Chapter Three: Footing The Bill

Part 2

Twenty minutes and about as many words later, Leo pulled up to Benji’s Diner. Naira shouldered her bag as she exited, then took a moment to stare at the restaurant. Whatever she’d been expecting probably wasn’t this.

Personally, Leo thought the weirdly curved windows and use of color palettes that were forty years out of fashion were part of this place’s charm. That, and it wasn’t one of Renigald’s chains.

There wasn’t another restaurant in the Bulb, or likely any other Bulb, like Benji’s. Was that overselling it? No.

Nostalgia was a powerful factor, yes, and Benji’s had been around when Leo’s parents met each other, so he had some history with the place, but no matter the current economic status of Ciphus, you could always count on Benji’s being open. Plus, they never opened until after 9 and stayed open until 1 in the morning, both of which Leo found to be sensible business decisions.

They passed Tolson’s police cruiser as they approached the front. Leo got the door for her, and was immediately greeted by the smell of eggs, coffee, and–red spuds? Oh, right. Yesterday was Storm Day, so that meant today was the first of three Sun Days. Time was a blur these days.

Naira stood there in the open doorway, with an odd expression. She raised her nose a bit, taking in the diner’s scents for herself. At least she wasn’t scowling, like the last girl he’d brought to Benji’s. She’d read the entire menu only to ask if they had salads. It had been one of the most embarrassing moments of Leo’s short adult life. Naira, by comparison, looked to be growing excited. Yes, he recognized that twinkle of the eye.

“You think it smells great?” he asked. “Wait until you taste it.”

This seemed to bring her back to the moment and she stepped inside.

They found Tolson in the corner, his back to the window that ran the length of the front of the diner. He waved them over, and Leo took his signature spot across from him. Leo’s spot had a solid wall beside him, keeping him out of the sun which danced yellow across the ends of Tolson’s white fur. This way, they both were comfy.

“Sun or shade?” Tolson asked, gesturing first to the seat beside him, then to the one beside Leo.

“Oh, sun, most definitely.”

Tolson grinned, patting the seat beside him. Then he turned to Leo. “Didn’t I tell you she was smart?”

“A circus is built from clowns, Tolson.”

Naira glanced between them, setting her bag on the floor by her feet.

Tolson wrinkled his nose dramatically, showing a hint of fangs. “Gross. No wonder circuses are illegal.” Then he handed Naira a menu, which she inspected.

Leo sighed, taking a sip of the coffee Tolson had already ordered for him. “They’re illegal because Reddenmeyer monopolized the industry, then overworked his performers and mistreated his animals.”

Naira glanced up at the name, but Tolson was the one who spoke. “And he made that big tent from clowns? No wonder the walls were so stripey.”

Leo stared at his friend for a few long moments. “Tolson? Have I ever told you that you’re–”

“An idiot?” Tolson finished. “Yeah, but I’m not smart enough to pick up on that. Keep telling me though, and I’m sure it will sink in some day.”

Both men held straight faces as long as they could, but Leo broke first. Shaking his head, he grinned and took another sip of coffee.

“Ah! See?” Tolson elbowed Naira with surprising gentleness for his size, then gestured at Leo. “Watching the first crack of a smile on Leo’s face is as notable as watching the first rays of sunrise. Once you see Leo’s first smile of the day, you know the day’s actually gotten started.”

With a slow nod, she turned back to Leo. “I see. That does explain the stiff lip during the drive. Though I thought I smelled a bit of panic.”

Tolson snickered at this. “You guys rode together?”

Leo sighed. “She was gonna wait for the bus, Tolson. What, I’m just going to leave her there?”

“You are the picture of a modern gentleman, Leo.” Tolson’s reply earned an eyeroll from Leo. “But nah, he was probably just nervous because the last girl he had in his car tried to steal it.”

“She did?” Leo and Naira asked in unison.

“Yeah, remember? Cute girl, five foot and change, purple dress, borrowed heels?”

“The girl I arrested for being drunk and disorderly?”

Tolson nodded with a grin.

“She tried to start a fight with a red crest in somebody’s lawn at two in the morning.”

Naira turned back to Leo, “And she tried to steal your car?”

He sighed, stretching back in his seat. “The operative word is ‘tried’. Don’t know if you noticed, but the little divider between my front seat and back seat doesn’t work really well. You can lift it, but the part that holds it in place is broken, so you can lower it pretty easily if you pull in the right spot. She figured that out on accident and pulled the lever to disengage my Electrum repulsors. Dinged them up pretty good, so they still fritz out sometimes. I’ve been meaning to replace them, but that takes time and money.”

Noticing her look of confusion, he trailed off. “Sorry, that’s more than you asked for.”

Tolson nudged him under the table, and for a moment he thought it had to do with the conversation. Then Tolson wagged his eyebrows and tilted his head in a way that suggested he wanted Leo to turn around.

Leo glanced over his shoulder to see a waitress approaching. She was on the shorter side, dressed in Benji blue. Her hair was done up in a side bun with a flower pinned through it. Leo’s mind wandered to cinnamon rolls when he saw it, and he knew he was still too hungry to function as a proper adult.

“How y’all doin’ today? My name’s Noelle and I’ll be taking care of you today.” Tolson nudged Leo under the table again. Leo kicked him back. The new waitress had a Dakotal accent. She was probably from a different Bulb. “Are we all ready to order?”

They placed their order. Leo and Tolson got their usual meals, but Tolson added on an extra side and a dessert, something he was more likely to do when he wasn’t paying. For her part Naira ordered a small sandwich and bowl of soup. Leo hadn’t even realized you could get sandwiches here. It didn’t escape his notice that this was about the cheapest thing she could have chosen off the menu, something his wallet would be thankful for.

