Chapter IV: An Incident at the Whale's Tale
18th in the Month of Wind, 1837
Officer Maltby's Report: A Transcript
[Recording begins. Unintelligible noises indicate someone is adjusting the recording device.]
Captain Wareham: Is this blasted thing on? The card is moving. Is it meant to move like that? I hate these things.
Watch Guard Maltby: It's recording, sir.
Captain Wareham: Good. Let's get this over with. [A sigh.] It is the 18th in the Month of Wind, 1837, at… ten past eight bells in the morning. I am Captain Nolan Wareham. With me is Watch Guard Warren Maltby.
[A short pause, then the scrape of a chair.]
Captain Wareham: Very well. Tell me what happened last night.
Watch Guard Maltby: Right, well. When our shift ended at seven bells, meself and the boys - er, that is, all of us in Officer Jemmy's crew - we went down to The Blowhole-
Captain Wareham: Excuse me?
Watch Guard Maltby: Oh, that's what we call The Whale's Tale, Captain, sorry. What you might call a… an affectionate nickname, like.
[A pause]
Watch Guard Maltby: Er, well, it's just 'round the corner from the Draper's Ward. A bit shabby, you know - faded gilt paint, patched brickwork. Stinks of brine and runoff from the mills, but it's a good place. Homey.
Captain Wareham: By the void, Maltby, I didn't drag you into my office for a recommendation!
Watch Guard Maltby: Sorry, sir. Just trying to build a vivid picture for you.
Captain Wareham: Fine, fine. [Sighs] Just try to stick to the point.
Watch Guard Maltby: So me and the boys sat down, sir, with our drinks, and we watched the entertainment.
[A pause]
Captain Wareham: What now?
Watch Guard Maltby: It's just that… for the rest of what happened to make sense, I have to tell you about the show.
Captain Wareham: Is this really necessary?
Watch Guard Maltby: I - I think so, sir. I'll try to leave out the more off-colour details.
Captain Wareham: Fine. Get on with it.
Watch Guard Maltby: So, the show started with Nancy - poor girl. Terrible shame, what happened to her. She was well known 'round the Draper's Ward, if you catch my meaning, sir. Terrible waste. Anyway, all the punters were ecstatic to see her, as usual, stamping their feet an' all. After she sang her opening number, she started to flirt with the crowd a bit, weaving her way through the tables. An' while she was doing all this, a masked figure appeared on the stage, sneaking around like a pantomime villain.
Captain Wareham: What did this masked figure look like?
Watch Guard Maltby: It looked like a man. Tall, dressed in a scarlet coat and a whaler mask, just like the wanted posters. We all knew who it was supposed to be, so we all started to boo and hiss, but Nancy just kept walking 'round the room, pretending she couldn't see him. Then he held up a finger to his mask, like this-
Captain Wareham: Describe what he did for the recording, Maltby.
Watch Guard Maltby: Oh, right. He put one finger up to his mask, like a "shh"ing motion. Anyway, of course Bagsley couldn't help himself - he was practically falling out of his seat yelling "Behind you!" at poor ol' Nancy. Had to pull him back into his seat. Once the crowd was good and riled up, Nancy turned 'round and let out a shriek, clutching at herself, all dramatic like. And she went, "Aiee! 'Tis the fearsome assassin, Daud, come to penetrate me with his knife!"
[A long pause]
Watch Guard Maltby: I'm just tellin' you everything, sir, so you understand what happened next.
Captain Wareham: [Through gritted teeth] Continue.
Watch Guard Maltby: Well, on it went. The guy in the mask never talked at all, just waved his arms around while another guy backstage played the trombone. [Chuckling] I thought that was pretty clever, mysel- ahem. Anyway, the pianist started up a rag and they chased each other 'round the hall a bit, while the rest of us cheered our Nancy on. Then right at the end, when they got back to the stage, Daud - I mean, the actor playing Daud - whipped out a knife and chased her offstage.
Captain Wareham: Hysterical.
Watch Guard Maltby: Maybe you had to be there, sir. Though in hindsight, maybe-
Captain Wareham: -So what happened next?
Watch Guard Maltby: Well, the other acts came on. Kitty Hemlock with her trapeze, and the Herring brothers, all dressed up like the Pendletons. It was about half an hour into the show when the lights in the place went out. All at once, too. Place was darker than the inside of a Whale. Then the screaming started.
Captain Wareham: Go on.
Watch Guard Maltby: It was horrible, sir. I couldn't tell where it was coming from, at first, because I was all turned 'round. I jumped out of my seat, and I heard the others do the same. Then the lights came back on, and, well. You saw the crime scene.
Captain Wareham: Describe what you saw for the recording.
[Watch Guard Maltby takes a deep breath]
Watch Guard Maltby: Yes, sir. The stage, it was… well, it was all covered in blood. And there was Nancy and the man who'd played Daud, or rather, their bodies, stuck all over with knives. Plus the pianist and the trombone player, although I didn't know that at the time. And standing around them were these figures-
Captain Wareham: How many figures?
