“You’re early,” said Inspector Stanley.
After briefly instructing the junior constable, she headed toward her office with Vittore in tow. “I was starting to think you did not receive my message,” she sighed. “You young folks… you people don’t even bother to reply. My son is just the same—What?” she asked, noting his confounded expression.
“My phone is being tracked,” he replied at length. “I would advise you not to use it to contact me.”
“This…” Her voice grew grave. “It’s them?”
He nodded.
Her steps slowed, and her commanding figure drooped a little until at length, she seemed to come to terms with her own inability. “I’ll leave the matters that are beyond my reach aside for now. It’s good that you came. Are you familiar with the city mayor?”
Vittore caught the cue from her evasive tone and firmly shut up about the purpose of his visit.
They walked into the well-illuminated office, a curtain of gloom hanging over their heads.
“I’ve heard of him,” Vittore answered, taking a subconscious look around the room.
The inspector’s office was not big or showy but designed for efficiency, every cranny neatly arranged and every document carefully assorted. A powerful light shone across the place, missing only a tiny corner beside a file cabinet.
The inspector walked to her desk and, picking up a case file, began reading. “Mayor Brankon, fifty-three, married to Reine Shaw, fifty-one, with whom he has one daughter. This is the fourth and last year of his term. He is well respected by the city’s people.”
Vittore nodded. “Yes, I spoke to him once at an auction.”
“Okay. And what did you think of him?”
“How do I put it…” He pressed a finger to his forehead. “He wasn’t curious about me at all,” Vittore finished, smiling meaningfully.
Coming from anyone else, Inspector Stanley would have dismissed him as a vain individual, but she caught his meaning. The head of the wealthy Viscontini household was not someone to be dismissed in upper social circles, especially by someone at the Mayor’s seat. At the very least, he would want to sound him out; after all, rich kids were notorious for giving the city authorities no end of trouble. Was the mayor really not interested, or did he have enough backing not to bother with such trifles?
“Overall, there didn’t seem to be anything too wrong with him. Is there any reason behind you mentioning him?”
“His daughter was kidnapped,” the inspector said grimly.
“What?!” he blurted. “How come there is no—”
Inspector Stanley interjected, her tone sardonic. “No news? Well, it’s the Mayor’s order. With the city already experiencing a myriad of big and small crimes, he does not want to distress the people before the elections.”
Light shone upon their faces, and a gentle breeze that materialized from nowhere in the ill-ventilated room flicked over a few pages of the file until the face of a little girl in a passport-sized photograph appeared. She had two light brown braids and bangs that covered her entire forehead. The girl in the photograph looked around ten.
“How long has it been since her disappearance?” he asked.
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“Two days.”
“Three and a half, actually,” came a voice from the only dark corner of the room, startling both Vittore and the inspector.
The stature of a person emerged from a place that appeared virtually incapable of hosting a human—an adult at that.
'Averna?!'
'Black frost?!'
They started in unison
…
There is a certain addictive joy in surprise entrances, the majority of it stemming from seeing the expressions on people’s faces—especially that of a cocky individual who looked like he was ready to give up the ghost.
“H-how did you…” he stammered.
“Why, this is hardly the strangest thing that has happened today. I can’t say I’m surprised,” said the inspector.
What a pity. “I’ll make sure to drop down from the sky next time.” I replied, dusting cobwebs off my hands.
“Do so.”
“Wait, shouldn’t this be illegal?” Vittore asked, regaining some of his composure.
“Be my guest,” the inspector mused. “If you can arrest her, I’ll request an honorary white scroll for you.”
“Never mind,” he huffed. “Why are you here?”
“The same reason as you. I’m here to inform the officers of the law about the bane of their existence,” I answered, shifting my eyes from him to the inspector. “Rest assured, the kidnapping is the Axis’ doing. This is no coincidence,” I asserted, looking directly at her.
Inspector Stanley turned pale under my gaze. “We haven’t located the child yet. One can hardly be certain—”
“The cameras around your office all have a temporary glitch, and I found these too,” I said, dangling the three listening devices from my palm.
Understanding dawned on Vittore as he took one from me.
“Right.” The inspector resolutely shut the office door and, leaning her back against it and lowering her voice, began speaking. “I have strict orders to turn as much of a blind eye as I can to these rogues. My hands are tied.” Her head dropped in resignation. “As an officer of the law, I have failed my duty. It turns out there really exists such a behemoth that can trample over justice as if it were sheer mud.”
“It’s not your fault,” Vittore smiled. “The ‘law’ is hardly a means of justice. Is it not designed to benefit a select portion of society?” The smile did not reach his eyes.
“Oh, but there is something you can do. There is another reason I’m here,” I said.
“I’m listening.”
“Give me a list of the criminals you arrested in the last two weeks and their testimonies.”
“And we’ll have to trouble you to contact us in person from now on,” Vittore added.
“You’ve got it.”
“As for the kidnapping, I’ll handle it,” I declared.
“No, we’ll handle it,” he protested.
I felt the inspector’s gaze flitting from one of us to the other. “Vittore told me about your alliance,” she said, nodding at me. “I was hoping you would say this, but I must warn you—with the way things are, you might be making an enemy of the mayor too. As a parent myself, it surprises me how he seems to be the one hindering us from investigating. My personal concern for the child’s safety is what keeps me from closing the case.”
“If I may ask,” Vittore interrupted, “who reported the disappearance?”
“The mother. She called the station, but we have heard nothing from her since. When we went to their house to investigate, Mayor Brankon said she was in shock and refused to let us meet her.” The inspector’s indignation was clear in her voice. “We have astonishingly few leads on the case. He wouldn’t let us question anybody but himself and a select few of the house staff.”
“It is no matter,” I assured her. “I have my own speculations that I’m fairly confident about. Leave it to m—us.”
…
While exiting the police station, I caught a smile laden with complacency on Vittore’s face. “I’m glad we get alo—” he began.
I rolled my eyes at him. That shut him up.
By the time we walked out of the building, it was already well past six in the evening. The police station had an expansive lawn in front of it. The setting sun melted into the green of the grass at the junction where the horizon touched the land.
“They are starting to act,” I said, startling the person who had taken the silence for granted.
“This does not make sense,” he replied. “If the mayor is backed by the Axis, then why would they kidnap his daughter and then have him cover it up?”
“This sure makes things complicated, but it’s not out of the ordinary. The Axis is a lucrative organization, much like any other corporate sector. Not all of their employees have a united front. I’m afraid there might be opposing factions involved,” I explained.
Vittore was quiet for a while before speaking. “If what you said is true, then their objective should be the same, but they’d want to beat each other to the chase.”
“Yes.”
“From that perspective… the people who kidnapped the child expect us to get involved with the case. Which is to say they are using the kidnapping as bait.”
“It’s only bait if we get caught trying to take it . For myself, as the fish being baited, I’d rather use the thread to climb up and catch the angler off guard.”
