by Susan Harper
“To talk about Chip,” he said.
“Yeah, see, no,” Zora hissed. “Chip’s the reason I’m drinking. I don’t want to get into all that right now.”
Brian revealed his portal keeper badge. “No, I believe we’re going to talk right now,” he said firmly.
Zora examined the badge with a hint of interest. “Whoa, big man on campus now,” she sang. “You sure are working your way into the realm of the mystics rather quickly, aren’t you? How long ago did you find out about this world? And you’re already a professional Romp-A-Roo player and an authority? A lead detective, no less.”
“We’re not here to talk about me, Zora,” Brian said firmly.
“No, of course not,” Zora said with a sigh, and she finally put her drink down. “Look, I respect the badge and all, but you are really the last person I want to talk to. I stormed out of the hearing this morning when they told us we didn’t have a right to deny mortals playing in our games.”
“The world’s changing Zora,” Monica said. “You might want to get used to it. You’re starting to sound like Remembrance.”
Zora took great offense to this, sitting upright and scowling at Monica. “I am not part of that elitist cult! But Romp-A-Roo, well, it’s always been a wizards’ game. Then other mystics started wanting in. When my mother was a little girl, Romp-A-Roo was played with wands. Now we have a magic suspension spell at the start of each game to make it fair play for the non-magics. Now, we have a no-wand rule. Tell me how it’s fair a wizard is now at a disadvantage in a game his people invented when he goes up against a giant beast like Urrgah?”
“Urrgah’s size has its own disadvantages,” Abigail said as she hopped up onto the nearest stool. “How far do you think he can get on one of those springs? There’s pros and cons on either side.”
“You do see my point, though, don’t you?” Zora asked.
“Romp-A-Roo has not been wizards-only in a long time,” Monica said. “And frankly, it never should have been. You need to get with the times or get left behind.”
Zora huffed. “Whatever you say,” she said, then looked right at Brian. “So, what do you need from me? You going to find out what happened to Chip, mortal?”
“That’s the plan,” Brian said. “How about we start by talking about your engagement to the man. From what we’ve heard, he left you.”
Zora nearly snorted. “Oh, someone’s been talking to Chip’s mummy,” she said, highly amused. “Pretty sure that’s what he told her at least. No, I left him. That man was so desperate, bless him, he would have stayed with me if I burned the whole earth.”
“Why did you leave him?” Brian asked, nodding toward her drink. “Looks like you’re pretty upset to be drinking this hard at ten in the morning.”
“True,” she said. “I mean, I left him, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t care about the guy. Even if we weren’t getting married, we were still co-workers. Still friends.”
“So what happened?” Monica asked, hoping to keep the woman on track.
“He was hanging around with this sketchy crowd,” she said with an eyeroll. “Real sketchy.”
“How do you mean?” Monica asked.
She took a long swig of her drink. “Goblins,” she said.
Monica rolled her eyes. “You sure you’re not Remembrance?”
“Knock that crap off,” she warned. “I got a name for myself. Last thing I need is rumors about that nonsense. No, I’m not Remembrance. I don’t believe in some superior hierarchy. I wouldn’t ever hurt a non-wizard. These guys, though, I’m telling you, they were sketchy. I can’t tell you how many times I told him to stay away from those guys, but he just…” Zora’s voice trailed off for a moment. “They found goblin gold at the scene of the crime, didn’t they? That’s what I heard. Can’t help thinking it has something to do with that crew he was always hanging around.”
“Names, Zora,” Brian said firmly, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a small notepad. He waved to the varaha woman for a pen, and she offered him one with a snort and another flirtatious wink. Brian put the pen and paper in front of Zora, who scowled at him. “You want me to leave you alone, then give me a lead.”
“Fine,” she said and started scribbling down a bit of information. “There is this seedy tavern in Riverrun he would always go to. You’ll know it when you see it. Got the name of it right here.”
“Riverrun,” Abigail huffed. “You’re sending us on some wild goose chase. That’s miles from here.”
