Daerokh begins making his way around to the back door, keeping an eye out for trouble.
Jase arched a brow, looking back at Tuco. "You think his boss will come and try to shut him up permanent-like?" It sounded pretty brutal, but killing scribes and going through all the trouble they had seemed to be going through was a lot of work. This Mexerius might not appreciate his hireling/accomplice singing to the Guard (or its hired investigators) about his plans.
Assuming the half-orc answered in the positive, the young man set himself up nearby the entrance to the structure they had just exited, watching from the shadows to see if anybody interesting (or at all, really) entered the building.
With no orders from Joie, Alorea quietly approaches the front door. She places her ear to it to try to hear anything on the other side, then gives it a once over for traps.
Alorea approaches the front door, and after giving it a once-over, concludes that Mr. Verne is not the type of person to booby-trap his front door. She does hear the sound of someone shuffling around upstairs on the edge of her hearing, however.
Daerokh learns that the back door of the home opens into a narrow alley--it looks barely wide enough to accommodate a single person. Nothing jumps out at him.
Joie steps up behind Alorea, who either appreciates Alorea's military approach or the joke at her expense-- it's hard to say.
"Clear?" she asks, positioning herself beside the door.
"Open it," she orders. Provided Alorea does so, Joie steps quickly into the room, dan bong in hand and eyes sharp.
Alorea nods and pushes the door open. If it's locked, she'll attempt to pick it...
"Can't say for sure, but that entrance ain't be movin' anytime soon. 'Sides, we need to wait for thems before we move out; I dun trust leavin' no note wit' how high this case 'ere goes."
He tries to find a decent position with Jase to lookout. "Well we has some time, I honestly am shocked you ain't have no flask wit' you." He tilts his head, considers his words for a moment then breaks the silence, "Was wit' all the drinkin' anyway? It ain't my place but there is usually some reason."
The half-orc's reasoning for not leaving a note or message with anybody was pretty solid, considering the case. Jase would rather have dropped in at a local bar or even tried to work the Undercity angle, but he couldn't argue against Tuco's thoughts on the matter. Miserable, he slid into the shadows near the entrance with the Tailor, thinking about his answers before responding.
"I'm usually not out of the bar long enough to be needin' one." The young man answered wryly, smirking. He continued, then, his eyes peering out of the gloom towards the building they had just exited. "Dunno, really. Drinking's a social activity, and I'm a social kinda guy. Used to be I'd go out with my chums, drinking a bit and arguing for Alkenstar independence, whether we should export the tech here, that sort of thing. Then my friends got older, got jobs and families, and I was still at the bar out of habit. I knew I didn't want some day job, though I can get honest work if need be. Truth is...I don't really know what I want. So I search for my answer in a bottle, hoping it will leap out at me before my life has passed me by."
Jase was awkwardly silent for a moment, still staring at the entrance of the Precinct building. Then he turned to Tuco. "This here gig presents an opportunity to get past that, should it prove successful. I might not play nice with the soldier-lady or be at odds on how to do things, but I'm sincere about getting this done and stopping these killings."
Turning his gaze back to the building, Jase snorted before speaking anew, "Speaking of lack of drinking, I'm in a frightfully bad mood, so I almost hope someone comes along we can rough up a bit."
Daerokh continues to squeeze through the alley to reach the back door.
Tuco listens to Jase's story, and he offers a simple smile. The Tailor figured Jase wasn't the sort to want pity, "Same here, these murders well... That makes two of us chummer." He considered a second and laughed, "I dun' know how good I be in a real fight but well, you sure carry youself with some standin'. All I knows are tricks to keep folks off balance and if you can strike them down well, all the better."
Some moments pass before he speaks up again, "Life ain't passin' you by, it just be life. Believe it from a ruffian whos seen his share of dead folk on the street; yous got a better heart than most and a sharp head on you shoulders. We has this sorted, then drinks to celebrate."
Daerokh continues at his slow pace. Nothing jumps out at him.
The air around him begins to stink of garbage.
Alorea fiddles with the door and determines that it isn't locked.
