Chapter Twenty-Nine: Targets

…

Link was only mildly joking. He knew that City Watch had some strict rules about its officers gambling, especially while in uniform. At the same time, however, he really did want to know what it was like to dine on a detective sergeant's salary since he had to save most of his dismal paycheck for his living expenses. He had not had a decent meal since he had left Subordo, and care packages from Mara were few and far between due to the Royal Post not being particularly careful with the first two packages she had sent him.

About half an hour later, he was even more disappointed she had not taken the bet.

Navi had initially written off going to the Bolton house until later that evening because the girls' schedules indicated that they would not be home until then (having only discovered this fact once they had looked at the schedules). But Link had been right; in light of their friend's murder, the girls had decided to stay home rather than trod around the campus that Fiametta had been killed on.

To their fortune, House Bolton was only a couple minutes' ride away from House Hremorson. It had a similar size and look to the Hremorson property: a piece of land almost the size of a city block, red brick home (although only two stories high), and a front gate of mainly wrought iron. The gate was intriguing to Link; unlike some of the other nearby properties, it looked to have been recently replaced. The seal of Bolton, framed on a disk directly above the doors, was a capitol B surrounded by ivy with the phrase "No greater tools than one's own hands" arced over the top. Inside, the entrance hall was a lower ceiling than most of the noble homes either officer had been in. Someone in the family had a love of burgundy, giving the interior a permanent feeling of sunset with matching wall paint, drapes, and carpets. Unlike House Hremorson with the trappings of a knighthood, Link had the impression that they had entered the home of an art connoisseur with a hand-chiseled gargoyle butler forever greeting guests with a courteous bow just inside the door and various landscape paintings hanging on the walls.

The staff brought them to the dining room, revealing relatively modest accommodations for dinner on par with Link's memory of dining with the Brettson household. In fact, he checked the side of the table and found a mark similar to Brettson's brand, except the symbol was round instead of angled and mirrored top to bottom to look more like a clover. Navi took a chair on the long end and angled it so that she was looking at the pair of chairs on the adjacent side closest to the room's entrance. Lord Filmore Bolton joined them about ten minutes later. The lord was a stout man sporting a pince-nez and dressed in a richly-designed, dark purple smoking jacket with matching slacks. He looked at the Watch officers and nodded to himself as he took a seat, one hand rubbing a freshly-shaven scalp.

His daughter, Priscilla, stepped in not long after wearing a silk dressing gown over what looked like wool nightgown. Her hair was a tousled mess of brown which she had been brushing as she had stepped into the dining room, clearly not expecting any sort of company. Link bowed his head in embarrassment, feeling his face warm up.

Priscilla gave a yelp when, in a scramble to close her dressing gown, she yanked the brush and pulled out some of her hair with a brief, audible rip. "Ah—Daddy!" she cried, shoving the brush into the gown before pulling it shut. "You could say something about company being here!"

"I'm sorry, Pris," Lord Bolton said with a sigh. "But these are officers of the Watch. They have some questions about Fiametta."

Priscilla's indignation melted into melancholy almost instantly. "Oh…" was the best response she had as she looked away.

"We are aware that you are in mourning for your friend's loss," Navi said. "We will try not to take up much of your time."

"It is no trouble," Lord Bolton said as Priscilla took a seat next to him, the chair closer to Navi. "But I must admit I'm a little confused. Pris told me that you already spoke to her at the school. What more did you need to know?"

"Well, we've run into a bit of a roadblock, My Lord," Navi said. "Tragic as this has been for all involved, we cannot seem to identify any sort of cause or justification for Miss Hremorson's death."

"As I understand, you had her previous boyfriend level a death threat at her."

"He has an alibi, My Lord. Even still, this happened far too soon for him to have had a hand in it." Priscilla opened her mouth to speak. However, she seemed to stop herself. Navi noticed her and asked, "Something we should know, Miss Bolton?"

"I just… I would have thought Harland would have been it," she said. "Does no one believe he could have done this?"

"Are you so easily convinced he would have been responsible, knowing that he is about as much of a hothead as Miss Hremorson was?" Navi asked in turn.

Priscilla sighed, bowed her head, and took a moment to think before giving a negative shake. "No," she said. "I suppose not."

"I cannot say I know much about the Lord Hremorson," Lord Bolton said, "but he doesn't seem like the type to easily have an enemy that would want him actually dead. Young Fiametta, well… she's always been a pistol."

"Maybe… maybe it was one of the other nobles there," Priscilla suggested. "We've had plenty of issues with them."

