The police arrived about 20 minutes later, and not just any copper, but a team of forensic technicians and the Commissioner himself. He wore a white shirt, the pants of his police uniform and a vest, which was supposed to be stab, bullet and magic proof. He had a whip on his side, the usual weapon of the SRU. The Commissioner did not bother with any of the silly hats policemen used to wear, which was probably a good decision.

By the time he arrived, Robert finished off his whiskey, tied up the thugs he knocked out, took a look at Frederick in his cage, and polished his walking cane with a silk handkerchief he kept in the inside pocket of his grey trench coat. Now he tried to look bored on purpose just to piss off the old man.

Meanwhile, Teodore went to the kitchen and heated up a frozen pizza, which he now was eating with tired disgust on his face. It had a lot of things on it a pizza never supposed to have. 

Benjamin sat down and fell asleep, head on a table, slightly snoring. He used up too much energy in the fight.  

'When I said that I don't want to see any more misstep from the lot of you, destroying pubs and hurting people were included, Mr Montgomery,' said the Commissioner, looking around the mess Robert made. He stood in the middle of the bar, hands joined behind his painfully straight back. 

'It is actually Professor Montgomery…' The vampire did not react at all, so Robert shrugged: 'Never mind.' 

Apart from the unconscious bodies, it wasn't that bad: a few broken pieces of furniture, a cracked wall, shattered glasses, a little brooke of gin or vodka on the floor behind the bar, nothing really serious. 

'Just look at them,' said Robert, 'if you put together their criminal records, it will be longer than War and Peace. Not to mention the place is probably serving alcohol and food illegally. I just did you a favour.'

'Perhaps I should give you a raise then,' the Commissioner said dryly 'Except I can't because you are not a police officer, Mr Montgomery.'

'I agree,' nodded Robert, 'I am not. Which begs for the question: why am I doing their job?'

The vampire gave him a strict look but apparently decided that he isn't worth the effort of answering. 

'So what do we have here?' said Marcus from the front door. He had a crush helmet in his hand and a very expensive looking leather biker jacket on him. 'I heard you found something.'

'Yes, something, although I couldn't tell what, for a life of mine,' nodded Robert. 'Also, the credit actually goes to Teodore and my brother, I only helped them with the crowd control afterwards.'

'Let's check it out,' said Marcus, and walked in, towards the spiral stairs at the back. Broken pieces of glass crunched under his boots. The Commissioner and Robert followed him. Teodore stayed where he was. He saw Frederick long enough for a lifetime. 

The forensic team was working down there despite the fact there was not a lot to bag as evidence. Robert was provided with a blue plastic overall, which he had to put on over his regular clothes, in order to get in the room. The other two did the same.

Frederick wasn't happy about the company, and he hated the sharp, white light, too. He tried to cover his eyes and hide in the corner of his cage. He was obviously dangerous, but for the moment being he acted like a frightened animal.

'Is he intelligent?' asked Robert.

The Commissioner shook his head.

'Not particularly. Not more intelligent than a child, around 3 or 4, anyway.'  

'So you know what it is, uncle?' said Marcus, who was so nervous that he took out his silver wand without noticing it. The golden Runes sparkled up again and again, as he unintentionally was thinking about spells to use if the monster got loose somehow. 

'I've seen this before, yes,' answered the old man. 'We called them flesh-golems back in the days. Typical necromancer servants. Well, more like thugs, hitmen, brutes, actually. Ideal guards, because they don't need to sleep and don't have needs apart from some food.'  

'Do you know how they work?' now it was the professor in Robert speaking, always curious, always need to know more.

'A part of it,' replied the vampire. 'The necromancer took dead bodies and saw them together, in any shape. Not necessarily only human bodies, you understand. This one looks like a man, but it's just by chance. The metal arm is new, even for me.'

Marcus shivered and Robert felt the whiskey planning to come back. He swallowed and asked:

'Then what?' 

'Then the necro had to find a demon or an extremely powerful ghost, and trap it in the body.'

'Why not just kill someone instead?' frowned Marcus. 'Seems easier.'

'There is no guarantee that anyone you murder will become a ghost or revenant demon,' explained Robert, using his teacher-voice. 'Not even if you torture them before. Easier to find one.'

The Commissioner looked at him with a blank face.

'You seem to know an awful lot about these things, Mr Montgomery,' he said.

'Well that's just probably because I am The Priest, you see, and I am so goddamn good, I actually managed to grow up with your nephew, despite the fact that I am a couple of hundred years old. My knowledge about magic has clearly nothing to do with me having a doctorate in magic.'

The Commissioner just stared at him for a few seconds, then shook his head again.

'I know you think you are funny, but one day you won't be the smartest and strongest one in the room when the rumble begins, and on that day I will be the one having a laugh,' he said in a calm voice, then nodded towards the stairs. 'Let's go up, I've seen enough.' He turned his back at them and walked away.

'Can he?' asked Robert whispering from Marcus. 'I mean, is he physically capable of laughing?' 

His friend rolled his eyes at Robert as he was going after the old man. Robert heard him mumbling something that sounded like 'Smartass.'  

