Chapter 54 Declan #2
Keelan looked up, focus slowly returning to his eyes. “Thank you. I should be all right in a minute.”
It took another twenty minutes for Keelan to stand without wobbling, then another ten to reach the Constabulary, but we made it. We thanked Liam and entered the building.
“Ah, Keelan, come in.” Chief Kerr rose from behind a heavy wooden desk in the back of the one-room space to greet us. Four other desks faced the door from various points in the room. Two were occupied by green-uniformed officers.
We settled into a pair of simple wooden chairs opposite the Chief’s desk and were handed mugs of steaming tea.
“Chief, this is my brother, Declan. When we get into what we have to tell you, you’ll understand why he’s here. Would it be possible for us to have some privacy as we talk?”
Kerr quirked a brow, but before he could ask his officers to leave, I held up a hand. “No need to send your men out, Chief. I’ll silence the room so only the three of us can hear our conversation. There, done.”
Kerr’s eyes widened. “How—”
He looked up at one of his men working at a desk across the room. “Edward. Hey, Edward!”
The man didn’t flinch, just kept scribbling on a parchment.
“No one’s Gifts are working. They haven’t for a bit. How did you do that?”
Keelan leaned forward and whispered, despite my magic barrier guarding our words, “There’s a lot going on, and we’re neck deep in it. We can’t talk about parts of the investigation, but what brought us here may be the key to securing the new Queen’s throne from danger.”
The lawman leaned back and whistled. “The Queen? Really?”
Keelan nodded, then launched into his prepared explanation detailing what we knew about the attacks in the other cities and the one on the Queen. He left out the whole Irina-has-returned side of the investigation.
“And now you want to know more about the bird we sent, about that last killing?”
Keelan nodded again. “That’s right. As crazy as it sounds, your witness’s story fills in a lot of holes for us.”
“Crazy is right, but explain something to me. Why would the Order and their Priests do something like this? Most of the people have come to love the Priests. Those who don’t at least respect the work they’re doing. Why go after the Queen—or any of these people, for that matter?”
“We’re hoping your witness, or someone in town who knew the victim, can help us with that. We might also want to talk again with anyone who knew your first victim, Hershel.”
“That’s right. Town was torn up over his death, now one of his best friends gets killed. It’s just too much.”
Keelan’s eyes narrowed. “One of his best friends? The victims knew each other?”
“That’s right.” Kerr nodded. “You think there’s a connection?”
“I don’t know, but it’s another piece, and there’s been too many pieces showing up for them not to paint a picture at some point.”
“All right, where do you want to start?”
Keelan thought a moment. “Right here. I’d like to talk with your officers who dealt with the latest killing first. Then we can move on to witnesses and acquaintances.”
Kerr gave a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Solid plan. I’m starting to see why you’re Melucia’s famous top cop now.”
“Not sure I deserve all that.” Keelan shrugged. “I’m just trying to protect people best I can. Who should we start with?”
Kerr pointed to several uniformed men. “Take your pick.”
The Constables were friendly and helpful, offering detailed accounts of their investigations and interviews, all of which resulted in more questions than answers. Keelan thanked them, and we moved on to a witness list the Chief provided us, complete with locations and directions.
“Wait,” Keelan said as he read through the list. “Liam? Is that the same Liam who works at the inn?”
“And the same Liam who’s Hershel’s son. That’s right,” Kerr confirmed.
“Huh,” was all Keelan said.
Kerr offered to accompany us as we left the constabulary, but Keelan waved him off, and we made our way to the first name on the list.
Four hours later, Keelan and I were down to the last name: Liam.
As we strode toward the inn, Keelan turned toward me. “Did you sense anything from those people we just talked to?”
I cocked a brow. “Sense anything? What do you mean?”
“You know, feel anything strange? Get a tingling sensation, say, between your shoulder blades?”
“Are you feeling woozy again? That’s the strangest thing I’ve heard all day—and we’re arse deep in strange already.”
Keelan grunted a chuckle. “I’m talking about sensing truth, like I could do before the Gifts vanished. You remember my bees? How they’d sting just below my neck? You teased me for years about calling it that. That only happened when somebody was hiding something or lying.”
“Oh, that?” I paused and thought through the conversations we’d just completed. “No, nothing jumps out. That one guy, the butcher, wasn’t very talkative, but I didn’t get any tingly magic alarm or anything. I’m pretty sure I would’ve noticed a hive attacking me.”
