Recovering the Evidence

Recovering the Evidence

A single fly circled the body.

Odd, thought Skrie, followed by the question: Where's the swarm?

That was when she saw the pile of dead insects and knew the dagger sticking from the captain's back would be trouble for a certain mercenary sergeant. The halfling grinned to herself and, with a gentle tug, pulled the weapon from the man's body. She knew just where this little trinket belonged. The distinctive hilt identified its owner--one Sergeant Lash, the merc that had ordered her parents' inn burned down.

Skrie had already arranged accidents that took the lives of the other two perpetrators, both in full view of the woman. She had to know by now that she was next. On the other hand, the weeks the halfling spent following the sergeant and her friends had indicated that the woman wasn't clever.

Carefully wrapping the bloody knife in a piece of scrap leather, Skrie moved back toward the window through which she had entered the room. No sooner had she slipped over the sill she heard the door to the room burst open, followed by an exclamation.

"Where is it?" Lash's voice boomed through the opening.

The halfling scrambled up the drainpipe to the roof, ducking out of sight just as the woman's head appeared and swiveled, looking everywhere. A moment later, the window slammed, rattling the panes, and Skrie breathed a sigh of relief. Now, she needed to put it where it would be found.