S-TWC-012
St. Valentine's Ledger
Patron: Nickels Costigan
Date: Aug 12th, 1923 – Gold Coast District
Location: St. Valentine's
Proprietor: Glass-Eyes
Toe tag was still in my coat pocket. I hadn’t shown them yet.
Not until I was sure.
Mags and her brother had arrived barely an hour ago, looking like they’d stepped through a mausoleum and landed in my basement. She was sighing with that old kind of tired, the kind that lives in every word. And her brother, Abner? He was bouncing on his heels like a schoolboy with a secret, talking fast, ███████ twitching, notebooks spilling from every pocket.
I took them both to the back office. Door shut. Vices poured. Gin for myself, a █████ for Mags, and Abner a ███ with a █████. Mags leaned against my desk, arms folded. Abner paced like a tin soldier wound up far too tight.
"You got called to the █████████," I said.
"Yes," Mags replied. Her voice was quieter than usual. Less silk, more steel. "Sorry for not telling you—"
"Let me guess: the brothers three gave you prophecy, puzzle, and panic."
She almost smiled. "Close enough. ███████ has seen our demise, again. And ███████ handed me a phial he expects me to have Nickels drink. And Abner—"
"Wants a hot bath and a telescope," he interrupted, raising a hand.
"—invited himself to the ████████," she finished.
I turned to Abner. Took a long, slow sip.
"You ever been to Chicago before?"
"No ma'am."
Just then the room caught the light strange. Might’ve been from the gaslamps or maybe from something else, but I saw in Abner’s eyes a city.
Not ours.
Gallowsbridge.
Fog-choked streets. ██████ bent like twisted ███████. Bridges that led nowhere. Streetlamps that flickered █████████████. A ████████████ at the center with arms that drove into the cobblestone and spread like a ████ across every surface. I saw it, clear as memory.
And then it was gone.
"When did you see it?"
Abner blinked. "See what?"
"Don’t play dumb, █████. You’ve seen the ███████████. It’s in your damn eyes."
Mags looked up sharply. Abner raised both hands.
"I swear on the stars, I haven’t! I’ve been in the █████████ since… ████? '██? I haven’t even seen the moon from the right side up in over a ███████."
"Your eyes betray you." I said.
His mouth opened. Then shut.
I pulled the toe tag from my coat and slapped it on the desk.
"This was left in one of my booths. Name’s Nickels. He's got less than a month left. Place of death? Gallowsbridge. Cause? Cat got his tongue."
Mags went still. Abner picked up the tag, slowly. "I need to check the sky." He said as he tried to rush out of my office.
I grabbed his wrist.
"Be straight with me. What does █████████ know about Gallowsbridge. About the ███████████. What have they shown you?"
Abner looked me dead in the eyes.
"I—I, I don't know." He stuttered. "I don't remember seeing it—I've seen so much, and not—not like, no—"
And just like that, the gaslight flickered. It smelled like sweet rot and cinders.
The Wicked was listening.
I let him go.
Unsmudge the Ledger
"April, May, and July."
Hooch Trivia | Research | 1 Word