Strong Mystery: Murder, Mystery and Magic Books 1-3 (Steampunk Magica) (29 page)

Chapter 18

Fair Lady Weaves Shuttle flowed into Stork Spreads
Wings
. Jinhao gracefully moved from one position to another in
the courtyard, concentrating on the movement of Qi through her body, aware yet
unaware of the gathering crowd of street urchins that were watching her move
through her morning routine as she slipped deeper into the fighting trance of
the Adept.

All Adepts practice such disciples to keep themselves at the
peak of their powers and to keep the body and mind attuned as one. While many
of the forms had a fighting application, some were purely meditative. Jinhao
felt the need of such clarity at the moment so she had chosen one of the more
meditative groupings.

When Owen had convinced the gang leaders to call off the
fruitless interrogation of their Austrian captive, the night had ended on a
very unsatisfactory note for everyone. Deter was still a prisoner, Owen’s Mary
was still under suspicion, and while the murder weapon had been found due to
Owen’s arts, neither Jinhao nor Owen believed that Deter had committed the
deed.

With Lohan due to make an appearance by the next day, it was
vital that they unmask the real killer before then, unless they simply wanted
to make an unwitting mockery of the Dragon’s appearance. She winced inside at
the thought.
Lohan would not be very understanding
, she mused.
That
is if he even bothered to come at her request at all
.

It had been decades since Lohan had moved among the people of
the city. Without a culprit ready to hand for a show trial, it could be
disastrous. If he did come, most likely he would convene his Court, hear the
story so far, and without a villain decide to execute everyone including her.
She knew that her relationship with Lohan would give her no safety when it
concerned a matter of
Mianmu
, that quality of dignity Westerners
mistakenly called
face
.

She allowed such thoughts to move through her as the Qi moved
through her body, without attachment, hoping that her spirit would coalescence
them into some sort of answer. As she came to the absolute stillness found at
the end of the form, she was disappointed that no answer had come to her
dilemma. She felt the calm that a good workout gave, but not the peace of vanquishing
her enemies. The young urchin girl from Mike’s female gang came scampering up
to her, a towel held up in her outstretched hands. Jinhao took the offering
from her with a smile.

“Thank you Mei” she said taking the towel. Mei’s eyes shone at
her.

“I have never seen anything so beautiful,” the girl breathed.
“Can you teach me how to do that?” Jinhao paused at the girls question, towel
raised to wipe her face. Her first impulse was to refuse her, but then she
thought better of it. It was true that only someone with a sponsor would be
able to enter the Temple for the training. While Jinhao currently had only the
standing of an outlaw in the Imperial Temple, who knew what the fates might
bring?

“Perhaps,” she temporized, handing the girl back the towel. “Why
do you want to learn it?” Mei smiled at her, a look in her eyes that made
Jinhao uncomfortable. Her eyes shone with a look akin to worship towards the
older woman.

“Because you look so graceful doing it, and,” she made her
hands into fists, “you can fight anyone at all, and that means that you are not
afraid of anything!” If only that were true Jinhao thought ruefully. Still, the
noble heart that the girl had was deserving of some encouragement.

“I tell you what,” Jinhao said. “Why don’t you join me for Form
in the mornings, and that way you can see what it is really like. If you work
hard, you might get to the Imperial Temple.” Mei made a rude sound with her
lips.

“Me at the Imperial Temple?” She shook her head, ringlets
flying. “I’m not holy or anything.” Jinhao laughed.

“Do you think I am?” Jinhao asked. Mei frowned at that. Her
face scrunched up as she worked through the question.

“No, not really,” Mei said hesitantly. “You drink wine and hang
around with foreign devil sorcerers.”

“Well, Owen is not really much of a devil I must say,” Jinhao
said laughing. “Although I did see that his feet are clawed like a birds,’ she
whispered to the young girl. Mei gasped.

“No they are not!” The girl protested.

“Have you ever seen Owen without his shoes?” Jinhao asked her.

At that moment, Owen came out of the restaurant, walking
towards them. Mei got a very determined look on her face and raced up towards
him. Owen smiled down at her and opened his mouth to speak. Before he could say
anything however, Mei stomped down hard on his foot. Owen exclaimed in surprise
at this treatment, hopping about on the un-abused one. Mei whirled to face
Jinhao.

