Ali's lips press into a thin line and she places the tip of her dagger against the wall. With a twist of her wrist, she peels off the first flake of paint. "Oops. My knife slipped," she deadpans, and peels another flake off.
"--hey, now!"
Banny's thick brows furrow together for a moment before she steps forward and wraps firm fingers around the wrist of Alicia's hand holding the dagger, her own fingers rough and strong as weathered wood.
"Th' hell are you doin'?" she hisses. "D'you want her to call the priests on you-- or the Patrol? Cham's got a business in this town, a real regular Upright Citizen; if you go fanning that furnace for no good reason then who d'you think Blackblade and the others're gonna listen to? Her, or you?? 'm not gonna have my chances of findin' Kurst's killer go to slag cuz you got the urge to play sassy. Smoke people off on yer own time."
Scowling, she says more loudly, "I think it's time we left. Like Cham axed us to."
The dagger makes a poor paint scraper, the point making only a narrow scratch and removing the merest flake of paint. Alicia catches no glimpse of dark stains beneath the few pinpoints of whitewash she has removed. Perhaps more telling, the whitewash is completely dry; it certainly wasn't applied since last night when Kerst Grath was alive and well.
Cham cries out in protest of Alicia's actions as Banny steps forward and tries to restrain her, more with an appeal to self-interest than with physical force.
Alicia sets her jaw firmly and stares down at Banny, eyes smoldering. After a moment, she attempts to jerk her hand free--assuming that Banny doesn't try to stop her, she then sheathes the blade and storms off out the door.
Still whittling Vhailor hums under his breath: "Ukuti, Ukuti
Wa mnazi, Wa mnazi
Ukipata Upepo
Watete.. Watete.. Watetemeka.." stopping to shake a bit at the end before chuckling to himself and continuing to whittle. Carb gives him a narrow eyed glance at the unwanted vibration.
Banny returns Alicia's glare with a stony look back, but lets go of her wrist when she pulls free.
Clearing her throat after the young human sweeps out, Banny squints at the tiny scratch left by the dagger. "Can't barely tell it's there," she says to Cham with forced, brusque cheer. "You want to go rattin' th' girl out to the priests for that little a thing, I guess that's your business, but I don't reckon you'd have much joy of her work iffen they did collar her. Anyhow, like I said, we're outta your hair, Cham."
Shaking her head to herself, Banny heads back outside, assuming Cham doesn't stop her, and squints around in the bright sunlight a moment, getting her bearings and looking around for the others. If Jess and Bumpus are still within sight, she means to say a thanks.
Marikel has raised himself from the wall and is just about to go inside when the figures emerge.
He looks about to see if everyone has returned and begins brusquely,
"What took so..."
His tone quickly turns to concern at the looks on their faces.
"Is everyone okay?"
As the others emerge Vhailor takes a few beats after Marikel to notice before waving with the part-worked poppet still in hand. Smiling as he realizes he stows it before ambling over nearby.
Clearing her throat after the young human sweeps out, Banny squints at the tiny scratch left by the dagger. "Can't barely tell it's there," she says to Cham with forced, brusque cheer. "You want to go rattin' th' girl out to the priests for that little a thing, I guess that's your business, but I don't reckon you'd have much joy of her work iffen they did collar her. Anyhow, like I said, we're outta your hair, Cham."
Cham glares after Alicia, then hurries over to move the stepladder so she can climb up and assess the damage. "Lastwall trash," she snorts angrily, her nose inches from the wall. "Should have packed her off back to the paladins instead of burdening the honest folk of Trunau with her."
Outside, Jess and Bumpus are waiting in the street. "I figure the same fellow that handled that hopeknife," the half-elf greets Banny's approach, "slept in that second room at some point. Not last night, or Bumpus would have tracked him there first, but sometime. Or at least on the mattress. Maybe they rotate them, to share the fleas around fair-like." She snorts back at the Ramblehouse aggressively.
Banny pauses in the doorway of the room, looking back over her shoulder at Cham. "Plenty of folk woulda liked to 'pack me off' to somebody else too, if there'd been anybody else," she says. " 'm lucky that Trunau gave me a chance, instead."
**
Out in the bright sunlight, Banny squints at Jess's words. "That could be," she says slowly, "but I can't reckon why someone'd do that. I mean, switch rooms like that, not switch mattresses."
The dwarf scratches at her head over this puzzle, then scratches Bumpus's mangy head too. "Good boy. Good boy.
