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"My dear, you have suffered a great tragedy. Please, don't hesitate to let us know if you need anything." Clarissa watches the woman's body language closely, looking for the telltale signs of an actor faking tears.
She turns from the grieving widow and bites her lip while thinking. If the body was torn apart, could his death and the store's robbery be coincidence? She looks to Natraz with her back to widow and raises an eyebrow.
@Clarissa- you sense she is sincere.
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Ford couldn't pick up anything out of the ordinary... which ruled out use of magic. For now, anyways. But oddly, plenty of perfectly good items seem to have been left behind. Why? Why go through the trouble of killing someone and leaving the place unstaffed... only to not take much of the merchandise.
"...it's like the theft was an after thought. But... why? Why go through the.. erm... trouble just to not take anything? ...Mrs. Walden, it looks like there is more to the store below. Would you mind us having a look there? Was it broken into?" If he got permission, Ford would lead the way down the steps to the vault to inspect it.
"I did not handle any of the business side of things. I just made sure he was happy. He was secretive with his work. I do not know how to help you other than let you look around if you must. I will go lay down. I am feeling un-well and light headed." the widow says. and departs to the private quarters section of the building.
The taller of the guards steps forward and escorts her back. The other one remains at his post.
Dave looks outside for footprint tracks but realizes there entrance has been trampled by numerous footprints through the doorway since the robbery and murder occurred.
Natraz walks into the office and looks around. A large polished desk dominates the office. Hooks for hanging lamps are permanently affixed to the walls, while mounted behind the desk is a large framed portrait. Running along the east wall is a large display case filled with plaques. framed documents, trophies and stuffed animals. On the desk is a ledger. Natraz looks over it and finds a business ledger written in
nice calligraphy.
One of the guards speaks up. "Excuse me..., I speak for Mrs. Alder when I thank you for your willingness to investigate. We've done little more than sweep up in the main room here. We must now take Mrs. Alder to the temple to see her husband properly tended to. If you wish to do us a favor, check the vault downstairs? There are many valuables there and safe deposit boxes where townsfolk keep their investments. No one has checked to see if the thieves made it all the way in... Can you help us? Here is her spare key. Tomas will stay at the front and check you out when you leave."
Once downstairs the members down in the basement they see a bare corridor leads to the double doors of the vault. A hook for a hanging lantern is mounted on the western wall at the base of the stairs, and underneath it is a single chair.
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Natraz looks up from the ledger and blinks in surprise. "The place has been robbed, and no one has thought to examine the entire shop?" he mutters, quiet enough for no guards to hear, but loud enough for his companions. "No wonder they're having random strangers from out of town perform a murder investigation."
He wraps the ledger in a cloth and places it in his backpack, which he stashes under the desk. He lifts his bow and adjusts the quiver on his back as he follows downstairs.
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"In her defense, Lady Alder has just lost her husband, and she seems genuinely hurt over it. And from the sound of it, she may have no temporary way of maintaining the shop or supporting herself. Furthermore, it seems Sheriff Feldane may be somewhat shorthanded." Ford said, flipping the key around in his fingers.
"She may have more pressing thoughts on her mind, and the sheriff may have her hands full ensuring the locals do not do something... rash. And I am grateful for such... two deaths are more than enough, and I would like to see it stay that way." Ford reaches up as he nears the vault, taking the lantern and using the key to open the big door, stepping inside.
[spoiler=Sense Motive DC 14]You notice Ford is swallowing a lot, as if trying to keep himself from salivating at... something.[/dice]
This bare corridor leads to the double doors of the vault. A hook for hanging a lantern is mounted on the western wall at the base of the stairs and underneath it is a single arch.
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Clarissa glances at the doors. "Huh. A spare key the guard said? Does that mean the primary is missing? Excuse me gentlemen, I'm going to find this Tomas and ask him."
After heading upstairs and locating the guard left behind, Clarissa gives the man a smile before asking him, "Tomas? Was the main key located? Did your compatriot have it on him when he was murdered? And lastly, does someone typically stand watch at the vault at night? Is that why there is a chair?"
"No, no and yes. The master had the original key, it is gone. All of us would have been here during the robbery but the misses sent two of us to look for the master when he did not come home and only one was here to protect the building. That could have been me too..."
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"Don't fret about what might have been, Tomas." she tells the man comfortingly.
