Chapter 93: The Case

Bret was reported missing the following morning.

Garrick filed the report himself.

Joe heard about it before noon.

That surprised him less than Simon.

“He reported him?”

“Of course he did.”

Simon sat at the kitchen table, untouched food in front of him.

Mary had slept badly.

Mira stayed with her most of the night.

Simon looked toward the closed bedroom door.

“I thought he'd know.”

“He might.”

“Then why involve the guard?”

Joe considered how to explain something that seemed obvious to him.

“Because he's Garrick.”

Simon frowned.

Joe continued.

“He believes in rank. Records. Authority. He has spent years using the guard system when it benefits him. Why would he abandon it before knowing whether it can still give him what he wants?”

Simon understood.

That did not make him look happier.

“What happens when they find Bret?”

“We tell the truth.”

Simon looked at Joe sharply.

Joe met his eyes.

“The truth helps you.”

That was another difference between them.

Joe could live with secrets.

Simon needed something firmer.

A decision.

A judgment.

Something outside himself confirming that what happened at the old freight yard had not made him a murderer.

Joe hoped the guard would give him that.

----------

They found Bret before sunset.

Not because Simon led them there.

The southern warehouse men did.

The broad one was arrested first.

He had apparently decided leaving Blackwood immediately would look worse than staying.

The red-cord man made it as far as a roadside inn before guards found him.

The third lasted until evening.

Once one talked, the others became considerably easier to locate.

By nightfall the guard knew where Bret had died.

By morning, they knew Mary had been there.

And by midday, Simon was ordered to report.

Not arrested.

Report.

That distinction mattered.

Mira insisted on coming.

So did Mary.

Joe went without asking.

-----------

The questioning did not happen under Garrick.

That was the first sensible decision.

Once Bret's body was identified and Garrick's relationship to the victim became central, Tomas removed him from the investigation.

Garrick objected.

Tomas ignored him.

Joe did not witness that conversation, but everyone in the guard compound heard about it within an hour.

The actual hearing took place in one of the larger administrative rooms.

Tomas sat at the head.

Two officers recorded statements.

A magistrate clerk attended because a death involving a guard officer's family could not simply disappear into internal paperwork.

The Black family sent a representative too.

Not Edwin.

He was weeks away.

Renford came.

Joe had not expected that.

Simon clearly hadn't either.

Renford sat beside Mira without speaking.

His presence changed the room.

Not because anyone believed he could rewrite facts.

Because nobody in the room could pretend Simon was an isolated village guard anymore.

A son-in-law of the Black family accused unfairly would become a family matter.

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That made accuracy valuable.

---------

Mary spoke first.

Her voice shook at the beginning.

Then steadied.

She described leaving the cloth merchant.

The men approaching.

Being told Simon had sent them.

Realizing after several streets that they were not taking her toward Simon's house.

Trying to leave.

Being stopped.

The old freight yard.

Bret.

The demand that Simon come alone.

Nobody interrupted except to clarify details.

Then Teren spoke.

He had seen Mary with the warehouse men.

He had recognized her.

He had followed.

He had warned Simon.

Daren confirmed that Simon left after hearing the report.

Then came the warehouse men.

Joe had expected lies.

There were some.

Mostly about who had suggested what.

Who had known about the knife.

Who had thought Mary would actually be taken.

But the important parts matched.

Bret had organized it.

Bret wanted Simon brought to an isolated place.

Mary was leverage.

The original plan had been to frighten Simon and beat him.

Bret had stopped Mary from leaving.

Bret had drawn the knife.

Simon had struck while Bret held her.

The red-cord man was the clearest.

Perhaps because he had already decided Bret was not worth protecting.

“He told us no permanent harm.”

Tomas looked at him.

“You abducted a young woman.”

The man lowered his eyes.

“Yes.”

“You expected that to remain temporary?”

No answer.

Tomas continued.

“Did Simon Vale attack Bret Vane before the knife was drawn?”

“No.”

“Did Simon prevent you from leaving?”

“No.”

“Did Bret have hold of Mary Vale when Simon struck him?”

“Yes.”

That was essentially the case.

-------

Simon spoke last.

Joe watched his brother carefully.

Simon did not exaggerate.

Did not claim Bret had been some terrifying martial opponent.

Did not say he intended to kill him.

“I saw the knife.”

The room was quiet.

“He had Mary.”

Simon swallowed.

“I hit him.”

Tomas asked, “Did you intend to kill Bret Vane?”

“No.”

“Did you intend to stop him?”

“Yes.”

“If the same circumstances occurred again?”

Simon looked toward Mary.

His answer took longer.

“Yes.”

Joe lowered his eyes.

There was the closure beginning.

Not comfort.

Something stronger.

Acceptance.

-----------

Garrick was allowed into the room only after the statements had been recorded.

He looked older.

One night had done that.

He did not look at Simon initially.

Tomas summarized the findings.

Abduction.

Coercion.

Multiple witnesses.

Weapon.

Immediate threat.

Defensive intervention.

The magistrate clerk spoke after him.

“There is insufficient basis for criminal action against Simon Vale.”

Simon exhaled.

Barely.

The clerk continued.

“The death occurred during an intervention to protect another person from an immediate armed threat. The circumstances are corroborated by independent witnesses, including participants in the abduction.”

Garrick finally looked at Simon.

Joe watched his face.

Nothing obvious.

That was worse.

Tomas added, “The three men involved will remain detained pending charges related to the abduction and unlawful confinement.”

One of the Black representatives began writing.

Renford had not spoken once.

Now he did.

