Best Left in the Shadows Read Online Free PDF

progress.”
    Surprised, Alys stopped walking and turned toward him. “We
almost had a lot worse. What was the righteous, angry magistrate act in there?”
she said. “You know Squinting Raff could have had you in a moment.”
    Dax shrugged. “I assumed you had me covered on that front.”
    “Awfully big assumption.”
    “It didn’t used to be,” she thought she heard him say, but
before she could be sure Dax was already moving on. “So we know who she was
seeing. Now we just have to find him. Where would he be?”
    “Probably far away from here.”
    “Do you know any way to track down somebody like that?”
    Alys crossed her arms over her chest. “Do you think I can
just mine some connections and find any degenerate that happens to be Lowside?”
    “Can you?”
    “Of course I can, but what’s the point, Dax?” she said.
Seeing that the light was not fading from his eyes, she shook her head. “Look,
the guy is likely a clipper looking for an easy score. As soon as his pigeon
wound up dead, he likely went underground to lay low.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “She was a mark. This Calder went after her, got what he
needed, and then either got her involved in something that got her killed or
killed her himself.”
    “Ever the cynic, Alys. How can you assume he was just using
her? What if he did love her? And she, him?”
    Alys scoffed, but frustration gave an edge to her words. “You
always did love a good fairy tale, Dax. You just could never let it go.”
    He opened his mouth as if to retort, but then seemingly
thought better of it. “Either way,” he said, the words sharp and clipped, “this
investigation is not over until we find Calder. If you think you can do it.”
    Alys laughed at that. Trying to goad her into it. It was so
clumsy it was almost endearing. “You want the inkman, Inspector? I’ll get you
your inkman.”

Act 4
    The Course of True Love
    It wasn’t even dark by the time Alys had tracked him
down.
    The more that Alys asked around, the more she was able to
get a picture of her quarry. In addition to being a fairly skilled hand with a
tapping needle and ink, Master Calder was also a degenerate gambler.
    He was in deep to a number of folks all over the district.
Supposedly, some of Keyburn’s boys out of the Olde Sportsman’s Hall had
stumbled across him sometime last night. No one had seen him on the street
since then, which meant he’d still be at the Sportsman’s. If he was still
alive, of course.
    It had been a few months since she had had occasion to
visit the place, but things had not changed. At this point in the afternoon,
things were quiet, with just a few men and women sitting at the tables dealing
King’s Cross, or rolling dice.
    Most noticeably though, the rat pit was empty and silent.
In the center of the room were rows of wooden benches set in an amphitheater-style
around a low circular wall. Inside the wall, sawdust lined the wooden floor to
make clean-up easier, but the room still smelled like old blood and
animal fear.
    Behind the bar, Magda was there, as always, wiping down the
polished wood with a rag. She pushed back her blonde curls from her face and
reached for two small jacks. She poured them each a dram from the jug of punch
on the counter.
    “Ta, Magda,” Alys said in thanks, knocking back the drink
and feeling the burn down her throat. Dax followed suit.
    “Not at all, Alys,” Magda said. “Heard you been to see the
Tigress of late. Figured you could use a dose of stability.” She glanced down
over at Dax. “Especially given your escort.”
    “Business has its strange demands some days, Magda. Keyburn
here?”
    “Out round the back. Dealing with a delinquent collection.
But go on with you. He’ll be glad to see you, busy or not.”
    “Cheers, Magda,” Alys said, motioning for Dax to follow.
    “Glad for the sight of you, Alys,” Magda called after them.
    Alys stepped out into the late afternoon daylight. The
smell coming from the small sty of