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The Code of Silence

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Loxuru

Graf von Kreuzigung
Here it is, then, Loxuru’s first attempt to create a crime story!



“In my office! Both of you! Immediately!”

“There you are, completely with empty hands, apart from two cold dead bodies that will tell you nothing anymore!”

“The bunglers they refer to, that’s the two of you!”

“These wordings look to me like a concealed confession!? Or am I biased!?”

“Never seen a woman in the public service!? Bad luck for you, since we are more zealous than our male colleagues!”

“He asked a fee of twenty-five percent of the restitution! That’s always a suspicious transaction!”

“I said I was convinced for ninety-five percent of her guilt! I want it to be for the full hundred percent!”

“To me, the whole thing looks like an execution! A cold blooded execution! Not a brawl gone out of hand!”

“Why did she made a risky investment in a project she wanted to pull out!?”

“Tell me! In case I would ever make a promotion to chief-constable, will I become a grumpy bureaucrat like him!?”
“Probably, or rather : most likely!”

“You better pray to that Serapis of yours that He will not let you down, when I shall have you nailed, because that’s what I am going to do with you! To a real cross, with real nails!”

“In other circumstances, this would have been settled during a good meal with the tax collector!”

“As if they were telling : ‘Here you have to dig, idiots!’”.

“If these cross could speak, what would they tell us?”
“Probably, interrogating these crosses will yield much more information than any inquiry in the High Plains!”

“There is only a motive! No opportunity! No means!”

“Out, you two!”



A husband and wife vanish from their farmstead. Money has disappeared. Robbery with murder? A case to solve by two police detectives. They are confronted with a closed rural religious community with its own codes, powers and unwritten laws. A code of silence! What happens in the community stays in the community.

An unexpected hint seems to lead to a breakthrough. But many mysteries remain!


The main characters of this story are :

Marcus Sulcus and Gaius Bulbus, two police superintendent-detectives, charged with the murder case.

Octavius Octavianus, police chief-constable and (grumpy) chief of those two.

Claire Brogilaigh a business woman

Livia Metella, Special Quaestor of the Imperial Tax Office.

Idrus Loxuru, a not so integer tax collector and consultant.

Corentus Bhoghall a neither integer employee of the Tax Office

Father Arthus Gwenn, a priest of the Resourcers cult.
 
Here it is, then, Loxuru’s first attempt to create a crime story!



“In my office! Both of you! Immediately!”

“There you are, completely with empty hands, apart from two cold dead bodies that will tell you nothing anymore!”

“The bunglers they refer to, that’s the two of you!”

“These wordings look to me like a concealed confession!? Or am I biased!?”

“Never seen a woman in the public service!? Bad luck for you, since we are more zealous than our male colleagues!”

“He asked a fee of twenty-five percent of the restitution! That’s always a suspicious transaction!”

“I said I was convinced for ninety-five percent of her guilt! I want it to be for the full hundred percent!”

“To me, the whole thing looks like an execution! A cold blooded execution! Not a brawl gone out of hand!”

“Why did she made a risky investment in a project she wanted to pull out!?”

“Tell me! In case I would ever make a promotion to chief-constable, will I become a grumpy bureaucrat like him!?”
“Probably, or rather : most likely!”

“You better pray to that Serapis of yours that He will not let you down, when I shall have you nailed, because that’s what I am going to do with you! To a real cross, with real nails!”

“In other circumstances, this would have been settled during a good meal with the tax collector!”

“As if they were telling : ‘Here you have to dig, idiots!’”.

“If these cross could speak, what would they tell us?”
“Probably, interrogating these crosses will yield much more information than any inquiry in the High Plains!”

“There is only a motive! No opportunity! No means!”

“Out, you two!”



A husband and wife vanish from their farmstead. Money has disappeared. Robbery with murder? A case to solve by two police detectives. They are confronted with a closed rural religious community with its own codes, powers and unwritten laws. A code of silence! What happens in the community stays in the community.

