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All That Glitters

by Altivo Overo (copyright 2016)

Sequel to "Gibbous Moon Waning," please read that first.

Francis already felt his heart growing lighter, with the awareness that if he had his token, then he obviously couldn't have lost it at the site of the murder the previous night. He marched briskly back toward Lupus Hall with Jay Greyson following in his trail. Jay seemed rather disconnected from reality for some reason. Perhaps he had been drinking too much, Francis thought.

They entered the dorm through the east end door, since that was the closest to the bridge and, conveniently, the closest to Ernie's and Francis' room. Ernie was not there, and once they were inside the room, Francis went straight to his drawer of personal goods and pulled out the tiny bottle of brandy. He turned it over in his paw, and just as he had expected, the AHP token was stuck to the soft wax that had sealed the top. It glinted in the sunlight from the window as he pried it loose with a claw.

Jay watched curiously. "Brandy?" he asked.

Francis nodded. "Ernie suggested it for cleansing the hole you punched in my ear," he said.

"Gods!" Jay exclaimed, hiding his muzzle in his paws again. "I can't believe I did that. What a rotten excuse for getting close to you again. I'm really, really sorry, Francis."

The raccoon patted his friend. "You know, Jay, you're right that it was a sneaky trick. But actually I don't mind now. I do plan to put a ring in it. You picked the left ear on purpose, didn't you?"

Nodding glumly, the wolf winced. "I'm really terrible," he said. "You should have nothing more to do with me."

That made Francis chuckle. "I'll worry about that when you're as terrible as Stefan Ulf was, and not before," he said. An idea hit him then, and he fished in the drawer until he came up with a ball of string. He measured a length off and bit it free, then carefully threaded one end through the hole in his token.

"What are you going to do with that?" Jay asked.

Francis didn't answer, but tied the ends of the string in a sturdy knot, and worked the loop over his muzzle and ears so that it settled into his neck ruff, allowing the token to hang in the hollow of his throat.

"I'm making sure I can't lose it again," he said.

"But it's meaningless, a piece of junk I picked up in an antique store," Jay protested.

"No, Jay," the raccoon said. "It's not worthless. You gave it to me. I was happy to receive it, and not just because of what I thought it stood for. I was glad because I liked you already. Now, show me your token." Francis held out his paw.

Jay dug in his pocket and gave the disk to Francis, who measured out another piece of the string, and suspended the second disc from it as he had done with his own. Then he held it behind his back.

"Show me your token," he demanded again.

Jay blinked and then understanding came into his eyes as he remembered playing the same trick a few days ago. "I can't," he said, "you have it. How can I earn it back?"

Francis winked, and stood facing the taller wolf, closing his eyes and turning his face up toward Jay. "Easy," he said very softly. "Kiss me, Jay."

The raccoon felt himself enfolded in strong, furry arms and their muzzles met, sharing breath. Jay's tongue tickled his lips, and he opened his mouth, instinctively turning his head slightly so they could kiss as only canids and ursids do. In a few seconds it ended, as Jay released him.

Francis took another second to catch his breath. Yes, he thought, I did want that. I just didn't know it until today. "OK, Mr. Greyson," he commanded, "sit on the bed so I can reach over your ears. Jay obeyed him, and Francis slipped the improvised necklace over Jay's head and around his neck."There," he said. "Since they mean nothing to anyone but us, there's no need to hide them any more."

"I guess you're right," Jay agreed. "Win will laugh at us."

"Win laughs at everything and everyone," Francis declared. "It signifies nothing."

As they stood there, just looking at each other in the sunlight as if they'd never seen each other before, the door opened. It was Ernie who stopped on the mat. "Sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

"Hey, Ernie," Francis laughed. "I want you to meet Jay Greyson. Jay, this is my room mate, Ernie Darkeyes."

Ernie offered his paw. "Pleased to meet you, Jay," he said.

The wolf took the raccoon's paw in his own and smiled. "Likewise," he smiled.

"Ernie has been trying to match me off with someone for a couple of weeks now, Jay," Francis said with a glint of mischief in his eye.

"Girls?" Jay asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Actually," Ernie grinned, "I tried both. But Francis here is highly resistant."

Jay took a deep breath. "You can stop trying for a while, Ernie," he said, blushing enough so it was noticeable around his nose. "Francis just claimed me for himself."

Ernie blinked, and opened his mouth. Then he shut it.

Francis nodded. "I've made my own match, I think," he declared.

"Well shut my mouth," Ernie exclaimed, with an exaggerated gesture of wrapping his paw around his muzzle. "I never expected you to work it out on your own, Francis. I'm glad for you both, really."

"We're just going to see if it really works," Francis said. "But I think we both want it to."

"That's a good start," Ernie agreed. "Now how about lunch? I'm starved."

"Let's go to Ruby's to celebrate," Jay said. "My treat."

"Well, since you make it so inviting," Ernie agreed, "lead on, McWuff, and the devil take him who first cries 'Enough!'"

"Gods, Ernie, you sound just like Win," Francis told him.