I didn't feel like the widow was lying, but could she have been taking advantage of our victim's disappearance to create a diversion? Clarissa smiles at Tomas and walks back to rejoin the other Pathfinders while chewing on her lip. I have to stop thinking like I was in Cheliax still. Stop making assumptions, Rissa!
"He was run through the back. bleed out like a gutted pig. No way for a man to die. We were bringing the body of the master back here when we saw two figures running away. Looked like they were going towards the carnival." he tells Sol.
Sol and Clarissa know something is odd with the floor but cant quite put a finger on it.
He does not know about enemies. He did not bother with the business side.. the carnival is around a 20 minute walk from the house.
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Ford cautiously opens the door and looks into the vault, holding the lantern up to see what's inside. Perhaps, if they knew what was taken, they'd have some sort of clue. It would have to be specific... after all, how could a carnival that just arrived in town have a list of things they wanted in a vault?
Once the monk points out the irregularity, the team actually hears something or someone underneath the trap door.
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Natraz nocks an arrow as he hears the scuttling sound beneath the floor. "It appears Mr. Walder's foresight has paid off." He nods a head towards the trapdoor. "As whatever it is seems to be contained down there, perhaps we should examine the vault first, then double back to this." He taps a toe lightly on the trapdoor, his soft cloth shoes making no sound.
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Ford blinked, before looking down and listening to the floor. By Pharasma, he was right! He handed to lantern to someone else before reaching into his backpack for some rope. "No. You go ahead and investigate the vault proper. I want to speak with whoever is down there. I will get answers..."
Ford's eyes flash red... but not a soft glow like they had before. No, this time, they were pinpricks of white life in the center of his irises as he spoke. "...I will not be denied."
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"Ford, darling," says Clarissa, "Back home there is a phrase, 'Good dottari, bad dottari.' The guard will interrogate a prisoner with one dottari being excessively hard on the prisoner. When he thinks the guard is going to torture him," Or worse, she thinks, "the 'good dottari' slips in to save the man. This makes the prisoner more...amenable...to coercion. Let me be your 'good' dottari."
it may take a while, but the group manages to open the trap by the vault door. Natraz and Sol believe they see a figure in the darkness in the pit...
in broken and feeble common, almost a whimper..."Are you going to kill me...?" a smooth-skinned, hairless humanoid asks peering up from the bottom.
It is a skulk.
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Ford peered back into the darkness of the pit, somewhat surprised by the pit's occupant. Huh... someone who actually looks stranger than me? This gets weirder by the minute... He had no clue who or what this humanoid was, but he was scared.
Ford didn't really want to threaten the pathetic creature - his heart wasn't as hard as he put on. But he did want answers. "...no, no more killing. But you are in trouble. You can make it easier on yourself, though, if you answer our questions. Perhaps I can even convince the sheriff to let you go... depends on how cooperative you are. Can you climb, or do we need to come down and get you?" Ford held up the rope for the humanoid to see, starting to lower one end into the pit.
@ Sol- he is a skulk.
"I fell down here by accident. I got hurt." he says up to the group.
"Who are you all talking to?" yells the guard left to watch over you.
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"I'll distract the guard. I'm afraid he would make assumptions and harm the captive before he can give us any information," Clarissa tells the others.
She turns around and addresses the guard, "Tomas, please, give us room conduct our investigation. I promise you, we will give a fair accounting and provide all evidence we locate to the sheriff," Clarissa walks toward the guard, making sure to keep herself between him and the trapdoor. "We are an eclectic team of pathfinders with a wide range of abilities, some of which may seem a little odd to outsiders."
"I just need to make sure you all arent breaking or taking anything from the vault. The misses is already upset enough and needs no more heartache." he says.
looking up the skulk says "If you heal me, help me leave this pit and promise to let me go i will tell you what i know."
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Natraz laughs, a surprising note of cruelty in his voice. "Or perhaps we leave you there for the widow to take her vengeance on. Alchemist's fire is available here in town, I'm sure, and you have nowhere to run. You'll tell us what we want, and not dictate the terms."
To his companions, Natraz speaks quietly, the viciousness gone from his tone. "Let us close the trapdoor and let him ruminate on his position while we examine the vault."
"NO! Dont close it!" you hear from the pit as the trap is closed again.