02.21: Evidence – 2

Brenn swallowed, his mouth dry, as General Hrodric took the ledgers from his hands. The older man turned the pages with surprising dexterity for someone with calloused sausages for fingers.

After a long moment, he looked back up at Brenn.

“All I see are procurement records. Supplies bought for his Battalion.”

“I have been spending some time with clerks lately,” Brenn began, “and all they talk about is this new system of record-keeping that is being introduced. They keep whining about having to remake entire ledgers, but some brave souls also confided in me that it can also reveal fraud that was hidden until now. I bet if we were to compare those transactions,” he pointed to the ledgers, “against the ones recorded by the sellers with the new system, the fraud will reveal itself.”

The General erupted. “A bet?” he thundered, making his glorious mustache flutter. “You assaulted a Count’s son on a hunch?”

Brenn stayed calm as he met the older man’s gaze. “No, Sir,” keeping his voice measured, he explained, “I acted upon the conviction and bravery of a young man who wanted justice for the death of his brother. Who himself died seeking it.”

Hrodric narrowed his eyes at him and forced the words through clenched teeth, “Then you better find some proof. Quickly, or losing your position would be the least of your worries. You have less than a day. The nobles will be calling for your head by then, and I don’t think I could shield you from all of them.”

Brenn nodded, then forced himself to look the older man in the eyes. “Could I… get your authorization in fetching the ledgers from the sellers? It would move things much faster.”

The General sent an angry glare his way, but relented. “You have it. Be quick.” He dismissed Brenn with a flick of his hand.

Brenn saluted sharply, took the ledgers and left the office. He held onto them tightly against his chest as if they were his lifeline, which they literally were.

Outside, he let out a breath he had been holding.

Korrin was waiting for him. “Well?” he asked impatiently.

“We have less than a day to prove the fraud hidden within.”

His lips thinned. “So we ask for his help?”

“Yes.”

Korrin came back a few minutes later, a man in tow.

Despite his soft body, the man had sharp eyes that quickly moved around the room. He was also Korrin’s older brother. An eccentric who was the most vocal proponent of the new double-entry system.

“Helmer, thank you for coming,” Brenn said, clasping the man’s hand.

“Captain. What can I help you with?”

Brenn pointed to the ledgers. “This is a goldmine of fraud, if only we can find it within. We need your help in discovering it, quickly.”

Helmer nodded without ceremony and sat down to peruse through them.

Brenn pointed to a symbol in one of the ledgers; a diagonal cross with upper arms curved inward. “What is that? I keep seeing it.”

“That is the symbol for Lord Ox,” Helmer explained.

“Who is that?”

“Nobody in particular. Quartermasters are often called that. The symbol is used to mark something specific for them.”

Within minutes Helmer had gone through the ledger and written down a list.

“These sellers are the most likely to be his associates, where biggest profits can be made by buying substandard items.”

Brenn inclined his head low. “Thanks Helmer. We’ll be back with their records.”

“You go to the grain merchants, I will deal with the weapons merchant,” he told Korrin.

The Lieutenant nodded and left with his squad.

Nodding to his men, Brenn began his search and quickly found out that his quarry lived next to the Inner wall. The narrow streets of the Outer city gave way to its most prosperous district, home to manses of wealthy merchants. One of them belonged to Elric, a weapons merchant and one of the wealthiest men in the city. The man from whom Commander Alfgar bought the majority of weapons for his Battalion.

The well-made building proudly showed off its owner’s wealth. The guard at the gate promptly moved aside at the angry look in Brenn’s eyes. He knocked on the well-polished door, a little harder than he should have.

The door opened ajar and a maid looked at him through the crack. “Yes,” she asked in a thin voice.

“I am Captain Brenn from the Royal military. I have urgent business with Master Elric.”

“I will inform him of your arrival.” She gave him a nervous nod and was about to close the door when he stopped it with a hand.

“It is urgent. Let me in.”

The poor young girl was visibly distressed, but Brenn could not afford to be soft at the moment.

Seeing he would not be deterred, she stood aside.

Brenn signaled to his men, who fell behind him. Inside, the place was almost as opulent as Alfgar’s residence. Polished wood, silver fittings and woven rugs. He wondered how many men’s lives had this much wealth cost.

The maid led them through the corridors to a door. She gingerly knocked on it.

“Yes?” someone lazily asked from the other side.

“Master, there are–” as she was stammering, Brenn’s patience gave way and he opened the door. It swung inside to a room full of shelves, stacked with ledgers and curios. In the center, a fat man sat behind a large desk, looking at some records.

“What is the meaning of this?” the merchant said angrily.

Brenn gently pushed the maid aside to face the man. “Apologies for intruding like this, Master Elric, but I have urgent business with you. My name is Brenn, Captain of the Military Police in Her Majesty’s Royal military.”

The merchant tried to keep his face neutral, but Brenn didn’t miss the color draining from it.

“Captain, how may I serve you?”

“By giving me access to your records of sale.” Brenn got straight to the point.

“Of– of course,” Elric said, smiling genially. “I will send you all the records by next week.”

“I cannot wait that long, Master Elric. I need them right now.”

“That won’t be possible. I am not even sure where all of them are.”

“I’ve brought help if you need, for searching and organizing your records,” Brenn crooked his fingers, and the soldiers, hidden in the dark corridor, came forward.

