5.
After having been grounded for several days, Lucy was excited to be returning to town. She bobbed along happily behind the Maestro as he guided her through the labyrinth catacombs beneath the town of Oxford. She'd long ago learned to navigate these passages herself, especially the route they were currently taking, but she enjoyed the Maestro's company and so made no complaint about his insistence on leading her to the exit near her employer's pub.
Their footsteps echoed off the walls as they walked briskly along. The Maestro had a longer stride, so Lucy was almost running in order to keep pace with him. The light of his small lantern flickered and threw scattered shadows all around, but she was well familiar with the cavern and knew they probably both make their way through even without the lantern. The small doubt was for herself, she was certain the Maestro could find his way through these caverns in his sleep.
As they got closer to their destination, the Maestro began to slow down, and without turning he said, "you will go straight to Madame Parker's establishment." It was not a question.
"Yes Maestro," she replied.
"You will not get into trouble or look for distractions along the way."
"No Maestro."
"Good. I have my own business to attend to tonight, so be diligent with your work and stay out of trouble."
"Yes Maestro."
They had reached a stone staircase and she waited at the bottom while he ascended to a door a few feet above. He moved a small hatch to look out of a small peephole into what she knew was the alleyway beyond. After satisfying himself that the area was empty, put out the small lantern and hung it on a nearby hook, before smoothly opening the small door into the darkened alleyway. He waved her out of the passageway and she bounded up the stairs into the evening air. He stepped out behind her and closed the door, which was cleverly camouflaged to look like part of the wall. If she hadn't learned of it from him, she never would have known it was there, let alone how to open it.
The alley was only barely more lit than the passage they had emerged from. The moon was still well below its peak, and the sun had sunk below the horizon. The evening air was a bit cool, but after having been below for so long, it was wonderfully refreshing. She heard a soft throat clearing, and turned slightly. Even in the low light she could see the disapproving look the Maestro was giving her. She returned what she was certain was a perfectly innocent look of confusion, which earned her an exasperated wave of his hand.
Lucy giggled to herself as she hurried out of the alleyway a few blocks from the tavern. It was still early evening, so the streets were busy but not particularly crowded. As promised, she walked straight to the waiting tavern and arrived only a couple of minutes after exiting the tunnel they had taken. She had been cautioned not to use that particular doorway too frequently, because it led to a fairly active part of town. But apparently the Maestro had put a high degree of importance on her making it to work on time and also on making sure she kept to her promise during their walk.
Lucy slid smoothly through the back door and into the kitchen of the tavern. Ms. Parker was stirring something in the large cauldron over a crackling fire. She gave no indication that she had noticed Lucy's entrance, but Lucy was sure she had. Very little ever happened under Agatha Parker's roof that she did not know about. Lucy pulled down an apron from off the wall and quickly laced it on. She then grabbed a small rag from the sink and moved into the main common room.
The room was mostly empty, aside from one of the regulars who sat at a table alone sipping at a mug of beer. He clearly hadn't been there very long, Lucy thought Ms. Parker was probably making his food in the kitchen. She started wiping the top of the table nearest the kitchen. It had been quite a while since lunch, so there was not much mess in evidence, but she set to her work all the same.
At first, there was not much to clean, so Lucy was mostly just keeping herself busy. But slowly, the common room began to fill as more and more people finished their day and wanted to relax and socialize. Lucy settled into a routine of clearing away dishes and cups and wiping away the spills and splatters of the patrons. She hummed to herself as she absorbed the din of the various customer conversations. She was happy to be in the company of other people, but even so, out of habit she kept her head down and did her best to fade into the background as much as possible.
About an hour before closing time, after most of the patrons had left, Lucy was clearing one of the tables while two men were talking softly nearby.
"But this is three in a month. This kind of thing just doesn't happen in a place like Oxford."
"At least he didn't make a big commotion like last week. I don't know if Walter will be able to keep a lid on it like the first one, but hopefully we won't have a panic."
"But why strangling? A gun would definitely be easier, or at least a knife if you didn't want the noise. But then why that craziness last week? Everyone just assumed that Lewis was a suicide, but then Rupert gets strangled and practically blown up. Once word gets out about Jacob, people are going to start connecting the dots."
