Azubah looks over the guards and while the others question them. He also takes in the surroundings of the room. But his attempts to be subtle are a terrible failure and he becomes conscious that the guards notice him eying them, which undermines his confidence in his efforts.
Perception
"We were all on duty last night, just as we are on most nights. But then Mrs. Walder came rushing in, worried about her husband. She told one of us, Harry," he bows his head slightly at the mention of this name. "Harry was supposed to stay here, while the rest of us went with Mrs. Walder to go look for Mr. Walder. We found him, dead, and when we got back here with his body, Harry was dead, and the place looked like this." He motions his hand around the room.
Durnim nods with reverence at Harry's name, too. "The prisoner that we have said they weren't here to rob the Locked Box... but to murder you guys. Can you think hard about who would want you and Mr. Walder dead? You probably saw or experienced something in the past week. Think hard."
"That gives us a timeline, it would suggest That Mr. Walder was likely murdered before the break in. "
Gareth frowns briefl, but says nothing.
In the privacy of his thoughts, however, he chastises himself: 'Don't look at the woman. She just became a prime suspect...'
The guard replies to Durnim.
"I cannot think of any reason that anyone would want me or any of the other guards dead. And the only connection that I have with Mr. Walder is this job—we spent no time together outside of work, and our relationship was strictly professional."
"I am a bit lost here. Where were all of you when your employer was killed? He was not alone out there, was he?" Azubah's manner of questioning suggests that he suddenly snapped out of a daze.
Dennie turns to the third guard, the one who hasn't been present.
"I'm sorry, I'm being rude. My name is Denessrael. I am a priest of Desna. And you are?"
The guard who had been describing the last 24 hours looks at Azubah, a bit offended.
"It was not our fault that he was killed. We were here, at our post, like we were supposed to do. He was walking home from here after a long night of work, just as he often did. Ilsurian is a safe place—he would have no reason for a bodyguard to walk home."
The third guard turns to Dennie.
"I'm sorry ma'am, my name is John. John Walters. I was not here when you folk arrived—I was transporting the two bodies to the temple to be consecrated. 'tis a pleasure to meet you ma'am."
Durnim appears to be not getting what he wants from the guards. "Please let me repeat. You guys were the targets for murder after your boss was murdered. Please think hard about who would want you and Mr. Walder dead. You probably saw or experienced something in the past week. Think hard."
The guard thinks hard for a while, but then shakes his head.
"I'm sorry master dwarf, I cannot think of any reason why someone would want me dead."
He pauses for a moment, and then continues hesitantly.
"This is not my area of expertise, but nothing of much value was taken from here. Is it possible that Mr. Walder was killed for some other reason, and the murderer stole the key to make it look like they wanted to rob the place?"
Durnim shrugs at the question, "But they want you dead, too. So I hope that thought will motivate your memories, because they may make another attempt. If you don't know, we'll have to look somewhere else."
Where's Agnes? Durnim wanders back to find her.
During an awkward pause Azubah blurts out a question to the guards as a whole. "Did any of you see the sphinx with Mr. Walder? Did you see any of the carnival attractions?"
Before anyone can answer he asks again "Varisian girls...did Mr. Walder like them? Was he faithful to his wife?"
Agnes is standing off in the corner of the room, still looking downtrodden. At the mention of her husband's faithfulness, however, she looks up, shocked.
"Archie was always faithful to me! He might've looked from time to time, but he would never..." She trails off, near tears.
None of the guards seem to make any attempt at disagreeing with her, or at adding anything further.
"Time to pull the skulk out of the pit," Gareth says, curtly.
Dennie move over to Agnes and provides a crying shoulder.
"I am so sorry. So very sorry"
Durnim turns to Dennie comforting Agnes, "If the guards don't remember anything that would have gotten themselves or Mr. Walder killed, then the last subject is Agnes. This may be all about Agnes. We need to get you to a safe location with your guards. Agnes, I understand that this time is very difficult for you, but you need to think, too. Is there anyone who want to kill everyone around you leaving you alone? This could be a long term thing, so it could be someone you spurred in favor of Archie."
