“How did you know about that?” Daeholf said.
“We’re not blind,” Zedek said.
Trimas eyed Daeholf carefully. “I don’t think it’s that,” he said after a moment.
“Oh?” Zedek said.
“Elena?” Trimas said.
“Oh,” Zedek said.
“Yes,” Daeholf said simply.
“Well, if you’re well enough for that, you’re well enough for a turn in the chair,” Zedek said.
“Or on the floor,” Trimas said.
“It would only be fair I suppose,” Daeholf said.
“You do realise we’ve been out hunting you’re attacker whilst you’ve been partying in here?” Trimas said pointedly.
“I’d hardly call it partying,” Daeholf said.
“So what would you call it?” Zedek said.
“One thing led to another,” Daeholf said. “And she was determined.”
“She was determined?” Trimas said, eyebrow raised.
“Well…” Daeholf said.
“I’m happy that you’re mended,” Zedek said. “At least you waited until we were out of the room anyway.”
Trimas laughed. “I don’t think it would have happened if we were still here. Sergeant Elena doesn’t strike me as the type to put on a show. Though it does appear she does have a couple of surprises hidden away,” he said, looking back at Daeholf.
“You have no idea,” Daeholf said.
“So is it happening again?” Zedek said. “Do we need some sort of sock-on-the-door type warning system?”
“Sock on the door?” Trimas said.
“How do you normally tell people you don’t want to be disturbed?” Zedek said.
“Bar the door,” Trimas said.
“She did,” Daeholf said.
“Good lass,” Trimas said. “Though once again, the situation strikes me as somewhat unfair.”
“She doesn’t like you enough for that,” Daeholf said.
“I’m hurt. Though that’s not what I meant,” Trimas said.
“Yeah, I know,” Daeholf said. “We’ve been cooped up here for far too long. We really ought to have found somewhere better.”
“We didn’t want to move you whilst you were hurt,” Zedek said. “Since that’s clearly not the case now…”
“I’m not exactly fit for action yet,” Daeholf said.
“Depends on the sort of action it seems,” Trimas said.
“Don’t worry, it probably won’t happen again,” Daeholf said.
“Poor performance? She leave disappointed?” Zedek said quickly.
Trimas and Daeholf both looked at him, surprised. “What? I’m not allowed to join in?” Zedek said.
“I’d expect that from him,” Daeholf said, pointing at Trimas.
“He beat me to it,” Trimas said.
“And no, that wasn’t the way it went. But of course, as a gentleman, I shouldn’t be talking about it,” Daeholf said.
“You brought the subject up,” Zedek pointed out.
“Gentleman?” Trimas said.
“Whatever,” Daeholf said. “It was one of those in-the-moment things. It’s not like it can go anywhere.”
“Whoa there,” Trimas said. “We weren’t talking about you raising a family here. Just, you know…”
“Well I’ve not spoken to her since, but I imagine she’s probably feeling a bit awkward about it anyway, what with her brother and all?”
“Brother?” Zedek said. “Is that allowed amongst you humans? That’s revolting.”
Daeholf sighed. “No, nothing like that. She looks after him. I’ve told you about him.”
“He’s the one who hates soldiers,” Trimas said. “And, given our past I can see how that might be a problem.”
“You think she’ll tell him?” Zedek said.
“Maybe. Probably. They’re very close. She basically gave up her career to help him.”
“Great. So now we need to mount some sort of angry-brother watch,” Trimas said.
“I’m not sure how angry he is,” Daeholf said. “I’ve never met him. But from what Elena says, he’s more the quiet, reserved type these days.”
“It’s always the quiet ones you have to watch out for,” Zedek said.
“He has been getting into fights though,” Daeholf said, thinking. “Or one fight anyway. Serious enough for him to come away hurt though he wasn’t talking about it, last I heard.”
“Fights?” Trimas said. “Though I suppose, with a history like his there’s a chance he’d be on the end of a fair bit of bullying, so it’s probably not that surprising.”
“I can’t imagine what that would do to a person,” Daeholf said.
“It’d mess you up pretty badly I would imagine,” Trimas said.
“Poor bastard,” Daeholf said.
“I’d have hanged them,” Trimas said.
“After beating the shit out of them as an example first,” Daeholf said.
“So what does he do then?” Zedek said. “Does he have a job or does he sit around the house all day with his thoughts. That can’t be healthy.”
“He’s got a job with his cousin, a blacksmith,” Daeholf said.
“That’s really hard work,” Trimas said. “I know because I’ve tried it. It doesn’t strike me as the sort of thing someone who’d get attacked like he did would do.”
“No. I think he does finishing work on some of the pieces. Sharpens blades, that sort of thing,” Daeholf said.
“That’s probably not a healthy occupation for someone with his past,” Zedek said.
“You think he’s hurting himself?” Trimas said.
“It’s certainly a possibility,” Zedek said.
Daeholf frowned.
“Not very much we can do about it though,” Trimas said. “Like we said, we don’t know him so can’t help.”