“We can get there quick enough on a broom,” Monica said, and Brian turned a bit pale, which did not go unnoticed by Zora.
“Aww, the mortal is scared of a broomstick,” she taunted.
“Woman, you had best quit testing me,” Brian warned. “You really left Chip over these goblins?”
“I did,” she said. “Though to be fair, we were rushing into things a bit. I’m not entirely sure what he was up to with them, but I know it wasn’t anything good. I guarantee if you shake a couple of those guys down, you’ll find out what’s really going on here. Now, are we done?” She spun back around. “I’m kind of in the middle of mourning.”
“For your ex-fiancé or because your precious Romp-A-Roo is being tainted by people different than you?” Monica asked.
Zora smirked. “I don’t see why it can’t be both.”
Monica, Brian, and Abigail left the hotel, each contemplating whether or not to follow up on the Riverrun lead. “I have to go,” Brian said at last. “But, honestly, I don’t exactly know where that is. Still getting used to the lay of the land, you know.”
“I’ll take you there, no worries,” Monica said and stuck her fingers in her mouth, whistling loudly. Her broom shot out of nowhere, stopping promptly in front of them. She threw her leg over one side and said, “Motorcycle.”
Her sister had tricked out her broom for her to be disguised in various ways while living in Bankstown. She couldn’t exactly be seen flying around on a broomstick. Brian stared at the jet-black bike with purple racing stripes with an impressed expression. “This is also your bicycle you ride back home, isn’t it?” he asked, and Monica smirked.
“You get the sidecar,” she said, pointing, and he frowned.
“Seriously?” he asked.
“It’s not a huge bike,” Monica said. “Don’t want you falling off the back. A casual flight from the shop to the Romp-A-Roo fields is one thing, but we’re going to be going full speed very high up to get to Riverrun.”
Brian sighed and climbed into the small, cramped sidecar. Abigail hopped up into his lap. “Don’t get handsy,” Abigail warned him as Monica reared back, sending the motorcycle flying up into the sky.
Soon they were leaving Wysteria behind, and she listened with great amusement to Brian’s various expressions of amazement every thirty seconds as he looked over the side. It took them twenty minutes by flying motorcycle before they arrived in the town of Riverrun, named because of the numerous rivers that flowed through it. They landed outside Goblin’s Gallows, the name of the tavern Zora had told them they could find the goblins.
“You think they’re here in the middle of the day?” Brian asked as Monica turned her motorcycle back to its normal state.
“Stick close by,” Monica told her broom as it sped off. She looked toward the small tavern and shrugged. “Maybe. I suppose we’ll see. Who are we looking for?”
“Couple of goblin brothers named Grit and Akt,” Brian said. “The Ruebunox brothers.”
“Common surname for a goblin,” Abigail said. “Zora might be pulling our leg.”
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Monica said as they made their way up to the tavern.
They entered, and Monica had to agree with Zora. The placed seemed quite seedy. Mystics here were, from the looks of things, engaged in some sort of illegal activities. In one corner, a group were swapping cash under the table, literally, for some item in a briefcase. A pair of witches were whispering to one another, passing one another
what looked to be illegal, highly-weaponized wands. At a large card table were a handful of goblins with piles of gold stacked in front of each of them as one dealt out the cards.
The moment Monica, Brian, and Abigail entered, the room seemed to grow quiet. Brian ignored this and walked up to the barkeep. “I’m looking for a Grit and Akt Reubunox,” he said.
The barkeep stared back at Brian. “Can’t say that I know them,” he said.
“Really?” Brian asked and then propped his elbows up on the bar and merely stared at the man. They made direct eye contact.
“Yeah, really,” the goblin barkeep said, sniffing the air. “You smell funny. You aren’t no wizard. You’re a mortal.”
“Aren’t you clever,” Brian said. “But not so clever as to know the names of two of your regulars, right?” Brian leaned in as did the goblin, and Monica saw the man’s eyes break for just a split-second. Brian smirked, looking behind him to where the barkeep had glanced toward the card tables.
