Chapter 2
Birds
The next day, I was at work even earlier than normal– I guess I wanted to have some moments alone before I had to play the rookie instructor again. I had to admit, though, that Officer Azel looked promising. He had a good eye when it came to shooting and possessed a quick, receptive mind. He was too naive and trusting, though, and I could only hope that these traits wouldn't be his downfall one day. He certainly could have used some of the mistrust Sergeant Haren was holding against nearly anything and anyone in the city – including my decisions – as it often seemed to me. On the other hand, following orders never has been my strong point, as well…
"Good morning, Captain," Eonis greeted me as I entered the police building. "You already have a visitor. She asked specifically for you and I told her to wait in your office."
"Thanks…" My forehead creased with a frown as I made my way towards my place – a she?
It seemed that this morning had more in store for me than my usual hangover.
I opened the door silently and thus had the chance to study my visitor. She was sitting with herback turned to me; a slim, elegant figure in a knee long, red suit and matching high heels. Her brown hair was only shoulder-length, in the way the modern girls on the boulevard wore it. Judging her posture, it seemed to me that the woman was studying something on my desk.
"You wanted to see me?" I addressed her.
She gave a start and hastily turned around. Her features turned to fear as she beheld the look on my face.
I couldn't believe it – she looked so much like her; the big eyes, the nearly child-like features, the full lips, the way her eyebrows were curved--
"Reith?" My voice sounded hoarse.
"Wh--what?" Her surprise pulled me back into reality again.
"I'm sorry. I mistook you for someone else." I still couldn't take my eyes off her - the similarity was astounding. "So, what can I do for you, Miss–?"
It seemed that my stare had been more than obvious, since my visitor blushed slightly. "You can call me Serina." She offered a slim gloved hand to me – I did not take it, but sat down opposite of her, which seemed to unnerve her slightly.
"Captain Calintz, I have heard much about you…"
"Most people have and usually not good things," I leaned back in my chair. "But certainly you have not come here to talk with me about my "glorious" past – or are you from a newspaper?" My tone was harder than I wanted it to be, but I hated journalists – they were as filthy as the scum they were writing about.
"Do I look like someone who wants to interrogate you?" Serina averted her gaze. I felt pity for her in this moment and wondered why she was so insecure. Her answer came unbidden only a second later.
"Captain, I need your protection." She said it like it was the most normal thing in the world to ask of me.
My voice turned to stone and I believe my expression did the same. "I'm a Captain of the department for organized criminality and not for personal protection." She was probably afraid of her ex-boyfriend or something like that – love, unless you bought it, had no chance in times like these and even less in a city like Notia. "I'll tell the secretary to give you the address of--"
"No!" Serina's voice was firm all of a sudden and she looked at me now, her big brown eyes full of fear but also desperate resolution at the same time. "I know about your section! That's why I came to you – you may be the only one who is able to protect me from them…"
My ears pricked. "And who is 'them'?"
My visitor bent a bit towards me, as if she was afraid that others could hear what she was about to say. "The Yason family…"
This was better than a hangover, indeed.
xxx
It turned out that Miss Serina could be a great asset in the solving of a case that had exercised my mind for quite some time now: It was the matter of the death of a certain Mr. Astal, who had died in the flames of his house one week ago. The police report stated that "The 40-year old pharmacist Henry Astal had dozed off with a cigarette between his lips", and had two interesting points: First off, it concealed the well known fact that Mr. Astal had also been a mediator between Notia's government and the Yason. Second, it stated that Mr. Astal's death had been anaccident when in reality he had been murdered.
And it was just this murder that Serina had witnessed.
"I came late from work and my way home led past Efferia Street. That night, I saw a red glow in that direction and out of curiosity I hurried into the street to check it out – Mr. Astal's pharmacy was standing in flames, as well as the flat above… I wanted to make a dash for the next telephone cell to call the fire department when I saw this man exiting the house, like the flames did not frighten him at all…"
"And why do you think that he was a Yason?"
"I couldn't see him very well from the distance, but his face had an unnatural white complexion and he had coal-coloured black hair. He looked like the devil himself…" She buried her face in her hands. "I'm sure that it was the man they call Azhadi…"
The description indeed fitted Azhadi Zoren, but there was something else that bugged me about her tale. "Azhadi is one of the four highest ranking Yason. Not many people know how they look – how comes it that you do?"
"I worked as a waitress, Captain Calintz – and not in the best part of town. I've heard my share of stories about the Yason and it is no secret that Azhadi looks like a monster…"
I decided to believe her explanation – the likeliest place to see a Yason were indeed the poor parts in town, since the clan often recruited new men there. "So what did you do, then?"
Serina averted her gaze, ashamed. "I ran. I was terribly afraid."
"So you don't even know if he saw you? Did he follow you?"
"I don't think so…"
"Have you gotten any threatening letters or phone calls yet?"
"No…" Her voice was small now, as if she knew what I was getting at. "Are you telling me that I don't need protection?"
"I'm terribly sorry to be so blunt, but if a Yason really had seen you, you would be either dead by now or had at least received a warning of some sort…"
"But I feel like I'm being watched!" she insisted. "Captain Calintz, my life is breaking apart – I don't dare to go out in the dark anymore and have lost my job because of that! Are you telling me that I should just wait until the Yason murder me? Do you want to risk that?"
I frowned. On the one hand, I was cautious regarding her tale – women were quick at speaking, quick at lying and quick at making the wrong assumptions. Well, most of them. On the other hand, if she was telling the truth, it was not only my duty to look into her case, but also a chance to shed a new light on the case of Mr. Astal. If I could find any proof for her fears, I maybe could convince her to testify against Azhadi before a court together with me. I was sure that the judges would have to listen this time -- if the Yason had truly sent one of their best men to murder a mediator, it meant that they had finally decided to break the ties with the government. It was like a declaration of war -- even Notia's corrupt rulers wouldn't close their eyes before this…
"I'm not really sure if I will take your case, but if it calms you, I will escort you to your flat and let two of my men guard it. If you are truly getting watched, we should be able to find out."