An unexpected hint seems to lead to a breakthrough. But many mysteries remain!


The main characters of this story are :

Marcus Sulcus and Gaius Bulbus, two police superintendent-detectives, charged with the murder case.

Octavius Octavianus, police chief-constable and (grumpy) chief of those two.

Claire Brogilaigh a business woman

Livia Metella, Special Quaestor of the Imperial Tax Office.

Idrus Loxuru, a not so integer tax collector and consultant.

Corentus Bhoghall a neither integer employee of the Tax Office

Father Arthus Gwenn, a priest of the Resourcers cult.
:popcorn:
 
The Code of Silence.

The Roman Empire. The year 2049 IE (Imperatoria Era) (years elapsed since Caesar Augustus was confirmed as Princeps by the Roman Senate).

Province of Gallia, Diocese of Gallia Belgica, Prefectura of Turnacum.

Castrilocum : the stationem vigulum.

1.

“Sulcus and Bulbus! In my office! Immediately!”

Superintendent-detectives Sulcus and Bulbus stood up from their desk, exchanged a look, telling ‘Oh-oh! Trouble!’, and obediently entered the office, where Chief-constable Octavius Octavianus awaited them, with a stern look! The seriousness of the situation was clear, as the Octavianus did not offer the two superintendent-detectives to sit down. They knew, when they had to ride out the storm standing up in front of the chief’s desk, it would be a heavy one.

“Here!” the Chief-constable said, while throwing the day’s regional edition of the newspaper ‘Gallia Temporibus’ in front of their feet. “What are you two going to do about it!?”

Sulcus picked up the newspaper.

“Yes!, Sulcus!”, the Chief-constable barked, “we are making the headlines of the front page of the press!”

While showing the front page to Bulbus, Sulcus scrutinized the headlines. “The Maurandiacum mystery : any progress!?”.

“Don’t bother to read it, Sulcus! I will summarize it in one line : ‘what are those incompetent police detectives bungling!? Why can’t they solve the case!?’ And before one of you would tell me that those were two lines, I just remind you, gentlemen! The bunglers they refer to, that’s the two of you!”

“It’s… just a newspaper, Sir!” Sulcus tried to defend himself with as much self-confidence as was possible against the force 10 rage of Octavianus.

“To be precise : just a gutter newspaper, Sir!” Bulbus added.

The Chief Constable stroke his fist on his desk.

“Gutter press or not, people read it! I already got an angry call from the Chief Officer in Turnacum! And you know the rules of the game in this office! When the Chief Officer in Turnacum is pissed-off, then, I am double pissed off, and you two better take action to find out what happened on that farm in Maurandiacum! You have two suspects! Turn on the heat on them!”

“Sir!” Bulbus tried to persuade the Chief Constable, “allow me to remind that…we even don’t have … bodies! There is no corpus delicti! These two people have.. vanished. For the same, they are still alive, somewhere far away, and our suspects have nothing to do with it!”

“We have searched the crime scene… the alleged crime scene, for bodies at all possible places, Sir!” Sulcus added.

“Not enough! Clearly not enough! And may I remind you two, that our two suspects are suspects, because they behaved suspiciously during their interrogation! Because they made conflicting statements, about their own acts and whereabouts, and about each other’s! That’s what you two have reported to me more than once already! Am I right!?”

Sulcus and Bulbus could not do but confirm this.

“So, get on with it! Thirty minutes ago, I have been given 48 hours to report to the Chief Constable! There is your deadline, gentlemen, forty-eight hours minus thirty minutes, to come up with results, here, in this office, from the place where you are standing now! If you have to stay at the station, and work all night, I don’t give a damn if you would! It is your problem! And it will be even more your problem, if you enter here with empty hands at 10 am the day after tomorrow! That’s it! Out, you two!”

(to be continued)
 
2.

With a sigh, superintendent-detective Marcus Sulcus returned to his desk. He and his colleague Gaius Bulbus, had been charged with investigating a worrying disappearance of a couple of farmers, husband and wife, aged in their late forties. The disappearance had been reported five weeks ago, by a worried sister of the female victim.

