Strong Mystery: Murder, Mystery and Magic Books 1-3 (Steampunk Magica)

by Raven Bond

  “Yeah, he’s been doing it for some time now.”

  “Did you know that Mary was coming to see Huang?” The gangers nodded enthusiastically.

  “I was facing where she came in,” he explained. “Jo whistled that we was to let her through. You want my opinion she is the one that you want for the killing. I never seen anyone so guilty sneaking before.” Owen tensed upon hearing this.

  “You are sure that Jo whistled that you were to let her through?” The ganger nodded again.

  “Sure I’m sure. There isn’t any way she would get through otherwise,” he declared. “Nobody gets through us.”

  “Well, the Austrian did,” Owen pointed out. The ganger’s face drooped at this.

  “Yeah, well that is true.” He said with a sigh.

  “Did you know about the hidden passageways in the restaurant?” Owen asked.

  “Most of us old timers with Jimmy’s crew knew about the passageways in the restaurant. The building was supposed to be the headquarters of some rebel group back in the day. Place is full of them. That’s why we use it. I think only Jimmy knows all of them being as he grew up here.” The ganger explained. Owen smiled at him.

  “Thank you. You have been more help than you might know. I am sorry, what was your name?”

  “My name is Gung,” The ganger replied looking at the ground, suddenly shy again. Owen spied a particularly rotund individual in silk court robes mincing his way towards them.

  “My thanks again Gung,” Owen said. “I see that a court gentleman is coming our way. Unless he has some business with you, I believe that he likely wants to talk to me.”

  “Talk to me?” Gung squeaked “Uh no, I don’t think so!” With that Gung sprang off in the opposite direction to the portly official.

  The rotund official came up to Owen, his eyes following Gung as he sprinted away. The officials face looked as if it had swallowed a frog. He stopped short in front of Owen and bowed as deeply as his stomach would allow. When he came up again, his face still borne the same expression.

  “I am Hu-San Fong,” he announced. “I am, I was that is, the Court Prosecutor. Our Illustrious Lohan has informed me that I am now the defender of the Austrian man Deter, and that you are the prosecutor in today’s Court. How do you intend to proceed?” Owen rendered a bow back to him and spoke as he came upright, his cane resting in front of him.

  “I intend to use the proceedings to uncover the truth.” Owen replied. Hu-San Fong shot his magnificent green silk cuffs before stroking his equally magnificent black mustaches theatrically.

  “An interesting choice of strategies,” the courtier purred. “Of course, my client is innocent of the murder.”

  “Of course,” Owen agreed amicably. Hu-San stopped his stroking, his bushy eyebrows shooting skyward in surprise.

  “You agree?” he asked incredulously.

  “Well, yes.” Owen said. “Of course, he’s still guilty of being an Austrian spy in Hong Kong. I understand that Lohan still intends that he receive the death penalty.” Hu-San motioned with his hands as if to wave Owens words away.

  “That is no concern of mine,” he said easily. “If he is not found guilty of the murder I have done my job.”

  “I see,” Owen said. “Then you do not care if your client is killed or not?”

  “Why should I?” Hu-San asked. “He must be guilty of something, else he would not stand accused, is that not so? I shall plea his innocence of the murder based on the ancient rule that there is no confession by him to that effect.”

  “Meaning that your torturers have not had a chance to question him you mean,” Owen said.

  “Say what you will,” Hu-San said smugly. “The old ways always work the best. All I must do is convince Lohan that he did not kill the urchin.” He smiled at Owen. “It sounds as if you will help me with this. You have the much more difficult task, if I may say so.”

  “Are you saying that I cannot count on your help in uncovering the murderer?” Owen asked the court official. Hu-San shook his head sadly.

  “Why would you expect my aid?” He said as if to a child. “I stand to gain nothing by aiding you.”

  “Only the knowledge that you are aiding the side of justice,” Owen retorted mildly. Hu-San tilted his head to one side and stared at Owen.

  “What strange ideas you have Westerner,” he said.

  “Think on it,” Owen said dryly. “You may find that what the Sage said about the law applies here, ‘better an honest pebble than a diamond’,” Hu-San’s face turned a dark color.

