A Light in the Darkness Book: The Moonlight Murderer

Chapter Thirty: Pleasant Conversations

Though the city still teemed on the edge of chaos, Nick and Talia were able to make it back into the Slums without issue. The unrest made him increasingly uneasy and it was becoming clear that simply catching the murderer wouldn't be enough to stem the potential upheaval in the works. He was going ot be an affective spymaster, he'd need a team to keep appraised of all these goings on. His loose connections had only gotten him so far. The dagger lead was promising though and he held the hope it'd bring them on step closer to unraveling the case. They stopped outside the Sickly Moon and Talia took him aside for a moment.

"Now remember," she started. "Jan can be very temperamental about this stuff. We have to approach this slowly and calmly. Not let him know anything's wrong."

"Don't worry, I'll be discrete," he kissed her on the cheek and taking her hand, they walked over into bar.

They entered the Sickly Moon still holding hands, and spotted Jan clearing some tables on the other side of the room. He noticed them too, stopped what he was doing, and waltzed over to greet them.

"Hi guys. Good to see you up and about, Nick," he said. The jester looked him in the eyes, and he seemed to be in a sincerely good mood. The poor bastard had no idea they were about to ruin his day. He felt guilty but they needed to talk to him if not to catch the culprit, then for his own good.

"Hey buddy, how ya doing?" Nick spoke in slow yet comforting voice.

"I'm fine," Jan said in clearly confused tone. "Nick, she's smiling, why's she smiling? Am I in trouble?" His voice grew panicked.

"I don't know," Nick glanced awkwardly to the side to look at Talia. "Sweetie, is he in trouble?"

She squeezed his hand and gritted her teeth while attempting to maintain a pleasant veneer.

"Don't call me that, and no he is not."

The Fen sighed in obvious relief, but Nick was worried this whole situation was going horrible. His girlfriend relaxed her hand and took a more neutral posture.

"We do need to talk though, Jan," she said calmly. "How's about we go sit back at the corner booth and I'll have Gratos grab you a drink on the house."

Of course, alcohol would lighten the mood. Perhaps it'd be enough to put Jan in a divulgatory disposition. Nick was glad to be with someone so clever. She called for a Haven hard cider for Jan and an order of pretzel sticks for the table. Their friend was more than eager to take a break from his duties but Nick could still sense a certain edginess to him.

Talia loosened her grip and led the way back to the booth. They slid in with Jan sitting across from them, still a confused yet optimistic expression on his face. His drink arrived and began to cautiously sip at it.

"Is this about what you wanted me to look into? Because I haven't been able talk to the old man again," he whispered. "After the last murderer, Gratos thought I should just stay here and help him out today. I've been going through a bit of a spiritual and/or existential crisis lately."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Talia said, retaining her calm demeanor. "This isn't exactly about that stuff but it's related. You don't happen to have your dagger with you?"

Jan narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You're not just going to take it again, are you?" She shook her head and indicated only a desire to look at it.

He slowly unclipped the blade from his belt and placed it on the table. Nick's eyes widened as he saw it. Black blade, same design as the other one except with a ruby hilt. They were a matching pair. Based on the nauseous expression on Talia's face, he could tell that she saw it too.