THIEF: THE MIDNIGHT VEIL

07: "BUMP IN THE NIGHT"

Mara Mosley chewed absently on some coffee beans as she watched one of the housekeepers clean up the moss on the floor in the west wing. The housekeeper was frowning as she scraped up the growth with a hand trowel.
"You ever seen anything like this here in the manor before?" Mara asked, her words hindered by her mouth being full.
The housekeeper shook her head. "No, miss. 'Tis quite odd." She looked up at the guard. "You say it just... appeared? How long ago?"
"Dunno. We came across it just twenty minutes ago or so."
"Very odd indeed." The housekeeper wrung out the soaked rag over a bucket. "Servants - the hall boys, the footmen, the butler, we housekeepers - we're in these halls constantly. Dusting, sweeping, scrubbing. There's always something to be done. You would think someone woulda seen this earlier. Makes me wonder what on earth..." the maid trailed off with a shake of her head and continued cleaning the mess.
Mara popped another pinch of coffee beans into her mouth, and shrugged. "Indeed. Oi - Caffrey went to fetch you, but do you know where he went?"
The maid didn't look up from her task, and she began to scrub at what was left of the moss. "Said he had to use the washroom, near the banquet hall."
"Thank you." Mara offered a pinch of coffee beans to the servant, who accepted them in her open palm with a grateful nod and smile before returning to cleaning.
Mara walked back into the foyer and towards the opposite wing leading to Kessler Hall. She gnashed her coffee beans with a sigh, the crunching between her teeth going at the same cadence as her steps, and she very much wished she had a hot cup of the real thing.
The sound of a woman whistling reached her ears as Mara neared the banquet hall, and she entered to see one of the servants walking dutifully toward her with a broom and pail in tow.
The servant offered a nod in passing, and Mara returned it, but held up a palm in greeting. "Have you seen Caffrey? He's with me tonight. One of the housekeepers said she saw him go to the washroom here."
"Caffrey?" the servant echoed. "Yes, he headed that way. Maybe ten minutes ago, methinks - 'twas right after the Guard Captain came through here. Jasper was on his way down to the Servants' Quarters, but... aye, haven't seen Caffrey since."
Mara cringed inwardly at the mention of Jasper. "Right, then. Thank you."
"Yes, miss. Have a good night."
"You as well."
Mara continued out of the banquet hall and into the atrium. She would have continued straight on ahead to the next wing of Arden Manor, but at that moment Jasper was coming up the steps from the Servant's Quarters after his secret stop at the Hammerite Chamber.
She heard his footfalls and saw his lantern light grow brighter from around the corner, and so Mara slowed her step to avoid colliding with the Guard Captain.
Jasper reached the intersection and rounded the corner quickly. "Why are you alone?" he asked in passing, not bothering to even look at her as he glided back towards the banquet hall. "Why are you not with Caffrey?"
Mara stopped and watched the man stalk away. "He's in the washroom." She resolved inwardly to push her anger aside the best she could. "Captain, can you hold a moment?"
The man did, but did not hide his annoyance as he turned to face her, the lantern's light casting part of his face in shadow. "Quickly."
"You haven't happened to see any strange... patches of moss anywhere tonight?"
"Moss?"
"Caff and I found some in the hall outside the Leisure Room. There was a lot of it, just mucked about all over the floor." Mara drew a large circle on the floor with her foot. "We thought it was mold at first, but it's moss. Makes no sense. There was so much of it, too."
She had expected Jasper to berate her for wasting his time with moss overgrowth, but the security chief cocked his head in question. "How long ago?"
"Fifteen, twenty minutes?"
Jasper's eyes were narrowed as he mulled it over. "Not mold? Mildew?"
"No sir. I inspected a small sample. It's just... moss." The guard shrugged haplessly. "Even smelled sweet, leafy. Just odd, is all - especially such a large bunch of it. Thought I would ask."
He was still frowning in thought, and Jasper rubbed his chin. "If you find more, let me know. We could have some sort of overgrowth problem, or... I don't know. If there's more we should have it inspected. Aye?"
Mara nodded. "Will do."
Jasper turned on his heel to continue his trek back to Kessler Hall and upstairs for his late night rendezvous with Lady Arden. "Carry on," he called over his shoulder.
Mara watched him go. She struggled with waves of anger that rose and fell within her chest, threatening to break the surface of her self control.
Jasper Galway behaved as if nothing had happened, as if he had not betrayed her and dragged her worth through the mud not a half hour earlier.
"Sod," she whispered to herself, and with that she turned to walk the opposite way into the western expanse of the mansion.
