“You’re sure you’ve never seen these things before?” Marcus asked, gesturing once more to the bottle and bags.

“No, I haven’t,” Simeon said before turning to his wife, who shook her head as well.

“And you have no idea what sort of ritual she might have been performing with the grain?” Alexander asked, holding up the sack of barley.

“She’s never said anything about magic, do you know what she might have been doing?” Simeon said, taking the bag from Alexander and holding it open to his wife. She looked inside with dull eyes and slowly shook her head before turning back to the stairs.

“I should get back to Simone,” she said in a sad, quiet voice and walked up the steps.

“Well, we have a couple of more leads to follow up on,” Marcus said once the three men were alone. “I will inform you of whatever we learn.”

A short walk later the two Inquisitors arrived at William’s forge. The man was hard at work, sweating from the heat and effort, a collection of farm implements all around him in various states of disrepair.

“William, a moment?” Marcus stated. The smith wiped his brow and turned to the two newcomers. “I believe these are yours?” Marcus added, holding up the pouch. William took the bag and opened it, fishing out an iron disc in the process.

“They are, where did you find them?” he asked, dumping the contents of the pouch into the palm of his hand.

“They were hidden under Simone’s bed.” Marcus replied.

“Oh? You think she stole them?” William asked while spreading out the iron discs to count them.

“Perhaps, or perhaps they were given to her. Might not have known you were missing them.”

“Possible, she didn’t strike me as the sort of girl to go about burgling homes.”

“The best burglars are ones who don’t look the type. Tell me, what do the letters mean?”

“Letters? On the coins, you mean?”

“Yes, what is their purpose?”

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“I don’t know, the ones I made were blank. They were stolen before I had a chance to sit down and engrave them, or ask the young Inquisitor if he would.”

“Awfully presumptuous to think he would help you in this venture,” Marcus began, “Alexander is an Inquisitor first, a Caller second. A distant second, mind you. His priority is always to maintain peace and uphold the laws and values of the Empire, his skills as a Caller support those ends, not personal gain.”

“Yes, Inquisitor, I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking clearly,” William stammered, his face turning red.

“Think nothing of it, it’s easy to forget our station here, especially with me ignoring many of the formalities our order adheres to down south.”

“So, if you didn’t engrave the letters into these discs, who did? And why?” Alexander asked during the awkward pause.

William shrugged. “Couldn’t tell you why. As for who, anyone with a steady hand and the right tools could do it.”

“Could Simone have done it?”

“Doubt it, bakery probably doesn’t have the tools to mark iron.”

“What about a carpenter?” Alexander asked.

“Possible,” William said, rubbing his chin. “Tools for wood aren’t necessarily good for iron. Could do, with enough effort.”

The conversation was interrupted by a boy about twelve years old announcing his return. William excused himself to hand the boy finished tools and instruct him where to bring each.

“What do you think, Alexander?” Marcus whispered while William was occupied, “Could Edmond or Elena be involved with the discs? They likely had the tools and skill to engrave them.”

“Possibly,” Alexander whispered back, “But William also obviously has the tools and the skill.”

“Very good,” Marcus said with a smile, “until we know who, if anyone, actually killed Simone we cannot rule anyone out, though some suspects are more likely guilty than others.”

“My apologies, Inquisitors,” William stated as the boy ran off with an armful of tools, “the lad is fast and can be trusted, but he needs very clear instructions.”

“Is he an employee of yours?” Marcus asked, watching the boy disappear down a street.

“Sort of, many people in town use him as a courier. He’s fast and can run for hours without tiring. Can be trusted, too, never have to worry about things you give him going ‘missing’ if you know what I mean. Ever since his father died a couple winters back his mother and sisters rely too much on the money he brings in to jeopardize his income by stealing.”

“If it’s all the same to you, we’ll keep hold of the discs for a little while longer, until we complete our investigation.” Marcus said, changing the subject. William nodded and put the discs back in the pouch before handing it to the Inquisitor.

“What’s that?” William asked, pointing at the bottle in Alexander’s hand.

“Empty bottle, not sure what was in it but we found it hidden away with your missing discs." Alexander replied.

“Ah.” William replied and turned back to Marcus. “Are we done here? I have a lot of work to catch up on.”

“Of course, and we’ll be back to return your discs as soon as we can.” Marcus replied.

“No hurry, I’ll have to melt them down to make sure they’re clean. Can’t go selling tainted charms.”

“No, I suppose not. Once again, thank you for your time.”

“To Eugenia, then?” Alexander said once he and Marcus had stepped away from the smithy.

“Indeed, and hopefully she has some answers for us.”