"We will be looking into the situation tomorrow," Navi said. "In the meantime, Lord Bolton, I wonder if there is any… adversaries you would like to tell us about."

Filmore Bolton's neck recoiled. "'Adversaries'?" he repeated. "You mean… someone who might want to harm me?"

"Someone who might consider killing your daughter in an effort to harm or manipulate you, My Lord," Navi clarified.

Lord Bolton shook his head. "I don't understand."

"My Lord, we haven't quite confirmed whether Miss Hremorson was the target of this shooting. Miss Bolton here and Miss Affini were reportedly standing in front of her when she was shot, so we have to wonder if one of them might have been the intended target."

Lord Bolton looked stiff. He glanced down at one side and rubbed his head. "I… If I had such adversaries, I wouldn't mind telling you," he admitted. "But someone who would want to kill any of us? I'd like to think I stay away from that circle."

"Even though you have an art collection that any other noble might kill for?" Link spoke up.

Both Boltons glanced up in surprise, as if they had forgotten that Link was standing just beyond Navi's shoulder. Then Lord Bolton glanced at a painting on the wall behind him as if remembering something. He turned back to Navi and said, "Well, I cannot deny that I might have stepped on a few toes in building my collection. Some of these other art collectors can be quite irate when they miss out on a painting because someone else got to it first. But to kill for it? We certainly cannot be that psychotic. After all, one does not simply take a piece just because the one who bought it is dead."

"But you have had some encounters with people whom you have angered in purchasing art, My Lord," Navi reiterated.

Lord Bolton shrugged. "It has been some time since I've met anyone like that."

"How long would you say, My Lord?"

The lord shook his head as he tried to remember. "Three… four months, perhaps. Auction grounds in Kari. Some… big shot from Kakariko threw a hissy fit after I'd out-bid him on an expensive Pardo."

"Do you remember his name, My Lord?"

Bolton shook his head. "It didn't seem important at the time. Nothing really seemed to come of it; he was right back into bidding on a vase as if nothing happened."

"And you never received any letters or messages threatening your or your family's lives, My Lord?"

"Nothing I can think of. When you're an art collector, people will just spit the word 'bastard' in your face and then storm off who knows where." For emphasis, he gestured toward one of the large windows showing the yard and neighbor's house. "Collectors like myself have securities in place in the event of their passing, so killing a collector yields nothing but whatever empty vengeance a person thinks they deserve."

"It sounds like someone somewhere had that happen to them before," Link commented.

Bolton pulled back one corner of his mouth. "Yeah, I suppose it has, young man," he said. "I cannot imagine where or when. When I took up my father's passion for art, he explained these things to me so that I could protect my own collection. I couldn't even say whether he had heard of a collector being murdered and robbed of his collection. I have met collectors of many sorts and stories, but I have yet to meet one who would even utter a death threat much less carry one out. On the day I happen to, though, I hope the Watch will be taking me seriously. I can't imagine you get many cases of people being murdered over artwork." He concluded his comment with a grin.

"It will not be the strangest case we will have had, My Lord," Navi said with a level tone.

"Think we already covered that one…" Link mumbled.

Navi halfway glanced at him with a flash of an irritated look before addressing Priscilla. "Miss Bolton, have you ever been approached by anyone who has threatened you or your family?" she asked.

"No, ma'am," Priscilla replied.

"I understand that you and your friends have a reputation for strong disagreements with other students at the Academy," Navi said. "Have any—"

"Who told you that?!" Priscilla cried.

Navi raised an eyebrow at the indignant tone in her voice. "No less than Headmaster Allight Insallar, Miss. He referred to your group by each of your names and had already prepared your class schedules before we requested them."

Lord Bolton chortled. "It's a good thing our family doesn't rely on reputation for our business, or else this would be embarrassing."

Navi took in the mortified look on Priscilla's face before asking, "If you do not mind, My Lord, what is your business?"

"Mining and manufacturing," Lord Bolton replied. "Nothing big. I own a mine outside the Great Desert, and my factory processes metal and manufactures cheap work tools."

"Have you had anyone approach you about your business?" Navi asked.

Lord Bolton shrugged and said, "I'm afraid I'm even less aware of business rivals in comparison to my collector rivals. I appear to do decent enough. I'm not blind to competition, mind you; I just don't know how to research that kind of information." He chuckled and added, "The, um… business-oriented courses of the Academy were quite exclusive. They've since opened up, and Pris here will be trying to get in next year."

"Given your collection, I can't imagine you're doin' too bad," Link commented. "Some of these pieces could easily run into thousands just on the names alone."

