A Few Days ago

“All we hear is.” Bang, bang “Radio Goo Goo.” Bang, bang “Radio Ga Ga.” Bang, bang “Radio Blah, Blah.” Bang, bang “Radio, someone still loves you…” Bang, bang.

Frederick put the hammer down, now letting the music wash around the shop without him hammering to the tune, letting the track come to the end he changed the tubing that was on the phonograph. Inside it were dozens of small minidisks, all being alternatively played as he let it run, he replaced it now with a tube marked “Classical” and put it on. Vagner began to play gently in the background as he picked up a grinding disk specifically designed by him for wood-carving. Quietly he began to get to work on the large box, carving into the side the symbol of the nearby merchants guild.

This was a new “community” lockbox, a chest specifically designed to be ornate and able to be secure to hold large amounts of money inside of it to refurbish the market place with new sheeting bought from the central spire. The lockbox was to deliver the necessary money to the spire in as grand a style as possible, and as a member of that Guild’s committee, he was doing this as a favour to refurbish the area and hopefully bring in new trade.

“Excuse me, Mr Duval?” a man in a grey suit said from the door of his shop, Frederick wound the drill back down before looking over to the gentleman, who’s frame blocked most of the doorway. “Yes?”

“I wonder if I could make a request for an ornate container for the Central Committee.” He asked quietly.

“I see,” he put the drill down properly and instead removed a sheet of paper and a pen. “What’s the dimensions?”

The man spoke for some considerable length, evidently knowing the detail of what needed to be placed inside, and then the designs needed around the outside, and for some reason it needed to be delivered in secrecy, wrapped up in paper and string.

“Of course, I understand that, it’s such an ornate piece it could fall prey to gangs, even if you used a track.” he said nodding and continuing to run the pen over the paper. “I can have it ready within… a week or so.”

“We’ll triple your fee if you make it in 48 hours.”

Frederick blinked and looked at the man in the suit. “Of course sir.” He immediately turned to get to work on the box, using some black wood.

“I will return in two days to pick it up.” the man said as he vanished from Frederick’s doorway.

Shaking his head, Frederick got immediately to work on the new box, removing some special black wood he had kept for just such a special occasion.

A Few Days later

The box was actually done in forty hours, and he had left it near to the store window for the gentleman to pick it up. Two days later and it had simply disappeared, being replaced instead by a cloth sack of a considerable amount of money in coins and notes. Simple and untraceable. With a nod Frederick had merely pocketed the money and left it at that.

At that moment, he looked up from his work for some reason as a tramcar slid it’s way past. It was an old, battered and tatty thing that came past towards the university, rattling and rumbling through the market place and his shop. He spotted a young tack he had occasionally used to run lighter deliveries with little note or registration, but when the men in grey suits passed by on foot a few moments later, asking about the direction of the tram to a woman at the small soup kitchen opposite from him, his interest piqued a little. As it stood, he didn’t think much more to it until lunch time, and he now felt like a walk. Before he knew it he was headed towards the university, where numerous members of the local authorities were gathered. With a shrug he wandered over and began to casually ask as he grabbed a bowl of ramen from a nearby mobile cart.

“Something about a proffessor getting shanked.” the woman behind the cart said. “Some big-wig, I dunno. Some of the students seem a bit messed up about it.” She sighed and shook her head. “Seems the gangs are starting to get into this part now, huh?” she rolled her eyes and began to pull her cart onwards.