There were three options. First, the couple had simply gone, taking away their money, to live on elsewhere. Actually, one did not ‘vanish’ for long, Roman administration was capable enough of tracking down someone’s whereabouts, even in Germania, Hibernia, or elsewhere abroad. Moreover, they apparently had no sound reason to do so. Hence, this option, that they were alive and free, had become less and less plausible with time. The second option had been an abduction. That kind of shit happened in their community, mostly to settle financial or honour conflicts.

One problem was their community. Maurandiacum was located in the High Plains, one of these rural areas, where urban civilization never had set foot. A sprawl of small villages, hamlets and farmsteads, since centuries populated mainly by adherents of the Resourcers cult.

‘Resourcers’ was the name of a branch of the Serapis cult that had emerged some 450 years ago in the empire. The name derived from their doctrine, claiming to return to the true ‘sources’ of the religion, stating that Serapis would one day send His Son as a messiah, and those who would not follow that messiah and would not renounce to their sins, and not adopt the humble, god fearing life, would be punished for eternity.

Serapis would bless and choose the humble people, and call them to Him. Hard work, praying and renouncing to material and other temptations, that’s what mattered in a real humble life. The message of the Resourcers, which also rejected Mars and Vesta as deities, and only veneered Serapis, successfully appealed to the impoverished masses. Riots and rebellions broke out throughout the entire empire.

The Resourcers claimed to return to the ancient principles of religion, based on an event that, according to some obscure accounts, had occurred some 1500 years earlier, in Judea, during the reign of Tiberius. A messiah, had been sent by Serapis, to redeem mankind from its sins. That god-messiah had been crucified, both as a punishment, and, by the harshness of the punishment, as a sign of salvation of all mankind that would believe in Him. The imperial establishment had since long abandoned that idea, as it would be unacceptable and incomprehensive that a messiah, either a god or not, would have died this terrible and humiliating death – a form of execution which was still in vigor. And since a son of Serapis would have the same god-status as Serapis, such a fate was completely incompatible with the official image of a supreme, all mighty being. Adhering to that belief of the crucified redeemer was heresy, blasphemy, and also treason to the emperor.

Anyway, the Resourcer’s beliefs gave a spiritual fuel to the social disgruntle against the corrupt imperial and religious institutions, and the wealthy oligarchs that supported them. Impoverished masses, exploited by the oligarchs and repressed by empire and official religion, stood up. The sometimes massive uprises soon turned into violence against the imperial institutions. For a few months, it appeared that the empire would fall apart in secessionist provinces, but the emperor kept the support of the legions. Once they had restored discipline and purged the ranks from Resourcers, the rebellion was crushed with extreme violence.

For the first time in more than thousand years, the Roman Empire saw an old phenomenon return : mass crucifixions in the circus and along the main roads, living torches, people thrown for the lions and other cruelties. All inflicted to Resourcers who had rebelled, or just had refused to forsake their beliefs.

Although the rebellious movement was crushed, the Resourcer’s movement itself was never completely eradicated. After 150 years of conflict, a compromise of live and let live settled, between the imperial order, the traditional Jupiter/Serapis-Vesta-Mars cult (the so-called orthodox ones), and the Resourcers. The compromise ‘tolerated’ the Resourcer’s cult, but put restrictions on them. They were not allowed to reside in Italy, and in fact, they were banished to the more remote ‘Atlantic’ provinces, like Mauretania, Lusitania, Gaul and Brittania. They also had restrictions in civil rights. They had no full citizenship, unless they publically would renounce to their religion.

Among the Resourcer’s communities who had survived, rose a spirit of self-reliance. Determined to survive in Roman society, they developed a working ethos, in order to sustain economically their own communities. Their communities often retired to some remote parts of the provinces, and although they did not isolate themselves completely, and traded with the rest of the economy, the persecutions of the 16th century had still left their mark, by a deep distrust towards outsiders, and towards the empire’s institutions.

