117 CXVII. | 'Riddle in the sand...'

'So what do we know?' said Garovel, addressing the full audience of investigators, which now included the three Najirs and their accompanying reapers. 'We don't have the luxury of a DNA test to confirm whose blood this is or even if it all belongs to poor Fuad here, but we are all in agreement that these blood patterns seem strange, at least.'

'It's difficult to tell,' said Qorvass. 'Given the extent of mutilation, one would assume that there would be plenty of blood on the walls, counters, and ceiling, but it is only on the floor.'

'Which suggests that Fuad was not killed here in the south kitchen,' said Atalim.

'But that could also be consistent with Ibai's story,' said Qorvass. 'He said he teleported AFTER colliding with the body. We assumed he meant from one end of this room to the other, as described by the two separate blood stains, but he could have just as easily teleported twice. The first teleport would have been from wherever the murder took place.'

"Can any of you corroborate that?" asked Asad. He was staring at the group of reapers who'd been close enough to sense Ibai.

They each shook their head.

'He was too difficult to follow,' said the one bound to Lorenzo Delaguna. His name was Marosso, Hector was pretty sure.

Garovel decided to move on with the summation. 'Pretty much everything we've found points to Ibai. He was also the only one in here just prior to the disappearance of the soul that we can only presume to have been Fuad's. That's fairly strong evidence that he consumed Fuad's soul, even if we DO assume that he didn't actually murder him.'

"However, the position he was found in was also odd," said Carlos Sebolt. The thick lines of his middle-aged face deepened as he spoke. "His foot was stuck inside the body, as if he had decided to stomp the boy to death, but this is inconsistent with the extensive mutilation. He would've had to tear the body to shreds in a matter of seconds before suddenly resorting to stomping. Why would he have done that?"

"Because he's an aberration," said Lorenzo Delaguna. "It's no use trying to understand how they think."

Hector had a pretty good idea whose side that guy was on. Not that he completely disagreed with him.

'It's not inconceivable that someone could have framed him,' said Garovel. 'And according to Ibai's own account, Fuad was dead before he arrived.'

"He also sounded extremely confused," said Lorenzo. "Could be that he didn't realize what he'd done until it was too late, but that doesn't change the fact that he did it."

"That is not a fact until we confirm it as such," said Carlos. "You are also not a part of this investigation. You've given us your witness statement. You may leave now."

"And who put you in charge, exactly?" said Lorenzo. "This isn't Roth."

"You are correct," said Carlos. "But this is not Deynos, either. This is Moaban. And as we are guests here, we should defer to the Lord Najir. Agreed?"

Lorenzo gave a slow nod before he and everyone else turned to Asad and Qorvass.

And despite having been put on the spot rather suddenly, the tattooed Sandlord lost none of his composure. "Lord Lorenzo. It is my understanding that you worked as a constable in Deynos for many years, no?"

"I did, yes."

"And Lord Carlos, you served in the Vanguard's OSI, did you not?"

"Yes."

That caught Hector's attention. 'OSI?'

'Office of Special Investigations,' Garovel said privately.

"I would like the both of you to head up your own investigations, independent of one another," said Asad. "Do not waste time sharing information. Simply return to me in six hours with whatever you have learned."

Lorenzo shifted his feet and tilted his head. "Six hours isn't much to work with."

"You'll keep investigating afterwards, but I need your preliminary reports by then. At most, I can buy us twelve hours before Hahl Saqqaf shows up and starts asking a lot of difficult questions--not the least of which will be why the hell I chose to give refuge to so many Rainlords without informing them."

"Do you think they will kick us out?" said Carlos.

"No," said Asad. "This is my jurisdiction. But they will certainly not be pleased."

"All the same," said Lorenzo, "perhaps we should be ready to leave in a hurry."

"I won't discourage your people's caution," said Asad, "but just focus on the investigation right now. I will inform Abel and Salvador of what I am having you do."

'What about the Blackburns?' asked Garovel.

"For now, no one is to take action against House Blackburn without my approval," said Asad. "Speak to them if you feel it necessary, but if you do anything more than that, then regardless of the outcome, expect that your entire house will no longer be welcome here at Dunehall. This is not a matter for debate. Have I expressed myself clearly?"

