Swordplay

Part 35

This is a long one. Grab a coffee (or tea).

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Three quarters of an hour later, Moira sat in a plain beige and grey conference room of P&OS with Director du Mar and her father.

"Let me sum this up." Lavant smoothed out his notes and looked at Moira. "Your friend here lost a box with antique Weapons to burglars roughly a month ago. Weapons from this box were used to kill Lif Borson and Bastide, as well as Druidus' father. Maybe, they were also used to kill all those homeless people. And now, Monsieur du Mar arranged a meeting with someone who is most likely the true villain in all these cases or who knows the culprit at least."

Moira nodded. "I'm counting on your help. After all, you offered." She swallowed. It was the first time since her childhood that she asked him for a favor. Would he let her down again?

"Why don't you get a special task force from the Gendarmerie?"

"First, Monsieur du Mar cannot work with the Gendarmerie at the moment because his wife obtained a temporary court order that forbids gendarmes to follow him. Second, no one will believe us because everyone thinks the murderer has already been sentenced to death." Moira counted off the reasons on her fingers. "Third, I've been suspended, and fourth, this inability to do something eats me up. If I can't help in any way, something that will take my mind off Druidus for a while, I'll go crazy." She looked at her father pleadingly. "Will you help us, please?"

Lavant woke a messenger-nerl. "Call all officers-in-charge. Alarm code one." The nerl shot off like greased lightning.

All of a sudden, Moira's heart was as light as never before. "Thanks," she whispered.

Lavant waved her gratitude aside. "A dagger from that burglary killed Bastide. I'm taking something like that personally, for crying out loud."

The next morning, Lavant's people hid around the storage building du Mar had been given as the meeting place. Dressed up, they posed as drunks, homeless, prostitutes, lovers, and whatever else fit the shabby surrounding of the storage buildings. The limousine with Moira, Director du Mar, and Lavant turned into the seemingly deserted road at the appointed time. When Moira left the carpisto, she glanced around secretly for her father's employees but didn't discover a single one although she knew they were there. She joined arms with Lavant who was playing du Mar's role as a rich collector of antique art.

Since Moira had insisted on keeping him company, he had found her an expensive dress and high heel shoes, and decorated her with jewelry like a winter solstice tree. He insisted she'd wear a blonde wig just in case the person they were meeting had been at Druidus trial and noticed her there. Moira had promised not to talk and stay close to him at all times. She scuttled at his side toward the entrance of the storage building. Secretly, she cursed the high heels, but she managed to walk without twisting an ankle. Her heart beat faster and she understood why Director du Mar had preferred to stay inside the limousine.

Lavant tried a small door set into the bigger gate of the storage building. It wasn't locked, so they entered. After the bright midday sun, Moira's eyes needed a while to adjust to the twilight inside. A few stapled wooden boxes at the left hand side looked lost in the gigantic hall. The room was two stories high and as wide as a football field. The three overseas-containers at the far end also looked lost. In front of them, several tables stood side by side and a long, bright Lumière Magique hovered above. Lavant walked toward it purposefully, when a distorted voice stopped him.

"Who's the woman?"

"My daughter." Lavant patted Moira's hand.

"Tell her to wait outside."