Chapter 5: Damn Good Story

27th of Month of High Cold, 1837

1:09 AM

The Captain always hated the phrase, "I'd kill for." Not that he didn't believe in fighting for something when he had to: combat was a horrible necessity if push came to shove. But it was always horrible. And to downplay it like that never sat well with him. There's a world of difference between necessary murder and a thirst for whiskey. Anyone who didn't get that lost some of Curnow's respect.

But right now, he almost could kill for something. Pen and paper, of all things. There was something about writing down notes that made Curnow a better investigator. It that helped him process what he heard or thought. It made sure he didn't forget something later, and it made him think. He could follow a lead in his head and see where it went, or connect two pieces that he hadn't tried to before. He felt naked without a notepad and pen in an investigation. If he had any idea what would happen tonight, he would've brought plenty with him. Along with more back-up and a few grenades.

No point in dwelling on the, "if only," though. The game was already underway. Wishing for more pieces was a waste of time. He had to make do with what was on hand. A cigar, good memory, and a great Nancy face weren't much, but he could make it work. There was a reason he was made Captain of the Watch, in spite of his piss-poor political skills.

Attano pauses, matching Curnow's gaze. He does not ask for another drink, nor stretch. This break is for the officer, not the suspect. He can see the questions waiting on the Captain's lips.

"Did you really go through all the trouble to talk, just to lie to me?" Curnow asks coolly. "We already know Thorpe isn't a victim. So are you trying to cover his ass, or yours?"

The former royal leans forward, the soft smirk on his face slowly fading. "I would be careful with your assumptions, Captain. You may get an innocent man killed with that kind of thinking."

"Cut the bullshit. The morning you escaped, Thorpe's wife found a dozen elixir shipped to his home. He was bribed, and I have a good idea what for." Curnow lets some of his anger show. If Attano is going to use kindness as an invitation to lie, let's see how he reacts to hostility.

"Really? You think a decorated officer accepted the most obvious bribe imaginable and let the supposed killer of the Empress free?" Attano ignores Curnow's rage and continues calmly. "That is very thin, Captain. Especially in light of a witness testimony saying otherwise."

Curnow lets an eyebrow raise. "And getting knocked out by another prisoner is more believable? Even with your story, we don't need a confession to nail him for treason."

"So he is keeping his mouth shut: good," the assassin grins softly. He's playing with Curnow, and the Captain fell for it. "Brent is a killer and a turncoat against his own people. It is not much of a leap for him to stage my escape for coin and a chance at blood. And it is a much cleaner story for the Regent, is it not? His men are loyal, and the traitor is destined for the gallows already. Everyone wins."

Curnow loses the last of his composure. "I don't care if it's easier to swallow for some tyrant. I'll take the inconvenient truth over a lie any day."

Attano looks to the ceiling with a sigh, his sarcasm and mirth gone. "I expected as much, Geoff." He rubs his hand over his face, then brings his eyes back to the Captain. "Thorpe does not deserve to be punished for my escape. You have my word."

Curnow pauses to think before shouting. Noncommittal answer or not, he can read Attano well enough. There's only sincerity in his face this time, none of the tells. He believes what he's saying. He actually wants to make sure Thorpe is safe… Why?

Attano is the type to fall on the sword for a friend or innocent man at the drop of a hat. The Watch still tells stories about the Lord Protector taking "detours" on his missions for the Empress to deal with muggers and gangs. If he decided someone was worth protecting, there isn't much that can stop him. That must be how he sees Thorpe. He is going to save him, or damn well try.

It makes Thorpe look guiltier, if anything. If he didn't let him out, why would he be worthy of protection? Unless all the guard really did was treat him with dignity. That would probably earn Attano's respect, considering everyone else kicked the shit out of him. Could that be enough to make him innocent in his eyes?

He would solve that puzzle eventually. For now, it's better to get as many pieces as possible. "I'll see what I can do," he says earnestly. If Thorpe is innocent, he needs to be spared.

Attano gives a small, relieved smile. "Thank you. No one should suffer when they do not deserve it."

The Captain lets his head process more of the story, looking for holes to poke in it. Or at least, sore points that Attano doesn't want to dwell on. Obviously, he's trying to minimize bloodshed while still getting revenge. It would've been easier to kill most of the guards in his path, rather than leaving them asleep. Blood would be an issue, but there's a few places a man can be stabbed that he won't leak much. That would ensure that no one wakes up and sounds an alarm, giving him more time to escape.

And yet, he didn't. Only a handful died during the search, all due to rats or traps from the Bottle Street Gang. So, if he can manage it, he wants to leave most of the guards breathing. There's no telling what would happen if he's backed into a corner, though. Curnow quietly hopes the assassin is still as cunning as he used to be.

