Page 63 - The Chronicles Ser2 (6-10)

Gaston sent a silent message to Herne’s communicator. Herne was in the alley
behind Filigree Street in the “Red Light” district relieving his tight bladder. He finished
quickly and read the message. Before returning, he entered the rear of one of the buildings.
A woman was finishing the bookkeeping for the establishment. She looked up at Herne and
in total silence; she reached into the desk drawer, retrieved a large paper bag, and handed it
to Herne. He took it looked inside raised his eyebrows and looked at the woman for some
kind of explanation.

“We’ve had an exceptional week! A load of Unity tourists, college fraternity boys, they paid
well as you can see. That’s the Syndicates percentage to the tenth of a credit. I hope Mr
Glass will be pleased and tell him I think he’ll like the added bonus inside” she said. Gaston
examined the contents closer and found a folded note with an address and a name written
in green ink. He recognised it as that of a member of the “Boys Cartel”.

“Don’t worry he’s clean, but has a lot of gossip about the Carnegie Syndicate that Mr Glass
might find of more use than just let it slip into the hands of the Force” she added. Gaston
smiled and winked at the woman before taking his leave and heading back to Mr Glass’s
office. He took a different route back to the mansion to avoid the Force patrols.

Glass was watching the vid footage when Herne arrived back; he paused the playback just
before Herne had let Morgana into his office. Herne handed over the take and the letter
saying, “Caroline Jenkins from The Blue Scarab also sent this name and address. He’s a “Boys
Cartel” member with some special information. She said you might want to meet the lad in
person” he finished and sat down when Glass motioned him to do so. “Oh; they’ve had a
generous week, some College Fraternity guys paid handsomely” Glass indicated him to shut
up.

“When you let my stepsister in here did she say why she was here?” Mortimer asked

“Only that she wanted to know when you’d be back. I told her you were busy with a patron
of the arts and could be a while. She insisted that she’d stay and talk with you in person. I
hung around until Gaston got back and then went to get the cut from The Blue Scarab. As
far as I know she never left the office, unless Gaston let her out,” He replied. Mortimer
thumbed his chin; pressed the call button on the intercom and asked Gaston when his
stepsister had left. Gaston replied that she had given up waiting about an hour after he’d
gotten back from his errand saying that she couldn’t hang around all day. That was around
twenty minutes before Mr Glass had come back.

“She left me a very unpleasant message; one of her little mind games. Watch the office vid
footage with me I think you’ll find this interesting” Glass put the playback on the office’s
large monitor screen. It showed Herne letting Morgana into Glass’s office and him leaving to
the outer room. Morgana waited until she heard Herne settle and then went to the filing
cabinet. She deftly picked the lock and opened the third drawer down, Mortimer smiled,
“clever skills” he thought. She removed a folder from around the middle of the drawer
looked through the contents and removed a single sheet. She put the folder back and went
over to the computer terminal. She created a modified version of the sheet and put it in
Mortimer’s out tray after forging his signature. She then folded the original and placed it
under the potted plant in the corner next to the door. She took a small vial from her
handbag and went over to the drinks cabinet. She took out the Singorian Brandy emptied