The Librarian and the Assassin, a Sapphic Romance at the End of the World - 37. Chapter 37 - Communication

A week passed, and another note had been delivered to the Kentonworth family estate by another random child.

Duke Kentonworth was holding the folded paper, and he was scowling at the words that were written on it. He had not liked the way Tawni talked down to him in her first letter, and her second one felt even more demeaning. Duke Kentonworth was really beginning to hate the ghost. He hated Tawni’s perfect penmanship, hated that she was no longer coming to him in person, hated the way she made demands, but with the assassination of Doylithia, Duke Kentonworth’s desires were for the first time within reach!

He summoned the Kentonworth family accountant again. “Crontin, get in here!”

The man’s shuffling footsteps preceded his appearance in the doorframe.

“Yes, sir?”

“Crontin, I need to make another withdrawal.”

The accountant flinched. “Sir, the fortune has become perilously dwindled.”

“All that’s about to change,” Duke Kentonworth replied with a confident grin. “The coffers will overflow again, and the Kentonworth name will rise once more!”

“But sir, what if we’re next?!”

Duke Kentonworth knew Crontin’s fears were about the ghost coming after them, and he smiled at his accountant. “We’re safe.”

Crontin glanced over his shoulder as if he was afraid someone might hear what he said next. “Sir, Family White is sending an emissary to see you this afternoon.”

“I know.”

“But sir, they’re the most powerful family on the island.”

“I know,” Duke Kentonworth repeated.

“But sir, they’re dangerous!”

“I… know…”

Crontin sucked his teeth in worry. “Sir, what if they’re the ones doing all this? Do you already know what the Whites want?”

“I do not, but I assume they’re going to propose an alliance between our families.” Duke Kentonworth looked out his office window. “The Whites have the most to lose of any of us if the ghost comes after them, and I’ve heard Theoli is acting paranoid.”

Crontin raised his nose in the air. “Theoli White has been paranoid for years. Do you remember what he did before the plague?”

Duke Kentonworth chuckled. “I do, but with the two Grondsens dead, and their fortune in jeopardy, Theoli is making drastic and dramatic decisions for Family White, and I intend to use those decisions to our advantage.” He focused on his accountant again. “I need two grand.”

“Two-thousand dollars, sir?!” Crontin shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “The savings are getting dangerously low, and what have you been spending so much money on recently?”

Duke Kentonworth’s predatory smile curled up the corners of his lips. “Don’t you worry about that.”

“But we have no way to replace the money, and at this rate, sir, it’ll soon be gone!”

“Crontin, do you know that I have a living blood relative?” Duke Kentonworth asked, distracting his accountant from his concerns. “I realize how uncommon that is since the time of the plague,” he continued before Crontin could reply, “and we were never close. He’s my cousin; you know him, Ithial.”

Crontin’s eyes went wide. “You’re related to that Grondsen freak?!”

Duke Kentonworth snickered. “I am indeed. Ithial and I were raised together until we were four. My family moved to the mainland for the next eleven years, and when we returned home, Ithial was already showing major signs of his… tendencies, and I was forbidden from seeing him. The plague started a few years later, and somehow Ithial and I made it through.”

Crontin looked like he was struggling to come to terms with the facts he had just learned. “You’re really related to that monster? Do you remember whose body he was messing with?!”

“I know, I know,” Duke Kentonworth said with a wave of his hand, “when the corpse was found, it confirmed everyone’s fears about Ithial’s psychoses.”

“Sir, don’t you remember? It was Monccini Wroghtchid’s body, the heir to the Wroghtchids! He had been missing for a few weeks,” Crontin stated. “Remember his mother’s reaction?”

“Old dame Wroghtchid was inconsolable, and rightly so,” Duke Kentonworth replied.

Monccini Wroghtchid had been an up and coming self-help guru. When it was reported that he had disappeared, the Wroghtchids hired private investigators and mounted an island-wide search, which yielded nothing. It had not been until Sathiel Grondsen was being investigated for his pharmaceutical crimes that his grandson was discovered in possession of the Wroghtchid man’s corpse.

“What do you suppose Ithial was doing with Monccini’s body all that time?” Crontin asked.

Duke Kentonworth huffed in disgust. “Ithial is a necrophile, and I don’t want to think about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s done other horrible things over the years since the plague.” He winced and added, “Ithial always liked dead things. I remember finding him playing with roadkill when we were very young.” Duke Kentonworth scowled at the revolting memory. He focused on Crontin. “Get the money.”

“Two-thousand dollars,” the accountant replied weakly, “yes, sir.” He turned and left.

Duke Kentonworth looked down at the note in his hand again.

Duke Kentonworth,

All future requests will be made in writing. You will inscribe the requested individual’s name onto a piece of parchment that is no larger than a four-inch square.

Located at the intersection of Island Way and Industry Avenue is a former apartment complex. An air intake duct is built into the pavement at the building’s northwest corner. Insert your request into the pipe, and its suction will deliver your paper.

After making your request, you will go up Industry Avenue to its intersection with Summer Boulevard. There is a manual crosswalk indicator flag that has been set to green. Shift the handle so the red flag replaces the green flag. Return to your home and await the response from my arbiter.

If your request is approved, you will go to the Oceanside Train Station and make your deposit again at sunset, doubling your payment for each new job.

You will not be receiving any further communications from me via youth errand-runners.

Signed, The Librarian

Duke Kentonworth growled to himself, “I’m really starting to hate the ghost.”

Crontin appeared in the doorframe again. He was clutching a bulky envelope close to his heart. “Sir, I have the money you requested, but the account is getting perilously low!”

“You keep saying that,” Duke Kentonworth replied dismissively. “Give me the money and go. Shut the door behind you.”

As the latch clicked and Duke Kentonworth was closed in his study, he pulled a piece of paper out of his desk. He picked up a pair of scissors and cut a small square from the page, measuring that it fit Tawni’s demands, and he wrote his next target’s name.

Gria White

The elimination of Gria would be a strategic move for Duke Kentonworth, and he was confident Tawni was going to accept his request.

He grunted as he pushed himself up from the seat behind his desk. There were a lot of new requirements that the ghost was putting him go through, but he thought it would be worth it.

Duke Kentonworth shoved the envelope of money into his desk, and he stuffed the paper with Gria’s name into his briefcase before heading out into his home’s foyer to prepare for the arriving emissary from Family White.