Strike at Midnight(20)
He glared at me then said, “The last time we saw him was at The Tamed Wolf. There was a large card game happening and it was packed that night. He won pretty big, got sloshed, then left. He then turned up at one of the balls and we just assumed he had been on a spending spree with his winnings.”
“A spending spree where?” I asked out of curiosity, and the guy turned sheepish all of a sudden.
“Whores,” he said, looking down at the floor.
“Lovely,” I replied with a look of disgust as I stepped back. The one on the floor now had a wet patch forming at the bottom of his gray tunic. “You had better see to your friend. It looks like he’s pissed himself.”
Theodore gave me a look of both reprimand and mirth, and I winked at him before walking away. I had gotten what I came for, and next I was off to The Tamed Wolf to see if I could get some more information on the young guys’ version of events.
How exciting was it going to be to face a pile of noble gentlemen all cooped up in one place—and yes they would be there early—acting like they were a picture of perfection with their early morning goblets of wine. There would be no tankards allowed in such an establishment, or women, so it was probably going to go down like it had last time I had visited there.
There was nothing like a little bit of torture this early on a morning.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Humpty Dumpty; as annoying as fu-
The Tamed Wolf was in a part of Carena where a lot of the nobility gathered. The area was clean, the buildings pristine, and colorful gowns and gallantry could be seen as far as the eyes would allow.
People who lived and frequented this area were those who could afford to live lush. They didn’t believe in the hocus pocus of the “quacks” who operated in Lower City, and they thought that the lower classes were available for only one thing: to serve them.
It was only about two hundred acres of land they could dominate with their pomposity on the outskirts of the Royal Grounds, but they acted like it was a thousand. The place wasn’t situated too far from the Royal Barracks either, so there would be a mix of lords, ladies, and knights all sharing a bottle of red on occasion around here.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too busy this early on a morning, but I knew a lot of people came here to break their fast and be waited on. There were also a few husbands I was aware of who would use this as an excuse to their wives to stay out all night. Maybe it would be busier than I thought.
The cobbled road was all that lay between me and the building of grandeur that had a wooden sign hanging from a metal rod on the outside. It had a gold outline of a wolf painted on it and swirling letters that read “The Tamed Wolf.”
The man who I previously had to terrorize to gain information regarding the duke was still standing by the door. He manned the recess between the road and the entrance to stop people from just wandering in. Like me. He was manning the place like a guard dog until he saw me, then his face paled.
“Hey,” I said as I approached him, and he instinctively put his hands to his groin.
“You again?” he asked, with his brows pinched together as if in pain. “What now?”
“I just need to ask a few questions to your patrons, grab a quick drink of water, and then I’ll be out of your hair.”
“Absolutely not,” he said, shaking his head. “This place is for gentlemen only.”
“And I said I won’t be long.” He flinched slightly when I took a step closer.
“Very well,” he snapped. “But do not make a habit of this.” He jabbed his finger towards the door behind him. “Don’t be long, and do not bother anyone, otherwise I will have you thrown out.”
He would try to have me thrown out, but it was brave of him to try and act in charge when his balls had gotten mangled last time. He hadn’t moved fast then, and he wouldn’t move fast enough now.
“Sure,” I said, eyeing him as I walked past, then I was in.
The Tamed Wolf was quite large, with a bar that served drinks in the middle. It was a bit like Melodies, only the people here probably didn’t spit on the floor or fall off bar stools when intoxicated.
Leather seating was scattered around, and there was a large fireplace at the far side of the room that had already been lit. A few people had already started to gather, and I made my way over to the bar. The barman looked up at me in surprise.
“I won’t be staying long. I just need some water and to ask a few questions.”
His eyes flickered behind me, and then he must have made an inward decision to follow up on my request when he saw I wasn’t about to be chucked out.
“Do you know the Duke of York?” I asked him once he put the water down in front of me. It was extremely refreshing as it slid down my throat. The bartender looked at me with disgust as I gulped the lot down, so I banged the empty goblet down in front of him and wiped my mouth on the back of my sleeve—just to piss him off a bit more.
“He is a patron of ours,” the bartender said eventually. “Yes.”
“Then do you know if there is anyone in here who he speaks to or sits with on occasion?”
“Lord Dumpty is in here, with his friend Lord Peacock. They often speak with him.”
“Point them out to me?”
“Not hard to miss,” he said, pointing over to two men who were chatting in the corner. I had to agree with him there. If their names fit, then I would have to say that the guy with the extraordinarily large head and a rotund body was Lord Dumpty, and that Lord Peacock was the gangly one with a nose so large that it could poke your eye out.