Customs agents

Nagspeake's ****c******ustoms department** is a group of people called **customs agents** whose job it is to reinforce the city laws (mainly, eradicate smuggling). Some are in league with Deacon and Morvengarde, but others are not.

## History

### *Greenglass House*

**Ben Pine**: Well, it's true that about the only thing that's harmed by Nagspeake smuggling is Deacon and Morvengarde's business. Without the smugglers, D. and M. would practically have a monopoly on goods coming into the city. Whether they and the customs agency are actually in league together—nobody's been able to prove it, but yes, everyone suspects it.

— *Greenglass House*, pg. 297 |  | ”

When Brandon and Fenster arrived, Mr. Pine suggested that they come up with a story about what they did, just as a general precaution, because he didn't think any of them looked like customs agents but he was not sure. When Dr. Gowervine told of Lowell Skellansen, he said that he was not surprised that Deacon and Morvengarde agents were involved in the death of Doc Holystone, since the customs agency is almost a wing of Deacon and Morvengarde.

While Milo and Meddy were searching for Dr. Gowervine's satchel, which had been stolen, someone locked them in a room. After Mr. Pine got them out, Milo theorized that they had been getting close to something the thief did not want them to find. Under the rug in the room next door, he found a paper declaring the bearer to have been deputized by the Customs Department. Since it was in the room that Georgie Moselle had been staying in before she changed rooms, Mr. Pine assumed that Georgie was the customs agent. He was surprised, and wondered about her action of calling the ferry. Milo wondered if you could be both a big-time thief and a customs agent at the same time. Milo did not think that Georgie was the customs agent.

The Pines were worried that Fenster, who was a smuggler, might be arrested by the agent. They were also worried, Milo knew, that they themselves might be arrested because Fenster was a regular at the inn. The Pines told Brandon and Fenster the news and they tried to act normal. They attempted to get Fenster out of the house on the Belowground Transit System, but the train had been damaged by the cold and it took Brandon a lot of work to fix. Milo, knowing that the customs agent had been on his family's floor to get room keys, wondered if they had looked in the ledger of guests, but it was mostly aliases. Milo wondered what his parents would decide to do about the customs agent, thinking again that it could not be Georgie.

Milo and Meddy went over the clues again. They went through the simple and complicated answers of who was the thief and who was the customs agent, and then suddenly Milo realized something. He saw how the thief and the customs agent were the same person, and he knew who it was. He was about to tell Meddy but his parents came in then.

Milo pulled aside his parents, who had been telling Mrs. Caraway and Lizzie the news, and told them that he knew who the customs agent was. His parents were skeptical of his claim that it was not Georgie, but Milo explained all the clues that made it work: Mr. Vinge was the customs agent. Mrs. Pine, after seeing the list of things that made this theory make sense, agreed with Milo and mused that Mr. Vinge must have stolen the things to investigate the house and the guests. Milo wondered if, since the thefts were so odd, Mr. Vinge was just after information about Greenglass House, its history, and its connections to smuggling, or if something else was happening.

Mr. Vinge told a story, in which he painted Doc Holystone as a weapons-smuggler, criminal, and a danger to society. He called the other smugglers criminals as well. Mr. Vinge told of how a customs agent, in charge of Deacon and Morvengarde's investigation of Doc Holystone, had found a smuggler from Doc Holystone's crew willing to give evidence (here Dr. Gowervine interrupted that Deacon and Morvengarde had beaten the man badly), and showed the agent a map. According to Mr. Vinge, that map had, encoded in it, information on a shipment of weapons. Fenster protested that Doc Holystone had never smuggled weapons, though Mr. Vinge insisted that Doc Holystone had.

According to Georgie, Deacon and Morvengarde cared about anything they did not profit from, even if it was antigravity pens. According to Mr. Vinge, the agent had discovered a watermark on the map and followed it to Greenglass House. The agent then waited for Doc Holystone to return to the house, not knowing his identity was compromised. Mr. Vinge insisted that there was a legendary weapon hidden there. Fenster then exploded at him, saying that the customs agents always used weapons as excuses for coming down on the smugglers.

Mr. Vinge soon began to order the guests around, and showed his customs ID. He asked openly if Fenster was a smuggler, which Fenster denied. Mr. Vinge then inquired about the location of Doc Holystone's final cargo, believing that the Pines or Fenster knew of its location. He refused to leave before he had the cargo. Mr. Vinge soon took out a gun, and two other customs agents burst into the house. Milo, upon Meddy's instruction, ran toward the attic. The other customs agents tried to stop him but were tackled by Clem and Owen before they could do so.

Meddy told Milo her true identity: the ghost of Addie Whitcher, Doc Holystone's daughter. She told of how Mr. Vinge had attempted to capture Doc Holystone, waiting at the house until the smuggler arrived. In the ensuing chase Doc Holystone had fallen from the cliff and died. Meddy went downstairs and reported that the customs agents had locked the guests in the laundry room, and Mr. Vinge was grilling Mr. Pine, Mrs. Pine, and Fenster in the living room. Mr. Vinge said that they were under arrest, and Meddy agreed with Milo that she wasn't sure whether they could do that, but Mr. Vinge thought he could. One customs agent was searching the upper floors for Milo but had not yet reached the attic.

After Milo figured out the location of Doc Holystone's final cargo, he wanted to go downstairs and check that it was there without being found by Mr. Vinge. Milo and Meddy lured the customs agent searching for Milo into the attic, then locked him in. The agent trapped in the attic began to bang on the door. Milo and Meddy descended to the ground floor by way of the fire escape in an attempt not to be caught, but the kitchen door announced Milo's presence with a loud squeak and Mr. Vinge's thugs, one of which had let the other out of the attic but Meddy had thought to be still upstairs, caught Milo before he could escape.