Watch Guard Maltby: Five. No, six. Six figures, all dressed in black, wearing whaler masks. They had blades, still dripping with blood.
Captain Wareham: How long were the lights out for?
Watch Guard Maltby: I - I don't rightly know, Captain. It's all a bit of a blur, that part.
Captain Wareham: If you had to guess. Think, man!
Watch Guard Maltby: If… if I had to guess, I'd say forty seconds. A minute, at the most.
Captain Wareham: So it's possible there were more of these masked assailants, then?
Watch Guard Maltby: I suppose there must have been, to co-ordinate the attack so smoothly.
Captain Wareham: And what did you do next?
Watch Guard Maltby: Well, I froze up, just trying to take it all in. Just like everyone else in the room, sir. I swear I heard the blood dripping off the edge of the stage, it was so quiet. Then one of the assassins held up their knife, and shouted "For Daud's Honour!"
Captain Wareham: Those were their exact words?
Watch Guard Maltby: Yes. Clear as day - 'Daud's honour'. Then everything erupted into chaos - the punters were all tripping over themselves and each other to get out, knocking over chairs and tables, and I shouted something - can't remember what it was, but I knew me and the boys had to take the assassins out.
Captain Wareham: I assume in the ensuing fracas that Bagsley sustained his injury.
Watch Guard Maltby: Yes, sir. He wasn't at his sharpest, on account of him having had three pints. But he was brave, and I won't fault him for his loyalty.
Captain Wareham: Noted. So you fought the assassins?
Watch Guard Maltby: 'Fought' might not be the right word. After Bagsley went down, they took advantage of the distraction and disappeared. I mean that literally, Captain. They disappeared into thin air. There's no way they could have run off that quickly on foot. It's like they melted into the shadows.
Captain Wareham: And you're one hundred percent sure of this?
Watch Guard Maltby: I'd swear it on the strictures.
Captain Wareham: I see. Is that when you called for backup from the Watch?
Watch Guard Maltby: Not quite, sir. I still wanted to see if I could catch the bastards, so I ran out through the stage door into Magpie Alley. They were nowhere to be seen, but as I turned to go back inside…
Captain Wareham: What is it?
[A long pause]
Watch Guard Maltby: It's just, I don't know if you're going to believe me, Captain. I can hardly believe it myself.
Captain Wareham: Try me.
Watch Guard Maltby: Alright, well, this figure came right out of nowhere. Like a shadow had detached itself from the wall of the alley. I had no time to react or even call out before it grabbed me and slammed me against the wall, a hand over my mouth. I thought I was done for, that one of the assassins had doubled back to slip a knife between my ribs, but this one was… it was different.
Captain Wareham: Different how?
Watch Guard Maltby: Well, he was wearing a mask, but it weren't no Whaler's mask, that's for damn sure. It was a grinning, black skull, like a vision straight out of the void. It was him, sir. I'm sure of it.
Captain Wareham: [Scoffing] Maltby, if it were him, you wouldn't be here in this room telling me about it, I can assure you.
Watch Guard Maltby: I've heard the stories, and maybe they're true, but I know what I saw. I won't forget that mask as long as I live. And that's not all. He leaned in close, close enough that I could hear him breathing. And he said, so quiet I could barely hear him - "You didn't see me". And then he let me go, and disappeared back into the shadows. Fair thought my knees would give out on me right there, I can tell you.
[A long pause]
Captain Wareham: Watch Guard Maltby, exactly how much did you have to drink last night?
Watch Guard Maltby: What? No, I - you don't understand, Captain! I might have had a whiskey or two, but when I saw that mask I went stone cold sober. I swear it on me mammy's grave!
Captain Wareham: Hmph.
[Another pause]
Captain Wareham: Watch Guard Maltby, you will tell no one - and I mean no-one, about what you saw in Magpie Alley.
Watch Guard Maltby: Sir?
Captain Wareham: No one, Maltby. If the Lord Regent hears Corvo Attano slipped through our fingers again it will be Coldridge Prison for the both of us. Am I understood?
Watch Guard Maltby: Yes, sir.
Captain Wareham: Fine. You may return to your duties.
[Another long pause, filled with the shuffling of papers and the scratching of a pen]
Watch Guard Maltby: Actually, sir, I was-
Captain Wareham: By the Void, are you still here?
Watch Guard Maltby: Well, I was thinking, sir, that given what happened - and me runnin' right into danger and all - that maybe I'm due for a promotion.
[A pause]
Captain Wareham: Were you, now? And I suppose you'll be wanting your own squad, too?
Watch Guard Maltby: Well, after what happened last night…
Captain Wareham: Get out of my office, Maltby.
Watch Guard Maltby: ...Yes, sir.
[The scrape of a chair, footsteps, then the creak of a door opening and closing.]
Captain Wareham: [Sighs heavily]. The time is twenty-three past eight bells in the morning. Thus concludes Watch Guard Warren Maltby's report.
[Recording Ends]