Chapter Five: Orientalis Redemptio
Thursday, the 31st of October, 1889.
As a morbid crowd gathered at the sight of Tyrian's corpse dangling from the bridge, a young man in dark green considered his next move. I'd better live up to my promise to Dr. Nikos, he ruminated. I can't believe I spent most of my evening trailing him from Regent's Park, going down Hampstead and Tottenham Court Roads all the while, only to bloody lose him at Trafalgar Square. As Tyrian was finally cut down from the bridge, Ren noticed the size of the welts around Tyrian's throat. He blanched in realisation as to what actually happened, and ran into the Blackfriar's tube station. Whoever killed Tyrian must have killed Watts – after all, Watts was strangled and stabbed – so someone is therefore targeting the rest of the Grimm. I'd put my money on the SDC, but I'll find out soon enough.
While the ex-mercenary jumped off the District Line at Kensington High Street, Pyrrha and Jaune had just finished reading the diary of Dr. Watts. To put it mildly, the inspector and the archaeologist were dumbfounded at the severity of Watts's actions.
"So this whole thing was, in a strange way, Watts's fault," Jaune summarised.
Pyrrha, still hurting from losing someone she considered family, shot Jaune an aggrieved look.
"Did you have to restate the bloody obvious, Jaune?!"
Jaune shrank back from her, and immediately looked remorseful.
"I – I'm sorry, Pyrrha. I just have a habit of making sense of these things by verbalising them. I never meant to be insensitive towards you."
Pyrrha's tone and expression softened. "Apology accepted, Jaune."
Qrow smirked behind his clipboard, which he'd been using to draft his report. Already, they're talking like a couple; it won't be long before things kick off between them.
Jaune then turned to face Qrow. "With all this new evidence, Inspector Branwen, what would you do in the face of such a threat? I mean, we may have a potential informant in this Lie Ren character; that's something I'd prefer to follow up."
"Also," Pyrrha interjected, "you told us that there weren't any female corpses when the Tenebrae Club got blown up, so obviously this Emerald person is still out there somewhere. She needs to be dealt with and soon."
Qrow was about to respond when there was a knock at the door.
"I'll get it," he replied.
Upon opening the door, he saw a young Chinese man in a dark green suit, with a briefcase between him and the door.
"Have you read the diary, officer?", he asked.
Qrow blinked, then nodded. "Let me guess, you're Lie Ren?"
Ren nodded. "That's correct, sir. And I'm here to share with you everything I know about this whole situation."
"Very well. However, I must advise that I'll need to hold onto your weapons while we figure out where you stand, and that we'll need to head to Scotland Yard to record the interview."
"That's reasonable. All the weapons I have – two modified Reichsrevolvers, two bayonets, and four throwing knives – are inside this case, along with my few belongings. I'll be ready to leave when you are."
Qrow nodded again, then went inside.
"Who's out there?", Pyrrha enquired.
"The man who dropped the diary off, doctor. I'll take him now and process him at the Yard; I'll get you two to come there within an hour."
"Very well, Inspector."
An hour later, Ren and Jaune were seated in one of Scotland Yard's interrogation rooms. Qrow's gramophone maker was seated to one side of the table, a microphone halfway between the two men. After examining his watch, Jaune set the contraption off and started his business.
"Commencing interview with Mr. Lie Ren at 09:04. You aren't obliged to say anything, but anything you do say may be given as evidence. So, Mr. Lie, let's start at the beginning; what do you know of the organisation known as the Creatures of Grimm?"
"At this point, I'd like to point out that the diary of the late Dr. Arthur Watts made explicit reference to the fact that the Grimm was originally a security-for-hire organisation. Not long after I moved here in 1883, all of eighteen years of age, I was recruited by them for my competency at martial arts – and also because the English army don't allow for flat-footed people within their soldiers. I had first intended to start training people in jiujitsu when I arrived here, but had trouble with the man who was meant to sell me the property for the dojo."
"What kind of trouble?"
Ren looked particularly rueful at this point. "To put it tactfully, he wasn't someone kindly disposed towards my appearance."
Jaune looked sympathetic at this; in his opinion, there really wasn't any logic in hating others for things they didn't get to choose.
"So you tried for the army after this, got rejected on account of your flat feet, and the Grimm hired you?"
"That's correct. At the time, the company was still small, but their reputation amongst private firms was quite stellar and their number doubled the first year I was there. Why, Doctor Watts himself personally signed me up; he was a genuinely decent person."
