The Commissioner Chapter 10
Robert took a deep breath from where he stood on the side of the street, pulling up his collar to hide his face as he turned to look at the main Stadwatch meeting-house in Kerch. Breathing deeply, Robert entered the ranks of the crowd, keeping his head low as he approached the meeting-house doors.
"I hope this plan of yours works Kaz," Robert muttered as he made his way through the crowd.
After the death of Per Haskell it all seemed to come together in Kaz's head like the world's easiest puzzle. They would offer to auction off the services of Kuwei Yul-Bo to the highest bidder, drawing all the people involved in this whole affair into one place. The Grisha of Kerch, whom the Dregs were graciously escorting out of Kerch, would enter the auction disguised as the Council of Tides. They would point fingers at Van Eck, claiming that he had paid a handsome sum to the Shu delegation. Robert would alert the Stadwatch board of Commissioners, who would be stuck in their monthly meeting at the time, to Van Eck's questionable activities, ensuring the Mercher's downfall with some documents of said activities so graciously borrowed from Van Eck's offices by Inej.
Robert approached the Stadwatch meeting-house, stepping up the steps slowly, carefully pulling his wooden leg up behind him.
Robert was dressed in his Stadwatch uniform, freshly washed and ironed, his tie tight around his throat, boots freshly polished and longcoat buttoned tight. His face was freshly washed and shaved with his dark brown hair combed neat, that last part was courtesy of Nina.
"You think this will work?" Robert asked that morning as Nina stood over him, doing his hair.
"Kaz's plans usually work out, so it'd be a surprise if it didn't," Nina said as she pulled the comb through his messy hair. "Then again, life has been full of surprises."
"It has that," Robert chuckled.
A moment of silent fell between them and Nina simply continued to comb Robert's hair.
"Nina.." Robert said, suddenly breaking the silence.
"Yes, Robert?" Nina asked, pausing in her combing and looking down at the young commissioner.
Robert turned around in the chair which he sat in and looked Nina in the eyes, she wore a simple red dress with her long brown hair was up in a bun. She looked tired, this was further evidenced by the bags which hung under her eyes.
She still looks as beautiful as ever, Robert thought.
The kiss was on his mind, the one they had shared on the Ferolind on their way back to Kerch. Right before he'd found her searching for his clothes, desperately searching for the Jurda Parem. He still had the sack of spice tucked away in his clothes, it was tucked away within the folds of his jacket. He didn't care about that right now though, the only thing on his mind was the kiss. It had plagued his thoughts almost constantly since it happened, and he wanted to know if it was real. If some genuine part of Nina was behind, if it wasn't just the need for the parem that had made her kiss him.
The words were on the tip of his tongue and he was only a moment away from saying what he wanted, but his courage failed at the last moment.
"Nevermind," he said, shaking his head as he turned away from the Grisha.
Funny, Robert thought as he stepped up to the meeting-house doors. I can face off against the most feared crime bosses of the Barrel without breaking a sweat, but when it comes to women, I can't even ask a simple question.
"Hold there," one of the guards posted at the meeting-house doors called as Robert reached the top of the steps.
Robert look the guard in the eyes as he approached, freezing the guard in his place.
"Commiss-Mr. Garfield," the guard said surprised, the other guard sidling up on the other side of Robert.
"What? Too timid to call your superior Officers by their proper titles?" Robert asked.
"Uh, no sir," the guard replied, looking down at the ground in a confused manner before returning his gaze to the young Commissioner. "It's just…in light of things, the board has decided to strip you of your position."
"I see," Robert said, all businesslike and professional once more. "Well I'll just have to go in and correct that now won't I?"
"We're supposed to arrest you on sight sir," the guard said. "And the board is in a meeting, I'm sure they will be willing to see you after-"
"What's your name officer?" Robert asked sternly.
"Uh…Officer Rodney, sir," the guard stated.
"Well Officer Rodney," Robert said, lighter this time. "I am going to see the board now, regardless of what anyone says. Help me get in a lot more smoothly then they are now and I'll be sure to make it worth your while, you and your friend here." Robert looked to the other guard who stood a few feet away at this last part, listening silently to the conversation.
Officer Rodney shared a look with his companion officer, who merely shrugged. Rodney then looked back at Robert, biting his lip in thought for a moment.
"Right this way Commissioner," Officer Rodney said eventually, stepping up and opening the large double door that lead into the meeting-house. "I assume you know the way to the conference room?"
"I do, as you were Officer," Robert said with a nod as he stepped through the door.
Robert quickly adapted to the craziness that was the main meeting-house of the Stadwatch. Officers and attendents moved from here to there, carrying reports and brusquely bumping past each other on their way to their destinations. Robert maneuvered his way through the busy mass of people, doing so quite nimbly despite his leg.
He made his way past the main offices of the meeting-house and off to a side-wing, here it was slightly less busy. Only a few secretaries and couriers sitting at desks, writing warrants, dispatches and running them to their various locations.
