Reeve Petrus walked to the remains of the fire and eased himself down on a log. He scratched at his beard.

"This isn't good, Petrus," said one of the sergeants.

The reeve made eye contact with the sergeant and nodded in agreement.

Both sergeants kept looking nervously beyond the campsite and into the trees.

Odo couldn't keep quiet any longer. "What is it, what did ye see?"

Reeve Petrus pointed to the corpse. "He wasn't killed by an outlaw; he was ...