Alden spent the night concealed behind the wardrobe. Even after the initial rush as the fire was extinguished, the hubbub continued well into the night. Alden heard occasional snatches of raised voices from downstairs, and he had to admit that Tiffany was doing an excellent job of sounding concerned, bewildered and overwhelmed. Then again, he wasn’t sure how much of that was actually an act. At three separate points during the night, Alden’s room was searched. First by the volunteer fire fighters who were the first to arrive to help, then by the professional fire fighters, and finally by the constabulary. But each time it was a rather cursory search, and certainly nobody started moving the furniture around. Then again, it wasn’t as if anyone expected him to be hiding. By the time things finally calmed down, the room was already starting to grow bright with the first light of dawn. Deciding it was safe for him to at least emerge into his apartment proper, Alden made his best effort at moving the wardrobe, but he found that from his current awkward position he couldn’t seem to get it to move without running a risk of the whole thing toppling right over. It was a tall, solid-oak construction, and if it fell it would make an awful racket. And so, with a bit of a sigh, Alden realized he was stuck for a little while longer. Fortunately, Tiffany came to check up on him around breakfast time, and while she didn’t have anywhere near the strength needed to shift the heavy wardrobe, she was able to call in Miss Oxley. True to form, Elizabeth Oxley moved the massive piece of furniture with minimal difficulty, actually lifting the whole thing clear off the ground as she put it back where it belonged. “Thank you, Miss Oxley. I’m glad to have an ally with your impressive fortitude and physical prowess.” Miss Oxley shot him a cheeky grin. “Think nothing of it, Mr. Stowe. Always happy to show off a little to Tiff.” Tiffany didn’t say anything in response, but there was no mistaking the flush on her cheeks. Alden chuckled. “Still, thank you both for your help yesterday. I hope my little scheme didn’t interrupt any special market day plans.” Miss Oxley huffed. “Of course it did. I was going to spend my afternoon off taking Tiffany to see a play. She’s been wanting to see ‘The Beggar’s Purse’ since it opened. And then you went and set fire to the shop!” “I do apologize.” Miss Oxley shook her head. “It’s fine. Missing a play isn’t that important. Not compared to dealing with a poisoning incident.” Alden looked up sharply. “How did you know I was poisoned?” Miss Oxley scoffed. “I might not be an academic like you or Tiff, but I’m not stupid, Mr. Stowe. You come home looking like you’re halfway to snapping and rope Tiff into some incredibly urgent tinctury nonsense, even sending me out to get a monkey in the middle of the night. The next day you’re sick as a dog and both you and Tiff are watching your condition like you think you might keel over dead. But you get better right quick after that, and you and Tiff start looking real close into all your food and salves and soap and what have you. What else could that mean but poison?” Alden nodded along to her explanation. In hindsight, his and Tiffany’s frantic efforts were probably fairly blatant to Miss Oxley. He should probably give a proper explanation to Mrs. Tatter as well. She had taken the news that he needed to set fire to the workroom with a sort of resigned acceptance, but she really did deserve a proper explanation. As Alden made a mental note of this, Miss Oxley went on speaking. “I suppose this whole mess was meant to pull the wool over the eyes of your poisoner. Faking your own death, are you?” “More or less. If the poison had really taken me, that pile of ashes in the workroom would have been my own body.” “Sounds like a pretty nasty poison. Glad you’re better now. So, what’s the plan from here on out?” “I’m staying out of sight in the apartment until I hear if this little scheme bore fruit. I’ve been standing behind a wardrobe all night, so as soon as I get some food in me and take today’s dose of antidote, I’m going to head to bed. Do wake me if anything happens.” Alden was woken up early that afternoon as Tiffany delivered both a telegram and a sealed message that had arrived via a runner to him. Alden studied the two messages a little blearily as he tried to wake up fully, and it took him some time before he realized that the actual message was spread out across both missives, such that it could only be read and understood by someone who held both. The message itself was simple enough once Alden actually managed to understand it. Both Corker brothers had been apprehended