Finn took another sip of his coffee. He examined the various treats I'd baked and grabbed two orange-cranberry muffins to start off with.
"I hope you did something last night other than hit on those two girls," I said, dishing up a generous portion of blackberry cobbler into a large bowl.
"If you consider sifting through reams of information on Tobias Dawson, then yes, I did do something useful last night, although it was a thoroughly eye-glazing experience. The man doesn't have nearly enough vices to make things interesting. All he does is mine coal and buy equipment to mine coal and look for more places to mine coal. Did I mention he mines coal?"
"Once or twice. " My lips twitched up. No matter how bad I felt, Finn could always make me smile. I loved him for that.
I used my Ice magic to frost a mug and create some small Ice cubes, then poured myself a glass of milk and dug into the cobbler. I didn't bother with ice cream this time. I just wanted warm sugar, and a lot of it.
"But you were right about the diamonds," Finn said.
"According to the cell phone photos the detective took in Dawson's office, the dwarf is planning a major expansion of his current mining operation. And guess where the new primary shaft leads to?"
I didn't even have to guess. "Warren T. Fox's country store. "
Finn nodded. "Actually, our good friend Tobias Dawson has already started shoring up the mine, and he's even crossed over into Warren's land. "
"Explains all the rumblings and mini earthquakes they've heard and felt. " I took another bite of cobbler. The oat topping provided a crunchy, chewy contrast to the syrupy sweetness of the blackberry filling. Mmm. Perfect.
"But wait, there's more," Finn said. "Dawson might be mining his brains out, but he's not making a lot of money doing it anymore. "
"Why not?"
Finn shrugged. "The usual reasons. Equipment's more expensive, the coal's harder to get to, and there's less of it, which means more man hours and more money invested in getting it out of the ground to start with. Dawson also got sued last year. There was a cave-in at one of his other mines further up in Virginia. Killed almost a dozen men, injured that many more. Despite the dwarf 's attempts to keep it quiet, the accident got a lot of press. Dawson had insurance, but he still had to pony up almost thirty million for the families. "
I whistled. "That'll put a dent in anyone's wallet. "
Finn polished off his muffins and reached for the basket of rolls. I passed him some butter. "It put a bigger dent in Dawson's wallet than most. It wiped out most of his personal fortune. He's barely making ends meet these days and is mortgaged to the top of his ten-gallon hat. "
"So he just doesn't want the diamonds, he needs them. "
"Like a wino needs wine," Finn agreed. "But wait, there's more. Guess who one of his primary lenders is?"
Another easy guess. "Mab Monroe. "
Finn pouted. "You ruin all my fun. How did you know?"
I shrugged. "I remembered seeing Dawson's name in the file Fletcher compiled on Mab. Even if I hadn't, it wouldn't be much of a stretch. The woman's got her hands in everything in this city. Including Dawson's pocket, I imagine. "
"In a big, big way," Finn said. "Mab's been floating him money for the past several months. She's writing it off as a speculative business venture. "
I looked at him. "Speculative venture? So she knows about the diamonds then. "
"Probably," Finn said. "Dawson must have told her about them, maybe even given her a couple of samples as a good faith gesture. "
"So all Dawson has to do is get rid of the Foxes, and he can tear up the whole mountain mining diamonds. "
"Pay off his creditors, become solvent again, and make himself and Mab Monroe a pile of money," Finn added.
"You were right, Gin. Tobias Dawson isn't going to stop until Warren Fox's land is his. He can't afford to. Not with Mab Monroe breathing down his neck to come up with something worthwhile. "
"Knowing the dwarf 's dirty secrets is all well and good, but we knew I was going to have to kill him all along," I said. "What I want to know now is how I can pull it off - and get away clean afterward. "
Finn buttered another roll. "I've been working on that too. Like I said before, Dawson is all about his business. Mining is his life. "
"So I take him out at his house or the mine office. No big deal. "
Finn shook his head. "I did some more digging last night. I wouldn't suggest either one of those options. Dawson has a pretty tight security setup at home. Lots of giant guards, and his house is in a flat, remote area. They'd see you coming. And after your break-in last night, I imagine he's doubled the guards at his office and the mine. Getting in would be tricky, getting out would be a serious problem. Especially if he puts up a fight before you kill him. "