The hideout was sweltering as Beryl entered the hidden loft to confront Myrtil Iglay, who was sitting near the foot of a makeshift bunk-bed. She called out from behind the crates and the lass turned excitedly, “Beryl! I was wondering where you were!”
The dark haired girl rushed to her friend looking relieved, but it quickly faded into concern, “Are you alright, Beryl?”
“I am alive,” She responded shortly, choosing to let that subject lie. She could be upset after she got Fly what he needed. “I also have the answers you were seeking. Nicholas was not the killer, and I can tell you how I know that later. For now I have a letter to give to Fly.”
“You did find it?!” Myrtil grinned enthusiastically as her silent hopes had been answered.
“I found that, and more than I was anticipating,” She said with an added barb, but Myrtil had already started to lead her to Fly Copperfield. The feline was surprised to find he was strapped down to the bunk ends with ropes and poles. He sweated profusely with a towel and food kept nearby. Before they approached she whispered, “How long have you had him tied down?”
“Since the huge storm and riot,” Myrtil offered weakly, which meant Fly had been sweating in the abandoned loft tied down for almost a week. Beryl turned to Myrtil accusingly as the lass bit her lip guiltily, “It was the only way to keep him safe. He was trying to kill Nicholas during the confusion, and I wasn’t sure we could trust him enough to let him up yet. I was hoping that you were safe in there despite it all. I lost all contact when you stopped getting my letters.”
“I was…mostly safe,” Beryl replied borrowing the familiar phrase. Wisp would never get in the brothel, and delivering to the girls would have been disastrous. “Just a few punches and kicks. But let’s speak with Fly first.”
The lad turned towards them as they approached his bunk. He had rope burns on his exposed wrists and ankles. The clothes and sheets had been changed showing they had the decency to let him up to relieve himself. Despite this he stared at them without understanding or forgiveness.
“Fly, Beryl came to give you news about Nicholas Herding.” Myrtil started to explain, but Beryl instead started to unrope his right arm.
“I have more than news,” She clarified as the knot came loose. “I have the other half of the letter.”
“My sisters letter?!” The lads eyes widened in surprise as he stared at Beryl incredulously. He even forgot about the ache spreading through his now freed wrist. “You found it?”
“I did.” She pulled the letter from her breast pocket so he could see the name signed at the bottom. She handed it tenderly to his unroped hand. “I’m sorry that I glanced over it, but I kept anyone else from reading it since then.”
The boy fidgeted slightly as he hesitated, the feeling in his wrists returning painfully, his hand hovering near the letter held close to him. He had searched for almost three years, he could hardly believe it was truly inches away from him.
“Go ahead Fly….these were her last words to you…” Beryl moved it closer, encouraging him gently. “I hope they bring you some comfort…or knowledge.”
He finally took the letter, still trembling, and struggled not to be overwhelmed as he read it. Myrtil watched him read, but Beryl turned away respectfully. She missed the emotions dancing across his face spreading from surprise, sorrow, and then finally anger. He put the letter on the bed gently and then asked for the first half he’d stored during the storm.
Myrtil was quick to help while he and Beryl released his other arm and legs. Soon both halves were reunited, showing the true story that his sister had been trying to tell him. He set them together and read them once more. The familiar turned away, waiting for him to finish his thoughts alone.
“Thank you for this,” Fly said finally as he looked over the letter with gratitude. “It still doesn’t mean Nicholas Herding is innocent though.”
“No, it does not, but I am certain he did not kill her,” Beryl told Myrtil and Fly about her encounter with Nicholas and Vanity that night. His assault, confessions, and refusal to kill her even with the perfect opportunity. Fly and Myrtil listened with growing eyebrows, but in the end the boy nodded and went back to his thoughts frowning.
“He…may not be the hand who poisoned her…but working for him was one of the causes of my sister’s death. For that alone I should kill him.”
“You are free to get your revenge however you see fit,” the familiar responded without judgement. “But you should focus now on who this other man might be.”
The lad looked back to Beryl again and nodded slowly as he realized the wisdom in that. His face hardened as he turned back to the letter, “Yes, the fat man. He needs to die first.”
“Which fat man? There are a number of men who fit this description.” Beryl turned to Myrtil, who appeared confused since she had not read the letter. She took a step closer and asked to read the letter.