The front door opens into the sparsely-decorated foyer of Mattis Verne's home. A staircase is to the north, leading up to the second floor. Doorways stand on either side of the entrance.
--------------------
As the duo arrive at the front of the precinct, they don't see anything out of the ordinary. The two gnomes are standing in the precinct's light, looking quite bewildered.
Alorea is somewhat disappointed that her expert lockpicking skills won't be needed. She not sure anybody is still upstairs, but she points up there anyway, and assuming Joie will be behind her, she quietly makes her way up the staircase.
Joie nods, following quietly--
--scratch that, near silently-- behind. She scans the room; it's hard to say whether their target would be in one of the side rooms downstairs or somewhere up.
Of course, that's what the guards posted outside were for.
Jase listened to the half-orc, alternating glancing at Tuco and looking at the Precinct. Nodding soberly at the man's wise words, he added on, "There are barriers to entry to most everything high profile, but fame and money usually get a person through those, and solving this case should provide both."
He then grinned at the mention of drinks, chuckling, "You bet." Looking over at the gnomes, his brow furrowed and he pointed at them as he said to the Tailor, "Whatcha think about that pair?"
Daerokh continues to sneak.
Daerokh makes it to the back door without incident. A bundle of rags lies in one corner of the alley, snoring.
Alorea and Joie sneak upstairs without incident.
The second floor of Mattis' home is better decorated, with hardwood floors and a couple of red plush carpets covering the space around the landing.
The sound of rustling papers is coming from a room to the northeast.
Joie’s elven ears twitch at the sound; she looks at Alorea and Faithe and nods, then points at herself.
Quietly as she can, she slinks up beside the door on the side that opens, motioning for someone to open it, ready to charge inside.
"Hard to say. Look like gnomes to me." He wondered for a moment, "Bet wes hear 'bout it tomorrow. That tell us who they be." Cracking his neck, he continues, "Why? Think they fishy?"
Daerokh takes a closer look at the snoring vagrant, while keeping an ear out for the sounds of commotion in the house.
Jase shook his head. "No, that's those two gnome reporters from earlier. The ones that...well, anyway. They're still there, and they seem a little 'off', don't you think? Maybe we should check on them?" His brow was furrowed, wondering if the group's hasty exit had caused their state, or something that had happened afterwards.
Unless Tuco cautioned against it, Jase came out of hiding, waving at the gnome duo. "Hey there, me again! Jase Everluck, that is, one of the investigators on the case. The dead people case. Um, as in the people who were once alive, but now were dead case. While I'm at it, scratch what I said about Joie, the Nexian soldier. She's not a friendly sort, but she was just trying to get me inside without getting distracted. Which, if I may say so, isn't that hard a state for me to get in. Distracted, that is. What was I saying?"
The young man looked up in thought for a moment before smiling, then speaking hurriedly before the gnomes could distract him. "Oh yes! Anything interesting happen out here since we last left you?"
Faithe found herself drug along into the carriage and back to the house of Verne for reasons she didn't really understand. She kept her mouth shut when they arrived and did her best to be silent and do as requested. When Joie motioned to herself and nodded Faithe took it to mean they were to watch her back. At least that's what she thought it meant.
With the thought of a possible fight in mind Faithe unsheathed her scythe and prepared to do battle if it came to it. She felt rather naked without the ability t summon her armor but it was what it was and she'd just have to do without.
Alorea nods to Joie. She holds her fingers up, counting down from three, then shoves the door open with her shoulder!
"Hard to say wit' gnomes, they all be off to me. Lead the way." Seeing the improvised sting operation going nowhere, Tuco follows Jase over.
He lets Jase run his mouth, hoping that it would have some kind of kindred relationship to the fast talking, always excitable short ones.
Alorea throws open the door with ease.
The interior of this room is filled with bookshelves, with a desk against the eastern wall and a couple of chairs in front of it. The hardwood floor of this room is covered with a plush white rug. A couple of windows flank the desk on either side.
