Josie looked at the map of crossed off houses. She frowned at what it told her.

Someone had murdered people in a circle and the Watch had not figured out how. The

other was a diffuse cloud of abandoned properties. She thought about it. There had

to be a way to track both of these things down if they were artificial.

“There has to be a way to track both of these down if they are connected to the

Watch,” said Josie.

“These murders have no warrants associated with them,” said the Duke. “That’s why

they are listed as estate tax seizures.”

“What if a notice is sent out instead of a warrant?,” said Josie. “Then the killer just

has to pick up his address, clear the property, and then wait for the seizure.”

“All of these properties were auctioned off for their taxes,” said the Duke. “I suppose

we can look for a common link with the buyers, or sellers.”

“You said there were Watch reports?,” said Josie. “Can you give them to Bob and

Gall? Maybe they can find something we don’t see from this. The two of us will talk

to the auction people.”

“We’re going to see who bought the houses?,” asked Lois.

“Yes,” said Josie. “I think we have two different things going on here. Solving one

won’t solve the other.”

“If we solve them both?,” asked Lois.

“Then we will have two different people in our grasp,” said Josie. “The ring in the

south is obviously one man murdering anyone in his way. The clouds are people

disappearing. The effect is different, even though both groups of properties are being

confiscated. So that’s how we will attack this. Bob and Gall will go over the reports

and put together a list of similarities. Maybe they will stumble over some kind of sign

that the Watch missed. We will go to the auction houses and see how many of these

houses were sold, and who bought them. Then we will have to ask them some

questions if we can.”

“You don’t think the fake monster attacks are because of the commission board at all,

do you?,” said Gall.

“Mister Gall,” said Josie. “If anyone was killed in your raids, you said they would

have to have been killed at the Barracks. I suppose your men didn’t have a habit of

ripping people apart. That means someone outside the Watch are doing these crimes.

Or if a Watchman is doing these crimes, it’s not for the money.”

She gestured at the other list.

“These others could have been done by a Watchman, or Watchman adjacent

criminals,” said Josie. “Since we don’t know what happened to the people yet.

Someone might have asked for the missing people to be driven out of their places, or

killed and buried somewhere their bodies will never be found. The problem is we

don’t know how the board was used.”

“A notice could have been posted,” said Gall. “I don’t know who would take it if

there wasn’t some kind of official paper with it.”

“How does that work?,” asked Josie.

“This is just a guess,” said Gall. “But if a notice went up about a house, someone

might have taken the job to clear it. I don’t know who would post it. Most of what I

saw was official paperwork that Aile used with signature. Something like that would

have to be anonymous.”

“Who posts the notices?,” asked Josie.

“I assumed the clerks from the Court,” said Gall.

Josie thought for a second. She looked at the lists.

“Your Grace, can you get us a list of all the clerks for the Court, especially any that

worked for our three malcontents?,” said Josie. “If you could also supply Bob and

Gall with the reports they need to get started, that would be good. Lois and I will talk

to the auction people.”

“We only use two,” said the Duke. “Bins, and the Furn Brothers.”

“That’s where we’ll get started,” said Josie. “Our fourth man might have directed

sales through another house to avoid being suspected.”

“Just like he used the commission board to hide his identity?,” asked Gall.

“Back home, you can find people just by looking up their tax number,” said Josie.

“Here, you can be anyone you want because there is no way for anyone to prove you

aren’t that person.”

“And he could say the order came from any judge that signed a paper, if it is a clerk,

or even a high enough member of the Watch,” said the Duke.

“I’ll take the lists and see if Lois and I can find a common seller inside the system,

or at least try to find a clue,” said Josie. “There is also a possibility that our werewolf

is also working for this hypothetical suspect, only he didn’t get the memo to be neat

and tidy.”

“Don’t worry, Josie,” said Bob. “This is just a smarter type of monster, and we have

been hunting them forever.”

“Let me send a runner for the things we need,” said the Duke. “Then we can get

started on our end of things.”

Josie transformed and sent out birds to carry her and Lois to the first auction house.

She snapped through to a place not far from the Endwright estate. She looked at the

columns supporting a portico in front of the building. She thought the architecture

was out of place with the rest of the city planning.

“You burned up tax collectors?,” asked Lois.

“For some reason, they thought I was going to let them take my girls,” said Josie. She

tried the door and found it locked. She hammered a dark wooden panel with a fist.

She didn’t know if the sound was penetrating into the building. “The same with

Jane’s Amazons. They were wrong.”