After a few moments she looked between them, “Short, fat, ugly, and smelling like he’s never bathed in his life?”
“About two dozen names occurred to you when you read that too?” Beryl replied mirthlessly as Myrtil bit her underlip. “If we find one of the girls who knew Amnelys, and she might have confided in we can narrow it down. But, I intentionally avoided using her name during my stay.”
“Yes, one of them would probably know her customers or the ones she refused!” Myrtil replied growing more excited again. “Or at least men visiting the brothel!”
The feline knew the difficulty they would encounter with that path though, “Since the riot most have been going into hiding or leaving town. It might be there are none left in town.”
Fly climbed down to join them, massaging his wrists as he reached the ground, “If we can’t then I’ll just have to kill every short, fat, ugly, and stinky man that I can find!”
“Fly, that would not be very prudent,” Beryl replied evenly. She had little doubt he lacked the skill to escape the militia for a week after he started that impossible crusade. “Besides, you have more resources to follow up on this now.”
Myrtil and Fly both looked at Beryl confused, “Resources?”
“If you share the second half of the letter with the urchins and…maybe a professional investigator….you might narrow down a few of the possibilities.” Bookworm, Tepic, Jimmy, and countless others could continue this investigation now they had a lead.
“It doesn’t need to be you searching for the girls or patrons alone. It just depends on who you trust….to search.” Beryl paused a moment and then added the largest problem with Fly’s current plan, “At the very least you can narrow down how many happily married fat men have never approached a brothel in their lives.”
Fly turned towards Myrtil slowly, almost as if he was dreaming. “I’ll make a copy of the letter and put it on the table where I left the first half in the Museum. And…I guess…the urchins can help me?”
“Yes, the urchins will help you! We stick together!” Myrtil beamed at her friend, while the phrase unintentionally stung at her feline companion. “I’ll also make a copy of the whole letter and share it with all the urchins. If any of us can find one of the girls or list all the short fat men in the city that would help!” The lad seemed to have already forgiven her for the week he’d spent under her captivity. The familiar was not feeling so forgiving as she asked to speak with the lass privately while Fly got to work copying.
Beryl followed Myrtil across the planks, entering the Red Dragon roof where they could speak freely. She rounded on the lass when they were clear and let her see how she really felt. “I didn’t want to ruin Fly’s moment by speaking sooner.”
Myrtil was surprised by the anger in her tone. With her previous joy diminished she asked, “I guess this doesn’t concern him?”
“I have not spoken to him since I became the ‘adult liaison’, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt.” Beryl replied acidically. Myrtil frowned as she listened to her friend continue, “Did you know that Underby called me in to talk after Mr. Herding went to him for protection?”
Beryl idly wondered if Mr. Underby got an upfront payment, but then she original wanted his presence to prevent the brothel’s destruction. Her visiting allies hinted at burning the place down when it was over, but the innocent girls would still need the building. It was a safer place to work than the streets and if things had worked out differently..
Myrtil snapped her attention back to the present as she responded, “Yes, we were quite concerned actually. Everyone thought you looked terrible especially coming out. What happened in there?”
“I was trying to appear resigned in front of Nicholas’s men, but my conversation with Underby was…enlightening.” Myrtil moved forward as if she was about to be told a terrible secret. “I told him I couldn’t tell him anything about the investigation or why I was there, but he already figured out some of what I was doing.”
“Hah, that man knows everything,” Myrtil smirked as she crossed her arms. “Or almost…”
“He was quite calm about my refusal. He said something like this, ‘Well of course it’s a secret. These things always are. I should inform you I know that until recently Emerson was the adult liaison and that you have taken their place.” Beryl stared harshly, “Knows almost everything yes? Quite an odd thing for him to mistake don’t you think?”
Myrtil was a picture of guilt under her scrutinizing gaze. She sighed quietly, “Okay, so maybe I should have told you that you were not our only choice as adult liaison-”
Beryl wasn’t finished though, “I confronted Cyan next, as he was the last person to give me any ‘instructions’, if he happened to mention that to you. He was quite ‘concerned’ for my health.” She tried to keep her tone from becoming too snide, but it was difficult.
“Yes, he was,” Myrtil responded, noting the venom behind her words.
