229 - The Freight Agent

Eastbridge stood where the river road met an older route leading toward the mining settlements. Unlike Windscar, which had grown into a major market, Eastbridge remained a practical trading town built around cart repair, freight storage, and the movement of goods between larger settlements. Its yards were crowded with wagons, its inns filled with drivers waiting for assignments, and its workshops worked from dawn until evening.

Subin Vans and his companions arrived shortly before noon. They had spent the morning following the river road, and Ara had used the journey to organize the documents collected in Northfield. The rental agreement for the old freight shed, the incomplete transport record, and Garrick's latest message were now separated from the original contract papers. None proved that the disputed iron had passed through Northfield, but together they gave the team a concrete lead.

Halric Sorn's registered address was a two-storey office near the eastern cart yard. A painted board above the entrance advertised freight arrangements, warehouse transfers, and caravan scheduling. The front room contained a desk, a few benches, and shelves crowded with ledgers.

A clerk looked up when the group entered.

"We're looking for Halric Sorn," Subin said.

"He's not here at the moment. Is this about a freight booking?"

"Possibly. We need to ask him about a shipment arranged through Northfield."

The clerk hesitated when Ara showed him the copy of the rental agreement. He recognized the name immediately and called into the rear office. A moment later, a broad-faced man in a brown travelling coat stepped into the room.

Halric Sorn was younger than Subin had expected, perhaps in his early thirties. He glanced at the document, then at the people standing before him.

"I arranged a storage rental in Northfield," he said. "If that's what you're asking about, the matter is already settled."

"Two wagons delivered crates to the shed," Subin replied. "They were removed before sunrise the following morning. The transport declaration was incomplete."

Halric's expression tightened. "That wasn't my shipment. I arranged the storage on behalf of a customer. I wasn't responsible for the cargo declaration."

"Who was the customer?"

"I can't disclose a client's name without authorization."

Ara placed the copied agreement on the desk. "You can verify whether this is your signature, at least."

Halric examined it and nodded. "It is. I arranged the rental because the customer needed temporary space. The crates were supposed to contain machinery parts."

"Did you inspect them?"

"No. The customer supplied the declaration and paid the fees. I don't operate the warehouse."

"Who collected the crates?"

Halric looked toward the clerk, who had quietly moved away from the desk. After a moment, he answered.

"Two carriers working for the customer. I can give you their names, but I won't invent information about what they transported."

Subin appreciated the distinction. Halric was protecting himself, but he had not yet offered anything that clearly contradicted the records.

"Give us the names and the original booking details," Subin said. "The Northfield authorities are already checking the shipment. If your records match theirs, that should settle your part in it."

Halric considered the request, then unlocked a cabinet and retrieved a ledger. He found the relevant entry and turned it toward Ara.

The booking had been made three days earlier by a representative using the name Merek Doss. The cargo was listed as replacement machinery components, and the destination was described only as a northern storage site. Halric's fee covered the shed rental and the arrangement of two local carriers. There was no reference to Windscar, Belric Dane, Soren Vale, or Venn Arlo.

"Do you know Merek Doss personally?" Yerin asked.

"No. He came here with valid payment and a written authorization to arrange freight. I checked the document against the registry requirements. It was sufficient for a temporary booking."

"Can we see the authorization?" Ara asked.

Halric turned another page and produced a folded copy. The authorization carried a commercial stamp, but the issuing company was registered in a settlement called Redbrook. The signature was difficult to read, and the stamp had been pressed unevenly.

Ara studied it carefully. "This may be legitimate, but we should verify the company before drawing conclusions."

"That's your choice," Halric said. "I'll cooperate with the authorities, but I won't let you accuse me of smuggling because a customer moved crates through a warehouse."

"We haven't accused you," Subin replied. "We need to know where the cargo went."

Halric gave them the names of the two carriers: Jorren Pell and Davi Kest. Both worked independently, accepting short-distance jobs from several freight offices. The ledger listed their usual meeting place as a cart yard south of Eastbridge.

The team left Halric's office and went to the yard.

