Redstone: Sanctuaries
Chapter 26: The Tag

Ein stared at the pieces of money scattered on the floor. He picked up a piece of gold, watched it back and forth, bit it, then nodded in satisfaction. "Say from the beginning if you want to pay," he said sourly.

Blake stood silently looking at the man. If he immediately took out the gold from the beginning, Ein would sell expensive and drain all his pockets for information. But now, a little broken table, a little rage, a few pieces of gold and bronze, were all enough to make Ein open her mouth.

After finishing picking up the falling coins while continuing to curse, Ein invited Blake to sit down.

"Ein." Jim seemed to disagree.

"What?" Ein said fiercely. "What, ha? You want to refuse money? You think you've been eating all this time I've been paying for ups? Already, get out there! You two get out!"

Both Jim and Joe exited the room grumbling, throwing hostile gazes at Lucy who was leaning casually against the wall near the door.

"I'm serious about one thing, Blake," Ein continued as soon as the twins closed the door. "Sway that nobleman. You'll know what those upper class people are, they're rancid. Him too. He's just using you."

"Everyone feels like they can take advantage of me" Blake corrects. He pulled out one available wooden chair and sat down in front of Ein. His back was leaning forward. He whispered lowly, "What experiment did Wilson do?"

Ein shrugged his shoulders. He brought his head closer to Blake and whispered back, "Wilson researched the effects of the relic before selling it to someone else."

"If he's researching the effects for sale, why doesn't he take the relic after my men die?"

Ein. "You're always moving faster than Wilson. Before he could figure out who was dead, you were by the side of the body. How could he take the relic? But my men, Stonard's men .. What's his name? Kyle. Well, his men, then the other men; Wilson was already there before the bodies were found. No relics left."

"You know who did it, but you're quiet?"

"I've just come to that conclusion now, when you say that your men died with relics! Don't be stupid, ah! You know Wilson couldn't have dared to operate on his own. Maybe the one who told him is Mr. Heiden himself. Then how do you think I should sue, huh? On whom? Anyway I have no proof. All just conjecture, conjecture, conjecture! Well, ask that girl if I'm lying or not!"

Blake didn't have to look around to be sure. If Ein was lying, Lucy would have told him straight away.

"good. Plan change. If Wilson comes, let me know. But don't let him know I'm looking for him. Make sure Jim and Joe don't talk to anyone." Blake formed a gun with his right hand, attaching the tips of his index and middle fingers to his own temple. "Or, dor!"

Ein looked at Blake long ago, her eyes serious. "You shoot my men, you die. I swear, Blake, you're dead."

"If the content of our conversation leaks out, it's not just me who's dead" Blake replied coldly. "Dead I'll drag you all to the bottom of hell. I swear."

***

"Women who can read minds?" Graham frowned upon hearing Jose's story. "You mean Lucy? Lucy from Abysmal?"

"You know what?" Jose looked. They walked side by side on the main Redstone street, at first glance only looking like two ordinary men because they were not dressed perlente. Graham is usually shabby while Jose this time deliberately did not wear a silk suit even though Edwin looked disappointed. Two Argent workers escort behind them.

"I knew that he was Blake's bodyguard." Graham grabbed an apple while throwing a silver coin at the seller. "Why do you think he can read minds?"

"Not mind reading, he can only tell which ones are honest and which ones are lies" Jose corrected. He led the way to the coffee shop. The shop was not very full, it had no space inside, so they sat at a wooden table held in the courtyard of the street. He picked a spot and sat down first, nodding small for the others to sit down as well.

"Please, please, tea or coffee?" exclaimed the owner while running in their direction. A blue checkered napkin was draped over his left shoulder. He still carries a dirty tray of used coasters.

"Tea to me" said Jose.

"The others?" the owner asked two Argent workers.

"We don't drink" Boris replied. The number one rule when escorting his master was that they did not eat or drink outside.

"Lho, you know, why? The coffee here is the best. From Spain! You guys know the most— coffee carrier"

"We're fasting" Zoe said quickly before the man spoke more. "We're just accompanying these gentlemen."

"Fasting?"

"Pentecost," Boris reasoned, "to purify oneself to be worthy of the Holy Spirit."

"Zealots." The owner nodded, then left after shouting, "Tea one, coffee one!" to his son in the house.

Jose continued his conversation with Graham as soon as their drink came, "If people want to scrape the truth, they will ask for a bit longer. It usually starts with general things, to get the truth profile of the movements asked. Then after he knows how my movements when telling the truth, then he will get into the subject of questions. But Blake immediately asks to the core of the problem, and the question is the kind whose answer is just "yes" or "no". That meant he could guess which one was right based on just such a dead-end answer."

"That's interesting," Graham grimaced. "Why do you guess Lucy did it, not Blake? Did he ask you?"

"Miss Lucy made the same mark" Jose said. "Every time I tell the truth, he winks gently, even if Blake doesn't see. I think it's a habit. Every time I deliberately lied, he would move a little though inconspicuously. Resting her hair, moving her little finger, drinking tea. He clearly gave a sign. The rest, I'm just guessing by intuition."

Graham combed his tangled brown hair with his fingertips, not doubting Jose's instincts at all. He crossed hands on the table and lowered his voice, "Redstone, your wife went into another realm because you brought a ghost home. But what about the reporters who went there with you? He didn't go to another realm?"

Jose took a breath. "That's why I'm asking you to meet, Graham," he replied softly. "Mrs. Decker died this morning."

Graham was shocked.

"His body is buried." Jose nodded slowly. "We did his funeral secretly to prevent noise. I want to know how many people die in Redstone every day, I want to know the cause of their deaths. Do your investigation secretly."

Graham spread his gaze around, then whispered softly, "What do you suspect, Redstone?"

"A curious spirit wanders clear in this city. Someone else should have seen something in the fields, not just Mr. Deckers. And if seeing a ghost or a spirit would make that person die, there should be even more victims." Jose shook his head slowly. "No reports came in on me. Not even a ghost is there, which means someone is deliberately covering this up from me."

Brooks? Graham guessed. He did not reveal the name, only nodded slowly. If Jose had asked, he could only obey.

The marquis saved his family ten years ago. Graham owed his life. He was happy to finally be able to return the favor at Redstone.

***

¬Pentecost: feast of Christians, commemorating the coming of the Holy Spirit 50 days after Easter.

¬Zealot: fanatic/militant.

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