Puzzled by the bare safe, laid agape and devoid of any trace of his riches, Sigurd stood and took two steps back. He could feel his heart beat faster and faster, as anxiety sank in. Desperate for recourse, he turned towards the door, intent on finding out the truth.
Expecting this outcome upon hearing the question, whom his gaze met at the door frame was none other than the madam's.
“I know what you're thinking, I've seen that look in your eyes before," she calmly said, shaking her head lightly as she did.
“Where's my gold?!" Sigurd roared; the intensity with which he yelled instantly woke up the women on his bed.
“Calm down, kiddo," the madam countered, still composed. “I don't know where your gold is.”
Sigurd took a step forward. Furiously, he retorted, “But surely you know who does, right? After all, it was safely stored in a safe in a room in your building. Who else but you, or one of yours, would know the combination?”
He took another step forward. Sensing his murderous rage, the sheep girl ran up to the madam and spread her arms out in an attempt to shield her.
“Don't hurt Madam Bea, she did nothing wrong!" the child pleaded.
Before he could take another step, Sigurd was constricted by Maria, her coily snake tail wrapping itself around his torso, locking his arms into place and firmly grounding him. Despite his stature and build, she was able to easily immobilize him.
“She told you to calm down!" Maria hissed.
The situation was growing tenser by the minute. Fear could be seen in the young busgirl’s eyes, and her eyes grew teary.
The madam let out a large and loud sigh. Keeping a cool head, she held out her left hand, motioning at Maria to stop constricting Sigurd. The snake woman let him go.
The man yielded, holding out both hands in front of him.
Madam Bea then placed the same hand on the sheep girl's shoulder, reassuring her, while, at the same time, with her right hand she tapped her pipe against the door's frame, to clear it of ashes and gunk.
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“You’d be right to assume that, Master Sigurd," she changed her tone entirely to fit the situation. “But then, tell me: why would I offer you a room with a safe, only to steal your coins afterwards?
“This is a business that's based on trust. I would not defile my place of business for a bit of extra coinage if it meant ruining that reputation.
“All the same, you might think this is just a seedy place for carnal services. Or that it's not reputable. But, I can guarantee you I run a tight shift around here.
“I run my establishment as legitimately as possible in this red-light district. And I've taught my boys and girls to respect the sanctity of the customer. No one here would ever dream of stealing from someone who was already paying well.
“So you'll have to forgive my anger if I'm appalled by your little outburst, Master Sigurd," Madam Bea delivered that last line in a scathing tone.
Impressed and humbled by her tirade, Sigurd could only mumble: “I wasn't going to hurt you, or any of your girls.”
With the tension dying down, Sigurd stepped back and landed on the bed, slumping his shoulders.
Madam Bea carefully moved the waitress girl out of the way and walked up to the defeated man. She put one hand on her hip and held the pipe in the other, stretched out. Her posture prompted Sigurd to look up at her face.
“Besides, kiddo,” her voice returned to its relaxed tone. “I took a peek in that bag when you weren't looking. What you brought – or rather what you had left by the end of the evening – wasn't much more than 50,000 coins.”
Sigurd's eyes grew wide in disbelief.
‘How the hell did I use up so much money in less than twenty-four hours?!' Joyce thought. ‘Was I mistaken in believing I was rich? Was all that money actually worthless?’
“...And if I took anything at all, it was just a service fee," Madam Bea said, tongue-in-cheek, holding a pair of golden coins in her hand.
Seeing that made the entire room calm down substantially, as Sigurd burst out into laughter.
“I apologize for unjustly accusing you and your employees of theft," Sigurd shut his eyes and bowed his eyes, hands on his knees. “I don’t know what came over me.”
“No offense taken, Sigurd. Like I said, I've seen that look before; the despair and rage that comes with it." Madam Bea chuckled loudly. “Money does things to people.”
She caressed his head to further reassure him and stepped to the side, to inspect the safe.
“That said, whoever did this is a skilled lock-picker. And they're good at evading detection," she stepped towards the window. “Not only that, but they would've had to either sneak in through the building or climb the wall outside.”
“And this suite is on the second floor!" the sheep girl chimed in.
Impressed by their collective deduction skills, Sigurd scanned the room. All they said was accurate, which made his mind race with possibilities.
“And there's no way the thief would've been able to sneak past our madam's keen eye!" He heard a patchy voice say from the other side of the bed.
Natalia, the undead woman, sat up from the floor, being the last to wake up and completely unfazed by the intensity from earlier. She grabbed the bedding with her pale blue, clammy hands for support, and hobbled upright.
She joined the rest of the girls near the door, and Madam Bea soon followed.
“Exactly," the madam agreed. “So whoever stole your gold coins would also have needed to be physically fit.”
“That bag was pretty heavy, after all,” Camilla then said. “I should know, I was the one to carry it to the safe!”
Sigurd nodded, taking in all of the information. It was more than clear that the women before him hadn't tried to wrong him.
“I'm sorry we can't be of more help, but hopefully that helps you to find the culprit," Madam Bea said, pushing her girls out the door. “Now come along, lasses. Let's leave mister Sigurd to dress so that he can figure out his next move.”
Before she left, Maria waved at Sigurd, throwing him an air kiss with her split tongue. He blushed and waved back as the door closed behind them.