Leaning over the desk is a figure wrapped in a brown robe and hood, their hands rifling through the papers on the desk. They flinch and whirl around when the door flies open. The figure is a young Garundi man, his brown eyes widening in terror at the realization that he's been caught.
---------------------
The two gnomes turn when they hear Jase approach, with the pink-haired woman's eyes brightening as he begins to speak with them.
"Anything interesting happen out here since we last left you?"
"Oh, heavens yes--the woman I was interviewing was suddenly pulled away into a carriage by Ms.--Joie, you said her name was?--and one of the Shieldmarshals. They took off into the night!"
"Quite a shame, too--she was such a wonderful interview subject." Rosabelle pats Grammond on the shoulder. "Would you be able to answer some of our questions now?"
Joie charges in as promised, tring to slide her foot under his and topple him with her dan bong. "On the floor! Hands away from your weapon!"
Joie's foot catches the man's ankle and tugs, throwing him off balance. Unfortunately, he's able to catch himself on the desk and remain upright.
Well, for a moment, at least. He falls to the floor, sending papers flying everywhere.
Alorea rushes after Joie, clonking the man on the head with her sword's hilt.
Alorea's hilt connects to the young man's temple with a *WHACK*. His hands fly to his head and he starts rolling on the floor in pain.
Daerokh, hearing Joie's voice from upstairs, forgets the bum and attempts to open the back door with a well-placed kick!
Daerokh kicks the door open.
The back door opens to a hallway with bare walls. A couple of trash bins sit in the western corner.
Tuco laughs a hearty guffaw, "If it means I ain't has to answer you questions later. I sure as salt knows that the folks want to know something."
He shrugs at Jase, "One condition. We tell you to stop writing, you best stop." He kneels down a little, "Lives on the line, yous know hows it be."
Jase's shoulders slumped as the gnomes didn't remark upon anything but the others' hasty exit, but when the opportunity re-presented itself to socialize and with the stern Nexian away scoping out Verne's house, the young man grinned and shrugged before nodding along with Tuco's reply.
"So with the conditions out of the way, let's get started. What blanks can we help fill in?"
With the sudden start of a fight Faithe moved in just in time to see Alorea whack the man on the head with her hilt. She moved into the room with her scythe ready and said, "We have you surrounded," her voice echoed ominously, "surrender and you will not be harmed," she looked at where he held his head, "any more than you already are. Refuse and I will reap you as I have others." She held her scythe menacingly and glared at the man.
Hearing Faithe's voice upstairs, Daerokh begins tromping up the stairs as fast as his stumpy dwarf legs will carry him!
The intruder throws his hands up in the air. "I give up! I give up! Don't hurt me! Please!"
His hood falls off to reveal a young Garundi man who looks barely older than 15. His head is shaved and part of his right ear looks like it was torn off.
-----------------
"Wonderful, wonderful!" Rosabelle claps her hands together and rubs them.
"First question--can you tell us anything about the suspect you brought in?"
Alorea flips her rapier around and points the tip towards the boy's chest. "Talk. What are you doing here?"
"L-Lookin' for papers on some kinda stone or other! And the guy who received them! Didn't wanna come here, I swear! Didn't have a choice!"
"No choice? Who forced you to do this?"
"S-some red-eyed pasty freak who smelled like he crawled out of a grave! He said he knew where my momma lived--said he'd kill her if I didn't do this!"
The young man starts hyperventilating.
Daerokh strokes his beard.
"Looks like Verne took our advice after all. That's good."
He goes over to the intruder and offers him a hand to stand up.
"It's okay, kid. You're okay."
He looks at Daerokh with more than a bit of fear and uncertainty before he tentatively takes the dwarf's offered hand, letting him help him back to his feet. He still has one hand on his temple where Alorea struck him.
"What's your name, kid? I'm Daerokh, Daerokh Arrandur." Daerokh asks calmly.
"...Orman. Name's Orman." The young man's breathing seems to be steadying.
Tuco considers his words carefully, and wonders if feeding misinformation might be useful for them. Wes be able to find out what they do with it.
He gives Jase some eyes and waits for him to talk, "He know more, he did most of the talkin'."