Chapter 35 Keelan #2
A boy of seventeen or eighteen winters with curly, sandy-colored hair darted from one table to another. When he approached my table, he paused to catch his breath before speaking.
“Sorry for the wait. I’m Liam. I’m the only one here for now, so they’ve got me running. What can I get you to drink? Ale? Wine?”
“How about an ale and some water?”
He nodded and vanished as quickly as he’d appeared.
A moment later, Liam returned with a mug in each hand, set them down with a heavy thud, and scurried to the table two rows away without even looking up.
The ale was sweet with a touch of a citrus, unlike the tart beers back home—and there wasn’t a hint of the water I expected from most inns or alehouses.
This might be a good trip after all, I thought, stretching my legs before the fire.
The front doors clacked open, and I looked up to find a man with broad shoulders and a square jaw entering.
A stripe on the collar on his forest-green cloak glittered, a common enough sight in Melucia but a growing rarity in the Kingdom.
The man stopped in the doorway and surveyed the room, taking in each table’s occupants before moving on to the next.
When his eyes fell to me, his scanning ceased, and he strode to stand before my table.
“Mind some company?”
My eyes fell to a piece of metal pinned to the man’s inner coat, a crown over two small ships, their sails unfurled. I’d know a lawman’s badge anywhere in the world. The symbols were different, but they felt the same.
To me, they felt like brotherhood.
I nodded and gestured with my mug. “Please, make yourself comfortable. Always happy to meet another Constable.”
The man smiled, removed his cloak, and sat. “That obvious? Guess it is to another lawman. It’s the eyes, isn’t it?”
I shrugged and pointed. “I saw your badge.”
The man’s hand reached up and felt the pin. “Right. That’ll do it, too.” He chuckled. “I’m Chief Aengus Kerr, head Constable in town. It’s a pleasure to meet the famous Keelan Rea.”
My eyes widened. “Got all that from my eyes?”
“No, a bird. Received word from Fontaine to expect you around this time. They told me to give you whatever assistance you needed and to not ask too many questions.”
I relaxed and took another sip.
“So, what’s this all about?” the Chief asked.
Now it was my turn to laugh. “So much for no questions.”
“Ever met a Constable who could let a good mystery go? You’re just about the best mystery this sleepy little town’s seen in a decade, and I’ve always been a curious lad.”
The kinship I felt with the fellow lawman deepened as the man spoke. His words were clear, his laugh deep, and everything he said rang true to my Gift.
This was a brother in uniform.
“I’m not sure what all the secrecy’s about. I’ve been sent to see if there’s more to the killing from a couple weeks ago than was in your report.”
Aengus’s brows rose. “You mean the mauling? Why would they send someone to look into that? Poor man was torn to shreds just outside of town. His whole body was covered in claw marks, at least what was left of it. I can’t see anything other than a bear causing that kind of damage.”
“I was planning to come see you first thing in the morning, but since you’re here, mind if I ask a few questions?”
“If I can have an ale while we do it, you can ask anything you want. Like I said, I’m under orders to help you however you need it,” Aengus said as he motioned the serving boy over to the table.
“The fella coming over here is Liam, Hershel’s son. The round woman who’ll bring out your meal is Ma, his wife. Best we not let either of them hear what we’re talking about.”
I nodded and held my mug to my lips as Aengus chatted briefly with Liam before the boy hustled back to the bar.
Over the next few hours, Aengus and I reviewed every aspect of the investigation into Hershel’s death.
From the start, the locals had seen it as a clear-cut case of an animal attack, though none could understand why a beast large enough to maul a man like Hershel would be so far from any forested area.
Aengus couldn’t recall a single bear sighting within fifty leagues of Oliver during his lifetime.
The next largest animals to routinely wander nearby were wolves. While wolves were dangerous enough in a pack, they ate what they killed, instead of tearing it to shreds and vanishing.
That part made little sense.
I sat quietly as Aengus launched into his dinner of pot roast, a well-known winter special of the inn. Virtually every table held the same hearty chunks of meat, dark sauce, and bowls of roasted potatoes.
I shoved my own roast around my plate as I thought.
Hershel’s murder, I thought as I sipped. Nothing in the facts suggests a murder, merely a killing, as the locals believe. It all seems so obvious, yet my instincts are screaming there’s something hidden behind the mask.
“What are you thinking?” Aengus asked between bites.
I sighed and set my mug down. “I don’t know. Everything you said makes sense.”
“But your gut’s churning, and you don’t know why?”
I glanced up and nodded.
“Tell me about Hershel,” I asked.
Aengus set his fork down and looked around the room until he located Liam and Ma. When he spoke, I had to lean forward to hear him.
“Hershel was a good man. Stubborn and strong-minded, but loyal through and through. He and Ma bought this place twenty or so years ago. It wasn’t anything until the royals blew into town. To hear Hershel tell it, the King kissed the floorboards and shat gold on the bar.”
Aengus chuckled, but there was a sadness in his laughter.
“Was he well liked in town?”
“Liked? More loved than liked. Hersh could be a surly bastard when something didn’t go his way, but everyone knew to just let him cool down and peace would be restored—usually at the business end of one of Ma’s cooking spoons.”
Aengus sipped his wine and stared into the fire. To my eye, the man saw memories more than flames. It was clear Hershel was more than just another citizen to the Chief; he was a dearly missed friend.
“Chief, I am sorry. I know this is hard for everyone, especially those who were close with him.”
Aengus glanced up. “You don’t have to do that, play the empathetic Constable to get me to talk.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“Yes, you did—and you were right to—but it’s unnecessary. I want the truth as much as anyone, but I’m afraid it is a simple one that won’t give any of us satisfaction.”
Liam swung by and replaced our empty mugs with a pair filled to the brim. He seemed to sense the tenor of our conversation and slipped away without a word.
“Did Hershel have any enemies in town?”
“Not that I know of. He really was well liked.”
Aengus shook his head. “Oh, there’s always one or two who don’t like anybody, but they’re that way with the lot of us, not just Hersh. I’ve been over this a thousand times in my head since he died, and I can’t come up with one person who would’ve wished him harm, much less dead.”
We focused on our ale as the stable boy, who seemed to do far more than manage the stables, stoked the fire, and a player took the stage.
The room was now packed, every table filled, and two rows of standing patrons milled about the bar.
With the first few notes of the gleeman’s fiddle, the low murmur of the crowd swelled to a clamor in anticipation of the entertainment to come.
“Well, Chief, I thank you for your time—and company. Despite the topic, you’ve made a traveler feel at home tonight. If it’s all right with you, I’ll leave you here and start again in the morning.” I finished my ale and set my mug on the table.
Aengus stood and gripped my arm. “The company was welcome. Get some rest. You look like you could use a good night’s sleep.”