by P. S. Power
She rolled her own, but did figure it would be pretty enough. When they finally broke the line, she realized that there would be need to do things carefully for the rest of the day. First, they still had to do what they had planned, if they were going to act like Lisa Wendell had nothing to do with the other case at all.
"Pete? We need to get to go and check out those wrestlers?"
He didn't even blink, just going and getting the box with the orange sized spheres in it. He took the two he needed, and handed the others off to her. One went into her little handbag, since her outfit didn't have pockets at all.
That trip was, actually kind of fun, she realized. The men at the club, which was a shabby open room with mats on the floor and weight sets over to one side, fell all over themselves when she walked in. It was clean inside, but smelled faintly of sweat. Places like that did.
"Ma'am? Have you... come to see about wrestling lessons for your boy?" The large man wasn't the fellow in charge, but was a lower level assistant, she thought. He was in his thirties or so, and had a very full handlebar mustache. He was huge as far as muscle went, and clearly had spent a lot of time with those weights off to the side. His hands had calluses from them and everything.
Gwen shook her head slightly, then stopped.
"Well, possibly. First, however, we're here about the train murders? Some men that trained here were involved in them. Can you tell me what you know about that? If you're part of it, please just confess right now. We'll find out anyway, and if you confess we can allow you an honorable death." Gwen said it because she figured that it would sound good, but the man stiffened, as if surprised, rather than offended.
"I don't know anything about that. Honorable death... so this is a high matter?"
Peter smiled at the much larger man.
"High enough. He really doesn't know anything." Holding out his right hand to the man, he waited, but the fellow took it, since that's what polite gentlemen did. "Peter Westmorland. This lady is Miss Gwendolyn Farris. She has a soft spot in her heart for fighters. Hence you being allowed the honorable way out. We'll need to speak to everyone?"
The man seemed a bit put out by that, but allowed that they could do that, he supposed. It wasn't that he didn't want them there, it became clear, but rather that he knew of at least several men that were missing, including the owner of the club. It took a bit to work out who was who, but the men from the train were all accounted for. Including Sam, the porter. It was, she thought, the large power-lifting looking man that was George Harris, the club's old owner.
Dead now, so it seemed that this fellow, Barty, was going to have to take over.
They were given tea, because, apparently, in this world, they had that at wrestling gyms. It was unsweetened, since everyone there was in training. Barty offered to have someone run out and get some sugar for them, but Gwen shook her head and started talking about the specific techniques they used.
Then asked for demonstrations, for her and Peter. She didn't get to try much herself, because dresses weren't conducive to grappling, plus it would have been considered most improper. Especially since she was, as Peter reminded her, engaged.
He looked at the new gym owner and spoke to him directly, "engaged to Duke Aubry. Have you heard about that? This being in his duchy and all?"
"Oh! Yes. I didn't make the connection though. I mean, it made the papers, but I haven't seen the Duke since he took office. After his father passed. He used to work here, on occasion, as a boy."
The man, fortunately didn't make any connections there, and Gwen made sure to keep that part of things out of the conversation. The idea was just to clear the men here, or find them guilty and arrest them, if they didn't want to kill themselves. That was, Peter pointed out, normally only allowed the very rich or nobility, but Gwen figured it would make her job easier, if they'd do that, rather than going to trial. Living people might eventually lead back to Lisa and she was uncomfortably close to Christophe.
Thankfully no one knew anything at all. She looked at the roster, and noticed that they hadn't spoken to everyone by any means, but Barty seemed certain that the ones they'd missed weren't likely to be in on it, mainly being kids, after all. They had to go and find a few of the adults, but they were just men that worked at real jobs and didn't train on their lunch breaks.
That meant that, at about five in the afternoon, they were able to be back at Park Street, so they had time to recharge the spheres they were using, with Peter doing the heavy lifting there, and she was able to return them and be back in time to sit down with everyone else. It was a light meal, since the next day would be hectic for the staff, which meant that they only had seven courses.
She and Peter had missed the mid-day meal, so she was grateful for the food. It was, as always, wonderful.
Beth and Clara were back too, but didn't share their findings until after the meal was over, since what her friend and new assistant had to say wasn't very polite.
Clara went first, snorting like she was a woman of the streets or something, rather than a proper Westmorland assistant at all.
"That Regina woman is a right on witch, Miss. She looked down her nose at us the whole time, and didn't even seem shamed that her plan was the one that nearly had me murdered."
Bethany tightened her lips, but didn't say that Clara was wrong at all.
"Yes. Doctor Grainger is a dear, of course, but many of his students are... Less than welcoming. I've had warmer welcomes from people in the Westmorland hate movement, to be totally honest. Of late at least. They aren't guilty however. There were some bright spots however. One of the men that took the anti-mesmerism training here was there and nearly took off one of his fellows' heads for being rude to us. That technique, letting people try for themselves, seems to work pretty well."
Gwen sighed and shook her head slowly, but didn't say the rest of it out loud. That left only one thing for them to do in the matter then, didn't it?