"Thanks for your help, Jess. I dunno what else Bumpus could lead us to, but you spent all mornin' on this with me an' I won't forget it. You got your heart in the right place, no matter what anybody says. You let me know there's anything you need hauled to the shop anytime, alright?"
**
Banny turns to Marikel, Vhailor, and Alicia "Yeah, nobody's gotten themselves stabbed," she says blithely to Marikel's question, as she unhooks the battered flask at her belt.
"We got this fella we're chasing, the half-orc, he likes to switch up rooms, maybe-- least, that's what Bumpus's nose said. Din't see nothin' in that second room he went into would explain why he'd try that sorta sneakery... maybe he was tryin' to not be found in that first room, instead?"
Banny gazes blankly into the middle distance as she tries to reconcile things into a convincing explanation, but nothing occurs to her. Instead she has a swig of the applejack in her flask.
"Or maybe th' tunnels connect to that second room. I dunno. I think we ought to go find Ruby, see if she knows anything about how her knife got taken or lost or whatever. Anybody got other notions?"
Out in the bright sunlight, Banny squints at Jess's words. "That could be," she says slowly, "but I can't reckon why someone'd do that. I mean, switch rooms like that, not switch mattresses."
The dwarf scratches at her head over this puzzle, then scratches Bumpus's mangy head too. "Good boy. Good boy.
"Thanks for your help, Jess. I dunno what else Bumpus could lead us to, but you spent all mornin' on this with me an' I won't forget it. You got your heart in the right place, no matter what anybody says. You let me know there's anything you need hauled to the shop anytime, alright?"
Jess gives Banny a nod. "You track down the no-good polecat, you feel free to bring him by and let Bumpus's nose give him the once-over. He'll let you know if you've got your man or not." She tugs gently as Bumpus's lead, and he docilely trots with her back toward That 'N' Such.
Marikel turns things over in his mind.
"So, the fellow Miss Alicia saw talking to Councillor Sawyer and who stayed here at the inn is the same one that planted the hopeknife and jumped over the cliff. He's not a local, but he's been here a few times, because he knows the Councillor, he knows a little about hopeknives and he's stayed in another room at the inn before."
Marikel looks about each of the others.
"We need to search about where Kerst was found. We'll stop and question Miss Ruby on the way. Meanwhile, Miss Alicia can also tell us what she was doing with Miss Ruby last night."
Marikel glares at the waif making it clear that his request to Alicia is no request at all.
Vhailor nods enthusiastically at Marikel's suggestions, readying himself to follow along.
Ali gives Marikel a defensive look. "We didn't do anything!" she exclaims. "We just wandered around town. Well, and then hid from Brantos...but he found us eventually. After he found us, she went with him back to the mission. That's the last I saw her til I came back myself."
Marikel's voice softens a little.
"Do you remember if she had her hopeknife with her then? She didn't take it out and admire it at any point? Or use it or play with it? Didn't talk about it? Take your time, be calm, remember clearly. Any detail may be important."
Alicia frowns in thought. After a few moments, the frown deepens. "She was pretty careful with it. I mean, she treated it like it was sacred or something--looked at it a lot, but always put it back carefully before we approached anyone or took part in anything at the festival. Although...it was out of her sight when we raced in a potato sack race. She placed it at the top tier of the amphitheater while we did that. And afterward, we spotted Brantos--we kinda ran off in a hurry, so she just snatched it up as we ran. Do you think someone replaced it while it was lying there on the bench?"
Shrugging Vhailor ventures "Won't find out till she checks it anyways."
"She's back at Sanctuary," Alicia says as she heads back in that direction. Under her breath, she adds, "I hope."
Banny slips her flask away again, rubbing at her eyes as the morning sun has climbed much higher now and is bearing down ruthlessly. She listens with half an ear to the discussion of what the girls did last night, following along.
"If that's the chance some bugger had to grab it, I guess 's likely as any. In that case they din't just take it, they swapped it-- if thass what happened, it'd explain some why she wasn't bothered this mornin', over the loss of her knife... she might not've even realized it was gone."
Marikel leads his small band back towards Sanctuary, wondering what he'll tell Tyari. And Ruby. The child has been through so much already, and this seems just another trial for her.
"Still, there are always more trials," Marikel thinks grimly.
He slows a bit to walk beside Banny but speaks so all the group can hear.
