Down the evening streets, passed the mansions of the district, Titus and two body guards strut at the behest of Sven and Governor Ludger. Over the brook of solemn streaming, across a wide bridge, they arrived at a remote square environed by nightly silence. At the other precipice, they encountered a forlorn stone building two stories in height. Built in the gothic style, it was an ominous pair of spires, each with its own hollow window parallel to the entrance. Here Titus halted. “The mortuary, Seraph,” he said.
“As the architects, no doubt, wanted to make obvious,” Sven replied.
After dismounting, the commandant approached the entrance and gave a firm knocking. Three thumps and a wait. Three more loud thumps and a break. Eventually, he could hear the footsteps stomping down the stairs. The sound of its door unlatching prompted Sven’s approach. Then a hooded figure poked his nose beyond the small opening. “Who knocks at this hour?”
“Your mother,” answered Sven.
One of the guards then spoke, “Commandant of the College escorting the governor.” Exposing himself before the doorway, the hooded man stepped forward for a closer look, raising his lantern over the wrinkles of his obscure face. “It is you, Commandant? Governor?”
“Vanderbildt,” started governor Ludgren, “we require access to the mortuary."
“Of course! Of course!” he stammered, gesturing everyone inside. As they passed he, found his eyes laden with curiosity for Sven, but he eventually remembered to close the door.
Illuminating their way across a large and dark room, the mortician revealed the ring of keys in his pocket and opened the very next door they came across. “You have strange tastes,” said Sven. Everyone hesitated. 485Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfH7FJlHSp
“Who?” the mortician asked.
“You… with the dolls.” Seemingly discovered, the mortician stared at him with astonished contempt. Titus was having none of it, however. With the door unlocked, he paved the way inward and grabbed Vanderbildt’s lantern. “Which one is it?” he asked. Comporting himself, Vanderbildt walked towards a stone table situated along the left corner. Covered as it was, Sven could already see something was unusual.485Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZdEr24Y4DQ
Vanderbildt began lighting the various candles throughout, illuminating the room with somber flickers. Sven was already standing over the covered lump, and Governor Ludger watched from afar, anxious. Titus stood nearby, practically gazing over the Seraph’s shoulder as his normal hand grasped the shroud. “This place reams with ghosts,” said Sven. Suddenly, Governor and guards looked about the room as if his meaning were literal. 485Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4s8MYg4qAp
Finally, the Seraph looked under the shroud and saw what had brought him so many miles, something mangled in so horrendously novel a manner it was fangled. He let the shroud off so as to peruse its unadulterated remains. “And you summoned me because you believe this a result of magic.”
“Is it not?” Titus questioned.
“Let us consider… Were there witnesses?”
“None, despite the body being found mid-day.”
“Interesting.”
“For a man to be crushed and separated from his waist, a giant could potentially perform the feat.”
“Nope. A giant would leave hand marks,” Sven casually remarked. “I see none.” He gave it a little more thought. “Commandant Titus believes this is the result of crushing. Does anyone want to guess otherwise? Hmm?”
“Werewolf?” uttered one of the guards.
“Werewolves are too messy. And they make a big ruckus. Someone would have noticed.”
Another guard ventured a guess, “Perhaps some form of machinery. Umm… to torture the poor bastard, then dump his body?”
“Now, that’s a good guess. But ya can be sure it wasn’t torture.”
“How could you be so sure?” asked Titus.
“This loper looks clean in just about every wrinkle of his body. Mortician! How’d it look when it arrived?” 485Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHqnNucrCSU
Vanderbildt broke from his meticulous candle lighting. “Was only tampered down the middle it was. Iss as if he was minding his own business when, all of a sudden, crack - split in the middle. Middle, middle, middle!” he whistled
“I like this guy.”
“Gosh by gum!” scoffed Titus. Then what, pray, could have done this?”
“Pfft. Magic,” answered Sven, “obviously.”
“I knew it!” declared the Governor from the back of the room.
Frustrated as he was, Titus kept his affectation. “What connivance stayed your prompt declaration of the facts?”
“Magic is all it can be.” Sven threw aside the shroud, to present company's dismay and to the Governor’s flinching horror. “Look at it. The body completely concaves starting from the intestines, likewise from the waist. It is as if some centripetal force came from within this man’s body and just pulled and pulled until the tension stressed his organs into oblivion. Amazingly telling though. You can tell by the skin tears that it was internal. Don’t you agree?” Everyone but the Governor huddled in for a closer look.
“Agree I with the-” Vanderbildt discontinued. “Who are you?”
“He’s the Seraph hired to investigate this matter,” answered Titus. “And I also find credence with your assessment.”
“S-s-Seraph?”
“My name is Sven,” he clarified. His eyes went back to perusing the corpse’s visage. “Who was this poor fellow?” Titus looked to the governor with a face seeking permission. Ludger, however, hesitated to answer. So Sven knew something was amiss, cocking his eye as he did. “Without doubt, he was a noble.”
“And how can you tell that?” asked the governor.
“Because you sent for me.”
“His full title was Baron Olimar Gerder Dellaroote,” rejoined Titus. “Well known and wealthy in this city and beyond. Like many nobles with estates in the northern ward, he was a generous patron of the college and the Governor’s political campaign. So you can understand, for a man of such status to be found alone and mutilated in the city cross-section, well, that raises questions, upsets the inquisitive citizenry, and leaves blame to be directed by a maelstrom of confusion. We need to know who or what is responsible!”
The sudden sound of weepy grumbling rewound through the walls, like a helpless animal seeking refuge from its wounds. High in pitch, released in spurts, the noise was incongruous but incessant, fluttering in a most lamentable note. Everyone gazed in different directions trying to ascertain the source.
“Was that your stomach?” enquired Titus.
“Yes it was,” said Sven.
“Governor, perhaps we ought to treat our guest to dinner and nourishment if we expect him to continue his investigation.”
“Any place with good croissants in this city?”
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