“He does not,” she proclaimed. Then with a guilty look at Owen,
she sped off into the restaurant.

“‘He does not’ what?” Owen asked in surprise at Jinhao. The
Adept held up her hands in negation.

“Children,” Jinhao said simply. “Who can understand them?”

“Well, you have that right,” Owen said grumpily. He limped over
to where she stood. “I was wondering if you had any brilliant insights occur to
you overnight as to who our killer may be.”

“No,” she replied, shaking her head miserably. “I assume from
the question that you have not either.”

“Not a clue,” he said cheerfully. “I fail to see how anyone else
could have committed the deed save friend Deter, yet, I feel certain that Deter
did not commit it.”

“Where does that leave us?” Jinhao asked.

“Well,” Owen replied while rubbing his chin thoughtfully, “That
means that we shall have to do it the hard way by questioning everyone, and
deducing who it is from that. Certainly from my brief exposure to the boy I am
sure that he had many a person who wanted him dead. I know I did!”

“Fortunately we still have a day before Lohan’s arrival,”
Jinhao said. “It would not do to have no one that Lohan could publicly judge
and condemn.” She looked at Owen meaningfully. “It would be very bad in fact.”

“How bad exactly?” Owen asked in curiosity. “And while we are
on the subject of the Dragon, how is it that you ‘speak with the Dragon’s
voice’?”

“That is old history of what I once was,” Jinhao replied with a
wave of her hand in dismissal. “What we must focus on now is finding the
correct killer. It will be a matter of
Mianmu
for the Dragon if we
cannot present the culprit to him when he arrives. If we cannot,” she concluded
looking at Owen, “he may condemn us in the killer’s place.”

“I see. A matter of
face
”
Owen translated with a raised eyebrow. “Well, I am glad then that we have that
extra day.”

“That is if he comes at all,” Jinhao added. “He has not left
either his caves or his gardens for many years.” Owen was about to ask
something else when one of Jimmy’s boys came running into the courtyard
shouting.

“The soldiers are coming!” he cried. “The soldiers are coming!”
Then he ran out again. Distantly came the sound of drums. Owen looked at
Jinhao.

“That cannot be what I think it is,” Owen said to her
disbelievingly.

“I fear that we shall not have that extra day,” Jinhao said
sadly. “Lohan comes!”

~ ~ ~

Owen and Jinhao went to the front entrance of the
restaurant as did many of the gang members.
The main
difference was that Owen and Jinhao did not come bearing weapons in their hands
as the gangers did. The drum beats grew louder as the boys and girls murmured
uneasily among themselves, their hands grasping hilts more tightly. Jinhao
looked at the massed gang members and shook her head.

“There will be trouble if the gangs are not reassured, and
quickly,” she remarked to Owen. At that point an out of breath Mike appeared with
a flushed Mary. They were followed by a disheveled Jimmy the Horse.

“What is all this about soldiers?” Mike snapped at Jinhao. “You
never said anything about soldiers! You said only that the Dragon would come to
judge the murderer!”

“And do you think that the Dragon would come without escort or
without his counselors? What do you think is meant by ‘court’, except the
Dragon and his court?” Jinhao snapped back at him. Mike blinked at this.

“Then they are not here to kill us all?” he asked. “Why are they
a day early?”

“If you would ask the Dragon for judgment then he comes when he
pleases,” Jinhao answered. She threw up her hands. “As for if he intends to
kill you all, if someone does not calm these children down, I am sure that
there will be a massacre!” Mike nodded grimly at this and stepped to the front
of the seething group.

“Calm down,” He said holding up a hand. “Calm down! This is the
Dragon Lohan coming to us to render his judgment in the death of Huang! Stand
easy! The Dragon is coming to
us
!”

Owen saw the mass of gangers slowly relax at this. The idea
that someone as powerful as the Dragon would come at the request of their
leaders was not lost on them. It was an enormous giving of Mianmu
to
both Mike and Jimmy and so to each of them by reflection. Still they were wary
of such a thing as they should be, in Owen’s opinion.

The drummers came into view on the street, a line of them
beating in unison followed by two lines of uniformed figures bearing arms. Owen
saw the mistake that the lookout had made. These were not soldiers of either
the British Queen or the Hannish Throne, but Hong Kong police constables in
dress uniforms of midnight blue, their brass buttons gleaming. Still, their air
carbines were as deadly as those of any soldiers, and Owen had no doubt that
they were as proficient in their use.

