Upon riding into the street, various scents wafted thick in the area. There were orchards nearby, the road was in a reserved sector of Hargford where top caravanserai faced each other to compete squarely and literally because; there were over twenty inns that lined the road on both sides extending hectares and beyond. Most of the hospitality service businesses were family owned and any prominent family had a tradition of owning orchards as a symbolic representation.
The count took in deep breaths enjoying the tantalising scents, almost forgetting his reason for being there until the carriage came to a halt. He slowly looked around and concluded that the inn was looking a bit too out of place, newly constructed he reasoned because he could still smell the finishing touches of paint to the theatrical infrastructure. He feasted his eyes on yet unmatched ugliness and couldn't swallow his umbrage, feeling embarrassed that someone could see him walk into the place. Was it that hard to get the memo theme of the precinct?
The sombre building was built with an unsteady design, as if the architect creatively threw all his ideas into one. Creativity and nonsense were sides of the same coin, Alexus thought. The painting was dull brown and white, it would have done well if the inn was supposed to give a homely feel but the colour choice on the building seemed to be mocking. He passed through the flowered gate and saw two motors and understood why the building was still allowed to be around, hideous and obnoxious, built by the rich for the rich.
He looked around again to make sure he wasn't seen, and proceeded to knock but the door creaked open from the light breeze passing by. Cautiously, he took a step forward and spread his pneuma sensing a familiar presence, two strangers, a sleeping person in the back rooms and four people further back of the inn. With a sharp breath intake he withdrew, and walked in a bit more relaxed.
'Investigator Doran.'
The name rolled off his tongue and dropped like ice on Doran's back that it made him shiver lightly. With surface level composure he smirked and leaned back to face the younger detective from his position on the sofa, his bushy hair falling backwards and revealing his brows.
'Detective Smith.'
He hummed in reply suspiciously inspecting the investigator, then turned to face the couple with quizzical looks directed towards his person. He bowed slightly, 'I'm Detective Smith, at your service.' He didn't see the need for further introduction.
The woman frowned deeply and furiously wiped at her teary eyes with a handkerchief, her quinquagenarian years finally getting the better of her otherwise beautiful features, probably enhanced by her loss because the detective could very much see the resemblance of the corpse laying cold in the lab and the elderly lady in their facial structure, and eye colour but most of all the slightly crooked incisors which he had happened to spot on closer examination of Sarah's body.
'By bubbles and balls, who are you?!' She exclaimed, her demeanour bordering violence.
Doran rose to his feet, careful not to alarm the ageing pair in despair, placed a hand below his breast and stretched the other towards the aloof young adult making his way to sit on the couch with him. 'Don't take offence Mrs Volouch, Alexus here, Detective Alexus Smith, is my partner in these kinds of infractions which your daughter has unfortunately fallen victim to. I will very much need your cooperation with him to seize the evil that has crossed our paths. Everything needs to be taken into account.'
The investigator, with perfected machiavellian skill, shifts the attention of Alexus' identity to the matter which previously occupied their minds. He was in the middle of vital Information extraction and needed to set back the delicate atmosphere he had cajoled the two into. He sat back and gave a subtle stern look to the youngster who conveniently looked away on timing.
Doran concentrated again on the task at hand, and with structured expression whispered like a devil perched on their shoulders.
'Her fiance?'
Mr Voluch sniffled before proceeding. 'I was the one who introduced Ernold to Sarah, his father Leonard Beckham was a long associate of mine. It was a good match, a diligent young lad he is, he- he and Sarah were in love, so, so- in- love.' The elder dissolved into a puddle of grief. His wife patted his back gently, still wiping at her own flooding eyes.
Doran nodes in sympathy and encouragement, 'Has he been here?'
Within gasps the madame spoke. 'When she disappeared from the bridal shop, Ernold had immediately searched her out, he came here and checked for Sarah. When they found her-' she stifled a cry in her handkerchief.
Alexus checked his pocket with sudden curiosity and came to a realisation, he forgot his own fogle.
'-He came here again with apologies and spent some time in her room. The poor thing.' The investigator wore a pained expression. 'To feel her presence most likely. You'd want to do the same.' she blew her nose nodding in agreement then shook it. 'We can't go in, I- our little girl is gone.'
Doran's eyes crossed with Alexus's meaningfully, and the detective felt he wasn't smart enough for this situation. The investigator shifted focus back to the old dyad.
