A Yurble stole my cinnamon roll! Circulation: 192,974,466 Issue: 673 | 12th day of Celebrating, Y16
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The Necromancer: Part Nine


by jokerhahaazzz

--------

"Well, I thought that was very interesting," Nicholas said as they walked out of the sixteenth floor office.

      "I thought it was quite irrelevant," replied Emma. "She told us nothing of value." It didn't matter what Lawson had said, done, or looked like while he was still alive; the point at issue was still the identity of the 7:00 visitor, and with that Miss Monahan had not helped them at all.

      Nicholas shook his head. "I'm not so sure about that. I thought some of the details were very informative. She notices things, this Miss Monahan."

      "How do you know she's not the murderer?" Emma queried coldly. "Maybe that's why she was so informative."

      "She's just not," Nick said confidently.

      And that, she thought, was exactly the kind of ridiculous, unjustifiable conclusion he was constantly jumping to. It paid off - sometimes. Just like betting on Turdle races. In the long run, however, it led to heavy statistical losses.

      She chose not to linger on the subject. Instead, she moved on to the next order of business. "While we're here, I want to speak to an acquaintance of mine. I have a document I'd like to ask him about."

      "You do that," Nicholas agreed good-humoredly, clearly convinced that Emma's documents were not going to be as important to the investigation as his interview with the secretary. He did, however, have one useful thing to say. "I'm going to go grab dinner. And when you're done, come meet me at the dungeons and let's take another crack at Jones. I have a few ideas."

      Naturally, he refused to tell he what these ideas were, but at least he was trying to think productively. Emma approved of that.

      They parted ways on the eighth floor, where he continued down and she made her way into a large room full of cubicles - the Internal Affairs central accounting department. Since it was the job of Internal Affairs to process accounts from every other branch of the Darigan government, the sheer volume of numbers being crunched here was staggering. Internal Affairs had scores of accountants. It was, in fact, a job that might have suited Emma very well, except that there was little opportunity for advancement; that was what had prompted her move into administration. But she had a very positive response to the sight of so many people sitting at their desks doing complex calculations.

      Robert Shaw was tucked away into his own little corner - he was a skilled enough accountant to have earned a more private cubicle. He was, of course, quite busy, and he continued rapidly sorting the papers he was holding as Emma approached. "Good to see you, Emma. I heard you were moved to Enforcement."

      "Yes."

      "A little primitive, isn't it? Their accounts are always a mess. Maybe you'll get things straightened out now. They could use some more competence over there."

      "I'll certainly do my best," she said. "There are a number of administrative aspects that could be greatly streamlined. Speaking of which, I have something to ask you about - a document from our latest investigation."

      Robert had grown rather stout over the past few years (while Emma had remained as trim as ever) but he was otherwise very much as she remembered him, a Darigan Blumaroo dressed in a drab suit without much taste. He always had a slightly wandering expression, except when he was talking about business, and then he became extremely focused. He did so now. "Oh? Let me see it. I'll tell you what I can."

      She pulled out the pages and handed them to him. "It has to do with Director Lawson's murder - you'll have heard about that, of course. I gathered it had something to do with Internal Affairs, but I wasn't sure exactly what. Is this a standard Internal Affairs investigation of Public Relations?"

      He scanned the document, his frown deepening as he went on. Finally he looked up, clearly displeased by what he saw. "This is highly irregular."

      "What is it?" she prompted.

      "I'm... not entirely sure." Emma could tell that he disliked giving that answer as much as she would have herself. "Leave it with me, I'll go through it tonight. What I can tell you is that it is not standard."

      "Very well," she said. "Thank you. I'll let you get back to your work."

      And once again, Emma reflected, they were left with one more mystery and no answers.

     ***

     Nicholas was already at the dungeons when she arrived, sitting against the wall outside the entrance and eating a sandwich. The two Draik guards standing at the door looked none too pleased about this, but Nick was totally unruffled. He stood up when he saw Emma coming, brushing the bread crumbs off of his coat onto the floor. "Oh good, you're here," he said congenially.

      She adjusted her glasses and gave him a cold look. "I hope you actually have something useful to suggest. I have things I need to be doing."

      "Relax, Emma. I always have good ideas." He smiled. "You want Conrad Jones to answer your questions, don't you? Well, let's use a chip he actually wants to bargain with. You offered him from protection from that law - which he either doesn't want, or doesn't think you can give him."

