"Varokar?" Elin said. "The one you've been holding captive?""That's him.""You're saying Glocara killed him.""I know this sounds abrupt, Mr. Elin, but it's happened, and I just want to tell you calmly.""This isn't abrupt. It's absurd. It's a joke no one wants to hear. Glocara has never even seen the guy.""You could say that. But that's something no one can prove."Elin stood up and walked over to Niaes. She looked up at him, her hands still on the table. Her brown eyes must have seen a lot of blood and smoke. There was no way to tell if Niaes was lying from her eyes, because she was a charismatic leader, at least a half-hearted orator, and a quarter politician. Elin saw a hint of pity, but didn't know if it belonged to Niaes herself or to the hidden motives within her."When did this happen?" Elin said."The day before yesterday.""Have you questioned her?""She can't defend herself very well. Do you want to see her now?""No. You need to explain the situation to me first, take me to see the body, and introduce me to all the people mentioned in your story. If this happened two days ago, you've had her locked up for two days. I don't know what game you're playing here, but I'm going to get to the bottom of it by sunrise tomorrow and personally release her. Two days is my limit for a misunderstanding, so you better cooperate. Since you came to me in the middle of the night to talk about this, you should have expected that I wouldn't let you go to bed so easily today. Let's get started now.""I'm willing to cooperate with you in understanding the situation. But you also know that Varokar's death is no small matter, and the trouble it brings me may be even greater. I could have used force to make your woman confess, but I didn't, because I respect your status. I hope you can respect me too. I don't think any of us need more enemies.""Fine. We'll save the formalities for another day. Let's focus on the matter at hand." "I'll have the witnesses tell you directly what happened."Niaes led Elin to the tent where the body was stored."I've informed them, they'll be here soon," Niaes said. "You go check the body first."Elin lifted the shroud. He examined the face and neck of the body."Strangled," Elin said. "Unless there's a fatal wound I can't see. Like poison.""No, you're right. He was indeed strangled.""Have you found the rope used by the murderer?""I didn't necessarily think it had to be a rope. Investigating isn't my job.""Varokar's hands and feet show signs of being tied. Was that your doing?""We just tied him to a chair. He was a hostage, but hadn't committed any major offenses, so it would have been too rude to use shackles.""That doesn't sound very convincing. You've interrogated him before. Look at these injuries. And look at this face. If he hadn't died the day before yesterday, he would have starved to death today.""When he first arrived, his attitude was very bad, so my soldiers did punish him once or twice. He chose to fast himself. He's been doing it for a week, and we gave him some soup halfway through."
"I bet he was rambling nonsense."
At this moment, two soldiers entered the tent. They seemed uneasy about being in the place where Varokar's body was stored late at night.
"Captain Niaes, may we..." one of them began.
"This is Detective Elin from the Seventh, and he wants to hear your side of the story about this matter," Niaes interrupted. She turned to Elin. "This is Riley, who has been responsible for guarding Varokar for the past few days. And this is Morris, who Cookes and delivers food to Varokar, and he was the first to discover the body."
"You delivered food to Varokar every day?" Elin said.
"Twice a day. Each time with a full plate, either served as it was or deliberately spilled by this guy," Morris said.
"Tell me everything you know."
"There's not much. I delivered food to Varokar's little hut as usual..."
"Was he guarding the door at the time?" Elin pointed to Riley.
"Yes, he was responsible during the daytime this past week. I went in, and it was unusually quiet inside. Normally, Varokar would start cursing immediately, but this time he was just hanging his head. I thought he was asleep, and honestly, I was about to leave since waking him up would just mean enduring his rant and serving the food as usual. But I decided to approach him and found that he wasn't breathing. Then I ran out."
"Did you notice how he died?"
"I only looked at his face, didn't check for any injuries. Because he's Varokar, I just wanted to tell others right away to come and help, maybe he could still be saved."
"I didn't hear how this relates to Glocara." Elin said to Niaes.
"Riley," Niaes looked at the other soldier.