One of such regions was the High Plains, a rural area south of Castrilocum, where every farm was a castle, family honour was high at the stakes, everybody minded his own business, and settled his own business, and did so preferably without involving the imperial authorities. So, Sulcus and Bulbus, while investigating the mystery of the disappearance at Maurandiacum, could hardly count on cooperation from the locals. Such things as abducting someone, to settle a bill, happened from time to time in that community. Sometimes, the victims showed up again and took on their life as if nothing had happened (despite maltreatment, rape, humiliation, they sometimes had been subjected to by their abductors). Sometimes, they would never return and vanished without a trace.

So, the third option, the detectives had to consider, was murder. Usually, these villagers settled bills by murdering in the open, as a warning to the community : ‘this happens when you mess with me!’ (although no witness would make a statement to the police). However, the victims did not seem to have a feud, of the kind that might explain abduction (although it still could not be ruled out, considering the code of silence ruling the High Plains). Since also a considerable sum of money seemed to have disappeared from the farm, the crime of robbery with murder, after which the bodies would have been hidden, seemed an obvious trail to investigate too. The High Plains folks were deeply religious, but that did not exclude their characters of being closed, vicious, cunning and violent. They were said even not to be averse of stealing from their neighbours if those did not belong to the same family clan, although such incidents were not reported to lead to deadly violence, mostly.

So far, Sulcus and Bulbus had two suspects : the daughter and son in law of the vanished couple. They had reported the disappearance from the farm of an amount of money too. It was this openness (particularly about the money), that had drawn the suspicion on them. Very unusual for the traditional code of silence of the High Plains community.

From the local constabulary in the High Plains, Sulcus and Bulbus had learned that the young couple lived in conflict with the parents. The son in law was a farmhand, practically without a penny, not the party, her parents had wished for their daughter. They had wanted an alliance with another farmer’s family as a son in law. The now twenty year old young couple had however married, about eighteen months ago, without parental consent. But they lived on the same farm, and according to the constabulary, the young man was a hard worker, and so was his wife, who helped on the farm, both on the courtyard and the field, and in the farm’s administration. Nevertheless, the constabulary had heard mentions of firing up brawls between the elder and the younger couple.

There had been rumours – only rumours – that, during the brawls, the parents would have threatened to disinherit the young couple. As the situation was, the daughter would inherited the farm and the land, on the death of the parents. So they had a motive or the crime : averting to lose everything.

Interrogated, the young couple soon started to give conflicting statements about the last whereabouts of the vanished couple, and about their own’s. On the day, the vanishing had been reported, the daughter had been to Castrilocum, but she had also mentioned other places. The son in law had stated he had been working on the field, yet no witness could confirm that. He and his wife had stated that they had initially not been worried about the absence of his parents in law : that happened more. But according to the detectives, there were gaps and questions they could not explain.

The suspects claimed, these gaps simply arose from bad memory, since the day of the disappearance had simply been one of routine work, similar to most other working days. But Sulcus and Bulbus were investigating the trail, that they could have murdered the parents, hidden the bodies, and that the question of the ‘stolen’ money was a decoy, to cover up a murder as a robbery by a third party. To their defence, the young coupled argued that they had not realized immediately that the parents had actually vanished – like the son in law said, they were often away, for business – so they had lost record of their own whereabouts, and they simply could not remember any detail of it.

“So, Mister Bulbus!”, Sulcus said, “Hands on! We have exactly…” (he looked on his watch) “…forty-eight hours minus forty-five minutes, to come up with something!”

“But how!? Interrogate the suspects again!? Will that bring up something new!? We have analyzed the transcripts of their interrogations to the last interpunction…?”

“I shall start with the last developments, Mister Bulbus!”

“Last developments!? Which last developments, Mister Sulcus? There aren’t any!?”

