Joie looks quizzically at Tuco. ”I don’t believe we have any leads at the docks, unless you think our unidentified men stick out on sight alone.”
A moment of silence, then: ”Oh—docs. Doctors. Right, yes.”
With a destination in mind, it's back in the carriage for a run down to Steamhaven. Sheriff Greystone is decidedly silent during the ride over, his eyes focused on the road ahead.
The coroner's office in Steamhaven is a four-story, square stone building off the main market street. Its many windows are either shuttered or curtained closed, and the double doors that open to the main street are constructed from solid oak wood. The air around the building smells cleaner than elsewhere in Smokeside--if one prefers the smell of stinging cleaning chemicals to the omnipresent odour of smoke and steam.
A couple of alleys are on either side of the building.
Tuco's nose smells the chemicals and he snorts out through his nose a bit. "This 'ere is the place, no doubt 'bout that." He goes toward the front door, "Oy, can some of yous poke 'round them alleys? I am gonna do some talkin' up to these 'ere docs from the front."
Not in a particular hurry to see his second dead body today (or ever), Jase bravely headed away from the front door to the alley on the right, not really sure what to be looking for but scouring the area as best he could. Perhaps some of the less glib-tongued corpse doctors might try a back way out while the group questioned the coroners, but Jase was sure they'd rather have the street smart Tuco questioning them instead of the anatomically ignorant young man. He knew enough to get by, he supposed, but certainly not enough to trade science talk with these fellows.
"Alright, everybody, keep a careful eye open for anything of interest. We have to work together if we want to succeed. Be ready for action, and don't hesitate to call for help if you need it." Alorea gives the others a cocky grin. "Don't worry. We've got this!"
As Jase moves down the right alley, the sylph takes the left one, searching about and listening to the wind.
Tuco quickly nods and knocks on the door, unsure whether to just walk in or not. "Oy! Gots some business with yous!"
A moment passes before the office doors creak open.
"Yes, what, what?!" An aged human man pokes his head out the door, his oversized spectacles foggy and askew on his nose. He adjusts them with a bony hand before scratching at his balding head of hair.
----------------
The side alleys around the building are dark and decidedly unwelcoming. The overpowering reek of cleaning oils mixes with the unmistakeable stink of day-old garbage.
Around the back of the building, both Jase and Alorea find a lone wooden door, illuminated by a lit lantern hanging above it. Next to the door are a pair of very large wooden boxes--big enough to store bodies in, perhaps.
Joie stands behind Tuco, looking over his shoulder at the man.
"PFC Joie Patronne. We're looking into the murder of Caleb Melkoste," she explains. "We were hoping you could give us some information."
Jase walked around the building, finding nothing in the dim light, before emerging from the back of the building, seeing movement from the other side. He had snapped out his weapon most of the way from its sheath before he realized it was the investigative woman. He slid the weapon back into its resting place with a practiced gesture before continuing towards the lone door. "Well, we both found the back door. Nice teamwork, that. What do you reckon they use those crates for?"
The young man inched closer to the large boxes, wrinkling his nose at the general smell of the area. Giving Alorea a glance, he steeled his nerve and lifted the cover from one of the boxes just a tad to peek in, not wanting to seem scared of boxes in front of the willowy woman.
The old man blinks his rheumy eyes behind his glasses.
"Eh? Not unless you're his family or with the police. Nothing doing. And you certainly don't look like a Marshal." He snorts.
-------------------
Jase tentatively opens one of the box lids.
He sees something large and black inside, unmoving. What little light is in the alley causes it to gleam.
Tuco looked at the old man, then motioned in the direction of the carriage carrying Sheriff Greystone, "Yeah well chum, looks are deceivin'." Hate being told that he doesn't look the part, Tuco stretches wide and gives a toothy grin, "So yeah, we legit."
"Eh?"
The old man takes off his glasses, rubs the lenses on the only visible part of his grey smock, and puts them back on.
"Oh. Oh, of course. My mistake." He pushes the door open all the way, revealing that the grey smock he's wearing is caked in old blood and... presumably other fluids. The smell of cleaning chemicals billows forth from the doorway. "Well? You coming in or not?"
Daerokh's nose wrinkles at the scent of the chemicals. He says nothing as the group begins investigating the building or talking to the people up front. He was used to being the proactive go-getter back home, but here, among non-dwarves, he was quickly realizing he was a lot more passive than he'd previously imagined himself.
Alorea peers over Jase's shoulder. "Ooh, what'd ya find? Something fun and not too sinister, I hope?"
Alorea frowns. "Nope, not fun. Looks like a body bag. You want to do the honors and haul it out?"