After their waitress Noelle left, Tolson leaned across the table. “Dude…she’s cute.”

Leo disguised his sigh by blowing into his coffee. “Ok, sure. So?”

“So it’s been a few years since Melissa and that whole thing. You could ask her out.”

“She’s new, I can’t do that to her. And that accent? She’s from another Bulb. Working here, on a Benji’s salary? My guess is she’s a student.”

“Someone you know?” Tolson turned to Naira, who looked startled to be included in this discussion.

She shook her head, “Sorry, no. She’s not one of my students. I don’t have many Snepard students.”

Tolson’s eyes widened, and he looked a bit like he’d accidentally inhaled part of the soda he was nursing. “You’re not–opposed to Snepard students, are you?”

“Not particularly. I teach those who wish to learn.”

“Oh right. Cool! Cool, cool, cool.” Tolson took a long, suspect sip of his soda.

The conversation lulled then as Tolson reached the bottom of his glass and started sucking air.  No, Leo didn’t want the distraction of a girl right now. More than that, he really didn’t want to hurt someone again.

“Uhm,” Naira broke the silence hesitantly. “You mentioned earlier–someone named Reddenmeyer? I–should I know this name?”

How naturally the topic shifted back to work. Leo sighed, readjusting in his chair to stop pinching his tail. “Maybe. Orwen Reddenmeyer, a guy who made all his money with questionable circus acts. Brought in a lot of wildlife from outside the Bulbs, treated them poorly, well…cheaply, I guess. There were a couple incidents where some of the animals hurt circus employees and a couple involving some of the circus goers. Led to some lawsuits, but Orwen had enough money to be one of the Thirteen, so his lawyers got him off easily. Not a problem anymore though. He’s an ex-Thirteen.”

Tolson ran a thumb across his throat. “Second case with the Thirteen?”

“Third,” Leo corrected. “Three months back, someone froze him in his own pool.”

Naira shuddered, shifting in her seat. “I–think I remember hearing about that. And…the Thirteen?”

Leo raised an eyebrow, but Tolson looked like he’d just been asked if the Bulb was the only thing keeping every Ciphus citizen from asphyxiating on the planet's toxic fumes. It should be common knowledge, and yet… “You don’t know the Thirteen?”

Naira shook her head. “Only as a passing term. I’ve heard them mentioned, and I know they’re pretty influential in Ciphus, but I don’t know who they are.”

Leo finished the last of his coffee. “Well, there’s normal people like us who make enough money to get by. We might be able to afford a place to live, some personal transit, some food, but that’s about it. Then there’s the people who have enough money that they could buy their own Bulb. If you work anywhere in Ciphus, you can follow where the money comes from and you probably work for one of the Thirteen. Been around forever, and normally I’d say that would never change, but now six of them have been killed in– a full seasonal cycle?” He took a moment to count in his head. “Yeah, it has been that long.”

Naira nodded, eyes thoughtful. “The man killed last night? He was one of them?”

“Lortran Dupall?” Tolson cut in, “Yeah, he was the sixth one to get offed.”

“Offed?” Naira gave her neighbor her little head tilt, repeating the word with her own unique accent.

“Offed. Killed. Murdered. All different words for the same thing.” Tolson explained with a shrug.

“But why?” she asked, turning back to Leo. “Why was he killed?”

Now it was Leo’s turn to shrug. “That’s what they want us to figure out. I’m sure someone stands to gain from him being killed. Whether that’s an insurance policy, or access to his funds, or a will, or something. Money’s probably involved. He had plenty to go around. If people are willing to shoot each other just to steal a car worth two-thousand Crystum? How much more might someone be willing to do to someone worth billions of Crystum?”

“Is that why the others were killed? For money?”

Leo shook his head. “Not really sure. Some of them maybe. Stealing from even one of them should set someone up for life. So that seems an unlikely motivator, considering that six of them are dead.”

“For a little while,” Tolson added, “we thought it might be a copycat type of thing. Someone was brazen enough to off one Thirteen. And then one by one, more of them started dying. So if one person could do it, maybe that inspired others to do it. But witness accounts from each attack make it seem like it’s all been the same person each time.”

“And what kind of person would that be?”

“Someone like you, it seems.” Leo used a finger to play with his empty coffee mug. “All the witness reports indicate a female Mnolf who supposedly has found a way to weaponize alchemy.”

In his chair, Tolson pumped his fist. “I really should have ordered a second dessert.”

“Yes, Tolson, you were right. Calm down, I’m only buying your first dessert.”

“That’s all you have?” Naira asked, with raised eyebrow. “Female Mnolf? There’s over 100,000 Mnolfs in Ciphus, and if roughly half are female, that’s still quite a lot. If they’re competent with alchemy, that narrows it down somewhat, but even workers in the battery factories have to learn basic alchemy. It can be very dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

Leo snorted. “Yeah, I really don’t want to interview that many people.”

Tolson’s chair squeaked as the larger Snepard turned to face Naira. “I imagine that’s why the Chief asked for you. To trace this alchemist’s magical signature for us.”

“Their...what?” The feather in Naira’s hair nearly touched the table with the head tilt she gave Tolson. “That’s…not a thing.”

Tolson’s face fell faster than Leo’s bank account would after this meal. “It’s not? But isn’t that how they track criminals in the stories?”

“Yeah, that’s just fiction, Tolson.” Leo said. “Sorry, bud.”

Tolson’s thumb drew sad circles on the checkered tablecloth. “I know it’s fiction, but I thought writers were supposed to research stuff to make it more believable.”

Leo shook his head. “Nah, they need it to be exciting to get it to sell. Reality isn’t always exciting.”