Clue Anyone??

“It never ends,” Chiren commented, striding up after having finished his meal. “At this rate it would be easier to trim the fat among the troublesome factions. This is the type of distractions I encountered that made me late to begin with. If I didn't know better I'd think someone was after my having a quiet evening. So shall I investigate this, or do you plan to handle it Ms. Kalena?”
Kalena rounded on him, her eyes turning suddenly very cold. “Well, my good friend, I would never dream of denying you an evening of diversion, and would be pleased to handle this whole affair entirely on my own. I do take it very personally when someone breaks into my home and kills one of my guests. However, if this is indeed part of some larger conspiracy I should think we shall need all hands on deck, as it were, to properly resolve the matter... and trim the fat, as you say. Given the circumstances, you can safely consider me for the time being out of retirement,” she added with ominous sweetness.
If anyone needed killing her services would be available, and at no charge. It occurred to her that there was a slight silver lining to all this. If a number of the top echelon of the kingdom needed eliminating, afterward there would be some vacancies for the Queen to have to fill. Kalena was practically already one of the nobility with all her money and influence, but it would not hurt to make it official with a high noble title.
“Which individuals in particular have been causing problems?” she pressed Chiren. “You should perhaps let Baron Lowson and I in on what has been transpiring in recent days. It is fairly likely the killers we seek were given shelter and aid by those involved in these unsavoury backdoor dealings you spoke of. If there is some sort of cabal at work Tyreth may possibly be serving as their point man. Speaking of whom, perhaps an army unit ought to be dispatched to the Cartagan Orchard, and if they should find him there, with orders to bring Tyreth back to the capital... in chains.”

Chiren looked at the venomous look on Kalena's face. He remembered it clearly when she was hunting him when he was Jack. He knew her to be a dangerous and devious woman. Though he didn't like the idea of more slaves suffering for the inner workings of the nobles he knew he needed to redirect the hostilities so the nobles would fight among themselves, however he needed to involved as little as possible while fanning the flames. He was about to speak when Lafayette interrupted them.

Chiren: Well I............

After what to his brain felt like hours when in reality it was only minutes he spoke, once Kalena had finished. "He didn't fall over the chest." he said "The man was placed here. His legs and hands are too well placed to be anything other then that." he "He was killed then draped over the chest to make us think something else. Make incorrect connections. I am not assuming your culprit is in correct, but who ever committed the crime is someone among us, be it another guest or the assassin replaced on of your guards. They are still on the grounds." he spoke pacing again. "Likely planning to slip away when the guests left for the night or left for safety once the body was found. The walls on the opposite side have to steep a drop to not be noticed if they fled, and any guest leaving early would surly be noticed." Lafayette mused. He had seen killings like this before. The killer hid in plain sight. Who looks under their nose when they are watching their backs.
Lafayette snapped his fingers "c'est ça" he said. "It must be a symbol. Mustn't it..." He paused. "Coin chest...dead man...fights over land." He started to mumble as he seemed to be loosing the thought he started pacing again. "Aller vite Lafayette, aller vite." he was not talking only to himself trying to get back on his path of thought.

Chiren looked at the red headed swordsman and smirked. Then he looked at Kalena with a small grin.

Chiren: I believe your swash buckling red headed friend just took the words right out of my mouth. To be honest I am a shocked many of you missed that piece of evidence since you live by the sword.

Chiren then walked up to the body and pointed out the clues he noticed.

Chiren: When a body is stabbed or run through a large amount of blood will leak and leave a rather large pool by the body. In this case there isn't as much blood as one would expect to find not to mention the blatant stink of poison. As your red headed swordsman pointed out the body was placed here after being killed earlier. Since a poison was used this person could have been killed much earlier, perhaps during your fencing event. Since I was delayed with work I am at a loss for the amount time your all were distracted. It is possible this person was killed far earlier with poison since they were either the target or just in the wrong place in the wrong time. Sadly that happens during such conspiracies. As for the money....................I don't believe that was the target.

Chiren looked around and used his magic to alter his eyes to make them glow green as he looked around for clues. He enhanced his eyes to see both magic and act much like a camera to zoom in and out of things within his line of sight.

Chiren: The big question you should be asking is "Why"? If the objective was the large heavy chest......why send only one assassin to carry such a heavy load? Without the use of specialized magic it would be far to difficult to carry such a heavy load with stealth and precision and not get noticed around such seasoned fighters. I dare say this could very well be a message Kalena.................or perhaps even a taunt or challenge by one of your enemies. As you know your position is a sore spot among the nobles who look down on you due to your good standing with the Queen. As for finding the assassin..........it might be a pointless trap designed to keep you off guard.

Chiren turned off his glowing eyes and looked at Kalena. Then he spoke up again.

Chiren: Before we can narrow down which of you many many enemies are after you I suggest we search your estate for clues. Perhaps we can find any blood stains to show where this person was actually killed.

Tag