"Win? Who's Win?" Ernie immediately wanted to know.

Jay laughed. "A friend of ours, whose sense of humor you will probably appreciate, Ernie." He opened the door. "This way, gentlemen."

So they all marched off to Ruby's. Francis had a hunch what would happen next, and he was right. Win Blackear and the girl from The Wolf's Head were at Ruby's. The table next to them was empty, so he led Jay and Ernie over to sit with the two raccoons.

Jay stood next to Win, who appeared to have sobered up somewhat since Francis had seen him earlier. The remains of a substantial lunch still lay on the table before them. "Win, show me your token," Jay commanded.

The raccoon blinked, then fished in a pocket and produced the little brass disc. "Very good," Jay said, "Put it away now." Win complied.

"That accounts for all three," Jay said. "Three were all I ever had. I don't know where the fourth came from."

Francis nodded. "Let's not worry about that until someone is officially looking for them," he said. They sat down at the table next to Win and his girl, and ordered lunch.

Ernie kept looking first at Jay, then at Francis. "OK," he said, "I see that you each have one. What are they?"

"The emblem of a completely imaginary club, Ernie," Francis explained.

"That one you told me you were joining? It's not real?"

"That's the one," Francis admitted, "And you're right. It wasn't real. Or at least not in the usual sense of the word."

Jay looked like he wished he could shrink down and hide under the table, but Francis patted his paw. "It was a sort of a test," he continued, "and I think we've both passed now."

The waitress brought their lunch then, and there was a pause while everyone dug in. Jay kept drifting off into space, thinking about something, Francis supposed, but he did eat slowly and methodically. Ernie munched away as usual of course, making Francis smile to himself. Nothing ever seemed to shake Ernie up for long. He was ready to adapt to anything.

When everyone started to slow down, and Win and his girlfriend had taken their leave and gone off on their own, Francis brought up the murder again.

"So," he said, "we have the watch looking for someone or something associated with this emblem we are wearing. What are we going to do about that?"

"Good question," Jay answered. "We don't have any useful information to give them, but it sure is a funny coincidence that someone would have dropped one of these at the scene of the crime, and yet we don't know of anyone other than ourselves who had one."

"Wait," Ernie said. "What are you talking about? You guys are associated with that murder last night?"

Francis shook his head. "No, Ernie, we had nothing to do with it. But rumor has it that an emblem like this," at which he held up the token on the string around his neck, "was found lying on the ground near the body of that poor buck."

"And where did yours come from?" Ernie asked.

Jay answered, "I bought three of them at a shop called Yesterday's Tomorrow in Chatton. As far as I know, they had only the three."

"Perhaps they had more, but had already sold the rest," Francis suggested.

"You're right," Jay agreed. "That's possible. I didn't really ask. I was just glad to get three matching items with Greek letters on them. I didn't think anything else of it at the time."

"So you didn't know about Alpha Eta Rho and Stefan Ulf at the time?" Francis asked, folding his ears back a bit.

"No," the wolf shook his head, "I only looked it up after I had the discs. There isn't a lot of information, really. Ulf founded the group sometime around 346. It was recognized by the college in 347, but that recognition was cancelled or else the group had already disbanded or renamed itself by 348."

"So the tokens really might be associated with the original group, which explains how they got into an antique dealer's shop," Francis said.

"And apparently there was at least one other, perhaps more," Ernie added. Both Francis and Jay nodded.

"Well, it seems like the first thing to do is go ask the shopkeeper, don't you think? How long ago did you get them?"

Jay counted silently. "Three months back," he said.

"Not so long, then," Ernie nodded. "Where is the place?"

"Three streets from the bridge, or maybe four," Jay answered.

"Well, what are we waiting for then? Let's go find out." Ernie was ready to leave immediately.

"Finish your lunch, Ernie," Francis told him. "A few minutes hardly matter at this point."

Jay did insist on paying for all three lunches, and when they had taken care of that, they headed for the antique dealer.

It was actually five streets from the bridge, and took some asking about for directions before they found the place, but Jay assured them that it was the right shop. A bell sounded as they entered, and a rabbit came from the back to greet them.

"Welcome, gentlemen, how can we help you?" she asked.

Jay showed her the token around his neck. "I bought three of these here a few months ago," he told her. "Do you have any more of them?"

The rabbit shook her head. "No, sir, I'm afraid those three were the last we had. There were about a dozen of them originally, but the others had all been sold off by ones and twos."

"Do you remember who bought any of them?" Francis asked.

"Not by name, sir, no. But I think all the buyers were wolves, so I wasn't surprised when this gentleman showed an interest in them." The rabbit scratched her ear. "And of course you yourself came back again, sir," she said, addressing Jay directly, "asking for anything else we had with those three letters on it. All we had was that leather bound ledger, the one you bought then, with all the names written in it."

"The pledge book you signed, Francis," Jay explained.

"You haven't seen anything else with those letters on it since?" Ernie asked the girl.

"No sir, I'm quite sure of that," she answered.