There's obviously a third party involved, even without Attano admitting it. The explosive was not made by an amateur. A naval charge would make sense, though difficult to track. There's enough of them in the Imperial Navy warehouses that it'd be easy to lose one without it being noticed. Either by someone sneaking in, or an employee smuggling it out. But getting it into Coldridge required an inside man…

Or not. It could've been taken off someone brought in for interrogation. The third party arranges for a thug to get picked up with the bomb, lets the guards bring it in for them. It'd only take one lazy officer forgetting to lock the safe behind him. The logs for the day need to be checked.

The map of the sewers has some potential. He needed one for the maze down there. City Planning claims to have one on file, but he's yet to see it. That would be fairly hard to steal, and very unlikely a conspirator had just laying around. It could be another lie, though: Bottle Street Gang is known to use the tunnels for getting around. A crude map could be bought from them.

Either way, all of that requires coin and careful planning. The money would gather the pieces, but someone smart had to put them together. There has to be at least a noble involved, then. One who hasn't had his estate swept up by Barrister Timsh yet. Doubtful the aristocrat is smart enough to come up with the plan, but definitely rich enough to hire someone for it. It wouldn't be much of a stretch. Some pompous ass who either hates the Regent or wants some of the power for himself, knows Attano has a bone to pick, decides to sic the Serkonan dog on him. The Lord Protector might be in this for noble reasons, but the one holding the leash might not.

"Do you have any other supposed lies you have caught me in?" Attano asks, slightly surprising the Captain. He's spending more time in his head than he realizes. Really needs to stop doing that.

"I'm sure I can find a few," he says while pondering his next target to hit. One sticks out. "Can I see your ring? I assume you're still wearing it."

Attano nods, reaching a hand to the side of his neck. Thin black cord climbs over the collar of his cloak as the slipknot loosens. He slips it over his head and pulls out the pendant. "I replaced the chain with necklace thread once I found some. Please, be careful," the thief says as the officer takes it.

Scratches betray the age of the jewelry, but it's still in great shape. A golden signet ring, with a large seal on the bezel. The engraving is deep and clear, obviously the work of a master. Two swans flank a banner, heads bowed to the crown above them. A few small diamonds decorate the headpiece, but little else distinguishes it from other circlets. The key insignia, as well as the J and K, on the banner more clearly states its origin. A small ribbon flows under the emblem, age blurring the words written across. But Curnow remembers them from the flags that used to fly on Dunwall Tower: "Long Live the Empress." Obviously a gift from Jessamine Kaldwin when she was alive. Fitting for her Lord Protector.

"You've taken good care of it," the Captain remarks while handing it back. "I'm surprised the nobles never realized how sentimental you are."

Attano laughs, slipping the necklace back on. He hides it under his shirt, where no one but him will know about it. "Jessamine gifted this to me shortly after her father's death. She said… I had been a great friend to her, one she needed. It was something that she could give me without raising suspicion. She knew about the rumors surrounding us, and understood that it was best we keep them at bay. Though she did have a tendency to feed the gossip when her suitors became an annoyance."

Curnow could see how the scuttlebutt got started about them. Attano is known for hiding behind silence or sarcasm. He's good at making sure nothing he says reveals anything. But when he talks about the Empress, there's more than professional protectiveness to it. He felt something toward her, and she likely reciprocated. They may not have been lovers like the nobles assumed, but they were at least close friends. Seeing her die must've hurt.

It takes him a second to realize what he thought. "Seeing her die." As in, "he didn't kill her." He's starting to believe him. The Captain almost wants to slap himself. The story still didn't make sense. Attano was the only one they could prove was there. Motive or not, he had means and opportunity. Stories about supernatural assassins and love for the victim don't change that. It had to be him… didn't it?

Curnow forces conclusions out of his head. Assumptions, assumptions, assumptions. He has to stay impartial. There's a chance Attano is innocent. Not much, but it's there. He's an investigator. He has to get all the information he can out of the fugitive, so he can put the pieces together himself. If he really wasn't the killer, he could try to fix that later.

For now, he has a nerve to prod whenever he wants. No doubt picking at the Empress will get a reaction of the Lord Protector. Apply that pressure while pointing out another lie, he might get something. That's assuming Attano doesn't throw him out like he did to Pendleton a few years ago. "How did you find out the Regent was behind the assassination? You said he confessed?" the Captain asks.

Attano nods. "I eventually figured it out from the questions he asked, but he told me to my face during the last interrogation. 'You were in the wrong place at the right time, and someone has to take the fall,' I believe were his exact words. It sounds too perfect to be true?"

"A little," Curnow says skeptically. "Burrows was a Spymaster. It's thin he'd admit to anything that could come back to bite him in the ass."

