Fleck was welcomed at the threshold of Ember’s chambers by his maid, who seemed to also serve as his cook. When Fleck entered the room, led by the maid who told her that her name was Katrina, she found Ember speaking to Quince at the low table. The table was set with the same tablecloth and bishop’s hat napkins as last time, but had a graceful glass vase full of lavender to replace the fruit bowl that had been there the night prior.
“Oh, hello, Fleck.” Ember greeted her warmly, opening his arms in a welcoming gesture. “Care to join us? I hope that you don’t mind Quince being here while we talk. You are in time for dinner, I see. Did you collect the information?”
Fleck was bombarded with questions. She decided to answer them in the order that they had been spoken. “Yes, I would love to join you... No, I don’t mind Quince being here. And what was that last one? Oh, yes. I did get the information. But perhaps not in the exact quantity that you or I would have preferred.”
Ember gave a nervous swallow at hearing this. “Well, then...” He seemed to be unable to complete his sentence.
“If you mind my being here, I could leave,” Quince suggested politely. “I know that I’m intruding and I’d understand completely if you de--”
“No, it’s okay if you stay,” Fleck insisted. It really wasn’t. She would have rather had it that it was just her and Ember. That felt a bit more private, like no one could overhear. With Quince here, it felt like everything that Fleck said was going to be recorded and a subject of gossip. But she really didn’t feel like kicking kind Quince out of a fine dinner. It all was very hard to explain, even in Fleck’s head.
Ember clapped his paws together to bring the attention back yo himself. “Well, then!” This one sounded far more confident then the other. “What did you learn from speaking to the four suspects?”
Fleck hesitated for a split second. “Well...” She didn’t really know where to begin. The interviews had not revealed half as much as she had hoped that they would. She hoped that he would tell her who to start with and luckily he did.
“Why don’t we begin with you telling me about your interview with Mink?” Ember requested. “Do you think that he’s guilty?”
“Oh... Okay,” Fleck said without enthusiasm. “Well, I think that he could be, but I’m not sure. The questioning was short and he didn’t really seem to want to talk. Mink willingly admitted that he was a thief and stole from other cats for survival. He told me that he couldn’t find any work because of his bad record. Mink also didn’t seem vary sad for the three cats who were murdered. Actually, none of the cats that I interviewed did. And when I asked him why he hang out on the bad park of the kingdom, he told me that that was where he belonged and that he had no where else to go. I don’t really think that he could be the murderer, but my opinion could be clouded by the fact that I feel petty bad for him. He doesn’t really seem to have any self-pity, himself.”
“Hm... So you think that your compassion might be alternating your decision?” Quince murmured. “Isn’t that something that Slate might want? For you to trust and pity Mink because of his hard life? And that also might have been a tool Slate used to get Mink on his side. He might have bribed Mink into joining him with riches, land, food, a high ranking, or something like that.”
“Maybe,” Fleck said indecisively.
“What about the other suspects?” Ember asked with great interest. “How about you tell me about Smokey.”
“She seemed like an okay cat, but could end up being our prime suspect,” Fleck answered thoughtfully. “She was a trifle more easy to get things out of, but I can’t tell how much of it was the truth. Her view on shooting practice was that they are fun and enjoyable, which I found quite odd.”
“What did I tell you?” Ember said knowingly. “All of the cats that we’re dealing with here are just plain weird.”
“Yeah, okay,” Fleck muttered, not really sure if she completely believed this sweeping statement. Then she continued to tell him about Smokey. “She claimed that the other warriors here are cowards and use barely any ammunition during the battles when I asked her if she thought that it was a good idea to use the valuable bullets for practice. Smokey also thought that they ‘had it coming for them’ when they got murdered and that the war isn’t going to move foreword if something like that doesn’t happen. She says that she hated Spark and claims to have not known Gemini and says that she thought that FireLily was okay.”
“Hm,” Ember murmured thoughtfully. “Well, that’s another possibility for the killer. What about Tyla?”
“Here’s dinner!” Quince announced gleefully.
The soup had roughly chopped vegetables in it and was full of whole, deep green spinach leaves. It was garnished with a sprinkling of sliced and sauteed leeks complete with a sprig of rosemary. The rosemary slightly unsettled Fleck as it brought back a bad memory, but she ignored this and just enjoyed the soup. With it came steaming slices of freshly made bread for dipping.
While they ate, Fleck told Quince and Ember about Tyla.
“At first, Tyla wasn’t really willing to talk. She wouldn’t even let me in. But I finally got her to talk by mentioning her brothers. She told me that their names were Slasher and Thor and she says that she wishes that Slate and his guards would all ‘just drop dead.’ She also told me about your system that you have for the battles and says that--”
“Hold up,” Ember interrupted. “What system?”
“Well, I don’t exactly agree with it, either,” Fleck said with a snarl in her voice. “How someone has to claim the body of a deceased cat or else you’ll just leave them there to rot.”
“What do you expect me to do?” Ember exclaimed in an exasperated tone. “I don’t have enough able-bodied cats as it is! I don’t need them breaking their backs over bearing dead cats!”
Quince drew her lip back in a snarl. “Why didn’t you tell me about that? I have no relatives here, so no one’s ever going to claim me if I die. So you’re saying that I’d be left there on the battlefield, forgotten, until I rot away?”
“Uh...” Fleck could see her king sweating under the pressure. After a while he stammered nervously, “Just... Just go on, Fleck.”
“Tyla called you a coward and said that the kingdom would be better if you were dead and gone,” Fleck continued. “Then she said that she had talked to much and bid me a blunt farewell.”
“There’s our murderer!” Ember announced through a mouthful of soup.
Fleck shook her head. “I’m not so sure. She seemed to really hate Slate and the guards, too. Why would she ever work for them?”
“I don’t know,” Quince said hesitantly. “It could be another one of those setups. She could have said that because that’s exactly what she wants you to think. So it could very well be her.”
“What about her brothers?” Fleck questioned. “She seemed to have really cared about them. And they were killed by none other then Slate’s cats.”
“Well, it could be that she joined Slate to get her revenge on him for killing her beloved siblings,” Quince invited.
“Could be,” Fleck murmured in agreement.
The hot blueberry pie was then served, along with a dozen different berries and cool, melty ice cream. This was a meal that Fleck would never forget.
“What about FireClaw?” Ember inquired with an unappetizing drip of the creamy blueberry filling painstakingly making its way down the king’s chin. Fleck was forced to either look away or throw up.
“I literally bumped into him on my way to his home,” Fleck explained. “He acted normal enough. But everything he said seemed somewhat... Fake. It felt practiced and hollow whenever he said anything. It might have just been my imagination, but I can’t help but wonder if he’s our murderer.”
They had they hot mint tea after they had finished the pie, which was the perfect way to end the wonderful evening. Fleck departed with a content stomach but a convoluted mind. Was it the poor young thief, Mink? Was it the causal killer, Smokey? Was it the easily angered sister, Tyla? Or could it be the cheerful but hollow gentleman, FireClaw? Fleck didn’t know, but she got the feeling that she would be finding out soon in a way that would not be pleasant.
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-KittyLover8
© 2013
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