“As you know,” begins Walter. “The crime happened sometime last night. A report came in that a house was ablaze in the poorer district of town. The Alderbrand guard rushed over here with aquamancers in tow to examine the scene.”

It’s now that you notice that some of the ground around the house is still wet. This is probably due to the aquamancers dousing the flames with their magic. You just hope the water didn’t wash away any vital evidence that may be lurking inside the small abode.

“Once the flames were quenched, I went in to examine the scene,” continues the captain. “Inside was a woman cradling a baby in her arms. She was naked with her backside suffering extreme burns and is what we are considering the cause of death.”

“The odd thing though,” shrugs Bronx. “Is the child was untouched by the flames. When we arrived the child was drinking the milk of its dead mother, unaware that she had expired. As the baby was unharmed, we removed it into the care of a wet nurse. Besides that, the crime scene remains untouched.”

After the captain finishes explaining, you notice two out-of-place people within the area. One is a thin, gaunt man with shaggy blonde hair. It appears as if he is feverishly drawing in a notebook of some kind. He seems to be an elf judging by his ears.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

You point to the man, suggesting he shouldn’t be this close to the scene.

“That is Garhal Diamondgleam,” explains Alderbrand’s captain. “He is an artist that assists us with murders. He is able to draw things to the most minor of details for us to review later when we hit a roadblock within our investigations. Since we were instructed to leave the scene alone until your arrival we were using his sketches to being our own investigation.”

You want to applaud Walter Bronx on his ability to think outside the box in order to start his own investigation without angering the Order.

There is another man next to him, this one is a human, paler in colour. He is pacing back and forth, seeming to be very frustrated for some reason. As you observe the man, you notice him taking peeks at whatever Garhal is drawing from around his shoulder since the elf stood taller than him.

You also ask about that man as he seems to be the last person of note within the area.

“That is Thaisen Moore,” sighs Walter. “He is the mortician and will examine the body and then prepare it for the funeral before giving it to the grave keeper.”

It’s at this moment, that you notice the two men slightly behind Thaisen with a stretcher and a large white cloth. They are probably paid to move the body to Moore’s place of work.

“That poor man has been busy as of late,” says Bronx. “To be honest, I think he hates death and only got into the trade because he thought it would be easy coin.”

You thank the captain for his explanation and announce you’ll now do things on your own.

Now marks the beginning of your investigation. For this scene, there is no time limit so you are free to go back and talk to people or investigate areas. Once you have done an action for an area, you may not try something else.

In the future, other things will be put on a timer which you will be given at the end of the chapter. More will be explained on that when such a scenario arises.

If you wish to talk to Garhal Diamondgleam, then go to Chapter 8

If you wish to talk to Thaisen Moore, then go to Chapter 9

If you wish to begin investigating the house, then go to Chapter 10