Roy woke up early the next morning and went to the second victim’s house. The victim’s name was Farquhar, a thirty-three year old man who worked at Vivaldi Bank. He lived in a beautiful, red, three-story house in the city’s middle-class area. He had two adorable children and a beautiful wife named Misha.
He’d lived a good life.
Farquhar never expected death to come to him so soon, so he’d never had the chance to make any arrangements. To make things worse, he was the only breadwinner of the family, making his death all the more devastating. Misha was on the verge of a breakdown, and she wondered how much longer she could take it.
We don’t even have any income now that Farquhar’s gone. What’s going to happen to the kids?
Misha was trudging back and forth before her front door with the kids in tow, obviously looking troubled.
“Pardon the intrusion, ma’am. Might you be Mr. Farquhar’s wife?” a gentle voice called out. She looked in the direction of that voice, but she didn’t recognize the man. He was almost bald, and his eyes resembled a beast’s, much to her terror. However, he was smiling warmly at her.
She tensed and put her children behind her. “A-are you a witcher?”
Wow, I really stand out. “Yes, I’m Roy, from the Viper School. My friend had been killed by the same bastard that had taken your husband’s life.” He’d sprinkled in some lies. “I want to avenge him, so can you answer some questions?”
The children held their mother’s arms tightly, and Misha stared at Roy in fear for a while. “H-how is the investigation going, t-then?”
“Sorry. I found no leads for now.” Roy shook his head. He noticed the children and the woman looking pale and gaunt, so he wanted to help. “I apologize if I’ve scared the children. If you’ll answer my questions, I’ll give you some money. It’s not much, but it’ll help.”
He looked at the children. “I think you’ll be needing the money, so here’s some. I’m sorry this has gone on for so long without any news.” Roy could only spare five crowns, since their funds were stretched thin as they were.
Misha stopped crying after that, though she doubted Roy would actually give her any money. But when Roy handed her a bag containing five crowns, all the doubt she had was gone. Instead, she bowed with gratitude. “Thank you, sir. We can’t even get any food now. The children have been starving for days. Rita, Collin! Say thank you to the witcher!”
“That bad? Doesn’t your husband have any savings?” Roy asked gently.
Misha smiled bitterly. “Most of his money is spent on the mortgage and the family. We’re in the red every month,” she answered without hesitation.
Didn’t expect this world to work just like my old one, Roy thought. Then he said casually, “Vivaldi Bank is a big bank. Everyone knows it, so he should have been a well-paid man. Why was he still paying for the mortgage when he was already thirty?”
“It is what it is.” Misha patted her children’s head and stared at her house. “Ellander’s a big city, so it costs a lot just to live here. And this house is near the city center. You wouldn’t believe how much it costs. It’s been five years, but we’re still paying for it.”
Misha had a look of hatred on her face. “And…” She held her hands and fidgeted.
Roy knew it was his cue to cut in. “You can tell me if you’re having any trouble. I can help you out.”
She stared down in silence for a moment. “Are you really a witcher? They say witchers are heartless mutants. They wouldn’t give away their money to the surviving family, and they wouldn’t be as friendly as you.”
“Those are just rumors. There are both good and bad witchers,” Roy answered honestly. “All you have to know is that I mean no harm to you. I only want to arrest the killer.” God, I would’ve cast Axii if I could.
“You can take the money back if you want.” She bit her lip. “And I can give you more, but don’t expect too much. All I want is for you to clear my husband’s name.”
Roy shot her a look of surprise. “Why? What happened?”
“The bank rescinded the interest-free loan right after my husband’s death, and they accused him of embezzlement.” Misha’s face was flushed with anger. Apparently, she trusted that her husband was innocent. “But we don’t even have any extra crowns. We’ve been married for ten years, and he’s been nothing but a perfect husband! He gets home on time and never messes around! And he’s never taken even one extra crown home. He was an honest, hardworking man, and his colleagues know it. You can ask them if you don’t believe me.” She sighed. “Even the esteemed Mr. Vivaldi, the bank’s owner, praised him in person. My husband won the best employee award too. I don’t believe for a moment that Farquhar would’ve embezzled any money.”
Roy didn’t take the money. He was there to look deeper into the victim’s background, and he didn’t want to take money from a poor, single mother. The young witcher went to the city’s Vivaldi Bank and waited silently in the alley beside the establishment.
When the workers were going to leave for lunch, Roy tailed one of them silently. Since he hadn’t mastered Axii, Roy covered the man’s head with a sack and threatened him into answering. However, the employee was already spilling the beans before Roy could even start his routine. He was terrified, since he thought the serial killer who was terrorizing the city had come for him.
