The Inspectors climbed the stairs in silence.

Kint’s mind on fire, he could feel his momentum building.

They exited the stairwell three levels above the interrogation rooms, navigating a dank dark hallway to the Crematorium.

He knocked on the metal door.

It creaked aside, revealing a balding man behind.

“Oh.” He said, surprised. "Inspectors–I–Uh… Are you here about the bodies?"

Kint pushed past him, avoiding conversation with the lonely man.

Elsha sighed with disdain.

"Why else would we be here, Alec?"

The room was well lit with the harsh light of crystals from above.

On one side, a sealed hatch was laid into the wall.

Cremation chamber.

On the other, a three by three grid of nine steel drawered cabinets set into the wall.

The temperature conditions of the two sides gave the air in the room an uncomfortable moistness.

Kint grimanced, eyes locking on his objective.

He approached the mortuary cabinets, noticing three of them were marked with chalk x’s.

"You'll want the two on the left, I think." The mortician chimed in from behind.

The Inspector reached out, grabbing the handles indicated by Alec, and heaving them backward.

The heavy cabinets rolled on hidden tracks, a wave of cool air rushing past.

His jaw clenched.

Two Acolytes lay before him, the supposed victims that started this mess.

"Pretty interesting isn't it." Alec noted, moving around beside him.

Kint raised a hand, cutting the man off. He didn’t want the mortician's thoughts tainting his own.

"No chatting, Alec.” Elsha chided “He’s working."

Her tone poked fun at both Kint and the mortician.

The balding man backed away, dejected.

"People come to chat sometimes."

Elsha gave him a pitying look.

"I doubt it."

Kint did not respond to their babblings.

His mind was calm. Breathing deep.

All he could hear was air entering and leaving his lung in a steady flow, and the metronome beat of his heart.

His thoughts were clear as crystal, flowing like a river toward a single goal, momentum pushing him forward.

He was deep in the Silent State.

Deeper than he’d been in many years.

The dangers of this decision were set aside, the doubts pushed away. The memories of a distant man, a darker man, buried deep, were inching forward, clawing toward him like vipers.

He didn’t care.

He’d been driven to this moment by forces both known and unknown, now all he wanted was answers.

He looked down at the bodies.

Details washed over him.

“Where are their clothes?” He asked immediately.

“We discarded them.” Alec replied.

“Discarded?” He snapped.

“We burned them.”

Kint grunted in derision.

“It’s standard procedure.” The man defended.

The Inspector discarded his frustrations. They were only a distraction. He brought is focus back to the victims.

They were similar in many respects. Stout of build, dark of hair.

The one on the left was most interesting.

He’d been ripped in half across the chest. A fist sized hole in the center.

Just like Kint had suspected.

He grinned.

There was bruising across the edge of the wound. Four distinct compression points.

Gripped fingers?

Kint’s smile deepened.

A Life Mage. Probably a Body Enhancer.

Another theory confirmed.

He shuffled down the steel slab, standing over the man’s face.

He had dark hair down to his ears, and a long chin. No other defining features, but for three thin lines of blood etched across his cheek.

Kint's eyes widened, a story coming into view.

He looked closer, noticing new details.

Several sets of scratch marks lined the man’s arms.

There was a struggle.

He moved on to the second body.

The cause of death was obvious. The man had a dent in the side of his head that reached to his nose.

But that wasn’t what the Inspector was looking for.

His gaze immediately went to the mans arms.

More scratch marks.

He grimaced.

A vision of events was forming in his mind.

One the Silent State had shown him before, but he’d refused to see.

His hand reached for his cloak pocket.

"Alec… Did another body come in here?” He asked, turning to face the balding man. “About an hour before these two?"

"Yesterday?” The mortician replied. “Oh yes. It’s next to you. Right in there."

Kint’s eyes went to the next cabinet over with a white ‘x’.

Sweat beaded on his brow.

"And was it…”

The Inspector's voice was tight.

“Was it a child's body?"

The man nodded.

"A young boy, I think."

Kint glanced at Elsha.

She was observing closely, expression dark.

"Alec."

Kint stared at the final white ‘x’.

"I need you to leave."

"What?" The man questioned. "But I work he--"

"Alec."

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Elsha gave him a stern look.