Talgil, who's been silently taking this in suddenly looks up,
"Wait, before we go," to the guards, "do any of you know anything about shiver or the names Kymeth and Onamae?"
At Talgil's questions, Denessrael turns to face the guards.
[ooc]Forgot a sense motive in there [ooc]
Agnes continues to sob onto Dennie's shoulder, unable to continue answering questions. The guard, however, turns to Talgil.
"I don't know those names, but shiver...I have heard of that. There are rumors—just rumors, mind you—that somebody has been selling a foul drug of that name to folks in town. I try to avoid things like that myself, but there you have it."
Borax had been hanging around the sheriff's office, looking for something to do. When he saw the barbarian come running up, he knew something was up. Following the large man inside...Borax waited for the barbarian to say ....something. Instead the barbarian just grunted at the sheriff and waived to follow.
"Sheriff, do you mind if tag along, perhaps you could use my help on this...whatever it is?"
"I...suppose that would be okay, Borax. Perhaps you will be of some help. I'm not sure I trust these folk anyway," she says conversationally.
The two walk side-by-side, following the barbarian. When they arrive at the Locked Box, ilKhan starts to wander off.
"Hey! Where are you...Ah, what does it matter? Let's go inside."
"Greetings, gentlemen and lady. Your man came to get me, but he seems to have wandered off. What have you found?"
Dennie turns around at the sound of the sheriff's voice. She noted with interest the tall dark man next to her.
He looks one mule team shy of a full twenty Denessrael decided distractedly.
"We have a skulk. One of several sent to kill the guards here according to his own admission. They are apparently in need of a substance known as 'shiver'."
"Things don't rightly add up," Gareth says, frowning, from where he leans against the wall. "Regardless, the Skulk needs locking up. That, and a healer. He's sick from the shiver, maybe deathly sick. Got a healing-priest on call, sheriff?"
Borax quickly introduces himself to the others. "Looks like the big fella that was with you guys may have wandered off. Shoanti barbarian by the looks of him. Probably not the best ally when trying to solve a crime. Sheriff here thought I might be able to help."
Borax lets the others give him a recap of what's been going on. Borax goes unusually quiet as he tries to digest it all.
"Why heal the murderer of his affliction? The more desperate he becomes the more he will be willing to talk."
Gareth frowns. "'Cause I ain't a yellow-belly, swill-swilling torturer, is why," he says in a level tone. "He already spilled most of what we need to know from him. Even if he's goin' to the gallows for murder, he should do it with what dignity he's got due to a man. Or a Skulk."
After several minutes of listening to everything that had transpired, Borax stood up, his light spiked steel shield on his arm, and began pacing back and forth as he spoke out loud in a matter-of-fact tone,
"Okay, let me see if have things straight,
One, Mr. Walder is dead and it looks like a mauling.
Question, did anyone examine the body to confirm?
Two, Mrs. Walder grabbed the guards to go after Mr. Walkder.
Question: Why? Why did Agnes suddenly decide to send three of her guards after her husband, why not one?
Three: Harry was left here.
Question: Why Harry? Was he new? How long has he worked here?
Four: According to Rogi, this was not a robbery, but an a planned assassination. Rogi was told to murder the guards and not to rob the place. That means Rogi and his team were not hired by the guards because they would have not needed four skulks to kill one guard.
Question: Who benefits from four dead guards?
Five: Agnes suggested that the robbers came in through the front door with keys and her husband's were missing.
Question: So let's ask Rogi where they got the keys?"
Borax had trouble figuring out the answers, but he figured if he could at least ask the right questions, someone smarter then him could answer them.
"I believe one of the guards mentioned taking the body to be consecrated..." Talgil suddenly becomes very alert. "We have to stop the people at the temple before they ruin the body!"