The double line of constables were followed by a garish
assortment of Hannish and British personages. The Hannish in bright silk robes
and the British in dress coats and top hats as brightly colored as the Hannish.
Behind them all came a curtained bier bore by four large blond North men. The
bier was carefully lowered to the ground. The drums came to an abrupt halt. The
courtiers bowed like wheat stalks before a wind.

“Come quickly,” Jinhao murmured to Owen as she sprang forward.
The British Sorcerer sprinted to her side, then executed a formal court bow as
the curtains parted and a familiar old man stepped from within.

Owen contained his surprise as he recognized the old man with
the long white whiskers. He was the same old man that Owen had chatted to at
Government House during the Austrian invasion affair last summer. Owen had
simply taken him for some government official, never dreaming that he was
talking to Lohan himself! He glanced up to see that the old man had recognized
him.

“Owen Strong,” Lohan said gravely. “You have not come to my
home as I invited you.”

“Great Lohan,” Owen said, resuming his bow. “I regret that
circumstances have prevented me from such pleasurable activities.” The old
man’s face broke into a brief smile.

“You are at least well spoken,” Lohan remarked. The Dragon
turned to Jinhao beside him. “So Granddaughter, I have come as you asked. Now,
I assume that you have this murderer in hand that I might convene the court
together to give public judgment in this matter.”

“Mighty Lohan,” Jinhao said. “The matter has proved to be very
difficult.”

“Difficult?” The Dragon repeated. Owen thought that saw a glint
of red fire in the old man’s eyes for a moment. “Difficult in what manner?”

“Perhaps we might do better to go inside,” Owen suggested.

Chapter 19

Of course it wasn’t as simple as the three of them
walking off somewhere to talk.
There were the very delicate
introductions of both Mike and Jimmy to be made to Lohan, as well as introductions
to the owner of the restaurant they were entering. The poor woman was
practically beside herself between showing her obeisance to the Dragon by
prostrating herself flat on the floor and the need to bustle about readying a
suitable place for them all to talk inside. Finally Lohan took pity on her and
informed her that she need not perform a full obeisance herself every time she
entered his presence.

Then there was the matter of what to do with the police
constables and courtiers who had made up the procession. Owen was pleasantly
surprised to find that his old friend in the police, Inspector Gregg, was in
charge of them. They exchanged words in the courtyard while the Dragon went
inside.

“So I see that you have made Chief Inspector, Gregg.” Owen
remarked, gesturing towards the dress uniform the man was clearly uncomfortable
wearing

“Deputy Inspector, thanks to that bit of with the Duke of Chu’s
niece.” He growled, finger seeking to make looser the tight collar of his dress
uniform. “It just means more paperwork and more dress circuses like this one.”
He give Owen a gimlet eye. “I should have known that you had a hand in this,
Milord. So what is the situation? We heard talk of a murder, which as this is
my district, didn’t sit well with the higher ups when I had to confess that I
knew damn all about it!”

“Yes, well there has been a murder,” Owen confessed. “I fear,
however, that the culprit is not in hand.”

“That could be very bad Milord.” The policeman acknowledged.
“This was put about as an afternoon’s lark among the court.” He looked as if he
had bitten into a sour lemon. “Something about the Dragon dispensing the High
Justice among the lower classes.” He sniffed, looking around. “Seems to me the
lowest classes is more like it. I know the court was looking forward to seeing
some simple thing with maybe an execution before they went back up the Hill to
their perfumed pansies. If you don’t have the guilty party to hand, there’s
little that I can do to help you I’m afraid.”

“Well,” Owen said, “We do have an Austrian spy in plain
clothes. But I doubt that he committed the crime”

“The devil you say,” Gregg exclaimed. “That should keep your
neck from the block at any rate.” Gregg shook his head. Mei came bounding up,
interrupting them.

“Jinhao says that the Dragon is settled inside, and that both
Mike and Jimmy are there. You should come at once she says, before things get
too out of hand.”

“Right then,” Owen said to the small messenger. “Thank you Mei.”
He turned back to Gregg. “Are you coming Gregg?”

“I had best see to these,” Gregg encompassed both the courtiers
and his fellow police who were milling about in the street. “Gods help me if
someone gets their pocket picked. I’ll be along.”

