"Is this where the boy was found?" Marcus said as he signaled for Alexander and Orville to stop. The two men brought their mounts to a halt behind Marcus, who gestured at a dark spot in the dirt ahead of him.

"I don't know, Inquisitor, I wasn't with Bernard and Gilbert when they found him. They just said that the younger Bernard was half-way to Croton by the time they found his body."

Marcus dismounted and led his horse closer to the dark spot on the dirt road. He knelt down and pinched the dirt, bringing it up to his nose even as the motion disturbed a small cloud of insects.

"Smells like blood, I think, and the flies seem to like it." Marcus said as he wiped his hand on the grass beside the road. "Not quite half-way to Croton, but close enough, especially if you consider the boy was found at night under rushed circumstances."

Marcus stood and stepped carefully around the spot on the road. "Alexander, look around from up there for anything usual, particularly clouds of flies."

Alexander nodded and carefully scanned the area around him while Marcus knelt in the dirt again. "Looks to be drops of blood here," he said before walking back to the spot and inspecting the dirt leading away from it and back to Croton. "Appears the trail is only on the Amdell side of the blood pool.

"Was he wounded further up and fled this way, bleeding as he ran, and then collapsed and bled to death here?" Alexander said, pausing from his search.

"No, the trail is leading towards Amdell, not away from it."

"How can you tell?"

"The blood. Smaller drops near larger ones indicate which direction the blood was moving when it hit the ground."

"Did they teach you that in the Academy? I don't remember any such lessons."

"No, they didn't. The Academy is primarily concerned with teaching you how to fight and drilling the correct Ethics into your head. Everything else can be learned in the field from your mentor. No, I learned this from some hunters I accompanied many years ago. Figured a man's blood with splatter just the same as a deer's blood."

Alexander nodded and resumed scanning the ground beside the road. Marcus' words reminded him of how unprepared he often felt when dealing with situations since he was chosen by Marcus to be his apprentice. He felt so confident at first, certain he could handle anything that arose in the course of his duty. Three years the teachers of the Academy trained him how to fight with sword and dagger and shield, to trust the quality of his equipment to overcome the inferior weapons and armor of those he might face outside the Inquisition. Marksmanship with pistols and rifles and the maintenance of both, wrestling and boxing. Hours every week spent studying the teachings of the Philosopher and learning his Ethics until Alexander could recite every word the Philosopher had written by heart, able to answer almost any hypotheticals the instructors could propose.

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What the Academy did not teach him, however, was how to function outside of it. When he first arrived in Croton he found himself at a complete loss as to how to interact with the people of the town. Three years of formal study among Inquisitors and half his life before that spent in one of the Empire's orphanages with nothing but other boys and the caretakers for company did not equip Alexander to deal with how normal people spoke and behaved. Luckily for him, Chloe offered a great deal of opportunity to practice conversation skills, even if she was better at teaching how to listen than how to speak.

"Marcus, I think I see something." Alexander said as he dismounted his horse and handed the reins to Orville. He walked to the left of where the dark spot was on the ground, a short distance away from the road. "I found a knife," Alexander called out as he knelt on the ground, disturbing the another, smaller cloud of flies that were buzzing around. Marcus also handed the reins of his horse to Orville and walked to where Alexander was crouched in the dirt.

"Looks like blood on it." Marcus said as he picked up the weapon carefully. Alexander looked at the blade and saw what did appear to be dried blood.

"Orville?" Marcus called out, "Did Bernard or Gilbert say anything about finding the weapon that killed the boy? Anything about throwing it away?"

"No, Inquisitor, they just said they found Bernard dead and bloody on the road to Croton." the farmed replied.

"Highwaymen don't typically care about bloodguilt bringing bad luck to them, not enough to throw away a weapon they might have need of." Marcus said as he stood and looked around. "But this distance," he said, trailing off as he walked in a straight line to the spot on the road. "Only six paces, a child could throw a knife this size further than this." Marcus said as Alexander joined him. "If the killer was trying to hide the murder weapon, he could have thrown it much further."

"What if it wasn't to hide the weapon?" Alexander asked. "What if the killer was disgusted by it, threw it like this," he said as he mimicked a sideways throw.

"Perhaps," Marcus said, stroking his chin. "Perhaps he was travelling with someone, the two of them fought and the boy was stabbed by his companion. The killer acted in passion and seeing what he or she did, threw the knife away in disgust before fleeing."

"She?" Orville asked from his horse as the two Inquisitors climbed into the saddles of their own mounts and took the reins from the man. "You think a woman could have done this?"

"It's unlikely, but not impossible. How old was the boy?"

"Bernard was about thirteen, if I remember correctly."

"A bit young but it wouldn't be the first time youths, intoxicated with the first stirrings of desire, decided to try their hand at the sort of romance they talk about in stories."

"So you think he was killed by a girl he was running away with?"

Marcus shook his head. "No, no, no. Please don't get the wrong idea, Orville. Alexander and I will speak in hypotheticals, present an idea to each other as if it were true so we can examine it for flaws. It is unlikely that he was murdered by a girl he thought he was in love with, but it cannot be ruled out."

"Oh, I see." Orville replied, nodding his head but furrowing his brow.

"Though, I doubt it was a highwayman," Marcus said, scanning the surrounding area from his horse. "The road here's too open, robbers like to lie in wait. Their job is more dangerous if their victims have more time to prepare. If the killer was on horseback he likely would have used a longer weapon than this knife."

"Did you see the body? Where the boy was wounded?" Alexander asked.

"No, sorry, Inquisitor." Orville replied.

"Well, let's hurry to Amdell, then." Marcus said, urging his horse forward. "Perhaps we'll have a chance to examine the bodies if we're quick."