12
It was early afternoon by the time we returned to the manor house. We found the baron in his trophy room tucked in his chair. A warm fire burned in the hearth and there was a cigar in one hand.
His perceptive eye studied us with bemusement. “Well? What did you find?”
Marcus hung his head. “Nothing, My Lord.”
The baron’s eyebrows raised. “Nothing at all?”
“Well, not the treasure,” Marcus admitted. “But we did find the tomb.”
The baron chuckled. “That sounds like the end of a story. Why don’t you start from the beginning and tell me everything?”
The bright, warm fire crackled in the hearth, and I found myself gravitating toward its heat. I turned to warm my butt and found the baron’s constant companion staring at Caius. Her usual stoic manner had such a coldness that the