She was going to need some things first though, including a sharp knife and a good alibi.
Then she had some work to do.
Chapter twenty-two
In the end it took her about ten minutes to get the job done. It was brutal, of course, since she didn't have a lot of time to do it right. Meaning she didn't know how to teleport body parts out of the woman from a distance, so had to actually go and do the work personally. Teleporting in really made it easier though. She made certain that a good fifteen people knew where she was, being useful, and helping out with the party arrangements, out in the back yard.
These were the new hires, and that meant people with no particular reason to think she was either up to anything, or to make up a lie about her being there with them. She did have to introduce herself around a lot, but made a point of working with everyone she could. Then excused herself to the bathroom. It was late, and people were working by the light of glow lamps that had been set up outdoors for the party the next day. That meant it would be about an hour earlier back in Aubry.
Gwen had been in Lisa's room before, and as it turned out, when Chris had said she was locked in her room, he hadn't been speaking about the dungeon. Thankfully. She even had a light on. It was helpful, since it meant that Gwen could step in, behind where she sat, and hit her in the back of the head, right over the brainstem, as hard as she could. It made a noise, but just a thump.
Then, taking the little, but very sharp, knife she'd brought in for the task. Wiping it off first, out of long habit, from watching television shows, she slit the woman's left wrist in a long straight line up her forearm, and stood there while she bled enough that Gwen was pretty certain she wouldn't recover from it. Blood was everywhere, but by floating above it, she was able to move in, and slip the knife into her right hand enough that the slumped over woman took it, clutching gently.
Then she looked over.
"You." It came out as a whisper. "You killed me?"
Gwen shrugged, which made her bobble slightly in the air. "You tried to kill mi
llions. It has to be done."
There was a soft smile on the rather blocky woman's face then, and she let her eyes close.
"I love him. You'll take good care of him? He..." There was another word, which Gwen couldn't really make out. She thought it might have been love, or loves, but other than that, she couldn't tell what it was.
She waited, as the puddle of red ran across the desk and onto the floor. She didn't leave a note, since faking handwriting wasn't a skill of hers. This would have to be enough. She had to land, so did it across the room, carefully. Then after recovering from the effort of not being on the ground, she went back to the party preparations. Or, really, the bathroom in her room. She had an old workman's outfit on, which was tan and stained, but totally free of blood. She checked it several times before going back down, making sure she kept talking to people all night long, until everyone turned in. That meant she was seen the entire night, except for some rather short bathroom breaks.
That night, for once, she slept pretty well. Oh, she woke up in a pool of her own sweat, but when she was woken up by pounding in the morning it was only Peter, not the Constabulary coming around to accuse her of murder. Today they collected Beth and Manly for the workout as well. Pete was going directly into his next training session set, after that. It was a newly designed thing, to teach him total control of his telepathy. That would require an altered state, she thought, but Manly didn't think so. Especially since it was mainly teaching him to not use it, unless he wanted to.
"I'd like to try it like the healers do it. Teaching him to control it all on purpose. There will be more pain than with the last bit, but nothing like the old style. Then we'll get to the healing work, like you suggested. I had to have him reassigned to that. He was going to be slated as a detective, but this makes more sense, given the new training and what might be needed for it. If we can't use him in the field longterm, this will still work." Manly smiled, and looked over at the kid. "He'll still be here however, as your assistant? That means having me around too, but I told Adam that I was one of your favorite people. That didn't make him happy at all, for some reason."
Gwen didn't correct the man, trying not to hate him for his job. It almost worked even.
"Great. We might have some things to work on too, you and I, I mean." She still had to figure out how to make a rifting device after all. That meant staying off of the pleasure inducer, at least until she mastered how rifting was done. Messing that up wasn't going to work.
The day actually went pretty normally, though she helped out with the preparations for things, along with Ethyl, until mid-afternoon when people started arriving. It was sort of like a picnic, after all. If those sorts of things had eighteen course meals served in the middle, three live bands, and a collection of Super Soldiers that mainly stood around, looking alternately awkward and bemused.
Billy showed up, as expected, if only by her, and found her standing next to Christophe and the King, while they waited for the Marduk to show up. He wasn't expected for a bit, since he was coming in from halfway across the world, and would be leaving after he woke up.
It was really the time that Gwen had figured to be yelled at by Ferdinand, to tell the truth. She hadn't forgotten that the man might well want her head, after having made all those problems for him, with the Westmorlands.
Instead he was remarkably polite, even after he led them all away from where others might easily hear them. It was still technically at the party, and well guarded however.
"Duke Aubry," the King started, not paying too much attention to Billy. "I hear that your secretary took her own life last night? Was she unwell?"
That, Gwen was willing to bet, was code for depressed. Chris nodded, his face looking shamed and dark.
"We tried to help her, but in the last weeks she was... Well, I should have gotten more help for her. I just didn't know what to do. The poor dear, she really was a good secretary." That last bit was almost a plea. As if he was trying to protect her memory for real.
Then, Gwen had never heard that Lisa was a slacker or anything. Maybe she really was good at her job? Given all that she'd put together, she almost had to have been, really.