"You have," said Lorenzo.

"Indeed," agreed Carlos.

"Very good, then. Now please hurry on with your work. I do not have time to assist you myself, but Imas, please accompany Lord Lorenzo, and Jada, please accompany Lord Carlos. I will see you all again soon." And with that, the Lord Najir departed, no doubt going to talk to the ruling Rainlords. Between them and the Saqqafs, Hector didn't envy Asad's position right about now.

"Never thought I'd be taking orders from a Sandlord," said Lorenzo.

'Never thought one would stick his neck out so far for us,' said his reaper. Marosso hadn't said much thus far--at least not aloud--but that particular statement earned some points with Hector and, by the looks of it, with the two Najir women and their reapers, as well.

After that, the group split up as Asad had dictated. And since Carlos had been the one to ask Hector and Garovel for assistance, they went with him.

Their first order of business was to talk to the Blackburns and get a second, and hopefully clearer recounting of events from Ibai. However, the only thing that became clear was that House Blackburn did not intend to let Ibai talk to any of the investigators again. Perhaps they were afraid that he would be ganged up on, or perhaps they were simply afraid of what he might say; either way, it didn't bode well for the family's position.

From there, the investigation was already at a bit of a loss for leads, so they decided to spread out and begin questioning people. And Hector and Garovel found themselves on their own again, going from corridor to corridor while searching for more clues.

'So what're you thinking now?' said Garovel.

'Uh... well, I guess I'm just trying to figure HOW someone could have possibly framed Ibai. Even a servant, I mean. It just doesn't seem very... easy.'

'You're wondering what ability they used?'

'Yeah.'

'I suppose that's as good a place to start as any,' said Garovel.

'Well, it WOULD be,' said Hector, 'if there was any sort of evidence to go on.'

'Actually, the lack of evidence might itself be a kind of clue.'

'How do you mean?'

'Just think about it. If someone framed Ibai, then they did it without leaving any real evidence behind. And which ability type has the easiest time not leaving any traces of their work?'

'Ah. Materialization.'

'Yup. Not that it proves anything, of course. I'm sure someone with one of the other types could've figured a way to be clever with their power. And moreover, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. But it's something to think about as we investigate.'

Hector paused a moment. 'Isn't it also possible that Fuad Saqqaf is still alive? I mean, Qorvass only identified him by his shoes. Someone could've taken them off him and used them for the frame up, right?'

'Mm. Technically, yeah, that's possible. Not very likely, though. For such a plan to work, the culprit would've had to know that Qorvass could identify Fuad from those shoes. And if you'll recall, even Asad seemed surprised when Qorvass pulled off that bit of absurdity.'

'Absurdity? You don't think you could've done the same thing?'

'Sure, if I paid attention to the shoes of everyone we meet. But why the fuck would I do that?'

'For situations like this, apparently.'

'Apparently.'

Hector smirked. 'Oh well. I guess Qorvass is just better than you.'

'Oh, fuck you. I remember plenty of other seemingly worthless shit. Like your dumb birthday.'

'What does that have to do with anything?'

'It's in two weeks, you know.'

'Is it? I thought it was closer, actually. How long've we been in Sair?'

'Hardly even a week.'

'Seriously? That can't be right. It feels like ages already.'

'When we weren't waiting around for something to happen, we were busy trying not to be mashed into a meaty pudding, as Lord Xuan phrased it. And both of those things tend to make the time drag.'

'Hmm.'

'Anyway, my point was that I doubt the killer would've expected Qorvass to identify Fuad the way he did.'

'Well... maybe the killer knows Qorvass really well.'

'Better than Asad, huh? Fine, I'm sure that's a possibility. But I'm hearing a whole lot of speculation and not very much actual investigating.'

'I'm just trying to narrow down our pool of suspects.'

'Ha. Did you watch a lot of cop shows when you were younger?'

'Uh. Maybe.'

'Was this before or after that little stint as a criminal mastermind you told me about?'

'L-let's just focus on the investigation.'

'Yes, let's.'

Hector stopped walking as he realized that he was staring at one of the building's exits. Dunehall was still practically a maze to him, so he'd just kinda been following Garovel around, but now he had to ask, "Where are we going?"