'Taken from you by a villain. A lovely flower bitten by pests.' He stretched his hand to cradle the woman's hand gently and held her gaze. She temporarily paused her wallowing.
'Peace will find her soul, and I'll make sure. I'll find him. And when I find him...' His eyes lowered to his gloved appendage and stroked her fingers lightly voice grew dangerously low before stopping. 'Trust in me I'll do everything.'
The detective took note that the inside was of better taste, the interior decorator was like a miracle worker minimising the damages of the architect.
Investigator Doran needed something, and knew this was the way to get it. He had seen how the mistress' words held weight and how wrapped her husband was around her dainty finger. Her voice was sturdy, poise graceful, and attitude stiff even during her phase of woe. But it was an unbalancing emotion creating cracks in her person, it revealed want, reassurance, strength and a shoulder to lean on, no man in the room noticed enough to give her that but him.
'Everything around is sufficient for my investigation. I'll search each nook and cranny here and each step Sarah has taken. Nothing will be left unchecked, if it suits you I'd begin as soon as possible.' He retracted but she had reflexly tried to take back his warm hands, it had given her hope and revitalisation but she silently held still.
'Of course, look around Investigator. Sarah's room is adjacent to the drawing room and next to it is her sister, Nathalie, she's been..... sick since the news.' She looked up with lighter eyes at Doran who had taken to his feet, he looked down at her tenderly.
'We'll be careful not to disturb her rest.'
'Why are you here?'
The detective asked under his breath while tailing the investigator who seemed to have a particular destination in mind and moving swiftly. 'If I recall well, you've figured out her murderer while you sipped tea. Were you wrong?'
'No.' He chuckled, the suggestion that he might be wrong had a ticklish effect.
'I envisage that there might be something interesting about her death, call it a whim. And you? You didn't seem bothered when I told you about this case, yet here you are.' Doran paused to look into the drawing room, retreated and headed for a door.
Alexus bit his lip in contemplation and decided to hold his cards back. 'At the lab, she was interesting.'
It was enough that Doran had more leads on the situation than he did, but he couldn't kick him off his path because the nature of Sarah's death couldn't be identified. The law stated that investigators deal with normal cases, any crime but magic. As a realm with a 23.6 percent average of magic output, crimes that involve magic are taken into special account with specific authorities capable of handling the issue.
If Sarah's death, pre-forceful pneuma penetration, had been confirmed to be caused by magic he'd have every right to tell him to retire from his presence, but it could have also been old fashioned homicide something he doubt would have been to taste with Gary. They both had rights to be here on the basis of ambiguity.
The detective could feel his temples begin to pulse painfully. He also had questions for Sarah's parents but he had a feeling they wouldn't have welcomed any questions from him. The pulsing became insistent, a chance just slipped from him.
Doran stopped in front of a plain door thoughtfully and addressed him. 'Can you sense him?'
'Huh?' He paused his thoughts but at the question, he had flared out his pneuma like a sensus instinctively. 'Sense....?'
'Her fiance, Ernold.' Alexus eyes narrowed in warning. What did the investigator think he was? A dog? Doran sensed the water he was threading rise. 'Investigator, I know sensing pneuma is prime skill but I hope you know that not all pneuma is distinguishable from the other, especially of ppl I've never been close to.'
He smiled apologetically. 'Ah. That was rude of me, how deplorable. So there were limitations to your ability.'
Alexus ignored him and went ahead to enter the room. The room was spacious and luxuriously embellished with touches of it's guest scattered all over. Dresses and gowns had been left strewn, books disorganised, drawers opened haphazardly. Someone had quite a treasure hunt in here.
Although he was offended with the assumption, it wasn't actually hard to pinpoint the pneuma residues in the room, very few people had been inside with one in particular having moved and carried a lot of things in the room. Pneuma was easier to trace when the person's bare skin had been in contact with objects.
The investigator had stepped in and also silently analysed the room. Alexus realised both victims had been searched for something before their deaths. Alexus elongated the list of mysteries he's encountered in the case. What was so important that had been in the hand of a rich woman then a butler/assassin?
The possibilities were; Gary was contracted to kill Sarah because she had the valuable with her, then he was killed to tie up loose ends. Or he wasn't the only one after Sarah, and someone did away with him after coming into possession of it first.
Another question begged to be asked, what kind of person was Sarah to have come into possession of something worth killing for?