Josie and Lois appeared in the office they had commandeered with the help of the

Duke. Stacks of paper were on the desk. Bob and Gall were talking about some of the

scenes described.

Josie had caused too many such scenes on her own to be moved by the descriptions

she was breaking into.

“We have a lead,” said Josie. “Where’s the Duke?”

“He was called away by one of his functionaries,” said Bob. “You cut a trail?”

“We found a clerk taking money from the sales of the house clouds,” said Josie. “One

of the clerks at the Furn Brothers was making two payment bundles, one for the clerk,

one for the Duchy.”

“So he might been using the Watch to clear these houses with notices?,” said Gall.

“Yes,” said Josie. “It’s a real estate scheme. I need to find this clerk, and whomever

he is using to clear the houses. I feel that he has a reliable crew since no one else

knows about this.”

“Master Moke admitted that he had been separating the money,” said Lois. “So the

Crown already knows he is guilty of defrauding the Duchy.”

“Where would the clerks be at this time of day?,” asked Josie.

“Probably lunch,” said Gall. “It is almost lunchtime.”

“All right,” said Josie. “The man is named Litt. I don’t know who he clerks for.”

“The Duke did procure a list of people in the Judiciary,” said Bob. He went to one

of the stacks. He pulled out a set of papers and scanned them. He smiled when he

saw the name. “He is an independent clerk according to this.”

“Independent?,” asked Josie.

“He files the paperwork on judgments,” said Gall. “He works in the tax office.”

Josie smiled. Everyone else stepped back.

“Do we call him here, or go get him?,” asked Josie. “Either is good for me.”

“I would like to walk over and put hands on him,” said Bob. “He might have records

in his office that we will need for the humans to put him in the docket.”

“All right,” said Josie. “We might have to deal with his crew too.”

“Gall and I have worked on our fighting ability almost every day,” said Bob. He

smiled. “I doubt you will have to turn into a dragon to help me now.”

“We’ll see,” said Josie. She changed long enough to send out a bird and a letter to

the Duke to let him know what was going on. “We should grab something to eat

while we walk over. How do we get the people he has been using?”

“If they are part of the Watch, they might already know that you are looking for

them,” said Gall.

“They probably know everything that happened with the Royal Family,” said Josie.

“Some of them might have been there when Lords Brant and Rustam were put on

the wagon to go to this delve. So they will know the Crown are already looking for

them. They might not realize that I am looking for them, and can find them faster.

I did let this slide so the Duke could figure out his end.”

“So you looked at this today, and found this fourth man in an hour?,” said Gall.

“We found the first judge the first day we looked when we first heard about the

board,” said Josie. “The other two came from some of my friends going over the

paperwork. Then we looked at the last two things today. We should have finished

the first day. I guess I thought we couldn’t help anyone at the moment, and we could

potentially let this wait while we did other things.”

“You think that was a mistake now?,” said Lois.

“We should have rounded these people up to be executed before Bea was sick,” said

Josie. “We could have cleared this out in two days if we had thought about it.”

“I think handling the problems with Shemmarria was a touch more important than

this,” said Lois.

“Practical limitations,” said Josie. “It doesn’t feel better.”

The group made their way through the halls to the outside. The summoned bird

waited for them to join it before leading them toward a building with a scale in front

of it. People moved up and down the steps to the main entrance.

“There is a food cart,” said Gall. “We can get something there. Then we can go in and

find our man.”

“If we are lucky, Litt will be holding a meeting with his minions and we can swoop

them all up at the same time,” said Josie.

“Never been that lucky,” said Gall.

“I agree,” said Bob.

“Don’t crush my hopes,” said Josie. “That’s my job.”

Bob smiled at her.

“Let’s eat,” said Lois. “Then we can settle this. I would like to enjoy some time with

my daughter before I have to go back to the capitol. Caroline looked so much better

when she left the hospital.”

“They were going to kill her,” said Josie. “It was only a matter of time. I’m glad that

I got the quest, and I am glad it allowed me to deal with people that needed to be dealt

with permanently.”

Lois nodded. She had seen Josie at her business at home. What she had done was

faster than the legal process that would declare a person guilty of treason and hung

in the castle courtyard under the execution tree.

