[Eric and Lovvorn]

"Let me do the talking,"  said Eric as he and Lovvorn approached the home
of their employer.

"Why?"  said the portly mage.  "You always do the talking!"

"That's because I'm not a drunken idiot."

"Oh, really?  Murderous bastards can do the talking, but drunken idiots
can't?  I resent that statement on behalf of drunken idiots everywhere!"

"Shut up."

The pair reached the back door, which swung open at their approach.   They
entered the two-story home and headed down the dark hallway to the living
room.   They heard the door swung shut behind them.

It was cold in the room; both visitors were quickly enveloped in clouds of
their own visible breath.  Lovvorn shivvered and pulled his flabby arms
inside his robe.   Eric seemed unaffected.

December was seated in his favorite chair and, despite the lateness of the
hour, was engaged in his favorite pastime... thinking.   He stared
unblinking into the empty fireplace, his face was devoid of expression save
for the slight contemplative wrinkle of his brow.

"Boss?"  said Eric.

"I assume this is a matter of some importance."  December spoke without
looking at either of his visitors. His gaze never moved from the inviting
darkness of the fireplace.

"Yeah," replied Eric   "It could be."

"Could be?"

"Yeah, you see was this mur-"

"We need to borrow J'Hasp!"  blurted Lovvorn.

December turned his head and looked from Lovvorn, to Eric, and back to
Lovvorn.

"Borrow?   One borrows sugar... or perhaps even a few houshold tools.   One
does not 'borrow' J'Hasp."

"What he MEANT was... we need his help locating someone."

"Who?"

"We don't know yet.  That's why we need to find him.  It's about the
murder... the body that was found in the river"

December began to frown.

"Hey, it wasn't US!"  said Lovvorn.  "I don't leave bodies!"

"We think the vic may have been a royal envoy.   If it is, and the killer
isn't found pretty soon..."

"How did the two of YOU get involved in this matter?"

"We met a woman at a bar-"

"Shut up, Lovvorn."

"A woman?  At a bar?"

"The PanDemonica.   This woman mentioned it, and we decided to get
involved.   For purely professional reasons, of course."

"Did either of you consider the fact that she may have WANTED you to get
involved?   That this entire matter could be an elaborate scheme to entrap
you... and eventually me?"

"Uhh, n-"

"Yes."  said Eric   "But everything checks out.  An envoy was expected
recently, but he never showed.  The murder was real, and the vic was
wearing a royal signet ring."

"Those aren't too easy to come by, you know."  added Lovvorn.

"And we got trail on somebody who could be the killer.   All we need is
somebody to follow that trail."

"So can we have 'im?"

December thought for a moment.  Then nodded to himself.

"J'Hasp!"

At the mention of it's name, December's grotesque messenger/servant/pet
emerged from the shadows.   It was roughly the size and shape of a small
human, but with thin, flexible limbs and a prehensile tail.  His pale skin
was a mottled patchwork of translucent scales and tufts of light-brown fur.
  Nimble hands and feet were tipped with razor sharp claws that matched the
set of evil-looking fangs jutting from its mouth.

J'Hasp scrambled over to December and stood before him in his usual,
stooping posture.  His tail swished through the air behind him.

"Masster?"  it hissed.

"Assist Mr. Hood in his search."

J'Hasp nodded.   It looked at Eric and smiled, revealing even more of its
teeth.

"J'Hasp help!"  it said.

"Mr. Hood... I wish to speak privately."

Eric walked over to December and leaned down.  The two began exchanging
whispers.

"That's rude, you know."  said Lovvorn.   He looked at J'Hasp.  The
creature was bouncing up and down on its long legs like a weighted spring.
  Lovvorn followed the motion with his eyes until he began to get dizzy.

"Just what the Hell are you, anyway?" he said.

J'Hasp's round head tilted to the side like a confused puppy.

"You don't even know, do you?"

"J'Hasp iss J'Hasp!"

"Yeah.  Uh-huh.  Okay."

"Okay, let's go."  said Eric.   His conference concluded, he headed for the
back door with Lovvorn and J'Hasp following closely.

"What were you talking about in there?"  said Lovvorn when they got
outside.

"Nothing."

"It was ME, wasn't it!  You two were talking about ME!"

"Nope."

"You wouldn't lie, would you?"

"Yep."

"So it WAS me!"

"Nope.  J'Hasp, we're going to the docks... meet us there."

J'Hasp scampered over to the nearest building and sank his claws into the
wall.   He climbed straight up and vanished over the edge of the roof.

"So what did he say..."  said Lovvorn as he and Eric walked into the night.

