L
Lord Exmortis
Guest
As I entered The Guard Hall in Serpents Hold I saw many of the Sleuths already gathering. Mr Immy Flow, Katrina, Helen, Queen Elf Sandy, Mirria, Jocelyn, and Nora all stood around the back feeding their pets and chatting about the possibilities. Helen had not been investigating so they quickly filled her in.
“We have apprehended Tara” said Jocelyn “so she is not able to shop for a while. We have her in custody in Yew.”
“She confessed to a crime,” remarked Katrina. “But she is the Vegan not the shopper.”
“Oh right! I get them mixed up!” confessed Jocelyn.
Queen Mum and Miri joined us. Mum provided a quick snack of milk and cookies before we started our investigation. As we ate Mum commented, “I don think she dun it.”
This was echoed by Charly don’t Surf, Malfoy, Queen Elf Sandy and Moxxi.
Queen Elf Sandy added “remember she was alive when she left him. Maybe we should release her.”
“We kept her because we hoped that Colt or if not he, the real killer would come forward or leave some hint. Did Colt get in touch with any of you? Did he post on the Tavern wall?” asked Daniel
“Not I” answered Moxxi
“Since last week?” questioned Jocelyn “Nope.”
“Nay” Miri added.
Darth Waynebo, Vitamin, and Lavis the Mage also agreed that they had not heard or seen anything since last week.
Daniel Ravens was thoughtful, “He must know that Tara is in Jail. Let’s see what he has to say. We need to listen carefully.”
Charly Dont Surf agreed, “Sounds good to me”
It was a long way to the Sosarian Stable so we opted to travel through a gate. Outside of the stable we could hear multiple voices inside. There seemed to be a bit of an argument going on. The front gate was open so we all walked in. Standing in front of the stalls were
Colt Walker, Harold Chancero, Cayne Padopocit, L'il Min Rideout and Marrianne. This was the first time we had seen them all together. Usually they chose to avoid each other.
Nora interrupted and said “hello.”
Marrianne responded in a terse tone, “Oh! You are back. Please go away.”
We told her we could not go away until we finished our thorough investigation.
“You are ruining all our lives putting a nice girl in jail.”
Daniel found that confusing. ”Didn’t you Marrianne accuse her just last time we met?”
“Well I changed my mind. She would not hurt anyone. I figured you would be able to deduce that.” Marrianne frowned.
“She made a confession. We had to act on what we were told.” Daniel informed the haughty woman.
“The girl is confused - ask anyone. She could not have done it.” stated Marrianne emphatically.
Everyone in the stable agreed.
“Then who do you think did it” asked Vitamin.
“Maybe it was Cayne. Seems he has been dating Xarra ever since.” Voiced Marrianne
“Hold on there! I was in Trinsic that night.” Retorted Cayne
“Can you prove that?” Questioned Marrianne
“You know I can not. Xarra was not there.” snorted Cayne right back. He eyed Harold with distaste.
“She was with me. We were talking about Farley winning. I told you, Cayne, I was innocent.” Harold quickly added.
“You should have stayed away from her.” Threatened Cayne
“She needed to know that I was suspicious of Farley. I was trying to help her!”
Min had enough, “Stop bickering. We all know it was not Tara!”
Once more they all agreed. I wondered what they knew. How could they all have been so sure? Daniel was sure too. He kept saying he believed Tara was innocent.
“I think Tara is innocent too SO! If you know something now would be a good time to tell us. Otherwise Tara has incriminated herself.”
Colt looked up. He had been staring at the hay on the floor. “He left the paddock with a man. They were on horse back. I did not see him. I only heard their voices.”
Min was also eager to add information. “I saw Farley after he died. He had marks on his neck. They looked like rope burns. Where is Farley’s whip?”
Queen Mum wanted clarification. “You mean his riding crop right?”
“No, he used a whip!” Min looked like her nostrils could not flare any bigger. She found it appalling that anyone would whip their horse.
Harold, who should have known something but tended to keep quiet about the incident, added “We should talk to Farriot about the burgers. Or you should. Go!”
We agreed and headed away.
Farriots’ Farm was in the warm south area of Moonglow. He had just gone inside to sip an iced tea and relax. He looked at us and in his usual jovial tone welcomed us.
“Hello” he smiled, “Hey, how are the forensic specialists tonight? I was relieved that you apprehended the killer. It’s always the one you suspect the least.”
He shook his head. “Tara always seemed like a nice girl.”
Daniel got to the point. “We have questions about your Burgers, specifically about your business with Farley.”
