Scholar's Plot by Hilari Bell Read Free Book Online Page A

And despite his bold words, Michael’s face was paler than it had been a few minutes ago.
    “Ahem.” Kathy cleared her throat, looking sternly at the captain. Who relented, clearly the victim of feminine wiles. From young Mistress Katherine, no less.
    “But I’m inclined to believe Master Benton’s telling the truth,” the captain said. “And since I can’t see any reason for Master Fisk here — yes, I figured out who you must be. But I see no reason for Fisk to have murdered Master Hotchkiss, and I have a hard time believing a man who’d just committed murder would go rushing into a guard station immediately afterward to bail someone out … though come to think of it, the man who brought down the Rose Conspiracy might have that kind of nerve.”
    “Captain.” There was a distinct note of reproof in Katherine’s voice.
    “Oh, all right. Since I’m not prepared to charge anyone with this murder, yet, and since the charge against Master Fisk is minor, I’ve decided to release you on Lady Katherine’s bail. She’ll be legally responsible for your conduct, and your debt is to her. Once these matters are settled, assuming you’re not guilty, her money will be returned and your debt to her ended. But until that happens, you’re to remain in town and make yourselves available to the High Liege’s authorities on request. Clear to everyone?”
    It was perfectly clear to me. And if murder had been committed in a place I’d been burgling, I’d have been delighted to get out of gaol while they figured out I hadn’t done it … and make plans to flee, if they didn’t figure it out.
    So I wasn’t surprised to hear Michael object.
    “You’re letting us go? Without even…”
    He started to lift his wrists and then thought better of the gesture, but the captain had seen it.
    “Yes, Master Sevenson, we know you’re unredeemed. But after Tallowsport, some of the guard decided to look into the circumstances. And I have to say… Well, maybe I shouldn’t say that, about a justice system I serve. But I’m not inclined to hold it against you.”
    Kathy beamed at the man. He was fairly young, 
in his early thirties, and not bad looking, either. He also had no evidence we’d done anything worse than trespassing, on Benton’s behalf, and the Rose conspiracy’s defeat had created a towering impression, almost a legend, in the mind of guardsmen all over the river plain — all over the Realm, for all I knew.
    But Michael still looked like a stunned ox as we retrieved our knives from the guard’s clerk and followed Mistress Katherine out into the street.
    It was Hornday, and most of the scholars should have been in class, but there were dozens of them scattered through the crowded street, like red and black punctuation marks. We were only a block from the town square and the streets were lined with high end shops: an apothecary, a boot maker, and a stationer selling paper and ink, which attracted most of the scholars.
    “Mistress Katherine,” I said. “Thank you. And now, if you’ll permit, I—”
    “Don’t thank me yet,” she said. “Michael, go on ahead please. I want a word with my … correspondent.”
    Michael suppressed a grin and started off to the west, presumably toward his brother’s rooms. Since my inn was in the same general direction, it would have been silly to turn and walk east. Even though, when Kathy started after him, Michael was only ten feet ahead 
of us.
    I’m not sure I’ve mentioned it, but Michael has very sharp ears.
    “You know,” I said, “Michael has very sharp—”
    “How. Could. You? How could you just stop writing? In the middle of trying to bring down Atherton Roseman? Fisk, I was beginning to think you were dead. Both of you!”
    I hadn’t told Kathy the name of the monster we’d set out to slay, but I should have known she’d figure it out. She’d always been bookish. She knew how to do research.
    “Ah. Well, Michael and I were prisoners. After that first