Lord Bolton gave Link a surprised look. "Yes, I do seem to be doing well enough," he said. He crossed his arms. "You have an eye for artwork yourself, young man?"

Link grinned. "I like lookin' at purdy pictures, too," he said in a thicker accent. He glanced down to see the back of Navi's head turn scarlet.

Lord Bolton deigned a grin. "I bet you do."

"If we can get back to the matter at-hand, My Lord," Navi said as her hair changed back to normal. Lord Bolton gave a laugh through his nose and nodded. She addressed Priscilla again, "Miss, have you been approached by anyone at the school? Anyone who has found your behavior unacceptable?"

Priscilla had to shake her head to clear off the bewilderment on her face. "N-no, ma'am," she replied.

"Has anyone threatened to harm you personally? Other than the fistfight?"

"'Fistfight'?" Lord Bolton asked, causing his daughter to shrink in her seat.

"It sounded more like a 'brawl', really," Link spoke up, further causing Priscilla's face to redden until she ducked her head in embarrassment.

Lord Bolton gave his daughter an intrigued look. "Who won?" he asked. Link snorted and turned away.

"Daddy!" Priscilla snapped as she faced him.

"The headmaster seemed to imply that Priscilla's group were the victors, My Lord," Navi answered.

Lord Bolton chuckled. "Of course," he said. "With Miss Hremorson in the lead, naturally."

"Dad, please stop talking about it," Priscilla said. "That was two years ago!"

"Have you or any of your friends had contact with that group since then?" Navi asked.

Priscilla turned back to Navi. She sighed as if releasing the rest of her embarrassment and rested against the back of her chair. "Not all of them," she said. "I have two in my regular classes, but I also have Sarita with me. We always sit on opposite sides of the class."

"What about anyone else?" Navi asked. "Perhaps another person who confronted Miss Hremorson before? Or perhaps confronted any of your other friends?"

Priscilla shook her head. "Fia was the only one who was constantly getting into confrontations. I think one tried to start something with Catrina; she's usually the quiet one. Fia threatened to break her nose with a wooden sword. Uh, the other girl, not Catrina."

"I understand that there is a… culture of stealing boyfriends at the school," Navi said. "Have you ever had this experience?"

"She can't," Lord Bolton spoke up.

"Huh?" Navi asked in confusion.

Priscilla bowed her head and latched her hands over her ears. "Daddy, please don't say it," she told him.

Navi looked between the two. "I'm sorry, I don't understand," she said.

"It's fine, Detective," Lord Bolton replied. "Just… understand that my daughter has never had a boyfriend and move on."

"Never had a… Why?" Navi asked.

"Detective Sergeant?" Navi turned in her chair in response to Link's voice. His face had lost its previous humor, his expression a surprisingly sober look. "I think I understand what's goin' on. We should probably move to the next question."

Navi regarded him for a moment. Then she turned back to the Boltons. "Okay, um… I… suppose I'm out of questions for the time being," she admitted. "Unless either of you have any other details you think are relevant to the case."

"Pris?" Lord Bolton asked.

Priscilla, having relaxed once again, shook her head. "I can't think of anything else," she told Navi.

Lord Bolton released a sigh. "I'm sorry, Detective," he said as he stood up. "I wish I could tell you more. Um… I do have a final question."

"Yes, My Lord?" Navi said, having already stood and about to push her chair under the table.

"Do… you still suspect that this shooter might have been targeting my daughter?"

Navi heaved a sigh. "At this point in time, I would advise you to be cautious," she said. "Until the Watch has apprehended the suspect, we should consider the possibility that someone, whether you believe so or not, may be a danger to your family."

"I have a small cottage outside of Kari," he said. "Very remote, no one really knows it's there. Would you find it a reasonable shelter for some time? Perhaps a month or so?"

"My Lord, if you are talking about packing your household and taking them out of the city, I would strongly advise against it. Outside of Kari means you will have no police protection, and the Watch does not have the manpower to send officers to guard you and your family. If you go, you could potentially leave yourselves exposed."

Lord Bolton nodded. "Of course, Detective," he replied. "I was an idea. Idella?"

One of the servants, a maid who had been nearby when the head of the staff had invited them in, quickly strode forward from her post in the doorway. "Yes, My Lord?" she asked.

"Please escort the detectives out. I would like a moment to speak with my daughter."

"Yes, My Lord." The maid then gestured to the doorway. "Ma'am? Sir?"