“Why, you already arrested Tara?” snapped Farriot much less cheerily.
“We have only detained her. We have made no charges yet. Please answer the question.” Demanded Darth Waynebo
“Yes! Farley and I were in the burger business. I was annoyed that he reneged on some of the supplies.”
Cocoa stepped in. “Would you have killed him because you were annoyed?”
Farley was shocked by the question. “I did not kill him! We were chums. You do not kill a friend over a few Gold pieces.”
“How much did you lose?” Stammered Jocelyn
“A couple hundred thousand. Not enough to kill over. Well Xarra and Marrianne might. The gold diggers!” He replied smugly
Jocelyn frowned. “I’d say couple hundred k is a significant amount, nothing to sneeze at.”
Remembering what Min had said at the stable Daniel added, “One last thing. Do you know where Farley keeps his whip?”
“It is my lunch time. GO question a real suspect. Or put Tara on Trial.” Farriot had dismissed us.
Daniel informed Farriot that we were not finished and that Farriot was not to leave the facet.
With that we had seen most of the suspects, all except Xarra. We wanted to be sure Harold’s and Cayne’s stories could be substantiated so we head to Trinsic.
Trinsic was bursting with new spring flowers. Hues of pink mauve and red colored the sandstone path. We head toward the Tanners where Tara had been last we saw her. Sure enough she was still at the shop. She was reading a book at the desk.
Xarra *eyes the lynch mob* “I suppose you are all happy now. Nice girl arrested? Tara is nice. She is Vegan you know? She would not hurt any animal not even a human.”
So we asked her “Who then? What do you know?”
“I have no Idea who did it. I was with Harold that night. We saw nothing. I wish we had. Maybe we could have prevented it.”
“You know” said Miri, “If you all would cooperate, maybe Tara would not have been arrested.”
When we returned to the Guard hall Charly and Malfoy both stated that they thought Farriot was hiding something. Jocelyn agreed. Malfoy considered how content he seemed that Tara was in Jail. “Maybe she is his scapegoat!”
Both Ixtab and Lavis nodded. They had been very attentive throughout the questioning.
Queen Mum also was in agreement. “I think he wants to see her go to trial. He knows more then he is saying.”
Daniel agreed and we planned a Tribunal for the following Thursday. Although there was lack of evidence Tara would remain in the jail. Kali agreed to bring her warm food so that we were not cruel to her. Since Tara seemed to think she needed to atone for pushing Farley, for now, she would remain a guest of the realm.
~Shadow Riter
“We have apprehended Tara” said Jocelyn “so she is not able to shop for a while. We have her in custody in Yew.”
“She confessed to a crime,” remarked Katrina. “But she is the Vegan not the shopper.”
“Oh right! I get them mixed up!” confessed Jocelyn.
Queen Mum and Miri joined us. Mum provided a quick snack of milk and cookies before we started our investigation. As we ate Mum commented, “I don think she dun it.”
This was echoed by Charly don’t Surf, Malfoy, Queen Elf Sandy and Moxxi.
Queen Elf Sandy added “remember she was alive when she left him. Maybe we should release her.”
“We kept her because we hoped that Colt or if not he, the real killer would come forward or leave some hint. Did Colt get in touch with any of you? Did he post on the Tavern wall?” asked Daniel
“Not I” answered Moxxi
“Since last week?” questioned Jocelyn “Nope.”
“Nay” Miri added.
Darth Waynebo, Vitamin, and Lavis the Mage also agreed that they had not heard or seen anything since last week.
Daniel Ravens was thoughtful, “He must know that Tara is in Jail. Let’s see what he has to say. We need to listen carefully.”
Charly Dont Surf agreed, “Sounds good to me”
It was a long way to the Sosarian Stable so we opted to travel through a gate. Outside of the stable we could hear multiple voices inside. There seemed to be a bit of an argument going on. The front gate was open so we all walked in. Standing in front of the stalls were
Colt Walker, Harold Chancero, Cayne Padopocit, L'il Min Rideout and Marrianne. This was the first time we had seen them all together. Usually they chose to avoid each other.
Nora interrupted and said “hello.”
Marrianne responded in a terse tone, “Oh! You are back. Please go away.”
We told her we could not go away until we finished our thorough investigation.
“You are ruining all our lives putting a nice girl in jail.”
Daniel found that confusing. ”Didn’t you Marrianne accuse her just last time we met?”
“Well I changed my mind. She would not hurt anyone. I figured you would be able to deduce that.” Marrianne frowned.
“She made a confession. We had to act on what we were told.” Daniel informed the haughty woman.
