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T revils realized Neco was actually good at this, so he was being a lot more honest with us. If it had been just me, he would have thought I was some stupid kid who was going to lose their mom no matter what happened, so he was going to shut me out to keep me from being the Ghoul’s next target.

Working with Neco was painful because the whole time I hated him, I also desperately missed him. I was grateful for it now, even though it was going to hurt like fuck when things went back to how they were when this was over.

Trevils was directing most of this at Neco and I wasn’t even angry about it. Neco was good at this and he’d always been intelligent in ways I wasn’t. I was seeing that even more now that he was an adult. I just had this feeling if anyone could get my mom the cure, it was going to be Neco.

“So, you’re being wasted in whatever job your father is putting you in for payment, kid. I had a Baron pegged after the first scene because there was no sign of a struggle and that’s just not natural, but it took two crime scenes to figure out no one saw anything because of weddings or name days.”

Neco just shrugged.

“That was just a theory. I wasn’t going to be sure until I talked to other neighbors.”

“I already have and you were right.”

“Do you know how he’s picking them?” I asked. “In Lower Cutwart, everyone seemed to think Elsbeth was special because she was beautiful. The only reason they were home was because they didn’t want the groom to ditch the bride for her. Was it similar in the other cases?”

“No. They all had beautiful girls around that age, but they were home for different reasons. In one of the cases, the girl was beautiful on the outside and nasty on the inside and had burned a lot of bridges with her neighbors. No one wanted their family there.

“Another case people loved the kids, but found the parents insufferable so the kids got punished for it. The rest were because Devil’s Pox is going around the Merchants District.

Not everyone is taking the quarantine period seriously.

People are still having wedding and name days, but if they suspect you have it, they won’t invite you. ”

I wouldn’t, either. Devil’s Pox wasn’t fatal, it was just a nuisance. It was a lot of pus, mucous, and itching and it was highly contagious. You had to quarantine for a fortnight before you didn’t give it to someone else.

There was no excuse in the Merchant District.

It was pretty miserable in Guttertown because we had no books and there weren’t many free ways to entertain yourself.

Sometimes, people showed up at the tavern or brothel and we had to make them leave.

The Merchant District had books and art.

They could amuse themselves while they were forced to stay in their rooms.

So, great, now I had to deal with potentially getting Devil’s Pox.

“So, we know how he’s getting away with not being seen, but there has to be more to how he’s picking them,” Neco said. “If Devil’s Pox is going around the Merchants District, then it would be easy picking for him when he wanted to kill. There was no reason for him to move to Lower Cutwart.

“The Barons and the merchants mostly just pass through it when they come to Guttertown for the brothel or they’ve found out our tavern is better than theirs.

A potential wife would be the only reason they were there, so that all leads back to Elsbeth, who her very horny neighbor was sure hadn’t picked yet. ”

Trevils threw back his head and laughed. Probably because he didn’t know Neco hated being touched by strangers and he was one of the killers he was hunting.

“Getting some of my answers used to be a lot easier when I was younger and more attractive as long as my wife knew it didn’t mean anything and it was for the case.

But you’re right. There was no reason to move to Lower Cutwart with Devil’s Pox making its way through the Merchant’s District unless we’re dealing with a smart psychopath. ”

“What’s a smart psychopath?” I asked.

“Well, the finger paintings on the wall could mean something in his twisted mind or he might just be pure evil and is leaving them to taunt me. Lower Cutwart doesn’t make sense when he’s been mostly using Devil’s Pox in the Merchants District.

“Maybe it’s not supposed to. It could be he was one of Elsbeth’s suitors and that was how she was chosen. He could just be playing with me by switching things up. This could also just be because he was bored and wanted a challenge.”

“Sorry, but wouldn’t we just need to look at which Baron or their relatives have Devil’s Pox?

” I asked. “They rarely come to the Merchants District. They usually send one of their men or send for someone. If Devil’s Pox is going around, they wouldn’t do business with them until it dies down.

If someone is sneaking out, they would have caught it by now. ”

“Good point, kid. The Barons are particular about diseases their healers can’t cure.

They’ve got this salve for the pustules, but it only brings everything down a slight bit.

If one of them caught it after they gave the order to steer clear, they’d lock them in their dungeon until it was over because they also consider it embarrassing for one of them to be seen like that. ”

“Unless it was a head of house,” Neco said.

“Not all of them inherit the big title. They get lands and minor titles. But that would rule out being in Lower Cutwart for Elsbeth because they don’t get that until they are married.

The Barons tend to only care about the first-born son, so they wouldn’t check in on the spares much. ”

“That much is true,” Trevils said. “But also, it has to be one of them or they would have fought back. At the same time, when word got out Devil’s Pox was going around, I haven’t seen any of them around.”

“Are you fancy enough to know all of them?” I asked.

Because seriously, most people weren’t. Leodos was the fanciest person I knew, and he didn’t know a lot of the younger ones that didn’t matter to their fathers. Leodos also hated those people, so he also didn’t bother.

“I’m Lower Cutwart, born and bred. There’s not a single thing fancy about me. I am, however, very observant and good at my job.”

Neco just nodded.

“He can’t arrest them, but it’s good to know who they are and keep an eye on them just in case.”

“That makes sense. And I’m sorry. That’s probably miserable.”

Trevils just shrugged.

“Most of the spares are less entitled than the heirs, but some are very ambitious. They’d do just about anything for their father’s attention and to get their brother disinherited.”

“‘Rich people’ drama is weird,” Neco grunted. “I’d die for my sister. If my momma or sister ever need anything from my father again, I’ll find a way to pay him back twice.”

‘Rich people’ drama was weird, but I didn’t want Neco chained to his father any more than he already was, even though he seemed happy with the arrangement he was given.

“So, that’s all I have,” Trevils said. “You figured out a lot of it, but that’s where I’m stuck. I couldn’t tell you which Baron it is and I don’t know what I’m going to do when I figure it out. Someone is going to pay for his crimes with their life and it’s not going to be him.”

“You said I’m good at this, right?” Neco said. “I’m also not the law and I’m Guttertown born and bred. I’m going to come up with something and you might not want to be involved because they are going to be pissed. No need for you to lose your job.”

“If you kill him, even if you catch him in the act, they will pin all of it on you and hang you.”

Neco just grinned like a psychopath.

“I’m not going to lay a finger on him.”

Now that I knew a lot more of Neco Argent’s secrets, I had a feeling one of them was going to pay for their crimes for the first time ever.