Lucy paused for a moment while wiping the table. She hadn't given much thought to Lewis Fletchley's passing, even after what happened to Rupert Moran. But someone else had been strangled tonight? If Jacob had been the same as Rupert, then she was sure the investigators were quite vexed. She was pretty certain it hadn't been a normal rope that he had been strangled with, although she'd only had a few minutes before the young man had startled her in the alley. She cautiously peered around the room and was relieved to see that he wasn't sitting there tonight.
"At least we didn't have a bunch of people hovering over the body this time."
"Yeah, good thing you got there first. What were you doing in there anyway?"
"I thought I heard somebody calling out, but there was just Jacob's body there. Must've been my imagination."
"Maybe it was the banshee, ha ha ha."
"You think she got bored wailing out by the river? Ha ha ha."
Lucy scooped up a bowl and utensils before making her way back to the kitchen. She put the dishes by the sink and began scrubbing away the remnants of someone's meal. She frowned as she rubbed the rag across the simple plate. Two other people like the body last week? She was curious about what this one looked like. She had a thought, but would need to get a close look to tell for sure. The Maestro wouldn't like it though. He had expressly forbade her from getting into trouble. Lucy's scrubbing slowed as her mischievous side took over. Technically, he had told her not to get into trouble "along the way". It was semantics and she was sure he'd probably be twice as angry if she got caught this time, but her curiosity was irresistible.
Lucy asked Ms. Parker if she could get some rest early tonight. Agatha gave her a considering look before waving lazily toward the door. The common room was nearly empty, so Lucy knew there wasn't much work left to do anyway, but she still thanked her employer before shuffling out the door.
The streets were mostly empty at this hour, and the moon cast pale illumination over the various buildings of town. Even so, the nighttime shadows were long, and Lucy cautiously crept her way to a nearby building. She was happy that the tavern was not too far from her destination near the outskirts of town. Even walking carefully, she quickly arrived at the village mortuary. As expected at this hour, the building was dark, and she slid her way along the wall to the rear entrance. The door was locked, but it was the first time Lucy had encountered a locked door, nor was it a particularly complex lock. After all, how many people would normally want to break into a mortuary. Using a few items she had borrowed from the kitchen at the tavern, Lucy made short work of the lock and cracked the door. She peered into the dark recess of the building to confirm its vacancy before slipping inside and easing the door shut behind her.
Lucy lit a small lamp near the door and then took a moment to examine the mortuary. The large room was sparsely furnished. There were a few heavy aprons hanging from hooks on the wall and a single large cabinet next to the sink along the back wall. Standing in the middle of the room were three long tables, only one of which was occupied by a body. She cautiously crept forward to take a look at the cadaver.
The body looked like it had just been quickly deposited on the table, which was unsurprising given the late hour of the night. Jacob's clothing was a rumpled mess, but whether that was due to a struggle or having been carried to the mortuary was impossible to determine. Lucy quickly checked his throat. After examining from several angles, she exhaled heavily in consternation. She hadn't had much time to look at Luke Fletchly and it had been dark besides, but the marks on Jacob were consistent with what she knew as the Punjab Lasso. She had never seen one herself, but the journal she'd recently been studying had contained a detailed description of the tool. Like the cylinder in her pocket, it was a deceptively simple design that hid a surprising degree of complexity.
Lucy shivered slightly, wondering if someone had recently snuck into the Maestro's home and taken this information. Maybe that was his business tonight, to find the thief. She suddenly worried about her temperamental instructor encountering a vicious killer in the streets of the small pastoral village. As concern for the Maestro began to well up within her mind, Lucy was startled by someone noisily jostling the door from outside.
Lucy put out the lamp and crouched beside the table an instant before the front door was flung open. A silhouette stood blocking the doorway. Her eyes were trying to adjust to the sudden darkness, but luckily, the person standing nearby also seemed to be unable to see clearly into the dark room. Although it was a fairly large room, it was also mostly empty and she knew it wouldn't take long for the new arrival to locate her if he hadn't already. She slid the metal cylinder out of her pocket and settled it firmly into her hand. With a practiced ease, she looped her finger into the ring dangling at the end of the device. She was pretty certain that setting off the device would bring another rebuke from the Maestro, but getting caught by someone in the town Mortuary would likely bring several worse consequences. So she grit her teeth and braced herself for the coming shock and pulled the pin.
Nothing happened.
Lucy blinked in the darkness. She hadn't had the chance to test her repairs, but she was certain she'd gotten it right. And yet, here she was, crouched in the darkness holding a useless lump of metal like a fool. Her mind was racing now as she tried to think of a way to escape.
