NOVEL FROG Chapter 102 - Investigation Check
“The inquisition. A shadow organization operating under the control of the church of the goddess, responsible for finding and rooting out threats to humanoidkind all over the realm. Our last line of defense against cults of devils, cabals of mad warlock and deceptive monsters lurking in our midst. They are well respected among the populace, and sometimes rightly feared. But without them, we would be defenseless against the threads that arise from within our walls.” - Nathaniel Dawn, “Organizations of the Realms: A Primer”
The hushed whispers of the delvers grow more animated with every second, to the point where even Replica who is doing her best to remain icy and stoic - in character, really - is forced to add input. I can feel it is hard on her, she is torn between wanting to help them and not wanting to spoil the play at all, and agonizing over what to say as a result.
I focus my thoughts on her through the “dungeon-bond” - as I have taken to calling our empathic connection - and do my best to reassure her. She is doing great, and there is no harm in giving them some hints as a reward for winning over a monster of mine, I feel, but it doesn't really look like they will need any at the speed they are uncovering the “truth” of this fictitious murder.
After questioning the general and the cook, they have continued with the bard and the guard and have tenuously confirmed several facts.
Firstly, the bard is not the killer. The timelines might line up, but not for smuggling the likely murder weapon outside and then cleaning it and returning it after. Which narrows their suspicion down to one of the two remaining characters they get to ask the mirror about.
The current argument is over which of them it is and what questions they can ask to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt.
“We literally saw the Countess walk off screen while Lady Lander remained! It cannot be her!” is the strongest argument made in favor of the Father being our culprit. And while yes, that is a very strong argument that Kallion wields, I had not expected the counter to be as well thought out as it was.
“Theater is interpretative at times, you are not always meant to take scenes at face value! And especially not in a dungeon with a murder mystery riddle, I'm sure!” Nathan's rebuttal comes forth. “Furthermore, how are we gonna use audience knowledge in the context of solving this mystery when it needs to be solved irrefutably for characters with a more limited point of view?”
“We can base one of our questions on it at least! Eliminating her as a suspect leaves us with only the father, right?” Simon suggests.
“I am worried that if we do that we don't have enough information to get the how and why of it, which we kind of need for a proper solution to a murder case.” Harry adds. At that, the discussion grinds to a halt as everyone appears thoughtful, doubtlessly mapping out potential questions in their minds.
“Okay, that is valid.” Simon breaks the thoughtful silence. “I have an idea. Why don't we ask about methods and motivations and completely ignore the question of who actually did it for these last two suspects? I feel like we got hung up on that a bit in our planning and it should become clear with a better understanding of the why and how, don't you agree?”
A thoughtful murmur spreads through their group and one by one they assent.
“Allright, back to the drawing board then. Let’s come up with some decent questions.”