Peering into the box, Jase nearly jumped when he heard Alorea's voice so close to him, looking back in alarm to find the sylph peeking over his shoulder. He grinned at her joking mention of fun, only to have his face drop when she called out what the find actually was. "What's the chances this one corpse is going to be one of our dead scribes?"
Still, if the death doctors were part of some conspiracy, they might have left some things out of their report that the duo could confirm. Tuco would probably love this. Groaning, Jase lifted the lid up and over to fully reveal the contents. Depending on how close to the top the bag was, he would reach down and try to manhandle it out, sweat beads popping out on his forehead from the effort. "I don't haul bodies out of boxes for just anyone, milady."
The young man chuckled a little too uneasily, setting the bag down on the ground as gently as he could. After catching his breath, he set about helping to unbuckle it. A small voice in the back of his mind was screaming that this might not be the wisest thing he had ever done, but he shrugged it away. It probably wasn't the stupidest thing he'd ever done, either.
As Jase and Alorea split apart to go down the alleys Faithe headed around behind Jase. She knew she could be quiet when she needed to and even with her magic suppressed she still blended in nicely to the ally.
When she saw Jase stop and acknowledge Aloria, Faithe kept back and quiet letting the two search the boxes. She decided that keeping as invisible as possible was a good thing and Faithe stepped into the darkest patch of shadow she could find to keep watch from.
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Daerokh waits for Tuco to take the lead.
Tuco kind of pushes his way in, but he does so very lightly. "Tell me about 'dis 'ere operation? Yous all public or what?" While not a mortician, the Tailor had seen many a corpse in his time and he was unphased by the stench and the dreariness of it all. "I'd like to see the reports on Caleb, and any info on the body." He gives off an authoritarian air, "'nd anythin' else you might 'ave."
"Our office, sir, provides a needed service to the citizenry of Alkenstar." The old man huffs as he starts leading Tuco deeper inside.
"A copy of Mr. Melkoste's autopsy report was already submitted to the Auburn District Precinct, wasn't it?" He blinks and turns to Tuco. "The victim sustained multiple stab wounds to the back and collar--not enough for a clean kill."
-------------------
As Jase tries to haul the body bag out of the box, it lands on the ground with a loud THUMP.
Tuco picked up something and turning it around looked at the older gentleman, "So they say. Where can we find the body and which of yous looked at it?"
Daerokh, keeping silent, looks around as Tuco does the talking, to see if anything seems out of place.
Jase muscled the body over the lip of the box, only to have gravity suddenly finish the job and drop the limp weight to the ground with a loud noise. The young man flushed slightly in embarrassment, but shrugged and went about starting to undo the buckles. "Good thing this fellow ain't with the living any more, or he'd be cursing up a storm right about now. And if his wounds are slices and pokes like the other guy, a bit of a drop probably won't hurt anything, right?"
As he set to work on the straps, he looked up at the sylph woman. "You think you could set that breeze to blowing the stink away if this corpse is on the rotten side?"
Alorea suddenly puts her hand over Jase's mouth to stop him from talking, eyes fixed on the door. "Shh! Someone's coming! Hide!"
She pulls him towards any nearby available cover and ducks down, quiet as the whispering wind.
Faithe heard the thump as the body bag was drug out of the crate and then noticed the sound of someone noticing the thumping sound from inside. She considered calling out to Jace and Alorea but the detective noticed the sound and pulled Jase down into cover. Knowing that one of the most important tricks to remaining hidden was not to move Faithe remained stationary in the concealing shadows.
As Jase started rambling as he worked on the straps, he felt the sylph's hand cover his mouth and looked up at her. What might have been a nice, romantic moment (minus the dead body, of course), was quickly dashed as he saw the look of panic on her face as she whispered fiercely at him. He spryly leapt towards available cover along with her, head spinning through the myriad possibilities that might arise when someone found the body out of place. Unfortunately, it seemed Alorea had only found a space large enough to effectively hide one person, hard as he tried to squeeze into the space with her. He was legitimately trying to hide, of course, though his mind took careful note of the woman for later debriefing.
Joie mostly just stands and tries to look official. That said, it's hard to lend proper credibility to Tuco's... not exactly by-the-book conduct.
"Mr. Melkoste's remains are being kept in the basement level." The old man takes a left and approaches a thick-looking stone door. "I have examined it briefly--my assistant was the one who did most of the preparatory work."
---------------------
The back door opens to reveal a puzzled-looking man with bright grey eyes. He's dressed in a dark teal smock and smells of a mix of rot and cleaning chemicals.
He looks around in bewilderment for a moment before he spots Jase--and the body bag out of the box. "Hey! That's government property! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Jase sighed and shrugged, giving Alorea a rueful look. "Looks like our cozy nook has been spotted. Maybe another time." The young man stepped out of the hidey hole and quickly paced away to keep the man's attention on him and away from the still-hidden woman.