"So, what sort of actions did you get up to during this benevolent period?"
"I was usually posted in various bars and casinos around London's south and west ends, working as a bouncer. It was quiet, but satisfying work. I continued to do this as my main source of income even after the leadership changed hands five years ago."
"I see," said Jaune. "As a result of Watts's diary, we now know that Watts handed over the reins to Emerald at the time; were there any other leaders alongside her?"
Ren nodded slowly. "Yes; including Emerald, there were four. One of them had been there since the beginning; the other three were appointed within the same month, and were the ones who directly sourced out contracts."
"Did they divide up the Grimm forces at all?"
"Indeed they did; Watts's second-in-command was the organiser and majordomo of the group. I was among the mercenaries, who did all of the legitimate work – but increasingly took on shady work alongside that. The other two factions were the assassins and the mystics, and we collectively were known as the Creatures of Grimm."
"Who were these leaders, Mr. Lie?"
"I'll start with the leader I answered to. He was a tall, alabaster-haired Yorkshireman by the name of Mercury Black. He was, to be perfectly frank, an absolute monster. He took over the mercenary faction of the Grimm when Watts retired. For my part, I always took any legitimate jobs offered to us – and mercifully, he saw the use in keeping up with appearances and allowed it.
"However, it was he who led almost two thirds of the existing mercenaries into the assassin's faction, and sullied our reputation. Ultimately, it was Black who ordered the hit on Weiss Schnee earlier this month, and I was one of about twenty Grimm mercenaries and assassins who didn't take part in the carnage at the Clockwork Pavilion."
Jaune winced in painful nostalgia. He'd heard all too much about that unpleasant business from those colleagues that handled it.
Ren's expression softened in empathy. "After losing a sizeable chunk of our forces there, I was press-ganged into doing murkier work. But I'll tell you this; I never claimed a life at any stage during that time. Thieving's the worst thing I've been forced into doing – and even then, it didn't happen."
Jaune's right eyebrow shot up like a springboard. "How do you mean, 'it didn't happen'?"
Ren cleared his throat. "After the Tenebrae Club blew up and claimed all but one of the assassins, the majordomo wanted me to do something that involved taking something – and that was my appearance at the house of Dr. Watts. The Grimm majordomo gave Tyrian and myself an order to convince Watts to desist from revealing information about us, and I learned afterwards that Tyrian had been asked in secret to 'silence' Watts only if the latter attacked first. But before we could start negotiating with Watts, we found him murdered in cold blood."
"What role did Tyrian play in the organisation, for the record?"
"He was one of their more zealous mystics; many of these were recruited at madhouses and brainwashed by their leader personally. When Tyrian learned that his religion was a complete fabrication, he ran off screaming like an animal. I tried to stop him, but he was just too fast. I dare say you're familiar already with how that panned out."
"Indeed. These mystics sound dangerous, Mr. Lie. Who on earth led them before the disaster?"
"It was Emerald Sustrai who led the mystics. She rightly claimed to be from the Grimm tribe of Egypt that Watts wrote of in his diary, and that the Eye of Ra was a sacred symbol guarded by the tribe as a 'gift from the heavens'; however, those were the only truths she ever told. As we now know thanks to the diary, she arrived just as Watts retired from the group, having taken the reins from him as means of appeasement for his abandonment.
"Without his knowledge, she transformed this organisation from being the Grimm Security Force to the Creatures of Grimm assassin clan we all know about. Her personal magnetism and excellent oratory skill was so subtle, yet so manipulative, that anyone who didn't have complete discipline over their minds found themselves enthralled to her words like it was gospel. However, asides from Tyrian, the mystics were wiped out to the last when the Tenebrae Club blew up."
"That's a relief to hear. What of the third leader for this group?"
"The third leader was the one who started the trend of wearing the masks, led the assassins, and I suspect was the true mastermind of the three. She'd been the majordomo's assistant before the leadership changed. It was Emerald's deception and Mercury's brutality that was utilised by the third leader for her aims."
"To what aims are you referring?"
"I've come to realise now that all three of them were using us as agents of chaos before the Pavilion disaster; I remember that they left us under the majordomo shortly afterwards. When the Tenebrae Club exploded, I believed that Black and the other two leaders tipped off the SDC to cause the latter disaster intentionally, to hide their tracks and dispose of our dying cult. The last assassin among our number tried trailing them, and reported back to the rest of us of a rumour. Allegedly, the three plan to start robbing one of the SDC's automata divisions, but not until half-way through next year at the earliest."