Francis had his eye on something in the glass case in front of the rabbit, and he bent to look more closely. "These gold chains," he said, pointing to some fine chains in a velvet lined box. "How much?"

"Oh, sir, those aren't really gold," the girl said, shaking her head so her ears flapped a bit. "They are only brass. Two coppers for the pair of them."

"May I see them?" Francis asked.

"Certainly," she answered, sliding open the back of the case and pulling the little box out, setting it on top of the counter. She untangled the chains and presented them draped across her paw. They were neck chains, as for a locket or pendant, with little spring clasps in the back.

"I'll take them," Francis said, and laid two coppers on the countertop.

"Very good, sir," the rabbit agreed, and proceeded to wrap the chains into a little packet of tissue paper. Francis took the parcel and put it into his inner pocket, winking at Jay as he did so.

"Thank you for your help, miss," Ernie said as they left the shop.

"Oh, not at all," the girl answered him. "Thank you for your custom, and please come again."

"So," Francis said when they were out on the street again, "that didn't help very much did it."

"On the contrary," Ernie told them, "it told us that there are several others somewhere in Chatton who have similar badges or tokens. The watch will learn that eventually, and realize that the evidence is of limited value.

"So what can we do to help solve the case?" Francis asked.

"This ledger book you mentioned," Ernie wondered. "What's in it? Where is it?"

"I have it in my room," Jay answered. "It has the signatures of students and perhaps others who pledged themselves to Alpha Eta Rho back in 347. I started a new page when I got Win to sign, and then Francis."

"Are you sure all the signatures before that were so old?" Ernie asked.

"I didn't check each one. They were smeary and difficult to read. I thought perhaps the book had been wet at some time," Jay answered. "Why?"

"Because," Ernie said, "if anyone else tried to revive the name as you did, he might have used the same book just as you did."

"You're right," Jay agreed, clapping his paws together. "So it's at least possible that the actual killer signed that book too, on one of the more recent pages."

"Precisely my thought," Ernie said. "Shall we go look?"

"I think we had better," Francis agreed. And they set off for Jay's living quarters.

As it happened, Jay lived in one of the modern dormitories down on the river. They crossed the bridge and took the old towpath to get there, walking where the barge workers used to go with their ropes and pulleys when the current or wind didn't cooperate. Francis smiled to himself at the thought that he would now find out exactly where Jay lived.

The room was in a third year building, up a little rise from the waterfront, with a south facing. Ivy was growing over the bricks, and there was a modern gravity lift that took them to the third floor in a cage.

Francis was pleased to find that Jay had many books on shelves, and a writing desk under the window. "What are you studying, Jay?" he asked.

The wolf blinked and made as if to cover his face. "Literature and writing," he admitted. "Not exactly a wolfish occupation, but it has always been my first love." His tail wagged a bit, and Francis smiled.

The raccoon glanced over the shelves. "You like Shakesbear, I see."

"Yes, I admit it," Jay answered. "Even the poetry."

"Good," was the single reply.

Ernie shook his head. "So where is this ledger?" he asked.

"Over here," Jay answered, reaching into the compartment under the desk and pulling out a leather bound volume that Francis recognized immediately.

They spread it open on the desktop, and examined the pages. Turning back the one on which Francis and Win Blackear had signed the pledge, they found that the previous one was dated in 352.

"Well, at least we know that the group continued beyond the year that the the college dropped it," Francis said. "But it doesn't look as if this will help find the killer. All these names must belong to people who died years ago."

"Not necessarily," Ernie announced, pointing to the last signature on the page.

The names above were dated when signed, with a witness adding initials. All those dates were in 352. The last on the page, though, was signed and under it the signer had written "by himself, 461CY."

"That's just last year," Francis declared unnecessarily.

"But how did the book end up in that shop if it was in someone's possession to sign just a year ago?" Ernie asked.

"I can answer that," said Jay. "When I bought it, they told me that the owner had sold it to them because he was in need of ready cash. He claimed it had been passed down in his family, but was of no value to him except for the binding."

Francis was looking closely at the signature. "Whoever he is, he has terrible penmanship," the raccoon stated flatly. "I can't make anything of this scrawl."

"Let me have a look, Francis," Jay insisted. He carried the book to the windowsill, letting the sunlight shine directly on the page. "I have some practice with reading bad handwriting," he mumbled. After a minute or so, he added, "I'm quite sure the first name is Sylvan or Sylvanus. The surname is short and ends in an 'F.'"

Francis blinked and put a paw to his mouth. "Ulf!" he exclaimed. "A relative or descendant, probably."

Jay pulled a college directory from the pocket of his desk. Flipping to the proper pages, he shook his head. "No Ulf listed, student or faculty."

"So perhaps this guy wasn't even a student," Ernie said. "Shouldn't we just turn this over to the watch?"

"And leave Jay to explain why he was masquerading as a long dead organization with a shady history?" Francis asked, shaking his head even as he said it.

"Well, what else can we do?" Jay wondered.

"Hush and let me think," was Francis' answer. He sat down at the desk and covered his eyes with his paws.