to discuss. I brought everything I need to finish this little beauty anyways.” The diamond sparkled dimly in the Dollmaker's hand.
“You said that his Doll had a violent streak right?” Morgan asked, reflecting on their earlier conversation and nodding to indicate Seamus.
“Yes. A Doll comes with it's own disposition and knowledge, but they learn most things about the world from their masters and makers. Especially about morality. As such it's not uncommon for them to pick up traits from those people.” Arthur looked at Morgan. “That other Doll would likely have ended up the same way if we had left her with him.”
Morgan felt another stab of pity for the dolls and anger at their maker. “There are no bad dogs, only bad owners.” He quoted. The same was apparently true for Dolls.
Arthur looked thoughtful at that, perhaps considering what kind of owner he was.
“Alright get out of here. I'll give you a call in the morning and we can figure out whatever else needs to be sorted out then.” The police officer pushed the gangly Dollmaker towards the door who called Mei-mei to him
Dolls Page 11