"I'm not sure when Kerst died but if someone switched hopeknives with Ruby then that means Kerst was killed not long after we last saw him... or it was premeditated."
Marikel and Alicia head for what is, for them, home, and the road is little less familiar to Banny, as she threw down her bedroll at the mission before securing her semi-official position at The Killin' Ground. To only Vhailor is the destination something of a novelty, though his eye has assuredly been drawn to the large, white church building every time he came out the front door of the Ramblehouse.
Sanctuary is the largest and newest structure in the Lower Quarter and, aside from Ivory Hall and the ruins of the burned church at the foot of the cliff, the only building in town with a whitewashed exterior. The builders of the mission actually went one step beyond Ivory Hall by whitewashing the roof as well, ostensibly so that it would be readily visible as a place of refuge even from the higher levels of the town, though some citizens grumbled that it was sheer one-upmanship. Since Lastwall gold pays local workmen for regular maintenance of the paint, any residual murmuring on the subject is quiet at best.
Marikel pushes open the front door to a spacious foyer. Directly opposite, the doors to the shrine stands open, lamps on either side illuminating the holy symbol of Iomedae suspended on the far wall above the altar. More plain and practical doors on either end of the foyer lead to the living quarters for the priests and residents, supply rooms, and other less holy areas of the mission. Alicia leads the way toward the room she shares with Ruby.
Alicia opens the door to her room to reveal Ruby, who by this time should be at school, huddled on the bed, with tears in her eyes. "Ali!" she stammers, startled and trying to regain her composure. "Um... I wasn't expecting you back here." She surreptitiously wipes her face with the edge of the blanket.
Vhailor follows along at the tail of the group... eyes looking left, right, up and down with a curious bent.
Seeing Ruby in tears, Ali's "big sister" instinct comes to the fore and she move in to take a seat beside Ruby on her bed. Wrapping an arm around her reassuringly, she asks, "What's wrong?"
Marikel is about to follow Alicia, sees Ruby and realises his presence would probably not help. Instead, he closes the door on Alicia and turns to the others.
"We'd best tell Miss Varvatos what we've found."
Brow furrowed a bit in confusion Vhailor raises an eyebrow "So we're not going to ask?" gesturing towards the now closed portal to Ruby's room.
He slows a bit to walk beside Banny but speaks so all the group can hear.
"I'm not sure when Kerst died but if someone switched hopeknives with Ruby then that means Kerst was killed not long after we last saw him... or it was premeditated."
Banny nods, her eyes fixed on the middle distance. She knows sure enough that her friend died sometime between the last time she saw him, and morning's harsh light, and to her, the other details are just that, details... maybe it'll matter to the solving of things, but the thought of Kerst's body cold and broken for long hours before dawn makes her fists ball up all over again...
*
On the way to the temple, Banny scratches a little self-consciously at the back of her neck. Always makes you feel like that goddess of theirs is watchin', an' disapprovin', don't it... 's why she was never able to get too comfy there, kind as the priests had tried to be...
She trudges after, trying not to track too much dust into the church's clean interior and shooting guilty glances after her boots to make sure she hasn't. The sight of the newest Trunau defender in tears, in her room, makes her tch a little, but Marikel closes the door and Vhailor asks his question.
"Hum, I guess you're thinkin' Ruby's th' best to talk to her an' ax her, an' all," Banny admits slowly. "I still wanted to show Ruby this knife we got, make sure it's really hers, though-- Sara's more'n likely right, but just to be sure. You can go on to th' priestess if you got the urge, but I'll stay here, wait til Ruby's calmed her friend down, an' then I'll ax about th' knife."
Marikel nods at Banny.
"If that's what Ruby is all upset about, she'll be glad to have it back. Good idea."
He turns to Vhailor.
"Ruby don't want folk asking just yet. Alicia is a good friend, if not a sterling role model. She'll calm Ruby down and ask her about the hopeknife. If you've got some questions for Ruby too, you could wait with Banny. I've got to find Miss Varvatos."
Marikel doesn't wait for a response but departs towards the quarters of Tyari Varvatos.
Seeing no reason to follow after Marikel, Vhailor just shrugs his shoulders and states as an aside "Thought she was an adult now she's got her knife... don't know why everyone's still treating her like a child." retrieving his whittling and shuffling back to the wall to get started. Carb gives him a reproachful look as the cat's tail is almost caught.
