But I digress. The deaths of Cressidus and Balarus still seemed far too gentle for ogre drug dealers. Not the attack on the Beleagured Bison mind you. Sorry, Beleagured Bison. That had ogre all over it. I stared hard at Petro. "What am I going to do with you?" He started and looked annoyed, "Why do you have to do anything with me?" I shook my head disgustedly, "Because you're a suspect in a murder investigation, idiot. I'm sure I could get Jorjar to find a nice space for you in the pokey." "The what?" "The jail. I'm sure that he'd love to ask you some questions about cacodaemons and taverns. The whole city must be stirring by now like an anthill with a Praxian staked to it."
He looked scared at the thought of jail. I couldn't blame him since that would make it very easy for the ogres to find him. "Don't worry, you're worth more to me alive than you are dead. I'm going to have to find someplace safe to stash you." I thought briefly about this and then smiled. "I know the perfect place. Somewhere even ogres and cacodaemons wouldn't be stupid enough to go." Petro looked less than thrilled at this and said, "I can take care of myself Treibonus. I've looked after myself this far haven't I?" He climbed out of the tub and grabbed his clothes. "Forget it Treibonus I am out of here and there's no way you can stop me without your fake leg on."
He nodded towards the corner where my leg rested. I leaned back comfortably in the tub and shrugged, "No, I guess there's no way that I can stop you." I paused and smiled, "So I'll have to ask for help. Yoo hoo Cletus." I called. Petro turned to scamper like the scared little bunny he was but was brought up short when he found the only exit from the room blocked by Cletus. Cletus smiled at me, ugly sight that, and crossed his arms. "My friend here wants to leave but I don't want him to. Can you put him in one of the private rooms until I make arrangements for his storage?" Cletus agreed affably and dragged off an unprotesting Petro. Smart lad he knows when not to struggle unnecessarily.
I heard a scuffle out in the hallway, the sound of bare flesh hitting hardened leather and a loud whack, followed by a sodden thud. I called out to Cletus, "Is he still alive?" "Oh yeah. He tried to knee me in the balls and make a run for it. Guess he never heard of cuirboilli loincloths. He'll wake up with nothing worse than a headache." Oh well, not that smart afterall. "Thanks Cletus." I got dressed and went out to make the necessary arrangements for Petro's storage.
To be continued.
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