Jaune's face darkened at this development. "The SDC would certainly want to know about that. Do you have any idea why the hell those three did what they did?"
Ren shrugged. "I honestly don't know, Inspector. But if I were to hazard a guess, it appears that they seek to undermine civilisation for the sake of doing so, as though their sole goal is unmitigated chaos and dissension – a far sight indeed from the common criminal's goals of luxury, vice or power."
"Sounds right enough," Jaune agreed. "Before we finish, have you warned anyone else about this?"
"I have. When I realised I missed my chance to rein Tyrian in, I visited a federal politician who'd employed us as bodyguards over the years. I let him know where the other mercenaries were hiding and how bad things had gotten, and he swore to call in one of your top brass about it at the next opportunity – as I understood it, he'd clear a hole in his schedule and meet him at his office in the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday evening."
Jaune nodded, enunciated "Interview concluded at 09:12," then turned off Qrow's gramophone maker.
"Is there anything else I should know about Dr. Watts's murder, by the way?", asked Ren politiely.
Jaune mulled it over for a moment, then responded. "Just that he was strangled, then stabbed – and his butler said that the likely perpetrators were a small, thin person, and a tall, muscular person – and get this, both of them were Grimm agents."
Ren's eye lit up in recognition. "Well, I know who the small one is – although not by name, I'd still recognise her face if I saw it."
"That's … something, at least. Any clue on the burly one?"
"Unfortunately, no; half the surviving mercenaries are of that generic build."
Jaune nodded, writing down a note about Ren's visual confirmation detail in the case file.
"That'll be all for the interrogation, Mr. Lie."
Ren shifted nervously in his seat as Jaune packed away the case file.
"So … are you going to charge me with any offences, Inspector?"
Jaune considered this for a moment, then shook his head. "No. The mystic you worked with, as we both got told, was hanged with a note in his pocket."
"Hold up a minute; I chanced upon the scene when trying to track Tyrian down this morning, and I saw the welts. He had definitely been strangled first."
"Noted. What the papers didn't tell you was that the note was written on the back of a memo from the majordomo. You were to be the "offering" for Scotland Yard when Watts was murdered by Tyrian – but of course, that didn't happen. You certainly didn't go willingly, and the criminal's already been punished for his failure."
Ren looked particularly stunned at this turn of events. "But – but even if I'm cleared of all responsibility for my crimes, I doubt I'll have the ability to find alternative employment with this grievance against my name."
Jaune pondered his options for a moment, before deciding to leave.
"Wait, Inspector; where are you going?!"
Jaune glanced at Ren from the doorway. "To decide your future; what else?"
Making his way around to the viewing room, hidden behind a one-way mirror on the far wall, he approached Pyrrha with a question as Qrow stood in the corner silently.
"Doctor, is there anything you could do to help this man avoid more trouble?"
Pyrrha concentrated for a few silent minutes, then her eyes lit up as an answer arranged itself in her throat.
"I'll employ him as my butler; I'll need someone to watch the house once Coco's married."
Jaune was astonished at how obvious this solution was; he knew someone as empathetic and wise as Pyrrha would have a good answer, but he mentally kicked himself for forgetting her place in London's social strata. Of course this would work, Jaune realised; she'd be earning more than enough to afford paying him a wage – she already has a housekeeper on retainer, after all. Additionally, his training in martial arts and skill with pistols and throwing knives would serve well if Pyrrha took him on one of her adventures.
"Shall I inform Mr. Lie of this idea?", Jaune offered.
"We'll do it together, Jaune," Pyrrha asserted.
As the door to the interviewing room opened again, Ren beheld Jaune leading in a woman he recognised all too well; Dr. Pyrrha Nikos, the woman who's house he'd left the diary at.
"Ren, isn't it?", she asked.
"Yes, milady," Ren responded.
"I've got a good proposition for you; would it interest you to be employed as my butler?"
Ren's eyes widened, and he mulled it over for about quarter of a minute.
"Even though I've never learned to be a butler, I'll give it my all. Just one thing, though; can I please keep my weapons?"
Jaune went to say no, but Pyrrha dryly beat him to the punch. "Well, given how life-threatening archaeology is these days, I'd welcome your expertise in that field."
After a moment's silence, all three of them burst into a good fit of laughter, much to their mutual surprise. Wiping a small tear from his eye, Jaune nodded.
