The three companions slept late and it was after ten in the morning by the time they had eaten breakfast and made it back to Flem and Terri’s room. Even so, it was another hour before Scarlett arrived, by the door this time rather than the window.

"Good news team," Scarlett said as he entered the room, "I've got us booked in with a caravan of spices and fabric that's headed to Providence tomorrow."

"Thank Ogden for that," Aggy replied, "I've been getting itchy feet waiting around for someone to accuse us of being murdering arsonists."

Terri nodded her agreement before speaking, "We've been talking about last night and our adventure at the manor. We can’t make our mind up on whether we were fighting some kind of creature or a mage. Any ideas?”

“Maybe it was both,” Scarlett replied. “In the Ravenhold library I read about ogres that were able to use spells like a mage. Perhaps it was one of those, what did it look like?”

“It started off looking exactly like Lord Dennyson, as far as we could tell in the darkness,” Flem replied. “But then it transformed into a giant grey creature with no face. It was extremely strong and also immune to Aggy’s spells.”

“Well I didn’t read about any creatures like that at Ravenhold,” Scarlett said thoughtfully. “But I didn’t read any spell descriptions that mentioned being able to transform into a giant grey monster either.”

“Regardless of whether it was a man or a monster it was certainly a formidable combat opponent,” Aggy responded. “It was only good luck and some very timely last minute assistance that allowed us to get out of there in one piece. I think we’ll need to be very, very careful not to provoke anyone when we get back to Gravenhall.”

“I agree," Scarlett replied. "If our luck has held and the infiltrators don't know about us or the professor, then we should be able to take our time in planning our next move. But if we become compromised or if the professor does, then we'll be in real trouble. I’d like to contact him as soon as we get back to Providence but without Nathaniel to act as a go-between it’s going to be tricky."

“Aye,” Aggy said thoughtfully. “The only way the professor could have confirmed that your spell worked would be by testing it out on one of the infiltrators. He could easily have blown his cover while doing that.”

Flem nodded in agreement. “How about if Scarlett and I do some covert surveillance of the professor before we approach him? We could watch him for a couple of days when we get back to Providence, see if we can spy out any spies before making contact.”

“That sounds like a very good idea,” Aggy replied. “I’ve also been wondering if we could risk having another meeting with Templeton before we leave. We now know for sure that Valleros has been infiltrated and I’d like to ask him if he has heard anything about any other powerful people in the city acting strangely.”

“I think it’s probably safe enough,” Flem answered. “He knew about our interest in Lord Dennyson and didn’t tip him off. He also hasn’t called the bailiffs down on us after the fire. I think we can be fairly sure he is what he seems to be. I’ll see if I can set up a meeting for later this afternoon.”

The rest of the meeting was adjourned while Flem went to contact Templeton. He returned after an hour with the news that they should meet the Valleros rogue at his bakery at three in the afternoon.

----------------------------

Once they were all seated around the table in Templeton’s back room, the rogue baker was the first to speak. “There have been exciting times in Valleros lately my friends. Did you hear that Lord Dennyson’s mansion burned to the ground?”

Flem spoke quickly in response before anyone else could answer. “Yes we did hear about that, it was quite a tragedy. Have you heard how it happened?”

“No one seems to know the answer to that question,” Templeton replied with a wink. “The fire was particularly intense for some reason and destroyed any evidence there might have been of any……..wrongdoing.”

“Well, that’s a real shame,” Flem said with a sigh of relief. “I guess we’ll never know if there was foul play involved.”

“Yes, I think that’s one mystery that will never be solved. Certainly not with any help from me that’s for sure. Now on to business, what can I do for you on your last day in Valleros?”

Flem didn’t bother to ask how Templeton knew when they were leaving and instead broached the subject that had brought them to the bakery. “We’ve recently become aware of a threat to both Gravenhall and Valleros that involves infiltrators exactly impersonating high ranking Lords or guild members. We were wondering if you’d heard rumours about any of the Vallerosian Lords acting strangely, or changing their behaviours unexpectedly?”

“Well, interestingly enough I have,” Templeton replied. “After our last conversation I did some digging into Lord Dennyson and it seems his recent behaviour has been very odd indeed. Over the past year he’d seen fit to expel all of his servants and was living up in that huge mansion all by himself. He’d also been searching out and buying up books of history and folklore like crazy. He’d pillaged everything he could get from the private libraries in Valleros and according to what I heard there was no price too outrageous for him to pay.”

“That is extremely interesting,” Flem said thoughtfully. “And have you heard of anyone else behaving in an odd fashion? Not necessarily a lord, perhaps a judge or a rich merchant?”

“Nothing that springs to mind,” Templeton replied. “Unfortunately we’re too short staffed up here to keep an eye on all of the merchants and traders that pass through Valleros but if something turns up I’ll pass it along to the rogues’ guild in Providence.”

“That might not be such a good idea,” Aggy said, breaking into the conversation in a way that suggested she was sick of all the careful word dancing the two rogues had been doing. “The infiltration we’re talking about is a deadly business and we don’t know how widespread it is back at Gravenhall. You could easily get yourself into trouble by saying the wrong thing to the wrong person.”

“I see,” Templeton said with a nod of thanks to the dwarf. “I appreciate the warning and I will proceed with the greatest caution. If something that seems relevant does come across my desk I’ll send a messenger to you personally.”

“Thank you,” Flem answered gratefully. “And if we end up returning to Valleros we’ll make sure to bring you up to speed on everything we find out.”

They ended the meeting with kind farewells and Templeton sent them on their way with a bag of delicious baked goods to have for supper. Scarlett headed back to his accommodations after giving them the details of where and when to meet the caravan in the morning. As the three friends made their way back to the Sleeping Dog, Terri broached a subject she’d been thinking about since their adventure at the mansion.

“I’m sorry if this is an insensitive question Flem,” Terri began, “but I’ve been wondering if you feel any better now that your father’s killer is dead? If you feel any more at peace I mean.”

Flem looked sadly off into the distance before replying. “I don’t really feel very different at all to tell you the truth, Terri. I guess I don’t blame myself the way that I used to, there were so many things happening that I had no knowledge of and no control over. I can’t see any way that I could realistically have prevented my father’s death. But I still feel sad, and kind of hopeless when I think about it. He was just a tailor who was killed because he didn’t want to give up on an old friend. I’m not sure what lesson to take out of it, or if there’s any lesson at all.”

Aggy looked at the young elf with sympathy in her eyes. “Well, if it helps at all I can definitely say that you’re not alone in feeling that way. I’ve been alive for going on seventy five years and I still can’t figure out what the point of it all is. As usual though, Ogden has some good advice for us poor mortals. A rough translation of one of his sayings is ‘There’s nothing you can do to stop bad things happening in the world, all you can do is choose how you respond to them’. I think your father would be very proud of your choices.”

This seemed to help Flem feel a little better and after a moment’s reflection he brightened. “Well, I don’t know about you two but the smell of these pastries is making me hungry. How about when we get back to the ‘Dog we gorge ourselves on a bacon sandwich or two?”