Jase spoke quickly, trying to allow the man who had come out the back door no room to even react beyond listening. "Hey there, friend! You scared the dickens out of me! I'm Jase Everluck, and I'm working with Shieldmarshal...what's his name from the Auburn Precinct. Really stern-looking fellow, looking into the serial murders. You know who I mean, right? Anyway, does this bag contain a dead scribe? If not, can you kindly direct me to the scribe bags, please? I have a bit of post-mortem investigation to conduct."
When he had finished his rambling, he flashed the A-OK sign to the sylph behind his back as he flashed a smile at the man, looking at him expectantly.
"Does yous assistant have a name? You know, in case we have a question 'r two." He leans on the cold stone of the door, thinking to himself that it felt more like a mausoleum than a mortuary and only right then noticing the puzzled look on Joie's face. "What 'bout them other murders, you do any examinin'? I ain't got the chance to see them meself but I'm curious 'bout the links to them others."
Alorea seems surprised by Jase's bold insinuations, but then he steps out to confront the man. She smacks her forehead quietly as she listens to his attempt to blather his way through the encounter, waiting for the inevitable fallout...
"My assistant? His name's Enoch." The old man says. "Incidentally, my name is Rissom. Coroner Rissom."
"Regarding the other murders, I've cataloged the other two victims and kept their bodies in storage. I'm a little surprised funereal arrangements haven't been made yet."
He takes a key out of his smock and sticks it into the lock on the stone door, and it swings open with a *click*. The stairway beyond leads both upstairs and downstairs. "Shall we?"
-----------------
The smock-clad man blinks once before his expression changes. "Oh, right. Of course, my apologies--I didn't realize you were a new hire. Lack of uniform and badge and all." He chuckles.
"Anyway, we don't keep dead scribes in those bags--those are reserved for John Does. The scribes' remains are kept inside, one level down."
Alorea is so surprised that Jase's bluff succeeded that she nearly buys the man's own attempt at deception. She scowls and whispers, the wind carrying her voice to Jase's ears. "This guy's full of it. He's hiding something."
"Tuco, doctor." He goes towards the door, "Wes gonna take a looksie at them bodies in storage, might find a clue 'bout this whole debacle."
Jase peeked behind him just to make sure there were no authorities creeping up, so surprised was he by the man's calm reaction to Jase's statement. This was further compounded by the tickling of the wind he felt on his ear, followed by the sylph's voice. That would take some getting used to. "Oh, well, I guess let me help you throw this ole' chum back in the John Doe box, then."
Assuming the man moved to help, Jase helped strongarm the bag-covered corpse back into its holding place. That being done, he said, "My associate, Alorea, has been scouring the alley for evidence with a very professional eye, as she's one of our best advance investigators. Alorea, would you mind coming out and introducing yourself to this gentleman?" He leaned in and whispered to the man, "What was your name again, friend?"
Alorea pops out of hiding and waves at the man. "Halloo! Why are you lying to us?"
The interior of the office is remarkably tidy, clean and spotless. The acrid odour of some sort of cleaning agent blankets the halls. The walls and floor are made of white stone, and illuminated every twenty feet by lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Overall, the coroner's office feels like a cold and soulless place.
Rissom leads the party downstairs into the building's basement, and the air becomes much colder. The corridors downstairs aren't as well-lit as the upstairs, with lanterns only providing light every forty feet instead of every twenty. The halls are wider, enough for several people to walk side by side, but their cold grey stone floor and walls somehow make the basement feel more claustrophobic than it should be.
The old coroner opens a stone door on the right, and the temperature drops even further. The smell of cleaning agents gives way to the rank smell of formaldehyde and embalming fluid. Inside this twenty-by-twenty foot stone room are several rows of stone slabs, each of which has a pale, motionless corpse on top of it. The corpses are covered with grey shrouds. A couple of lanterns hang from the ceiling, burning with a ghostly white light that seems to highlight every blemish and imperfection on the remains.
"Which of the John Does were you curious about, Mr. Tuco?"
------------------
The smock-clad man moves to assist Jase in putting the body bag back in its box. "My name's Enoch, Mr. Everluck."
It smells like oil and smoke.
They sound human.
"Halloo! Why are you lying to us?"
The man jumps back a few feet in surprise when Alorea suddenly appears. "Lying?! Excuse me?! What would I have to lie about? I'm just trying to do my job here--YOU'RE the ones sticking your noses where you shouldn't be!"
Alorea gasps as she hears the sounds coming from the bag. "Hey, wait! This guy's not dead! He must have been only mostly dead!"
She rushes over to the box and looks inside. "Jase, get him back out of there!" The sylph whirls on Enoch. "You'd better start explaining yourself, fast!"