They got their food which looked like a chalupa to Josie. She took a moment to make

sure the food the was safe to eat before they chowed down. As soon as they were

done, the bird led them into the building to show them the way.

They walked through the offices, Gall clearing the way with a password. They found

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

the independent clerk’s office in the bottom of the building. A sign marked out who

was supposed to be assigned to the office.

Josie entered the office. She looked at the clerks working on their orders at their

desks. She nodded at the ten men and women on duty. She didn’t see identifying

signs on the desks.

“We would like to talk to Clerk Litt,” said Josie. All eyes turned to the back of the

room. The subject of their gaze stood up. The firebird behind him vanished.

“How can I help you?,” asked Clerk Litt. He wore the Duke’s livery, ink stains on his

hand, a permanent squint in his eye.

“We are here to arrest you for murder,” said Josie. “Would you come with us?”

“I didn’t kill anyone,” said Litt. “You can’t do this. You are not the Watch.”

“I am the Watch,” said Gall. “We know about the houses you have been selling

for the estate taxes. If you can produce the people who lived in those houses, we will

think about dropping the charge.”

“I don’t have anything to do with that,” said Litt. He looked at his coworkers who

were clearing the way for him to be dragged out by his neck.

“How did it work, Master Litt?,” said Lois. She stood in the back of the group.

Bob might be able to protect her from any harm, but Litt seemed the obvious danger.

“The Watch called me to issue the notice, and collect the money for them,” said Litt.

“I sent the houses down to the Furn Brothers. That’s the extent of what I did.”

“How did they do that?,” asked Josie.

“They used the commission board,” said Litt.

“Who are they seems the most important question,” said Lois. “Who do you work for,

Master Litt?”

“I can’t tell you that,” said Litt. “They will kill me.”

“Take him back to the office,” said Josie. “I don’t really need him to find the others.

I just thought the Duke would like it if he had everything tied up neatly.”

“If you come along peacefully,” said Bob. “You will be held in a room to await

your dispensation. If you want to fight, I will dispense you now if you are not going

to help us.”

“We will get you a sandwich at the vendor outside,” said Gall. “We’re going to

need any weapons you might have.”

Litt pulled a dagger from his belt and dropped it on his desk. He came around the

furniture. He kept his gaze on the floor.

“It’s best you don’t tempt the Ear Ripper,” said Bob. “She once threatened the king

of the elves. You don’t want to get mixed up with anyone like that.”

Josie frowned at the knight. He smiled back.

“You and Jack do this on purpose, don’t you?,” said Josie.

“Do what?,” asked Bob innocently.

“Get on my nerves,” said Josie. “Just take him. There is no point in putting a hole in

his head. I’ll round up the rest by myself. Take Lois with you so she can swear a

statement for the Crown in case we have to send him to the capitol for the King.”

“You’re going to round up the rest?,” asked Lois.

“I am going to try,” said Josie. “I guess be ready for angry Watchmen showing up out

of the blue.”

“Then we hunt the wolf?,” asked Bob.

“Yep,” said Josie. “He can’t be allowed to eat people either.”

“Clerk Litt,” said Gall. “The Duke and the Captain will probably have some

questions. You are going to have to explain everything if none of your accomplices

can be brought in alive.”

“Your testimony will also be handed to the Crown for the auditors to use for similar

crimes,” said Lois. “You might become famous out of this.”

“You might even live the rest of your natural lifespan,” said Josie. “Don’t do anything

stupid now.”

Josie watched the group leave the office under the eyes of the other clerks. She

transformed long enough to create a book of knowledge from Litt. That held the

names of the people he knew were clearing the houses. Now all she had to do was

track them down to capture them.

She knew that she couldn’t send a request through the board, and she didn’t want to

just pop their heads because the Duke needed to know, and the legitimacy of doing

things to protect the city. And she was tired of the crooked members of the Watch

thinking they were protected by their authority. She wanted to send a message that

Hawk Ridge was the seat of her power and she wouldn’t tolerate it. That meant

putting people on trial so the city knew what was going on.