Jorren Pell was repairing a harness when they found him. He remembered the Northfield job immediately and confirmed that he and Davi had transported two wagons from the old freight shed to a roadside depot beyond the northern checkpoint.

"What was in the crates?" Subin asked.

"Wooden cases. We weren't hired to open them."

"Who paid you?"

"A man named Merek. He showed us a freight order and paid the agreed rate. We loaded the cases, drove them to the depot, and left them with the receiving clerk."

"Did Venn Arlo accompany the shipment?"

Jorren shook his head. "I don't know that name. The man who hired us was younger, clean-shaven, and wore a dark green coat. He wasn't the grey-haired fellow you're describing."

"Did you see anyone waiting at the depot?"

"Two men were there. One checked the wagon numbers, and the other signed our delivery sheet. We didn't stay after that."

Ara recorded the details. "Can you identify the depot?"

"Old North Depot, beside the road to Redbrook. It used to handle mining equipment before the route was reduced."

The depot was outside Eastbridge's immediate jurisdiction but still within a manageable day's journey. Before leaving, the team asked Jorren to provide a written statement to the commercial officer. He agreed, provided the statement made clear that he had transported sealed crates without inspecting their contents.

Davi Kest was working elsewhere in the yard. His account matched Jorren's, including the destination and the description of the man who had hired them. He remembered one additional detail: the receiving clerk had complained that the delivery had arrived earlier than expected and that the storage reservation had not yet been entered into the depot's ledger.

That suggested a poorly coordinated delivery, but not necessarily a fraudulent one.

Subin and his companions returned to Halric's office to inform him that the carriers had identified the destination. Halric looked troubled when he heard that the depot had received the cargo before completing its own records.

"That isn't how I normally arrange a transfer," he admitted. "The receiving party is supposed to confirm the booking before the wagons leave. Merek said the depot had already agreed to take the crates."

"Did you contact the depot to verify that?" Ara asked.

"No. I had no reason to doubt the authorization at the time."

"Then you should give the commercial officer everything you have," Subin said. "The sooner the records are checked, the sooner you can establish whether you followed the proper procedure."

Halric agreed to send his ledger copies and the original authorization to Eastbridge's commercial office. He also supplied the address listed for Merek Doss, which was a rented room above a supply shop near the western market. The room had been vacated two days earlier.

The address gave the team no immediate result, so they focused on the Old North Depot.

The depot lay beyond Eastbridge's outer farms, where the river road crossed a stretch of scrubland before reaching the northern mining route. Its main building was a low stone structure with a covered loading platform and a fenced yard. Several wagons stood inside, but no large caravan was preparing to depart.

The receiving clerk, a tired-looking man named Pellor, listened to their explanation and checked the delivery records.

"Two wagons arrived yesterday morning," he said. "They were carrying sealed cases marked as machinery components. I accepted the delivery because the driver had a signed transport sheet."

"Where are the cases now?" Subin asked.

"In the western storehouse. The person who arranged the reservation hasn't collected them."

Pellor led them to the storehouse and unlocked the door. Inside, wooden crates stood in two neat rows. Each bore a number painted on its side, and a few carried labels describing machine fittings and metal brackets.

Ara checked the numbers against the transport sheet. They matched.

Subin examined the crates without opening them. The cases were heavy enough to contain metal parts, but that alone established nothing. Several ordinary industrial components could weigh as much as iron ingots, and the labels were not obviously false.

"We need the person who ordered the shipment," Yerin said.

Pellor nodded. "The booking was made under Merek Doss. He said the cases would be collected by a representative once the final destination was confirmed. I expected someone this morning, but nobody came."

"Did he provide a contact address?"

"Only the freight office in Eastbridge."

Ara checked the storehouse ledger. The cargo had arrived, but the receiving entry was incomplete because the final recipient had not signed for it. The depot had therefore kept the cases in storage rather than releasing them.

That decision had prevented the shipment from disappearing into an unrecorded transfer. Whatever the crates contained, they were still available for inspection.

Subin asked Pellor to leave the cases untouched while the local commercial officer was contacted. Pellor agreed and posted a guard at the storehouse entrance.

Outside, the companions discussed their next step.