“This press article is the last development, Mister Bulbus!” Sulcus said, waving with the newspaper he had taken with him when he had left Octavianus’ office.

(to be continued)
 
Even in far off Arkansasia???
A few centuries ago, a sailor named Julius Columbus claimed, he could reach China by sailing to the west, over the Atlantic. But on a stop at La Gomera, he met a lady named Bárbara Morales of Palos de la Frontera. Completely seduced by her tight little, he took her on board. After sailing away, nothing was heard anymore of his expedition. According to rumours, he most likely got completely distracted by Lady Morales.:D

After that debacle, the emperor has decreed that the Earth is flat, and anymone denying that, or who intends to make the journey again, commits a crucifiabke blasphemy!:roto2nuse:
 
he “Fall of the Roman Empire”was fake news.
Even in far off Arkansasia???
When imagining a Roman Empire 'that never fell', and still would persist up today, the 'America question' is obviously always raised.

I assume that there could be such a world, in which America was not yet discovered, or not fully explored, leave colonised. So, the continent would not play a geopolitical role.
This could be the case, if the drive and conditions, that caused the discoveries and colonisation of the 16th century, would have been absent.

Rome was a continental empire, that traded mainly overland, or by coastal shipping, with India and China. As everything it needed came by the silk road overland from the east, why venture over sea to the west. Partly within its borders (Arabia) or from its neighbours or colonies (Russia), everything was there : grain, oil, gas, ore,....

There would be neither kings of Spain, Portugal, England, to stimulate Atlantic discoveries and trade, competing with other kingdoms.

No need to spread a Christian religion for the salvation of 'pagans' in the new worlds.

And no Islam either. Rome controlled all these countries. A major drive to start the discoveries at the end of the 15th century, was the Turkish conquest of Constantinople (1453), which strongly disturbed Europe's overland trade routes, creating the need to trade by sea.

So, we should not assume that such a course of history was inevitable.

Next episode coming soon. Up to #5, they are ready and will follow the next days. From 6 on, I am still finishing. Stay tuned! :D
 
When imagining a Roman Empire 'that never fell', and still would persist up today, the 'America question' is obviously always raised.
Oh this is fun, may I comment in detail please? I have opinions!
I assume that there could be such a world, in which America was not yet discovered, or not fully explored, leave colonised. So, the continent would not play a geopolitical role.
This could be the case, if the drive and conditions, that caused the discoveries and colonisation of the 16th century, would have been absent.
This ignores the obvious problem of assuming that the Americans never had an expansionist push, there’s a 500 year long history void to fill, vast and highly developed civilizations that wouldn’t have been killed off by smallpox.
Rome was a continental empire, that traded mainly overland, or by coastal shipping, with India and China. As everything it needed came by the silk road overland from the east, why venture over sea to the west. Partly within its borders (Arabia) or from its neighbours or colonies (Russia), everything was there : grain, oil, gas, ore,....
Are they also ignoring the widely known ancient science regarding the shape and size of the Earth? Columbus wasn’t rejected because of any beliefs that the Earth was flat, it was the belief that he was a bad mathematician. They were right! China was much further away than Columbus claimed.

2,000 years of dynastic stability… no one got curious?
There would be neither kings of Spain, Portugal, England, to stimulate Atlantic discoveries and trade, competing with other kingdoms.

No need to spread a Christian religion for the salvation of 'pagans' in the new worlds.
I like these arguments
And no Islam either. Rome controlled all these countries. A major drive to start the discoveries at the end of the 15th century, was the Turkish conquest of Constantinople (1453), which strongly disturbed Europe's overland trade routes, creating the need to trade by sea.

So, we should not assume that such a course of history was inevitable.
Agreed. But I argue against stagnation, imho such stagnation breeds complacency and eventually fall of empire.

In case it isn’t obvious, I prefer an unfallen Roman Empire that was an expansionist one, and only natural to spread as centuries become millennia. Not just to the Americas, but the vastness of Africa and who knows about Asia? A natural border at the Indus and himalaya?

