Ilysveil: You Can Surely Imagine

This is the next story in the series after Ilysveil: You Can Only Observe

Ilysveil: You Can Surely Imagine

J. H. Zech

            Despite the mayor’s platitudes about hard work, sometimes working too hard could be detrimental. Corvus Morgenstern had no regrets about helping Mira Chelavye solve the mystery of her uncle’s death. But perhaps he should have made it seem more difficult and pretended to struggle with the mystery, for the consequences of his diligence were currently biting him in the rear.

            “I wonder what mystery we can find today.” Mira’s large black eyes twinkled with excitement. “Are you up for it? It’s the summer solstice festival weekend, so we should do something fun in East Calos.” She leaned in close to Corvus, her long black hair almost touching his face.

            Corvus, uncomfortable, leaned back in his chair and adjusted his wavy black wig. “You’ve been dragging me around every day after work for the last week. What if I said no?”

            “Oh…” Mira’s hands dropped and rested on her frilly light-blue dress. Her faced seemed to deflate as she sank into her wooden chair.

            He crossed his arms over his dark green vest. Making that disappointed face wasn’t fair. Then again, Corvus was also terrible at resisting her pressure when she was excited. He would have to come up with a compromise that would make her ease up without him rejecting her pleas. The root of the problem was that she overestimated his deductive abilities and made him out to be some kind of genius. The trick was simply to dispel that notion. Corvus adjusted his red bowtie and cleared his throat. “You don’t have to be so disappointed. What I do is not particularly impressive. They’re mere logical deductions, or rather, guesses.”

            “Even if they’re guesses, I think the ability to make guesses that turn out to be correct is a kind of talent. Don’t sell yourself short.” Mira laid her hands on the table. With so much vigor behind her words, it was as though she were defending herself instead of him.

To have someone defend him like that, Corvus felt the urge to smile, but resisted as it would only encourage her. Acknowledging talent meant acknowledging the responsibilities of that power. Having lost his nobility and his place in his clan, he wasn’t ready for such a burden. “You can make absurd logical deductions about almost anything. Give me something to go on, and I’ll show you that you can make up a random conclusion.”

            Mira sprang out of her seat and leaned her slender figure over the table, drawing in too close to Corvus’s face again. “Really? Wait right here. I’ll bring something interesting back.”

            Before Corvus could say anything, she ran off and disappeared between the library shelves. He sighed. He would turn eighteen in a few months, and she already was. Corvus had read that people became slower and calmer as they aged, but Mira followed no such natural law. He wouldn’t have been surprised if the airheaded heir to the alchemist clan had secretly invented a potion of youth. If so, he would throw in a request to make a potion that would rid him of his silver hair so he wouldn’t have to wear a wig. Corvus smiled. No, even if she could, he wouldn’t ask that of her. She was someone who had accepted him without a care for the superstitions about demonic silver hair. Asking that of her would be insulting her.

            A while later, Mira came back holding a newspaper.

            “The news? The conclusions from the news are fairly straightforward. They even have headlines for people who don’t want to read and come to their own conclusions,” Corvus said.

            “Even I know that. What I want to show you is here.” She flipped open to the advertisements section and pointed to a small box on the side. “This personal ad.”

            “Reward for Information: Any pedestrians who saw something unusual yesterday two blocks east of Johnson’s General Store.”

            “When was this?” Corvus asked.

            Mira flipped to the front. “Friday, June 20^th, 1873.”

            “That’s only a day old.” Corvus rested his chin on his hands and started thinking.

            “Do you have anything?” Mira said.

            “The first thing that stands out is the publication date.”

            “The date?” Mira sat still with intense anticipation.

            “It was published on Friday. That’s the slowest news day, when people read less of the papers in general.”

            “But people still put ads on the Friday paper regularly.”

            “The content of the message is what distinguishes it. It says ‘Reward for Information.’ It’s not a payment for a service or good, only information. That means whatever the advertiser intends to do with the information is worth paying for. It also asks what happened the day before, so it must also be time sensitive if he’s putting out the advertisement the next day despite the lower readership. In other words, he’s desperate.”

            “Isn’t it possible he’s just impatient?”

            “If he were impatient, he would be doing his own investigating immediately rather than going to the newspaper and waiting. He’s patient enough that his first instinct is to gather more information rather than acting out on his own. Remember, whatever unusual thing happened the day before the advertisement. An impatient person would have run off on his own first, then go to the papers later if he failed to achieve his goal. This is the desperation of someone with patience.”