“Nice. Keep rubbing it in.” Keelan smirked. “I thought the same about that guy. Maybe we should pay him another visit before we leave. For now, just pay attention when we talk to Liam. I’ve got a feeling—”
“All right, I’ll keep an eye—or a neck—out for the bees,” I quipped, earning a brotherly punch in the arm.
A short time later, we sat at one of the round wooden tables in the common room of the inn. Liam stared across, fingers fidgeting.
“I know it sounds crazy, but I swear that’s what I saw. The bear reached down to the ground, grabbed a mask, put it on, and turned into a man, then walked away into the night. I was hiding behind the apothecary not twenty paces away.”
Keelan looked to me, then nudged me with his foot.
“Uh, okay. It does sound crazy, but I believe you’re telling us what you think you saw.”
“I saw it. It’s not what I think. Don’t you call me nuts, too. I deal with that enough around here already. The whole thing was supposed to be kept secret, but it’s all anybody’s talking about.” He put his head in his hands as if to cry.
“I know this is hard, but what you’re telling us is important,” Keelan tried to reassure him. “The bear put on a mask and turned into a man. What did that man look like?”
Liam looked up slowly, his lips pursed as he tried to remember. “It was dark, but I could see he wore robes. The moonlight reflected or shimmered off them as he walked away. I never saw his face, but he had short hair. I think it was brown or black.”
“Was he tall or short? What was his build like?”
“It was hard to tell. He was so big as the bear, then he shrunk down. I guess he was average height, maybe a little taller. His robes were flowy, so I couldn’t really tell anything about his body.”
Keelan watched him fidget, then asked, “Liam, what aren’t you telling us? I can see you’re holding something back.”
He looked up. “I’ve told you everything I know, everything I saw.”
“But not something you suspect?” Keelan guessed.
“How—?” His eyes widened, then he looked back to his hands.
Keelan decided to go in a different direction. “How well do you know the local Priest?”
Liam’s head snapped up. “Seth? Pretty well, I guess.”
I leaned forward and gave Keelan a meaningful look.
“What’s he like?”
Liam sat up straight and crossed his arms. “He’s a good man who helps people. What more do you want to know?”
“Easy.” Keelan raised a palm. “We’re not accusing him of anything, just trying to get to know the people in town. I’ve been an investigator for years, and you never know what tiny clue might help crack a case.”
Liam’s arms unfurled, and his hands dropped back to his lap, clutched tightly.
A far-away look came over his eyes as he remembered and spoke.
“Seth and I started seeing each other a few months after he came to town. He visits in the morning as we’re getting ready for the breakfast crowd. We have dinner a few times each week and take long walks around town. He’s even helped me with my market runs a few times. Like I said,
he’s a wonderful man.”
“What can you tell us about his work with his faith?”
He beamed at this. “He helps more people than anyone I’ve ever known. He says it’s why the Spirits called him to the Order, to help those who can’t help themselves. Poor, lame, sick, old, it doesn’t matter to him. He does whatever they need, whatever he can.”
“How does he spread the word about his faith? Does he hold meetings in a Temple, or speak somewhere?” Keelan asked.
“Oh, yes, he holds meetings a couple times each week in the town square. There isn’t a Temple here, so he stands on the steps of the courtyard and folks gather around. Most folks make at least one of his meetings each week.”
“I assume you attend these meetings?”
Laim nodded. “I don’t miss many. I like seeing him talk, watching how the people react to his message of kindness and generosity.”
Keelan sat back in his chair and tapped his forefinger on the table as he thought.
I leaned in. “Liam, I’m not a Constable, just a Ranger. We take care of animals and trees mostly. Keelan and I haven’t seen each other in a while, and I thought traveling together might give us time to reconnect.”
He smiled tentatively, clearly unsure where I was headed. “That sounds . . . nice.”
“It has been, except for him throwing up on me, of course.”
I smiled innocently. “But I’ve listened to most of his conversations today, and something you said tickled my neck. Can you go back to before you left on your walk that night, the one where you saw the bear? You said you saw the man who was killed lingering at a table, chatting with some other man.
Could you hear anything? See anything?”
He scrunched his mouth in concentration.
“I tried to listen in. They seemed so secretive. It made me curious, but they were whispering most of the time. It didn’t make any sense, but I think they said something like, ‘This has to end,’ like they were planning something. I’m sorry, I really couldn’t hear them.”
Silence lingered before Keelan leaned forward.
“I only have a couple more questions.”
Liam nodded.