*
“Unbelievable, he simply walked out the front door,” stated Dr. Cleaver with monotonous precision. He was sitting in his study, a large circular room in the largest tower of the Manor. It was filled with a number of scientific and mechanical devices, some of a dubious nature.
The calm statement elicited no response from his two visitors, cautiously sitting in seats across from him. A large black desk separated them; however the distance did nothing to settle their minds.
“It has been two days,” he continued, tapping his fingers gently on the arms of his chair. “What developments can you report that would keep me from having you killed?”
“Well, I… You see my Lord…” mumbled Drummond, clearly unsettled and not used to having to account for himself.
“I believe the housekeeper, her husband, and the groundskeepers were not involved,” began Malicio calmly stroking his goatee, ignoring Drummond completely. “I questioned them myself.”
“Severely?” asked Cleaver keenly.
“Of course my Lord,” he answered smiling. “But they are too simple or too stupid to have had an active part in this.”
“I tend to agree my Lord,” Drummond spoke up, thankful for Malicio taking the lead. “Lodge would never ally himself with such simple people. Their involvement would offer too great a chance at failure.”
“Then tell me Drummond, now that you’ve found your tongue,” Cleaver said in a voice as icy as his glare, “why you employed these simple and ineffective people to watch Lodge?”
Drummond went to reply but closed his mouth, having been tricked into a verbal trap and not willing to fall into another. However the doctor was not yet finished with him.
“What of Tiberius and the whiskey shipment? There’s no chance that he has met up with Lodge or helped him escape?”
“None whatsoever,” Drummond replied confidently, eager to expound a minor success. “Some men were sent to Rivermead where they confirmed the shipment was stolen and that Tiberius and his men are tracking it. They could be anywhere in the valley and nowhere near the Crows Nest. But more importantly, there’s no way that he’s with Lodge.”
“That is somewhat more encouraging,” allowed Cleaver thoughtfully. “Without any support other than that nuisance of a maid he should be easy to contain and dispose of. Perhaps his escape will benefit us. As far as anyone else in the Manor is concerned Lord Lodge went to the Crows Nest for rest and recuperation. However he met with a tragic accident while out walking. Hmmm…”
“Possibly a fall off a cliff or a broken bone turned septic?” offered Malicio innocently.
“Precisely,” smiled Cleaver for the first time. “Tell me, how does the tracking go? Why have your men not found him yet?”
“The terrain has made tracking difficult,” Malicio answered directly, knowing Lord Cleaver would not accept evasion. “The rocky ground surrounding the Crows Nest offers very few clues. But we’ve scoured the roads and the area surrounding the cliffs. Since he’s travelling on foot, we can predict the farthest distance he could travel.”
“Show me.”
All three men rose from their seats and went to a large map of the island that hung on the wall beside Cleaver’s desk. It showed the mountains, lakes, roads, villages, and other important points of the island.
“From the Crow’s Nest here, he could only have travelled in this sphere” Malicio said first pointing at a small drawing of the building on the map, then moving out in a circular motion. “We believe he’s somewhere to the west between the road and the sea, trying to avoid the roads and Talon Pass to the south.”
“Why exclude the North and West?” asked Drummond.
“Lord Lodge is an old man and he’s travelling with a woman. The mountain range to the North and West is too hard for them to cross. Besides once he makes it over, he’s in the valley and many days travel from the Manor. They’re travelling on foot without a map, it would make no sense.” He answered in exasperation. “Why don’t you return to your impotent scheming in that dingy office and leave the tracking to me?!”
Both subordinates stood facing each other in mutual loathing as Dr. Cleaver thoughtfully looked over the map. He hated the idea of having Lodge loose on the island, however he still felt he had the upper hand.
“Drummond, have your men at Rivermead report to you as soon as Tiberius returns with the shipment. I want to know when Lodge’s lap dog returns so we can keep him occupied and out of the way. That will be all.” Cleaver dismissed him without a further glance or gesture.
“Despite Drummond’s ignorance of tracking and hunting,” Cleaver motioned towards the map, “I think it unwise to ignore all the possible routes of our prey.”
“My Lord,” began Malicio, arguing his case. “I don’t have enough men to search the island. I barely have enough men to search the most likely method of escape.”
“You don’t need to search the entire island. As long as Lodge is out on the island alone, he’s vulnerable. So we make sure he cannot reach his own allies.”
“I see,” nodded Malicio, looking at the map again. “If he did make it to the valley, unlikely as that is, he would then head south for the Raven’s Vale.” His finger stabbed a spot on the map where the two main mountain ranges met, just North of the Manor itself.
“Post a man or two there to watch the northern approach to the Manor,” Cleaver ordered. “And Malicio…”
“Yes my Lord?”
“Their orders are to kill Lord Lodge on sight and anyone travelling with him.”
A Malevolent Manner (Patrick Pierce #1) Page 73