            Mira furrowed her brow. “If he’s patient and it’s that important to him, why doesn’t he contact the police?”

            “He wants information on something important enough that he pay, but he chose to give a vague advertisement rather than go to the police. It’s likely that he can’t contact the police or give too many details, because it would expose his own crime.”

            “This is related to a crime?” Mira’s jaw dropped.

            Corvus brought his finger to his lips. “Quiet. We’re in a library. This is just a theory. But it does make sense that someone with something to hide would avoid going to the police.”

            She folded her arms across her chest. “But it’s not only crimes that people want to hide. What if it’s a family issue that he doesn’t want the world to know about?”

            “Let’s say it’s a domestic issue. In that case ‘something unusual’ is a strange choice of words. A domestic issue isn’t visible to the public, so even if someone were estranged from their home, the public would just see a regular person, not anything unusual. If it was an issue such as domestic violence to the degree that something unusual such as blood or bruising were visible, it would be the talk of town, if someone hadn’t already telegraphed the police. In that case, the perpetrator wouldn’t want to draw attention to himself with an advertisement.”

            Mira smiled. “I’m glad to hear it’s not a family issue though. Those are very sad.”

            She had her own complicated family circumstances as a noble heir, not that he could do anything about them. Perhaps these mysteries helped her take her mind off things. Corvus still planned to win this challenge, but even so, he wouldn’t mind taking a request from her occasionally. “Indeed. There’s also the fact that it said ‘something’ rather than ‘someone’ unusual, which means either there was no person of significance there, or the person’s presence itself wasn’t unusual. For example, the foxborns visiting from Solradia this month. Seeing a race from the Far East would be unusual regardless of what they were doing. But it’s not a case like that. Either an object or something that someone did was unusual.”

            “That makes sense. What about the location?”

            “I’d need a map to figure that out.”

            They walked together in the library up the spiral staircase and found a reference map of the streets and sights of Vathel.

            Mira pointed at a tiny rectangular icon on the map. “Johnson’s General Store is here.” She slid her finger to the right. “And two blocks over is the Ilysveil National Bank.” She gasped. “A bank heist?”

            Corvus waved his hand. “No, that’s unlikely. If it were that, it would’ve been all over the papers already, and the Royal Police wouldn’t stay quiet.”

            “I can’t think of anything that might be related to a crime around a bank except a theft,” Mira said.

            “Let’s head back down to the tables,” Corvus said.

            They walked down at a leisurely pace, their steps echoing on the metal stairs. “I hope you’re not just stalling for time to think,” Mira said. “You can just tell me if you’re thinking. I don’t want to pressure you.”

            It was a little too late for that. It felt even crueler to know that all the times she had pressured him, she had done so unintentionally. “Don’t worry about it. I do have some more thoughts, but let’s at least sit down.”

            The table they had been sitting at was now occupied by two men in suits. Corvus looked around, but all the tables were taken.

            “Leave it to me.” Mira ran up to the semi-circle shaped counter, where the purple-robed librarian looked up and adjusted her pointy glasses.

            “Ms. Helvenia, do you have anywhere we can sit? The tables are all taken.”

            “I do have a back room we don’t use anymore, if you’re okay with that, Mira.”

            “That would be great. Thank you.” Mira waved Corvus over.

            “Do you know her well?” Corvus asked.

            “I used to come here as a child, and I don’t mean this in a boastful way, but my family has contributed significantly to the building of the Library of Omniscience.”

            Corvus glanced at Ms. Helvenia.

            She gave him a knowing wink, though he wondered if her gesture was a response to Mira’s comment or something else entirely. Ms. Helvenia led them down a corridor behind the counter and unlocked a room at the end of it.

            They sat at a table in a room with one window. Someone like him, who had been thrown out of his house, associating with the heir to a noble clan? It was utterly preposterous, and yet here he was. Mira thought of him as a genius, but she was much more amazing in his eyes.

            “Continuing from before,” Mira said, sitting down.

            Corvus sat down and said, “Right. The ad didn’t say the Ilysveil National Bank. It mentioned Johnson’s General Store. Either that store is important, or there’s something else we missed that’s two blocks from there. What I’m saying is that it could still be a theft, but not necessarily related to the bank.”

            Mira unfurled the map over the table. “Besides the bank, there’s a law office and a bus stop.”

            “A law office? Is there any other information about that day?”

            She flipped through the papers. “There was a big sale at the general store, and it was rainy that day.”

            “That last part helps narrow down what that something unusual might be.”

            “How so?”