yesterday, and they were being held in a secure facility. Alden was asked to come to a specific address in the south warehouse district later in the afternoon to interrogate the two of them. The whole matter seemed extremely cloak and dagger, even by Alden’s recent standards, and he couldn’t help but wonder why the message was so much more cautiously communicated than usual. Still, he was very glad to hear about the capture of the Corkers, and it wasn’t like he was going to ignore a summons like this. Checking his watch, Alden realized he still had well over two hours before the stated time, so he decided to enjoy a late lunch and have a brief chat with Mrs. Tatter before leaving. Olga Tatter received the news that Alden had almost been poisoned to death with her usual stoicism, simply telling Alden to be cautious and to do his best to leave Mrs. Tatter herself well out of any further messy business. Taking her words to heart, Alden decided not to go into further detail about the matter and simply left to go interrogate a pair of dangerous criminals without additional explanation. The address given in the missive turned out to be a sub-basement beneath an old warehouse, only accessible from an exterior basement entrance hidden away at the far end of a blind alley. After initially identifying himself at the basement entrance to be let in, he then had to again identify himself at two other locked doors, each of which was guarded by a four men armed with pistols and knives. In fact, the security was so overblown that when Alden was finally shown into a very peculiar room, he wasn’t even surprised to find Prince Wallace sitting within it, joined by Lucille Baines. Not that it was particularly easy to see the two of them in the gloom of the strange little room. The only light within it came from a huge window made of some sort of darkened glass, which showed the interior of a brilliantly lit room where Thomas Corker sat bound to a chair. It really was a rather queer layout, and Alden wasn’t sure what the purpose of it was. Shaking his head, he turned to the prince. “I wasn’t expecting to find you here in person, Prince Wallace. Well, not until I saw that the room was guarded by three stout doors and a dozen fearsome-looking toughs.” “I thought I should hear what the infamous Corkers have to say for themselves in person. Especially after you and Lucille went to such trouble catching them.” “Won’t it be a problem if they recognize you, Prince Wallace?” The prince chuckled and motioned toward the darkened glass. “Don’t you worry, Alden, he can’t see us in here. The darkened glass makes sure that light doesn’t pass through too easily. From a brightly lit room like the interrogation chamber, enough light passes through for us out here to easily see inside, while the reflection thrown upon the glass from the little light in this room is nowhere near enough to interfere with what we’re seeing. But from where he’s sitting, barely any light makes it through from this dark room, and the reflection of the brightly lit room he’s sitting in is far stronger. As far as people in the interrogation room can see, this window is nothing more than a large, darkened mirror.” “I see. What an ingenious design.” “Similarly, sound doesn’t pass easily from this room to the interrogation room, but the ceiling of the interrogation room is designed to funnel sound into a set of speaking tubes that emerge from the wall here. By removing the stoppers and placing our ears to the tubes, we can hear what’s being said in the interrogation room quite well. But unless we speak directly into the tubes, only very loud noises in this room will carry into the interrogation room.” “Quite the elaborate setup, Prince Wallace.” “Oh, it comes in handy.” “If it’s not too bold to ask, why exactly am I to conduct this interrogation? Surely you must have access to trained professionals?” “I do, but the Corkers know you. When it comes to interrogation, making sure the subject is deeply unsettled is one of the most efficient means of keeping them from concocting believable lies. That’s why we’ve kept them separated from each other and fully isolated for almost a full day since their capture. And it’s why we want you to conduct the interrogation.” Alden considered the matter for a moment. He could see a certain amount of logic behind it, but… “Is this some sort of test of my abilities or character?” Prince Wallace snorted. “I suppose it is that as well. At this point, I’m sure we’d be able to get what we need out of the Corkers once way or the other. But if I can also get to find out a bit more about what sort of man Alden Stowe really is, so much the better.” Alden let out a