Navi and Lord Bolton exchanged a few more words before she and Link were escorted to the front door. Once outside, they climbed into the wagon. Both seemed to agree that now was a good time to take a breath before doing anything else.

So, Navi asked, "What was all that about Miss Bolton not having a boyfriend?"

Link, with his head resting atop the back of the seat, gave a chortle before answering, "She's gay."

Navi blinked in confusion, her hair turning purple. "She's what?"

"She's gay. She likes girls."

She glanced at the side of the wagon as if to look back into the Bolton house. "You mean… wait, is that a thing among Hylians? To be attracted to the same sex?"

"You've never encountered a gay person before, Detective Sergeant?" Link said, his voice giving a hint of amusement.

"I would've never considered it before. That doesn't make any sense!"

"In what way?"

"Where-where is family supposed to come in if you have a relationship with someone of the same sex?"

"There's always a way, Detective Sergeant. I've been friends with a few gay couples around Ordon. Trust me; they make it work."

Navi groaned and let her hands flop onto the seat. "Did…?" Link looked up in response, wondering what she was about to ask. Instead of finishing the question, she pressed a hand over her eyes. "I didn't even… Ugh… It makes sense now…"

"Problem?" Link asked.

Navi sighed. "A case I had a few months ago. A divorce that got messy when the husband killed whom we thought was a random woman. Now it makes sense. The wife was cheating with a woman."

Link leaned forward with a smirk on his face. "Things startin' to fit together this late, huh?" he asked.

"Rusk had said something to Wheatland about it, and Wheatland asked me a few questions. Then he reassigned me to a different case with Jester. I didn't realize he was asking if I was familiar with gay people; he was so evasive about it." She frowned at Link. "Wait, does everybody get like that when they're talking about gay people?"

"There is an urge to keep it from bein' said aloud," Link said with a nod. "It has more to do with people trying not to discuss sexual relationships in general while in public. Bein' gay just tends to be stricter. I think it's something that is worse for the nobles. How do you keep a bloodline goin'?"

"It does appear to be a problem," Navi agreed.

"You've seen all the stuff in the papers about those laws the nobles are trying to pass, right? The ones about allowin' adopted kids to gain inheritance?"

Navi's mouth drooped open as she began to understand. "You mean… those laws were supposed to support gay nobles?" she asked.

Link nodded. "The papers won't say it, but it's there. Everybody knows." He then shrugged. "But, I think that's a talk for another day. Right?"

"Yes," Navi said with a sigh. "Though… I will admit, the whole gay thing… I think it makes sense now. I mean, from the perspective of some of the cases I've had. Not in Homicide, in the Travel division. It also explains why I would get reassigned." She gave a frustrated growl. "Why didn't anyone tell me before?"

Link shrugged. "They might've been afraid you'd blab about it."

Navi folded her arms and crossed one leg over the other, a perfect picture of indignation punctuated by her hair turning maroon. "I'd like to think I'm a professional."

Link shrugged again. "You're also a fairy."

"So I'm subject to stereotypes?" she challenged.

"Yep."

Her hair turned bright red as she glared at him. "Right," she said. "Have the driver take us to Affini's house. Now."

Link suppressed his grin, deciding that he was done annoying his superior as he turned to talk to the driver.

…

The Affini house was in an area of the Castlefoot District where the houses were built up instead of out due to the close proximity of homes to one another. Link remembered patrolling this area when he had been assigned to one of the district stations. It was not an area known for crime, but there were occasions where he had had to intervene while on patrol. Some of the poorly-tempered nobles often started screaming and beating others on the streets here, often for slights that any normal passerby would dismiss as imagination. He had once had to stop some noblewoman who had been screeching at a man for staring at her chest when her back had been turned. Which only caused Link to ask more questions since not only would she be unable to perceive the man looking at her chest, but the man also turned out to be nearly completely blind. Link's only recourse had been to feign arresting the man just to placate the noblewoman and then assist the man in his harrowing trip to see a doctor. The number of times he had had to respond to the nobles in this area had left him even less impressed than the first time he had tried to arrest Layla.

The Affinis lived in a three-story house with at least an ample yard. A large number of toys inside the tall, wrought-iron fence hinted at the presence of a number of small children. The Affinis' House seal was…

Missing. Even in the waning light of the setting sun and a shadow cast over the main gate from a taller building across the street, Link and Navi could see the spot where a round seal had been hanging over the metal display p;ate, given away by the tarnished color of the copper plate that had been exposed to the elements. This only enforced the peculiar sight of chains and a padlock holding the front gate shut. As if to test it, Link tugged on the lock.