            “First, let’s consider the time at which this unusual something might have been visible. It had to have been at least an hour before ten o’clock at night.”

            “How do you figure that?” Mira asked.

            “The news offices close then. So we’re assuming at least an hour in between whenever the advertiser found himself in a tricky situation and when the office closed so that he would have time to draft a message and go to the news office.”

            “Any guesses for the earlier end of the time range?”

            “I’d say no earlier than eight o’clock at night. Whoever’s involved wants to hide something. Now, seeing something unusual doesn’t automatically mean a police investigation, which is why they may have felt confident in doing something in public, but at the same time, no one who’s hiding something wants a lot of people to notice something’s strange. By eight o’clock, there are only a few people in the street at a time.”

            “That reminds me, why did they do this in public? If something unusual was involved, then the easiest way to not get caught is to do it in a private location.”

            “If the Parsentheon clan declared war on the Chelavyes, would you meet one of their members in private?” Corvus said.

            “No, I’d be rather scared.”

            “Exactly. The people involved were scared. Doing things in private indicates trust. Doing things in public is for when there’s less trust between the people involved.”

            “But wasn’t the point to not get caught? And how do you know there are multiple people involved?”

            “It was around eight or nine. With only a few people on the street at a time, not too many would notice something unusual, but at the same time, there are still eyes on the street. If something flashy happened, such as a murder, then someone would notice and notify the police. As for your second question, if there were no other person involved, he wouldn’t need to post an advertisement in the first place. If the something was an object and there were no other person, then he could look for it himself since the object wouldn’t disappear on its own. If it was something more intangible like a message, anything that would change its state requires the action of another person. This other person likely did something unexpected, or betrayed the advertiser. The unusual something involving this other person wasn’t in the state our mysterious person wanted.”

            “I see. I have an idea for some labels. ‘The advertiser’ and ‘the other person’ are long to say, so how about we call them X and Y?”

            Corvus had no idea if Mira had intentionally thought of that to spare him some effort, but he appreciated it. “Good idea. So continuing on, first I’m going to assume that when the advertisement said two blocks, it meant exactly two blocks, so we know the bank and the law office are near. If X had said ‘a block’ or ‘one block’, those are often approximate distances, so they’re unreliable, but two is rather specific. I also think that Johnson’s General Store had nothing to do with this but rather was used to provide a reference point for the general public. Everyone knows the store, but not many would know where the law office is. If the store was involved somehow, outside observers wouldn’t know about it, so mentioning it wouldn’t signify anything to them. The main question is whether the bank or the law office was involved. And either way, why was the message worded that way when the bank is just as well-known as the store?”

            “Perhaps the general store is important after all?” Mira said. “Also, what did you mean that the weather and the sale had something to do with what we’re looking for?”

            “Simply that given the time around eight and nine, and the fact that it was raining, the number of unusual things that people could see under those conditions is limited. It narrows down what it might be.”

            “We still don’t know if the general store, bank, or law office is involved.”

            “That may have to do with another part. The ad specifically said ‘two blocks east’. When you’re going somewhere close enough to be noticing blocks as your unit of distance, you wouldn’t normally pay attention to which compass direction you’re going in, only the streets. This advertiser doesn’t once mention street names.”

            “You’re right. It’d be easiest for people to remember where this is if X wrote down the names of the street at the intersection.”

            Corvus twirled his bang between his fingers. When the pieces didn’t add up, one had to revisit some assumptions. “You may be right about the general store. Why didn’t X mention the street names but instead use ‘east’ and refer to the general store? The answer lies in the audience he was talking to.”

            “Wouldn’t that be anyone who reads the paper and might have been in the area at the time?” Mira titled her head questioningly.

            “No. X explicitly says who he’s talking to. ‘Any pedestrians who saw something unusual’ is what was said.”

            “But that could be anyone.”

            “No, only pedestrians, meaning not people in an automobile or dragon-drawn carriage.”

            “Oh, you’re right. But what does it mean?”

            “The only ones who would match that description are people who are walking specifically east in the rain and at least passed by the general store.”

            “Oh, I know what this might be!” Mira clapped her hands together.

            “I guess you’re the detective now,” Corvus said.

            She shook her head. “No, this is just one piece of it, I’m sure. It might help you though. The summer solstice festival is today, June 21^st, but the festival weekend started Friday. The biggest festival location is in the East Calos subdistrict. A lot of people would go change clothes after work, then go shopping at the general store for groceries, and then head east to check into a hotel or meet family the night before the morning rush.”

