Chapter 4: The Pillarman Abroad

On a winter night in Port Massy, Maik Tar executes a carefully prepared operation aboard a motorboat, chosen tasks keeping him focused and sober. He orders the engine cut and descends to a plastic-lined cabin where Willum “Skinny” Reams sits bound, barefoot, and bruised, as Kuno mixes quick-dry concrete for disposal.

Tar and his men—Sammy at the helm and Kuno assisting—work lean to avoid attention and overstepping Dauk Losun’s authority. Reams, defiant, admits many might want him dead, and accuses the Kekonese of revenge for Rohn Toro. Kuno reveals that rival Espenian Crews, including Jo Boy Gasson and the Slatters, have turned on Reams for bringing police heat and are content to see him removed.

Tar states broader motives: Reams murdered Rohn Toro and nearly killed two Kekonese nationals, but Tar is here above all because Reams strangled Tar’s sister, leaving her permanently impaired. The confrontation shifts from business to personal vendetta, with Tar displaying his talon knife and Perceiving Reams’s rising fear.

Despite Kuno’s caution to keep it quick, Tar clears the deck of witnesses, sending Kuno above with Sammy. Alone, Tar reduces Reams from named enemy to one head of a many-headed threat. As Reams begins to scream, Tar channels grief for his brother Maik Kehn into ruthless violence, committing covert retribution and preparing the concrete-filled disposal to consign the body to the water.