Retribution

The City House

We proceeded along newly built roads and high pavements, across high stepping stones that were placed for when the heavy rains washed through. Again I marvelled at the symmetrical streets of the prefecture, quite unlike those found in Detrata, which wound about cities according to the whims of rulers. The stone here was recently cut and the statues were bright, and there was a gentler pace to everyday life.

Eventually we arrived at the street of Lydia Marinus’ house. However, the word house did not really do the building justice. The property was immense, and took up most of the length of the street. Though relatively narrow, and two floors high, it stretched along for fifty yards, protected by a ten-foot-high perimeter wall standing only a few paces out from the building.

Constructed from pale stone and containing row upon row of arched windows, there was nothing to suggest much artistic licence taken by the architects. If anything, the place was surprisingly bland and spoke of a woman not concerned with art. It surprised me that Sulma Tan had commented on it with affection. There were no statues, no ornamentation, no decorative flourishes. Lydia had not spent money on extravagance. Perhaps that was why she remained so incredibly wealthy. Still, I was not here to judge the artistic tastes of a dead woman, or those of Sulma Tan. People liked what they liked.

The perimeter wall was broken up by a large, red, wooden gate, set in a brick arch. Sulma Tan banged on the gate with her hand and eventually a hatch slid open revealing a metal grille, partially obscuring the face beyond.

‘State your business,’ came a voice.

Sulma Tan explained who we were — declaring her role as second secretary to Queen Dokuz — and within a heartbeat the guard pulled open the gate.

A slender man in his forties stood there. With greying hair and a narrow, avian face, he wore contoured leather chest armour, black clothing, and stout boots, but looked weak, as if weighed down by it all. His expression was one of concern. If ever I needed to storm a palace, I would pray it was defended by men as easily cowed as this.

‘Lydia Marinus is not at home,’ he muttered quietly. ‘She’s uh. .’

‘She’s dead,’ I said. ‘We know.’

‘Ah. Right then. Well you’d, uh, better come through in that case.’ He stepped aside and allowed us into a narrow garden that stretched around this side of the building. Ornamental flowers climbed decorative willow-frame archways; lavender hedges ran along by the house. The sounds of the city were suddenly very distant.

‘Are you the only guard on duty?’ I asked.

‘There’s another inside, but we weren’t expecting her back in the city,’ he muttered. ‘She’s got a private guard who follow her around. We’re mainly here to deal with questions and send people away, tell them to mind their own business and the like.’

A private guard and yet still she had been murdered. I turned to Sulma Tan. ‘Where did you say her body was found?’

‘In the street,’ she replied, ‘not too far from here as it happens. A merchant who was setting up his cart for the day found her body and alerted the City Watch. We never had the opportunity to analyse the scene, but it was very public — again, we believe the murder had been committed elsewhere, the body dumped.’

‘For all to see,’ I added, and turned to the man. ‘How did she manage to be abducted with a private guard protecting her?’

He shrugged and looked uneasy — well, more so than normal. ‘No idea, honestly. She really shouldn’t have been on her own. She makes enough demands to make sure one of us is with her most of the time, even if it’s just in the next room. She’s normally very insistent.’

‘Did she seem scared of something or someone?’

‘I don’t know. She just liked us around. Felt more secure, like.’

‘We’ll need to send an urgent message to the rest of her security entourage,’ I demanded. ‘Do you know where they’re staying?’

‘They’ll be here this afternoon. Word was sent to her place in the country as soon as her body was found. Truth be told, there’s been some almighty cock-up somewhere along the line. Some of the other boys will be feeling a bit sheepish.’

‘You don’t say,’ I grunted.

‘If only I’d known she was coming to the city,’ he replied. ‘Could have gone to fetch her and escort her. Or at least get the place ready.’

‘So no news had been sent in advance of her arrival?’

‘Nothing. First I knew about it was. . well, when it was a bit too late.’

‘Normally she sends this kind of information in advance, I take it.’

‘She lets us know her movements all the time — she’s very methodical.’

There was the potential that one of her guards could have killed her. ‘We’re going to take a look inside,’ I said. ‘Can you lead the way?’

‘Of course, of course.’ He scrambled to guide us along the path.

‘It’s like a god-sized yurt,’ Sulma Tan commented, and I agreed. For a rich woman, there wasn’t much wealth on display. Many of the items appeared to be the kind of thing that you would expect in the usual yurts of tribal leaders, which could occasionally be seen in Koton.

But to the educated eye the rugs, throws and few ornaments were of sublime quality, with incredibly ornate stitching and some very exclusive designs. There was a simplicity to her artistic appreciation, but she did not skimp on the details. This could be seen in the old-style frescos — boring, by modern standards, but incredibly elegant geometric designs that only a skilled artist could create on drying plaster. Now I could see why Sulma Tan might have admired a place like this. Her home was full of authenticity and good taste, without showing off.

A small brass statue of a bull stood in one corner of the house, and I was reminded of what Priest Damsak had said about the primitive, older gods. There was another such statue in the kitchen and one in a small sunlit quarter of the garden. I remarked on these to Sulma Tan.

‘Curious,’ she replied. ‘One does not see so many examples of this these days.’

‘Did she worship the older gods?’

Sulma Tan shrugged. ‘What does it matter which deity we pray to? She was certainly one for the old ways. A traditionalist, people have said, but she kept herself to herself so I cannot vouch for these rumours. She did not like money to be wasted on frivolous matters. She even petitioned the queen not to waste money and resources on the census.’

The craftsmanship displayed in the house was not to be sniffed at — with large, robust fireplaces with immense logs ready to be burned, and thick timber beams stretched across high ceilings. Everything was very well put together. The tone of the colours continuing through the building was of a sombre crimson shade, with a few gold-trim highlights that drew the eye. Each of the many bedrooms, too, shared this tone and simplicity.

