Despite being frozen over, Ost Forod was abuzz the next day. The body of Barry Idden was found where it had been slain, practically in the center of town. The head was thrown a few yards away, and the body itself was splayed out over the snowy ground chest up, with a gruesome symbol carved into it: a huge, bloody H, probably made with three simple strokes of an axe.
"It stands for Hobgoblin," said Poppy Seaton, who lived nearby and claimed she heard the exchange between the victim and the murderer, making her the one and only witness.
"Unfortunately, that doesn't help much, seeing as it's not a real name," Ecbert Milkweed responded. "Fortunately, he only killed Barry Idden, who was undoubtedly up to no good anyway."
Basil Gummidge, the arbiter of Ost Forod, shook his head. "No, no," he said, "even if you didn't like Barry it doesn't mean his death was a good thing. No, this is very bad. A murder! Right out in the open!"
But Ecbert only shrugged. "I'd wager it's merely violence between bands of brigands. Have you asked Andy about it at all?"
Basil shook his head sadly. "He doesn't know yet."
"He'll have to, and you'll have to tell him."
Basil nodded and went to Andy Idden's house, which was not too far. Ecbert stayed with the body to look for clues as to who the Hobgoblin might be. When Basil returned, Andy was with him. Immediately Andy rushed to his dead brother, muttering his name over and over.
"I'd, uh, hate to interrupt," said Ecbert, who didn't really care if he was interrupting, "but do you know of anyone who might want to do this?"
"You," Andy said with venom, looking at Ecbert with hate. "You hate anyone who steps outside the rules. You used to go out and kill people like Barry and me!"
Ecbert shook his head as Basil answered for him, "Don't be ridiculous, Andy. Ecbert hasn't killed anyone since I became arbiter, and even before he strictly killed men in self defense, never an attack like this."
Ecbert nodded, and glared at Andy. He never liked the Iddens, and was frankly happy that Barry was out of the picture now. What that might move Andy to do was another story, but for now he was happy with the Hobgoblin's work. Perhaps a little brutal, but at least it got the point across. Maybe now criminals would leave Ost Forod out of fear for their lives.
A few days later, Barry was buried and the memory of the murder started to fade in the mind of the people. But Basil and Ecbert kept talking about it. Andy said he didn't know of any reason for other bands of brigands to be going after him, and so the only solid theory had to be put aside. "Perhaps," said Basil, "it didn't have to do with who Barry was at all. Perhaps it was just a random murder." Ecbert shook his head, but said nothing.
That was when another surprise reached their ears: another dead body, this one outside the town on the road north, was found with the exact same markings, also decapitated. This was the body of another criminal, a smuggler named Archie Seaton (a distant cousin of the aforementioned Poppy).
"Another murder," said Basil.
"Another criminal brought to justice," said Ecbert.
"This isn't justice. One man with an axe cannot be the deciding factor in a man's fate."
"This is what justice used to be like here, Basil. I was a bounty-hunter, this was the sort of stuff I did all the time. I preferred to capture them alive, of course, but if they struggled I had to fight."
"Yes, but there's the difference between you and the Hobgoblin. He is killing them whether they put up a fight or not."
"All the same, I think this is just a return to the justice we used to know here, before you outlawed killing outlaws."
Basil shook his head and looked at Ecbert, hurt. "It's almost as if you're rooting for the guy!"
Ecbert shrugged. "Well, I don't know him, and I don't know if that's what he's fighting for. But if I were him, that would be my motivation."
They held a funeral for Archie a few days later. The whole town arrived, but not to grieve. They gossiped about the murders, who the Hobgoblin might be, what the murders meant, and, most importantly, who was next.