'Everyone else is questioning people around the castle, so I think they've got that covered. We're going to talk to people outside.'

"Uhh--" When he saw that Garovel had not stopped along with him, Hector jumped to a brisk walk in order to catch up again. "Why would anyone outside Dunehall know anything?"

'Not sure, actually. That's why I didn't ask anyone to come with us. I don't want to waste their time.'

"...But?"

'But what Lynn said is still bothering me.'

"Lynn?"

'Don't you remember? Those mysterious reports she told us about?'

"Oh." Frankly, he'd all but forgotten. Strange occurrences all across Sandlord territory, is what Lynn had said. And he supposed Garovel had a point. Fuad Saqqaf's apparent murder certainly qualified as a strange occurrence.

Soon, they were outside and venturing up the underground path into the fresh air of early morning. It felt a little strange, sneaking off like this. He'd already grown accustomed to following the lead of these more experienced and powerful lords. He hadn't realized how much he enjoyed this sense of independence. Though, he WAS still taking orders from Garovel, but that didn't really count, Hector felt.

Without any other method of transport, Hector resorted to running. He considered using iron platforms to launch himself over long distance--like he'd practiced in Gray Rock--but Moaban made that seem like a bad idea, what with so many trees everywhere. The deep forestation might have been pretty to look at, but it sure didn't make navigation any easier. After about five minutes, he'd already lost track of which direction Dunehall was in.

'So do you have an actual destination in mind?' Hector asked. 'Or are we just going to wander around and hope for the best?'

'What's wrong with wandering around and hoping for the best? Maybe the universe will do us a solid for being such nice people all the time.'

'So you believe in karma now?'

'Not even a little bit. If the universe rewarded people for being nice, there wouldn't be so many rich assholes in the world. Also, nature itself would be fundamentally different, and evolution as we know it would be dramatically altered. "Survival of the fittest" would be "survival of the friendliest." Which sounds pretty awesome, actually. If I ever visit an alternate reality, I hope it's one where that's somehow a rule.'

'...So we're really just wandering around right now, is what you're telling me?'

'No, I'm scanning the area for souls that are carrying the aura of death around them.'

'Oh yeah,' said Hector. 'I keep forgetting you can do that.'

'Well, it's not the most useful power when I'm just watching servants tear each other limb from limb. Which is something you seem pretty keen on taking part in.'

'Hey, you can't blame me for that shit. That first time when we went to meet the Queen--that was YOUR stupid plan.'

'Well, maybe you shouldn't be such an unthinking follower, then. Maybe you should come up with some amazingly clever plan of your own instead of relying on me all the time.'

'Maybe I will,' said Hector.

'Alright, then.'

'Good.'

'I'll be waiting with bated breath to hear what ingenious plan you formulate for us.'

'Of course. But, uh. In the meantime, are you sensing anything?'

Garovel laughed. 'Not just yet, but give it a--' And that sentence's abrupt ending brought them both to a halt, though Hector was the only one left skidding across the sidewalk. Garovel tapped his shoulder, and Hector felt the familiar surge of vigor course through him. 'This way,' the reaper said, phasing through the stone wall next to them. 'And hurry.'

Hector bounded up and over and hit the ground rolling. It was a large yard, he discovered, leading up to a three-story house among a crowd of trees, but this didn't seem to be their final destination. Hector cut across the manicured lawn in pursuit of Garovel and leapt over the next wall at the other end. Another yard now, and another full sprint across it until they reached the next property over, where Garovel finally slowed.

'Armor,' the reaper told him, hovering up close to envelope himself around Hector's torso. 'Not sure what we're running into here.'

He crouched next to the small staircase that lead up to the house's rear patio. He reached for full iron plate with his mind, and it started clapping around his body in segments.

'It seems to be a family,' said Garovel. 'They're just sitting together, presumably at a table having breakfast. But they all have the aura. I don't sense any--'

'...Garovel?'

'What the--? It's gone now.'

'What's gone? What do you mean?'

'The aura. It went away. None of their souls are in danger anymore.'

'Why? What changed?'

'I... I don't know. I'm scanning the house... but I don't sense anyone else inside.'

Hector looked around the backyard another time. A bunch of trees, a swing set, an inflatable pool. It all seemed normal enough. 'What do you want to do?'

