2026-10-11 05:57:47
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172
The handwriting examination produced its first result the following morning.Hector was with the King when the archive clerk arrived, carrying the original notice ending Marek Doss's employment and three pages of comparison entries. The clerk placed them on the table and waited until the King had finished reading the report.“The acknowledgment beside Doss's name does not match the handwriting of the administrator who approved his departure,” the clerk said. “It also differs from the hand used for most of the other returned-token entries in that register.”“Does that establish that it was forged?” the King asked.“No, Your Majesty. The entries were made by several clerks over the years. We cannot identify the writer from the samples available. We can only say that it was not written by the administrator whose name appears on the notice.”Hector examined the acknowledgment.“Was the person who received the token supposed to sign?”“Yes. The procedure required the receiving clerk to rec
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The first reply concerning Marek Doss came from the western district.It was brief and unhelpful. Doss had been employed as a temporary document courier by the royal household, but his service had ended several years earlier. The district office held no record of his arrival, and no subsequent appointment had been entered against his name.The second reply came from the city watch.A man matching Doss's description had once rented a room near the southern gate, but the lodging-house keeper had closed his establishment before the date could be confirmed. No forwarding address had been left.Hector read both reports in the King's presence.“We know he received the token,” he said. “We don't know whether he returned it, lost it, or gave it to someone else.”The King tapped the dispatch book with one finger.“And we don't know whether the token found near the northern gate was the original.”“The locksmith believes it was made to the same pattern as the household tokens. The number matche
170
The royal archive sent its reply shortly after the morning bell.Hector was reviewing the previous day's reports when a clerk arrived carrying a narrow wooden case. Inside lay three registers, a bundle of loose slips, and a sealed statement from the chief archivist.“The records concerning numbered tokens were kept separately from the ordinary guard inventories,” the clerk explained. “The archivist found these in a cabinet used by the former royal household administration.”“Why were they kept separately?” Hector asked.“The tokens were not issued to ordinary guards. Some were used by messengers and officials who needed to collect sealed documents from restricted offices. The register was maintained by the household administration, not the captain of the guard.”Hector opened the case.“Who had access to it?”“The chief administrator and two clerks. The archivist could not establish whether the register was complete. Several pages have been removed.”Hector looked up.“Removed recentl
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The search for the boy began before sunrise.Hector divided the city watch into small teams and sent them to the messenger stations, market stalls, and lodging houses along the northern road. The description was limited: a boy of fourteen or fifteen, with a scar near his ear, who had carried a folded message to a man in a grey coat.It was not much to work with. Boys carried messages throughout the capital, and a scar was hardly unusual. Still, the lodging-house keeper had remembered the boy clearly enough to distinguish him from the other children who visited the courtyard.Hector instructed his men to ask questions without making accusations. If the boy had been paid to deliver a message, he might have done nothing more than earn a few coins. Frightening him into silence would serve no purpose.By midmorning, the first team returned with a name.The boy was called Niko. He lived with his aunt in a narrow street behind the old cloth market and sometimes carried parcels for merchants
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Hector returned to the eastern market before the afternoon crowds had begun to thin.He took Sergeant Pell and two guards with him, leaving the rest of the barracks to continue the inquiries into Silas Merrow and the missing records. The report from Nessa had given them a place to begin, but he knew how quickly a witness's memory could become unreliable when several people questioned them about the same event.The market watch commander met them beside the gate.“We have checked the men assigned to investigations in this district,” he said. “No one admits to questioning the fruit seller, and none of the descriptions match an officer we can identify.”“Did anyone show her a warrant or an official seal?”“No. She says he displayed a paper, but she could not read it.”“Then the paper proves nothing.”The commander lowered his voice. “There is another matter. Two merchants remember a man in a grey coat asking questions about strangers near the northern road. One says the man asked whether
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The first report arrived shortly after noon.Hector was in the barracks courtyard when a messenger from the city watch brought it to him. He read the page once, then again, before folding it and returning it to the messenger.“Who supplied this information?”“The watch commander at the eastern gate, sir. He received a description of the dead man from the chapel and compared it with the missing-person records.”“Did he find a name?”“No, sir. Not yet. There is, however, a report of a man matching the description who was seen near the old market three days before the attack on the palace.”Hector looked at the messenger.“Where is the report?”“The commander has sent a copy. He said the original was entered in the district ledger.”“Bring me the original as well. I want the name of whoever made the report and the names of anyone who questioned the witness.”The messenger saluted and left.Hector remained in the courtyard for a moment, considering the dates. Three days before the palace
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