*
The Hall of the Hounds was a long low ceilinged room directly below the Hunt Room in the older section of the Manor. Unlike the majesty of the grand room above, this one was utilitarian in nature and showed it. Mismatched chairs and tables were pushed up against the battered walls. Smoke hung in the heavy rafters above; some of it from the soot stained fireplaces, but most of it from the hounds themselves. The Hall was used as a sanctum and meeting place away from their masters where they talked, smoked, drank, and fought.
Tiberius walked along the length of the hall, scrutinizing the assembled Hounds of the Black Pack lined up in front of him. There were thirteen of them standing at attention in their long black leather jackets. Unlike their compatriots, members of the Black Pack served the Hunt and Manor in general and were not supposed to owe allegiance to any one member of the Hunt. However, as Tiberius had recently discovered, this was not entirely the case anymore.
After leaving Lord Lodge in Dr. Cleaver’s office, Tiberius immediately set about regaining control of the situation at the Manor. Two bugle armed riders were sent out to recall any of the hounds scattered throughout the island. It took a few hours for them to start trickling in from across the countryside and longer still until they were all in the Hall of the Hounds.
Looking at the assembled faces Tiberius saw a mixture of confusion, anxiety, and even some arrogance. He looked down and reviewed the list of names Morgan had given to him moments before. They had continued the interrogation of the two men they’d captured in the Raven’s Vale. The list contained seven names, but only one of those names was currently present. Malicio and four other names Tiberius recognized were absent and their whereabouts unknown. The owner of the seventh name was in a shallow grave in the Raven’s Vale.
“This one,” Tiberius ordered as he pointed the folded list at an arrogant face at the end of the line. His smugness was instantly replaced with the anonymity of a dark black bag, as Morgan quickly shoved it over his head. The bag disoriented him for only a second, but it was long enough for Dufresne to quickly strap his hands behind his back with plastic binders. The bag muffled the screaming protestations of the culprit as he was forcibly removed from the room; however it did nothing to stop the protests of his colleagues.
The metallic sound of a pistol slide rang out; silencing the crowd as everyone’s attention was immediately brought back to Tiberius standing in front of them. Weapons were not permitted in the Hall in an effort to keep the inevitable scuffles from turning fatal. The symbolism was not lost on any of them.
“Anyone trying to interfere shall be shot!”
“What’s he done then?” demanded one of the men whose allegiance Tiberius was still unsure of. A few others beside him shot inquiring looks with hints of indignation.
“That man?” Tiberius nearly spat in contempt. He continued his measured pacing in front of them, removing a silencer from his pocket and methodically attaching it to the end of his pistol. “That man aided in the kidnapping and attempted assassination of Lord Lodge, the Master of the Manor, whom we all swore allegiance to.”
Those assembled acknowledged this pronouncement with a collective gulp and remained silent. An event of this magnitude had never occurred before and the level of fury emanating from Tiberius made them all fearful of his wrath.
“Under the orders of the treacherous Dr. Cleaver, Malicio and others participated in this crime,” Tiberius continued, no longer willing to call him Lord anymore. “If any of you have any information or were involved in anyway, now is the time to come forward. You will not be harmed; however I cannot guarantee that offer will be valid once you leave this room.”
Most shook their heads, signalling their ignorance of the situation. A few others admitted to helping the search for Lord Lodge in the mountains to the West; however they’d been told it was to rescue him. Tiberius trusted that they were all speaking the truth. He had doubted that any of those who remained would have acted against Lord Lodge, but he had to ask the question first.
“Very well,” Tiberius eventually allowed with something close to satisfaction. He returned the pistol to its holster, significantly easing the tension in the room. “In a case such as this there are no neutral third parties, you must choose a side. Therefore all of you will be expected to follow Lord Lodge’s orders, as given by me. There’s still room in the cells downstairs for anyone who disagrees or wants to hedge their bets. Understood?!”
“Yes sir!” they answered in unison, without hesitation from anyone.
“Good. You will split into three groups; the first will travel west to the Crow’s Nest, the second east past Rivermead to Harrow’s End, and the third south to the far side of the Black Loch. Your orders are to track and detain Cleaver, Malicio, or anyone else from the Manor you find. They are to be returned here unharmed if possible.”
“And if it’s not possible?”
“Then bring back the bodies,” Tiberius answered coldly, dismissing them to begin their hunt. As they filed out of the room, Morgan appeared at the door and worked his way against the crowd. He tried to appear calm, but Tiberius had known him long enough to see the small signs of stress and worry. He was immediately wary and waited for the room to empty before digging further. “What is it?”
“It’s Drummond sir…”
“Well? Spit it out man!”
“When we took Johann down to the cells, we found him,” Morgan replied evenly, but unable to hide his rising sense of guilt. “He hung himself with his shoe laces.”
“What?!”
“I’m sorry sir,” he apologised sincerely. “We didn’t think to remove them or his belt or tie for that matter. It never occurred to us that he’d take his own life.” He didn’t add that even if they thought he might attempt it, they thought he’d be too much a coward to go through with it. Apparently they were wrong.
“Damn it! He knew more about Cleaver’s plans than he let on and he killed himself to save the bastard. Have you informed Lord Lodge?”
“No sir, I thought you’d want to do it.”
“Thank you for that,” Tiberius replied angrily, but was immediately disappointed with himself when he saw Morgan’s reaction. “It wasn’t your fault; none of us thought he’d attempt suicide.”
Morgan accepted this with a nod, knowing it to be only partially true. “What do you need me to do? Dufresne’s in the stables getting our mounts ready for the hunt.”
“Organize transport for the girls back to Rivermead. Until we find Cleaver and his minions, the Manor isn’t safe for Kat or Maddie.”
Tiberius followed Morgan out the door, but headed in the opposite direction to Lord Lodge’s office. Unlike Cleaver, Lodge did not have his offices secreted in a tower away from prying eyes. The Master of the Manor’s office was located on the second floor where the older section of the Manor met the new, at the very heart of the huge building.
Within minutes he was outside the clean white doors that led to Lodge’s office, lounge, library, and sitting rooms. But as his hand grabbed the handle to open the door, he heard his name called out in alarm.
“Sir, wait!” uttered Dufresne breathlessly as he slowed his approach along the corridor.
“More good news?” Tiberius asked dispiritedly.
“I’m afraid so. I was in the stables preparing our horses when a thought occurred to me.”
“Which was?” he asked impatiently.
“Well I asked the stable hands which horses Cleaver and his men had taken.”
“Good idea,” Tiberius agreed, knowing that it would help them in tracking their prey.
“Seemed like it at the time. The only problem was they all looked at me strangely. Are you sure Lord Cleaver has left? They asked me. I replied that Malicio and at least four others had also left.”
“So what did they say to that?” Tiberius asked, now fully intrigued by the story.
“That may be sir, but they didn’t leave on horseback. They took me through the stables and showed me
that none of the horses were missing. I think we have a problem.”
“To say the least,” Tiberius concurred gravely. “Knowing our tracking abilities, they’d have never fled on foot.”
“If they left before we returned to the Manor, they might not even know Lodge is back and they’re being hunted. Maybe they just went down to the pub in Rooks Bay?”
Tiberius merely raised an eyebrow in disbelief and opened the door to the foyer of Lord Lodge’s office. He hoped that his master could shed some light on this new development and take away the uneasy feeling that was growing within him. He also hoped that Pierce and his men were having better luck tracking Bufford.
A Malevolent Manner (Patrick Pierce #1) Page 90
