Saccrus lifted a small bottle out of the case. "Take a look at this, if you would." He placed it on the table where the overhead light emphasized how dark and pure the liquid inside looked. "Oh no, none of that," he said, snatching away the bottle when his prospective customer, Liddramnus, reached for it. "They say a single taste of Yggdrasil syrup will satisfy a tongue for a week. I don't believe that myself, but I can't risk my business, can I?"
"I suppose not. No, I quite see what you mean." Liddramnus held his hand over the table and released a string of coins, then another as Saccrus beckoned, and a third. He hesitated before the fourth, but he let it go like a wonderful summer when fall arrives.
"Right, that's it. Everybody out." A man rolled out from under a couch against the wall, another popped out of the decorative sarcophagus, and the chandelier lowered from the ceiling to disgorge the two police officers hiding within its bowl. Neither the buyer nor the seller had any chance to escape that press.
"Well, well, Saccrus, selling counterfeit Yggdrasil sap? I'm shocked at you." Inspector Iagius grabbed the bottle, opened it, and tasted. "Yes, no doubt there. This tastes decent. The real stuff," he addressed that to Liddramnus, "is about as foul as anything you'll ever taste. And there's lots of it, too. Big tree, you know. Cheap as anything, should be. But people just can't help themselves when it comes to name brands."
Custos Falgunus chimed in. "That's why the duties are so heavy. Anyone stupid enough to buy it deserves to be impoverished a little."
"No point moralizing with these gentlemen. We won't see them again for a long time. Hustle along, fellows." The police marched out the pair of future convicts who pulled their coats over their heads to avoid shame, but everyone would know who had been nabbed. Rumors were always true when it came to that.
Finis
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