“We should go,” he said.
“Wait. You said he looks wealthy. Search his pockets.”
He crouched down again and started patting the dead man’s clothing.
“A gold watch chain… Papers…”
“What do the papers say?”
“His name. I think these are traveling papers. And a stack of notes.”
“Notes?”
“Bank notes. A hundred gulden.”
Seraphina motioned for Rune to give them to her, and he placed a heavy leather wallet in her hand. Even though she’d been born into a well-off family, women had never handled money. She slipped the wallet into one of her pockets and felt its weight brush against her upper thigh. She felt powerful all of a sudden, and it felt… strange. To know that a stack of notes could make her, a down-to-earth person, straighten her back and lift her chin, as if she were ready to face the world with a different kind of attitude. It scared her, but she wasn’t going to question it.
Tonight, as it turned out, was a time of no dwellings and no questions.
“Take the papers as well. They might come in handy,” she instructed.
Rune did as he was told, ever the rule follower when Seraphina was the one laying out the law. Then they walked out of the alley with hurried steps, and Seraphina tried to orient herself in space, to figure out which direction would lead them back to their hideout. The streets were quieter now, and the smell of blood was finally fading behind them.
“Hey!”
They stopped in their tracks. Seraphina’s hand tightened on her walking stick.
“Is it a watchman?” she whispered.
“No. It’s a young man, and he’s staring at the two bodies,” Rune provided.
The voice came again, shaking now.
“What did you… What did you do to my master?”
Seraphina tugged at Rune’s cloak to make him bend over so she could whisper to him.
“Catch him. We mustn’t let him go.”
That was all she needed to say. Rune moved fast, and she heard the boy’s gasp cut off as Rune’s hand wrapped around his throat. The boy thrashed and kicked as Rune pushed him flush against the side of a building and lifted him off his feet.
“No, please. Let me go. I never did anything to anyone, I swear. I’m just the coachman. The master pays me handsomely. All I have to do is drive him around at night and keep my mouth shut. Not every night, either. Just… Just when he asks.”
The words were spilling out of him, and Seraphina wondered if he was even aware of what he was saying. Of what his job of driving his master around at night implied. She approached the boy, her hand coming up to the side of his face. Her fingernails dug into his cheek, and he cried out. Her thumb was dangerously close to his eyeball. Then her hand moved into his hair, long and unkept, and her fingers curled to grip at the roots.
“So, you knew what your master was doing and you didn’t stop him. You didn’t report him to the city watch. You’re complicit.”
“Please, ma’am. I have a sick mother and a drunk father, and two little sisters. I need money. And I know what I did was wrong, but I never killed anyone, I swear.”
“That doesn’t exonerate you.”
The boy started sobbing.
“I’ll do anything, anything you want. Just please spare my life.”
“Where is the coach?”
“A few houses away, around the corner.”