And what of us glorious Antipodes?

Next episode coming soon. Up to #5, they are ready and will follow the next days. From 6 on, I am still finishing. Stay tuned! :D
Very enjoyable, no massive rush.
 
Oh this is fun, may I comment in detail please? I have opinions!
Thanks for your comments, @Loinclothslave :)

I have considered all these thoughts too. My first thought was to introduce the story with a brief synopsis of 1500 years tof fictional history. I left it out, and simply assume that, at the time of the story, the Empire is by coincidence, more or less comparable to its borders and institutions of the 2nd or 3rd century AD.

2,000 years of dynastic stability… no one got curious?
But I argue against stagnation, imho such stagnation breeds complacency and eventually fall of empire.
So, it does not necessarily imply stagnation or stability for 2000 years. Rather with a persistent cultural sphere of influence that prevented an irreversible breaking up of the empire.

In case it isn’t obvious, I prefer an unfallen Roman Empire that was an expansionist one, and only natural to spread as centuries become millennia. Not just to the Americas, but the vastness of Africa and who knows about Asia? A natural border at the Indus and himalaya?
Agreed, but such large lands could not be incorporated into the 'cultural heartland' I mentioned above, and could be lost again.
 
My first thought was to introduce the story with a brief synopsis of 1500 years tof fictional history. I left it out, and simply assume that, at the time of the story, the Empire is by coincidence, more or less comparable to its borders and institutions of the 2nd or 3rd century AD.
I suppose that’s fair, after all, a 100 page preamble might distract from the erotic nature of the story :wink:
 
I have considered all these thoughts too. My first thought was to introduce the story with a brief synopsis of 1500 years tof fictional history. I left it out,
Yes we shouldn't let setting get in the way of storytelling. By moving backwards from the observation "this empire is still around" we can conclude it's overcome the usual crises that could lead to its collapse, and (since Europe is an invadable peninsula of the greater Asian continent) they never fell too far behind in economic and technological terms, in comparison to other imperial contenders. So it's unlikely they're still running on a slave economy entirely. Of course the empire may be looking back on several cycles of 'near collapse' and regrowth.
 
I only kept the 16th Resourcer's uprise (a far cry from the Protestant Reformation), since it was needed for the social setting of the crime, but I did not go deeper on its causes than mentioning 'impoverished masses' that stood up.

Episode 3 to be posted son. :)
 
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3.

Not all Resourcers lived in isolated rural communities. Many habited just among the population, without any conflicts. Like Claire Brogilaigh and her husband.

Claire Brogilaigh had always attended religious service, faithfully, but also with a rather instrumental mood. She had done so since her childhood, and had kept on attending regularly, as an obligation, a duty, and a habit. Perhaps she only did, for not displeasing Serapis. Since she needed His blessings.

Since her youth, having grown up in the High Plains, she had been indoctrinated with the belief that what’s important in life, is being loved by Serapis. If Serapis loves you, He will bless you with wealth and success! Material success in life means that Serapis loves you! But Serapis does not give His love for free! You should work hard, very hard, if you want to draw His attention.

The doctrine had embedded a work ethos into her, like it had with many of the Resourcer’s community. So, she and her husband had worked very hard, in order to earn the love of Serapis! Unlike many that grew up in the High Plains, she had moved outside the area. Her husband, also a Resourcer, but originating from Sunniacum, had inherited his father’s business, located just outside his native town, where they lived.

Sure, Claire had remained all the time humble towards Serapis! Do not offend Him, by spreading too much earthly, material luxury! Beware of complacency or vanity, and do not let yourself guide by envy or greed! Their villa had remained modest. Right, she drove a big car, but that was because for doing business with partners and clients, a small car would create distrust about her professional and commercial competences. Successful people simply have more confidence in other successful people, and a big car was the symbol of excellence of success. Hence, rather a tool than an achievement or spreading signs of luxury! Claire knew, Serapis too would understand that!