Brian sauntered over. “So, which of you is Grit and Akt?” he asked.
The goblins were quiet for a moment. “Crud, he’s an authority!” one of them yelped, noticing his badge, and the whole table sprinted away in different directions.
“Crap!” Monica exclaimed. Every one of the goblins headed for a different way out, with one particularly large fellow bolting straight for the front door.
8
Monica and Brian headed after the large goblin that had bolted for the door. They were not really sure why, but he seemed particularly jumpy compared to the others who had catapulted out of their seats the moment they realized Brian worked for law enforcement. “So, I’ll just stay back here, then!” Monica could faintly hear Abigail call from within the tavern as they left the familiar behind. She wasn’t exactly quick on her feet, even for a cat.
While goblins were not particularly large creatures, it was still hard to miss this fellow. At about half Monica’s height, he was rather tall for a goblin, and he was so fat that he looked like a giant beachball pushing himself down the street. He made it about halfway down the road before finally giving out, leaning forward and placing his hands on his stubby knees as he panted heavily.
They approached him, and the goblin held up one finger, indicating that he needed a moment to catch his breath. “You might need to hit up the gym every once in a while, buddy,” Brian taunted, not even remotely out of breath.
Monica looked back and could see that Abigail had elected not to remain at the tavern upon realizing how quickly they had caught up to their perp. She was currently strutting toward them along the cracked, crooked sidewalk. “Shut…up…” the fat goblin said, standing upright and stretching his back pitifully.
“Why did you run?” Brian demanded.
“Why did I run? Cus you’re an authority and we were all in there gambling, why do you think?” he asked.
Brian turned to Monica and whispered, “Gambling is...illegal here?”
“I think they’ve been cracking down on it around these parts,” Monica whispered back.
The goblin stared at them, scratching at one of his long, pointed yet droopy ears. “You asking me?” he said. “You’re the authority. You not know the law, bub?”
“I’m kind of new around here,” Brian admitted, glaring at him.
The goblin looked him up and down. “You’re not a wizard. That’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. What are they doing putting a mortal in an authority position? You even a half-breed at least?”
“No,” Brian said.
“Raised in the mortal realm?” the goblin asked.
Brian crossed his arms, staring at the goblin. “Look, I’m not the one in trouble. What’s your name?”
The goblin looked hesitant.
Abigail had at last made her way over to them. “What’s up, Akt?” she said.
The goblin jumped. “How did you know I was Akt?”
“I didn’t,” Abigail said. “Took a guess. By the way you and that smaller guy bolted, I figured you were one of the ones we were looking for.”
“Nice, Abs,” Monica said, smirking.
The fat goblin’s lips drooped into a deep-set frown. “All right, fine. I’m Akt Reubunox. What’s it to you? What do you folks even want?”
“We have some questions for you about someone who regularly visited these parts,” Brian said. “A wizard named Chip.”
Akt nodded slowly, seeming to think very hard about what he was going to say next. Monica felt like he was thinking about lying, but he seemed to decide against it. “Yeah… Well… I heard about what happened. Nice guy. I always liked him. Not a lot of wizards out this way who like hanging around with folks like us. He grew up here. I didn’t know him as kids or nothing like that, but I knew of him. Came from one of those old wizarding families with money. I can tell you when he was a teenager, his folks lost most of their fortune.”
“His mother and sister just put out a pretty hefty reward for information leading to the arrest of his killer,” Brian said.
“Like, really hefty,” Monica said. “And you’re saying they were broke?”
“When he was a kid, sure,” Akt said. “Not now. His old man was a big-time gambler, and Chip definitely got into that with us too. His old man was good. Really good. Cards was his specialty. About ten years ago, though, some goblins found out he was using magic to win his card games and he was…ahem…taken care of. We goblins are a pretty proud race. Don’t take too kindly to being tricked.”
“What was the fallout for that?” Brian demanded.
