Four

Grob put down the glass and rag and had another quick look around the room. One of the patrons was resting their head on the table.

“This Heston fella, he was actually a little bit of a semi regular customer here. You may recognise him by sight, when you check the body. Anyways, he was a bit of a rich type from what I could gather. He always drank my top shelf stuff, and a lot of it too. Make you feel poor just being around him,” said Grob.

“Sounds like an annoyance.” I said. I put another gold coin on the bar and Grob grabbed me another pint without even looking at what he was doing. That kind of skill always impressed me.

“Not to me it wasn’t. He always spent good coin, unlike yerself.” Grob shot me a cheeky grin.

“Hey, I always pay.” I took a long drink of me second pint. It was half done by the time I put it back down.

“I know Vince, I was just stirring.”

“When was he last here?” I asked. I made sure I had my notebook ready.

“What’s tonight, Wednesday?”

“Yeah.”

“Saturday night. He spent big on that night, more than ever actually. I was impressed.”

“Did he have any regulars that he came here with? Any constant crew?”

“Yeah, there was three that came here with him most of the time. There was an elf, named Jayrell. I think he was going to be Heston’s future brother-in-law.” Grob scratched his chin as if in thought.

“Did they seem to get along?” I asked. I put another coin on the bar.

“For a human and an elf? Man, they got along really well. It was surprising actually. It was nice to see actually. That Jayrell fella always spent big too, even more if he was with Heston. I always made a lot of money on those nights.”

“Who were the other two with him most nights?”

“There was another human. His name was Jackson. Real stiff type fella. Make most elves seem relaxed and charming. He never spent much money unless it was his round to shout. Sat there most of the time, just listening.”

“What does he look like?”

“A little taller than you, so about six feet? He always wore big fancy coats with big shiny buttons. A vest and a tie too. He’s got long brown hair that he always had swooshed back. Nasty receding hairline with a vicious widow’s peak. Oh, and he always carried around a cane.”

“To walk with?”

“I don’t think so. He always seemed to walk alright. But it was fancy looking too. Black timber with a green gem sitting in a golden claw on top. I remember it well because he threatened me with it once.”

“You let a customer threaten you?” I didn’t put another coin on the table. I needed to make sure I focused now. Grob was giving me more information that I thought he would. This was good stuff. Two suspects already and I’d only been here for twenty minutes.

“I didn’t let him Vince, but he did it anyway. A bunch of rough folk had come in on the same night that Heston and his crew were in. This rowdy lot, they was Brigg and his crew.”

“Oh boy. That would’ve been rough.” You see, Brigg was a hot-headed dwarf. Some would label him extreme. He always talked about the fairyfolk being hard done by and being treated second rate. He and his crew often attacked humans that were visiting Fantasy Park. I’d had a few run-ins with him at this very pub. A few of them ended in fist fights and I actually won quite a few of them. Had me old boxing years to thank for that. “What happened?”

“Well, you had Heston and his lot drinking in the back corner of the pub.” Grob pointed a gnarled finger to show me. “And Brigg and his lot were drinking in the other corner.”

“Sounds like a recipe for disaster. Go on.”

“Well, both lots were drinking a lot. Heston with his fancy stuff and Brig with his not so fancy stuff. They were both getting louder and starting to compete with each other.”

“Mmhmm.”

“They started yelling at each other. Something about humans. Brigg and his woman, that orc, Mazoga, were leading the charge on his end. Heston and Jackson were the main ones fighting back. Brigg and Mazoga had threatened them with violence and Heston and Jayrell were only too happy to oblige. Again, something I never thought I’d see. Are you sure you don’t want another drink?”

“Thanks, but no. I feel like its going to be a long night. Gotta stay awake and focused.”

“Fair point. Anyways. Brigg ended up throwing his stein over and it hit Jackson square in the face. Jackson immediately stood up and walked over to them. He was a scary dude, and he surprisingly intimidated them. I haven’t seen anything shake Brigg and Mazoga before. Jackson then came over my way and said I had to throw Brigg and his crew out.”

“And did you?”

“Yeah, straight away. He pointed his cane at me, and that thing looks like it would hurt, and threatened me. Well, I told them to leave, and they did without a peep. Real weird behaviour. Bhodie didn’t even have to hold them off. Which he was disappointed about.”

“Poor fella. He’s itching for a fight. He’d do really well on the boxing circuit. I could be his coach.”

“I always said your fighting days weren’t over yet.” Grob gave me a toothy grin.

“Ah, you fairyfolk, most of ya are too tough compared to what I can do. No, it was time to move on once you lot came onto the scene. Look, you can still see where Vulug got me on my last fight.” I showed Grob my crooked nose. It had never quite healed properly.

“You’re gonna love this last person then. That other fella that always hung out with Heston.”

“Why’s that?”

“It was Vulug.”