"Don't leave the Skulk behind," Gareth says. "Call it a gut feeling... He might not be here when we get back, or he might be dead."
"Let's not kill anyone, especially a prisoner. There is no necessity here." Denessrael said, a little coldly. "What, exactly could we learn from the lately departed?"
"If I may interrupt," the sheriff says, less as a question and more as a command. "First, I must remind you what your primary responsibility is here. It is my job to solve this murder—it is yours to prove the innocence of the carnival. The presence of skulks and a feigned robbery are certainly both clues in your favor. But the rest of the town will not be so easily persuaded.
"Remember that most people in this town believe Varisians to be thieves and cheats. If someone was trying to frame the circus, a robbery, real or otherwise, would be the perfect way to do it. It seems to me that Mr. Walder could simply have been a convenient target, as someone who is in possession of a great deal of valuables—he is both a good target for a robbery, and a good target for someone trying to make it look like a robbery.
"I cannot allow you to desecrate either of the bodies by examining them now that they have been taken to the temple. But I assure you, Mr. Walder was mauled by something large with claws—I did the autopsy myself. I will send a deputy to come collect the skulk and take him down to the jail, but why don't I take you to the scene of the crime, and you can do some examining there."
Borax listens to the sheriff's explanation. Nevertheless, he ask Rogi a couple of questions that had been bothering him,
"Rogi, where did you get the keys for the LockBox, and was your entire group made up of skulks?"
Azubah waits expectantly to hear the skulk's answers to Borax's questions.
"We got them from Kymeth and Onamae, which is how we knew the orders came from the humans," the skulk responds. "Could you please let me out of here soon?"
"When did you get the keys, tonight? What time? How many hours before the robbery? And was the job all skulks or did some humans come along?"
Borax was having trouble keeping the names straight and wasn't sure who these people were.
"Let's let the sheriff do her job."
"Yes. We have a job of our own to accomplish."
"Let's the skulk answer this new guy's questions, and we can go to the scene of the murder. Maybe this new guy wants "the King's" cut of our contract with the Carnival?" Durnim replies to his colleague.
"I see no problem with him asking more questions. He might touch on something we missed. And besides, since he was with the sheriff, his presence might help us get others to cooperate."
Turning to the cleric and the rogue, "Apologies. Do not let me detain you if you need to be elsewhere."
At Durnim's mention of possible pay. "Yes, I would appreciate an opportunity to earn a share of any reward."
Borax nods at Azubah's vote of confidence and stares at Rogi, awaiting an answer.
The skulk looks up at the new arrival.
"We received the keys night, though we were told that they would be coming. We came directly over here once we had them. And there were just four of us skulks—Kymeth and Onamae did not come with us. They always have better things to do, it seems...," he trails off as he says it.
"When were you told to expect the keys? How long ago were you told about this job? Durnim replies. If they were told to expect the keys before the Carnival arrived in town, that would support the Carnival's claim.
"And Kymeth and Onamae were the ones who gave you the keys?"
At this point it was clear to Boarax that Kymeth and Onamae were the next piece in the puzzle. Either those two had met Mr. Walder the night of his murder, or met with someone else who had.
The skulk nods.
"Yes, they were the ones to give us the keys. They came to us yesterday morning and told us that we should expect the keys that night. It was a very quick process."
"Any idea how those two might be contacted?" Gareth asks. He hesitates, then continues: "Or just tell us who all deals shiver in this town. They'd be along there sooner or later, right?"
Borax turns to Durnim, "I think your instincts are right on master dwarf, it seems this job was planned. Unfortunately I don't know if yesterday morning puts the carnival in the clear, unless Rogi was told about this job long before yesterday."
Borax continued to think about what had been discussed but there were two many gaps for him to figure it out.
"We get all of our shiver from them...as payment. But I don't know how to contact them anymore—they're too good for us now. They only come around when they need something."