What do I really know about Erib’s death? I know she died early in the morning, and from the other reports I know she made it to the hospital under her own power. I know she died there and that there was a lot of blood. The report claims FB extract was a cause. That makes sense to me, but it doesn’t explain how the queen made contact with the deadly poison.
I drew up a list of everyone still alive in this hellhole.
I knew it takes grit to have survived here this long, but I never expected one of us to be a murderer. I resolved to start talking with everyone about the queen’s death, to see what their story was and whether it rang of truth or stank of lies and deceit.
I sat alone in the dining hall. It was nearly empty. Back when I arrived this place was always filled. Now its vacant grandeur just reminds me of all the death and loss we’ve seen since then. Waiting for the first suspect to show I thought of all I’d been promised when I left for this place. In between bites of underberry biscuit I pictured the vibrant settlement I’d imagined when I left home. This hole was anything but the luxury I was expecting, and yet when I looked inside myself I didn’t find the anger I expected. A job was a job, and a murderer in this pit deserved justice just as much as one back in the mountainhomes.
“Do you want some more water, Mr. Graebeard?” I slid my mug over towards Inod, nodding thankfully at the young lady as she topped me off. I silently cursed my decision to stay sober for the investigation. Well, if there was anything that could motivate me to wrap this up quickly it was a tall, cold, sweaty goblet of dwarven gin waiting for me at the end.
“How’s the well going, Inod? I trust no new rats or crocodiles have taken up residence?”
“Nope! It sure is nice since the mayor took care of those monsters. I’m not even scared to go down there any more!”
“That’s a good girl. You just let me know if any other meanies show up, and I’ll set em’ straight.” I saw the Chief Medical Dwarf enter from the other side of the hall. “Ah, here’s Sibrek. Why don’t you run along now, Inod?”
Sibrek sauntered up to the table as Inod skipped away.
“OK, I’m a busy dwarf. What’s this about, Graebeard?”
“Why don’t you take a seat, Sibrek?”
“Because I’m not staying, that’s why. In case you haven’t noticed I’ve got sick patients in need of my services.”
“You mean like the Queen needed them?”
“What? I don’t even…. Wait. Are you saying that you think I…”
“I’m not saying anything. I just want to talk about what you were doing on the 21st of Moonstone.”
“You know what I was doing. It’s in my report. I was in the hospital when the queen burst into the room, bleeding out of every place you can think of, and crashed on the bed in a mess of febrile gore. She stopped breathing before I could even diagnose her.”
“That’s awfully convenient, don’t you think?"
“Convenient for who? You weren’t the one who had to clean up the mess. You didn’t have to worry about catching some godsaweful disease from that wreck of a corpse. I’ve been scrubbing my hands raw ever since.”
“Yes, that’s what your report says. But none of the witnesses remembered her bleeding on the way to the hospital. It was easy for you to poison her once she…”
“Ridiculous. Why would I poison the Queen?”
“Easy. Power. You were elected mayor after she died. How long had you wanted to be in charge before you killed her?”
“What? B-but that’s not even why… I didn’t…”
“Right. Where did you get the poison, Sibrek?”
“I, I didn’t poison her. She was as good as dead by the time I saw her. That’s the truth.”
“Well, you’d better hope it is. No one’s going anywhere, Sibrek. If I find out it was you, if I discover you were the one who killed her, you’re going to wish it was you who’d died that day.”
“Pshaw, go ahead. I didn’t do it, and I know I’m innocent. If she
was killed you’d better start looking pretty hard for her
real killer, since he must be still running around here. Oh, and Detective? I’d be careful if I were you. You don't want to have any accidents, because then you’ll be in my hospital. Under my care. And I don't take kindly to accusations.”
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Topic: Murdercloisters: Where A Year May Well Be A Lifetime (Succession) (Read 24697 times)