The Exiled Gem

Never Incur A Debt

Alexandra hated being the Barrister's assistant. He really had too much work. And he delegated almost all of it to Alexandra. Things were not going good at all. Thirteen days had passed and Alexandra had done nothing to find out anything: other than the first discovery. She'd taken ten coins' advanced and slept in a traveler's inn. All she had to do was to wait till she had the Barrister's house to herself, but the chance never seemed to arrive!

And thirteen days had passed. Meaning this was Alexandra's last chance - today, anyhow, she had to do something. If nothing, she planned to tie David Frawdley up (overpowering him wouldn't be a big deal) and go down into his basement to have a check.

'Mabel!' He called out, from his desk at the office. Alexandra was fed up of them,

'Coming, Sir!' She called back, buried in the pile of letters she was supposed to answer. 'Yes?' She asked, standing in front of his desk.

'Take this to the house, it is VERY urgent. Be quick, here's the spare key.'

'What is it, Sir?'

'Courtly appointments. Now get going,'

Alexandra took it and glanced at the office clock. It was twelve noon. She might reach the house by twelve thirty ... and then ... have it to herself for the next four and a half hours.

That was very good. Brawling with the man was her last resort.

She set out at top pace, her cloak billowing behind her. Skidding to a halt, Alexandra fixed the key inside the house's rusty lock - turning it the wrong way in her excitement. When she'd finally got it right and unlatched the door, Alexandra slammed the file onto the front table and ran across the right side corridor, to the basement.

She picked up a lamp on her way, lit it up and descended the steps. There was no looking behind now. It was day thirteen: the immediate action day. Her own footsteps sounded creepy in the silence. Finally, after a long descent, she came upon an old, wooden door. It was locked: an equally old, rust-laden iron lock hung from the latch and its keyhole was too big for any key Alexandra knew of.

She put her ear to it. No sound.

'Hello?' She rapped at the door, 'is anyone inside?'

No response. 

'Hello?! Can you hear me?' 

Still no response. Her voice echoed in the small space. One final try, maybe?

'Hello?! Listen, I don't mean any harm!' She clarified, 'I am a - government officer! And I'm here to help you. Really! Is anyone inside? Please answer, I can't stay for long. This is my - our last chance!'

Still no response. Alexandra was just about to leave, maybe the weeping noise was really was of the wind. If it was so.. then for the most part, maybe the barrister had just gone mad due to his workload and begun behaving strangely. She now had to change her view of investigation. Alexandra had to now search for proofs of his innocence. But just then, as if to stress upon the fact that he wasn't innocent, she registered the stamping inside.

Thomp, thomp.

'Hello?!' Alexandra called again, knocking hard. She felt cool dread enter her head, where was this going? What did it all point to?

She put a hand to her chest and took a deep breath. This was going to be her life - much more serious than this. She had to bring herself to face it. 'If anyone's in there,' she called out, leaning against the old door and pronouncing clearly, 'and you can't speak - stamp thrice!' 

Alexandra could almost hear her heartbeat. She felt scared beyond comprehension - but she waited with bated breath, the lamp in her hand flickering dangerously. Alexandra kept it away from the wooden door.