Lady Astor had assembled her own murder board. unlike Percival's, it showed her the members of the board. She had been working with Lulu, her secretary, to determine who was on the board and how to get them on her side. It was going to be a difficult task, especially considering their usual alliances. Admittedly, the biggest strike against her was one that had put her into this mess in the first place: There were those on the board who hated her due to her very title.

There were a total of seven people on the board who could vote. While Lord Jonathan was the majority stockholder, it had been agreed that his votes wouldn't count; the board was to run the day-to-day business of the Northern Stream Pack while he decided the overall mission. Because there were so few of the wolves in the pack, just under three dozen at any time, this meant that he got to deal with any diplomatic missions and mediate between injured parties. As most of the pack mediated between themselves, this left him mostly dealing with the diplomatic missions.

This left the management of the pack's considerable assets to the board. Each of the seven members had an equal vote, even if actual ownership ranged from 5% to 15% of the total stock; she herself owned 10% of the stock, a wedding present that helped Lord Jonathan manage the board (thus the reason for the resentment).

Thomas Helson was her main opposition. He had been ruling the board for the last two decades, mostly on his ability to intimidate the other members. He also the 15% of the company stock, giving him the most clout on the board. If she was going to have any say, she would either have to toady up to him like the others or get another three behind her for a majority. She was never one to toady up to another.

With that in mind, she had to come up with some sort of stratagem to convince the various embers to support her. Two of them would be relatively easy: one was opposed, and the other two were somewhat neutral. She decided to arrange the heads she was looking to collect:

Jessica Connor: She appeared to be looking for a reason to split away from Thomas, and it helped that some of her businesses were on the chopping block. She also loved iced coffee, white wine, and a beautiful sunset. She should be relatively easy to bring over to the cause, so she decided to leave her alone for now.

Yorick Harrelson: He had held a grudge against Thomas going back to when they were in private school together. He also liked a good steak with a strong beer; that jibed with his coming from one of the largest farms in the area. She would put them on the back burner for now.

Hanson Charles Smythe, Esquire: At the other extreme, Hanson always supported Thomas. He was pure business and ran his law firm with an interest in which cases would make the most money and best spin. He would be a hard sell, so she was unsure if she would even be able to even convert him to the cause.

Stephen Kyle Shaugnessy: One of the two neutrals, he resented the time he spent on the board and would have preferred spending more time working on making his own business more successful. It was already a success by any measure, of course, but he hated having to deal with tribal politics. However, he did respect what Thomas was doing, and it did help his business. His conversion would require a solid business plan.

Madison “Maddy” Tennyson: The animal rights activist of the group, she preferred any plan that minimized the pack's influence on the local woods, preferring conservatorship to exploitation. She had spearheaded the hunts and tourism branches of the pack's business while avoiding any of the other business. She and Thomas were allies, but only because Thomas was more interested in what happened in town rather than its surrounding environment.

Looking over them, she realized that this could be relatively simple. While there were some possible issues, if she could come up with a decent business plan and possibly meet with the various board members one-on-one, she might be able to pull off a minor miracle and make life interesting for Mr. Helson. She just had to decide if she wanted to challenge Hellson, especially considering the likely results if she lost. She remembered her notes on the deals he was planning as well as what he planned to do to the investigation office.

Yes, it was worth it. She began to make plans with Lulu to take over the board.

* * * * *

Jena's charcuterie board was almost gone and the flagons refilled. The two ravens were decidedly comfortable on her couch.

Jena sipped from her wine glass. “I'm not sure we have something more powerful.”

The young woman smiled. “Ah, but you do. First, there is a bright spot: The two pairs of shackles should be linked. Because of that, if you can eliminate one pair the other pair should be dispelled as well.”

The young tipped his flagon to her. “I would advise you to go for the young man. There are some aspects that make his release a little bit easier.”

Jena thought about it for a moment. “Strange, as I have a greater bond to her than him.”

He smiled. “Possibly, but this is one time when such a bond may get in the way. After all, you will be focusing on her, and so even the simplest problem would be magnified by its perception. Also, you would be trying a brute force method.”

His twin sipped from her flagon. “You should be looking at something familiar.”

Jena was thoroughly confused at this point. “I guess I need to hit the books.”

The two clanked their flagons, drank heavily, and then sat the flagons down. He got up first. However, now we need to leave.”

He helped his twin up and she looked at Jena. “You are not the only one of interest for us in this small town.”

Jena was so lost in thought that she almost missed them. “Oh. Well, bye then!”

They spoke in chorus. “We shall see you again. Again, loved the board!” They quickly exited, and she heard the flutter of wings.

She fell into her chair and then bolted upright. I forgot to ask their names!

* * * * *

Sheriff Ann decided to deal with some of her other business. This meant delivering a few subpoenas for the local courts as well as other legal papers for various individuals. She looked at the list of recipients and saw all of the usual pairings: Old Man Mercer and his conspiracy theories, Mrs. Sipkowski and her loud classical music, Theodore Blevins and his explosive method of fishing, and Little Leroy and his pranks. At least her dance card was full for the afternoon.

Her first stop was Old Man Mercer. She served his routine subpoena from the local police. This meant having to talk him into opening his door and accepting the papers while listening to a whole new slew of conspiracy theories ranging from reptilians using vaccines to transmogrify the citizenry to the government using dairy to complete the gene therapy began by the Evil Swiss Illuminati. She allowed herself a sigh when she was behind her wheel.

She knew she was approaching the Sipkowskis from about five blocks away as the 1812 Overture hit her. She had been involved in a war against pop music for the last decade; as a music teacher, she felt it was her duty to fight the creeping influence of the crude rock and rap of today's youth. She smiled as she walked up to her door: Mrs. Sipkowski was there in her full robe-and-curlers splendor. She handed over the papers from three local clubs. She also sort of mentioned that the police were on the way with a request for her to turn down the music. She received a curt "thank you" as she closed the door.

Theodore was understandably not happy to see her. The local rangers kept deciding to let him go with a warning; Sheriff Ann knew that the local pack had worked out a deal with the rangers so that Theodore, an ex-ranger himself, would be punished for his illegal use of explosives without having to be arrested. This meant that his boat leaked no matter how much he fixed it and that his blasting caps were forever disappearing. As such, Theodore associated any authority figure with bad luck. She allowed herself a smile as she walked back to her car.

Little Leroy required that she find his parents. His mother worked two jobs while his father only worked one but volunteered in three locations. She flipped a coin and went for the father. After consulting her calendar and clock, she headed to the baseball diamond where he was a third-base umpire for the Elsbeth Little League Federation. She had to wait until a point between innings, but the papers were delivered with the usual resigned air. She felt sorry for the kid; ironically, if he had been on a Little League team they wouldn't be seeing her as often.

She had to make one more stop. Well, two really: She stopped by the Love Shack to pick up their #3 Special (a double-cheeseburger with sauteed mushrooms with an order of onion rings) and a large diet cola and then stopped by the house of Deputy Antonio Biggins. They talked for a bit as he ate the burger, and then she left, satisfied he was still alive. He had retired three years ago, but she needed his presence in her life, so had settled on the burger as a welfare check of sorts.

She had to shoo a pair of ravens from her car before she headed back to the office. Something bugged her, and she quickly realized that she had seen ravens at every one of her stops. She pushed it out of her mind but decided to grab an order of fries or two in case she saw them again.