Peerless

10: Mock Exam

The new week brought in an overcast day. Church bells chimed in the morning as storytellers rambled on the corners. The house was peaceful. The joyful sound of Naomi's pipa filled the rooms.

Hoopoe yawned as she poured over her textbooks. Today, there was a mock exam for the royal investigator taking place at County Hall. She had made a deal with herself that the results of the exam would decide which way she would go. Taking notes was important, memory was important, enunciation- it was all important.

As she moved on to the next page there was a knock at the door. Something about it was different, and though she wasn't expecting a visitor the knock made her feel she should have been. Leaving the workroom, she went to the door.

Namoi came in and held up her slate. "It is someone from Coral Palace in Little Okavango."

Hoopoe crept to the parlor and peeped out the turret windows. A plan carriage stood outside the gate, but she recognized this method of travel. She cracked the door open. "Your token."

The guard held up a copper emblem carved into the shape of a lotus and frog. The dead prince's emblem. Hoopoe looked past him. The window of the carriage opened, and Doe waved. Hoopoe went out to her and stood on her toes to look inside. "I thought you would be all the way north by now."

"Come for a drive with me," Doe said. "I have something you want."

"All right, but I need to be at County Hall by noon." Hoopoe hurried back inside and returned with her hat. As the driver helped her and Naomi into the carriage, she pinned it on and took a seat opposite Doe. The carriage lurched forward, and they were on the way.

"What happened to your travels?" Hoopoe asked.

"The princess and the queen threatened to seize my assets if I didn't behave. It always goes that way with my mother-in-law."

"I'm sorry."

"If I hope to see my son again, I must remain attached to the family. In some ways I do not blame the princess. It is not her fault he was taken or that her son died. Royalty is truly the most wicked."

"That is not true."

"Your marriage wasn't arranged. You are not at the mercy of any queen or princess. You have no idea how blessed you are to have married into this family."

"This family is as royal as any can come without bearing the title. Do not be misled, Doe." Taking herself in hand, Hoopoe changed the subject. "You mentioned having something I wanted."

"It is about that case of yours," Doe said. "My travels, though short-lived, were not entirely fruitless. I met a woman at a convention that remembered your victim working in the same house as her. She was very quick about it but said, give this to the Peerless lady. I assume that is you." She passed Hoopoe an envelope.

Hoopoe looked through it. There was a blood-stained handkerchief. The blood having long darkened. The corners were embroidered with an assortment of flowers. "Did you see her madam?"

"No, but the servant woman was dressed up very nicely. I assume the mistress to be the sort that sees her as a sort of mother."

Hoopoe had to admit, she enjoyed Doe's assessments. The victim, she pitied. She was never returned to her family and cremated soon after entering the morgue. Everything pointed to murder, not someone choosing to end their life.

"Could we try to find the woman again?" Naomi wrote.

"It was a sea of people," Doe said. "To be honest I hardly remember her face.