His gaze shifted between the two inspectors, confused. Eventually he nodded, exiting the room.

The door closed.

"Alright Kint." Elsha started, "What's going on here? What are we doing?"

He gave her a meaningful look, but did not respond.

Choosing instead to show her.

He reached for the handle of the final cabinet, pulling it open.

The drawer rolled back, revealing a slender body beneath a white sheet.

Kint’s lip twitched in anger.

He could see the starvation in the silhouette.

The Inspector pushed the emotion away, pressing ahead.

He pulled back the cloth, revealing the shaven head of a teenager.

Anger flared in him again.

They’re close to the same age.

This boy and his daughter… they could have been friends…

Again, he shoved the emotion down, gripping hard to his Silence.

Upon close examination, the boy was probably older, his growth stunted by malnutrition.

Years of abuse were evident on his face.

A broken nose, scars on the right eyebrow and left cheek.

There were more recent injuries as well.

Bruising around both eyes.

The left one was fresher, darker. The right had a yellowish tinge, it had been fading.

Kint loosened his jaw.

His ears were ringing.

He rolled the sheet back further.

Heavy bruising around the neck from strangulation. But the boy had died before he’d suffocated. His neck snapped.

Put down like a wounded animal.

Kint’s fingers shook. He pulled the sheet back further.

Scars lined the boy's torso. They were thin, precise.

Surgical.

The Inspectors breath lost it’s rhythm, now heavy with suppressed rage.

Whatever they’d done to the boy. They’d been doing it for years.

He shook his head, continuing to pull the curtain back. Until the hands were visible.

His breath caught.

The boy's fingers were bloody and raw. Nails cracked and filled with torn flesh.

He’d fought hard with the two men.

Still scratching and clawing for life, even after experiencing so much pain.

Kint shook his head, reaching into his cloak pocket, to pull out the tobacco tin.

He removed the blood flecked nail, and placed it gently on the boy's pinky finger.

It was a perfect match.

The Inspector examined the child's gaunt face.

So young…

The steel table shook beneath his tight grip..

He raised a hand, it shook as he rubbed it across his face, closing his eyes.

“I think…” He paused, trying to find the words.

“I think I’m done, Elsha.”

Silence.

Kint turned to face her.

“Done with what?” She asked, voice neutral, face a mask.

“Looking away.” He muttered.

Elsha raised an eyebrow.

“What are you looking away from, Kint?” She questioned. “You’re eyes seem wide open to me.”

“This, Elsha.”

He pointed to the boy.

“I’ve been looking away from this.”

She stared at him, indifferent.

“What? A dead boy? Dead Acolytes?”

“All of it!”

He snapped back, frustrated.

“The dead kid, the Syfeeli murder, the crowds outside, the–”

The dreams…

“It’s all insane Elsha. I’m tired of pretending it’s not.”

His partner sighed, putting a hand through her blond hair.

“This isn’t normal, Elsha.” He pressed, gesturing to the bodies. “This shouldn’t be normal.”

Silence.

“The world is going insane.” He threw his hands out, exasperated.

“Can’t you see that?”

Kint stared at his partner, begging for some kind of reaction.

“Okay.”

She cocked her head.

“So what?”

“So what…” Kint muttered, surprised.

“So what?”

“So what?” He repeated again, offended. “A boy is dead, Elsha.”

She shrugged.

“They mutilated him.” He pressed. “Strangled him, snapped his neck.”

She frowned, shaking her head.

“So what?” She asked. “It happens all the time in the Ignatium. Kandenite Kids are like tinder for the proclivities of the Blessed.”

“Elsha.” Kint snapped, appalled by her flippancy.

“What do you want me to say?”

She gave him a challenging glare.

Kint opened his mouth, no words came out.

“What do you want me to say, Kint?”

She raised an eyebrow.

“That it’s horrible?” She questioned. “Yes. It’s fucking horrible.”

She shrugged.

“That it’s bad to kill children?”

Another raised eyebrow.

“Of course it’s fucking bad! They’re Children!”

She sighed.

“But, what does it matter?”

She shook her head.

“There’s nothing we can do.”

“But, we have to.” He pleaded, remembering the words of a young Shel Darint. “There has to be something we can do!”

“Listen to yourself, Kint. This isn’t you.” She said, exasperated. “You’re not some rookie. You know the score. You know what the consequences are.”