"We have a false or incomplete booking trail, an absent customer, and crates that nobody wants to claim," Jae-hyun said. "That's enough to justify opening them."

"Enough to request an official inspection," Ara corrected. "We don't own the cargo, and we haven't established that it contains anything illegal."

Jae-hyun sighed. "You make everything sound like paperwork."

"Paperwork is how we know whose cargo we're looking at."

Subin looked back at the storehouse. "She's right. We'll wait for the officer. If the declaration is false, the inspection will give us something solid to work with."

The Eastbridge commercial officer arrived later that afternoon with two guards and a local warehouse inspector. After reviewing the records from Halric's office and the transport sheets, she authorized an inspection of the crates because the declared recipient had failed to appear and the reservation remained incomplete.

The first cases contained machine fittings, iron brackets, and several bundles of ordinary tools. The labels were broadly accurate, although some components appeared to be older than the description suggested.

The inspector opened a second row of crates. Beneath the top layer of metal fittings lay several smaller cases filled with dense, dark iron bars. The bars were stamped with a mark that the inspector did not recognize.

Ara examined one of the bars without removing it from the case. "These are not standard machine parts. The density and finish suggest treated iron, possibly suitable for equipment or weapon production."

The inspector compared the bars with the cargo declaration. "They should have been listed separately. This declaration is incomplete."

The discovery justified holding the shipment, but it did not prove that the iron came from Windscar. The inspector sealed the storehouse and began recording the contents while the commercial officer sent for a specialist who could identify the metal and its markings.

Subin examined the stamp on one bar. It consisted of a simple angular symbol, unlike the commercial marks he had seen on ordinary goods. He had no basis for identifying its owner, and he made no attempt to guess.

The officer collected copies of the freight documents and confirmed that Halric and the two carriers would be asked to provide statements. None would be detained on the basis of the evidence available, though the investigation would continue.

"Whoever arranged this shipment expected the cases to pass through without a complete inspection," Yerin said as the team stepped away from the sealed storehouse.

"Maybe," Subin replied. "Or they were careless with the declaration. We need the specialist's report before deciding what the markings mean."

Ara looked at the copied authorization again. "The company stamp is our next lead. If Redbrook confirms that it issued this document, Merek may have been acting for a real business. If it denies the authorization, we will know the paperwork was used without permission."

The commercial officer agreed to send a formal inquiry to Redbrook and notify Windscar that a shipment of undeclared treated iron had been found. She would not release the cargo until its ownership and intended destination were established.

That evening, Garrick's response arrived at the Eastbridge office. The iron disputed in Windscar remained secured, and Belric's balance was still held in escrow. Garrick confirmed that neither Belric nor Othar Pell had authorized a transfer through Eastbridge, and neither merchant recognized the angular mark on the recovered bars.

The message narrowed the possibilities but did not settle the matter. The crates could belong to an unrelated shipment, or someone could have used a separate freight arrangement to move material connected to the Windscar dispute. The evidence did not yet distinguish between those explanations.

Subin's team stayed in Eastbridge overnight while the local authorities prepared the inspection report. In the morning, the specialist identified the bars as treated iron intended for equipment manufacture, but the angular mark did not match the registered marks of the major suppliers in the region.

The officer gave Subin a copy of the preliminary findings and confirmed that the inquiry to Redbrook had been sent. The shipment would remain sealed until the company and the intended recipient were verified.

Subin thanked her and gathered his companions outside the depot.

"We've done what we can here," Liu Wei said. "The authorities have the cargo, the records, and the names of everyone involved."

"We'll continue to Redbrook," Subin replied. "If the authorization is genuine, the company may know who hired Merek. If it isn't, we need to find out whose name was used."

They left Eastbridge by the western road, carrying copies of the records and the preliminary inspection report. Behind them, the treated iron remained under guard, while Halric's office and the two carriers prepared their statements.

The investigation had uncovered an unregistered portion of a freight shipment, but its connection to the disputed iron in Windscar was still unproven. Redbrook was the next place where the documents could be verified, and Subin intended to follow that lead before making any judgment about the people involved.