long-suffering sigh. “Very well. Let’s see what we can find out.” Thomas Corker looked up sharply as Alden entered the interrogation room. His arms were manacled behind his back, and he was bound to the chair both by his back and his legs. By the look of him he hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep, and the fresh bruises on his face suggested he hadn’t gone down without a fight when Lucille’s men had come to collect him. Still, he shot Alden an unrepentant grin. “Well now. If it isn’t Alden Stowe. Still alive and kicking after all.” “No thanks to you, Thomas Corker.” Alden replied as he sat down across from the bound man. “And you know my name and everything. You really are good at finding stuff out, aren’t you?” “I have a knack for it, it turns out. How long have you been poisoning me?” “Since three days after you came to Corner House. Once I told that bastard you was poking around, he told me to figure out a way to get rid of you.” “And who is ‘that bastard’?” Thomas shook his head. “Who knows? I never saw his face.” “What can you tell me about him?” “Slimy git. Posh, or at least he sounds it. Thinks way too highly of himself.” “He’s English, then?” “Speaks the queen’s own better than I ever did, that’s for sure. Bit short for a bloke, but not enough to really stand out. That’s about all I can tell you.” Alden hummed thoughtfully. “You’re being very forthcoming, Mr. Corker. I would honestly have expected you to play things more closely to the chest.” “You got us, didn’t you? Nothing for it at this point. We’re pretty well screwed already, so all I can do is throw myself at the mercy of whoever is pulling your strings and hope for the best. And if I can cause a little bit of trouble for that bastard, so much the better.” “Commendable attitude, Mr. Corker. Tell me, how did you meet the bastard in question? “When Bill got in trouble with the law right after we came back to London, he reached out to me. Told me he’d call in some favours and pay some bribes to get Bill’s sentence reduced if I did some work for him. He was even offering to pay for the work, so I didn’t see much of a reason to turn him down. He was good for his word, too. Managed to get Bill’s sentence down to one year in the mines from three.” “If that’s all it took him to purchase cold-blooded murder, the going rate on a life must be cheaper than I realized.” Thomas shook his head. “It weren’t like that, Stowe. Not back then. He just wanted me to go work in places, listen out for what people said, pilfer the occasional letter or notebook. Little stuff.” “Clearly that changed.” “Once Bill was out of the mines, I was eager to pack up and leave. I never intended to stay in London that long. Too much of a risk of running into someone who’d recognize me. But that bastard wasn’t gonna let us off that easily. Told me he knew about the bank fraud warrant. Said he’d make sure we both hang unless we kept working for him.” “I take it things got worse from there?” Thomas scoffed. “It’s not like I couldn’t figure out why we had to cover for some bloke who was putting stuff in Dr. Rawleigh’s food. Didn’t think he’d burn up, but I wasn’t surprised he ended up dead. Then you came along and started asking questions, so that bastard told us to get rid of you.” “I suppose the step between accessory to murder and actual murder isn’t that far of a step to take.” Thomas twitched as if he wanted to slam his fist on the table, but all he managed to do was shake the chair a little bit. “I’m telling you it weren’t like that! It’s not like I wanted to murder nobody!” “What was it like, then?” Thomas opened his mouth as if to speak, but then he looked away angrily. Alden frowned. So far, the man had been perfectly willing to sell out his employer, so why was he suddenly so reluctant to speak? Could it be…? “Is this about Alice?” The man’s eyes snapped up, shooting Alden a look full of anger and suspicion. “The Hel do you know about Alice?” Alden kept his face completely neutral as he replied. “A fair bit, as it happens. Did he threaten to do something to her?” “…That bastard knew her old name. Knew she had a warrant out for the bank fraud as well. If me and Bill end up hanging, that’s one thing. We’ve been crooked to Hel and back since we was little. But Alice in’t like us. She’s a weird one, but she’s always tried to keep us safe.” Alden gave Thomas a long, searching look, but in the end he couldn’t help but believe that the young man was telling the truth. Still… “Tell me, Mr. Corker. Why the soap? If you put it in my food, I’d probably be dead already. Even the hand salve in the workshop would probably be faster, since I often use it multiple times in a day and