"Before Morris, only that lady from the Seventh went in," Riley said. "Every time it was my turn to stand guard, the first thing I did was check on Varokar. He was fine that morning, but in the afternoon, that lady went in for a while, and then about ten minutes later when Morris brought food, he found something wrong."
"Why did you let Glocara in? What did she say to you?"
"She said she was from the Seventh, and since you were here on a mission at Stromgarde, she had her own business to attend to. I thought she meant to interrogate him or something. Mr. Elin, I don't know anything about the Seventh, but from what I've heard in the past, I just know I don't want to mess with you guys. So I let her in, thinking if nothing happened, it was fine, but if something did, I'd report it to Captain Niaes."
The soldier's account sounded genuine, even though Elin couldn't imagine why Glocara would do this. Glocara hadn't seen Varokar — that was just something Elin had said. She had been at Stromgarde for three years. She could have seen anyone there.
"Mr. Elin," Niaes said. "Glocara isn't really with the Seventh, is she? Although you said she'd never met Varokar, she'd rather deceive the soldiers to see him. Just curiosity isn't enough to explain Glocara's actions."
"Are you blind?" Elin didn't respond to Niaes but addressed Riley instead.
"What did you say?"
"I'm asking if you're even using your eyes. What about her looks like someone from the Seventh? Are you blind, or is your brain not fully developed?"
"I told you I don't know and I don't want to mess with the Seventh. I admit my mistake, Captain Niaes already punished me for it."
"You, the food delivery guy, how long after you saw her did she come out?"
"Morris came out seconds after going in. Then we went to find help together."
"So, there was a period when nobody was guarding the place. Others could have gone in during that time."
"No, that's not possible. We came back with the medic in less than a minute. The medic untied Varokar from the chair, and it was quickly apparent he couldn't be revived."
"Is that all?" Elin glanced at the two soldiers, then turned to Niaes. "You don't even know how he died, and you found no murder weapon, yet you conclude it was Glocara."
"I told you, we don't do investigations, let alone complex interrogations here," Niaes said. "This is a battlefield, Mr. Elin. Things are much more straightforward here. Glocara admitted to going in, but when I asked her what she did inside, she refused to say a word. That alone was enough for me to conclude she's the culprit, not to mention my soldiers couldn't have killed Varokar. You should understand how important it is to ensure his safety given the current situation. Every soldier under my command remembers that."
"That's true, but not all soldiers consider serving you the highlight of their short lives."
"That's out of line, Mr. Elin. I suggest you take it back."
"Enough. How about I tell you something useful, like what was used to strangle Varokar? There are marks of two different ropes on his right ankle, unlike the left, as if two ropes were crossed there. The murderer used this rope, strangled him, then tied it back around his leg after killing him. At first, I thought this cover-up was too foolish, given the obvious marks on the right leg, anyone would have noticed immediately. But when I realized this clumsy trick actually worked, it struck me as absurdly funny. Look, Niaes, look at this right leg. You say you can't find the murder weapon, but to me, this situation is as obvious as leaving a knife in a murder victim. How can I trust your judgment now?"
"We have different criteria for judgment. I don't want to argue with you, let alone endure your mockery any longer. You'd better shut up, Mr. Elin, more venomous words from you will make me reconsider letting you and Glocara meet. Yesterday, several of my officers suggested I execute her, regardless of our differences with Varokar, he was still a fellow soldier serving the same country as us, I can't stand him dying inexplicably at the hands of a Seventh detective's lover. Either you keep a calm attitude, and I assist you in your investigation, or I act as a military commander — that suits me better."
"Fine, I was about to leave this dead man's tent anyway, rather than continue wasting time with a few clueless heads who never think. Seventh detectives always hate dealing with colleagues who know nothing about investigations..."
"Mr. Elin. I wasn't joking earlier. This is your final warning."
"Where is she? Get someone to take me to her. And keep these two guys here. I'm not done with them yet."
Elin walked out of the room, standing outside, waiting for someone to lead the way. Instead of who the killer was, he thought more about why Glocara would disguise herself to see Varokar.