The first thing I noticed when I turned around was that Giles was left-handed. Or at least held the knife that way. It was a single-edged blade of the type most men carry for mundane tasks. He was younger than I’d expected, with the pallor of someone who’d been avoiding the daylight. A bright green eye full of uncertainty peered out from under a lock of raven hair. A simple gray cloth covered the left socket and was tied about his head. Looking down at the knife in his hand, Giles tucked it back in its sheath.
“Lets sit and talk for a bit,” I said, taking one of the crates by the table. In the far corner I spotted where he had been sitting before, another box padded with a folded blanket. Giles sat at the table with me.
“I’m not really a thief either. Well, I am, but not by profession.”
“Let us start from the beginning.”
“I am – was an apprentice clockwright. I spent most of my days filing brass into absurdly tiny gears for whatever projects my master was building. He had, probably still has, a gamblin’ problem. It wasn’t my place to tell on him, so I kept my head down. But lose that much at cards and eventually the wife notices. Rather than fess up, he said I must have stolen it. When I’m ‘fore the bench, I tell the judge about the gamblin’ but he says I’m just makin’ up stuff and makin’ it worse. Then he gave me the choice between my left hand or left eye. Weren’t a proper sort of choice.”
“I understand,” I said. I’d been given the choice of sides for both a hand an an eye. The reminder of why I had jumped at the open church office was all too raw. But I wanted Giles to talk, so I kept my thoughts to myself.
“Nobody wants an apprentice who’s been labeled a thief. ‘Fore long, only Magdelene would even talk to me. She knew I was in a rough spot. She spun this job as helpin’ some nobleman raise some coin for himself without looking like he needed it. She said selling the jewel openly would be seen as shameful in the circles he ran in. It made so much sense the way she said it. Besides, the amount I was to get would be more than enough to start somewhere nobody knew me. I could say I lost the eye in battle and just be respectable again.”
“Makes sense so far.”
“The guy I now know was Wilcox made it so I could get in the house and to the storeroom without any hassles. All while he made himself visible elsewhere. Once I saw the gem, I got ‘fraid they were going to cheat me out of my pay. Wilcox insisted the best price could only be had down ‘ere. I wasn’t gonna let him take ship with the gem and leave me in Atlor. So all three of us came down ‘ere so he could deal with these Azanjin. Getting someone to pay that much takes time, and I was stuck waiting. Wilcox always had a short temper with me, so Magdelene did the talking. I kept the gem hidden while all of the talking went on.”
“When did things change?”
“The night Wilcox died. He said he had a deal and cussed us both out mightily when I wanted more specific answers. Magdelene insisted Wilcox was just havin’ a case of the nerves over the deal. Insisted he have a few drinks to calm his self before I got the gem and let him head out. He was much calmer when he left. Then someone stabbed him and everything’s gone to pot.”
“Did anyone else have a drink?”
“What? No, why?”
“Who poured the drinks?”
“Magdelene. Why does it matter?”
“Do you know what was in those drinks?”
“Cheap spirits, probably from the Whalin’ Hare.”
“Is the bottle still here?”
“No, Magdelene took what was left. I assumed she wanted it for after she got home. Why are you so on about the drinks?”
“Wilcox wasn’t just stabbed. He was poisoned, then stabbed.”
Giles’ eye went wide.
“You think Magdelene poisoned him?”
“With how much was in his stomach, unless he stopped off for another round of drinks between here and the meeting he didn’t make, it’s the only answer that makes sense. When did she leave here?”
“Not long after Wilcox did. She said she was going home.” I could see the gears in Giles’ head turn. “You think she was planning to take the gem off Wilcox?”
“I can’t say for certain, but it would make sense.”
“Do you think she stabbed him?”
“No. If she had, she wouldn’t have come looking to see if I had the Star of Azanjin at the mortuary temple. I still need to find who did stab him.”
“What about me?”
“I need everything you told me in a sworn statement to help sort this mess officially. I have no intention of charging you with anything related to the murder.”
“What about the theft?” Giles asked, eye narrowing.
“That was outside of my jurisdiction,” I said. “I only have writ over the island of Jinwick and the mainland plantations. Anything that happened back in Atlor isn’t within my remit.”
“I see,” Giles said.
There was a commotion outside on the street. I would have ignored it if I hadn’t heard my name mentioned. Standing up, I looked out the window. An Azanjin woman was trying to get one of the guards to do something. Her accent and poor grasp of the Atlorian language made it difficult to follow. I realized she was trying to get the guard to get me.