work it thoroughly into my skin, unlike the shaving soap.” Thomas huffed. “I looked into you and yours before I settled on how to go about things. Overheard your assistant talking to herself when she was alone in the workroom. Couldn’t make heads or tails of most of it, but I understood enough.” “Enough to realize that she was like Alice?” “Shocked the Hel out of me. Went to find out what kind of bloke you’d hired to handle your tinctury, found out it weren’t no kind of bloke at all. Didn’t know anyone else was weird the same way as Alice. But once I figured it out… I didn’t want to put the poison anywhere she might end up taking it. She was working in your tinctury, and I could easily see you having her up for tea and biscuits, being her employer and all. But she didn’t look like she needed any shaving, and even if she did, she sure as shit wouldn’t be asking to borrow your kit for it.” “You really do care an awful lot about your sister, don’t you?” Thomas huffed. “I’d be real scum if I didn’t. Alice has pulled our arses out of the fire more times than I can count.” Alden hummed thoughtfully as he regarded the young man before him. Sure, he was a dyed in the wool criminal and no more than a hair’s breadth away from being a murderer, but on this one single point, Alden couldn’t help but respect the man. “You better tell me everything you can about ‘that bastard’ and the work you’ve done for him. Leave nothing out, no matter how insignificant it seems.” It took Alden almost an hour to wring every scrap of information he could from Thomas Corker, not including the time it took him to get his hands on a pen and a couple of notebooks to make sure he could keep track of it all. He learned about the jobs Thomas had performed, the people he’d met, the places he’d gone to pick things up or drop them off. But he learned very little about the mysterious ‘bastard’ who employed the lad. Whoever he was, he was clearly involved with Han, because almost everyone Thomas Corker had worked with while in the employ of said bastard had been Han men. Once the connection with Han had become undeniable, Alden had been called back into the other room, where Lucille had informed him that several Han loyalists had been identified by the girls in the wake of the fire yesterday, but that none of them had been successfully brought in alive. Two had dosed themselves with the burning drug, two had died fighting, and the last cut his own throat to avoid capture. Alden asked the prince’s toughs to bring Thomas along to look at the three bodies. Alden recognized all three from the pictures he’d received from Mei Jing, and Thomas confirmed that he had worked together with two of them on behest of the mysterious bastard. Figuring there really wasn’t anything else he could learn from Thomas Corker, Alden had the toughs send him away and bring in William. While Thomas had been a bit bruised, William had clearly put up far more of a fight. His face was swollen in several places, his lip split open, and the way he moved when he was brought in made Alden think he had a cracked rib or two. Once securely tied to the chair, William threw Alden a sullen glare. “I in’t telling you nothing.” “You just told me something. Unprompted, I might add.” “Don’t be a smartarse.” “William, you’re not in any position to put up a fight. Right now the only thing standing between you and the gallows is the mercy of my patron.” “Yeah right. Like anyone rich enough to be anyone’s ‘patron’ would bother helping people like us.” “They might if you make yourself useful.” William sneered. “Because making ourselves useful to rich arseholes sure has worked out well for us in the past.” Alden pondered how to proceed. William was being very uncooperative, and Alden wasn’t sure what buttons to push to get him to talk. Then again, while he was pretty different from his brother, it was possible that they might have some things in common… “You really ought to cooperate with me, William. The three of you are in a lot of trouble.” William jolted in surprise, straining against his bonds. Alden could only imagine how much that must have smarted with cracked ribs. “The Hel do you mean, the three of us?” “You, Thomas and Alice, of cour…” “You keep Alice out of this, you prick!” “I would very much like to do so, Mr. Corker. But if you won’t answer my questions, that’s going to be more difficult for me to do.” If looks could kill, the glare William was giving him would have reduced Alden to a smear on the wall, but Alden simply met his gaze evenly. Finally, William slumped. “Fine. Whatever. I’ll answer your questions. Just keep your ‘patron’ away from Alice.” “You seem to care a lot for your sister.” “Of