Tor took a handful of amulets and started questioning people.
It was going to be a long day.
Longer.
A longer day.
Chapter Fifteen
The kids from the school were mainly what they seemed. A few had been sent to spy on people, but it sounded almost like an afterthought for all but three of them. Those had specific missions, and one, a good looking girl that was older than most first years by a bit, was targeted directly at Rolph. Tor remembered having seen her trying to flirt with him a time or two.
Ah.
Tor got her to admit that she was working for Countess Thorgood and that she was just there to get close and collect information.
“Hmmm…” Tor said, looking at her, shaking his head. “I suggest you back off for the time being, and make sure you don't disclose anything about your target.”
She agreed readily enough, but Tor would still be following up on it. Teller didn't seem all that pleased with him, leaving a spy in place, but Tor just had to throw his hands up the second time the man mentioned it.
“What can we really do? Half of the upper class people are probably spying for someone or another. With an economic crunch on, they kind of have to be, don't they? For that matter most of these kids would probably feel obligated to answer to me, if I asked them to, or Countess Printer. Right now we need to just make sure no one is trying anything dangerous or planning an attack. Especially the Austrans. If we find any of those, don't let them get a hand in a pocket, eh? Try to take them alive though… easier to question that way.”
After that was finished Tor did something no one expected and started questioning everyone. The people that were cleared were sent back to their rooms, and each dorm got a set of questioners coming to every door. It was invasive and a prickish thing to do, but Tor had orders to be thorough, which meant everyone got questioned. Including him, Kolb and all the military men.
That part pissed of Teller to no end. For a second, when Tor held out the truth amulet to him, it seemed like the man might hit him, feeling offended. He did it though, and passed easily, which kind of meant all his own men had to take a turn too. Tellers’ elite forces had some spies… a lot of them really. Nearly half the men worked for someone else on the side, which was pretty bad.
Tor just took note of whom they worked for, or rather got Kolb to do it for him, since the man had much better hand writing and that meant there was a real reason for the Knight to be standing there next to him. None were working for Austra however. It took all night, and people were scared and grumpy by the end, but the whole town, down to the waitresses in the restaurants and even there little children, were cleared. Mainly by him. His eyes kept closing as he worked.
He was falling asleep on the job, and couldn't help it. Kolb played it off as him going into a trance. For some reason almost everyone bought it. Apparently his penchant for doing things like that was well known. How they justified the snoring Tor didn't know.
“OK, I think that's everyone. I need to report in to the King, then get some sleep. Teller, Um, not to tell you your job, but I know I'd sleep much better if there was some kind of guard still. We know that none of our people are going to be doing anything wrong, but… Well, outside attack is still possible.” Tor yawned and held up a hand.
“Admittedly, not very likely. I think I just caught the poor girl out and she panicked to tell the truth. If not, she would have deployed her weapon more carefully and survived it.”
Teller didn't comment on his theory, but didn't seem to think much of it as far as Tor could tell. He went back to his dorm room to sleep. He could have stayed at the house, but that would require extra guards to be set. It was a waste of resources. In his room, barely conscious, he contacted the King again. Or tried to. Instead he got a nervous sounding young voice.
“Um, this is the palace. How may I help you sir or ma'am?” The voice was still young and tentative, but not half as nervous as the last time he'd heard it.
“Kenner? This is Tor. I have a report for the King, but it isn't urgent. Can you take notes for me here?”
Kenner had helped him out in the past, but only for a bribe. Tor kind of expected to be shaken down by the kid, but it seemed that his job now, instead of washing the floors, was to answer the communications device like he had and alert the right people. He admitted that taking notes, at least good ones, was beyond him yet, though he was studying for it.
He could get a Royal Guard for that though.
“Hey Tor, This is Chet. I've got the gear ready, go on your report.” The voice sounded a little sleepy, but not too bad. It held good enough humor and the man explained that the rest of the people had, wisely, taken to their beds.
It didn't take long for the initial report, though the list of who was spying for who had to be sent to several people, which meant copying first. Tor decided to grab one for himself. Not that he loved intrigue, but just knowing who was bothering to try and collect information was interesting. Some of them were people he'd actually met for instance, like the Coltress'. That they hadn't found the girl using Ginger's identity was a little odd, but then, the girl had just started, about two months prior. Still, that was very nearly when the girl had been murdered. Close enough to be really suspicious.
There was something there, but Tor couldn't think of it, too tired for anything but lying down. In the morning, as he forced himself to walk, slowly, down the hall to the bathroom, it hit him. They needed to check to see if anyone was using the other murdered girls identities. Also, they needed to check for men doing the same thing. Dying and then showing up somewhere else. It would be hard, since the Capital killer had a signature, taking the heads and… violating the women first. It meant that one was a man at least. How the guard had figured that floating headless corpses were drowning victims Tor didn’t’ really know, but he highly suspected it had to do with the fact that the first six girls just weren’t that important, so no one really cared.
Except the King. He’d mentioned it months before hadn’t he? That issue he wanted Tor to work on with Smythe?
But there could be murders for the purpose in other places. It was a bit of a waste in the main, unless, of course, someone was faking royal connections. That didn't seem likely though. The nobles were a small and tight community. What, three thousand people in all? Four? Out of the sixty or seventy million in Noram… It would be easier to just make up a name and go to a new place.
Still, it had to be looked into.
After he shaved, Tor worked his way to the student’s dining room and grabbed a bowl of wheat cereal and an apple. An exhausted looking group of builders sat at a table already, so he walked towards them, on his own feet, but still shuffling like an ancient or desperately ill person, which got Lyn to hop up and push another chair in for him.
There were more people around, worked in to the group, than he figured there would be and they didn't all look happy. After a few seconds Sandra reported, which told him why that was.
“Half of us can't do it. The best I managed in a group was twenty. I did get it in an hour and a half, but, um, Guide can't do more than ten in two hours and Farlo there can still only manage one at a time. Sam is on groups of fifty and so is Mark. Lyn… She managed two groups of a hundred. All solid work though. Except the wasted batches…”
Tor smiled at all of them.
“Don't worry, it's mainly a focus issue. Um, Farlo?” The girl looked scared, but was tall and clearly royal tall and had short hair, a slightly grown out military cut that had a nice copper sheen to it, that was clearly fake. “What year are you in?”