The man outside the door was Cook.
The Third-Rank Police Officer from Dort District.
Arthur had originally expected him to appear here only after James died-and even then, Arthur would have needed to give him some gentle nudging first.
Yet now, he had shown up directly.
Had someone advised him?
Was it that father of his I'd heard about?
Arthur speculated, but wasted no time acting.
He did not go to open the door.
Instead, he prepared a few necessary props.
Cook stood outside the door of 2 Kirk Street.
The Third-Rank Police Officer from Dort District had slept poorly all night. His face was thick with exhaustion, and his heart was filled with unease and apprehension-after Maltz's warning yesterday, he had not returned to his house beside the Dort District Police Station. Instead, he had headed straight out of the city to Father's Farm.
Cook believed he would be safer beside his father. Even with an arrow wound in his knee, Old Cook could still throw him out with one hand.
Besides, his father's farm had eight strapping hired hands whom he called his uncles, along with over a dozen hunting dogs.
Those uncles were far more reliable than the Patrol Officers under him.
And the hunting dogs were even more reassuring.
Of course, beyond all that, Cook also needed his father to help him decide what to do.
He could tell that James was finished.
Neither Auben, who had been "sold out," nor the people Auben wanted dead would let James off.
Which raised a question!
What about him?
He might become a target too!
Even if the chances were slim.
But Cook did not dare gamble with his own life.
With the property Old Cook had left him, Cook had grown up comfortably. He was nowhere near