Ferdinand made a face that spoke of sympathy, and then turned to Billy, as if he expected that the man had some word for him. That just got a shrug.
"Hey, I just came to see who this guy is that's going to be marrying my older sister. Don't get confused, she's older than me." He looked to be in his thirties, and was, but Gwen was too. It was Katherine that wasn't.
Christophe knew all that however. Not that she had a brother, which had to be explained, but he shook hands with him then and acted as if Billy was the King suddenly. Ferdinand explained it to her at least, which was nice of him, since she wasn't getting it at all.
"William here is your closest living relative, Gwen. As such, he could refuse Duke Aubry the right of marriage." Turning to Billy, the man smiled. "Though, I can assure you, Christophe is a wonderful fellow. He has good prospects and all that, as well as a kind heart. I can keep extolling the virtues he possesses if you need?"
That part was meant to get a laugh and did, since even her strange brother understood it.
"I don't tell Gwen what to do. You might have noticed that very few people really do? That isn't going to change much. Anyway sis, those people you had me look into? It was what you thought." Then he glanced at the King and shrugged again. Lying his behind off. "They were from all over and didn't have a connection that can be found. We'll have to look someplace else, I guess. It was worth trying though."
Then, as if he hadn't been talking to the King and a Duke, he wondered off, to get a tiny plate of snacks.
That actually looked good, but she was busy enough that it wasn't too likely.
Ferdinand fixed her with a stern gaze then, which got her fiancé to go wide eyed.
"Now, Miss Farris, tell me, what do you have planned for my Westmorlands? You mentioned something?"
"Yeah." She waited a bit, looking across the well manicured lawn at Bethany, who was talking with Adam of all people. Kelvin was there too, and he smiled at her, but didn't wave. That would be too flirtatious. "I... think I can make devices that will replace the need for people to rift. It will take me a bit to learn all I need, but, yeah, it seems very possible. You probably got that, from what I said before, and we're trying a new training program too. I'm not going to claim it will be perfect, or replace the program you have instantly, but we can do it. It will be better for them, in the end. For everyone." She was about to lecture him, since he'd basically been keeping slaves, but he simply nodded.
"Very well. So, after that, I suppose you'll be applying for my job?" He didn't seem upset about the idea, even when Chris laughed a little as if it was a joke.
"No... Christophe, don't laugh. When that is all done, Miss Farris will be the most powerful single individual in the world, in her own right. You need to know that, since, well, things might suddenly change then." He seemed sad, getting things that she hadn't spoken out loud before, but Gwen looked at him frankly.
She swallowed and looked away, hearing the panicked clamoring from inside herself from Katherine, which she normally blocked out pretty well.
"Yes. I suppose I need to give you the chance to get out of marrying me. If I succeed in this, well, I have a rather wicked little girl in my head, and I can't let her have control of that information. I might be able to work out another way to manage her by then, since we have years, but, if I can't, I'll have to make certain that Katherine Vernor doesn't have access to that kind of thing. She tried to help end the world once already. She won't be allowed a second chance."
There was a stillness that came from the two men then, and for a second she figured that her fiancé was about to tell her to take a hike. Fair enough, really. She probably could get a real handle on Katherine though, using the Westmorland style training. It wouldn't be fun at all, but Katherine was a wimp, compared to her. It might work.
"I wou
ldn't abandon you like that, Miss Farris, I assure you. If you must take such a risk for our Kingdom and her people, then I will stand by you, to the very end."
It sounded pretty good, and she was tempted to take his hand, even if that would be too flirty for a party like this. Then she did it anyway, if only for a second. Chris blushed, and Beth, having seen it, headed over to protect her virtue, even if the King was standing right there.
When the other woman got into place, followed by Martin Cordell, who'd finally arrived, Gwen smiled.
After all, all her friends and frienemies were right there, weren't they? Looking around she saw it. The Vernors had their lives, if not totally repaired by the single party, then well on the way to it. The King had come and the Marduk was coming, which meant everyone that was anyone had shown up, even if there was the equivalent of fifty nuclear bombs standing around in blue dress uniforms.
In fact, a few of the upper crust had actually tried to bribe their way in, having been left off the lists for one reason or another.
The crew of her ship, the Peregrine, had all shown up, along with Duke Morten, and were hanging in a clump next to Merchant Fleet Admiral Thomas Welk. Katherine's Uncle and all around nice guy. Over to the right, talking to Agnes Longbranch was Solicitor Grimes. Seeing where she was looking Ferdinand smiled.
"Friends of yours?'
She nodded.
"Yes. A lot of people here are. I was just noticing that. About half of them. More than that, really." She grinned and whispered to the King. "And Adam Westmorland. He really doesn't like me, you know?" She was just talking, making conversation, but the King nodded.
"I do know. He's come to a rather strange conclusion about you, and he doesn't like it one bit. We've discussed it on several occasions. He's most displeased by it." The man didn't sound like he was kidding, so she stared at him a little, which was probably rude, given that he was the King.