"That's fair enough; Qrow will get them for you. I'll just need to file some paperwork with my superiors, and I'll be at yours soon after you two get there to collect my things."
"Very well, Jaune," Pyrrha replied; "we'll meet you there."
As Jaune, Ren and Pyrrha walked out of the room, Qrow retrieved the gramophone and handed the weapons case over to Ren.
"Regarding the recording, I'll make a copy for your benefit, Jaune. After this, all we'll need to do is find the murderer."
"Indeed; if Ren hears of anything, I'll let you know."
They nodded at each other, and went their separate ways.
After taking the District tube from Embankment back to Kensington High Street, Pyrrha and Ren returned to Pyrrha's home at the stroke of eleven.
"Coco, are you in?"
The response came from the kitchen. "Yes, mon cher. I'm about to head out though; Fox is taking me out to lunch today."
"That's alright; send my regards to Fox when you do."
"Alright, Pyrrha."
Ren took in his new surroundings for the first time; the parlour was on his left with the stairs on the far wall, and an underused billiard room on the right with a small water closet opposite the stairs. Ahead, Ren spotted a well-appointed, large dining room with a door to the kitchen and (presumably) the laundry. As he was led upstairs and shown the first floor, Ren beheld a large workshop at the front of the house.
A small side room on the right wall had the bed that Jaune used yesterday evening, and was likely the one Ren would get when he moved in. He noticed a stairway leading back and up to Pyrrha's chambers on the left wall, and caught a glimpse of Pyrrha's library and study at the back of the floor. As he put his briefcase down, there was a knock at the door.
Moving to get the door, Ren beheld Dr. Watts's murderer at his door.
"Do you have an appointment?", he asked grimly.
The small brunette curtsied. "Yes, I do. I'm Neo Politana, Pyrrha's assistant at Exham Museum, and she'd promised to compile a list of decorations for me to order for the new gallery. And you would be … ?"
"Lie Ren, her butler. Wait here." Ren leaned inside as Pyrrha walked downstairs.
"Your assistant's requested a list of decorations for the gallery, doctor."
"Ah, right; I'll just go fetch it. Won't be a minute!"
As Pyrrha turned to fetch the list she'd written that morning, Ren and Neo stared each other down predatorially. However, both of them realised that keeping their voices and weapons down would probably be the best policy; neither of them wanted to wind up imprisoned for their efforts.
"So," Ren began tersely, "you're working for her, aren't you."
"Sure enough," Neo responded with fake saccharine cheer; "the woman's work pays well!"
"Indeed it does. Look, if you won't mention me to anyone, I'll return the favour."
Neo pondered this for a moment. "Well, you never were one to stir up trouble. I'll leave you out of her and his plans."
Before Ren could ask who her collaborators were, Pyrrha returned and handed Neo the decoration list.
"Thanks Pyrrha. I'd better head off to order all this for Exham. I'll make sure they're delivered tomorrow, Pyrrha; in the meantime, have a good day!"
Pyrrha waved as Neo exited her house. Ren, however, locked the door and took Pyrrha aside, speaking somewhat sternly.
"That woman is not to be trusted."
Pyrrha was startled at this accusation. "How do you mean? I've known her for almost as long as I've worked at Exham, Ren."
Ren decided to soften his tone at this point. "Tell me, did you remember what Watts's butler said about seeing a short person entering his house?"
"Yes, where are you g … oh no."
"Well, that person was Neo – and trust me, I'd know those boots anywhere. She's the last remaining assassin, and we can not let her get to the Eye."
"Wait a second!", Pyrrha exclaimed. "She was with me during the expedition at Saqqara. She must have made the telegram ordering me to go to the Valley of the Kings before we left, and passed it off as official communication."
"Well, that explains why you found the shield. Was she with you at the Valley of the Kings?"
Pyrrha shook her head. "No she wasn't; she was responsible for sending off the things I excavated at Imhotep's tomb. She arrived back in London a few days after I did."
Ren nodded slowly. "It all makes sense now; clearly, Emerald told her of the shield's importance and she tricked you into finding it. At present, I'd say she's likely returning to Exham to find it. Did you remove the shield from its public display?"
Pyrrha gave him a sly look. "Of course I did; it's underneath my bed."
Ren nodded appreciatively. "Good work, Pyrrha. Now, I can tell you that the Eye of Ra is something within the shield – at least, that's what Emerald told me years ago. If that's true, then we'll need to take it to a blacksmith to dismantle it and remove it safely."