Seeing Ruby in tears, Ali's "big sister" instinct comes to the fore and she move in to take a seat beside Ruby on her bed. Wrapping an arm around her reassuringly, she asks, "What's wrong?"
"Um, nothing," Ruby lies unconvincingly. "It's just so sad about Mr. Grath."
When pressed by Alicia, however, she bursts into a fresh flood of tears. "Look!" she wails, pulling a sheathed dagger out from under the bedsheets. "I lost my hopeknife! What will they do to me? What will the Chief Defender say?"
It's obvious just from looking at the plain and unadorned handle that the dagger in the sheath is no hopeknife. When Ali draws out the blade, it is rusty and pitted, the edges dull and chipped.
Marikel makes his way back down the corridor toward the head priestess's quarters. Her door is open (as it always is when its closure isn't necessary for modesty or safety), and she and Brantos are sitting inside on simple wooden chairs on either side of a bare wooden table, the opulence of Tyari's chasuble the only spot of color or comfort in the otherwise spartan room.
The priestess glances up at his approach. "Marikel! The tragic news preceded you down the hill. I trust you offered any and all assistance with the funeral?"
"Trunau looks after its own, Ma'am," Marikel responds with the slightest hint of bitterness.
"But the offer was made. And I looked over Kerst's body. And he didn't die from a fall."
Marikel lets his words hang for a second before continuing on.
"Rodrick and Banny and Kerst's secret wife, Miss Kelver, never believed Kerst would do such a thing anyway. The blow to the back of his head and the lack of broken bones seems to confirm it. I'd say he died a couple of hours before the guard saw someone jump."
Marikel frowns.
"And it does appear that someone jumped. Banny took a look at the edge and found a small ledge just below that point. There's a path that may lead into the tunnels below Trunau. Miss Alicia says she saw a half-orc acting suspicious last night and... followed him back to the inn. Banny got Jess Meeson to bring her hound, and it followed the half-orc's trail from cliff edge back to the inn, so it seems Miss Alicia may have seen the murderer. Or an accomplice."
Marikel sighs.
"I've spoken to Miss Blackblade and she'd rather believe there was a suicide in their midst than a murderer. She's aware of our investigation, but hasn't forbidden it. I told her I would try and keep Banny from upsetting too many applecarts. Miss Alicia has insisted on snooping, but proved her worth at finding things out. And we're joined by a concerned friend of Rodrick as well."
Marikel looks to Tyari, then to Brantos.
"Brantos, you were about last night looking for Miss Alicia and Miss Ruby. Did you see or hear anything suspicious?"
Ali's face grows stony at the sight of the rusty dagger. "They won't do anything to you--because someone stole it. And I'm pretty sure I know who," she says grimly, jamming the pitted blade back into its sheath. Her face softens and she smiles sympathetically at Ruby. "Do you remember the last time you looked at the blade? Or did you see anything suspicious while we were out last night? Maybe someone looking at you with a bit too much interest in their eyes?"
"Stole it?" Ruby asks breathlessly. "Do you know where it is?" In response to Alicia's questions, she shakes her head. "I don't think I looked at it at all after we starting hiding from Tyari and Brantos. I was so focused on looking for them, and we were staying in the shadows where it was dark. Then when the alarm went off this morning, I just grabbed the scabbard and ran to go with you. It wasn't until they were talking about the hopeknife stuck in the Longhouse that it made me think of mine, and I looked at it, and--" She blinks back a few new tears at the distressing memory. "I didn't know what to do. I didn't want anyone to see me, and I certainly couldn't go to school and let all the others see, so I ran back here and told Tyari I wasn't feeling well and wanted to stay home today. I don't remember anyone looking at me strange last night, except when I was up on stage with the Chief Defender and everyone was staring."
The pair of Iomedaeans react with shock to Marikel's revelation.
"I've spoken to Miss Blackblade and she'd rather believe there was a suicide in their midst than a murderer. She's aware of our investigation, but hasn't forbidden it."
Tyari nods reluctantly. "I can understand the Chief Defender's point of view. While suicide is sad, it is self-contained. If a murderer is at large, the whole populace is theoretically in danger. But why would anyone kill Kerst Grath? Has he any enemies?"
"Brantos, you were about last night looking for Miss Alicia and Miss Ruby. Did you see or hear anything suspicious?"
The paladin frowns. "No, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, having a good time. I wasn't on the outlook for evil afoot, I must admit." He gives Tyari an apologetic glance.