“The girl is confused - ask anyone. She could not have done it.” stated Marrianne emphatically.
Everyone in the stable agreed.
“Then who do you think did it” asked Vitamin.
“Maybe it was Cayne. Seems he has been dating Xarra ever since.” Voiced Marrianne
“Hold on there! I was in Trinsic that night.” Retorted Cayne
“Can you prove that?” Questioned Marrianne
“You know I can not. Xarra was not there.” snorted Cayne right back. He eyed Harold with distaste.
“She was with me. We were talking about Farley winning. I told you, Cayne, I was innocent.” Harold quickly added.
“You should have stayed away from her.” Threatened Cayne
“She needed to know that I was suspicious of Farley. I was trying to help her!”
Min had enough, “Stop bickering. We all know it was not Tara!”
Once more they all agreed. I wondered what they knew. How could they all have been so sure? Daniel was sure too. He kept saying he believed Tara was innocent.
“I think Tara is innocent too SO! If you know something now would be a good time to tell us. Otherwise Tara has incriminated herself.”
Colt looked up. He had been staring at the hay on the floor. “He left the paddock with a man. They were on horse back. I did not see him. I only heard their voices.”
Min was also eager to add information. “I saw Farley after he died. He had marks on his neck. They looked like rope burns. Where is Farley’s whip?”
Queen Mum wanted clarification. “You mean his riding crop right?”
“No, he used a whip!” Min looked like her nostrils could not flare any bigger. She found it appalling that anyone would whip their horse.
Harold, who should have known something but tended to keep quiet about the incident, added “We should talk to Farriot about the burgers. Or you should. Go!”
We agreed and headed away.
Farriots’ Farm was in the warm south area of Moonglow. He had just gone inside to sip an iced tea and relax. He looked at us and in his usual jovial tone welcomed us.
“Hello” he smiled, “Hey, how are the forensic specialists tonight? I was relieved that you apprehended the killer. It’s always the one you suspect the least.”
He shook his head. “Tara always seemed like a nice girl.”
Daniel got to the point. “We have questions about your Burgers, specifically about your business with Farley.”
“Why, you already arrested Tara?” snapped Farriot much less cheerily.
“We have only detained her. We have made no charges yet. Please answer the question.” Demanded Darth Waynebo
“Yes! Farley and I were in the burger business. I was annoyed that he reneged on some of the supplies.”
Cocoa stepped in. “Would you have killed him because you were annoyed?”
Farley was shocked by the question. “I did not kill him! We were chums. You do not kill a friend over a few Gold pieces.”
“How much did you lose?” Stammered Jocelyn
“A couple hundred thousand. Not enough to kill over. Well Xarra and Marrianne might. The gold diggers!” He replied smugly
Jocelyn frowned. “I’d say couple hundred k is a significant amount, nothing to sneeze at.”
Remembering what Min had said at the stable Daniel added, “One last thing. Do you know where Farley keeps his whip?”
“It is my lunch time. GO question a real suspect. Or put Tara on Trial.” Farriot had dismissed us.
Daniel informed Farriot that we were not finished and that Farriot was not to leave the facet.
With that we had seen most of the suspects, all except Xarra. We wanted to be sure Harold’s and Cayne’s stories could be substantiated so we head to Trinsic.
Trinsic was bursting with new spring flowers. Hues of pink mauve and red colored the sandstone path. We head toward the Tanners where Tara had been last we saw her. Sure enough she was still at the shop. She was reading a book at the desk.
Xarra *eyes the lynch mob* “I suppose you are all happy now. Nice girl arrested? Tara is nice. She is Vegan you know? She would not hurt any animal not even a human.”
So we asked her “Who then? What do you know?”
“I have no Idea who did it. I was with Harold that night. We saw nothing. I wish we had. Maybe we could have prevented it.”
“You know” said Miri, “If you all would cooperate, maybe Tara would not have been arrested.”
When we returned to the Guard hall Charly and Malfoy both stated that they thought Farriot was hiding something. Jocelyn agreed. Malfoy considered how content he seemed that Tara was in Jail. “Maybe she is his scapegoat!”
Both Ixtab and Lavis nodded. They had been very attentive throughout the questioning.
Queen Mum also was in agreement. “I think he wants to see her go to trial. He knows more then he is saying.”
Daniel agreed and we planned a Tribunal for the following Thursday. Although there was lack of evidence Tara would remain in the jail. Kali agreed to bring her warm food so that we were not cruel to her. Since Tara seemed to think she needed to atone for pushing Farley, for now, she would remain a guest of the realm.
~Shadow Riter