_______

[Lawrince Ournel]

With the lights of the Golden Griffin behind him Lawrince Ournel walked
warily into the Montfort night, and wondered how much of fool he really
was for considering the meeting he was heading towards. However, most of
his leads were cold and he had begun to consider other options - either
contacting the town guard or requesting officers from Bleckner. In his
eyes both carried hazards - he didn't trust local guardsmen and the King
might take too much notice of Montfort, and _that_ Lawrince didn't want to
occur. Despite all of his worries his investigation into Netit's murder
had allowed him the opportunity to also observe the town's citizens, which
had been on his itinerary to start with. And for the most part he saw
citizens who were finally, proudly, struggling to recover from losses that
boggled his imagination. He definitely didn't want to call down the King's
attention on these people.

So now he was going towards a dubious meeting. Before he had entered the
Golden Griffin a young, and obviously frightened, man had approached him.
The youth's clothes had once been of quality, but now had a sheen on them,
and his black hair looked untrimmed, but neatly pulled back. The young man
had seemed afraid to show himself in the full light of the inn, and had
grasped at the envoy's arm, begging him to meet him at the little park
down the street.

When Lawrince had offered to arrange to meet him either in a private room
at the Griffin, or at his quarters in the Dragons' Inn, the young man had
explained that the murderer was in the Griffin - that the culprit was both
a mage of power and a member of his own family. Who would willingly strike
one of his own down in order to save his hide - and had the skill to do so
before any words could be spoken.

That the culprit was a mage fit with what little the envoy had learned of
Netit's last night - when he had been feeding a white cat at the Dragon's
Inn. A dainty creature that the waitress claimed belonged to a mage.

If the youth was speaking truly then they could have the murderer that
very night. If not - well Lawrince carried what few weapons that would be
of use to him; like most courtiers he had some skill with the stiletto,
and he had in hand a bag of itching powder. And while some of his friends
had laughed over the years at his choice he had always pointed out to them
that it was better than the bottle of acid that Lord Teriirint had
carried; a vial that had unfortunately been crushed when the nobleman had
fallen from his horse.

The only insurance that he had, and he privately admitted that it was both
weak and trite, was that he had stopped in the Golden Griffen to write and
seal a letter. A few coins had hired a messanger to deliver it to the
Dragon's Inn; if something went amiss then the letter would be found when
his room was cleaned out. Not that he had a lot to offer the authorities,
except his own real name, the identity of the first body, and the small
clue about the white cat. Along with his last rendezvous.

_______________

[Eric/Lovvorn]

It took longer to reach the docks than it did for J'Hasp's unnaturally
sensitive nose to pick out the most recent trail and follow it.  The
creature led Eric and Lovvorn on a brief tour of the city... all the while
it kept to the hidden alleys and rooftops.     To the casual observer, Eric
and Lovvorn looked like a  rather odd pair of townsmen out on an extremely
circuituous walk... but J'Hasp was always ahead of them, sniffing and
scampering from one shadow to the next.

Eventually they came to the Golden Griffin... a destination that pleased
Lovvorn to no end.

"Wait out here,"  said Lovvorn and he made for the door.

"Man goess THISSS way!"  J'Hasp pointed out the scent-trail that led out of
the bar and down the street.

"Well, I'M THIRSTY!  This'll only take a moment.   Come on Eric..."

Eric followed the mage inside.  He wasn't particularly thristy himself, but
he knew that they were after someone who could be potentially dangerous...
and he also knew that, for whatever reason,  Lovvorn's magic worked
infinitely better when the mage was stone drunk.    It was better to pause
for a few drinks now than have to deal with a sober Lovvorn later...

"Make it quick."  said Eric.

Lovvorn ran for the bar like a child set loose in a candy store with a sack
of gold.   Eric scanned the crowd for familiar faces...

____________

[Cari]

Over the last few nights Cari had managed to find one person who had
directly spoken with their mystery questioner; not that she had asked for
a description, but had plucked the image from the young barmaid's mind. It
seemed that a stocky gentleman, with thinning blond hair and thick
moustache, had been spending some evenings at the Golden Griffin.

So the young agent had decided that she, as Batista Dyer, should have
dinner there. However, while the dinner was delicious her target had not
appeared for his evening glass of wine.

__________

[Lawrince Ournel]

Lawrince checked, again, that his stiletto was near at hand, and for
comfort his fingered the velveteen bag of itching powder he carried. Ahead
was the park - normally a pretty place in the daylight the landscape was
now filled with the black shadows of trees, and only the white gravel path
shown in the dark.

The path was what the envoy followed - until he reached the still-gurgling
fountain in the center of the park. "Hello?" he softly inquired - looking
towards the small stand of trees that encircled one of the benches.

[To be continued.]