About three weeks after the first letter another is hand delivered to the sergeant.
Gentlemen,
My efforts on your behalf have not bourn the fruit I expected but may prove helpful to you none the less. First, Mr. Ashstaff consorts with criminals, and not of the ordinary decent sort. He clearly has dealings with the Onice and in particular one fugitive you are most interested in: Rugelleun Marfanz. I saw Ashstaff and Marfanz with my own eyes at the perfumerie two weeks ago. Marfanz has grown a long beard and top knot but as I make an effort to recognize people who torture and kill for entertainment I had no difficulty in penetrating his disguise. To a less experienced observer it is fairly convincing.
Second, I have identified four women that Charlene was known to be close with after she went to work at Lady Luxuries. Despite every effort, short of violence or possession, three of the four swear to having no memory of Charlene. By way of an experiment I questioned them about significant local events such as Master Stormmoon's murder, the prize fight between the Sledgehammer and Firepeak champion at the arena and the exposure of the Onice ring. All were events that any subject living in the city would know of and none claimed to have any memory. One girl tried to make something up to placate me, as I said there was no violence, but it was obvious fabrication. It is my opinion that their memories have been tampered with and in a very effective way.
That leaves the fourth girl. Crincos keeps her as a pet. She is always by her side and is no longer available to customers at LL. Her name is Lena.
Alas, now for the bad news. First I fear that my efforts have not gone unnoticed. The third man I sent to obtain Lena's services was bound and gagged and interrogated for over an hour regarding who sent him. As I did not send him directly he could not have reported my name but the intermediary has likely been traced back to me by now. It will be expensive to have the man's eyes and tongue regenerated so feel free to make a contribution at the shrine of Tyrogatore next time you are there.
Second, I can find no other link between Anolion and Ashstaff. Anolion and Ashstaff each own over a dozen businesses but the Wonderword is the only one where both names appear. Interestingly other prominent people's names appear on their other charters. While most of those names will cost you, Master Stormmoon's name appears on one of Ashstaff's. However I believe this to be a forgery as it was chartered only a few months before his death.
To end on a high, or at least neutral note, Ashstaff has hired more men to work the docks in the next few months, particularly near the end of Trest. Some of these men are your usual grunts, but others are clearly people with a connection to less than honorable activities.
C
