Murder Mystery

Returning to the site Maelyn checked on all of the sites and then was able to eat lunch with the group before it came time for everyone to resume working. And with Harmon finally arriving at the site they were all able to resume work on all of the sites. Before Maelyn started to ascend the ramp to the top of the palace however, she went over to a site halfway between the palace's cube and the outer gate where the lava had stopped.

Walking up she encouragingly told the workers and the observer at that site, "Looks like you guys are next! You should be breaking through here soon if it has a hollow spot too! So let me know when you do, cause this site has two bodies so you might have a bigger hollow if the dragon shaped voids keep to the pattern!"

"Will do boss!" the fellow Archeologist working that site promised.

"I'm not your boss Marco!" Maelyn sighed in frustration.

"Don't know about that." Marco informed her, "It's your name on the paycheck so in my book that makes you da' boss!"

"Marco!" Maelyn exclaimed exasperated, "You haven't even GOT a paycheck yet! So what makes you so sure my name is gonna be on it?!"

As he continued to dig Marco grinned and told her, "Well, for one, this ain't our first dig together and your name was on the check every other time. Also, you have previously always gave us an allowance of the local currency each week in case we wanted to buy gifts or knick knacks for the family back home. And, the nail in the coffin that seals the deal is I got ears and i heard all about you starting a new bank. And what is a bank good for....? Cashing paychecks! So sounds like a done deal to me!" Marco finished with a chuckle.

"You know, if that brain wasn't smarter than that mouth..." Maelyn growled, "I'd waste a whole roll of duct tape on that smart mouth every day!"

As she then walked off towards the ramp Marco teased her in farewell, "Ooh! I love it when you get kinky!"

Arriving up top of the palace Maelyn jumped down into the hole Joseph had been digging and told him and Abjul as she started to widen the hole, "Sorry for the rush on widening it out, but Marco's site is fixing to break into what may be a double void!"

"A double?!" Joseph eagerly asked, "What makes you think it's gonna be a double?"

"Well the two other bodies we have uncovered so far had a dragon shaped void above them." Maelyn informed him, "And this site has two bodies so I'm expecting two voids if the pattern holds."

"What if it doesn't" Joseph wondered, "What if we don't have ANY voids at this site?"

"Well no voids would tell us that whatever is different between these two bodies and the others could show what caused the dragon voids." Maelyn matter of factly told him as she tried to widen the hole as much as she could before getting called, "And if there is only one void then we know something is more special about one body than the other and we get to try and figure out what the difference is between the two and we get to put our brains and our science to work!"

"Professor! Ugh! Why do you always have to make the fun stuff sound like sucj hard work?!" Joseph groaned as he lifted the full bucket out of the hole and took it to the wheelbarrow.

"If we don't know for certain that the voids are there, how do we know they are fixing to break through?" Abjul asked in confusion.

"I know there is a small void at the least due to the sound it produces when they hit on the bottom of the hole." Maelyn explained, "Also, when Daughtry did his initial scan there looked to be a flatter dragon shape compared to the other two. So all of the evidence so far points to maybe two smaller voids."

An hour later Marco hollered, "Mae! Bring the scanners! We're starting to break through!"

Maelyn grabbed the scanners after descending and went straight to the site Marco was at. As she walked up he told her, "I've gotten Kayley tapping out a circle big enough for the scanners and then the foam hose. She should have it all the way open here in a second!"

"Kayley, Please make sure not to hit too hard!" Maelyn pleaded, "I know how hard you usually hit and about two or three hits like that would cause the whole bottom of your pit to crack and dump you down in that hole! So unless you wanna snuggle with a dead body be careful!"

"yes ma'am!" Kayley assured her, "After that first hit sent a crack about six inches further than the hole I've been tapping as lightly as I can!"

When Kayley finished opening the empty area Maelyn started scanning the open empty void. As she looked down into the hollowness while scanning the open area she shared what she was seeing, "Hmm! This one looks to be lined with a red residue! Looks like it's more elongated too! Now we're scanning the bodies.... wait! I'm only seeing ONE body! Whoah! What's this?!"

"What you seeing professor?" Kayley asked, wanting to know what was in this hole that elicited a response Maelyn hadn't given at the previous two.

"One body is in the middle of the void!" Maelyn explained, "And just an arm with what looks like a knife is sticking out from the lava! So the rest of the body should be in the lava if it didn't burn completely up!"

"Looks like another talisman according to the scanner!" Marco told her, calling her attention to the readout.

When Maelyn then looked further into the hollow cavity she informed them, "Yep! This one looks to be Zircon!" She then turned and yelled, "Abjul!" When he neared she asked him, "Could you get a carpenter or jewelry seller or something along those lines to make us a secure box to put all these crystal talismans in?! Because if we keep finding more like this at every site we're gonna have some valuable objects that will need to be kept secure!"

hearing her call for Abjul, Harmon walked up and asked, "Why keep these worthless talismans secure?! The only one that matters to me and my father, Prime Minister Anton is the one in the throne room of the palace!"

Doing her best to keep a pleasant tone of voice, Maelyn told him, "They may be worthless to you, but they are valuable to the tune that this talisman alone sells for TWICE what you are paying for this WHOLE PROJECT! Not to mention their value as historical objects that are being found in voids shaped like the talismans!"

"Well then fine!" Harmon grumbled and turned to Abjul and ordered, "Abjul! Do as the archaeologist has requested! We don't want any thieves stealing valuable merchandise from the kingdom!" Then, looking in the hole he shouted, "That arm has the Prime Minister's amulet on it's wrist! Why is that guard's body in the middle of this void but only the arm of Queen Ielania's Prime Minister not buried by this lava?!"

"That arm is holding a knife and it looks like there may be blood on it, Harmon." Maelyn informed him, "So it looks like this Prime Minister either defended himself from an attack or committed a crime! Looks like we're gonna have lots of questions and want lots of answers to this little murder mystery when we get down there!"

"I say forget that foam stuff and just open this hole up further and lower someone down there to at least get the Prime Minister's amulet!" Harmon ordered, "That is the ORIGINAL Prime Minister's seal that is used to seal documents!"

"How about instead we are going to fly a drone down there to grab a DNA sample from both bodies and then bring that knife back up." Maelyn told him in opposition, "As for that amulet, you've been making it without it for over five hundred YEARS so a couple more DAYS won't matter!"

"I object to this plan!" Harmon angrily retorted before grumbling in acceptance, "But I guess I will try and bear with the wait for an IMPORTANT part of this kingdom's government!"

"Well unless YOU wanna be the one lowered down there and able to do EXACTLY as I tell you to keep from damaging or altering the two bodies down there, you're gonna HAVE to wait!" Maelyn aggressively replied before continuing her scanning of the open cavity before sending the drone down to the bottom to grab the items it was sent after before returning. After extracting the drone and the bloody knife from the hole they loosened the foam hose and filled the empty cavity they had been exploring with the foam to seal the hole.