Owen went inside to the banquet room where Huang had been
killed. There he found the table had been removed and the Dragon was sitting on
a throne-like chair that had appeared from somewhere. Both Mike and Jimmy had
paced off, facing each other before the Dragon who did not look amused at either
of them. Lohan was blowing on a tea cup when Owen entered. He looked at Owen
over the tea cup. Jinhao stood behind the chair in the position of trusted
bodyguard, a placement not lost on the British aristocrat. She looked at him in
silent warning.

“So, Lord Owen of Strong,” the Dragon said by way of greeting.
“These fine—gentlemen—were just telling me about the murder of some street thug
and that I am to punish the murderer. Unfortunately, according to them, there
is no murderer caught or so they tell me you say to them. What do you say to
me?” Owen bowed deeply at this before he replied.

“Mighty Lohan,” he said carefully. “The culprit of the crime
for which you are here is here upon these premises. I believe that you will
find that convening your Court would be most advantageous to you, that all may
learn your wisdom.” The Dragon leaned forward in the chair, cup held delicately
between his fingers.

“Indeed, Lord Owen,” the Dragon-seeming of an old man gave him
a smile of approval, which held no reassurance. It reminded Owen of the grin of
a shark just before feeding. “Will you tell me who you have taken for this
crime? Was it the Austrian spy?”

“Mighty Lohan,” Owen replied still bowing, “given that a
foreign national is involved, might one suggest that this case could be a great
showcase for the modern thinking that imbues your court of justice.” The Dragon
frowned at this.

“What do you mean?” Lohan asked Owen sharply. “If I have to
call that stupid Austrian ambassador, it will make the whole affair only more
tedious.” The Dragon sighed. “That woman is such a bore under normal
circumstances.”

“Well, that is one thing that unfortunately you should consider
doing,” Owen allowed. “Treaties and all that.” He pushed on. “No, what I was
referring to was your fervent embrace of modern Western criminal justice
procedures.” The Dragon leaned back in his chair at hearing this.

“And what exactly are these
modern
procedures
?” he asked archly.

“Instead of having a confession in hand at the time of the court
convening,” Owen explained. “The court impartially hears all the evidence and
then makes a wise and just decision.” Owen was uneasy as Lohan smiled again his
shark smile.

“Ah yes,” he said briskly. “Two people, called a
prosecute
and a
defender
present all the facts before me, and I then decide who is
guilty. Splendid idea, it will be a spectacular hit with the court.” He waved a
hand. “You shall be the prosecute, and the Austrian spy shall be the defended.”

“Ahem,” Owen said clearing his throat. “I am reasonably certain
that the Austrian is not the murderer Mighty Lohan.”

“Well he is certainly guilty of being a spy in my city!” The
Dragon asserted.

“That is true,” Owen allowed, “but while he may have been that,
as well as furnished the murder weapon, I rather doubt that he pulled the
trigger.”

“A detail only, I am sure,” Lohan replied. “The penalty is the
same for both crimes, and I can only have him beheaded once. Besides, if
someone else performed the murder then you shall have to bring them out before
the Court. I believe that is what a prosecute does.”

“Prosecutor,” Owen corrected him faintly. “The role is called
the prosecutor, and I am hardly the right person for the role,” he protested.

“Nonsense,” The Dragon asserted. “I have decided it. You will
do greatly, I have every confidence. You are present, and I still want to do
this today.” He looked down at Owen and sighed. “I shall have to call upon the
Austrian Ambassador I can see.”

“I fear so,” Owen replied steadily. He had hoped to simply
delay the Dragon from convening the court to witness his judgment, thus saving
face all around. Now he found himself having to find the real killer before the
court instead.

“What about us Your Lordship?” Jimmy the Hand asked in Hannish.
“I want to be assured of justice for Huang!”

“What about you?” Lohan sniffed. “I am not here to assure you
of anything! You should feel grateful that I shall not have you hauled off to
the vagrant’s gaol! No, you shall both watch the proceedings of the court.
Should you fail to show proper respect, my displeasure will be great, I assure
you!” At that moment, Inspector Gregg entered the room behind them along with a
trickle of courtiers. Lohan, on seeing the Inspector, called out to him.

“Inspector,” the Dragon commanded. “Find me a messenger. I need
to send a message to the Austrian Embassy.”