Remy spent the rest of the day in the Captain's office, or in the courtyard under close observation from one of the Musketeers. He wasn't allowed to work at all, which frustrated him, and didn't please Lucas much either, who was stuck doing all the work himself for yet another day. He shot several dark looks Remy's way, but Remy simply ignored him. Athos even tucked him into bed that night, fussing over him, but in truth, Remy was too tired to really find it annoying. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He woke the next day feeling much better. He wasn't tired, his head barely hurt at all, the fogginess had cleared and he didn't even feel sick anymore. Unfortunately, he could now clearly remember hitting Porthos, and cringed at the memory. He was sat quietly in the courtyard when Athos arrived.

Athos ruffled his hair. "Feeling better?"

Remy nodded.

"Eaten breakfast?"

He shook his head and Athos frowned.

"Athos!" The Captain stuck his head through the doorway. "Another theft last night. My office. Now." He saw the look Athos threw at Remy. "And bring him with you."

Remy sat by the table, chewing a chunk of bread and staring at the map of the city, while Athos and the Captain discussed the thefts.

"What are the red markers?" he asked.

The Captain looked up from the papers he was searching through. "They're the places where we know thefts have taken place."

"And the blue ones?"

"Places the perpetrators may be located. Their meeting places and hangouts. Well, possible locations anyway."

"Green?"

"Places we think may be the targets of future thefts."

Remy nodded and studied the map carefully as the Captain found the paper he'd been searching for and handed it to Athos. "Again. They thought the doors were locked. No idea how they got in."

Athos rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It's as though someone inside the building unlocks the door and lets them in. Yet we've checked the household lists carefully, and there are no servants or visitors who were present at all of these places."

Remy moved some of the markers around the map, removing a couple of red and green ones, adding a couple of red ones and several green ones. He also added some blue markers. Neither man noticed, and he said nothing. Once he'd finished adjusting the map to his satisfaction, he wandered over to the window and peered out. Lucas was struggling to saddle a horse. The horse was being awkward, stepping sideways every time Lucas got close. Remy grinned, watching the horse win the battle of wits, although to Remy's way of thinking, the horse had an unfair advantage, since it actually had some wits.

"Well, I have some errands to run in town. Come on, Remy." Athos grabbed him by the shoulder and gently steered him down the stairs, across the courtyard, and out into the town. They seemed to wander aimlessly, but Remy soon realised that Athos was searching people out. When he found them, he'd stop and talk to them for a minute or two, and then they were moving again. Eventually, Athos stopped at a shop and pushed the door open.

"In you go."

Remy stepped inside and looked around. He was in a barbers shop. He frowned and looked round at Athos, who was just closing the door behind him.

"Athos! Too long my friend. Come, sit."

Athos shook hands with the wiry shop owner and sat down in a chair, tossing his hat casually onto a counter top.

"How's it going, Luigi?"

"Can't complain. Well, I can, but does anyone ever listen?" He laughed at his own joke. "And who is this young man?"

Remy shifted a little and glanced back to the door.

"That's Remy. Sit down, boy. You're making the place look untidy." Athos pointed to a chair, and Remy sat down quickly.

"Pleased to meet you, Remy. So, my friend, the usual?"

"Please, Luigi."

Luigi grabbed his scissors and started trimming Athos's hair, chattering about people Remy had never heard of, but who all seemed to be related to Luigi in some way. Remy stopped trying to work it out and decided that Luigi must have the biggest family in the history of the world. Thankfully, it didn't take Luigi long to finish.

"There. Much better. Don't leave it so long next time."

Athos smiled. "I'll try not to." He looked at Remy, and then at Luigi.

Luigi smiled. "Ah, the boy needs his hair cutting too, yes?"

Remy shook his head.

Athos chuckled. "Yes, he does."

"No, honestly. It's fine."

Luigi patted the chair in front of him. "Ah, but Luigi won't cut your ear off. I just make your hair neater. No pain, I promise. Come, sit here."

Reluctantly, Remy sat in the chair indicated and closed his eyes. Haircuts were not something he was fond of. Sharp objects near his face made him nervous, and he always ended up with hair that was way too short, or with a cut in his ear or neck. Luigi, however, was good to his word, and didn't cut Remy's ear, or his neck. In fact, he barely noticed his hair being cut at all. He could hear the scissors, but that was about it. He risked opening one eye, to see Athos sat opposite him, grinning broadly.

"I wouldn't let Luigi cut my hair if I didn't trust him, Remy. He's good at his job."

Remy opened his other eye and tried to relax.

"There. All done. Neater, yes?"

"Yes," agreed Athos. "Much neater."

Remy peered dubiously at his reflection in a mirror. He had to admit, it did look a lot neater. Added to that, he could now see out without brushing his hair from his eyes. He grinned shyly at Luigi.

"Thanks."

Luigi beamed at him. "You're very welcome, Remy. You come back again, I keep it neat."

Athos handed some coins over to Luigi and opened the door. "Come on, boy. let's go find some lunch."

They ended up in a tavern not too far from the barracks. It was dimly lit, yet clean, warm and somehow welcoming. Aramis and Porthos were already sat at a table by a window. Athos pushed Remy towards them and walked to the counter.