“I’m afraid I have to deal with this,” I said, heading back outside. Close up, I recognized the Azanjin woman as the one who’d admitted me to Nanjala’s House.
“Mister Browne,” she said, relief filling her tone. “The ship is leaving!” She pointed towards the sea.
“What ship?”
“T’bora’s ship!” Snagging my sleeve, she dragged me towards the shoreline. Nanjala stood at the edge of the pavement, staring out towards the harbor mouth between the lighthouses. A twin-masted Azanjin vessel with furled sails was being towed toward the gap by an oared pilot boat. The towering form of a shaven-headed Azanjin stood near the stern. Seeing us standing by the shore, T’bora made a show of examining an object in the sunlight. Mounted to a gold pectoral, the blood-red cabochon was nearly the size of a fist. Even from this distance, I could just make out the star pattern made by light refracting through the ruby.
“Aren’t you going to stop that ship?” Nanjala hissed.
“On what grounds?” I asked.
“He’s getting away with the Star!”
“Which he almost certainly paid for. Even if I were to immediately convince one of these merchantmen to take us after him, by the time we caught up, we’d be on the open sea. At that point, seizing him would be either piracy or an act of war. Neither of which would get you a cut of the sale.”
Nanjala glared daggers at me.
“What use are you?” she snapped. Switching to her native tongue, she addressed the other woman and they walked back towards the Azanjin district.
“Which storehouse was it?”
“What?”
“Where you were supposed to meet Wilcox to make the sale?”
“What does it matter now?”
“I still have a murder to solve.”
“That one,” Nanjala said, pointing at a building not far away. She turned and sashayed away. The pack of men exiting the storehouse were not Azanjin. Seven Atlorians, all of the same age and dressed in the same calf-length arming breeches and sweat-stained white tunics would be suspicious enough even if two weren’t carrying a chest between them. Each had a basket-hilted broadsword and a dagger on their belt. The one in the lead had an impressive mustache whose tips drooped below his chin. I stood athwart their path and merely got a raised eyebrow.
“One of you did it,” I said.
“I’m afraid we have no idea what you’re talking about, I’m sure,” the mustachioed man said.
“I’m sure you-” I was interrupted when a hand fell on my shoulder. Turning me about, Ardo gently led me away from the seven. “You knew,” I whispered.
“If you had served as a soldier, you might understand what it means when you steal from the company’s pay,” Ardo said. “It’s not just taking from the men who bled for that money. You’re taking from the widows of the men that died and their children. Yer starvin’ yer mates’ kids to line yer own pockets.”
“I can’t let them get away with murder,” I said.
“What can you prove, Jasper? What can you prove?”
Darnit, this installment spoiled the mystery!
There’s still some loose ends and unsolved mysteries that need resolution.
So, at this moment, Ardo did not commit murder, but knew who did.
So my guess was wrong.
Unless you have something up your sleeve…
Well, there is a Part 10.
I’m irrationally tickled by the idea of a single eye widening and narrowing. 👁
Well, that eye still works 😉
The browneye!
👁️ testing
I find the lack of variety in available eye colors triggering. Where is my representation??
Humans should have been lucky as the cat in eye color variation.
Patriots WIN!
Did civil war 2.0 electric boogaloo happen without me?!
Congratulations to slumbrew for the win and Mrs. Slumbrew for the post game loving she is going to receive.
She’s about 3,000 miles to the west of me so it’ll have to wait.
An ugly game but a W is a W.
From STEVE SMITH?
She’s pretty far to the south of Cascadia, thankfully
First game i have watched in about 5 years. Interesting rule changes.
Kinda balsy to use your defense the way they did. But it worked.
Hydration is important, even in the cold.
Im not sure how cold my beer was when I went out for Shoveling Round 2, but my Milwaukee’s Best Light was like a slushy.
Hydrate or die-drate.
Right? And the crappy beer I drink is about 95.8% water by volume.
I figure a minimum of 6 should cover me.
I enjoy how the [I forget his legal title]’s logic reflects what I imagine’d be UCS’ thought-train in the same role. More difficult for me to follow in serialized form, but this is a really good read.
Lefties. *checkmark added* (I have many lists. That one is a fun, IRL habit of mine, to notice.)
It’s finally official – I’m working from home tomorrow, just like the cool kids! 😁
🥶
Being cool isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.
Being cold ain’t so hot either.
Sometimes relationships are cool, cold or frigid, all of which are uncomfortable.
No kidding! I was outside for a couple of hours this afternoon shoveling around the cars and pushing a foot of snow off their roofs and hoods. I figured I wasn’t going anywhere tomorrow, but I’d have to get out at some point and it’s going to be even colder all week.