Robert walked to the corner of the wing, the tap of his cane sounding lightly on the old wooden floor. There he found the door to the room in which all the Commissioners of Kerch met monthly, to discuss crime rates and other matters of law enforcement.
Robert placed his gloved hand on the door knop, pausing for a moment in contemplation. If this didn't work, Robert's life and reputation could be ruined and he very well executed for treason and other crimes. On the other hand, if this worked, he could restore himself to his proper place within the Stadwatch and possibly gain even more prestige than before.
"No mourners, no funerals eh Brekker?" Robert said with a smirk, then he turned the nob.
The Board of Commissioners of the Stadwatch of Kerch were seated around a large, round table set in the center of the room. A light trickle of morning sunlight flowed into the room, giving some much needed enlightenment upon the dusty and clumped meeting.
Despite it being morning, several whiskey glasses were set out and several of the commissioners were already chewing on cigars as they discussed the topics of the meetings. There were seven commissioners seated around the table, eight in total if you now counted Robert. There was one commissioner for each major part of Ketterdam, composed of Fifth Harbor, the Government District, the Financial District, the Zelver District, the University District, the East and West Staves and The Barrel which was Roberts's zone of jurisdiction, or at least, it had been.
The deliberations between the commissioners came to a screeching halt once Robert entered the room. The gathering of lawmen seemingly descending into a stupor at the young commissioner's appearance.
"What is her doing here?" Commissioner Rocker, the youngest member of the board beside Robert, exclaimed. He stood, nearly spilling a half empty whiskey glass on the table, his light, dark mustache twitching slightly.
"Garfield, you have five seconds to explain yourself, before I call my boys to arrest you," Commissioner Gordy, the senior most member of the board said, he remained seated. His elderly face was covered in wrinkles, his hair was gray and faded, his old hands resting heavily on a cane before him.
Robert merely remained silent, he limped forward to the edge of the table and set his cane on its surface. The board merely remained silent, watching the young commissioner as he shuffled his way across the room.
"I know there's been an awful lot going around about me," Robert said, finally speaking as he reached for a whiskey bottle and poured himself a glass.
"You're absence doesn't help your position," Commissioner Fordham, a man with thick, black hair and small eyes, stated.
"Fair enough," Robert replied with a nod, taking a sip of his whiskey. "But what if I told you that the only reason I was a part of this whole affair was to uncover corruption right here in Ketterdam." Robert grinned slightly at his own words, specifically the part about uncovering corruption. Seeing as how the Stadwatch was renowned for being corrupt and in the pocket of several of the city's major crime bosses, he found the sentence quite ironic.
"What do you mean?" Commissioner Gordy asked, leaning forward curiously.
"Commissioner, you're actually going to listen to him are you?" Commissioner Rocker asked incredulously, his mustache twitching in a slightly more furious manner this time. "He's been caught associating with one of the biggest crooks in Ketterdam and should be arrested!"
"He's worth listening to," Gordy replied. "He is a highly decorated officer."
"Not to mention has proved that he is greatly capable and attuned to capturing the criminal element of this city in almost all its forms," Commissioner Frock said, speaking up for the first time from his place at the table.
Robert took another sip of his whiskey, reaching into his jacket and drawing out a clump of documents at the same time. He placed the documents on the table and slid them across its surface towards Commissioner Gordy.
"What are these?" Gordy asked, setting his cane aside and beginning to leaf through the documents.
"These are documents taken from Jan Van Eck's personal office," Robert said, finishing his whiskey and setting the glass down on the table.
"The Mercher?" Gordy inquired, looking up from the documents momentarily.
"The same," Robert replied.
"Did you have a warrant for these?"
"What Van Eck doesn't know won't hurt him."
Commissioner Gordy went through the documents efficiently, wasting no time on them but taking enough time to absorb the important information.
"Some of these dealings are highly illegal," Gordy said, setting the documents on the table. "Worthy of treason in some cases."
"You can thank me later," Robert said, looking down as he adjusted his longcoat, he then returned his gaze to Gordy. "If you hurry now you can find Van Eck at the Church of Barter, polluting the ways of Ghezen and interfering with a legal auction."
Gordy seemed to think about it a moment and Robert could see the wheels turning in the old mans head.
"You better be right about this Garfield," Gordy said finally, he then turned to Commissioner Rocker. "Rocker, take a squad of men down to the Church of Barter. We'll see if Commissioner Garfield here speaks the truth."
Rocker went to protest but saw it was fruitless, reluctantly, he turned and went to do as he was ordered.
"I see your old detective skills haven't left you," Gordy said, addressing Robert as he lit a cigar.
"All in a days work, sir," Robert replied humbly with a bow of his head. "All in a days work."
SosososososososososososososoSOOOOOOO sorry for the long wait, life has a funny way of making one forgetting about such things as this. I was originally going to post this on New Year's but decided to work on it some more. I apologize I was unable to come up with a substantial chapter to make up for the long gap. Hopefully I can wrap up this story without anymore interruptions, thank you for sticking with me despite it all.
Yours,
-Ventureman543