“No, we don’t know him,” Daeholf said slowly, still frowning.
“You’re thinking something there might be something more sinister,” Trimas said, now also frowning.
“Damaged, hates soldiers, sharpens knives,” Daeholf said, ticking points off on his fingers.
“And has access to all the Nightwalker case information,” Zedek said.
“What?” Trimas said, surprised.
“Shit,” Daeholf said.
“This is a lot of speculation,” Trimas said. “We’d need very heavy evidence before we could go making that short of accusation.”
“Witness said that the last supposed Nightwalker killing was messy and involved a fight. Victim was a soldier if I remember correctly,” Zedek said.
“Could be coincidence,” Daeholf said.
“Could be,” Trimas said. “Let’s pull out all the soldier murders from the notes. Dates, times. See if we can match them to what we might know of his movements.”
“Here, I’ve already catalogued them,” Zedek said, pulling out a sheet of parchment.
“When and why?” Trimas said.
“I get bored and you both snore,” Zedek said. “And it’s actually something I enjoy doing.”
“We need to get you some better hobbies,” Trimas said.
“You don’t think it’d be useful then?” Zedek said, holding the piece of paper back.
“Give it here,” Daeholf said. “I’ve little to do other than paperwork for ages…”
Trimas snorted.
“...and I probably have a better idea of Regis’s movements than either of you,” Daeholf finished, ignoring him.
Zedek handed him the piece of paper. They waited whilst Daeholf scanned it.
“Well?” Trimas said.
“I think we need to talk to Elena,” Daeholf said.
*****
Erik jumped as someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned from where he was standing at the counter, knife in hand, to see who it was. “Oh, it’s you,” he said to Kellan.
“I have a job for you,” Kellan said.
“I’m doing my job now,” Erik replied. “And ha
s no one ever told you how dangerous it is to surprise a man with a knife in his hand? It’s not a road to continued good health.”
“Duly noted,” Kellan said. “Come with me.”
“Now?” Erik said, surprised. “During the day whilst there’s still customers to be had?”
“Close early.”
Erik studied him for a moment. “That important eh?”
“I can insist if you’d like.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Erik put the knife down, walked to the front door to close it.
“Quicker,” Kellan said impatiently.
“Should we get the others?” Erik said, shutting the shop.
“No.”
“No?”
“No,” Kellan stated firmly before disappearing out the back. Erik sighed and went after him. The back entrance was open and Kellan had gone out into the alley.
“Are you going to tell me what this is about?” Erik said when he saw him waiting.
“It’s best we don’t talk about this in the street,” Kellan said, moving off.
“There’s hardly anyone around to hear us here,” Erik said, catching him up.
“Not worth the risk,” Kellan replied. He led Erik quickly through a series of alleys and back roads to a dishevelled looking house near the docks. He opened the door and pointed inside. “He’s in there,” he said.
“You seem to have got the wrong idea about me,” Erik said, looking through the doorway at the man in the bloody pool on the floor.
“Oh?”
“I don’t know what people have been telling you, but I’m not a doctor.”
“I’ve seen your handiwork. You’ll do fine.”
Erik looked again at the man slumped on the ground. He sighed. “I knew that would come back on me sooner or later.”
“Just fix him,” Kellan said impatiently.
“It’s not as easy as that. What’s wrong with him?”
“He’s been stabbed.”
“Where?”
“Belly.”
“Then he’s going to die anyway. Even if I stitch him up, the wound will go bad.”
“He’s in better shape than your last patient.”
“Did you do this to him?”
“What and then change my mind? No, I found him like this.”
“I assume he’s important then.”
“Yes.”
“So I’m assuming that ‘no’ is not an option here?”
“You assume right.”
“I need tools.”
“I took the liberty,” Kellan said, holding up a bag.
“I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be able to fix him.”
“Try. And if you can’t save him, at least make it look like you’re attempting to. Keep him alive for as long as you can. I need him to talk and he’s clammed up. With the amount of pain he’s in at the moment, there’s not a lot more I can do to encourage him.”
“You’re a cold man sometimes.”
“It’s a hard business.”
“You’re hoping he’ll talk if you help him? Or pretend to help him anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
“Someone important. Specifics don’t matter for now.”
“I suppose I’d better get on with it then,” Erik said, taking the bag. He walked into the room. The man on the floor responded by shuffling back.
“That looks serious,” Erik said calmly.
“Who are you?” the man said weakly.
“Someone who can help,” Erik said, squatting near him.
“I’m dying,” the man said.
“Then I can’t make it any worse can I?”
The man seemed to consider that. “I suppose not,” he half whispered.
Erik looked around. Just about as dirty in here as it could get. If what he’d been told was true, that wasn’t going to help either. “Could’ve found somewhere cleaner,” he muttered. He opened the bag and took out a knife. The man looked alarmed and tried to back away again.
“It’s just for the clothing around the wound. I need to see it. Look, I don’t want to be here either. You could just keep backing away from me if you want. It probably won’t take you that long to die. I can go home then.”
“Or?” the man said weakly.