Known as Kessler Hall - named after the late Lord Kessler Arden - it was as grand as the manor's main foyer. The hall was a large, lengthy entryway to the hedgerow gardens outside, with ornate tile and a long red carpet rolled through its entirety. Sitting areas with obscenely expensive furniture were scattered here and there, complete with some decorative plant arrangements, a large telescope aimed out at the night so that guests could entertain themselves with stargazing if so inclined... and as could be expected in Lady Gwyneth Arden's home, more beautiful paintings adorned the entire run of the wall to Mara's right.
Tall cathedral-like windows on her left ushered in the moon and sent columns of glowing moonlight piercing through the hall, creating scattered, pitch shadows that somehow made Kessler Hall appear even larger than it already was.
Thunder rolled over clouds somewhere afar, sounding like a nameless god waking from a long slumber. Lightning speared across the night, lighting up every grand window with such fervor that Mara had to blink away spots from the bright flash.
Rain began pouring as she moved through the hall, humming a soft improvised tune to herself. Mara actually had an astounding singing voice, though there was no way in hell she would ever reveal it to anyone. Not even her sister. She swept the torch with a practiced, careful cadence, dutifully glancing about for anything odd as she made her way towards the washroom just outside the far end of Kessler Hall.
The guard sensed something was off before she even exited the great hall, but she stopped in her tracks as she rounded the corner into yet another outlying corridor.
The hallway looked as it always did; red carpet running down its center, tiled marble beneath, low tables against the walls showcasing pleasant assorted ornaments.
All normal... except it was cloaked in darkness. Only two sconces kept the hall lit, but both torches were out.
"Huh." Her only remark. Mara could see the washroom on the right, not ten paces ahead, and the doors to two supply closets on either side.
She trudged forward and reached to her belt for a tinderbox to relight the first torch. The fire whispered its low, windy growl as the torch came back to life and cast its bright glow around her.
It was then that Mara saw something quite peculiar.
The wall around the sconce was wet. Water seemed to have been splashed unceremoniously across it, leaving a wet, imperfect stain around it.
She narrowed her eyes and peered closer. Droplets of water still glistened on the wall. A damp trail trickled down to the floor, though most of it seemed to have dried.
At least, she assumed it was water.
Mara whispered to herself in confusion. She looked both ways down the hall as if to make sure no one was watching, and tilted her nose precariously close to the liquid to take a sniff.
Nothing. Odorless. It had to have been water.
Feeling a little silly, Mara withdrew her face from the wall and craned her neck towards the washroom on the opposite side of the hallway. "Caffrey?" she called. "You in there?"
If he was, he didn't answer.
Mara rolled her eyes and looked up at the roof just as she had earlier upon discovering the moss, looking for a leak of sorts. She saw none and walked further down the corridor to inspect the other torch in its sconce.
It had met the same fate, looking as if someone had taken a large pitcher of water and splashed it against the wall to douse the flame.
She mumbled something inaudible to herself and stared in bewilderment for a few moments before turning to continue down the hall, which turned a corner nearby.
Mara peered around the corner curiously, into the next part of the hallway and saw that it was brightly lit - as it should have been - and two guards were walking away from her in the distance, continuing on their own patrol route. She recognized both of them: Henry, a red-haired bloke, and Terri, the only other female guard on watch at the estate, with hair black as the night.
"Hoy!" Mara called, walking briskly for them. "Hold a moment?"
Henry and Terri both turned at the sudden call, the light from a nearby wall-mounted lantern glinting off their steel helmets.
"Look who it is," Terri greeted with a grin. "Bored, Mara?"
"Not quite," the other woman replied as she slowed to a stop in front of the other guards.
"Where's Caffrey?" came Henry.
"I was going to ask you."
"Oh?"
"We came across something strange in the west wing from the main foyer. He went to fetch a servant to clean it up."
Terri raised her eyebrows. "Clean it up? What was it, a mess?"
Henry snorted. "Did Benny piss himself again?"
The pair laughed, and Mara could not resist a hearty chuckle. "'Twas actually, um... moss."
"Moss?"
"Aye. A weird patch of overgrowth on the tile. We thought it was mold or something at first."
"Moss?" echoed Terri again, glancing sideways at her partner. "Growing on the floor?"
Mara nodded. "Very odd indeed. But anyway, one of the housekeepers came to clean it up, but I haven't seen Caffrey since. Went to fetch a servant to clean the mess, didn't come back, so I went looking for him."
Henry absently tapped the pommel of his sheathed sword with his gloved fingers. "Well, if we come across Caff we'll let him know to rejoin you. You'll just be on your assigned route, yes?"
"Yes. Thank you both." Mara shifted on her feet and pointed behind her. "Have you two been been that way, back to Kessler Hall?"
Terri shook her head. "No, why?"
"I want to show you both something."
And so Mara led the way back from which she came, turning the corner to the hallway with the recently doused torches. She showed the oddities to Henry and Terri, who were both as bewildered as she was.
"The hell?" Terri voiced quietly after inspecting the second torch. "I don't understand."
Henry was shaking his head. "Some fool trying to have a laugh, perhaps?"
