Chapter 14 - Interrogation
"Good evening. My name is Captain La'Har of the Empress City Guard. Can I speak with you two for a few minutes?" She said with her tightened lips, looking down at them, even as she was a few centimeters shorter than Alex.
He was surprised by the approach, but he could deal with this. He had been in similar situations on both sides of the law several times. He was more preoccupied with Tina, but she was trying to fake a calm expression.
"Yes, ma'am," Alex replied promptly, straightening his posture and faking deference.
"Your name is Valther, and you are Tina, right?"
"Yes, ma'am,"
"And you are both acquaintances of Grapr, the orc?"
"We know him, yes," Alex replied while Tina remained stoic,
"And what's the nature of your relation?"
"We work together," Tina replied and asked, "Are Grapr in trouble?"
Alex gave the slightest of sidelong glances at Tina. That had been a pro move, the kind only people accustomed to dealing with authority can pull off. Lying with a straight face was a complicated ability to learn.
"You can say so," she replied, not looking at Tina. Still fixing her glance at Alex, she asked, "What was the last time you saw the orc?" That answer Alex had. Tina revealed that to him yesterday before they went to bed,
"We saw him in yesterday morning. We were working in the mines. It was not the most pleasant of conversations, ma'am. He threatened my life."
"And that's why you killed him?" She asked with a straight face, and Alex's jaw dropped a little. That was just a basic interrogation technique. She took advantage of the surprise effect and the sudden question to break them, but Alex would not fall for that.
"Is Grapr dead, ma'am? That's unfortunate, but we have nothing to do with it."
"I have a difficult time believing in this. Earlier today, I spoke with your dungeon manager, who told me the same about the threat. She said that you two came late to the dungeon duty and that you miraculously were strong enough to kill four goblins and one hobgoblin. And what would be my surprise when I catch a purple eye with the same descriptions your dungeon manager gave me, watching my crime scene. Can you see how strange that is?" She said with a little smile borning on her face,
"Ma'am, I confess that I overheard your conversation. I remember your features now, but I was just passing by and curiously heard the convo, like many others. I didn't even know it was a crime scene or who was lying on the ground. If I knew it was Grapr, I would've contacted you on the spot to help."
Her eyes could kill him, but he knew she had nothing on him. That was clear now. The testimony from Val'Tar couldn't blame him enough. His face was completely healed from the fight with Grapr, and she had not mentioned it. He just needed to remain as stoic as possible and get away from this conversation.
"With all due respect, ma'am, Grapr threatened basically everyone he knew. Valther is just one among many. He had serious anger issues, he fought in the underground pits, and he owed money to dozens of people, us included." Tina jumped on Valther's defense, and her words helped to start a new plan in Alex's mind.
"Now that Tina mentioned it…He told me, one day before the threat that he would not pay me because he had another loan to pay," Alex said, putting a hand on his chin.
"And that loan would be with whom?" The elf asked, narrowing her eyes even further.
"I'm not sure, but he seemed preoccupied," Alex replied in a hushed tone, "but please, ma'am, keep my name away from this. I have debts myself."
She just stared at them for what seemed to last an eternity, but after half a minute, she slightly sighed. It worked! Alex celebrated internally. She let her guard down. Now was the perfect time to strike if he would plant that seed.
"Maybe you can ask some of the loan sharks, ma'am. Or someone close to them,"
"I don't need you to tell me how to perform my job,"
"Of course, of course." He said, feigning embarrassment,
"Not that it would work. The last time I got a chimera on the guardhouse, he didn't answer his name to me for twelve hours straight,"
Snitches get Stitches in every world, I guess. This is almost perfect. Naming the chimeras by name is indicative that they are on the radar.
The elf kept looking at them, and Alex knew she was still suspicious about them, but it had reduced considerably. Now, they needed to seem like perfect denizens.
"Do you know where the orc Grapr lives?"
"No, captain." This time, Tina answered the question, and the elf didn't press further. She just kept looking at them as if waiting for one or maybe both to confess on the spot.
"Ma'am, if you excuse us. We have to go home and pack up our things. We're going to join the adventurer's guild." Alex said with a grin.
"That's good. You can go, but remain in the city until the killer is locked up." Alex and Tina traded glances, "What?" she asked, annoyed.
"Our training will be outside town, but you can ask the guild master. He'll confirm."
She waved a hand and dismissed them,
"Go into your little adventure. If you will deal with the Cerberus dungeon, you will probably not return. Recruits don't tend to." She said casually, and Alex could see Tina shivering on the spot.
"I hope we can come back and help you with the investigation, ma'am," Alex replied, turning his back to the Captain and his face toward their apartment. He could still feel the eyes of the elf piercing his skull from two blocks away. She was ruthless, but they managed to deceive her. The problem was that he had no idea if Grapr owed money to the chimeras or if she would not turn her attention to them again.
He and Tina had done an excellent job, but it was not enough for him to feel comfortable. For all he could see, the chimeras would still watch him. Being away from the city for several days could imply he had escaped. They would not enjoy seeing him back to the town as if nothing had happened and with a new job.
Thirteen hours and two big problems to deal with.
Their walk to the apartment was silent and tense. Alex could see Tina's fear crawling from her inside. As soon as they opened the door of the apartment, she turned and asked him,
"What are we going to do? She'll eventually come after us," She said in a hushed tone,
"I—"
"It's obvious, Valther. She was fishing, and when our bait doesn't give her what she wants, she'll come back to us,"
"I was going to say that I know, and we have to plan for it,"
"Were you?" She asked with surprise, "This new you can't stop surprising me," Alex smiled and continued,
"Do you know if Grapr owed money to the chimeras?"
"I don't think so… he doesn't pay his debts. Therefore, they would have collected the blood price already."
Alex walked from one side to the other of the apartment, thinking about a solution. Still, he was getting only a headache out of it. The young man went straight to the kitchen and drank a cup of water. When he returned to the living room, Tina was on the cushions, looking at the ceiling. Alex offered her a cup, and she drank it in one gulp.
"Any ideas?" She asked and locked gazes with him,
"No," he replied, "And you?"
"Shit… no!" She hissed, dropping the cup forcefully on the table on top of an envelope. Alex stared at the object with a sudden interest. It was a white paper, sealed with a lion wax seal. Beautiful and simple.
"What's that?" Alex asked, and she kept looking at him,
"The reason you almost piss yourself last week…" She said, annoyed. "Honestly, Valther… what's wrong with your head?"
He didn't reply to her but extended his hand to the object and removed the letter inside it.
It was a collection letter from the chimeras.
Valther and Tina,
This letter is a reminder of your debt. The due date passed five days ago. We expect fifty coins to be paid in the chimera's headquarters.
After the delivery of this message, you have three days to conclude the payment,
or pay the blood price.
Kael'Talar.
Alex couldn't contain his laugh as he finished reading the letter.
"What?!" Tina hissed, getting up and snatching the paper from his hands as if searching for a secret meaning in the words, but she was failing to see what Alex could with clarity.
"Are you sure you don't know where Grapr used to live?"
Alex formed a plan in his mind. A perfect plan.