  “You would dare to lecture me about the words of the great Sage? I have spent twenty years studying his words!”

  “Perhaps you should spend less time studying him and more time thinking on what his words mean,” Owen remarked. Whatever Hu-San was going to say was cut off by a constable in her bright uniform striding into the courtyard.

  “All hear! All hear!” she cried out in High Mandarin. “Let those with the business before the Court of the High Lord of Hong Kong gather near! Let those of the Court gather to attend the High Lord!”

  She deliberately did not look at Owen and Hu-San as she spoke, instead aiming her voice at the walls of the courtyard. She turned and walked out of the door leading into the street outside. They could her repeat the cry.

  “Well, I believe that is for us,” Owen said to his adversary. He bowed the way towards the dining room. “Shall we go?”

  “I shall win,” Hu-San warned him

  “So shall I,” Owen replied with a tight smile.

  Chapter 21

  Owen saw that the dining room where the ill-fated dinner between the gangs, not to mention where Huang had met his fate, had been transformed into an opulent room filled with hanging silk drapes and fragrant incense and candles. There was even a pair of expensive-looking mage lights framing the now raised seat where Lohan sat to hold Court. In addition to the lights, a brace of constables stood with their deadly air-rifles at port behind the human-form Dragon.

  The courtiers were lounging about the walls of the room with some seated and others standing, all attempting to affect an air of polite boredom. Owen saw Deputy-Inspector Gregg talking nervously to a man in a western style suit. Mike stood in one corner with Mary, and with him stood Jimmy with a pair of cronies. A uniformed constable with a mountain of gold braid on his shoulders bowed towards both Owen and Hu-San.

  “Lord Owen Strong, Lord Hu-San Fong,” he greeted them both. “I am charged with insuring the protocol of the Court today. My name is Bailey. The accused will be brought out shortly.” Bailey gestured as he spoke, “Lord Owen, as Prosecutor would you stand to Our Mighty Lord’s right, and Lord Hu-San if you would stand to the left, I will call the Court to order.” Owen stood where Bailey had indicated as Jinhao entered the room, gliding up next to him. He bent to hear what she had to say.

  “It appears that our deceased Fire starter had a particular liking for the other boys,” she murmured to him.

  “I know,” Owen murmured back. Was Lohan giving them a stern eye?

  “Did you also know that he had a particular passion for Jimmy the Horse and that rumor has it that his Mother, the restaurant keeper, did not approve?” Owen shot her a glance at this news.

  ‘No, I did not,” he whispered. Out of the corner of his eye he caught the Dragon stirring on his makeshift throne, glaring at them.

  “Thank you Jinhao,” Owen whispered. “I think that I had best attend the Dragon now.”

  “Lord Owen.” Lohan suddenly spoke in a deep grumble. It sounded like a thousand boulders crashing together. “We shall be tolerant as this is your first time in these proceedings. Be warned, however, that Our patience is not inexhaustible.” Owen and Jinhao stopped talking and looked up attentively. The Dragon gestured at the failing Bailey. “Get on with it!” He snapped.

  “Hear all! Hear all” Bailey proclaimed in flawless Mandarin. “Let all who have business with this Court draw near to witness the mercy of Lohan, Lord of Hong Kong!” He
repeated the same in English. A pair of Constables brought in the Austrian Deter, his hands bound in manacles in front of him. He gave Owen a hang dog look, standing in the place where the constables had prodded him towards with their rifles.

  As Bailey stopped speaking, the Dragon stirred on his great chair, staring down at Owen. Owen thought he detected a red glint in the Dragon’s eyes, which could not bode well for them.

  “Lord Owen,” Lohan spoke in that same gravelly voice. “You have volunteered to show us this modern Western way of justice. How shall you proceed?”

  “Mighty Lohan!” Hu-San raised his voice theatrically. “As Defender of the Accused, I must protest! There is no confession as is proscribed in the Illustrious Code of Law. Therefore the Accused is innocent of this crime, and should be released!” The Dragon looked at Owen.

  “Well, Lord Owen?” Lohan inquired. “How do you respond to this?”