"Thank you, Captain." The way she smiled at me made my throat feel dry.
xxx
"Don't you want to inform Major Agreian that you are going to escort the young lady home?" Eonis asked, dutifully as ever.
I shook my head. "Just tell him that I'm doing patrol with the newbie…" I didn't want to bother Hugo until I knew if Serina's case was a case at all.
"Don't you worry a bit, Miss," Azel said with such enthusiasm that it would have convinced nearly anyone, "We'll make sure that no one harms you!"
Sergeant Haren was less taken with escorting Serina home and protecting her flat. "I'm here to kick the butt of some criminals and not to play the bodyguard for a woman I neither know nor trust…"
Haren's resistance to female charms seemed to be even greater than my own. After her death, I had shut myself to the pleasures of the world, though I wondered if love could get called a pleasure, anyway – for me, it only had brought pain. Still, Serina interested me - as she sat next to me in the back of the car, I wondered how such a fragile person like her had even one day survived in this hellish city… The way she looked out of the car window with wide open, frightened eyes, she reminded me of a pretty little bird that could no longer fly away, since it had broken its wings on the hard reality of Notia's life. You couldn't escape the city and it broke everyone's belief sooner or later - the only difference was whether you let it show or not.
I ordered Haren and Azel to stand watch while I entered the apartment building together with Serina. As we stood together in the little elevator, I noticed the fragrance of violets emanating from her – Reith had always used a similar perfume… Serina did not speak much and had her gaze averted mostly, only giving me a shy glance now and then. I did not really mind her silence – I was not really good when it came to making small talk.
Sometimes I wondered what I was good at anyway – next to drinking and leaving a mess wherever I went…
The house Serina lived in was in a desolate state: the dusty hallway smelled of mould and overcooked cabbage and the incoming day light was filtered by boards that had been nailed across the windows. It did not seem to be the right place for someone like Serina, but then again there maybe was no place in the city which would have been suited for a delicate person like her.
"Are you living alone?" I asked while she was searching for the keys in her bag.
"Yes…" It sounded regretful. "My family lives in another town – I don't see them very often."
"But surely you have friends?" It was difficult for me to keep a straight face while asking it – as if I had any friends next to Hugo.
"I… I don't like to go out much… You see, I--" She paled as she tried to insert the key and found out that the door was already open.
"Wait here." I shoved her rather roughly aside, unholstered my gun and entered her flat.
Unless she was as messy as I was (and I doubted that) her room was clearly not in its original state, but had been devastated. The furniture had been thrown about, all drawers had been opened, and the floor was littered with broken pieces of glass – had someone searched for something or was it a warning? The kitchen was in the same sad condition, but before I could take a closer look at it, I heard a strange noise coming from the direction of a door opposite of me – obviously the bedroom. I breathed in deeply before storming into the room, weapon drawn – something colourful was fluttering through the air and then, with a loud bang, a little yellow ball sank to the ground. The little bird had obviously entered the room through an open window and in panic had lost its sense for direction and broken its neck on the window pane.
I heard steps behind me and before I could tell her to stay outside, Serina had entered the room and uttered a horrified gasp. It probably wasn't because of the bird, though, but because of the sentence someone had painted on the wall with red:
You know too much. Ice Queen.
"What does this mean?" she whispered.
"'Ice Queen' is the cover name for the head of the Yason clan," I told her calmly. "No one knows her real identity. It seems that you have made the mightiest person in the city your enemy…" I whirled around just in time to catch her lithe form as she slumped with a mangled sob. She was light in my arms and the smell of her sweet perfume made me feel dizzy – were women using perfume just for this purpose? To make us men dizzy and weak?
"So, do you believe me now?" Little, diamond-clear tears were beading in her eyes.
"I do and I will take on your case," I told her and, to my surprise, smiled while I did.
xxx
We brought Serina back to Lester Department, where I put her in Eonis' care.
"Where's Hugo – I mean, Major Agreian?"
"He's not in his office right now – he left some time ago." Eonis informed me.
"Good. Wait in my office, Miss Serina. You'll be safe there."
"And what will you do, Captain Calintz?" Her big eyes watched me with worry.
"Well, I will defintely not wait. It's time to find out who exactly is after you and to put a stop to it. If I can get more proof that the Yason killed Mr. Astal, you have to promise me that you will testify against Azhadi before a court, though…"
Serina paled slightly at my request. "Yes… Yes, of course. But where are you going?"
"To a place where I might find some answers… The Venus Fly Trap."
"But that's in Epentar street! Are you mad, Captain Calintz?" Eonis looked at me, shocked. "Major Agreian himself has forbidden all officers to enter the Yason district unless ordered. It's part of an agreement between the Yason and the government!"
"I know, but Hugo never has to find out, right? And not a word about Serina, please." I felt bad for asking her to lie for me, but there was no other way.
"He's right, Eonis. You've got to help us." From Haren's words I could suggest that he had already made up his mind to accompany me, as well as Officer Azel:
"We're going into the heart of Evil? I'm with you, Captain!"
Eonis sighed deeply. "Fine. When Agreian asks about you, I will tell him that I have not seen you yet. But this is the last time I'm lying…"
I cracked a little smile and gave her a wink. "What would we do without you? I'm sure that Sergeant Haren will repay you with an invitation to dinner for that… Isn't that right, Haren?"
The only answer from the giant was a grunt.
