James glanced around and saw others in the room were quietly watching the conversation. He had been in enough dives like Ye Bitten Dog to know that if they tried to bully Pete there would almost certainly be a brawl in short order. He reached into his belt purse, pulled out two gold coins, and placed them on the counter.
Pete’s expression brightened. “Ah, yes, me hearin’s improvin’ by the moment!” He lowered his voice. “Yeah, I knew ol’ Knute. Jes’ a small-time pirate, but he did all right for himself for the most part. At least until the bloody guards caught up with him.” He glanced at William. “No offense, of course.”
“None taken . . . yet,” William replied. “Did Knute say anything unusual over the last few days?”
Pete said nothing. After a long silence, James put another coin on the bar. More silence and James pulled out a fourth coin. Pete gathered up the gold pieces and said, “Ha! He drank so much, who could tell? I know I’ve never seen him so jumpy an’ the funny thing of it was, when the guards nicked him, he seemed relieved; almost like he was aimin’ to get nicked. Started a tussle right outside that door, he did.” Pete pointed to the front door. “Most fellows like Knute, well, they jus’ go to lengths to avoid jail, you know what I mean?” James nodded. “But ol’ Knute just started a fuss an’ then hung around ‘til a watchmen comes along, then he throws a drink in the lad’s face, kicks him in the shins, all manner of dotty nonsense. Knute’s not a scuffler, if you know what I mean. He’s a thinker, but this time he was right off his head, from what I could see.”
James said, “Can we see his room?”
Pete made a display of indignation. “You must be daft! I can’t be lettin’ folks wander through me guest’s belongin’s!”
James slid two more coins across the bar. “Your guest lies dead, hacked to pieces.”
Pete swept up the coins. “Well, in that case, I guess he won’t be mindin’. Go along. Got the key right here.” He slid it across the bar. “Left door at the top o’ the stairs. You can look, but make it quick, an’ don’t be botherin’ me other guests. An’ bring the key back directly, else I’ll send me friends t’see ya!”
They climbed the stairs and found themselves on a small landing, with four doors, two ahead, and one to the left and one to the right. James turned to the left door and inserted the key.
As he turned the key, James heard a sound from within. He stepped back, drew his sword in a fluid motion, and kicked the door open. Inside the room a large man was rummaging through a chest placed atop an unmade bed. He turned, pulling out a large knife as the door slammed open.
James shouted, “Drop that blade!”
The man reversed the dagger, holding it by the point, drew back his arm, and threw it at James. James shouted, “Down!” and went limp, dropping to the floor. The blade flew through the door inches above James’s twisting body.
James heard the sound of glass shattering as the man hurled himself through the small window overlooking the rear courtyard of the inn. William leapt over James and was at the window before James could rise.
“Damn,” said William as he looked through the opening.
James came up behind him and said, “What?”
William pointed and James looked out. The man lay sprawled upon the cobbles below, his neck obviously broken from the angle at which his head was twisted.
James said to William, “Look around and see what’s here, while Jazhara and I examine our friend below.”
James and Jazhara hurried downstairs and past Lucky Pete, who asked, “Where’s me key?”
“William will bring it when he’s done,” said James. Pointing at a door next to the bar, he asked, “That the way to the rear courtyard?”
“Yes, why?”
“Because you’ve got a corpse back there,” James replied, pushing through the door.
Pete put his elbows on the bar and said, “Happens all the time, lad.”
James reached the body and knelt next to it. A small pouch was still clutched in the man’s hand. He pried open the man’s fingers and removed it, examining the contents. Inside was a simple key.
“What do you think it’s for?” asked Jazhara.
“I’m not sure, but there’s something familiar about this key.”
William appeared. “Nothing up there worth stealing. Just some clothes.”
“There’s this,” said James, holding out the key.
William examined, then said, “Come over here into the light.”
They moved to the rear door of the inn, where a single lantern burned, and William took the key from James and indicated a mark on it. “See this symbol?”
James took it back from him and peered more closely. “That’s Lucas’s key! The one that unlocks his passage to the sewers!”
Jazhara said, “Then this must be what that villain was looking for. What does it mean?”
James tapped the key against his cheek. “Lucas has a secret entrance to the sewer, in the storage room behind the bar. He used to charge people for the use of the key, this key.”
William, “So Knute has been using Lucas’s slip-me-out to get into the sewers.”