So...I encountered something peculiar after imprisoning a visitor for influencing one of my dorfs to steal an artifact.
Usually, I just bring the thief into interrogation before they can hand over the artifact to the scheming visitor. This causes them to drop the artifact and fess up the name of their handler. However, this time I allowed them to make the transaction, then I immediately convict the visitor without interrogating either party. My Captain of the Guard (CotG) then proceeds to chain up the visitor in my dungeon. Unfortunately, convicting the visitor does not cause them to drop the artifact.
Interestingly, once I convicted the visitor another instance of the "theft" appeared on my Justice screen. See gif below.
Note: Dodok Dastotid/Swordrocks The Hollow Zombie is the visitor, Onget Smithquiet is the thief.
Initially, there was only one Theft of The Leaf of Trifles (no previous attempt have been made) and it is marked green in that gif as I had already convicted the visitor. The other one was marked as red before I interrogated the visitor, then convicted him again of the crime using the other still open case in the hopes of making him drop the artifact, which didn't work. On the plus side, double jeopardy was somehow bypassed and my CotG sentences him to a beating on top of the previous prison sentence. However, it seems the beating would have to wait until the prisoner is released.
Usually in the case of artifact theft, I interrogate the handler after convicting the actual thief; up till now all of them refused to divulge anything to my CotG. This time however, the visitor confesses on the scheme and divulges two other conspiracies which I've never encountered before (see the Espionage cases still marked in red above). I pondered on what to do next while the visitor serves his prison sentence.
Eventually, the visitor was due to be released, but for some reason my CotG drags a terrarium along with him and takes the visitor off his chains and puts him into the terrarium! Job done, but beating still yet to be administered, the CotG then proceeds to return to his individual training while still hauling the visitor contained in the terrarium.
Then suddenly, another dorf came by and took the artifact out of the cage while it was still being hauled!
Possibly if I had no restraints in my prison, a convicted visitor who is then caged would cause the artifact to be retrieved from it? More !!SCIENCE!! is necessary.
The artifact now safely returned to its display case, I checked the CotG again to find that he's dropped the terrarium in the barracks where he's training but nobody seems to want to do anything about it or even haul it to my cage stockpile. So I built the terrarium in my execution room with the intention of using a lever to free him inside a locked room so I can continue my "interrogation" before he tries to leave my fortress. Then my CotG started the following spam:
And now I'm well and truly perplexed.
I have a few options on how to proceed, but I wanted to see if the DF community has any opinions on it before I do anything.
My priorities are in descending order:
- Find out more about the plot(s) if at all possible, the two espionage cases are still pending
- Give the visitor the beating he deserves
- Kick him out of my fortress (actually, he was already going to leave on his own before I convicted him)