When Id come home and ex-wife was mad at me, I always knew what was for supper.
Cold shoulder and hot tongue.
/ Rant on
The cold shoulder and/or the ‘you should know’ tactic pisses me off more than I can say.
Grew up with that shit, won’t tolerate it.
Lt. Norris emailed me and has postponed my interview due to the inclement weather, so I’ll know “in a day or two” when the new time is. *kinda a swish* I was gonna call at 7am tomorrow to check if things were still on.
We got 11″ in Carmel. Currently 10, but tomorrow at 9am? Damn: -6 (-22) I won’t be joining the Polar Bear Club for the third time. Good call, Norris.
I have no idea how much snow we’ve gotten, but based on how much I’ve cleared off the front steps, it’s a *lot*.
It’s also been windy. The side porch has a roof, but it’s been getting a fair amount of snow blown onto it.
He called so that’s good.
I was pleasantly surprised he gave me advance notice. Shocked, rather. Midday, I got my first real hit of ‘Yep, tomorrow’s a Big Day’ flowin’ through me, followed a couple hours later by his email.
Semi-strange, or same-same? This is a new gig, kinda related to old work, but in a completely different context, environment, responsibility, and so on. It would certainly be another dip into strange, foreign (employment) territory, but I suppose that’s decisively in my wheelhouse, careers and locations, considered. Will certainly continue to contribute to my curious collection of stories. Onward and upward!
Honestly, feels so nuts that it kinda simply has to be. (It doesn’t, at all, but would be rather fitting, in its own way. Might be a terrible idea. I’ll see how our little chat goes in a couple days.)
God bless our Trump. He knows the Sig’s weaknesses.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-says-administration-is-reviewing-everything-about-minneapolis-shooting-a501f48e?st=cexbxZ&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
I honestly wonder if somebody defending ICE planted this in his ear.
That’s the way to bet.
He doesn’t know anything about guns, so yes.
From the video I saw, Pretti was on his knees as 4 or 5 guys held him. Another ICE guy came in and took the gun from Pretti’s waistband. A few seconds later, he was shot dead.
I call it a bad shoot and shame on ICE for not to cuffing/ziptie-ing him quickly.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/24/us/invs-videos-show-federal-officer-recovered-gun
All the same, I avoid cops and protests. Having a gun on you near cops is a dumb move. I know from experience.
The crazy part is these dupes have been brainwashed into thinking this is some sort of existential defense of the republic.
I can see Resist!’ing against a regime that matched the evil in their heads. I cannot understand their fighting to protect… illegal aliens? It doesn’t make any sense.
It looked like the Sig one of them pulled off him fired a shot. Then the cops shot him. Whether the cop pulled the trigger or not is an open question given it was a 320.
Earlier the video, what appeared to be yet another physical assault by ICE/federal agents against agitators. Another dumb own goal.
Photos are starting to show up on Facebook of the tree destruction down south caused by ice. Pretty horrible looking in some places.
We had a massive ice storm here about 15 years ago. My boss was without power, in winter, for 2 weeks.
Tomorrow is the last really cold morning, then starts a warm up. A week from now the water will be starting to drip off the roof. Feb is still winter but the days are noticeably longer already.
We hit +12 today! -10 expected tonight. Shorts weather.
I’ve been in those. I happened to be in Texas in 2012/2013 during Icemageddon in the Dallas area. A foot of frozen rain and sleet on top of snow so hard I could skate on it.
In the 1990’s central and southern Delaware had an ice storm that stripped the branches off millions of trees. Turned them into ship’s masts.
Finally stopped sleeting here. About 6-7″ of snow with 1-2″ of sleet or more on top.
We won’t get above freezing until the Monday after next, and even then just barely.
It’s like that right now.
Given the weather, I suggest one of the greatest American short stories: To Build a Fire
https://americanliterature.com/author/jack-london/short-story/to-build-a-fire
Well that’s a pick me up!
QUIET, YOU!
If you want a happy ending, read The Old Man and the Sea.
Old yeller has a happy ending.
Or where the red fern grows.
I remember reading that in middle school.
Old Yeller sci fi ending:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7SA-LcQS0g
To Build a Fire, epic sci fi ending:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhIaXk36dIA
Ha!
Use Hungarian folktales to write a good story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdO4j9hnqaY
My favorite Hungarian folktale:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC3oTs3oKaM
What the hell is it with coaches names Sean who don’t like kicking short field goals? Payton in Denver, and McVay in Seattle.