“Will Simon's guard record reflect wrongdoing?”

The clerk looked toward him.

“No.”

“Suspension?”

“No basis.”

“Disciplinary mark?”

“No.”

Renford nodded.

That was all he wanted.

Not special treatment.

No stain.

The Black family had accepted Simon through marriage.

They would not allow Bret's misconduct to become a convenient excuse to damage one of their own branch households.

Garrick understood that too.

Joe could see it.

-----------

The meeting ended without drama.

That surprised Simon.

Outside, he stopped beneath the administrative building's awning.

Rain had begun.

Mary stood beside him.

Mira on his other side.

Simon stared into the courtyard.

“That's it?”

Joe understood what he meant.

“Yes.”

“I killed him.”

“Yes.”

“And they're saying—”

“That you protected Mary.”

Simon looked toward his sister.

Mary stepped forward and hugged him.

“You did.”

Simon closed his eyes.

For the first time since the freight yard, some of the tension left his shoulders.

Not all.

Probably never all.

Joe did not expect him to forget killing another person.

He did not think Simon should.

But there was a difference between carrying a death and carrying guilt that did not belong to you.

The guard had investigated.

The witnesses had spoken.

Even the men Bret hired had confirmed what happened.

Simon had not hunted Bret.

He had gone for Mary.

That mattered to Simon in a way it would not have mattered as much to Joe.

Joe was glad he had it.

---------

Garrick returned to duty three days later.

That concerned Joe.

Not because he returned.

Because of how normal he became.

Assignments.

Reports.

Training inspections.

He did not touch Simon's schedule.

Did not insult him.

Did not confront Mary.

Did not pressure Tomas.

When other guards spoke about Bret, Garrick left.

Nothing more.

Simon gradually relaxed.

Joe did not.

He had seen people accept defeat.

Garrick did not look defeated.

He looked contained.

There was a difference.

----------

A week later, Joe passed Garrick near the western training yard.

Garrick stopped.

“Joe.”

Joe stopped too.

They had rarely spoken since the case.

Garrick looked at him for several seconds.

“You believe the finding was correct?”

Joe saw no reason to lie.

“Yes.”

Something moved in Garrick's jaw.

“He was my son.”

“I know.”

“You think that makes no difference?”

“It makes a difference to you.”

Garrick's eyes hardened.

Joe continued before he could mistake the answer.

“It doesn't change what happened.”

For an instant the senior officer looked like he might strike him.

He didn't.

Years of discipline won.

Barely.

Garrick walked away.

Joe watched him go.

That conversation answered the question.

Garrick understood the facts.

He understood Bret had been wrong.

He understood Simon had acted to save Mary.

And none of it had made his grief smaller.

That was dangerous.

-----------

Simon, meanwhile, finally returned to ordinary work.

That evening he ate properly for the first time in days.

Mira teased him.

Mary complained about being watched every time she left the house.

Simon informed her she would be watched until she was forty.

Mary threatened to return to Green Hollow purely to escape him.

Life began moving again.

Joe sat with them beneath the plum tree.

Simon looked over eventually.

“You were right.”

Joe raised an eyebrow.

“Dangerous sentence.”

“About telling the truth.”

Joe waited.

“I needed them to investigate it.”

That Joe understood now.

Simon continued.

“If we'd just hidden everything…”

He stopped.

“I think I'd always wonder whether I was just telling myself Bret deserved it.”

Joe nodded.

“But now?”

Simon looked through the open doorway toward Mary.

“Now I know I didn't have another choice.”

Joe did not correct him.

There had probably been other theoretical choices.

There were always theoretical choices when one reviewed danger afterward from a chair.

That was not the same as having them in that moment.

Simon had made the decision available to him.

Mary was alive.

That was enough.

---------

Garrick returned to duty three days after the finding.

That concerned Joe more than open anger would have.

The senior officer resumed his routine almost perfectly.

Assignments.

Training inspections.

Western patrol reports.

Meetings with Tomas.

He did not touch Simon's schedule.

Did not confront Mary.

Did not pressure the detained warehouse men.

When someone mentioned Bret within hearing distance, Garrick simply left.

Simon gradually relaxed.

Joe did not.

A man could understand something without accepting it.

Those were different processes.

A week after the hearing, Joe passed Garrick outside the training yard.

“Joe.”

Joe stopped.

Garrick looked older than he had before Bret's death.

Not weaker.

Just older.

“The magistrate says your brother did nothing wrong.”

“Yes.”

“Tomas agrees.”

“Yes.”

“The warehouse men agree.”

Joe waited.

Garrick looked at him.

“And you?”

“I was never uncertain.”

Something tightened in Garrick's expression.

“He killed my son.”

“Bret took Mary.”

“I know.”

There it was again.

Not denial.

Not ignorance.

Garrick knew every fact that mattered.

Joe's voice remained calm.

“Then you know why Simon came home and Bret didn't.”

For an instant Garrick looked as though he might strike him.

He didn't.

Years of discipline held.

He walked away.

Joe watched until he disappeared around the administrative building.

That conversation settled something.

If Garrick did anything now, it would not be because he misunderstood what happened.

It would be because knowing the truth had not been enough.

Three evenings later, a runner came to Simon's house.

He carried no official assignment slip.

Only a folded message.

Simon opened it.

His expression slowly hardened.

Joe held out his hand.

Simon passed it over.

There were only two lines.

Fourth Western Watch. Tomorrow after evening duty. Come alone.

No signature.

None was needed.

Joe read it twice.

Then looked at his brother.

“You're not going alone.”