Josie waited for a few seconds, then she hammered the door again.

“I take it the order was signed by Judge Lewn, the judge who got turned into a baby,”

said Lois.

“Yes,” said Josie. “But we didn’t talk to him until the second group broke in. That

was when we found out the commission was still out.”

“They didn’t know what had happened to the first group?,” said Lois.

“News doesn’t travel as fast here as it does back home,” said Josie. She glared at the

door. She was about to turn into the Martian Manhunter and go about her business

when a slot for an eyehole opened up.

“What do you want?,” asked the doorman.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“Official business from the Duke,” said Josie. “Open up, or I will knock this door

down.”

“I would like to see your warrant,” said the gatekeeper.

“Sir,” said Lois. “We are investigating some suspicious deaths. We would like to

come in and talk to the head of house for a few minutes.”

“I don’t think so,” said the gatekeeper. He shut the eyehole cover in their face.

“Knock it down,” said Lois.

Josie changed into the Martian Manhunter. She brought some of her more massive

fists down on the wood. The door broke into halves and fell in at her feet. She

switched back as the gatekeeper tried to back up out of the way.

“If you move, you will wind up like the door,” said Josie. “Who’s in charge?”

“Everyone is out searching for the properties for the next auction,” said the

Gatekeeper. He gestured with wide hands at the damage. “How do I explain this?”

“Tell them that the Ear Ripper arrived with the authority of the Duke and the Crown,

and you didn’t open the door,” said Josie. “You are lucky to be alive. Where do you

keep your records?”

“Upstairs, in the office,” said the Gatekeeper. He pointed at the ceiling.

“I expect that you are frightened,” said Lois. “Sit down in your spot, and wait for us

to come back and talk to you. We might have questions.”

Josie led the way upstairs, pushing past the Gatekeeper. She searched until she found

an office. She opened the door with the Locksmith and stepped inside. She frowned

at the rugs and whatnots on display.

“Let’s pull out the files we need,” said Josie. She transformed and sent a bird to look

for any of the properties on her list. Nothing happened.

“So they didn’t handle anything for the city,” said Josie. “Let’s try the other one, and

then we will have to hit the smaller ones until we find someone who sold the

properties.”

“Are you going to fix the door?,” asked Lois.

“No,” said Josie. “I’m going to leave it as a warning for the next time I have to visit

this place.”

They went back downstairs. Josie looked at the man sitting in his chair next to the

door. He was slumped, looking at the damage.

“Next time, open the door,” said Josie. She transformed and used a bird to fix the

door. She led the way out of the building.

“You are soft,” said Lois. “Ear Ripper.”

“Don’t start,” said Josie. She glanced at the older woman smiling at her. “Let’s try the

Furn Brothers.”

She whisked them across the city. A knock on the door got them immediate access

to the inside of a square block of a building. There was minimal decoration, just

enough to make buyers comfortable in staying, but not much more than that.

They were escorted to an office on the top floor. It resembled a cubicle farm. Josie

wondered at that as they were escorted to an enclosure in the back of the room. A man

with a clipped ear, droopy eye, and curled mouth looked at them.

“How can I help you?,” asked the man. He gestured for them to sit in visitor chairs

on their side of his desk.

“The Duke has asked us to look into a series of disappearances here in the city,” said

Josie. “We need to know if you sold these houses for the city.”

She gave him the list of properties.

“Estate tax sales?,” asked the man.

“Yes,” said Josie.

“We have two men who specialize in them,” said the man. “I will call them to the

office right now.”

“Thank you for your assistance,” said Josie.

“Sales for the city make up the bulk of our auctions,” said the man. “I can’t allow any

damage to our reputation. Clearing this up will only help us.”

He went out and walked down among the cubicles. He talked to two people for a few

seconds and gestured for them to come up to his open office.

The two men were younger, thinner, and wore what she had come to think of as office

casual. One concentrated on Josie, and Lois. More on Lois, thought Josie. Maybe he

liked older women.

The other refused to look at either woman, keeping his eyes on the enclosure walls.

“These are Kiln and Moke,” said the manager. “They handle all of our estate sales

from the city, and the greater Duchy beyond.”

“What can you tell me about these sales?,” Josie said. She handed over the lists of

disappearance houses.

Kiln examined the list. He scratched his head for a moment. He handed the list to

Moke before looking at the women again.

“I sold some of those houses,” said Kiln. “They came in a batch lot from the

Judiciary.”

“Who signed for them, Master Kiln?,” asked Josie. She had an eye on Moke. He

didn’t look at the list. He handed it to Lois, and stood back.