That is the Question.
You guys missed your moment.
Yowza, she’s remarkably my type. She’s six weeks older than me, and I’ve been ’round where she was born.
Think about it.
Musical.
🤭+👍
She’s cute.
For a self-absorbed, self-perpetuating, cunt.
Enjoying some classical music.
https://x.com/gunloverclub1/status/2015525576271171646
Another Toyota to the small wars greatest hits reel.
LOL, what was that sound when the rocket hit on the second angle? (which appeared to be someone videoing a CRT)
That little baby car at the end is so cute!
dogs using buttons to talk – human animal communication
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTnVSJ8V4wk
Looks like the snow left earlier than expect, although there’s still a *lot* on the ground.
GO RAMNS!!! or something
hows the old weather treatin ya?
Wakey, wakey you mighty fine people!
🥶☃️🌇
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTvu1Yr3Ohk
🎶🎶
Oh, I’ve been up….
Good morning, Sean and Ted’S., and good afternoon, Pie!
Morning, GT.
Good morning, U. How are you today?
My shoulder hurts like a 🤬, and I haven’t even picked up a shovel. I’ve barely peered outside, and I’m trying to figure out how to deal with it without making my arm mad at me.
Where is an enterprising boy hoping to make a little spending money by clearing the snow from his neighbor’s walks and driveways when you need one? 😒
They’ve been deported?
Not New York.
Mornin’ all.
No, Plinker, the Illeagls won’t do manual labor when there’s easier ways of getting money.
It’s sad when the eagles are ill.
Good morning, JI! Hope the weather has improved where you are!
Weather is tolerable; just have to get through the week and then we head down to Florida for a break from it.
😣
I got maybe 25% of a single pass path opened. I had to stop and get some tylenol. While I was out there, the ploes kept pushing more snow on the car I haven’t even gotten to yet. And the garbage truck came by even though most houses couldn’t get their cans to the curb with the conditions.
At least people can get from the street to my door and to one of my property lines.
And just like that, the government program fraud has disappeared from the headlines.
“Look! Over there!”
It’s kind of funny that the Left’s theme now is all about hardcore resistance when during the 2020 Covid Hysteria anyone who even questioned the narrative was destroyed and ridiculed.
That’s different!
Don’t forget the outrage over some NRA dude calling the ATF jack booted thugs.
Everyone knows it is ICE/BP that are the jackbooted thugs.
They fight the authorities because they want to be the authorities who’d happily put everyone to the right of Trotsky in the clink or worse. The idiots out in the streets are just manipulated dumbasses but the people and NGOs, partially via our tax dollars, know exactly what they’re doing.
No coincidence that Walz is stirring up shit.
Encouraging Minnesotans to “resist” and get physically injured is a very cynical move on his part. I’d imagine plenty of the more physically confrontational people and organizers will also be rounded up in the coming weeks once this dies down a bit and their lives such as they are will be destroyed.
Quite a mess of his own creation but what’s to be expected from a guy who steps on fraud investigations in exchange for community support and votes?
They’re telling us what they plan to do.
Projection.
Two white people killed by the government? What kind of race war is that?
Outdoor cat stayed in the shelter last night. It must be cold.
We’re rounding the outdoor cats into the garage overnight. One loves it, two tolerate it, the last wants to cut us.
suh’ fam
whats goody
Locally, when there just isnt enough ice to hold your sled:
2 people drive into Indian Lake on snowmobile; No injuries reported
They should have been going faster
It’s INDIGENOUS PEOPLES Lake, you bigot!!!
The joys of 5am flight. At least I found a good parking spot.
I hope you’re going someplace warm like Barbados.
Warm like Rapid City, lol.
Better than that other warm place….
Thule AFB?
Hopefully your hotel has a sauna.
Inspecting a gearbox on a foot passenger lift next to Mt Rushmore
It’s Qaanaaq, bigot.
Mr. T. pities the thule who thinks it’s Qaanaaq.
It’s Thule. I will not have my culture erased by racists who hate me.
Scam? Not a scam? Page was linked from SF Gate.
Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
Sometimes you get a legit deal, they are out there, but there’s also the risk of Pay>Enter Emailed Activation Code if you get it>Code Doesn’t Work>Sorry, No Refunds/No Answer to Queries.
What the hell, it’s only ten bucks (use a go between like PayPal if you buy)…
Agreed. Geeks Are Sexy runs promos like that sometimes. They have the full Office Suite for $30 sometimes.
The only condition under which I use MS Office is at work because they pay me to. I don’t put my own info into that spyware.