Here we are, back again in business, hopefully to daily updates once more. Longest update up to now. I ask that you behave professionally and avoid metagaming, please keep the first vote separated from the knowledge you'll get before the second and third, thanks.
38 – Of poisons and questionings
You tell Lord Tilash your suppositions, and he ends up agreeing with you. The setting sun illuminates the lord's face as he thinks about what you told him.
"It seems reasonable enough Kyoss. It would have been idiotic of the secretary to commit murder and then stay here. He was bound to know he would be suspected. Hmm, also, a possible hidden passage you say. And those missing documents... Well, it might be... I agree with you, this murder needs to be investigated in much more detail. I hope you will lend me a hand, Kalz said it would take a few more days for the caravan to be ready, and that's even supposing we can manage to make all the involved parties keep a civil behavior. I may have to send my soldiers with the caravan to keep order...."
"How about you start by showing me everything? It will be hard to see Herzil so brutally murdered, but I owe him at least a serious investigation. In the meanwhile I will send for our best healer, he also has a passable knowledge of poisons, he might know something. He was a a famous doctor in the capital during his prime. And once my men come back with the carpenter, we may end up having more answers. Also, I'll have all the people who work in the guild detained in a room, so they can't get in the way while we investigate. I hope you are well rested, I don't plan to sleep until we know more Kyoss"
You agree and lead the lord inside, showing him the room of the murder and the body of the merchant. He is obviously a bit rattled by the murder of someone he knew for so many years, but you notice he's certainly not avoiding to look, and has a determined look on his face. You are a bit impressed, you had heard often disparaging remarks towards nobility in your village, but the nobles you met so far seem to be rather competent...
Soon the old healer arrives and starts to examine the body in detail, with a grim expression on his face.
"Good work noticing this, young man. I have to agree with you, Herzil died of poisoning. Someone cut his throat later on, maybe to hide the fact that poison was used. For that matter, this blood is rather fresh. I'd say his throat was not cut more than a couple of hours ago. Else it would have started to clot up more."
Interesting, this puts the slashing of the throat at around the same time the incident at the caravan started. You inquire as to how this man was poisoned, and he looks at the wound on the back carefully.
"I'd say this is a bite of some poisonous insect. It is certainly not any sort of big wound, and I'd rule out a dart or a blade. No, I think it's an insect bite. And the poison was extremely lethal. Unless someone composed the body later, Herzil must have lost consciousness almost immediately, and died shortly thereafter. If this was not the case, surely he would have screamed for help or left the room, and someone would have heard him for sure"
"Strange. Could the poisoning be accidental, and then later on someone cut Herzil's throat?" Asks Lord Tilash
"No my lord, that is really not possible. There are no insects in the kingdom so poisonous as to do something like that. There are a few known species elsewhere, but to think that one of those accidentally bit Herzil just before someone came in to kill him... well..."
So, someone seems to have poisoned the merchant using some insect, and then later came in and cut his throat. The lord is baffled by this, but decides to proceed and use a few hours to inspect at least a bit the building. Along with the lord, you look around every room, and try to search for weapons, documents or other possible clues. It is by no means a detailed work, but at least a cursory search before starting to question the merchants seems in order. You do not find anything particular though, except from the key to Herzil's room, neatly placed in the secretary's desk. The key that supposedly nobody except Herzil had.
You also browse quickly the documents in Herzil's library, since the lord gives you permission to do so. But they all seem documents regarding goods, deals, and in general business of the merchant guild. You could always inspect them in detail later on...
In the meanwhile you had a quick snack with the lord and a few of his men, and it is now a couple of hours after dinner. The lord decides to start to question the merchants and everyone else who works in this building. And so, for the next couple of hours, you ask a few questions to these people, hoping to find something useful. A more detailed questioning could be conducted later on, if you so wish.
After another couple of hours, you have finished this first round of questionings, and you have manage to reconstruct a bit the events of the afternoon. Herzil came in shortly after lunch, was given a few important looking documents by a man of the Royal Courier Service. He then retired to his room and nobody else saw him. A few merchants do agree though that the secretary was seen a lot of times at his desk, seated and working very hard. The courier left the village immediately after, so you cannot readily obtain more information about these documents....
