The case that Captain Terali Moira had thoughtfully assigned Sherlot, with Elrik in tow, was the disappearance of one Lady Swaingriud.

On the morning of the seventh day of aunitzya, servants of the Swaingriud household broke into the locked bedroom of Lady Swaingriud, after receiving no response from her for several hours.

It appeared that Lady Sesara Vi Swaingriud, daughter of the Viscount Swaingriud had upped and disappeared from her room, in Swaingriud Manor, from right in the heart of Kalaghutta.

The bedroom was locked from the inside. There were no signs of any disturbance.

Two days later, on the morning of the ninth day of aunitzya, Viscountess Swaingriud, the lady of the house, came down, in person, to the Morpok Lane watch house and spoke Captain Moira regarding the disappearance of her daughter, to request assistance. That same day, Captain Moira had assigned the case to Elrik.

The report in itself was a rather unusual happening.

In a city the size of Kalaghutta, disappearances did occur - even amongst the manors of the noble houses.

In the usual manner of things though, the watch was the last to know when it did.

An investigation such as this was carried out behind closed doors. Quiet work taken care of by retainers of the noble house.

In the end, a case like this, almost always turned out to be something terribly vulgar..

A lover, some family scheme, an elopement.. or a some tawdry murder.

Nothing a noble house would want examined by outsiders - least of all by the city watch - an entity the nobles held in similar regard to the muck rakers in the sewers.

A case like this was reported to the watch perhaps weeks after the incident - once the house had uncovered what had happened - and quietly, secretly dealt with it.

The real truth of the matter came out perhaps years after - if it ever saw the light of day at all.

Something had prompted - no, forced - the viscountess to seek the help of the watch. Urgency perhaps? Did she have no one else to trust in the house?

Or did she need the truth to be discovered by someone outside house Swaingriud. Elrik could only speculate.

Then, some arcane political calculus had made Captain Moira pick this case as the one that Sherlot Akela of all people would help the city watch with.

On top of all this - and Elrik wondered at the sheer tangle of it - there was his own strange circumstance.

Elrik thought about all this as he and Sherlot rode in silence to Swaingriud manor.

...

"If it pleases my lord, would my lord care to wait in the tea room?" the butler bowed deep as she welcomed them in. "Excellent, this way, sires"

Elrik and Sherlot's footsteps echoed on the marble floors, as they followed the butler deeper into Swaingriud Manor.

There was a world of difference, Elrik ruminated, on how a butler treated a member of the city watch - when that watchman was accompanying the son of a duke.

"Please, my lord, and err.. sir", the butler gestured to a tasteful set of chairs, "If you would take a seat, I shall fetch the lord Viscount"

"We would rather not waste the time, can you show us to the young lady's bedchambers?"

Sherlot Akela was not a man to mince words.

The butler seemed taken aback at the request.

"My lord! The lady's bedchambers, I'm afraid I cannot presume, my lord! I will inform my lady, the Viscountess of your request."

The butler backed and sidled away, leaving Elrik and Sherlot standing where they were, in the midst of an elaborate tea service.

Elrik eyed the gaunt lord Akela next to him.

He was Elrik's real problem. This strange little lordling with his strange insight - who seemed less than stable - and impossible to control. Elrik could hardly think about the case, when he was still wondering what to do about Sherlot.

This was not a good day.

…

The Viscount, Lord Swaingriud was, it seemed, not available. Apparently he was away on business. Details were not forthcoming, but it was most important household business, the butler informed them.

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The lady of the house, the viscountess lady Swaingriud was also not available. She was sequestered in her room. She would not be speaking to them. The butler mumbled a halfhearted excuse about grief over his shoulder then quickly scurried away - to look for someone else who would speak to them.

The day grew stranger and stranger.

Elrik and Sherlock sat alone, still left waiting in the tea room. An elaborate tea service was laid out before them. There were three different kinds of biscuits.

Sherlot fidgeted about, crossing his legs this way and that.

“I suppose they could just throw us out of the house and be done with it”

Sherlock Akela was starting to loose his cool. Elrik was starting to get the impression that the young lord was not a very patient person at the best of times.

Elrik thought for a second, “If I had to speculate.. I’d say the lady of the house went to the watch against the advice of her retainers.. and now the viscount or someone else in house Swaingriud has silenced her”

Sherlock frowned, “Do they want us to find her or not?” His eyes, as they always seemed to, shifted this way and that, taking in every detail of the room.