Getting blessed by Serapis’ love was not granted. Once success was achieved, it had to be continued. Working hard remained mandatory. It also needed creativity, since, by moments, Serapis tested His believer’s commitment by giving them hard financial times. But she and her husband always put things right, and Claire was always grateful for the creativity, Serapis had whispered into her mind, to make her find a way out of trouble.

Unfortunately, the smart solutions inspired by Serapis’ wisdom, were not these of the Emperor’s tax legislation.

Claire was aware of it! After all, she had an accountancy degree. She did the bookkeeping of the business. Focused on turning small profit margins into sustainable income, in a volatile market, ruled by the tyranny of the cheapest bid. Husband did the field work, exploiting lacunas in the order’s tenders to his own profit. She worked to avert paying taxes on these profits. She had become so skilled in that kind of paperwork, that she had managed to claim restitutions on taxes, the business never had paid. All by a complex network of legal loopholes (and a little help from a tax consultant, to consolidate them formally)! She was more than once grateful to Serapis for helping her to get things fixed.

The Roman tax system relied on private tax collectors, whose activities were supervised and monitored by a tax office, at praefectura level. The private tax collectors needed a license, based on their official competences and on a bid, assigned to the highest bidder.

That Serapis’ fiscal loopholes were not these of the IOT, the Imperatoria Officia Tributum, became clear when a team of a Special Imperial Quaestor came to audit the tax office in Turnacum. Quaestors and their assistants were reputed to be handpicked ruthless and zealous sharks, with full police authority, and their arrival always stirred unrest. Also to Claire’s husband, when he heard that all the personnel of the tax office in Turnacum had been suspended and some of them had been arrested. Tax collectors and consultants had also come under investigation. He and Claire both had hoped and prayed to Serapis - that it would pass by without harm.

***

(Castrilocum : the stationem vigulum).

“Mister Sulcus! Reading a newspaper during working hours! Careful, when Octavianus will notice this!?”

“Mister Bulbus! In that case, I would remind him, that I am trying to solve a case, by all means, before a deadline he imposed us! By Jupiter, this is outrageous what that reporter writes about us! That we are not interested in the case, because the victims are Resourcers! Incredible, these accusations!”

“While everybody knows that the High Plains community are a Resourcer’s nest! One of the reasons, they isolate themselves is that they prefer to always settle their own business!”

“Yes, Mister Bulbus! That cult is one of the origins of their code of silence! Surprising how open they have been to that reporter! They even trespassed the courtyard, where we did our vain searches! ‘Does this courtyard keeps a secret!?’ the caption of this photograph says! They are really challenging us!?”

“How could they get in there!? It is an enclosed farmstead! We locked everything and installed a police fence!”

“Not everywhere, Mister Bulbus! It is the yard behind the stables this photograph was taken! Do you know what I am going to do?” Sulcus said, while opening the drawer with the file of the case.

***

Maurandiacum – 24 hours later.

The High Plains is not only reputed for its self-inflicted social isolation, of the mainly Resourcer’s community. It is also said it is colder, up there, it rains harder, it is dryer in summer and freezing harder in winter. Probably its topography, elevated thousand to fifteen hundred feet above its surroundings, can explain this. Anyway, the next day, the two superintendent detectives supervised a new search operation at the Maurandiacum farm, in a pouring rain, driven by gusts of cold wind. In the late afternoon of the previous day, Sulcus had, through Chief Constable Octavianus, requested a forensic search team. It was a huge operation, almost an invasion. Workforce had been drafted, engines, and police officers to seal the area for unwanted onlookers. Hidden behind canvas screens, the forensic team started its careful investigation. It was about to be dark, and light spots had already been lit, when a terrible smell emerged from under a heap of soil. An arm with a hand had been found. It was meticulously unearthed. Soon, more human remains, also of a second body, showed up. Finally, twelve hours before the deadline, superintendent-inspector Sulcus could make a call to Chief Constable Octavianus : “Sir! We found the bodies!”

(to be continued)
 
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