“Or you can let me try and fix you.”
“You a sawbones?”
Erik considered that. “Yes,” he said. In a manner of speaking, he was.
“Okay then,” the man said, easing down and laying still.
Erik opened up his new patient’s blood-soaked clothing and looked at the wound. It looked and smelled bad. He didn’t let it show on his face but it looked hopeless. Still, he’d been here before, and recently. “Fetch me some water,” he said, turning to Kellan, who was standing in the doorway.
“You can drink later,” Kellan said.
“I need it for this,” Erik said, pointing at the wound.
“Okay. Anything else?”
“I could do with a pot and a fire too.”
“And?”
“An assistant would be nice but I doubt I’m going to get it.”
Kellan frowned at him before disappearing away from the doorway. Erik carefully probed the wound with his fingers. The man just groaned, too weak to shout. Erik sighed. He should be dead already. Clearly there was something driving the man to hang on but willpower alone wasn’t going to be enough for this. Cutting carefully, he opened the hole up slightly for better access to what was inside. The man shuddered and lay still. Erik paused but the man was still breathing, if weakly, so he carried on.
“What the hell are you doing?” Kellan said, depositing a bucket next to him.
“There’s a hole in his guts. I need to mend that first,” Erik said.
“By making it bigger?”
“Do you want to do this?” Erik said, challenge in his tone. Taking Kellan’s silence for a no, he took out a needle and thread and started stitching.
*****
“What’s going on?” Elena said, standing in the doorway, Trimas behind her. “He wouldn’t tell me, just dragged me out of the station. Whilst I was on duty I might say,” she added, indicating the big man with her thumb.
Daeholf walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “You’d better sit down,” he said. He guided her across the room to the chair.
“This had better be important,” Elena said. She noticed that Zedek was armed, standing guard. “I see it is then,” she added.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Elena said quietly to Daeholf, touching his arm as he moved to back off to sit down on the end of the bed nearest her.
“Later,” he replied gently.
“Why is the shop all closed up? Are you expecting trouble?”
“We don’t know where Erik has gone,” Trimas said, looking slightly troubled.
“Last time you all summoned me we ended up taking the dead body of the Thieftaker to the Governor,” Elena said. “I’m rather hoping it’s not quite as important this time.”
“We’re not sure, but it might be worse,” Trimas said, still by the door.
“Worse?” Elena said.
“We’ve been looking at the Nightwalker case again,” Daeholf said.
“Since I’m here, I’m assuming you’ve made progress, but why the secrecy? Please don’t tell me you suspect some key figure in the city,” Elena said.
“We said that we thought there were two killers. One we’re sure is an elf, using a bronze knife and killing people in a pattern we are yet to determine,” Daeholf said.
“Go on,” Elena said.
“The other, well, isn’t. It’s extremely unlikely that there’s two elf serial killers in the city for a start,” Daeholf said.
“Impossible,” Zedek said.
“So we’re dealing with someone else. The second killer, as far as we can tell, only targets soldiers.”
“All this we know,” Elena said. “Please get to the point.”
“Targets soldiers as if they have a very specific agenda. Or possibly a hatred.”
Elena frowned. “It’s a motive, certainly.”
“The second killer also uses a distinctive knife. Not bronze that we know of, but we’ve been looking into it, and the knife our man is using is sharp. Very sharp.”
“A clue then,” Elena said. “You have an idea, don’t you?”
“Specialist sharp.”
“I know who we can ask about that then,” Elena said. She saw that the three of them were all giving her a sad look. “It’s not possible,” she said quietly.
“He’s had a hard life. And something bad happened. Very bad. It changes people.”
“Not like that,” Elena said. “Not him.”
“We know that he hates soldiers,” Trimas said. “Who wouldn’t after that?”
“I hate soldiers too,” Elena said.
“He has the specialist knowledge,” Zedek said.
“Because he sharpens knives?” Elena said.
“Your casefiles,” Daeholf said quietly.
Elena sat back slowly in the chair. “If this was someone else, it’d be enough to investigate them. Hard. He’s my brother. I know him. And that’s not him. You need more than that.”
Zedek handed her the sheet of parchment. “A list of the whens and wheres as far as we know for the second serial killer.”
Elena took the sheet reluctantly. She studied it carefully. Her face fell. “I need proof,” she said hoarsely.
“You said there may have been a witness,” Daeholf said.
“I did,” Elena said quietly.
“Someone that saw a fight, that found the body. That thought the Nightwalker might have been injured,” Daeholf said.
“It’s unconfirmed, but yes,” Elena said.
“How long ago was it that Regis came home with the wound on his face?” Daeholf said.
Elena slumped in the chair. Daeholf nodded to Zedek who joined Trimas just outside the room and pulled the door to, leaving the two alone for a moment.
“I need to talk to him,” Elena said.
“We can help,” Daeholf said.
“Leave this with me,” she said.
“I can’t let you confront this alone.”
“Do you have family?”
“Sisters.”
Knives of Bastion (An Empire Falls Book 2) Page 54