Alicia shakes her head. "I don't know where it is; but I have a good idea of where to start looking," she says. She looks at the girl, the sheathed, pitted dagger still in hand. "Do you mind if I hang on to this for the moment?"
"I can understand the Chief Defender's point of view. While suicide is sad, it is self-contained. If a murderer is at large, the whole populace is theoretically in danger. But why would anyone kill Kerst Grath? Has he any enemies?"
Marikel raises an eyebrow at Brantos, but answers Tyari.
"No enemies that we're aware of. But, with this half-orc skulking around, it's possible Kerst found out something that they didn't want him to know. We think there's others involved too. But don't worry. We'll get to the bottom of this and see justice done."
Whittle, whittle.
Alicia shakes her head. "I don't know where it is; but I have a good idea of where to start looking," she says. She looks at the girl, the sheathed, pitted dagger still in hand. "Do you mind if I hang on to this for the moment?"
"No, keep it," the girl replies. "But you'll give me the scabbard back to put my hopeknife in, won't you? Who stole it? Where is it?"
"No enemies that we're aware of. But, with this half-orc skulking around, it's possible Kerst found out something that they didn't want him to know. We think there's others involved too. But don't worry. We'll get to the bottom of this and see justice done."
"Of course," Tyari nods, "with the Inheritor's backing. Don't berate yourself," she assures Brantos. "It was a celebration. There was no reason to suspect anyone there of evil intent. Now that we know, though, we should be on guard." She turns back to Marikel. "You said something about a half-orc at the Ramblehouse? Perhaps Brantos ought to go over there and have a look at the guests."
In the hallway outside Ruby's room, Banny sits down on the floor, leaning back against the cool stones of the wall. She can hear the girls' voices on the other side of the door, but too low to make out words. Banny inspects a few minor scrapes on her fingers from the climb on the cliffside, then folds her hands in her lap as she waits for either Marikel's return or the door to open again.
"Thought she was an adult now she's got her knife... don't know why everyone's still treating her like a child."
Banny's response is slow in coming. "Nobody goes an' becomes all grown-up in one day, I don't reckon," she says after a bit of silence in the hall other than the sound of Vhailor's knife at work. "Gettin' th' knife... it's a symbol, like... that you gotta start takin' on those responsibilities. But it oughtn't ought to mean that you gotta wake up the very next mornin' and be prepared to hear you're kinda mixed up in a murder, now. Anyhow, we got time to let her friend ax her nice an' easy, so, I figger thass a kindness. Mayhap we won't have time for it, some other time."
The dwarf leans her head back against the stone wall and takes a long, deep breath. Not for the first time since waking up, she wishes this were a bad dream. It still doesn't seem real, Kerst gone-- so abruptly, so finally. Banny brushes a hand against her belt, where she has the hopeknife still wrapped in its bit of sacking, to reaffirm it's there, and that everything is unpleasantly real. She rubs at the knuckles of one hand with the fingers of the other; then opens her eyes again to look at Vhailor.
"What're you makin'?"
Ali stands and nods at Ruby. "I don't know his name, or where he is now...But I saw a half-orc snooping about last night that I never have seen before. I'll get your scabbard back to you later," she says, and opens the door.
Vhailor pauses and concentrates as Banny speaks... as much to prevent accidental slips of the knife as otherwise. The explanation makes little sense to him... a point he counters with as a simple shrug and aside "So adult enough to use the knife for it's intended purpose but not adult enough to risk hurting her feelings." turning his head back down and unto his whittling as Banny closes her eyes.
His answer to the following question is given as a reflex without thinking "Kerst." before a beat passes and he sees reason for more of an explanation "I'd made a poppet of Roddy... showed him yesterday and he asked whether I'd made his brother... so I'm making him" some sense of weighty emotion almost breaking through the veil and facade at least in fleeting fashion before he adds as an afterthought "Once he's finished I'll get onto the ghost rats..." and that particular train of conversation abruptly halted by an opening door.
"You said something about a half-orc at the Ramblehouse? Perhaps Brantos ought to go over there and have a look at the guests."
Marikel frowns at the idea that Brantos might "have a look" at anyone.
"Banny has already taken both Jess and her hound into the Ramblehouse. And Miss Alicia had already searched the room before then. I think Miss Larringfass has had quite enough excitement this morning. We're meant to be keeping our heads down."