Roy sighed after listening to the whole story. Misha had gotten everything wrong. The bank did not accuse Farquhar of doing something he hadn’t. They had proof. Every employee had to undergo a body check before clocking off in case someone made off with more money than they should have. However, Farquhar had found a loophole. He’d hid the money he stole in the restroom’s secret compartment.
But before he could cash out the money, death had already come knocking. The new employee who took his place noticed the inconsistency in the account, and finally, they realized Farquhar had been stealing from them.
Farquhar took the bank’s money. Did the killer murder him because of that? Is he a vampire of justice or something?
***
Roy didn’t stop after that. Instead, he went to the eastern part of the city, where the beggar used to make a living. It didn’t take him long to find Jarre’s friend, Jancker.
“Jarre’s an old friend. I really want to talk about him, but I don’t think I have the strength to even speak now.” The poorly dressed beggar tilted his head and smiled bitterly. He put on a sob story, as if he were genuinely sad about Jarre’s death, but Roy noticed he was shoving his bowl ahead with a grimy hand.
Roy tossed a few copper coins into the bowl, and Jancker looked at it for a moment. Then he groveled before Roy, trying to kiss his boots.
Roy took a step back and waved him down. Money makes the world go round. “Don’t waste my time. Did your friend start acting weird before he died?”
Jancker bit the coin to see if it was genuine, then he shook his head. “No. Jarre was just lying there as usual. Whenever someone went past him, he’d shake his legs and tell them a sob story. If I didn’t know better, I would have shed a tear.”
“Some friend you are, talking trash about him after he’s died.”
Jancker was slightly agitated by that comment. “Everyone’s putting on an act in this line of work. That’s the truth! Honestly, I envied him. He could make three days’ worth of money in one just by lying there and telling everyone about his legs. Everyone else had to run around to make a living.” He paused for a moment. “He was a rich guy in our circle. He didn’t even need to move to rake in serious crowns, and he was really well-fed. None of us expected him to die. He was just missing for one night, so we thought he’d come back eventually, but nay. I heard he suffered a lot before he was killed. Pierced by a tree, wasn’t he?” Jancker gasped fearfully, then he cursed. “The bastard’s out of his mind. If this keeps up, I’ll have to leave Ellander and find some other city to live in.”
Roy tossed him another coin. “So he made a lot of money and didn’t spend much. So he must have some savings, right?”
Jancker took the coin happily and shook his head. “We have taxes to pay. Not to the government, but the organization. Jarre only kept enough money to live his life. He gave everything else to the organization. Thanks to that, the elders kept him safe. He was their piggy bank, after all.”
“Did he cross anyone or indulge in anything?”
Jancker squinted. “He wouldn’t really dwell on anything, so no. He didn’t cross anyone. He spent his days either lying around or eating. Never saw him staying in an inn despite the money he made. He never went to the gambling den, either. I thought about it for a while, and I came to a conclusion — the guy loved to sleep.”
Roy was surprised someone like that existed. He had money, but he wouldn’t even try to have fun? No, it’s more like he didn’t want to move around. “How would you rate Jarre, seeing as you’ve been friends for ten years?”
“Bah, stop with that formality. We’re just beggars, not scribes. We don’t ‘rate’ anyone. You’re asking for my thoughts, aren’t you?” Jancker finally gave it a serious thought. He rubbed his chin for a while before answering, “He was lazy. Can’t think of anything else. Not a scholar, you see. He was really, really lazy. The elders thought he was an honest man, so they wanted to give him a job, but he said no without batting an eye. ‘Why should I work hard when I can make the same amount of money just by lying around?’ That’s what he said or something.” Jancker paused to catch his breath. “I’ve been thinking a lot, and he had a point. I would be grinning all day if I made as much as he did.”
Roy left after that, though Jancker hoped he’d stay, since Roy kept giving him money. The other beggars gave him the same answers. Apparently, Jarre’s laziness was known throughout the beggars’ circle.
If I assume the killer murdered Farquhar because of his embezzlement, then why did he kill Jarre? Because he hated Jarre’s lazy and unmotivated self? Roy thought about it for a moment, then he caught on to something, but he wasn’t sure if his guess was right.
He was about to look into the servant’s background in the castle when he realized Huckle’s bakery was nearby. It had been four months since his son had been killed by the arachnomorph. Roy wondered how the old baker was doing. Did he find out who hurt his son in the first place?
