Murder at the Kinnen Hotel Read Online Free Page B

up to attract the waiter. “A pencil and paper, please.”
    “What the pit do you think you’re doing?”
    Captain Hewi had intercepted Adamat as he came into the precinct building the next morning and hurried him into her office, slamming the door behind her.
    “I’m not sure what you mean, ma’am,” Adamat said, giving her his best blank look.
    Hewi slapped his chest with a handbill and rounded her desk, where she quickly packed a pipe and began smoking up a storm. Adamat looked down at the handbill. It was a single sheet of paper, the kind that newsies handed out on the street corners once they were out of proper newspapers. They often contained advertisements for plays or local businesses.
    This particular handbill belonged to the Yellow Caller , the publication of a disreputable and widely despised printer that specialized in sensational and misleading headlines.
    “Police of the First Precinct cover up murder committed by mad powder mage,” Adamat read aloud. “Local businessman takes fall. Powder mage still at large, quite dangerous.”
    “This was your doing, wasn’t it?” Hewi demanded.
    Adamat held the handbill at length to examine it. Cheap quality paper. Several words misspelled. Typical of the Yellow Caller . “I know nothing about it.”
    Hewi glared at him. “I’m certain you don’t, and you better stick to that story when the commissioner gets here. He’ll arrive any minute, and he wants your head.”
    “Why my head?” Adamat asked. He tried to keep his breathing steady. He wanted attention and this was not unexpected. But he’d hoped to attract a different kind of attention first.
    “Don’t patronize me,” Hewi said, pointing her pipe at the handbill. “Officers are forbidden from speaking to the newspaper about an existing case without permission from their superior.”
    “They do it all the time,” Adamat said.
    “Just because no one follows a rule doesn’t mean that the commissioner won’t enforce it at his leisure.”
    Adamat gripped the head of his cane, not looking the captain in the eye. “Well,” he said quietly, “It’s a good thing the Yellow Caller isn’t a newspaper.”
    Hewi seemed to consider this then shook her head. “You’re too clever by half, Adamat. The commissioner can still ruin your career.”
    “Everyone knows the Yellow Caller is rubbish. This handbill will be forgotten by the end of the week.”
    Hewi threw her arms wide. “Then why bother at all?”
    Adamat opened his mouth to answer but closed it again as the door to Hewi’s office burst open. Commissioner Aleksandre strode into the small room, his face red, his chest heaving. Adamat took an involuntary step backwards and reflected on the resemblance between Aleksandre and Lieutenant Dorry.
    “What,” Aleksandre said, throwing a handbill identical to the one Adamat still held down on Hewi’s desk, “is that?”
    Adamat considered informing him that it was a cheap handbill, but one look at Hewi and he swallowed the quip.
    “I was just discussing that with the special constable here,” Hewi said. She stared Adamat in the eye as she said it, and her face clearly said, This is your problem. You deal with it.
    “Oh?” Aleksandre whirled on Adamat. “Would you like to explain it to me, then?”
    Adamat pretended to examine the handbill in his hand. “It appears that my investigation yesterday was leaked to someone at the Yellow Caller and they’ve printed a gross misinterpretation of my conclusions.”
    “A gross … “ Aleksandre sputtered, his face growing even more red.
    “I can start an internal investigation immediately if you’d like the culprit found,” Adamat continued, “but I think it’s better to ignore this entirely. After all, you’ve instructed us to disregard the powder mage theory and focus on Ricard Tumblar. It’s just the Yellow Caller , sir. No one will remember this within days.”
    Hewi made a strangled sound in the back of her throat and began coughing pipe