  “It is true Mighty Lohan that the Accused, the Austrian Deter, had not confessed to the murder of the boy Huang. A boy who was horribly killed right where you are sitting, I believe.” Owen said calmly. The Dragon startled in his chair at this, and Owen was certain that he saw the red glow gleam more strongly in the depths of the Dragons eyes.

  “None the less,” Owen continued, “I feel that it is my duty to point out that the confession my illustrious opponent refers to,” here he bowed towards Hu-San who bowed back. “Is usually obtained by torture of the accused. A method that is suspect at best.”

  “It is allowed under the Illustrious Code of Law!” Hu-San protested. “As such its lack should be allowed as proof of innocence. This has been true for five hundred years!”

  “Be that as it may,” Owen shot back. “The whole point of modern jurisprudence is to gauge the truth, the innocence or guilt of the accused, by means of fact and cross-examination. I must agree that there is not enough fact to condemn the Austrian, Deter, of Huang’s murder. There is only enough, I should point out, that he may be an accomplice to the crime as well as the spy of a foreign power.”

  “I must object!” Hu-San cried. “Neither of these are the crimes we are here for! Nor has the Lord Owen offered any of his much vaunted proof!”

  “The proof is that Deter is an Austrian, who by his own admission to me, belongs to the Church of Her Light and is abroad without a face mask,” Owen answered. “It is well known that only those who serve the Austrian government as spies are allowed such leeway. Second, he was in possession of an alchemical fire pistol which was the murder weapon that did kill the youth Huang.”

  “The reasons are sufficient to continue,” The Dragon allowed in his gravelly voice Hu-San’s shoulders slumped in defeat. Owen had to admire the voice trick. He had heard Lohan speak before and wondered how the Dragon managed to go from dulcet tones to such a menacing grumbling, leaving the hearer with the impression that they very likely would be eaten. He was certain it was some application of Magia. It certainly cut down on arguments, Owen reflected.

  There was a commotion at the door, which had Bailey, the Court protocol person, scrambling to deal with it. Bailey turned somewhat forlornly towards the center of the room and began to speak.

  “Mighty Lohan…” Bailey began, only to be shouldered aside by a menacing figure in a black uniform with a billed cap, a face-covering cloth mask hanging down from the cap. The soldier gave way in turn to a slender figure wearing gold robes and a head-hugging cowl. The suggestion of a smiling face was stitched in glittering gems across the covering of where a face would be.

  “Mighty Lohan,” the figure said in a carrying soprano tone, “please forgive the interruption. I came as quickly as possible when I received your note.”

  “Madame Ambassador,” Lohan replied in his grumbling voice. “Your entrance leaves much to be desired in terms of respect.” The gold figure bowed, smooth as oil.

  “When I heard that a fellow Austrian may be in peril, I came with all due haste. Surely you will forgive me if I side-step protocol for the safety of one of my people.” The cloth of gold covering searched about the room, finally settling on Deter.

  “Ah, there he is, the poor lamb!” the Ambassador slid forward towards the fettered Austrian. Her passage was blocked by the rifle-bearing constables. The black clad soldier stepped in front of the Ambassador, hand clamped on a holstered pistol at his waist. The menace radiated by the faceless figure was palpable even at a distance. The Ambassador turned towards Lohan.

  “Chains?” The Ambassador inquired. “Why is he in chains? What is the charge?”

  “Do you admit then that this is one of your fellow countrymen?” the Dragon asked softly. The Ambassador recoiled as if bitten. Owen could tell she was looking at Deter askance, even through the cowl and face covering.

  “I have not had a chance to speak to him,” she answered. “How would I know? Is that what he claims?”

  “He does not need to claim . . . that he is what he is,” Owen said. “That he is an Austrian of the Church of Her Radiance is beyond dispute, and his tradecraft is horrible. He revealed himself to our entire party with his first words. That members of the Church only are allowed to show their faces if they are spies for the Austrian Church, excuse me, the Austrian Government, is well known. You still maintain the fiction that you have a separate government? It does make the unwarranted invasions and pogroms deniable does it not?” Owen asked archly. “Furthermore, he was caught with an alchemical fire weapon. While unfortunately common, the possession of such a device is a crime in Hong Kong. Do you still wish to claim him as one of yours, Ambassador?” The cowled figure had stood stock still during Owen’s speech. The black-clad soldier turned towards Owen, hand still on his weapon.

