The false Adjunct remembered all of this in minute detail, for the passing soldier, then a young man, had been himself.
He was suddenly angry with himself; even now, after so many years, that these mental images still held great power over him.
After all, had they not shaped his life? made him what he was today? In his search for justice, and for the truth of the circumstances surrounding the matter, he had been ensnared.
It began with the realization that the woman had been alone when by all accounts her young son should have been at home. It turned out that a neighbour, the wife of a soldier, had without anyone’s knowledge taken the woman’s young son home to visit with her own children. The neighbour had acted strangely when he had questioned her. There was no mistaking the fear in her eyes, fear that encompassed more than what had happened. Often, during his questioning, her eyes would stray to her own children as she thoughtfully considered her answers.
And her answers! They were too pat. It was as though they had been carefully scripted and rehearsed.
Over time, through the asking of discreet and probing questions, he discovered that Prince Cir had once been very much interested in the murdered woman. When that piece of the puzzle fell into place, it made many other things crystal clear; no one had any illusions about the Prince, or that he would not scruple to revenge himself in such a manner.