'I'm thinking,' said Garovel. 'Hmm. Well, if this was going to be some kind of horrible accident, then the aura definitely would NOT have just vanished like that. An exploding gas main can't just stop itself from killing someone. But a person can. The only thing that makes sense here is that the would-be murderer suddenly changed their mind.'

'Or... someone else saved them, somehow?' offered Hector. 'We aren't the only reaper and servant around here, y'know.'

'Mm. That's possible, too. Alright then, let's just leave for now and check up on them later.'

Hector bolted across the yard and bounded over the wall. He hit the ground with a heavier thud this time, leaving a more noticeable indention in the grass, thanks to all his armor.

'Actually, wait,' said Garovel, as Hector was about to start running again. 'This is really strange. So let's just... stick around for a little bit.'

'Okay...' The new yard they'd found themselves in looked a lot like the previous one. Hector hoped the owner wouldn't be too upset about some armored weirdo messing up their grass. Mostly, though, he hoped they didn't come outside and stare at him.

'Ah!' said Garovel. 'The aura's back! They're in danger again!'

And again, Hector flung himself over the wall. When he rushed back toward the house, however, Garovel stopped him.

'And now it's gone,' the reaper said. 'What the fuck is going on here?'

Hector caught a glimpse of the family through the window this time, but he didn't linger for a better look. He ducked behind their patio again. The last thing he wanted to do was scare them for no reason. 'Garovel... this isn't some kind of terrible prank that you're playing on me, right?'

'Of course not. C'mon. If I were pranking you, it'd be way funnier than this shit.'

'Then what the hell?' said Hector. 'One minute, they're in danger; the next, they're not; and the one after that, they're in danger again?'

'I don't know. This shit never happened in Atreya.'

'Hmm.'

'Hold on,' said Garovel. 'I think I know what's happening. It's us.'

'What?'

'When we get close, the danger goes away. When we leave, it comes back. Why might that be?'

Hector's eyes widened inside his helm. 'The killer sees us.'

'But there's no one else within eyeshot,' said Garovel. 'So the killer is either spying on this family with cameras, or the killer has a reaper who senses our presence.'

'...Or both.'

'Yup.'

'Great. What now?'

'Well, we don't really have time to just wait for this to play out, but obviously, we also can't just leave these people to get murdered, either.'

Hector could tell where this was going. 'You want me to go in there and talk to the family? They'll flip.'

'Even so, that might be the best option here. The whole family had the aura of death. Even the kids. If we wait too long and let them split up, then you won't be able to protect all of them.'

'Agh...' And perhaps he was just grasping for excuses, but a question occurred to Hector. 'What I don't get is... if the murderer can see us but still intends to kill this family after we leave, then why does the aura of death go away? Shouldn't it stay?'

That made Garovel hesitate. 'You're absolutely right. So THAT'S what was bothering me so much about this. I knew it was something.'

'Maybe we're wrong, then. Maybe it's not us that's making the aura go away.'

'Agh, but I can't think of what else it would be. Dammit. Mysteries are supposed to be fun. I don't like it when they're weird and unsettling.'

'Well, we can't just sit here all day,' said Hector. 'Should I go talk to them or not?'

'Mgh. No. Not yet. This is too strange. My gut tells me this must be related to what happened with Ibai, somehow.'

'The same gut that you don't physically have, you mean?'

'That is a very corporealist thing to say, and I resent you for it.'

'Sorry.' Hector began annihilating his iron, but Garovel interjected.

'What are you doing?'

'Er... plate armor isn't exactly ideal for stealth. In fact, I'm a little surprised they haven't noticed me already.'

'I'd rather you left it on, at least until we know more about what's going on here.'

'But--I can't--I mean, it'll make me noisy... and just... super weird.'

'If anyone spots you, you can pretend to be a statue.'

'...No, Garovel. That's dumb.'

'C'mon, it'd be like a game.'

'Look, I'll still have the shield. Just conceal yourself behind that. It's probably the safest place for you, anyway.'

'Ugh, fine.'

Hector finished destroying his metal and felt Garovel shifting over to his arm, which was still both gloved and gauntleted.

'For the record, though, my idea was NOT dumb. You're dumb.'

'Duly noted,' said Hector.