Milo went to find Doc Holystone's final cargo, having made a deal with Mr. Vinge that if Milo gave him the cargo he would leave, and discovered the Sirin figurine, a toy made by Doc Holystone for his daughter. Mr. Vinge planned to take it and destroy it, so that it could not be part of Doc Holystone's legend. Milo went to stop him, but Mr. Vinge pulled out his gun. Meddy then appeared to them, screamed at Mr. Vinge in rage, and used her ghost powers to become as big as him. Mr. Vinge, scared, shot the gun at her. It did not hurt Meddy, because she was a ghost, but she became even more enraged, took his gun, and successfully drove him out. The other customs agents then left too.

Clem offered to send up some lawmen to talk to the Pines, who would not be bullied by customs or Deacon and Morvengarde.

### *Ghosts of Greenglass House*

**Mr. Pine**: Yeah. Smugglers would die for a resource like that. The customs department or the folks from Deacon and Morvengarde would kill for it.

— *Ghosts of Greenglass House*, pg. 41 |  | ”

When Georgie mentioned a derrotero of the Skidwrack, Mr. Pine noted how ruthless both Deacon and Morvengarde and customs would be to have it. Milo later commented upon how awesome Violet Cross had been; customs had not been able to catch her, nor Deacon and Morvengarde, noting that most of Nagspeake thought, with good basis, that Deacon and Morvengarde controlled the customs department. The ghost of Doc Holystone (later revealed to have been Toby Gilawfer in disguise) said that Gilawfer had been not only a fence but an informant for customs, and had been controlled by Mr. Vinge. He warned Milo that Gilawfer could turn over evidence to the customs department for money, and have them go after the derrotero if he could not.

Meddy later suggested that one of the guests could be a customs agent in disguise. It eventually became clear that Emmett was, and he told Milo this. Emmett knew that Clem and Georgie were both thieves and that something had probably been stolen from them. Milo told him that Clem and Georgie were the rightful owners of the haul, and told Emmett what the haul contained. Emmett showed Milo a paper declaring him to be a customs agent, which he'd hidden in his easel, and Milo noticed the differences between his and Mr. Vinge's: Mr. Vinge had been a deputized agent, but Emmett was a real one. Milo was not quite sure what this meant for him, wondering if he was there because of the smugglers that often stayed at Greenglass House. Emmett did not know Gilawfer, and told Milo that he'd come to Greenglass House to investigate Mr. Vinge's claims (he did not think Mr. Vinge trustworthy). Emmett had, however, not seen anything he thought wrong, saying that smugglers staying at Greenglass House was not a crime, and Milo realized that Emmett had come to Greenglass House at a time when he did not expect other guests to come, already knowing that he would declare the house not an issue. Emmett told Milo that not everyone in customs was controlled by someone else. Emmett told Mr. Pine, Mrs. Pine, and Georgie who he was.

Milo told a story about Violet Cross, saying that Deacon and Morvengarde had customs searching all around to try to find the contraband maps, but could not find where they were coming from. Emmett later took out his customs ID, showing the guests, and told them that they were not protected from Nagspeake laws when they were not in the Liberty. He told them that whoever the thief was should return the stolen things, otherwise Emmett would have to arrest them. Mrs. Kirkegrim (later revealed to have been both Cantlebone and Violet Cross) pointed out that Emmett did not have the authority to keep them there while he found the thief. She agreed to be searched, then left.

Mr. Vinge later met Milo, Gilawfer, and Mrs. Kirkegrim in the woods, and Milo noted that he was a deputized customs agent. Mr. Vinge said that Gilawfer had indeed had connections to customs, then took out his customs ID and ordered Mrs. Kirkegrim to stay put. Mrs. Kirkegrim seemed disdainful of Mr. Vinge and that the man thought himself powerful, then mentioned the other customs agent inside Greenglass House. Milo, understanding what she was doing, played along, and they both pretended that Mr. Vinge had double-crossed Gilawfer through Emmett Syebuck; Deacon and Morvengarde would get the derrotero, and customs would get Gilawfer. Both men eventually pulled a gun, but were stopped by a hobby horse.

Rob tried to take the derrotero by holding a knife to Milo. After knocking Rob out, Mr. Larven suggested that Emmett arrest Rob for armed robbery, and Emmett agreed. When it was revealed that Mrs. Kirkegrim had been Violet Cross, she confirmed that the legends were true; she had indeed fallen in love with a customs agent: Peter Hakelbarend. Emmett realized he recognized Mr. Hakelbarend from reading old customs files about Violet Cross and Doc Holystone. From Violet Cross's haul were found the smuggler cards, a deck of cards each with a Nagspeake smuggler painted onto them, the real ones which the customs agency had never had. Emmett later had a friend pick him up, taking Rob (untied but handcuffed) with him.

### *The Thief Knot*

Marzana noted that Emmett Syebuck was a customs agent, and that Peter Hakelbarend had been one too. The kidnapping of Peony Hyde and the thefts committed by Rob Gandreider had both gone to the city police, because they were not customs' job. Mrs. Hakelbarend, Marzana mentioned, had had to escape capture by customs. Rob accused Mr. Hakelbarend of being 'always a city cop'. Meddy told Marzana about a time when Alexander Cabot had stopped two customs agents from apprehending Mrs. Hakelbarend when she had been a younger smuggler. Emmett Syebuck and his friend in Criminal Investigation, Thad, later showed up to arrest the kidnappers Moth and Kit Fletchwood.

## Known members

* De Cary Vinge (deputized)
* Assisting customs agents
* Emmett Syebuck
* Peter Hakelbarend (formerly)