Chapter 387: Confessions (4)
"You’re crazy enough to admit it? Why do you think I would let you walk free after what you confessed to? The murderer will die. You won’t get out of here," Tobias said, deciding to stay in the dungeon.
Since Quinn was chattering so much, perhaps now would be a good time to get him to confess where his victims were.
"My confession is why you’re going to let me out of here. While I am eager to speak to the duke, you’re going to set me free before he comes. It wouldn’t be a fair fight since I left my gun at home. I urge you to move fast," Quinn said, motioning for Tobias to move.
After Tobias didn’t move, Quinn decided to give more reasons to free him.
"Weren’t you listening to me? The longer you keep me here, the more victims will start to show up. My brother is gone, and I bear no ties to the Monroes. You don’t have the slightest clue who aids me. The servants won’t speak," Quinn said, certain the king had tried the servants.
"You are more insane than I thought. I think you can drop the act here. Starting with your brother and your belief that you are kind. Then you can tell me how many others you have taken," Tobias said, paying careful attention to every move Quinn made.
"Very well. I am not angry that I have lost a brother. My mother already had me to feed, but she was so foolish to let a man charm her and leave her with a useless son. I am kind, and lastly, I won’t speak of numbers," said Quinn.
"I won’t bother to ask you where they are being kept. If this is not you, then you would be a fool to have your name attached to something so gruesome," Tobias said, but he believed Quinn.
"Everything we speak of now will be the truth. The duke and the commander won’t find anything worth being called a clue in either of my homes or at my business. See, Simon was sloppy," Quinn said, gripping the bars. "Why place your victims near your home?"
"You pride yourself on being smarter than Simon," said Tobias.
"Wouldn’t you agree that I am smarter?" Quinn asked.
"No. Simon didn’t confess to anyone about what he did. You are singing a little too soon," Tobias said, trying to guess Quinn’s motives. "With a little bit more convincing, you might have been able to get out. Your brother was a wanted man."
"I was growing bored waiting for all of you to figure it out. To realise who my father was. It’s more fun watching you try to understand me. Cassius lived all his life with me and never could understand me. What makes you think you could?" Quinn asked, seeking an honest answer.
"I’ve come down here to question a lot of men," Tobias said, slowly walking toward the guards to sit down. "I’ve grown a talent to read others."
"I don’t believe you have quite the talent. You depend on the duke to do your bidding, which is why you turn a blind eye to what he does. It must have been satisfying for you to have your son wed his daughter-"
"That doesn’t concern you. Tell me where your victims are, and then we may speak of what your punishments will be. Whether you’ll be tortured or live quietly here forever. What is it that you want?" Tobias asked, trying to buy time for the others to arrive.
Quinn snickered, losing interest in Tobias once again. "Never mind. I will wait for the duke. It will be quite the show to see him so desperately want to kill me, but he can’t. I’m curious if he found all the paintings."
"You see, the further he goes, the angrier he will become. I’ve become quite interested in Penelope, so I had portraits made of her. She stood out compared to her sisters. I had some portraits done with a mask, and then I got even more curious," Quinn said, closing his eyes to fill his mind with the portraits.
Quinn truly wished he could see Edgar’s reaction to the lewd portraits he did of Penelope. What did he think of the ones with his handsome son?
"Don’t think so little of me. While they were mostly for my amusement to understand my interest in the duchess, they were going to be a gift to my brother to help him cope with losing her. Do you want to see them?" Quinn asked, enjoying every bit of Tobias’s anger.
Tyrion fought hard not to get up off his seat to open the cell and beat Quinn until he was unconscious. Quinn wished to get under all their skins.
"Where are the others? Why did you take them? Does this have to do with some kind of revenge for your mother? You won’t avenge her by killing innocent men and women," Tobias said, his calmness slipping away as he spoke.
"Revenge? Who said anything about revenge? I hated my father, but my mother ended up loving him. She made her choices, so what would there be to avenge other than killing the Monroes? This is all for fun," Quinn confessed.
Quinn loved seeing the power his father once had. He took his father’s power and mixed it with someone else who had terrorised the town before.
"If only you would see how easy it is to make many of your people hand their lives over. Hand their daughters and sons over. I am not the only evil man in this town. You’ve turned a blind eye to what fathers do with their daughters because it is tradition," Quinn said, seeing himself and Tobias as the same.
Quinn walked to the back of the cell. "As long as the fathers don’t kill the daughters or abuse them, then you may turn a blind eye. Why did it take this town so long to see through talk of a curse and realise the duchess was being abused?"
"You may be honest with me since the duke is not around. You wouldn’t have cared about what the baron did to the duchess if not for Edgar marrying her. You can’t convince me that you didn’t know about her not seeing the light of day and the curse," said Quinn.
"Where are your victims?" Tobias asked, wanting to focus on what was important.
"Angry, aren’t we? It appears we could all do with a little reflecting. I will say this for the last time. Release me now, or someone is going to show up dead. We’re done speaking," Quinn said, closing his eyes as he leaned on the wall.