Up they went, then sat down at Teodore's table, who was still fighting with his very not Italian-like pizza. While they were down there, uniformed officers arrived to take away the former customers who were dumb enough to take a chance with Robert. 

'Report, Mr Montgomery,' said the Commissioner. 'What did you find out?'

'Are you 100 per cent positive that good ol' Frederick is a work of a necromancer, then?' asked back Robert.

'In my 412 years, I've only ever seen flesh-golems around necros, yes.'

'That means we have found a connection, then,' said Robert. 'If The Priest is the only one who can create something like Frederick, they must know each other with the owner of this place, right?'

'Most likely, yes,' nodded the Commissioner. 

'What is going to happen with him, by the way?' asked Robert. 'Frederick, I mean.'

For a moment it looked like the vampire won't be answering, but then he changed his mind.

'We will put him out of his misery as gently as we can,' he said. 'He is a victim, all the same, only we cannot help him.'

'Sounds like a PR-stunt, but I will take it,' said Robert. 'Unfortunately, he seemed to be suffering, and I doubt there is anything we could do for him.'

'But how?' asked Marcus. 'He is just a demon, isn't he? Pure rage and nothing else. How can he feel bad?'

'We could fill libraries with the things we don't know about demons,' said Robert slowly. 'Maybe getting a physical body reminds them of what they have lost. Or maybe the body is in constant pain, those scars looked painful.' 

They all stayed quiet for some time, thinking about the horror of living like that creature must have been.

'We did what you asked from us,' said Teodore after a minute or so. 'This pub is owned by a man named Attila Kovach. I think he talked to us through the speakers while we were downstairs. Tried to kill us. Catch him, if he is not amongst these geezers on the floor, and he will tell you where The Priest is.'

The Commissioner shook his head. 'That's only a lead. Not bad for a couple of untrained children, but I need results.'

'We found out more in two days than you in two decades! You cannot force us anymore, this is illegal,' said Teodore. Anger smouldered in his voice.

'So are the dozens of misdemeanours you did since you reached the punishable age' pointed out the Commissioner coldly.

'Teodore,' said Robert in a calming voice, 'as much as I agree with you, we really need to see this through. I have a suspicion about the statue, and if I am right, which I usually am, this could be very, very bad to the city. To everyone.'

'What are you talking about?' asked the Commissioner sharply. Marcus looked confused, but for him that was normal.

'I will brief you on at the very moment I will know anything for sure. For now, all you have to do is to be ready. Kovach wasn't here when I arrived and in any minute now a whole clusterfuck could happen. So, Teodore, what do you say?'

The Italian didn't answer right away, and his face was sour and unreadable as always. Then he gave a very small nod.

'Right,' said the Commissioner. 'So what can you tell me now, Mr Montgomery?'

Robert gave some thoughts for the question before he answered. He did not want to be hasty and draw a false conclusion, but could not just withhold information from the Commissioner either. 

'I think the Priest stole the statue for Kovach, who is not a stranger when it comes to rare and unique magical artefacts. He was, as I am sure you already knew, behind the big magical storm last year, although nobody could prove it. So my guess is, that he has the statue, and he wants to use it at some point, but he is missing something. And probably has some problems with the "how" as well.'

'But you know how it works, don't you?'' asked Marcus.

'Not really, no. I'm working on it, but it's quite hard without the statue itself. All I have got are photos and descriptions and theories. Good theories, as I'm exceptionally smart, mind you, but no proof so far. For the moment being I'm waiting for a professional opinion. With all fairness, I do hope that I am wrong.'

'So you suggest that we put the main focus on Kovach instead of The Priest?' asked the Commissioner matter-of-factly.  

'You are the boss, not me,' answered Robert with a shrug. 'I think the statue might be with Kovach but the Priest is out there looking for something, a last component to use it. If I am right, that something could be anywhere on the planet and could take years to find, so yes, find Kovach first. But maybe the Priest has a trick I don't know about, thanks to your heroic effort to purge useful knowledge and all Hell could break through in every moment. Or I could be entirely wrong about everything. All I have are theories, nothing else.'  

'So you might know something, or might not, and you won't tell me what it is. I was expecting so much more from you, Mr Montgomery. I need answers and I need them now.'

'Then maybe you should consider getting better at your job,' said Robert brightly. 'I am pretty sure that I could do it better, mind you, but for some reason that beyond me to understand your name is written on the door of the Commissioner's office.'

Marcus gave a horrified little moan and Teodore scoffed. He didn't even have the courtesy to pretend that he was just coughing.

The Commissioner stood up and looked down to Robert with ice-cold eyes.

'You have three days, Montgomery. The rest of you take a break, but be ready for action. In case the Priest surfaces I'll need all of you to stop him. In the meantime, we will try to find Kovach. I expect you to share any information you might reclaim.'

And with that, he left. Marcus let out a big sigh. Teodore continued to eat, with a blank face, and Benjamin still snored at the next table.

'Oh, boy. I have a baaad feeling about this,' said Marcus with a satisfied grimace. He really wanted to say that for a long time now, and it seemed like there won't be a better occasion. 

Sadly, Robert could only agree with him.

XXX

Author's note:

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