Wheels squeaking, windows trembling slightly, horses snorting, the rather spacious, luxurious carriage trundled onwards towards the descending orange speck, which seemed to mock them for their incredibly slow pace.
Velvety cushions padded the walls of the carriage while a thick rug, equally purple as the plush cushioning, wrapped the floor in its arms.
The passengers were a group of rather stout gentle men, fur-lined coats on and stomachs, although not exactly filled, satisfied at the very least.
One of them, seeing a cluster of buildings slowly rising, alerted the other three men. Their journey had been a long one and even with every necessity provided to them, they were nevertheless a bit grouchy and wished the journey would hurry up and end. This wish was swiftly fulfilled and in a matter of minutes, the carriage slowed down before coming to a smooth stop.
The four men shook hands with their driver gratefully, hopped out, and hobbled away, heartily hoping they would never be required to take a journey again. However, for a pair of outlaws hiding beneath the floor, their destination had not yet been reached.
Sliding open the exceptionally well-camouflaged trapdoor, Sigerson took a deep breath, while his young companion next to him panted heavily as if being trapped in an enclosed space for an hour deprived him of all oxygen.
On hearing the trapdoor opening, the driver looked down and asked whether they were alright and if they should continue on their way without taking a break. Harvey opened his mouth to speak, but Sigerson cut him off before a single word could escape his mouth.
"No, there's only a short distance left. Don't worry," he added, facing Harvey's anguished face. "This is the last stop, I promise."
Harvey closed his eyes in a peaceful manner and sank back down, perhaps imagining his troubles away. Sigerson, seeing this resigned gesture as a sign of acceptance, signalled to his loyal driver and they set off once again. Leaning back in with a tired expression still lingering on his face, Sigerson sighed deeply—countless trials were yet to come.
The secret chamber they were hidden in this time was thankfully much more spacious than their previous one. Now, there was still plenty of space, even when two men were stuck inside. Harvey, full of youthful energy, squirmed around like a worm, often attracting weary glances from the detective.
Finally, deciding that it was time to put an end to the restless movements irritating him, he prodded the boy not too softly and politely requested for him to stop. Although Harvey did indeed cease his squirming, his face screamed rebellion like a troublesome child.
"How about I tell why the Enforcers aren't coming after us?" offered the detective, hoping this was enough to satisfy the boy's impatience. Harvey fell for the bait at once, his entire figure perfectly still now. Almost surprised at how effective these few words were, Sigerson shut his eyes, rapidly finding an easy way to summarise his plan and thus began:
"I'm very sure you know by now what my goal has been the entire time?"
"Yup. You were trying to arrest somebody and pin a couple of crimes on a guy named Blight, weren't ya? At least, that's what I remember."
"There were a few parts you missed out on. Putting Hartland behind bars may have been my main objective, but in reality, it was much more complicated than that. Not only did I have to worry about getting caught by Grock but also Blight himself. If he knew what I was up to, I would definitely be stopped in an instant. Before I explain anything, let me describe the situation I was in at the beginning, when I was still on the train here.
I had little resources on hand, barely any money to spend, and could only rely on myself, which might have been the biggest problem. Upon arriving in Sodor, I immediately revealed my location to the Enforcers, knowing most of them were still scattered across the country holding the rebels off. Two possibilities rose; either they would chase after me or suspect a diversion. In both cases, I had a way of escape available. If they chose to target me, I purposely revealed my location in a town where many escape routes were available to use. Evelyn had disguised herself as well, making it almost impossible for her to be tracked in such a short notice.
After the Enforcers chased the false trail, the path was somewhat straighter for me. Next, I needed help. Help from an expert or experts in hiding from the law. Of course, as you well know, the first person that came to mind was Turner. Even though we've been acquainted for several years, there was still no definite way for me to contact him directly. How could I reach him? We both know he's massively involved with gambling dens, so I checked the closest one to his home. Sure enough, he was there and since we'd already known and trusted each other, he naturally agreed to help me.
Money was now the problem both for me and him; without money, nothing could run smoothly. As I would need to buy the services of others later on in my plan. Luckily, as I thought, we were in the gambling den where the eyes and ears of the Enforcers would not notice us so easily. I set up a game against the proudest, and therefore easiest, target there, allowed the man to fall into the trap where he'd likely cheat, then won the bet at the last second. A total of five hundred sovereigns were now mine. I could finally start to work on the arrest itself.
I knew summoning Hartland to a particular place would arouse suspicion, so I made sure beforehand with Elena, who was the blonde girl you saw earlier and has unknowingly been my spy for a few months now, found out which places he visited the most, and met you. You then helped steal Hartland's fortune (excellent job by the way if I haven't said so yet), bringing his confidence down and causing his paranoia to peak while preventing him from being able to contact Blight using the fake piece of evidence against him. Although the physical list didn't actually exist, I ws more than sure of the little payments Blight had been sneaking to Hartland the entire time. With his paranoia, the rest was easy; I simply set the tables in advance to prepare—"
"Wait," interrupted Harvey, who had been listening to the monologue with undivided attention. "What if he never showed up to the gambling den?"
"It would've been the same," replied Sigerson patiently, continuing as if there had been no interruption. "A blackmail attempt would've been more than enough to capture his attention and draw him in— that's all I needed. If it did come to that, it would only have been riskier than my original plan.
Anyways, as I was saying, when Hartland eventually arrived, everything was set up in a way that would almost guarantee him cheating. Having witnessed his method of cheating in a previous encounter, I was successfully able to manipulate him into making the exact moves I wanted. I gave this information to Turner, who in turn used it to blackmail Hartland.