Elrik shrugged, “I'd hazard to guess, the viscountesses wants us to find the lady. Or did. The rest don’t know what to do with us. Perhaps they’re hoping we’ll just leave."

He turned to Sherlot, "Does any of this surprise you, my lord? You must have spent more time in the company of nobles than I”,

The real question went unspoken These nobles, of the great houses - are these not your people? Isn't this how things have always been done?

Sherlot grimaced, "I have never cared much for the great houses and unsurprisingly, they've never had much use for me. My father least of all. For all my wit, I'm not very good at understanding people, you see. My people especially..."

He turned back to Elrik, "But this I can do. This young woman I can find. Here, I can be of use. If I have your help.." Will you help me?

Elrik considered the unspoken question. Despite himself, despite how this young lord unnerved him, he found himself liking him, just a little.

He answered slowly, meeting Sherlot's eyes, "I don't care much for some noble lady I've never met.. But I'll help you if I can"

For several minutes they shared a companionable silence after that. Sherlot beat an impatient staccato on his knee.

Then finally, with a hiss he jumped to his feet.

"Let's go take a look", he threw out, and strode into the house.

For a second Elrik hesitated.. then followed him.

...

The manor was in a state of some disarray. The incident had thrown all the household into chaos. The servants were in a state, milling about, too concerned with their own small politics to stop Sherlot or Elrik from going anywhere.

Sherlot walked with long unhesitating steps, moving swiftly through the house. Familiar as he was, with the order of a manor house, he quickly found the room he was looking for.

Within a few short moments, the two had found the bedchambers of Sesara Vi Swaingriud and slipped inside.

...

Elrik felt out of his element. For all he'd learned about the city, these many days, the city watch didn't do much in the way of investigating.

He took a deep breath and set aside his worries about Sherlot, focussing on the problem at hand.

For five full minutes, Sherlot examined the room, walking around it, looking at everything.

"Interesting..."

Elrik looked up, "Find anything?"

Sherlot closed his eyes in thought, "Perhaps". He spread his hands "What do you see"

Elrik tilted his head at the window, "The thin piece of string, caught in the window.. "

He sighed, "She let herself out, closed the window behind her and latched it half shut with the string she'd tied"

Sherlot nodded, "Perhaps. Or perhaps it was a lover that pulled on the string.. Or perhaps an assassin that did.. but two would have found it harder to escape undetected.. and someone carrying a body harder still. There are walls and a gate about the estate outside"

Elrik walked over and examined the window. Along the wood of the window, there was a fine groove, like one that would be made by a string pulled across it - many, many times.

"She let herself out, and she's done it before. Many times"

"Yes..", Sherlot continued, "But, what I find truly interesting is this", and he pointed to the ornate armoire. Some of drawers lay open.

Sherlot walked over to pull open all the drawers. Pile after pile of neatly folded clothing lay inside. Suddenly, the air hung fragrant with the smell of grishtii herbs - a toxicant found easily in Kalaghutta. The herbs lay folded into the clothing - to keep out pests, guessed Elrik.

"Come and see", and Sherlot motioned for Elrik to come closer, "Noblewomen do not fold or launder their own clothes in my experience, corporal. Her maids used sprigs of grishtii to keep clothing from spoil."

Elrik frowned, not following.

Sherlot continued, "The herbs are usually replaced when the clothing is laundered - and these are dry - perhaps months old"

"Ah", Elrik shrugged, "So she hadn't worn these clothes recently?"

"Yes", Sherlot nodded, "She hadn't worn any of these dresses recently. So what was she wearing, for so many days?"

For a second they both looked at each other, then in unison their eyes turned to the small chest unobtrusively tucked away under her bed.

Elrik approached it, pulling it out.

The chest had a lock, a delicate little wrought iron mechanism, at least by the standards of Kalaghutta. Elrik considered picking it, but then reconsidered - and a quick kick from his foot opened the lock.

Sherlot came closer to look, and Elrik opened the chest to look inside. Then the two of them stared.

Inside the chest lay a small coinpurse, a dagger and a set of worn leather armor, finely made, but well used.

Sherlot let out a small giggle, which turned into a bitter laugh,

"How is that for you corporal?" he got out, "This fine noblewoman, this fine lady, was slipping away - night after night. She was escaping into the city every night - of all things - to be a common adventurer.."