Murdersdale 11

The spy, Tommy sat at the table, recounting the events of that day, or more accurately, the events of that day in the Sheriff's life as told from a shadow's perspective. Of course, there were dialogues that he could not listen in on, and places he could not follow him to, but he still had a general idea of what the Sheriff's day was like.

Although he didn't know anything about the investigation, and he was just doing this for a quick buck - or couple of bucks, as the Detective was paying him quite handsomely - he was intuitive enough to know that the Sheriff's movements and actions were suspicious, very inconsistent with one who had a very important case on his hands.

And apparently, the Detective felt the same way too.

"I followed him, that was right about the time y'all split ways, and strangely, he went into a bar. McKinney's."

Jedidiah pondered it for a while. if

"Odd place for a Sheriff investigating a high profile murder case, especially in the morning,"

Miranda said.

Tommy turned to the beautiful lady by the detective's side, trying not to be too obvious while he gave her the once over. Or twice over, as he had to look again.
She was stunning elegant, and yet her eyes had this sharp gaze that told him that she was beautiful and brains. He didn't know how she was a part of this case, but she was a hell of a catch.

"The sheriff met with a man there, Bucky, I think that's his name..."

Bucky? Jedidiah thought. Another new face - or identity in this case - had entered the mix of things.

"...Bucky joined him soon after, and they began to discuss you. Bucky said he'd had a man follow you, and that any new information would be relayed to him. It was clear they wanted to do you in Armandshire."

Jedidiah smiled. "I barely escaped by the skin of my teeth, thanks to Miranda here," - this elicited a smile from the lady - "so I'd say you're correct about that, but what else?"

"They talked about some general failures in their plan. Bucky said that Scarecrow Thomas was hiding out in Pembrokeshire..."

Jedidiah knew the small town, it was the next town after Armandshire.

"...and that he would only be called in a dire situation requiring the use of force. They also said that they would need to do away with Marcel..."

"Crap!" Jedidiah said, slamming the table. "I forgot about him, goddamnit. He's still damn important in this case, and I need to make sure he's protected at all times. Darn it, I almost messed up!"

Tommy sat still until Jedidiah's outburst ended and then continued. "They were going to stall Marcel's execution first and focus on the diadem. On getting the diadem to their 'boss' that is. They both agreed that they'd have to revisit the home of the late Lady Cynster and its occupants, especially Martha. "
Miranda shot Jedidiah a glare.

"I am sure you must have interrogated these people. Surely you did not cast them out of your mind after you've gotten them, only using them for the information they could get you?!"

Jedidiah looked sullen.

"That's an inconsiderate thing to do."

Silence.

"They decided to make their move on the house tomorrow night, by 1 AM. They were going to make use of some 'hired hands' to get the job done."

"They can't show their hands and wreck everything they've worked for. They're in a haste, if not they wouldn't be taking such drastic measures this early," Miranda inferred correctly.

"Why would their employer be in such a hurry? Except he knows what's at stake and who's gotten involved in the investigation," Jedidiah looked pointedly at Miranda, who caught his drift.

"That'd mean that their employer is a very influential man, which is something I couldn't agree more on. The biggest manor in this town is Carlisle Manor, and while no one knows the identity of the mysterious man who bought the place from the Carlisle family, the fact that this person must be very affluent is a fact. And that's why I cannot understand why the Sheriff went there right after the meeting with Bucky ended."

Jedidiah's head flicked up immediately. "He went there?"

"Yes, stayed there for long in fact. Almost three hours. I pretended to be a homeless man on the street across, which was luckily the side of the market so I wouldn't look out of place. The Sheriff came out looking quite distraught. That was the last thing I saw him do. He went home right after."
Interesting. What an interesting day.

"Miranda, I'm sure the mystery man will be of much interest to you," Jedidiah spoke up.

"Yes. And it still seems our cases are linked - very much. We can solve it as one big case, but we have to go at it from my approach - targeting those at the head, getting them into custody, and using them to sniff out the small fry."

"Sounds like a plan," Jedidiah said as they stood up.

Grabbing three 20-dollar bills, he folded them and stuffed them in Tommy's coat pocket, thanking him as they left the bar.

"Where to now?"

"My Inn room. That's been enough mystery for one day," Jedidiah said as he hailed a carriage.
*****
Jedidiah was too preoccupied with the events of the day. Thinking, reasoning, suggesting possible approaches in his mind.

That was why the sudden squeezing of his lap was a bit of an annoyance until he looked around. The bush oath was nothing like the road to his Inn.

"Hey, what the.." he shouted, rapping the roof of the carriage.

It came to a halt.

As soon as he opened the door and jumped down to confront the incompetent driver, he was staring down the barrel of a gun.

"Curiosity killed the cat then and still does so now," the driver said, an icy cold glare in his eyes and a maniacal smile on his lips. "You should have dropped this case when you'd still had the chance, Detective.

*****

I'm sorry it's taking so long to update, I'll try to be more consistent and post more frequently than not.
But then, how is the story so far?