"Arrogance can make a man do foolish things. Pretend this is Serkonos, not Gristol. Let us assume that we are talking about a foreign power," Attano says, setting the stage for his story.

Curnow follows along. "Alright. Let's pretend."

"The Grand Duke is assassinated," he explains. "The assassin is caught, but he refuses to say why or who sent him. Within the day, while Parliament is scrambling, one of his advisors 'volunteers' to command the country before chaos and plague can tear it apart. Most of the other nobles want the seat for themselves, but forfeit when this advisor shows he has support from the Abbey, the Academy, and the most powerful noble family in the country. All of these groups stand and suddenly endorse someone who has never showed any interest in politics. Would you not be the least bit suspicious?"

Well, when you put it that way. But, for the sake of playing Outsider's advocate… "That's assuming the advisor was a nobody before the assassination. If he happened to be the Duke's Spymaster, his support might be forced. Not much of a leap to assume the Spymaster found dirt on the others before the coup, then used that when the time came. He takes the throne to keep the country together before some idiot noble can destroy it. The power with the position could just be a side benefit." There's a reason most of the Watch hates arguing with their Captain.

"You have interviewed people who were under blackmail before, I assume," Attano says quietly. There's a barely concealed grin on his face, smug and confident. "When you catch them committing a crime, how often is that the first favor their master asked for?"

Curnow thinks back, and comes up shorthanded. "Very rarely."

The spy nods. "There is an art to blackmail. After you demonstrate your dominance over them, you ask for something relatively small. They are much more likely to go along with it, and from there, bigger requests are simple. If you apply too much pressure too quickly, they panic and tell someone, or try to fight back. By taking the time to set the pieces up before the game, you can almost guarantee that each pawn will do your bidding. It is not something that can be done in a day."

"And you think that's what the advisor did? He slowly put leverage on them until he needed them, to make sure they fell in line?"

"Or they united to share the power. The family supports the Regent in Parliament, passing any law he needs. The Abbey gives their seal of approval and a religious militant force to go with the Watch. The Academy works to create security technology for all of them, which is paid for by the Regent's taxes and new laws. With all three united and supporting the Regent, each of them benefits. Burrows could have used blackmail, but they most likely did it out of self-interest." So much for hypotheticals. Attano didn't use it very long.

But he made a good argument. It was all logical and, most of all, believable. It matched nicely with the political scene while Attano was being thrown in Coldridge. Not ironclad, and very hard to confirm, but it made sense. It was the perfect kind of conspiracy theory. And as much as Curnow didn't want to admit it, he could almost believe it. He blamed it mostly on Attano's convictions and apparent sincerity, but he could see the puzzle without too much encouragement.

"You tell a damn good story, Attano: I'll give you that," Curnow admits. "A little too much of a fairy tale, but still good."

"You say that as if I have any control over it," the fugitive says.

"Eh," he shrugs. "Shame the love interest had to die. I was wondering if you two would get together before the end."

Attano leans in close, his brown eyes growing dark. "If you joke about Jessamine again," he growls, "you will need a cane for the rest of your life. Am I clear?"

The air in Curnow's throat catches. He wanted to keep him honest, make him see they still weren't quite on the same side. He didn't expect Attano to take it so seriously. But it was clear avoiding that particular nerve was a good idea. He'd have to find another. "Understood," the Captain says.

Attano relaxes back into his seat. Obviously still pissed and on edge, but not quite ready to shatter knees anymore. "Do you have anything else, or shall I continue?"

"Go on. Enough white lies, though. It defeats the purpose of venting to me," Curnow says with a wave of the cigar. The theatrics hide the fear in the back of his thoughts.

The Lord Protector shakes his head, calming down. "What gave you the impression I have told you anything but the truth?"

The officer wants to say, "Your right eyebrow," but keeps his mouth shut. Better to keep that card hidden. Instead, it's, "Young, retired whalers do not exist. Either they leave after their first tour, or stay in for a few decades. If someone like that exists, I doubt you would give me his name so I could find him."

"There is a reason I never play Nancy with you, Geoff."

Ok, took a little longer than I would've liked to get this one out. But blame me being forced to go back to school for one last semester. Instead of going back for just one class, I now have to take 4, just so I'm eligible for financial aid and can actually afford the tuition. (Makes no sense to me either) So that, searching for a new job, and a whole assortment of other weird things slowed me down.

But I've got a decent schedule worked out now, for mostly everything. Even if I don't have a huge amount of time, I consistently have the same amount of time during the same days, which I can plan for and work with. Which means I'll be able to keep writing on a regular basis. Whoo! I shall do my best to keep it coming sooner rather than later.

And told you I'd explain the little discrepancies. Be prepared for more! ~MGA