The person in the doorway did not seem to be keen to enter into the room that was nearly pitch black, so Lucy began to slide backwards toward the door she had used to enter. After a few seconds, the figure began to take a step into the room and looked to reach to the side. Lucy quickly realized that he intended to again light up the room and knew that she was out of time. The tables were all sturdy and very heavy, so she knew that using them as anything more than cover was a foolish notion. But the lamp she'd put out just a few moments ago was still nearby and pretty small. The Maestro had explicitly told her on numerous occasions to never lose the small metal tube that she uselessly held in her hand, so she slipped it back in her pocket and reached for the lamp as the dark figure at the front of the room similarly reached for a lamp near the open doorway.
Lucy threw her lamp as the man struck a match to illuminate the room. Without pausing for even an instant she then spun on her heel and darted for the back door. There was a muffled curse behind her as the room returned to darkness and the lamp crashed to the floor. The flying object had caused the man to drop the match keeping everything obscured. Lucy fumbled with the door knob as she heard the man suddenly rumbling towards her. She frantically twisted the knob and stumbled into the street behind the building. She quickly recovered her footing and broke into a run down the back alley. Her pursuer emerged not far behind her but she did not break her stride and quickly cut around the nearest corner.
As a child, Lucy had gotten lots of practice at running from bullies through the streets of Oxford, and her time with the Maestro had only expanded her knowledge of various nooks and crannies throughout the town. She wove in and out of various alleyways, ducked under some trees and even leapt over a low wall at one point. When she finally collapsed in the shadow of St. Michael's Church she sat panting loudly. She had not kept tabs on the person who had gone to the mortuary, but she was certain that she must have lost him.
After taking a few minutes to catch her breath, Lucy stood up and tried to make herself less ragged looking before stepping back into the street. She tried to keep herself from looking suspicious as she walked a few blocks to a familiar building. She didn't see anyone in the deserted streets as she walked as calmly as she could and breathed a sigh of relief as she got closer to the wall she had been looking for. Once again, a section of the wall moved and Lucy could see a stairway leading down into the ground.
"You're late."
Despite herself, Lucy winced a little. She had left the tavern early precisely because she had hoped to avoid this, but there was no way to avoid it now.
"Yes Maestro."
He pulled her into the passageway before closing the entrance. But after he was satisfied that they were hidden and no one had seen the passage he remained at the top of the stairs waiting. She knew he wasn't waiting for her to lead him back to their rooms. For the second time in less than an hour Lucy found her mind racing, trying to figure out how to minimize the damage. She knew that lying was out of the question. The Maestro was already suspicious, and if he caught her in a lie… she shuddered at the thought. Finally, after she felt like she'd spent too long under his withiner glare, she sighed and craned her neck to look up at him.
"A little before closing, two men came in and were talking about how another person died tonight. I was curious, so before they went home I tried to find out a little more."
His face shifted in a way that she knew indicated his skepticism and asked, "they didn't wonder why a tavern girl was interested in such things?"
"They didn't tell me anything," she replied glumly. "Mostly I just eavesdropped."
"That's a bad habit of yours. I know it's partly unavoidable due to your hearing, but you really shouldn't practice it, nor put effort into it. I did tell you not to get into trouble."
"They never spoke to me, and as far as I know, they ignored me just as much as most of the bar patrons do. I expect they don't have your keen insight."
The Maestro was a justifiably proud man, so a little flattery often helped. He stared at her for a moment more before descending the stairs and walking back towards their home. She was pretty sure she hadn't fooled him entirely, but apparently he was satisfied with what she had said. She walked carefully behind him as she thought about the events of the last hour and what to do next. It would be difficult to warn him about her findings regarding the Punjab Lasso without implicating herself in her more dangerous investigation. She needed time to think of a delicate way to bring that topic up to him. As they got near to the very familiar hallway she had an inspiration.
"Maestro, tomorrow can you maybe help me with my flash tube? I'm worried if there's some kind of crazy person attacking people in town."
The Maestro slowed his pace and seemed to slump ever so slightly. After a short delay, he replied, "yes. I can certainly imagine enough disasters as it is."
Lucy was confused, but smiled as she walked a step behind. Soon she would know what went wrong in the mortuary, and with any luck, she could also find a chance to happen upon other research topics, like the Punjab Lasso.