"Hey, you got a haircut." Porthos grinned at Remy, who blushed a little self consciously.

"Much better," remarked Aramis. "Now you can see Porthos properly when you try to hit him."

Porthos growled good naturedly at Aramis as Remy grinned sheepishly.

Athos dropped into the chair beside Porthos. "Any luck?"

Aramis shook his head. "No one knows anything. At least, not anything they're willing to tell us about."

The waitress came over with two dishes of food, putting one in front of Athos and the other in front of Remy. Remy stared at it. It looked and smelled like good stew and had a big lump of bread with it. Well it did until Porthos reached over and grabbed Remy's bread. Athos thumped him in the arm, none too gently.

"What? I'm hungry. Besides, we ordered before you."

"Not my problem."

Porthos grumbled, chewing on the bread, but quietened as his own dish arrived. "How come we get ours after them?"

The waitress smiled. "You don't look like you need feeding up."

Remy nearly choked on his stew, while Athos and Aramis collapsed into laughter. Porthos just tried to look hurt, although the smile on his face spoiled the effect. Athos grabbed the bread from Porthos's dish and tossed it over to Remy.

"There. Now shut up and eat."

Remy was feeling better than he had in ages. His stomach was full, he seemed to have found a steady source of decent work, and he'd also found a few people who were actually willing to look out for him. Life was looking up.

The captain strode to the middle of the courtyard to greet them. "Anything?"

Athos shook his head. "No. Not a thing."

"Damn. We'll just have to keep trying. So, are you ready to do some work, Remy?"

Remy nodded eagerly. "Yes, Sir."

Athos grinned and ruffled his hair.

"He's a thief!"

Remy spun around, stunned. Lucas was striding purposefully across the yard. "I knew it. I told you all, but you wouldn't listen. He's no good. He's a thief."

"Lucas, you had better have something to back up an accusation like that." The Captain glared fiercely at Lucas, but Lucas just grinned triumphantly at Remy.

"I do. I have proof. This. This is proof. This can't be his. He stole it. He's a thief." Lucas held something up above his head. It was a small, disc shaped object, that glinted silver in the afternoon sun. Remy's heart sank. He knew what Lucas had in his hand, but not how he'd got it. It had been safe in his pack in the trunk at the bottom of his bed.

Lucas handed the trinket over to the Captain, who gave it a cursory glance before handing it to Athos. Remy wanted to scream that it was his, that he hadn't stolen it, that he wasn't a thief. He looked to Athos for reassurance and the words died in his throat. Athos was turning the silver pendant over in his fingers with a look that was a strange cross between bewilderment and anger. Remy looked at Porthos and Aramis, but they were trying to look at the trinket. The Captain looked worried.

"He's a thief," gloated Lucas. "I told you all, you wouldn't listen. I was right. he's a thief."

Remy had heard enough. He turned and ran to the edge of the yard, leaping up onto a bench and launching himself upwards, grabbing the roof overhang with his fingertips. A quick adjustment of his grip, and he pulled himself up with ease, scrambling up to the apex of the roof and sliding down the other side. He didn't look back once, not even when he heard Aramis yell for him to stop.

Aramis sank into a chair in the Captain's office, batting the rain from his hat onto the floor, despite a disapproving glare from Treville.

"Any sign of the boy?"

Aramis wearily shook his head. "None at all."

"How's Athos doing?"

"Worst mood I've ever known him to have, and that's saying a lot. He should be unconscious with the amount he drank yesterday, but he just kept on going. I'm pretty sure he hasn't slept for the last three days. Every time Porthos or I sit down, he actually growls at us."

The Captain sighed. "And trying to find Remy isn't helping me get to the bottom of these thefts either. We had another last night. Which reminds me, I must update the map." He crossed to the table. "Have you been messing around with this?"

Aramis frowned. "I haven't touched it."

"Well, someone has. They weren't there before." He stared at the map in irritation. "I'll have to start again now."

As he reached down to move the markers on the map, Athos walked into the room.

"Wait!"

The Captain waited, with his hand on one of the markers and a questioning look on his face.

"Remy was asking about that map."

The Captain frowned a little, remembering. "Yes, yes he was. He wanted to know what the different colored markers meant. Can you remember where they were before?"

Athos strode over. "I think so. Some of them anyway. One red marker bottom right is missing, but there are two new red ones in the top left. There's some new green ones as well. Wait, where was the theft last night?"

The Captain rifled through his papers. "Rue de Chausson. And the one before that was Montpelier Jardins."

Athos growled. "We didn't have green markers for either of them, but they're there now. Remy! Damn it."

"Any new blue ones?" asked the Captain.

Athos studied the map. "Yes! Three new ones." He grabbed some paper and wrote down the addresses. "Damn it, Remy. Why couldn't you just say something."

"Probably worried about what the response would be," suggested Aramis, cautiously.

Athos sighed and nodded. "Probably. But he can't be responsible for all these thefts. Not on his own, anyway. Hell, he was asleep in the barracks when some of these places were robbed, and we were watching over him."

The Captain nodded in agreement. "True, but it does seem that he knows more about these thefts than we do, and in his own way, he was trying to help us. Better find him, Athos, and quickly, before he gets in too deep. If he hasn't already."