            “That explains why the general store was mentioned. The sale was probably for the festival too. What do festival goers on foot have that others and people in vehicles don’t?”

            “Umbrellas?”

            “That might be half right. Any pedestrian would have an umbrella though, not only one going to the festival. But yes, let’s first focus on what a pedestrian might see as opposed to someone in a vehicle. This unusual thing was likely stationary and not too large. A person in a vehicle moving at higher speeds won’t notice smaller things that aren’t moving, especially on a rainy night.”

            “So someone who’s walking might notice a still thing that’s smaller?”

            “Exactly. But that’s not all. Festival goers were carrying a bag from their shopping, in the rain no less. There aren’t many dragon carriages at that time of night, so it couldn’t be helped since most people don’t have their own automobile yet.”

            “I’m sure that must be hard on them, but how would that help X?”

            “The bus stop. There are three buses scheduled on weekdays between eight and nine at night.”

            “That seems like quite a bit,” Mira said.

            “The Morgenstern clan is pushing their steam engine technology hard on the market, and frequent buses are their marketing tactic. But these buses are new, so people aren’t sure about riding them quite yet. Even so, most have at least heard of it and would feel tempted to ride when they’re carrying an umbrella and a bag. In other words, they would look and focus on the bus stop.”

            “I see… Your family is carrying on.” Mira looked at him gingerly.

            Corvus didn’t want Mira to pity him over his estranged family. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll continue. X wanted to target people who would be paying attention to the bus stop.”

            “We still don’t know what the something is though.”

            “Let’s look at the timeline again and the two possibilities. One. X doesn’t do anything until nine. He assumes Y has left something unusual but when he arrives, there’s nothing there. Two. X arrives around eight and leaves something unusual behind at the bus stop. He leaves so he doesn’t loiter and look suspicious. Y comes later and takes it and leaves something else behind, or at least is supposed to. But he either doesn’t or leaves behind something not agreed on. The reason I assume Y was supposed to leave something behind is that X would have no reason to post if Y was already supposed to take the object without anything in return. The only thing observers might notice is when Y took the object, which wouldn’t matter if tracking Y isn’t important. But say that Y was supposed to leave something, say money in a suitcase, but it either wasn’t there or was empty. That means Y ran off with the object, and since it’s at the bus stop, what better way to get away than on the bus? But X wouldn’t know which bus Y got on, so he couldn’t track Y down easily. Someone might have seen Y get on, or at least through a series of reports, X could deduce when the object disappeared, so he could tell which bus Y took.”

            “And what about the first possibility?”

            “If Y didn’t leave anything, there’d be no unusual something to see. There’s no time at which the unusual thing disappears because it’s never there at all.”

            “So in the end, what is this unusual something?”

            Corvus shrugged. “It’s impossible to know for sure. But given it’s an exchange of some kind, and X felt cheated, he might have put something expensive like high quality magic crystals in a metallic suitcase to protect it from the rain. A metal suitcase might catch the eye even on a rainy night since it would reflect the light from streetlamps. You can surely imagine the only thing he would expect in return. Money.”

            “That’s a pretty big crime. Non-synthetic magic crystals are only mined from the colonies in the Namgu continent, and the government strictly controls that. We have to report this!” Mira got up from her seat and pulled Corvus along by the hand.

            I shouldn’t have speculated that last part. Are the police even going to take us seriously? Corvus followed Mira from the library all the way to the police station. They explained the situation to a young officer in blue uniform. The officer chuckled and called over the precinct chief.

            The chief had a bushy beard and mustache. He didn’t laugh. His thick eyebrows twitched, and his stern face grew even more serious after hearing Corvus’s explanation. The chief sent some messages over the telegraph and came back to the front desk later.

            “We caught the advertiser. He confessed to magic crystal theft and sold out his partner in exchange for lesser charges. We figured out which bus the partner took, so it’s only a matter of time before he’s arrested too. It sounded utterly ridiculous, but it made sense. Good work, youngsters.” The chief slapped Corvus on the back.

            They left the police station, the afternoon now golden and violet. They walked back together on the winding cobblestone road.

            “Come to think of it, why were we even doing this?” Corvus said.

            “You were trying to make yourself seem unimpressive, so I wouldn’t keep asking you to solve mysteries.”

            Gah! She saw through me from the start. But wait, that means…

            “You solved the mystery brilliantly. I’ll be counting on you.” Mira laughed at him.

            Corvus wanted to scream, but her smile was infectious. He instead laughed with her.