"Did I miss something?" Navi seemed to ask the house with a frustrated tone. "This house looks empty."

"Well… that's a new one," Link commented as he tugged on the gate itself to find it locked.

Navi turned around. "Constable, is this the correct address?" Navi asked Constable Enroe, the young man serving as their driver.

Enroe, giving his freshly-shorn head a confused rub, pointed to the address plate on the other side of the gate. "That's the address you gave me, right?" he asked.

Link glanced at the address and said, "Yep, that's the one."

"So where are they?" Navi asked. "Did they move and not give their new address?"

"And leave toys all over the yard?" Link asked, pointing through the bars.

Navi glanced back and forth at the neighboring properties, but no one else appeared to be outside. "Constable Enroe, would you try asking around a bit? See if the neighbors saw anything?"

"Yes, ma'am," Enroe said.

Link heard Enroe clamber down from the wagon and was about to turn to ask if Navi wanted him to do anything as well. But then, his mind tapped him on the shoulder. His head quickly snapped back toward the house just in time to see curtains in one of the front windows jerk closed. Link gave a dismissive shrug and stepped to one side, placing one of the brick pillars that formed the front entrance between him and the window.

"Detective Sergeant, there's someone inside."

Navi turned to him, having been distracted watching Enroe walk up the street to one of the neighbor's houses. "Are you sure?" she asked.

Link nodded. "I just saw someone duck out of the window," he said in a low voice. "I think they're watching us."

"Why?" she asked.

"I bet Affini took off like Bolton was plannin' to. But, naturally, you can't just leave the house empty."

"Did you happen to see who it was?"

Link shook his head. "I just barely noticed someone there. Probably one of the servants; if I was Affini, I'd've packed the whole family and rode out. That probably explains why there're toys still in the yard."

Navi contemplated the house. "We could enter the gate on the premise of seeing a suspicious person."

"Doesn't guarantee we'll find anyone to talk to," Link said. Then he held up a finger. "I got an idea, though."

"What?" Navi asked as he stepped past her. She watched him open the wagon and step inside. Rustling told her he was shuffling through the papers they had gotten from the academy. Then there was a moment of silence before Link stepped back out. "What are you…?" Link handed her a piece of paper. She unfolded it and read:

—Constable Link Fieldview and Detective Sergeant Navi of the Watch

—Looking for information about Fia's death, spoke to Pris

—Need to speak to Jessica, urgent

—Homicide division, find us at Watch Headquarters

Navi flipped the paper over to find that he had written the note on the back of Jessica Affini's class schedule. "Why did you write on this?" she asked him.

"In case there's any doubt, they can check with the academy about us havin' her schedule," Link said.

"How do you know they'll even read it?"

Link shrugged and casually said, "I'm gonna slip it under the door."

Before Navi could ask anymore, Link snagged the note out of her hand and turned around. He stepped closer to the fence and looked up at the horizontal bar at the top. After grimacing at the spikes topping the vertical bars, he folded and pocketed the note. Then he jumped up and latched onto the horizontal bar. He pulled up until one spike was just in front of his face, and he quickly swung his left foot up to brace against the brick gate. This let him push against the gate and brace himself on his right foot so that he could then sling his left foot between the spikes. He tried not to think about what would happen if he slipped as he hauled himself over the fence. He adjusted his hands carefully, one at a time, until he was far enough past the spikes that he pushed away and dropped to the ground.

"Detective Sergeant?"

Navi turned as Enroe jogged up to her. "Anything?" she asked.

"No, ma'am," he reported. He turned and indicated the neighboring house on the left. "The head of staff there said they had seen the eldest daughter return early yesterday afternoon, and then they haven't seen anyone at all. He thought it was strange how quiet it was this afternoon; apparently, this family has four kids usually playing in the yard."

"That explains all the toys…"

Link, as they spoke, jogged to the front door and checked the windows. When he saw no one looking, he took the note out of his pocket and slid it in the gap under the door. Satisfied that there was nothing else to do on this side of the fence, he returned and climbed back over.

Once he dropped to the sidewalk, Navi turned and told Enroe, "We're returning to headquarters."

"Yes, ma'am," Enroe replied before he started his climb onto the wagon.

"Augh," Link grunted as he stood up. "Man, that's a tough climb. What's our next move, Detective Sergeant?"

"Back to headquarters," she said. "There's nothing else to do today; it's getting late. Affini will probably need a couple of days to receive the note. Tomorrow, we'll go back to the school and talk to Hremorson's teachers."