“The Clerk, Litt,” said Kiln. “He signed for that one bundle. I am sure of that. If I go

through my records, I might find more. I know I got that bundle because Moke was

out sick. I covered for him to secure the auction so we could get rid of the houses.”

“What happened to the money?,” asked Josie. She put the list in the messenger bag.

“Money from auctions goes back to the backer,” said the manager. “In this case, we

would have sent the paperwork to this clerk to have the judge sign for it.”

“Once we have the order from the judge, the property is released,” said Kiln.

“Understood,” said Josie. “How many people did you help kill, Master Moke?”

The other man stirred under the direct question. He paused to gather his thoughts

before he thought about protesting his innocence.

“I guess it doesn’t matter,” said Josie, standing. “As soon as the Duke has Litt in his

hands, the rest of you will follow. I expect charges of murder will be filed against

you, and then you will be hanged, or beheaded, or whatever they do to murderers

here.”

“What do they do to murderers where you are from, Josie?,” asked Lois. She stood

also, moving behind Josie in case something bad was about to happen.

“Depends on where you are,” said Josie. “Different places have different rules.

California has stopped death sentences as far as I know. Other states use the electric

chair, or lethal injection of poison. Other countries that aren’t my country do different

things.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” said Moke. “I didn’t do anything wrong.

Litt filed the paperwork and I did the auctions. That is all.”

“We think Litt killed the people in those houses so he could auction them,” said Josie.

“The Duke’s own auditors and auditors from the Captiol will be looking at these

auctions again. If they uncover your involvement, the king will not look away from

you just because you’re a cog.”

“I swear I don’t know anything about that,” said Moke. “I swear. I just handled the

trade part, and made sure he got his cut before the rest was sent to the Duchy.”

“Do you want to live, Mister Moke?,” asked Josie.

“What?,” asked the auctioneer.

“Do you want to live?,” asked Josie. “It’s a simple question. Do you want to live?”

“Yes,” said Moke.

“I want you to go back to your desk, and write down everything you know,” said

Josie. “I am going to send some adventurers to take you into custody, and I want you

to stay with them. Litt will probably have you killed once he knows you gave up his

name. So I want you to stay here, wait for protection, and then go with the

adventurers when they get here.”

“I really don’t know anything else,” said Moke.

“Villains, when they want to make a clean break, usually start by clamping off anyone

who can lead to them,” explained Lois. “Even if you don’t know anything, Litt won’t

be able to take a chance about what you could know.”

“And since he prefers to use the Watch to do his dirty work, guess what happens if

a Watchman takes you in before we grab Litt and anyone else involved,” said Josie.

“Wait on the adventurers. Don’t leave.”

“We’ll wait with him,” said the manager. “Our reputation demands it.”

“All right,” said Josie. “The Duke will probably keep doing business with you. Thank

you for your help.”

“Thank you for exposing this traitor,” said the manager.

“Let’s go, Lois,” said Josie. “We have to track Litt down and try to find his crew

before they realize they have been discovered if they aren’t getting ready to break

with the audits coming down.”

They headed out of the auction house. Josie triggered her com band. She had a group

of adventurers as her minions. She might as well use them.

“What do you want now?,” asked Jane.

“What if I told you that I uncovered a conspiracy by a bunch of murderers to kill

people and sell their houses?,” asked Josie.

“Tell me something I haven’t heard before,” said Jane.

“You are a tough sell,” said Josie. “I can see why everyone of the Amazons look up

to you with that no nonsense way of thinking.”

“They look up to me because I am paying them,” said Jane. “Do you really have a

conspiracy of murderers, or are you pulling my leg?”

“I have an accomplice at Furn Brothers Auction House,” said Josie. “I need some

adventurers to swing by and pick him up. Tell them it could potentially be dangerous,

and if any Watch try to stop them, they are to follow the Watchmen wherever they go

and report back.”

“The Watch is involved?,” asked Jane. “Of course, the Watch is involved.”

“Only some of them,” said Josie. “But since we don’t know who, we have to act like

all of them are involved. We’re going to get Bob, and see if we can pick the money

man up. Maybe he will give us the rest.”

“Be careful,” said Jane. “I think Jack will shoot more than lightning into the city if

you get hurt.”

“Doubt it,” said Josie. She cut the call.

She transformed and placed a bird on top of the auction house to keep watch.

“Let’s get Bob, and Gall,” she said. “Then we can see if Litt will lead us to the rest

of our rats.”

Lois nodded.