Lydia Marinus may well have been one of the richest people in Koton, but unlike someone in Detrata she didn’t flaunt it.

‘It seems a large house for someone who doesn’t spend much time in the city,’ I commented to the guard.

‘Her country place is much bigger,’ he muttered. ‘This was small to her.’

‘But still, there’s a lot of unused space here.’

‘It wasn’t just a house, like.’ An uneasiness grew about his manner and he started shifting his weight from foot to foot, glancing at the floor.

‘Tell me more,’ I demanded.

‘Now and then she’d bring poor children in for classes. Even owned one of the orphanages. Gave a lot of money to help out. Not just the poor, but those kids who might otherwise find themselves picking pockets in the marketplaces. She wanted to reform them. Give them an opportunity in life. Use her money for good. It ain’t common knowledge and that’s the way she wanted it.’

‘Why keep a nice thing quiet?’

‘She said it would make her look soft to the men she dealt with. Said they were all former military types who loved posturing. Said they’d use the knowledge against her. Make her weak in business deals, like.’

‘Understandable. . Where would the children stay?’

‘There’s a dormitory on the other side of the garden, and a large room where they’d take their lessons. She’d pay for one of the speakers from the nice schools to come here and talk history or rhetoric, though she was hardly here to see it all. Like to think I learned a bit while I was on duty, heh.’

Sulma Tan wore a puzzled expression.

‘Is something the matter?’ I asked.

‘There was no declaration of this in the records,’ she said. ‘This is one of the biggest buildings in the city and it is registered as a dwelling not a school.’

‘She didn’t want folk to know,’ the guard stressed once again. ‘Though I never got to speak with her privately, since she was a bit of a recluse, from talking with the other guards who’ve heard her, they say she felt guilty about her good fortune in life and wanted to help others. Maybe she felt guilty about her own family, I dunno. But she didn’t want folk knowing about it, certainly not any competitors. They’d say it was a weakness of character, something like that. I’m not the sort who gets involved in business.’

‘How long had the house been used this way?’ Sulma Tan asked.

The man shrugged. ‘At least as long as I’ve been here, and that’s six summers. That wasn’t all she did. She would go out into the city in disguise, giving alms to the poor. Used to have us guards shadow her from a distance to make sure she came to no harm.’

Yet again the murder victim was someone who did good work for the community of Koton, though this time it was someone whose kind acts were done in private. A private act for a private woman. Just how much did she keep to herself?

‘Were there ever any gatherings here apart from that?’ I asked. ‘Celebrations, business meetings, that sort of thing.’

The guard smiled dryly. ‘Never. You hear of some guards elsewhere getting lucky at things like parties. Lady of good standing wants someone a bit rough when their husband is out of the city. Sometimes they get with someone like me at a gathering.’ His face soured a little and he smiled grimly. ‘Not a chance here, though. No one ever came to visit. No fine ladies. Most of our time was spent staring at the herbs or listening to the sound of children’s voices echoing along the corridors.’

‘That’s not a bad way of passing time,’ I said. ‘Did you ever have any trouble here while you were on duty? Thieves looking to take some trinket in the middle of the night? Strange people loitering in the gardens?’

He shook his head. ‘What trinkets? You’ve seen the place. There’s not much to steal unless you know what you’re looking for, and thieves are rarely that discerning. Nah, we never had any trouble. The walls are high enough to stop most people from getting into the gardens anyway. This was a quiet patch and I liked it that way. A lot of private guards get rough deals, but I suppose this was a good job all right.’

I turned to Sulma Tan. ‘How common is private protection in Koton?’

‘Very,’ she replied. ‘There is a thriving industry for those who used to be in the military. We ask our soldiers to commit to ten years before they are free to do as they please — a tradition of sorts. It is not a national service, however. Without wars, there are many soldiers who get to the end of that decade as trained warriors and are looking for work. There’s enough money from trade to pay for such luxuries, too.’

‘And people like Lydia Marinus would be happy to oblige.’

Contemplating the limited findings so far, I tried to build a coherent picture of the person who perpetrated these crimes. Yet another member of the highest level of Kotonese society had been murdered. Whoever had perpetrated these crimes had a good working knowledge of the movement of the victims in high social circles. In the case of Lydia, they knew how to get her into the city when she did not often spend time here.

Grendor and Lydia were close to the queen. Had they been conspiring in a plot? Sulma Tan had already shown some attempts at influence by Lydia over the census. I put that question to her.

‘It is. . certainly possible. Though I confess, I do not know of any such plots. They were on good terms with the queen, so why would they seek to remove her?’

‘Other clans or family leaders might have put them up to it.’

‘Lydia is too wealthy to have her favours bought.’

‘She might have sought the crown herself. The woman had everything but that.’

Her expression, once again, gave nothing away. If the queen had been killing off rivals, it was unlikely that Sulma Tan would accompany me on the case — unless it was to ensure I knew too little.

‘It is just as likely,’ Sulma Tan speculated, ‘that Detratan spies might have put Lydia and Grendor up to corrupting the throne somehow. But you might know more about that than I do.’

‘Let us leave a coup as a potential theory, but one with little evidence.’

Nothing about this sat right in my mind. What’s more, the lack of clear purpose or motive behind the killings was becoming increasingly frustrating — not that I would ever show this to Sulma Tan.

‘One object, at the moment, connects at least two of the victims. So would it perhaps connect the third?’

‘Evum,’ Sulma Tan confirmed.

‘Lydia Marinus could possess evum at any of her properties, if it is not upon her body. We must organize a systematic search to find out.’

A clamour came from somewhere outside — the sound of hooves on cobbles, soon followed by voices calling through the long corridors.

‘That’ll be the others.’ The guard hastily led us back the way we had come.