5
‘Report.’
‘We found this, Sergeant.’ Emaus proffered the bundled cloak, but the sergeant simply stared at it, keeping his hands locked behind his back.
‘And what is this?’
‘A cloak, sir. A … It was left in the middle of the trail, still warm from its owner.’
‘Or some other creature that stumbled across it.’ The sergeant sniffed.
‘There were no trails to or from the area.’ Gul interjected, then immediately regretted it. The sergeant stared down at him as though Gul were something unpleasant he had stepped in. Gul swallowed and ploughed on, determined to make his point. ‘We found human footprints around the cloak, but they went nowhere. As if whoever had made them just disappeared.’
‘Yes, well, let’s not make too many assumptions.’ The sergeant hiked his belt up higher around his am
