by B.Y. Yan
and that Bailey earned no small amount of ill-will for his troubles. It will come to a bad end, as you will later see. But for the time being du Gale led his man away without another word, and set about releasing him into the wild. Whereas Bailey, attended by Breakerfast, made for their carriage. On the way home he had time to pick his host’s mind for his thoughts.
“It is a thin string, sir,” Breakerfast assured him, “but better than the nothing we had to go on before. Often a man’s treasures will paint not only a picture of his present life to the observer, but as well make a window through which his past might be glimpsed. Though I fear we will no longer have official support on this matter, for you see how eager the chief in Eaves is to wrap things up. And there is also the lancer captain who still would like his name be involved in the Owl’s capture.”
“But we have established that it was not the Owl who was killed,” Bailey pointed out.
“Just so,” agreed Breakerfast. “But my lord if you will forgive me for saying, it occurs to me that the result of one’s accomplishments in the field benefits not so much from the truth behind the deed achieved, but rather from how it is presented to the public. For us there are the chiefs to consider; for the chiefs there is the governor, who reports directly to the powers in parliament. Everybody desires a good outcome from their efforts, and perhaps a little recognition in the process. As the reigning authority here these goals are being withheld with every passing moment that we press on with our own investigation.”
“Ah!” cried Bailey, laughing. “So you are trying to convince me to drop the matter again.”
“It really is in your best interest to do so, my lord. You will not make many friends by being obstinate.”
Bailey reclined into his seat, clasping his hands together on his lap. His face showed mingled emotions and much weariness at the toll his quest has taken on his health, as well as frank and absolute disgust at the notion that he was being pressured, however gently, to put an end to it.
“It is a disgusting government which allows lethargy to permeate all the way to the rank and file of its lowest order of public servants. And it speaks highly to me the reason why the country is stuck in a rut as it is, with foreign powers knocking at your doorstep, worrying away the strength and dignity of the nation year by year. But I am a different sort of animal, with a master of my own to answer to. I shall not fail him, for so long as I draw breath this frail body is made into a willing tool to reach the ends he so desires. As to friends, I’m not sure I need more than just the one at present.” He raised his eyes to the patrolman. “I hope I can continue to count on your help in this matter, for I value a single worthy soul tenfold the assistance of false, reluctant companions.”
“I am your man, sir,” said Breakerfast emotionally.
“Good. Now tell me what you plan to do next.”
By evening they were still discussing the matter over a very late supper, but coming no closer to their goals for it, though not for lack of effort. Without the support of the official forces Bailey and Breakerfast were forced to make do through more mundane channels to continue their investigation. They were led to finding out all they could of their poor victim, and word was carried far down the buzzing cables in search of anything which was to be learned about his closest associates in life.
“We have at present three or four promising leads,” said Breakerfast as they reclined into their seats by his hearth after supper with a pot of chocolate broiling on the fire between them. “But whether we can learn anything is up to the hands of fate to show. The captain of his vessel, his dead fiancée, his only enemy as far as we have been able to discover, and his immediate next of kin; perhaps they will shed some light on his decision to take up that cursed mantle, or should we be so lucky, we will find at the bottom of the mystery that he has inherited it from one of them.”
“That would be best,” said Bailey, “And a great weight lifted from my shoulders. Surely there is somebody who fits the age and experience who might have had a lingering influence on our giant.”
“One can hope, my lord. Though the greatest mystery to me still is your insistence on getting your hands on the Owl for your troubles. We have already given you a very good one, after all.”
“A dead one,” said Bailey moodily.
“But still, sir,” Breakerfast persisted. “What difference does it make? What difference could it make?”
“Ah,” he laughed. “There you reach too high. And as much as I am fond of you, there are secrets which I must keep close to my chest. Suffice to say that what I am after is, if not your Owl presented to me in person, I shall happily settle for undeniable proof of his activities in the present age to convince me that he has not been destroyed twenty years ago in the past.”
“But we have taken great pains to ensure that his legacy will never come to light again. The whole nation has, my lord.”
“So you have,” Bailey agreed gravely. “And so I have learned. But a country is a big pot to keep wholly covered by a lid, and here and there whispers of steam will inevitably escape. Far be it for me to dig up graves where they are unwarranted, but you must believe me when I say that it cannot be helped. I have come far, but I think we together can go further still in the matter. On your inquiries I am prepared to take off as quickly as needed to wherever I am led.”
But the answer they were waiting for, when it arrived, was not good. For a week the house was caught up in something of an uproar, buzzing from head to toe in the manner of an army preparing to pick up camp. Luggage was packed on Tuesday with the expectations that their journey could have begun as early as Wednesday morning, but by Thursday they still had not moved on, despite the welcoming weather and a gentle breeze swirling up and down the street outside their window. Come Friday it was readily apparent that the campaign was stalled, despite the enthusiasm of its participants.
Imagine, if you will, a purebred hound who has been promised release into the hunting fields after a long period of inactivity, and you will have the proper image of Bailey swept up in his coat and mantle, waiting by the door with his ears perked by every ring of the bell. Breakerfast would have accompanied him, for it was the opinion of his wife that such a trip would work wonders for his stagnated career and help him rise above his station in the world.
“I have done all I could,” she told Bailey. “But I am limited by my lot in life, which was cast with the best of opportunities in the beginning, but long squandered since. Perhaps you can lend him a hand, for even in his advanced age his is a keener mind for the position he has held, and the best and most loving man I know.”
“I promise to do everything I can,” said Bailey. “And he is not so old. If a man can rise to kingship before his twenties, I will make of him a knighthood yet at forty.” And to his promise they held on with eyes glued to the window for signs of news, until it arrived at last and their hopes were dashed to pieces.
“I don’t understand it,” cried Bailey in utter dismay as he tore at his hair. “I won’t understand it, but is this the end of my search?”
In his hands Breakerfast clutched the answers to their inquiries. Every single one of these replies seemed to tell them off their quest. The whaling ship had been lost at sea last year, with every hand onboard lost to the dreaded northern winds. There had been but one brother of the dead fiancée, whose broken heart took him out of country where his trail was lost. The broker of cab licenses pleaded innocence, for he was never an enemy of the giant; it was down to the examiner who readily gave his reasons for refusing Gasper a license on grounds that modern cabs were far too small and weak to be suited to a driver of his size. “There is a lead gone to waste,” said Breakerfast with his eyes on the note in his hands. “His examiner was a younger man still than our Owl, which seems to be a source of their strife. But that man’s character is infallible, and he is apparently headed for great things in his department.” And finally the favorite niece, as it turns out,
resided overseas, has been for years beyond count, the last and latest sprout from a branch of the family tree which extends and encompasses all in question; the giant’s was an unfounded love on the last words of his parents, never fully met or realized.
“I am at wits end,” cried Bailey to Breakerfast, clutching the patrolman’s arm with open desperation. “Is there nothing more we can do?”
“Your trail has gone cold, sadly enough,” said Breakerfast. “My lord, aside from the ship captain all others are culled by logic and distance, rising easily above suspicion. But if the captain has indeed met his demise he is now shielded from us by the greatest barrier of the natural world. I’m sorry, but I cannot think how we might continue our investigation.”
“But it was in this city which your Owl was most active during his career, was it not? Can we not hope to pick up on his scent in his own home?”
“Ah, but you have been here for weeks now, sir, on that very purpose. And how did your search end, if I might remind you?”
Bailey spent a moody moment recalling his adventures up until now.
“I spent my days asking the same question in every parlor, smokehouse and den I cared to visit, and in the end was rescued from certain