The gun specifically made for the occasion was then picked up by him, which I knew would give him a very good reason to meet Turner again to silence him for good. Turner told me the location of their meeting, which I gave to Grock through many intermediaries and Hartland was arrested at last."
Not to mention the little trap I set up against Blight's men while I was waiting for the Enforcers to show up. Well... Harvey doesn't need to know that.
A resounding clang and a dull thud shook the carriage like an earthquake. Voices, clear as crystal, yelled and ordered each other around as the sound of a colossal mechanical gate's cogs whirring open scraped into their ears.
They were now in District 12 of Alms, entrapped within its mechanical arms.
Instantly like magic, the air froze their lungs, pumping their insides with icy breath. Sigerson sniffed and pulled his scarf tighter around his neck, embracing its warmth. On the other hand, Harvey seemed to enjoy the cold weather; he blew out softly and marvelled at the visible misty air that faded into nothingness. He twisted around, facing Sigerson.
"Ya still haven't finished yet, Liam."
The detective showed a faint sign of a grin. It was rather hard for anyone, even Sigerson, to dislike the boy's childish charm.
"I'll be sure to tell you, but remember to get ready to leave at any time. We're nearly at our destination."
He adjusted his dull grey scarf one last time before continuing.
"Since I had worked alongside Grock for several years, my picture of him became clear; he was the sort of man who never misses details or delays in giving orders. Why then couldn't he single out Blight among the people as the grand orchestrator of the crimes leading up to the war? Plenty of clues had been scattered throughout the years from the inconsistencies between the rebels' and Blight's crimes, to the mysterious leakage of classified information. All of these points should've connected together, pointing to Blight."
He closed his eyes peacefully.
"Then I remembered. Blight was a Custodian, who by the laws of Crowne was heavily protected, giving him a shield even Grock would find uneasy to break. Uneasy but not impossible.
It gave me an idea; why not provide Grock with an excuse to break through Blight's defence while making my own escape? Surely this was bound to be my primary goal later on, so why not do it as I ride away safely?
First, I made sure to put you and Turner away from danger. Next, I needed another group of people willing to help me. Because this part of the plan hardly required any skill other than acting, I already had in mind who I was going to set apart to be my pawns."
"Dexter Eiter."
"Yes. He is one of the few men who could sneak into a banquet, silently kill his target, and make it out within the hour. I had only heard rumors of his skill, but when I met him in person, that solidified my choice. It wasn't an easy feat persuading him to help me either. His usual fees weren't far too high for me to afford but for some reason, money was never a reason. I needed to improvise quickly, so I offered him information. Information on the Enforcers and the Royal Constabulary. He was quick to pick up on my offer, so after that, everything ran smoothly."
"So you betrayed the Constabulary to get his help?" asked Harvey, raising his eyebrows skeptically as if he didn't believe it.
"Of course. I'm willing to put anything on the line to see Blight punished."
"Why would they accept information anyways?"
"If you didn't know already, many gangs in the underworld hold a deep grudge against the Enforcers, although—"
He snuck a glance at the restless boy.
"—I suppose most of the new generation don't care as much as the older one does.
Anyhow, Eiter and his gang were now in my hands and with you and Turner out of the way, I could finally proceed to creating the final illusion that would allow me to escape. Since Grock had Hartland in his possession, there was a good chance he knew who my accomplices were, if he didn't already. This meant I was strictly restricted to using what Grock and Blight thought I didn't have."
"Which was more than enough," grinned Harvey.
"Which was more than enough," repeated Sigerson without smiling, although he seemed quite proud of himself. "I had already figured out that Blight intended to create conflict between Ecclesia and Revalty ages ago; this fact allowed me to anticipate his next move: the assassination of Mr Paulos.
Right now, the war will end soon if Revalty doesn't receive reinforcements soon, so in order to prolong the war and cause more suffering, Blight would try and cut Ecclesia's supplies off and try to stir up trouble among the country's strongest ally.
I sent the gang to the ammunition factories in the country, smuggled in a few bombs (some fake, some real), and set them around the place, making sure Grock had plenty of time to defuse them. The gang, according to my prior instructions, came forwards one by one to provide Grock with enough information to assume I was still around the factory, and so the Enforcers were removed from the exits in an attempt to catch me as they thought I was still in their vicinity. Grock, through these actions, would also have the sense to assign guards to protect Mr Paulos, which is all fine by me as well, as it prevents Blight from further escalating the conflict.
After all the Enforcers left their posts to search the factories, everything ran smoothly. I met up with you again, hopped into this marvellous ride and told the cabbie to pick up some nobles as a sort of shield against any stray Enforcers that might've been left behind.
I might have left some parts out, but that should suffice for you to understand the events that unfolded."
"Just one question. Why didn't Grock come straight for you after realising the bombs were fake?"
"He had no way of telling which ones were real or fake from the outside. Besides, I set up a message for him 'deducing' everything that had happened using information only people at the factory would know. This, combined with a couple of false trails in Turner's shack (he's now living in the Crowne Hotel, I believe) led Grock to Eiter disguising as me. What happens there isn't my concern; Eiter might kill a few of the Enforcers in an attempt to escape, or he might have noticed something, but either way, nothing they do will harm us."
"I suspect Grock must be furious right now."
Clunk.
The carriage came to an abrupt stop among the fluffy snowy streets. They had arrived safely, with a few minor bruises of course, at their new temporary home.