Fifteen

“No thanks, I think I’ll be alright.” I had jumped at her appearance, but my body didn’t betray my surprise.

“It’s a hard meat to perfect. Too easy to undercook and overcook. Unless you get that perfect sweet spot, it’s tough and almost acrid.”

“Sorry, I haven’t asked your name.”

“Ugor. Nice to meet you.” They put out their hand and I gave it a shake. They had a tough grip.

“So, I’m sure you’re more than aware, your business backs onto the alleyway where a murder victim was found. What can you tell me about that night? Did you hear or see anything unusual?”

“Hmmm, you’ll have to give me a moment to think.” The orc paced the floor for a few minutes and then suddenly placed their finger on their chin. They looked at me with a smile on their face.

“My son and I were working back that night. We had just received a huge order of meat and wanted to make sure we had it all ready for business the next morning. After midnight sometime, I went into the alleyway to catch a break and a smoke, and I saw three people in the alleyway.”

“Did you happen to catch what they looked like?” I asked.

“There were two humans and an orc. I recognized the orc, it was that boxing fella, Vulug.” I was excited, it sounded like I was about to get a witness account of the whole event. My hands were shaking as I held my pen and notepad.

“Did you see much of what was going on? What they were talking about or what they did?”

“I couldn’t catch too much of what was being said. They were slurring their words. They managed to make a whole sentence sound like a single word. I caught something about one of them was getting married. One of them mentioned money. That’s the most of what I made out. I didn’t catch too much else and I walked back inside.”

“Inside, so you didn’t see anything that happened after that?” My heart leapt into my throat. I had expected to be told everything and it was ripped away from me.

“Yeah, sorry.” Ugor looked almost disappointed with themselves, as though they had let me down.

“No, its fine. Don’t be sorry. Did any of them have anything unusual on them? Something that made one of the humans stand out?”

“Uhhh, yeah. One of them held a cane.” Ugor had done their little thinking ritual again, complete with the finger against the chin. That was good, it means I could place Jackson at the scene of the crime.

“Did you happen to hear anything that happened in the alleyway after you went back inside?” I asked. My almost feverish excitement had died down when I realised it wasn’t going to be handed to me.

“No, I’m sorry about that too. Once we get the saw going in here, you can’t really hear anything else. My son and I have to scream at each other just to be heard. I’m pretty sure I’ve suffered some kind of hearing loss from that thing. I’ve been meaning to get earmuffs, but I keep forgetting.”

“Make sure that you do. Hearing is important. Can you remember anything else from that night? What you saw or maybe heard them say?” Ugor did their little ritual again. They even started tapping their chin with their finger but shook their head.

“I’m really sorry, but no I can’t.”

“That’s okay. I do need to go over to the other business that backs onto the alleyway. What can you tell me about the business?”

“I’m not too sure. They don’t have any signs anywhere, and that door is their only entrance, as far as I’m aware. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a worker enter or leave that place.

“Really?” I put my pen and notepad away. I did a little shuffle as I noticed just how cold I’d gotten in the back room here.

“Yep. Sorry I couldn’t be more help there, detective.”

“No, you’re right. You’ve helped me plenty. I can confirm two of them at the crime scene now with a witness. That’s more than I could have hoped for.”

Ugor and I shook hands again and they let me back out the door.

“If you do happen to remember anything else, send me a letter to the Jade Palace.”

“I know that place. It’s got that singer, Kipp the sprite. She has a really amazing voice. Do you live there or something?”

“I know Kipp, she’s a good friend of mine. I stay there sometimes when I’m visiting from Edge City.”

“Free tickets?” Ugor asked.

“Only sometimes. I don’t get too much time to see many shows, too busy with work.”

“Lucky.” Ugor closed the door behind them.

The truth was, I was rarely actually busy with work when I came to Fantasy Park. Normally, I came here to drink and forget. I avoided Kipp’s as often as I could.

I walked over to the other door; it was a little further down the alleyway. This one was black and solid metal. It looked heavy.

I pounded on the door and waited a few minutes. I pounded again and again for what seemed like way too long to be knocking on a door.

The door swung open, and I had to catch myself. I almost punched a dwarf in the face.

The dwarf was bald but had a chinstrap beard. They had dark brown skin and their head was covered in tattoos. Pictures and words I couldn’t understand.

They wore denim overalls with no undershirt. Heavy leather boots and a ring on each finger on their right hand.

“Hello. I’m detective Vincent Clay, I’m here investigating the murder of a human by the name of Heston Barclay. His body was found here, I just wanted to ask you a few questions.”

“No.” The dwarf stepped back into the doorway and went to slam it shut. I had put my foot in the way, and it hurt.

“Come on, just a few questions.”

“No!” The dwarf kicked my foot away a lot harder than I’d expected. The door closed on me and I was there alone in the alleyway.