“Oh, the goblins who did it are still in prison, naturally,” Akt said. “Some other goblins turned them in. They found the evidence. It was a open and shut kind of case. I was just surprised that Chip was still hanging around. I think it’s one of those cases of the apple not falling too far from the tree. He was worse than his old man with the addiction.”
“He had a gambling addiction?” Brian asked.
“Big time,” Akt said. “But, as far as any of us know, he wasn’t a cheat like his old man. Believe me, he knew better. After what happened to his dad, he wasn’t about to tick off a bunch of goblins in a dive bar.”
“So you all were just a bunch of gambling buddies, is that it?” Brian asked. “I suppose that would explain the goblin gold.”
“Oh, yeah,” Akt said. “Me and my brother, while we weren’t exactly close with Chip, we knew him from the bar. He would gamble with anyone who wanted to bet with him. Like his dad, he was a pretty good card player even without the cheats. But he liked to bet on Pruk.”
“Pruk?” Brian asked.
“It’s a goblin-made sport,” Monica said. “They still do Pruk games out this way?”
“Yeah,” Akt said. “Not as popular as it used to be, but we would always bet on the games. Chip had a knack for picking out natural athletes. Always seemed to know who was going to win the games. No wonder he became a Romp-A-Roo gaming official. He was always into sports.”
“Did he ever bet on Romp-A-Roo games?” Brian asked.
“Not with us if he did,” Akt said. “Just Pruk games. That’s where he made most of his money off us, though. We were more into cards, my brother and I. Never were too keen at predicting the outcome of games, you see. He screwed us quite a few times. We finally stopped betting with him a few years ago on Pruk. We were out way too much goblin gold. Didn’t you say something about goblin gold a second ago?”
“A large bag of goblin gold was found along with Chip’s wand at the scene of the crime,” Brian said. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
“Can’t say that I do,” Akt admitted. “I can tell you he hasn’t been around too much lately. Not since Zora gave him the boot. I think he was trying to win her back or something. Show her he wasn’t into…our lifestyle anymore.”
“You really think he was trying to win her back?” Abigail asked, stretching and yawning.
“I think so,” Akt said. “He was really into that Zora witc
h. Can’t blame him. She had a pretty face and was really into Romp-A-Roo like him, obviously if she was a game official. I really thought those two were going to last forever. I kept telling him, though, that she didn’t like all that gambling. Kept telling him, but you can’t really force somebody with an addiction to admit they have a problem. They really got to figure it out for themselves, you know?”
“If you were the one Chip was always gambling with, it sounds like you might have an addiction too, big guy,” Abigail said, and Akt huffed.
“Maybe I do,” he said. “But maybe I’m just fine with that.”
“Is there anything else you can tell us? Did Chip have any unpaid debts out this way?” Brian asked.
“Not with us, no,” Akt said. “He was an addict, but he was smart. He knew who he could get away with owing money to and who he couldn’t. Only ones he’d let himself get into debt with is Grit and I, but he had cleared his debts with us ages ago. Hadn’t seen him around in months. Like I said, think he was trying to convince Zora he changed.”
They asked a few more questions, but it seemed like they weren’t getting anywhere. His addiction could explain the goblin gold, but it didn’t exactly explain why he had so much goblin gold on his person at the Romp-A-Roo fields. Brian let Akt off the hook for his gambling, and the fat goblin waddled back up the road to the tavern, leaving Monica, Brian, and Abigail standing alone on the sidewalk.
“What are you thinking? You think he was being honest about Chip clearing his debts?” Abigail asked, looking up at them.
“I think he was being truthful,” Monica said. “I don’t think Chip owed anyone here any money.”
“Thing about addictions,” Brian began, “is they’re hard to kick before you hit rock bottom.”
“Maybe his fiancée leaving him was rock bottom, then,” Monica said.
“Or maybe he just found a new outlet,” Brian suggested. “Zora knew about the goblins and the gambling he was doing here. What if he was gambling with someone else? Maybe he had lost out and was delivering that gold to someone he owed money to, but they assaulted him?”