Enoch's eyes widen. "...oh, s*~%."
Then he turns on his heel and starts sprinting for the door!
Faithe watched everything that happened with quiet amusement as the man appeared and Jase pulled off his con. He was certainly fast on his feet when it came to bluffing.
The situation seemed under control, though she could tell the man lied about something. When Alorea popped up Faithe had to snicker and when she said the guy in the bag wasn't dead yet Faithe knew there was trouble.
Faithe knew the man was going to bolt for the door and that if he got inside they might lose a valuable lead. Glad her scythe was already in hand she bolted for the door before the man could react in an attempt to put herself between him and safety.
Jase's nose crinkled as he got closer to the man, but he helped to toss the heavy package back into the box. He shook his head as he dropped the bag nonchalantly into the container. "Whoa, chief, you better back up. We're exactly where we're supposed to be. Don't question the authority of Shieldmarshal...dammit, what was that man's name again???" He looked at Alorea questioningly, clearly frustrated.
At that moment he heard the moans from inside the bin, whirling on the man as Enoch started to panic. Jase was just as surprised as the man likely was to see Faithe leap out of the shadows, scythe in hand, but kept it in check and snapped his rapier out, also moving to intercept Enoch and put himself between the death doctor and the door leading back inside. "Best start explaining yourself, pal, unless you want a bag of your own. My scantily clad friend here removes a small piece of clothing for everyone she kills, and as you can see, there's not much left."
Walking down the stairs Tuco's eyes adjust to the darkness and he sees the place in botchy shades of grey. Every once in a while he winces as the colours flicker back in when he approaches closer to the lanterns. Seeing the bodies on the slabs gives him a pang of regret, knowing that at some point in time he sent such people to such a place.
"All of 'em. An' whatever you know about 'em too; but tell my friends 'ere 'dat, I don't not want to get biased."
”Specifically, the suspected victims of our Slasher,” Joie says, following along after the others. She keeps her hands folded behind her back, wrists even with her belt. Goosebumps prickle a chill into her skin, and she considers whether the spotted lanterns are more an impediment to her own sight or to Tuco’s orcish eyes.
Enoch glances at Faithe as she emerges from the shadows, bearing down on him with a scythe, and starts dipping and dodging around incoming blows as he runs for the door.
He tries to slide underneath Jase to get through the door--even though he has two weapons pointed at him right now.
And in a feat of surprising dexterity, he manages to slide through, scramble to his feet and take off running!
Rissom adjusts his glasses and begins walking around the slabs. "Most of these poor souls died in workplace accidents." He starts, pointing at two of the fifteen bodies on display. One's face appears to have been burned halfway off, and the other's right leg is nowhere to be found. "For example, Jarvis Cluney was once a foundry workman in Hellside--a workplace mishap resulted in a load of molten slag coming down on the walkway he was working on. That foundry floor was closed for a few days afterward. Harren Bein here died in mostly-identical circumstances--difference is, his death was his own damn fault."
"When you're working at the Tinwound Hydroplant, you don't wear loose-fitting clothes on the work floor. Company policy. Doesn't matter how hot it gets--a bit of discomfort beats getting your trouser leg caught in one of the pump machines and getting it torn off." He speaks with a dry, detached and clinical tone. "But, since you're here for the Slasher's victims, I suppose we should come over this way."
He leads the group to a cluster of four slabs, with Caleb Melkoste's body lying in state on one of them. One of the slabs is empty.
"Mr. Melkoste's remains are here, in the same condition he was found in." Rissom walks past the corpse without a second glance. "Irmak Orlin here was found in a rather compromising position, poor soul." He gives the man's corpse a forlorn look. "Died on the toilet from multiple stab wounds. Terrible."
"This is--or was--Kiria Iverness." He points to a dead woman's corpse on a nearby slab. "Her husband and children were inconsolable. From what I understand, the attack happened as she was coming home from work--multiple stab wounds."
"I asked by assistant to tidy up the first body." Rissom looks at the empty slab. "He seems to have had an odour problem that persisted even in death."
Jase's eyes widened in amazement as the man bravely rushed him and Faithe, the surprise throwing off his aim as Enoch slid past him.
Joie nods as Rissom takes them through the morgue. She, as usual, doesn’t say much; workplace accidents are hardly unheard of, and while it’s unfortunate, that is the way of things.
”No workplace is without its risks. Take scribes, for instance...”
She looks over the victims, looking at Tuco. If there is an odor problem...
”I can go check the body, if you’d like.”
”Unfortunately, I lost my sense of smell to a wizard in battle last year. It’s ruined my sense of taste in the process... but I should be able to look over our first victim, if it’s no trouble.”