THIEF OF BREAN (VOL-1)|✓

A DECEPTIVE DIMENSION- L

Carl hadn't seen this coming. After hunting down a bunch of muggers, the most he had expected from Payton was throwing a fit for travelling the mount without a permit. However, things had ended up getting much worse than he has imagined.

Payton was furious. The Sentinels were relegated and Carl was dismissed from the case without any accredits and shown the gates. And Carl could do nothing about a General's orders. Well, it was not the first time a high-ranking official had done that to him. Carl suspected Hagen Dalby behind Payton's unreasonable behaviour.

Payton would have had all covenants made to Hagen on taking over the case after two days. So, obviously the impossibility would have been awkward. Maybe Rhett was right. General Payton did not really want this case to be solved by him. He would have been looking forward to designate Hagen in his place.

Carl puffed his pipe. The only thing that made his state bearable was the sense that he had ably solved the case. He glanced at the empty berth to the opposite side remembering Aud Bigge. It was an indelible case, he thought wistfully. Even as it looked in all likelihood that this was going to be the last case of his life he was glad that he had discharged his duties in all sincerity.

As he was not allowed to involve in the interrogations, Giles had informed him that all the four captives had confessed that the murder of Iwan Fenlon was not their doing. However, they had accepted that the latter two murders were committed by them.

Firstly Ronan Cruz, as he had become suspicious about their activities in the Mount. Then John Scott, fearing that he'd get to them eventually. The bungling bastards had mimicked the manner of Iwan Fenlon's suicide for the murders to make them pass for suicides.

Their first deal was a high-risk transit of a truck load of untaxed goods between two cities of Fleming. The next one was the trade of ten Gree trees to an anonymous merchant from Tariq-Tazar, for about 168000 taneens. After which, the merchant had wished to extend their association by making another deal of wolves. As it happened, they couldn't take the savage wolves without the owner. So they had seized the Freeman couple and then forced Jim to get them the wolves by holding his wife captive.

They had opted not to kill the Freeman family as it dared to risk their exposure. So, they kept them sedated using the drugs provided to them by the same merchant. While Jim was kept in the hills, Lily was locked in a deserted building in one of the towns. But their plan backfired when Lily escaped before they could drug her and leave her to die like her husband. They were desperate to kill her, but by doing so they had dug their own graves.

Carl chugged the beer from the bottle. Something was missing. He couldn't get it right. How badly he wished his own inquiry being done. He had a ton of questions to ask those felons. First and foremost, he wanted to know how they had pulled off the drag-sand trick. Carl leaned on the bed in despair.

In the far lands, hipped lead roofing of a busy city was slowing rising under the mid-day sun. It was the second day's travel in the Ackerman, and he had been finding it hard to fathom that the case was over. As much as he liked to get involved in finding the rest of the ring, he could not muster the courage to go against the Payton.

Giles had even suggested him to plaint against the Payton's unseemly decisions in the LEA council. But he did not go for it. He was sure that it would serve him no purpose as the LEA council would never consider his claims over a military General. He was after all he was just a middling sleuth that they were more than willing to scrap.

The whole fiasco had put him out of countenance and made him so disappointed that he had packed his things and cleared out of the estate cottage that very night.

He had had many insufferable experiences in the trains. But this had to be the worst. Every once in a while he kept recalling the day of his arrival to Neve. It shook him. Aud Bigge was not as thick-skinned as a member of mafia-ring was supposed to be.

Carl had felt the terror crawling under his skin the whole time they had trudged down the Mount. Mugging clearly wasn't his cup of tea. Well, not every gang that started off as muggers transpired into a notorious ring. Yet, there was no denying that the vultures had been pretty good in keeping their activities under the radar. Carl tossed down another mouthful of beer and let out a troubled laugh. Hell, he had cracked the best case of his career. And now, he was done with it.