"A prankster?" asked Terri. "Don't think they'd dare. And what'd be the point, taffin' around like that?"
Mara looked to the washroom door again just paces away. "Caff?" she tried again. "Are you about done in there or what?"
No answer,
"Thought you said you didn't know where he was?" Henry pointed out.
"The girl tidying up the banquet hall said she saw him head this way to use the washroom." Mara stepped to the door. "Caffrey. If you don't answer, I'm comin' in - and neither of us want that, my friend."
"He's probably not in there," chimed Terri.
Henry grinned crookedly. "What if ole Caff is the prankster?"
Mara snorted her disapproval and knocked on the door. "Anyone in there? I'm coming in if you do not answer."
Terri yawned obnoxiously loud before stepping closer to Mara. "Just open it and be done with it, Mosley."
Mara obliged, and her companions stepped back so she could pull the door open.
She froze.
Guardsman Caffrey was lying on the floor, his back propped up awkwardly against the wall, and his upper body had slid to one side resulting in his head resting on the rim of the waste basin.
Mara was at his side before anyone could blink, kneeling next to the man's body for a quick inspection.
"He been drinking or what?" Terri joked, peering over Henry's shoulder at the doorway. "Caff! Wake up, you oaf."
Caffrey did not stir, and Mara clapped her hand gently on the man's cheek, which she noticed was bruised, along with his nose.. "Caff. Can you hear me?" She put her hand to his chest and felt it rising and falling with his breathing. "He's unconscious. Can't be sure what happened but looks like he fell forward on his face."
"What a taffer," Henry muttered, kneeling beside Mara. "Caffrey, mate. Wake up."
"He falling victim to the drink like our boy Benny?" asked Terri.
"No," Mara said defensively. "Caff's not lik that."
"Does he smell like ale?"
"No, Terri, he does not smell like ale."
Henry took a step into the small washroom to peer down over Mara's shoulder and take a closer look at Caffrey. "Builder's hell," he remarked with a low whistle. "Look at his face. He fall face down or what?"
Mara slipped the unconscious man's helmet off as gently as she could, and her eyes widened at the sight of a large welt on the top of Caffrey's bald head. "Damn. Look at the size of that bump!"
Henry cursed. "He's been knocked out." He looked back at Terri, incredulous. "Someone hit 'im right over the head."
Terri's eyes widened. "What? Do we have an intruder?"
"I don't know," answered Mara tersely, "but whoever did it is probably still around. Caff, my friend. Wake up, aye?"
Terri frowned. "What if he just fell and hit his head really hard?"
"You weren't close enough to see it," Henry assured her, rejoining her in the hallway. "Size of that bump on his head? Lot of force had to be used to make a welt that size on a bloke wearin' a helm." The shrill ring of steel sounded off the walls as Henry and Terri both unsheathed their swords and immediately cast alarmed glances up and down the hallway.
"We'll do a sweep," Henry said softly. "Terri - lights up, eyes up."
"And blades out," the woman added. "You don't think it was that Kirth fellow?"
"No way. Jasper said Lady Arden's got him locked up."
The guards fanned out to begin their search while Mara tended to her patrol mate. "We need to let the others know," she called softly.
"Will do," Henry replied from afar.
"Oi, Mar?" came Terri. "Don't dawdle and stay alone too long. Stay sharp."
Mara voiced her affirmative as her eyes flickered about in search for any clues as to what had happened.
Caffrey still had his weapon. There didn't seem to be any blood, on his person or on the floor or wall. As she reached to check his duty belt, the man suddenly snorted so loudly that Mara fell back on her haunches, startled by the sudden noise.
He began snoring - raspy, labored snores of a man in deep sleep.
Whoever struck Caffrey had hit him damned hard.
Mara sat up and knelt again next to the man to resume her assessment. It was only then that she realized the man's belt was undone. His pisser was exposed for all to see, and he had urinated on his trousers.
"Oh, bloody hell," she muttered. Mara hesitated for a moment, not quite sure what to do; she soon removed one of her gloves and placed it on Caffrey so it covered his nether region, cringing and craning her neck to look the other way as she did so, making damned sure she didn't look at the man's privates any more than she already had.
She shuddered. That was not a sight she ever would have imagined she would be exposed to, and one that she hoped her mind would somehow forget.
It was then that Mara thought to check Caffrey's belt for his key ring, as all guards carried one - though most guards only carried one or two keys. Jasper and Mr. Chauncey, Lady Arden's Butler and Head of Staff, were the only ones who carried more keys to more niche areas of the manor.
Mara blinked at what she was seeing, and then blinked again.
The key ring was still looped on Caffrey's belt, but the keys themselves appeared to have been taken.
Shite.
She stood and unsheathed her sword, suddenly feeling like she was being watched. "Oi!" she called to the others. "Caff's keys are missing!"