Elric’s smile faltered. “Now, come, my dear Captain. Let’s be reasonable.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have the luxury, Master Elric.”

The merchant lowered his voice, until it was barely above a whisper. “Can we talk in private?” he said, eyes pointing to the soldiers.

“No,” Brenn said flatly, as the men spread out in the room.

“Surely, it can wait for some time? It’s almost time for dinner.” He turned to face the maid. “Helma, tell the kitchen staff to prepare a feast for the Captain and his men, and bring our best wine.” Then he turned back to Brenn, eyes shining bright. “I just received a shipment of the best wines produced throughout Nanon; rare vintages. I am sure you would like them.”

Brenn didn’t move an inch. The soldiers began rummaging through the ledgers.

Seeing the resolve in his face, Elric gave up the pretense of geniality. “I am a respectable subject of Her Majesty!” he thundered. “If you think your behavior will go unpunished, I’m afraid you are wrong! I have friends in high places.”

Brenn approached him, until Elric was looking up at him. “Friends such as Commander Alfgar?” he whispered. “We have proof of his treachery, Elric. I would appreciate your cooperation, but I don’t need it.”

Elric tried to leave the room, but Brenn put a hand on his arm. “You don’t get to leave,” he said in disgust. “Not until we are finished.”

The sulking man went back to his seat, when Brenn had an idea. He put a hand to stop the merchant in his tracks and pushed his seat aside. Going on all fours, Brenn removed the carpet, looking for a gap in the floorboards, and found it. He put a knife in it and pushed down. Some of the floorboards lifted to reveal a trapdoor.

Elric’s face blanched and he turned to run.

“Stop him!” Brenn shouted.

His men were quickly upon the fat man and had daggers pointed at him. Brenn locked the door and went back to the trapdoor. Underneath, he found a crate. Lifting it up, he found a bag full of gold crowns and a few ledgers.

“O’Fortuna,” Brenn whispered, then stood up to face Elric. “I put you under arrest for suspicion of conspiring to defraud the Royal military.”

“You will pay for this,” the merchant barked.

They pushed the fat man into his own carriage and took him back to the headquarters.

Korrin was already there, bent over some records with his brother.

“You were quick,” Brenn commented.

“I just didn’t care for niceties, Captain. Not when we might be hanging on the gallows tomorrow.”

Brenn grunted, placed Elric’s ledgers on the table and got to work. Comparing quantities, weights, prices and dates; tedious it might be, but this new weapon was far more effective than any blade in cleaning up corruption.

As the hours went on, numbers laid the story bare, uncovering hidden lies.

The next morning, Brenn dragged himself into the General’s office, along with Korrin. He had put some effort in his appearance, but nothing could hide his bloodshot eyes.

The General looked at his haggard face. “Well, what do you have?”

His lips curved in a faint smile, as he began opening the freshly written ledgers.

“Thanks to your authorization, our men managed to acquire the records of sale from many of the suppliers mentioned in the Fourth Battalion’s ledgers. We compared the records using the new method and discovered quite a few discrepancies. A few could be attributed to be genuine mistakes, but not the amount we have found.”

The General began looking through the anomalous records. His finger suddenly stopped at a certain line. He flipped through the different ledgers to verify something. Brenn noticed the older man’s hand was trembling.

“Sir? Are you all right?”

He gave a weak nod. “My son... so this is the reason why he died.”

The temperature dropped a few degrees in the room, as the General’s grief began turning into anger.

His finger was stuck on a procurement order for spears. The recorded sale price was abnormally low. Nobody could make a profit at that price, unless the spears were little more than twigs with heads made of substandard iron. Alfgar, on the other hand, had paid full price for them.

Brenn realized these must have been issued to the men who tried and failed to rescue the General’s son.

Hrodric sat down, while the rest remained silent.

The silence was broken by a commotion on the other side of the door.

The door opened and the General’s adjutant slipped inside, face pulled in apology. “Apologies, my lord, but Count Riedmark is here. He is insisting on seeing you immediately.”

“I wasn’t aware he was in the city.” Hrodric said in a low tone, voice still laced with grief.

The adjutant jumped to the side, as the door swiveled open with force. A tall man with severe features strode in. He was in his sixties, but still unbent, eyes sharp, hard with anger.

“General Hrodric,” he said curtly, eyeing the older man.

“Count Riedmark,” the General stood and bowed sharply to him.

“Why is my son confined like some common cutthroat?”

“Hardly, my lord. Commander Alfgar has been given accommodations befitting his noble station.”

Riedmark hissed, “Why is he confined in the first place? I heard his residence was attacked and he was captured as if he were a common soldier!”

“The circumstances of his arrest were unfortunate, but necessary.”

“Necessary?” The Count roared. “You drag my family name through the mud and call it necessary? The common soldiery is laughing about it in the city’s taverns!” His voice lowered to a hiss. “Release him this instant.”

“I don’t think so, my lord,” General Hrodric said in an even tone, as he leveled his gaze at the Count.

Riedmark almost shrank at what he saw in the General’s eyes.

Hrodric continued. “You see, my dear Count, we have just found proof of Commander Alfgar’s treachery. He has been embezzling funds meant for the soldiers of the Royal Army. Stealing from Her Majesty’s treasury cannot go unpunished, can it?”

Riedmark stood still, color draining from his face.