“He told me Emerson was chosen too, except that I was the first choice, but he said it in a way I did not believe him.” Beryl watched as Myrtil appeared confused, frowning at each new piece of information. “And he also told me the urchins ‘basically’ deemed me unworthy of knowing the truth.”
“What?!” Myrtil shook her head in disbelief, “He would never say that!”
“I assure you he did,” Beryl replied, the offhand comment had been a worse slap than finding out how she did. If the urchins had told her that would be one thing, but it had taken Underby to tell her the truth.
“I’m sure he didn’t mean to say that or maybe you misunderstood,” Myrtil shook her head even stronger, “I can’t believe he would say that! Besides, neither what he or Underby told you was the truth whether they believed it or not!”
Beryl lowered herself to the floor, waiting to hear this newest explination while Myrtil gathered her thoughts. The dark haired lass continued more evenly, “It is true that both you and Emerson were chosen, but you never took his place. You were both our liaison equally and at the same time. And the urchins actually had voted emerson first and you second..”
Cyan lied to her? “I knew it…the way he said it…but two of us?” She looked at Myrtil angrily recalling her first three missions, “You had me spy on Emerson!!”
“I know, but you gotta admit he’s a bit unreliable at some things.” Myrtil replied with a heavy sigh. “He’s got qualities that would make him effective, and I couldn’t toss him aside since he was the popular choice. But I and a few others wanted a more reliable liaison as well. You came in a very close second, so it was natural it should be you.” She shrugged lightly as she laid the truth bare, “Now, I agree not lettin you know was maybe a mistake on my side. Tepic did say we shouldn’t lie to another urchin. But in my mind, someone acting as the adult liaison can’t see themselves as an urchin to do the things we need an adult to do…”
Beryl deflated as her anger eased away during the candid explanation, to be replaced instead with melancholy. She sighed depressedly as she sank to the floor, “Yes, yes, I know. I couldn’t have done what I did for Fly as an urchin.”
Myrtil stepped closer and kneeled near Beryl, “I’m sorry though. Don’t think I didn’t trust you…”
Trusting her? She looked at her quietly from the floor trying to ignore the heat, “I still don’t know why you couldn’t have told me the truth of being second.” They had coordinated and lied to her together, even the ones who might have disagreed had not broken to tell her the truth. It may not be a betrayal of the oath, but it felt like one all the same.
Myrtil focused instead on something else, hoping to change the subject to the good they had done together, “I am still very grateful for what you did for Fly throughout all of this. We would never have gotten this far without you.”
She thought about the boy in the other room, and how his behavior reminded her so much of Hyde and Domino, “He still needs help Myrtil…he’s already thinking of killing every fat man in town. That’s not the way to narrow it down. Not the smart way.”
“I know…but I have an idea,” Myrtil glanced back towards the hideout to be certain he wasn’t listening. “I’m gonna guilt him into acting smarter!”
Beryl considered attempting that approach with her other two examples, but it did not end pleasantly. She looked up at Myrtil wondering, “…how?”
Myrtil grinned, “I’m going to tell him you almost died trying to find out the truth for him.”
“…well that’s one way to do it,” she replied as she laid against the floor sullenly. Myrtil explained why she thought that might work, how Fly was angry but not dumb and would listen to reason.
“I am sure he will calm down and seek a smarter way to get his revenge, and we’ll help, but this time you’re definitely keeping out of danger this time!”
“Yes, I am,” Beryl agreed quickly prompting a chuckle from Myrtil. She stood up on her four legs and moved towards the stairs, they had been alone for their conversation. “I was charged to investigate Nicholas not beyond. If I hear something I will let you know.”
“Yes you did, thank you…” She said before adding, “And I’m sorry for what I asked of you…”
She paused her descent, looking back at Myrtil quizzically and shared a short exchange about what she meant, and having more freedom to choose how she approached an issue. Finally, she turned away again, “I need to think about this and…other things. But…I should thank you though for making me go through it this way though.”
Myrtil arched an eyebrow surprised by her friend, “Whyever would that be?”
“Because of it, and what Cyan told me, I’ve figured out that I was abused when I was younger than you. Smaller than even Tepic.”
Myrtil stared in shock as Beryl descended the stairs to process her thoughts. What she told the lass was the truth, but it was not the worst thing weighing on her mind. That Myrtil got everyone to omit Emerson and lie about her placement bothered her more than the past. A past she could learn from instead of letting it influence her.