Pyrrha's face lit up as an idea came to her. "Well, we can go to the man who helped build my own weapon; he's a dab hand at reforging things."
Ren nodded. "That sounds like a good plan; I'd at least like to ring Inspector Arc and warn him about Neo first."
Pyrrha nodded furiously. "That's fair enough; I'll get my things together in the meantime. We'll depart for Hammersmith soon."
Ren cocked his brows. "Surely that wasn't a cheap pun, Pyrrha?"
Pyrrha chuckled slightly. "I wish."
At that point, there was another knock at the door. Ren approached the peephole, then unlocked the door.
"Come in, Inspector Arc."
"You're settling into the role nicely, Mr. Lie," said Jaune lightly as he entered.
"Thank you, sir. By the way, I've discovered who one of the two murderers of Dr Watts is."
Jaune looked surprised; Ren made for a much better lookout than he'd realised. "You spotted her already?! Who is it?"
"Much to Pyrrha's shock, it's her assistant, one Miss Neo Politana."
Jaune's eyes widened. "She was at the gallery's opening on the 29th - why the hell didn't she take the shield just now?"
"Because we had a terse conversation just before you arrived; she'd come to collect some orders from Pyrrha, and I answered the door. I have reason to believe that she's working for Emerald and someone else."
Jaune's expression shifted from amazement to contemplation, his detective training kicking in as he pondered who the other assailant might have been.
"Maybe the majordomo's taking matters into his own hands?"
Ren shook his head. "That isn't too likely; I've never known the man to be one to work in the field."
Jaune stroked his chin. "Well, that's just brilliant. I'll still need to alert the SDC about the rumour that you heard, and I'll get Qrow onto Neo's case in the meantime."
Ren nodded. "Very well. I'd hurry if I were you, though; Pyrrha and I are taking the Eye of Ra to be dismantled and disposed of safely by her blacksmith."
Jaune quickly nodded, running towards the phone in the parlour. Retrieving the SDC headquarters' number from his list of contacts, Jaune dialled their head office. If only phones could be portable, he lamented; otherwise, I'd be able to contact Qrow and so on without having to hold people up.
A frosty voice greeted him. "This is the SDC Headquarters, what is the nature of your enquiry?"
"Business-related; I'm from Scotland Yard and need to be directed towards Miss Weiss Schnee as soon as possible."
"One moment." The receptionist used the new intercom to enquire if Weiss was free. Getting an affirmative, the receptionist patched Jaune's call through to her private office.
"This is Weiss Schnee speaking; state your business."
"I'm Inspector Jaune Arc of Scotland Yard, and I'm calling about the Grimm."
Weiss sat bolt upright in her seat; she needed to know if the Grimm were still out there.
"What do you need to tell me, Inspector?"
"That three of their number have escaped. One of them is an unknown female, but two of them are a young Egyptian called Emerald Sustrai and a young Yorkshireman called Mercury Black. I've received reliable information that they intend to start attacking one of the SDC's automata divisions around July next year."
Weiss stared into her coffee dramatically. "I'll keep my eyes peeled for those fiends. Thank you for the warning, Inspector."
Jaune hung up, ringing Qrow as Pyrrha walked downstairs with Jaune's things and the shield.
"You're through to Special Branch; Inspector Branwen speaking."
"Qrow, it's Inspector Jaune Arc here. The murderer has been positively identified; it's Miss Neo Politana of Exham Museum."
"Acknowledged, Jaune. I'll get onto her at once."
"Roger that. See you soon." Jaune hung up again, collected his things, then escorted Pyrrha and Ren to his cab.
"So, where are we heading next?"
A/N: The title of this one is Eastern Redemption, and the song for this chapter is "Repentance" by Dream Theater.
First up, I'm going to be taking a week's break to catch up with the writing and other things - think of this chapter as a mid-season finale. We've got six more chapters to go, including the epilogue.
Second, I'm sorry if the exposition that Ren gives is a bit complicated. In case any of you are lost, Neo's now on the wanted list, the Eye is being dealt with, the second killer is still at large, and Ren's now on the heroes' side. That's the bare bones of it. (Update: In response to Cooler, Emerald led the Mystics, Merc led the mercenaries, the unknown leader led the assassins, and the majordomo kept the books and minutes).
And thirdly, who else is enjoying Qrow shipping Arkos? I certainly am. :D
Anyway, thanks to you all for enjoying this so far. See you next week!
