Read Online The Betrayed by Igor Ljubuncic - Free Book Online Page A

Most Caytoreans preferred clothes with details and wore them in cumbersome layers.
    The investigator entered the House. A bored clerk sat behind a table, pretending to scribble on a paper.
    “Greetings,” Armin spoke in accented, yet clear Continental.
    The official looked him up and down. “Not from around here, are we?”
    Armin produced one of the fat letters from a binder he carried beneath his armpit and placed it on the desk. The clerk briefly read the endorsements. His brows involuntarily jumped when he noted the waxed seals on the bottom.
    “What do you need?”
    Armin opened the binder a second time and produced another paper. “I need information on the deaths of several city dignitaries.”
    The clerk took his time reading. “Shipwright Boune, Shipmaster Perano, master of the guild of miners…” He frowned. “That’s quite a list.”
    Armin nodded enthusiastically. “Indeed. And I have been told that you keep record of these deaths in your archive. I would like to see them.”
    “It could take a few days to rummage through the piles,” the clerk offered with obvious distaste.
    “I would like them as soon as possible.” He placed a silver coin on the desk.
    The clerk looked around before palming it. “I will see what I can do.”
    “Good, thank you. I will return on the morrow.”

    Armin believed that the first step to solving a crime was motive. He was not yet sure what eight people from almost completely unrelated industries had in common, except their deaths. But it was obvious the merchants and the nobles were terrified of the trend.
    In the week since his arrival, he had learned that no rich man walked the streets without the protection of a bodyguard nowadays. Most stayed indoors. While this storm of panic passed by completely unnoticed by the common folk, it was the highlight of the higher circles of society in Eybalen.
    The clerk had been able to retrieve all eight reports. They had been written in haste, by someone who did not really care. The reports stated where the deceased had been found and in what state. But beyond that, there were no details whatsoever. This meant he would have to visit each scene and start from scratch.
    Today, he was in the harbor. Like Tuba Tuba, Eybalen was a port city. The stench of fish and exotic spices overwhelmed the place. Hundreds of workers milled, laboring, loading and unloading cargo into the ships of a dozen nations.
    A few well-placed coins had pointed him to Shipmaster Lloyd…just Lloyd. Coming from a very ancestrally oriented culture, he found the lack of family names in the continental realms a bit offensive.
    He found the man supervising the loading of a barge, standing by a cask of wine, one leg propped, the squinted eyes of a seasoned, sun-blasted mariner scrutinizing the work of his sailors.
    “Greetings,” Armin called, still some distance off.
    Shipmaster Lloyd looked at him, but said nothing. He did take his foot off the cask, though.
    “I am looking for Shipmaster Lloyd,” the investigator declared cheerfully.
    The shipmaster took his time, estimating Armin. Convinced that the man in funny robes posed no threat, he decided to own up. “Found him, need a passage?”
    Armin smiled. “I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about your friend, Shipmaster Perano.”
    Lloyd frowned. “Who in the name of the purple squid are you?”
    Armin softly slapped his forehead. “Ah, forgive me. Investigator Armin Wan’der Markssin, of Tuba Tuba. I have been employed by the council to investigate the deaths of several important people in—”
    “What’s there to investigate?” Lloyd cut him off.
    Armin was completely unperturbed. “There is reason to believe these people were killed under no ordinary circumstances.”
    A ghost of a pain crossed the man’s features. “Not here. Let’s talk elsewhere.”
    Luckily, the port had inns open at all times, even early in the morning. Ships came and went round the clock, and sailors could