You also do notice that one of the senior officials of the guild, the one responsible for the well-being of the animals of burden, seems rather nervous, but even though you question him in detail he doesn't say anything suspicious and so you decide to simply keep an eye on him for the time being.
But now a first decision needs to be made. The merchants request that they be allowed to return home.
What will you suggest to Lord Tilash?
- Let them go home
- Keep them somewhere, with some men guarding them
- Let them go home but have a trusted soldier follow the suspicious official
- Other. Make a proposal, put a number on it
The time is rather late now, it's around midnight. The patrol is still not back, and so Lord Tilash decides to start questioning the secretary. He might give some important clues, and you can always inspect his home later on...
The small man is clearly terrified, at first all he can do is babble that he didn't do anything, and that there must be some mistake. After a bit, you and Lord Tilash manage to calm him enough to ask questions, and explain to him that right now he's only a suspect, and so that if he wants to help himself he should answer as best as he can. Firstly you ask him to recount the events of the afternoon. You notice that he's always watching Lord Tilash as he answers though. He also often starts crying, and so the narrations proceeds slowly. You are the one asking most of the questions actually.
"I came in just after lunch my lord, and started to work on the documents for the caravan. They should still be on my desk, it's a mountain of paperwork my lord. Then shortly after master Herzil came, holding some documents given to him by the Royal Courier. He told me he needed to work on those and that he was not to be disturbed unless something truly serious came up. I always obey him my lord, so I just stayed here at my desk, working on these documents. A few times other people brought me more, the pile seemed to keep growing.... Then, after about three hours, one of your soldiers came to the guild and demanded to see Herzil, my lord. I went below and argued with him for.. maybe 10 minutes, and in the end I agreed to allow him in since it did seem important. We reached the door to the master's study, and knocked, but he did not answer my lord. We called a few times, and I was beginning to be very worried, and so I agreed when the soldier said he's break it down my lord. And he did. And there he was, master Herzil, sprawled on the desk, with all that blood. I know no more my lord, I know no more" And the small man starts to cry once again.
After he calms down, you ask if Herzil had visitors, but the secretary tells you that the last visitor came over a week ago. Also, he denies having a key to that room, and so you decide not to tell him that the key was found in his desk. In case he's innocent, you don't want to terrify him even more, you need answers. You ask him about the window, and he does admit that Herzil liked to keep it slightly ajar. "He liked fresh air, my lord" is all he says, always looking at Lord Tilash.
You ask if Herzil had any enemies, but the secretary answers you that he didn't , except a dislike with the carpenters guild's head. But nothing too serious it seems. Finally, out of questions to ask for now, you decide to ask him if, to his knowledge, there are any other ways to enter the study apart from the door, explaining that it would really help his cause if that was the case. The small man hesitates a second and then, always looking Lord Tilash, answers slowly.
"Well my lord it's not exactly another ... entry. But there is something like that. It's a secret of the merchants guild, but... I.. I did not kill the master so I'll tell you my lord. Under the study of the master there is a small treasury, on the first floor. There are no ways to enter that room except from the master's study. There's a trapdoor concealed very well, I know the switch to make it visible my lord. You need the special key to open the trap door, master Herzil always has it with him. It's a closed room... but... I don't know, maybe something useful could be there my lord. I'll show you."
You all go back to the study, and the secretary flips a hidden switch on the wall. And sure enough, a small part of the floor moves, and a trapdoor becomes visible. The lord decides to look inside immediately, and order Herzil's body to be searched for the key. But, no key is found. The secretary is dumbfounded, and keeps blabbering that it's not possible. But the lord cuts him short.
"Who else knows of this trapdoor and the key? Answer me, secretary!"
The small man immediately shuts up and after a few ragged breathes answers "Uh.. the merchant guild's high ranking officials from in capital of course, and then, the oldest senior merchant here my lord. That would be the official in charge of the beasts of burden of the guild, my lord."
What an interesting development, you can see the wheels turning in Lord Tilash's head. Maybe now it would be a good time to suggest something?
About the senior official...
- Have him restrained
- Leave him alone for now
And more in general?
A) Break down the trapdoor, and see what's inside
B) Inspect the senior official's desk and office in depth
C) Inspect the houses of the secretary and the senior official
D) Other, make a proposal and put a number on it
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