“Any particular type, madam?”
“Something with large fangs, if possible. Something Espani would be best. At the very least, it must be foreign and about this large.” She held up her hands two feet apart.
“Yes, madam,” Izza said. “I’m not sure how long it will take to secure an exotic animal. When do you need it?”
“Noon tomorrow.” Lady Sade watched the young woman hesitate, swallow, and wet her lips. “Have the cage loaded on my steam carriage, out of sight.”
Izza nodded. “Of course, madam. I’ll see to it immediately. Will this impact your meeting with the police detective? You have that scheduled at noon as well.”
I forgot. I never forget. I’m relying too much on Izza these days. Lady Sade paused. “No, that’s fine. I’ll just bring the detective with me. Two birds with one stone. She doesn’t speak Espani, does she? No, I can’t imagine she does, so that won’t be a problem.”
Lady Sade picked up her translation of the telegram again.
Train explosion. That could mean anything. Damn it, Barika.
“And Izza, we will need to pay a quick visit to the North Station first thing after breakfast tomorrow. I need to see about a train.”
“Of course, madam.”
“Thank you, Izza.”
Izza curtsied and left. Lady Sade leaned back in her chair, idly wondering what lengths the poor girl would go to in finding the animal. I really should get her a gift, or maybe give her an afternoon off sometime. She’s been looking a little tired lately.
Chapter 6. Syfax
“I can’t wait for your captain all night.” Syfax paced the length of the front desk of the Port Chellah central police station. It was a short walk. “I’ve got a prisoner I need to get off the airfield into a cell, and a murderer about to enter the city on foot. You.” He pointed at the young woman at the desk. “Get up. You’re coming with me. Now.”
“Sorry, sir. But I’m the only one here and I can’t go anywhere without Captain Aknin’s order.” The sergeant in gray folded her hands on the desk.
Are you kidding me, kid? Syfax pointed at the bars on his shoulder. “I outrank your captain.”
“And I appreciate that, but you’re outside my chain of command, sir. You’re Security Section Two, we’re Section Five.” The sergeant swallowed, her thumbs fidgeting. “It’s protocol. My hands are tied until my captain gets here.”
“And when will that be? You sent for her over half an hour ago.”
She shrugged and dropped her gaze to her hands. “I assume she’ll be here soon, sir. You know as much as I do. All I can tell you is that the captain was definitely home earlier tonight when I brought her the evening mail.”
Syfax thumbed his nose and crossed his arms. “The mail?”
“Yes, the late correspondence. We usually get a few messages after the day shift has left. There were a couple of telegrams from Tingis tonight.”
“That’s probably my general telling your captain that I’m coming,” Syfax said. “You said a couple of telegrams? What was the other one?”
The sergeant flipped through the papers on her desk. “Here’s the receipt I have from the telegraph office. Two messages, both from Tingis. One from the marshals’ office. One from Lady Damya’s estate.”
“Lady Damya?” Syfax snatched the receipt to read it, but it offered no more information. “What would the governor of Tingis want with a police captain in Port Chellah?”
“I don’t know. It was sealed, of course. I just delivered them.” The sergeant blinked and sat up a little straighter. “Why? What do you think it means, sir?”
Anyone in the house could have sent that telegram, including a certain dinner guest. “I think it means we need to see your captain right now. Let’s go. Now.” Syfax pointed at the door. This time, the sergeant leapt up and led the way out into the night. Striding side by side, their boots clacked on the cobblestones and the sound echoed down the empty streets beneath the silent gaze of dark windows and locked doors. Streetlamps hung only at the intersections, leaving the avenues in between drenched in shadows, and the dim haze that hovered over the city obscured all but the brightest stars.
“It’s just one more block this way.” The sergeant pointed to the left.
Turning the corner they saw a strange shape on the ground, and they sprinted toward the body half hidden in the shadows of a narrow alley. Only one hand lay out upon the street, its outstretched fingers clawing feebly at the circle of lamplight just out of reach. The sergeant knelt at the man’s side and Syfax saw his face, the face of the young officer they had sent out to find the captain half an hour ago. His breathing was faint and ragged and watery. Blood trickled from his lip. When the sergeant took his hand, he showed no sign that he noticed.
The major squatted down to study him. A single gunshot wound in the stomach, a wide pool of blood on the ground already beginning to congeal. Syfax leaned in closer to speak into the young man’s ear, “Hey kid, looks like you tried to take on the whole Songhai army by yourself. You bucking for an early promotion?”
The officer’s lip twitched. “Guess I should have…called for backup, sir.”
“Yeah, looks like,” Syfax said. “What happened?”
“…caught her…leaving…” He mouthed the words as much as whispered them, his eyes already vacant and dull.
“Who?” The sergeant squeezed his hand. “Who did this?”
“Captain Aknin.”
Why am I not surprised? Syfax squinted at the man’s mouth to make sure he caught every word clearly. “Why?”
“…said…mess… clean…” The officer whimpered and gasped. “It hurts.”
“I know, kid.” Syfax grabbed the woman’s arm and tugged her away from her partner. “Have you seen a wound like that before?”
She nodded as the tears spilled down her cheeks.
“Then you know he’s only got a little time left. We can’t save him.”
She nodded again.
“But we can help him.” He raised his eyebrows to emphasize the word help.
Her eyes went wide. “No, we can’t!”
“Look at him again,” Syfax said. “He’s all torn up, his insides are burning, his arms and legs are shaking, and he’s coughing up blood. It’s the right thing to do.”
“It’s…okay,” the man whispered. “Please.”
The sergeant pulled back, sat down against the wall, and covered her eyes. Syfax knelt by the young man’s shoulders and took his head in his lap. The major whispered to him, “Look to your left.”
The officer turned his head and mumbled, “Thanks, sir.”
“On the count of three. Okay?” Syfax placed one hand on the youth’s cheek and the other hand on the back of his head, and pulled sharply. “Three.”
The young man went limp and the sergeant wailed softly at his feet. Syfax closed the man’s eyes and backed away from the alley, leaving the sergeant with her dead comrade in the shadows.
I can’t believe I had to do that. Again. Syfax took a deep breath and tasted the iron and copper tang of blood that hung heavy in the sultry air. These people better pray I don’t catch up to them in some dark alley.
He meant to give her a full minute while he considered his options. After ten seconds, he leaned over her and said, “Sergeant, I need a horse. Now.”
The sergeant nodded and staggered away from the alley, stared around at the empty street for a moment, and then set out to the right. Syfax followed close at her side. “Sergeant, I need your help. I need you to tell me everything you know about this Captain Aknin. Friends, relations, politics, vices, money problems, family problems.”
“I’m sorry, sir.” She sniffed. “I only transferred here last month. I don’t really know anything about her.”
“What about her work? Her routine? Her habits?” He tried to keep his voice low, to avoid barking at her. “Where does she eat? Where does she make the most arrests? Where does she avoid going? What policies has she set for your station? Anything strange at all?”
“Wait.” The sergeant stopped in the middle of the street with a frown.