“They came to my house, Elsha!” He snapped.

There was a pause, Elsha was taken aback by the news.

“They came to my house.” He repeated, pointing a finger at her.

“They sat where my daughter reads her stories… and they threatened her life.”

He met Elsha’s eyes.

“They threatened my daughter… while she slept next door.”

Silence.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered.“But...”

She shook her head.

“That only proves my point.”

He turned away, disgusted.

How could she respond this way?

“There’s nothing we can do.” She begged, “Your daughter, my…”

She trailed off.

Kint stalked across the room.

She was right. He knew she was right.

There was nothing they could do. Anything they might try would be foolhardy. Only resulting in the deaths of loved ones and innocents.

Kint’s teeth ground like mill stones, his fists clenched.

“Dammit!” He screamed, punching a fist into the stone wall.

Blood fell from his shredded knuckles.

“I’m sorry, Kint.” Elsha muttered again. “It’s impossible… They have all the leverage.”

Kint paused.

Leverage…

…

He turned slowly to face her.

Leverage…

His eyes widened.

“There is…” He muttered. “There is something.”

His partner gave a heavy sigh.

“It’s the Ignatium, Kint.” She stated. “What can we do?”

“Politics.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Politics.” He repeated. “We play their game.”

“Kint… We’re district Inspectors. We have no power. Nothing to play with.” She chuckled, amused by the ridiculous idea.

“Not usually.” He grinned, walking over to the bodies. “But Crecius has given us a piece to play.”

He pointed to the boy.

“This.”

“A body?” She asked, concerned.

“A cover up.”

Elsha stared at him, expression blank.

“Crecius wants us to cover this up.” Kint explained, “Which means there’s something in that factory that he doesn’t want people knowing.”

“Right.” Elsha nodded. “That’s how coverups work.”

“And if Crecius wants to cover it up,” He added, “Whatever it is must be damaging.”

“Okay…”

“So, if we find out what it is…” He continued, “we have the leverage.”

She looked at him like he was mad.

“And we have the perfect excuse to look.” Kint said, excitement rising. “The Black Seal.”

She looked uncomfortable, queesy even.

“You want to leverage Lord Crecius.” She asked.

“No.” He soothed. “All I want to do is continue the investigation.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“We’ve got one more day, right?” He pressed, “So why not use it to do some more digging? What could it hurt?”

She put a finger to her chin.

The idea was percolating.

He had a chance.

“Best case,” He added, “we find out what it is he’s hiding and have a little leverage in our back pocket for the future. We don’t even need to use it.”

“And worst case?” She asked.

“We don’t find anything, Crecius sweats the full three days, and we make our report. No harm done.”

Kint dusted his hands clean.

Silence…

Kint could see he was reaching her.

She put a finger to her chin in thought.

But would it be enough?

Elsha looked up, meeting his eyes.

“So… we go back to the Factory?”

Kint grinned.

He had her.

“No. Not now. That would be too suspicious.”

He shook his head.

“We’ll have to work around the edges, track other leads.”

“What other lead?” She asked.

“Lord Echrus.” He answered. “He should have knowledge of Crecius’ holdings in the 11th and he’ll probably have a good idea of what they were making in that factory.”

She gave him a confused look.

“You want to go back to The Ignatium?”

He shook his head.

“The Arena.”

Understanding dawned on her face.

“Right.”

Then, concern furrowed her brow.

“But wait… Crecius asked for discretion and this doesn’t seem very discrete.”

Kint frowned.

She was right.

He was ready to push that boundary, however…

Was she?

“Well…” He shrugged. “I guess we’ll just have to keep it low key.”

She shrugged back.

“At least if it goes high frequency,” She smirked. “He won’t be able to kill us right away.”

It was Kint’s turn to look confused.

“Best to mess up in a high profile way.” She quoted. “It makes killing you more embarrassing.”

Kint chuckled.

“There is that.” He said, shaking his head. “Let’s try to avoid it.”

Elsha smiled, standing tall.

“So low frequency.” She repeated.

“Right.”

“Shall we go.” She asked, moving to the door.

“Lead the way.”

She opened it, stepping outside.

Kint smiled. Releasing the Silent State.

Things had gone better than he’d hoped.

Now they just had to pull it off.