      "He's a prisoner," she said scathingly. "What else could he possibly want?"

      "Many things, my dear Miss Ward." For a wonder, Master Vex didn't seem to be at his post this time. Apparently he did leave the dungeons every so often. Emma led the way down the corridor to Jones's cell, and Nick continued his explanation, totally unfazed by the staring prisoners on either side of him. "It's hard to guess exactly what your psycho boss said to him after you left last night, but we do know that he threatened his family. If they really matter to him, he's going to do anything to make sure they're all right."

      "Oh?" said Emma, pointedly ignoring the ragged old Lupe who was leering at her through the bars - though this time, mercifully, in silence. "And why would he think that we can protect his family, if he doesn't believe I can protect him?"

      "You're right there, I don't think we can convince him. What we can do... is offer him something else. Just remember, people are people, and there's always a way to get to them. He's a Neopet, not a robot." Before Nick could explain his grand plan, however, they were already so close to their destination that further discussion was impossible. Emma was certainly skeptical, but at least there was nothing to lose.

      Jones was sitting exactly where he'd been sitting before, though this time his look was more of disinterest than of startled fear. "Back again, are you?" he said lifelessly.

      "Yes," she answered, "and I will keep coming back until you tell me what I want to know."

      "I've already told you everything you should want to know. And everything there is to tell..."

      "You're a bad liar," Nick told him, leaning casually against the bars. "It's obvious that someone's putting pressure on you, and I think we can all guess who."

      The Kyrii turned away with a visible shudder. "Just stop there, why can't you?"

      "You don't believe either of us can help you. I get it. But let me ask you this, Jones... when's the next time you think you'll get to see your family?" Jones was silent, and Nick continued, reaching into his coat pocket: "I have here a pen and some paper. Write whatever you want, and I guarantee it will reach your wife. Uncensored and undetected."

      There was a very long pause. "I doubt you could get it to them."

      "Seriously? I'm a detective. Your family isn't even under guard, and I don't even know you. Why would anyone suspect anything?"

      Another pause. "...How do I know I can trust you?"

      "You don't," Nick said simply. "But really, what can it hurt, just to tell us what happened that evening?"

      It was clear that Jones was being swayed, and Nick gave Emma a very significant look. "I don't... I guess... I don't know why you want to know so much, but I'll tell you exactly what happened," Jones said at last. "The Director sent me a message that morning saying he wanted me to meet him in his office at 6:15. I couldn't figure out what he wanted, I thought I must have done something wrong. Anyway, I went. He wasn't angry with me at all, actually... he was pretty friendly, for Lawson. You know how he was. But he sat me down in one of those armchairs and he told me that there were discrepancies in the numbers. Money was going missing from Public Relations and he wanted to know if I had any idea where it was going."

      "Did he accuse you?" inquired Emma.

      "No, I - I thought he was going to, for sure. But he didn't think that at all. He said it was too large scale for any of his employees. He said he'd traced the start of the discrepancies back to my area, that is to say, the liaisons with other departments. I told him the truth - that I had no idea what was happening, and I couldn't even begin to tell him what he wanted to know."

      "And?" Emma prompted.

      "And nothing. That was it. I was surprised, but he seemed to believe me, and he let me go because it was almost time for his 6:30 appointment. I guess I left my coat there on the back of the chair, but that was the last time I ever saw Director Lawson. Now if you'll give me that pen and paper, that's all I have to say."

      It appeared that Jones had reached the end of his rope; if he knew anything else, he wasn't telling. Nicholas, somewhat unwillingly, gave up the pen and paper and waited as Jones wrote out a long letter and folded it carefully. He handed it back through the bars, suddenly looking almost as nervous as he had earlier. "Please," he said, almost in a whisper. "Please give it to them. And please don't let anybody find out."

      By the time they left the dungeons, it was six o'clock, rapidly going dark, and raining hard. "Well, we have another little piece," Nick said rather gloomily. "But nothing like the whole puzzle."

      "At least," Emma replied, feeling that it was only fair to give credit where credit was due, "we know Jones's version of events now."

      But Nick only shook his head. "He's still hiding something. I wish I knew what."

To be continued...

 
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Other Episodes


» The Necromancer: Part One
» The Necromancer: Part Two
» The Necromancer: Part Three
» The Necromancer: Part Four
» The Necromancer: Part Five
» The Necromancer: Part Six
» The Necromancer: Part Seven
» The Necromancer: Part Eight



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