course I do. I don’t know if she was always weird, or if I messed her up in the head by always pushing her to play the Alice, but whatever twisted her up in the head like that, I’m glad for it. She’s been looking out for us for ages, ever since she decided she didn’t want to be Ben no more. She’s been helping us when we was in trouble, tending to us when we was hurt, trying to keep troublesome folk from finding us after we made a mess of things. She might be our sister, but she’s more like a mum to us than anyone else has ever been.” Alden wasn’t sure he really appreciated the tone of some of William’s remarks, but he decided to let it slide for the moment. “I’ll do what I can to keep her out of trouble, William. But I need you to tell me everything you know.” Alden stepped back out into the dark room beyond the interrogation chamber, awkwardly feeling his way back to the seats over by the speaking tubes. The difference in illumination between the two rooms was so stark that he was practically blind, and it took a good few seconds after he’d taken a seat before he could make out more than fuzzy contours of the people and furniture in the gloomy observation room. Once his eyes had finally adjusted, he turned to the prince. “So, how did I do?” “Well enough, especially for an amateur. You may have some talent for interrogation.” “Not a talent I’m hoping to get much use out of, let me assure you. That was exhausting.” “Well, what did you think about the Corkers?” “Right pair of bastards, those two. Rotters, the both of them. But I don’t think they’re unsalvageable.” The prince raised an eyebrow. “You still want me to spare them from the gallows?” “I do.” “These men tried to murder you, Alden.” “And the reason they didn’t manage to do so is that Thomas didn’t want to get other people hurt in the attempt. I’m not saying they particularly deserve mercy, but I do think you can get some actual use out of them if you play your cards right. Besides, I promised their sister I’d at least try to save their sorry hides. And while they may not deserve much in the way of mercy, Alice Corker sure deserves a good turn or two.” Alden heard a shuddering intake of breath from behind him and turned around sharply in his chair. Now that his eyes had adjusted to the gloom, he saw a familiar figure standing in the corner. “Alice? How long have you been here?” The prince replied to the question before Alice could say anything, just a hint of mischief colouring his voice. “She went to visit your tinctury on the evening of the fire and got caught by the people out looking for Corkers. I brought her in to watch you interrogating her brothers. Mostly to study her reactions to try and make sure she wasn’t pulling a fast one on us.” “She wouldn’t…” “I know, Alden. You don’t have to defend her. She’s clearly just worried about her brothers.” Alice finally managed to get a word in edgewise. “Please, Your Highness, I’ll do anything. Just spare my brothers’ lives!” The prince sighed tiredly. “Fine. I get it. I’ve been looking for a pair of scofflaws to take care of some matters in the Republic of Sweden anyway. So long as they do what I tell them to and don’t cause undue trouble, I won’t send them to the gallows.” Alice made a noise halfway between a sigh and a sob, her entire body slumping forward as the tension left her. “Your Highness, thank you so much! I…” “And as for you, Alice Corker, I’m expecting you to keep quiet about this. Not a word to anyone about what happened here, understood?” “Of course! I swear I won’t tell a soul!” “Good. Now, the official story will be that further investigation revealed William and Thomas corker were solely responsible for the bank fraud incident. The warrant for Benjamin Corker will be rescinded. As for William and Thomas, the official story will be that they died trying to escape the constabulary during an attempted arrest. In actuality, my people will construct some new identities for them and ship them off to Sweden, where they will work on my behalf to deal with some issues that are proving to be very inconvenient to Her Majesty…” Prince Wallace hesitated for a moment, and then sighed faintly. “But I’ll make sure Alice here has a secure channel with which to exchange messages with them. After all, she might end up doing something foolish if she doesn’t have any way to check up on them.” As Alice practically fell over herself in her efforts to convey her gratitude to the prince, Alden sidled up to him and muttered in low tones. “You’re being awfully generous, Prince Wallace. I’m surprised.” Prince Wallace smiled wryly. “Well, let’s just say I understand what it’s like to want to protect a dear sibling, Alden.”