So she had to take them alive in such a way that everyone knew about the arrests.

She sent out letters to each of the men known by Litt. She didn’t know if they all

could read, but thought it was probable. She asked them to meet her at one of the

inns next to the hospital. She told them the Duke was looking into the houses and

may be on to Litt and his connection.

She sent out birds to tell her where the men were and where her party of helpers were.

She didn’t want Bob to have to defend Lois. He wasn’t responsible for her and may

not take the duty seriously.

And if something happened, she wanted to be able to pull the queen out of immediate

danger with a thought.

She walked over to the inn in question. She could feel her spells coming closer. If she

could capture all of them, and turn them over to the Duke, that might be enough to

break the board.

Dealing with the werewolf would be the next thing to do before she caught up with

the kids. She had no fear that she couldn’t handle that with her personas.

She kept herself from calling. Elaine would call if something started. She could count

on that.

Josie wondered what her assistant saw in Jack. She didn’t seem affected by power,

or money. That also led to the question of Case and Caroline. She still had no clue

what to do about them.

She decided that she could only handle the problem in front of her. Case and Caroline

would have to wait until she had Hawk Ridge on a better footing for the audit.

Josie found the inn. She saw a couple of adventurers she knew by sight at one of the

tables when she entered. She went up to them so she could tell them what was going

on.

“Madam Witch,” said one. He raised his cup to her.

“I’m going to be arresting some people for the Duke,” she said. “You guys might

want to eat and leave so you don’t get into any trouble.”

“Don’t worry about us, Madam,” said the adventurer. “We are ready to help. Patrol

has been boring this morning.”

“Boring for you,” said the other man. He turned a little so Josie could see his face. He

had a black eye. “Old lady with a pin.”

“Get that looked at,” said Josie. “That’s what a hospital is for.”

“It will be fine,” said the adventurer. “This isn’t my first black eye.”

“Get that looked at or I will rip your eye out of your skull,” said Josie. “Am I

understood?”

“You’ve been personally threatened and aren’t dead, Markus” said the first

adventurer. He smiled. “You will be famous.”

The talk around them died down as the door opened. Josie turned to face the door.

A group of Watchmen examined the room. They didn’t see the person they were

looking for among the crowd.

“You guys stay out of my way,” said Josie. She patted Markus on his shoulder.

She took a position in the middle of the room. She waved people out of the way so

they would clear the bar.

“Litt is with the Duke, answering questions about your operation,” said Josie. “You

can come along quietly, or you can get hurt. I don’t have a preference.”

“Who are you to talk to us?,” said the lead Watchman. He examined the crowd.

No one seemed ready to jump in to help this girl.

“I would have said I am your judgment,” said Josie. She touched her watch. “But the

Duke wants to make sure you are hung for your thievery and murder.”

Bulletgirl pointed hands at the Watchmen. They were in the door, and unable to

get out fast enough, or charge her with swords drawn before she could start shooting

segments of round shot at them. Wounds opened up in their legs, felling them before

they could flee.

Josie advanced, dropping her targets as they tried to get away from her. She shook

her head as she reverted to normal. She called on Zatanna to get a book of knowledge

together to make sure she had the whole group to hand over to the Duke.

“That was good,” said the first adventurer. He stood at Josie’s side, cup in hand. He

took a sip. “Nobody likes the Watch.”

“You know how I hired you to protect the hospital and the neighborhood?,” said

Josie.

“That’s how Markus got his eye,” said the adventurer.

“They were stealing people’s houses and leaving their bodies somewhere for the

animals,” said Josie. “The only reason they are still alive is the Duke needs them

for the King. Otherwise, I would have done something else.”

“I guess we should take them over to the hospital and put them under guard,” said the

adventurer. “Markus can get his eye looked at the same time.”

“I don’t need it to be looked at,” said Markus. He hitched his belt on Josie’s other

side. His unmarked face looked concern about how he was going to stop the bleeding

of the wounded.

Josie punched him in the unhurt side of his face. He looked surprised. His partner

laughed at him.

“I command you to get your face looked at as your commander, dipstick,” said Josie.

“Don’t make me tell you again. Now let’s get to work.”