Chapter 137: And it’s piping hot
"I tracked down the seller," Sterling answered. "She is an apothecary in one of the western provinces. Most of her trade is ordinary. Herbal medicines, tinctures, salves, remedies. The poison is something she keeps separate from the rest of her business."
"She admitted to selling it?"
"She did after some coercion, and the time frame matches. She rarely gives away information about her poisons to avoid attracting the wrong type of attention. The only people who know she sells them are people who have won her trust, people who are willing to keep the knowledge a secret from the rest of the world."
Sterling’s journey through the western provinces wasn’t straightforward, not that he even expected it to be.
The apothecary initially denied knowing anything about the substance. She knew she was playing with fire by selling it, and that knowledge made her cautious. The threat of getting caught always loomed over her head, and her worst fear turned into reality. If she was tried and found guilty of supplying poison for the crime of murder, she would be facing the death penalty.
Sterling spent hours questioning her, comparing her answers against information he already possessed until she finally broke under the pressure and confessed.
"She could not give me the buyer’s name because the buyer preferred anonymity. But it was a woman, estimated to be in her twenties. The apothecary said the woman always dressed in plain servant clothes and wore a cloak that covered her face." Sterling went on. "One thing stood out to her. The buyer’s hands. They were smooth, with hardly any calluses on them. Those weren’t the hands of a regular servant."
It was good information, but nowhere near enough.
Draven frowned. "So you have no name to go off?"
"No. But I may have something better."
That caught his attention.
Sterling explained the arrangement he made with the apothecary. She knew that the buyer would eventually require another supply. She had agreed to continue behaving as though nothing was amiss so as not to arouse suspicion. When the buyer placed the next order, she would send word to Sterling.
"We wait for the buyer to return," Sterling said. "When she comes to collect the preparation, we will be there to apprehend her."
Draven’s gaze remained fixed upon him.
"And the apothecary?"
"She understands that she has very little choice in this. I left two of our most loyal spies with her to ensure she doesn’t go against our arrangement in my absence."
"Good." Draven muttered, thoroughly satisfied by Sterling’s work. "You did well, Sterling."
In all the years Sterling Fitzroy worked for him, he never once gave Draven reason to doubt him. He consistently lived up to the high expectations placed upon him, and his reliability was one of the reasons Draven trusted him with investigations that required discretion.
The carriage rolled steadily through the streets, its wheels rattling softly against the road as the horses maintained their measured pace.
"Thank you. I am just glad I could be of help." He flashed a rare smile. "And you, Your Grace? Her Grace told me where I could find you tonight and what you were up to. Did you learn anything from Samuel Laci?"
"I did."
Draven thought of Samuel Laci and how the man slowly wilted like a neglected plant during the interrogation.
"He confirmed some things that will be useful to us," Draven said.
The first was that Nathaniel Ashford was not involved in the smuggling operation in any way. Draven still had his doubts, but Laci’s account was convincing enough that he no longer considered Ashford an immediate concern.
"Laci also gave us a clearer description of one of our suspects, Tim Barrow. Detailed enough that the sketch artist was able to produce a useful likeness."
That development was one of the more gratifying results of the interrogation. Piece by piece, Samuel provided enough information for the sketch artist to work with, despite his initial attempts to lie and distance himself from Barrow.
Draven intended to put that likeness to use.
"We’ll have copies made," he said. "They will be distributed through the watch offices and other strategic places throughout Arden. Ports, coaching towns, post offices, anywhere people are likely to recognize the man."
That way, anyone who recognized Barrow could report where they saw him.
It was a simple measure, but Draven knew how effective it could be. Barrow could change his name. He could move from one town to another in an attempt to evade arrest, but with his face plastered across the kingdom, it would be difficult for him to remain hidden for long. Sooner or later, someone was bound to recognize him.
Laci exposed more than that. He finally explained how he entered the smuggling operation.
He didn’t begin as an active smuggler. He began as an investor.
That distinction revealed something important about the organization.
Just like what Draven and Nicholas learned prior to the warehouse raid, men with money were being offered the opportunity to invest in shipments and receive a substantial return when the goods were sold.
Some apparently knew exactly what they were funding. Others may have learned the truth only after seeing the size of their profits. Samuel himself had started that way too, then became increasingly involved until he began leasing his warehouse to the smugglers.
The arrangement was lucrative. The smugglers used his warehouse to store contraband, and when the goods were sold, Samuel received ten percent of the revenue.
Draven could understand why a man like that might find such profits difficult to resist.
Samuel was not the only investor, either. There were others, including several noblemen.
Different men dealt with different intermediaries, and information appeared to be deliberately divided so that no single participant could see the entire organization.
Samuel knew of several men involved in financing shipments, and he exposed the ones he was most familiar with. Give the man enough incentives and watch him squeal like a pig.
More importantly, he knew that warehouses were not chosen randomly.
Properties were leased through intermediaries, and the goods were moved along different routes.
That explained why the operation had survived for so long.
Then there was the matter of the ledgers seized from Samuel’s residence. Those records might reveal far more than Samuel himself had managed to explain.
They would have to examine the ledgers carefully. If Laci’s account was accurate, there might be records of payments capable of leading them toward the other chains of command.
It was well past midnight by the time the carriage finally reached Draven Estate, and Draven was more than ready to call it a night. He had already begun thinking ahead to the following morning, mentally arranging the matters that would demand his attention once the sun rose.
There was, however, one matter he found himself looking forward to more than the rest.
𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
His lovely fiancée had a secret hobby.
And, much to his amusement, Draven had every intention of learning more about it.
He wondered how long she intended to keep it from him.