Dragon-Bound Thief: Teaser Chapter

Dragon-Bound Thief: Part 6

Chapter 3

Silas Sharp walked into his shop two days later in the afternoon. Chaif looked up and smiled, "Constable Sharp. Good to see you again." Although Chaif had known the peace warden for years and liked him, now that he had embarked on his campaign of burglaries against the Brewers' Guild, the man also represented a threat. Chaif did not like the pairing of the two feelings. Besides, there was real danger in the peace warden's visit today. Three-fourths of the coins he had taken from Eldin's home lay hidden just a few steps away from where the constable stood.

"Well, there is Master Locksmith Taibor," Sharp exclaimed heartily, "hard at work making gadgets and gizmos to keep people honest and put me out of work." Although the man had a full shock of white hair, he had a quick eye for detail and a lively intellect that made him delightful to talk to—and risky.

"So good locks make honest people?" Chaif asked.

"Huh!" Sharp snorted. "Too many ways to go bad." He shook his head and repeated, "Too many ways." He smiled, and his brown eyes sparkled. "No, I was just trying to make you feel guilty about your chosen profession."

Chaif felt a surge of shame. Although Chaif knew the peace warden was engaging in playful banter with a person Sharp was fond of and someone he thought was a respectable businessman, the comment's double meaning for Chaif cut him to the core. He did feel guilty for deceiving the constable—his friend. But this friend was dangerous. Sharp would not hesitate to arrest Chaif if he ever discovered his secret.

Chaif blinked, but remained calm. To change the subject he asked, "So, any new 'stupid crooks' stories today?"

Sharp smiled. "Tandy's outhouse? Did I tell you that one?" The warden did not wait for Chaif to say yes or no before he shook his head in disbelief. "We knew old Tandy was dipping into the till at the Horse Pepper Tap, but we couldn't catch him." He looked at Chaif, eyes twinkling.

"But you did catch him?"

"Oh, yes." He nodded. "Always get my man and all that, but this one was a little unusual." He chuckled in amusement. "Never would have caught him except I took Bobby Bellweather along that day to search his house."

"And you found the money Tandy took in the last place you looked, right?" Chaif had heard the man use that line often enough.

The constable laughed out loud. "Nope! Not this time. It was in a place we never looked."

Chaif said nothing, but he frowned in puzzlement.

Sharp smiled. "Well, old Bobby had been out the night before, you see, and he had, uh, overindulged."

Chaif knew Bobby Bellweather, a deputy peace warden, was a big man who liked his beer. Probably liked it too much. Chaif arched his eyebrows. "So Bobby was able to find Tandy's loot when the abstemious Constable Sharp could not?"

Sharp put his hands on his hips and feigned a disgusted look. "Going to let me tell this my way or not?"

Politely Chaif gestured for the man to go on with the story.

"Well, like I said, Bobby, on top of bein' in the taps the night before, was also feeling the effects of the pot of ale he'd had with lunch at the Rusty Nut. We had searched Tandy's place up one side, down the other, and all the parts in between but found nothing." He paused dramatically. "That's when Bobby had to use the jakes."

"Tandy stashed the money in the jakes?"

Sharp smiled and winked. "Not that we'd ever have found it if Bobby's big bottom hadn't broken the seat." Chaif's puzzled expression made him grin. "Fastened under the seat, it was. You should have seen old Tandy's face when old Bobby came out all apologetic about breaking the outhouse pew. Tandy gave it away right there." He laughed at the memory. "We fished the seat out of the muck, and there it was—a good three or four gold's worth of silver fastened just out of the line of passing traffic, if you get my meaning." He winked. "Right where nobody in their right mind would have looked. We cleaned it up a bit, and now young Rand has most of his missing money back."