  “You vill address Her Radiance as Your Radiance infidel dog,” he warned in his thick voice. “And you vill wait for leave to speak from Her Radiance.” Owen turned towards the Dragon at this.

  “Mighty Lohan, are we to tolerate threats during Court proceedings? Owen asked guilelessly.

  “Mighty Lohan,” the Austrian Ambassador demanded. “Who is this person?” She snarled.

  The Dragon gave a rumble deep in his chest that might have been a laugh. He looked down at the Ambassador for a long moment before replying.

  “I notice that you do not deny what he says Ambassador,” Lohan observed wryly. “As to who he is, he is the appointed Court Special Prosecutor named Lord Owen of Strong late of the British Empire. Also, he is correct, this is an official Court function.” There was no mistaking the red glow in Lohan’s eyes now.

  “MY Court, Ambassador!” The Dragon snarled. “Now, as is required by international treaty I have informed you that we may have one of your country’s citizens in custody. Do you wish to acknowledge him?” The Ambassador took a step back.

  “Not at this time,” she said weakly. “Although the Austrian government reserves the right to view the proceedings.”

  “Then find a place against the wall, Ambassador, along with the other members of the Court,” Lohan ordered heavily. She quickly complied, dragging her guard with her. “And Ambassador,” the Dragon continued, “one more threat from your lackey, and he will be next to feel my displeasure. My patience has neared its limit.” The Dragon turned towards Owen.

  “Well My Lord Owen, how will you proceed?” He demanded. Before Owen could speak he held up a hand. “And do not say it requires that you mock the Ambassadors to my Court. What I found humorous once I may not again,” he warned. Owen bowed towards the Dragon.

  “Mighty Lohan,” he said. “I thank you for your forbearance.” He twisted his head towards where the Austrian Ambassador had claimed space along a wall, “And I ask forgiveness of the Austrian Ambassador if I answered her question too fully.” At this, some of the Court twittered. Little love was lost between the Austrians and the citizens of Hong Kong after last summer’s attempt at an invasion by the Austrian Navy. An attempt that had been blamed on ‘rogue naval elements’ by the Austrian government. An excuse accepted by the other Great Powers to a
vert an even more horrendous world war. Lohan frowned at Owen, who continued quickly.

  “I believe that I can render these proceedings quickly to both to your satisfaction and to the cause of justice,” Owen said with a smile. “May I call a few people to testify?” Lohan made a show of considering this even though he must know this was how it was done, Owen thought.

  “I see no difficulty in this do you Lord Hu-San?” Lohan asked the Defense Councilor. Hu-San also made a great show of considering this, stroking his magnificent mustaches.

  “No, Mighty Lohan,” he said at last. “Although I also wish the right to question these people should it seem warranted.” The Dragon turned his head back to Owen.

  “Acceptable to you Lord Owen?” Lohan asked.

  “Very acceptable. I even encourage it, Mighty Lohan,” Owen responded.

  “Very well,” the Dragon said. “Call whom you will.” The Dragon effected a bored tone which would fool no one who noticed the agitated light smoldering beneath his eyelids.

  “Thank you Mighty Lohan,” Owen replied with a bow towards the makeshift throne. “For my first witness,” Owen pronounced, “I wish to call the man known as Jimmy the Horse.”

  The sounds of the murmuring voices of the Court rose like an angry sea.

  Chapter 22

  Lohan nodded to his acting master of Protocol, the constable Bailey, who turned at Lohan’s signal back to face the room. His voice rang out across the room cutting through the murmurs of the Court.

  “Jimmy the Horse draw nigh! You are called to bear witness before the Court of the Mighty Lohan, Lord of Hong Kong. Jimmy the Horse draw nigh!” Bailey cried out. The gang leader stepped forward at this, a dazed look upon his face. He looked between Owen and Bailey.

  “I am Jimmy the Horse,” he said to both of them, “What do you want?”

  “You must stand there,” Hu-San pointed with a scowl to a spot in front of the Dragon midway between Owen and himself. Jimmy moved to comply. “Stand there and do not move!” The former Court Prosecutor said. Hu-San bowed wordlessly with a smile first to Lohan and then to Owen.