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‘Well... maybe the killer knows Qorvass really well.’

‘Better than Asad, huh? Fine, I’m sure that’s a possibility. But I’m hearing a whole lot of speculation and not very much actual investigating.’

‘I’m just trying to narrow down our pool of suspects.’

‘Ha. Did you watch a lot of cop shows when you were younger?’

‘Uh. Maybe.’

‘Was this before or after that little stint as a criminal mastermind you told me about?’

‘L-let’s just focus on the investigation.’

‘Yes, let’s.’

Hector stopped walking as he realized that he was staring at one of the building’s exits. Dunehall was still practically a maze to him, so he’d just kinda been following Garovel around, but now he had to ask, “Where are we going?”

‘Everyone else is questioning people around the castle, so I think they’ve got that covered. We’re going to talk to people outside.’

“Uhh--” When he saw that Garovel had not stopped along with him, Hector jumped to a brisk walk in order to catch up again. “Why would anyone outside Dunehall know anything?”

‘Not sure, actually. That’s why I didn’t ask anyone to come with us. I don’t want to waste their time.’

“...But?”

‘But what Lynn said is still bothering me.’

“Lynn?”

‘Don’t you remember? Those mysterious reports she told us about?’

“Oh.” Frankly, he’d all but forgotten. Strange occurrences all across Sandlord territory, is what Lynn had said. And he supposed Garovel had a point. Fuad Saqqaf’s apparent murder certainly qualified as a strange occurrence.

Soon, they were outside and venturing up the underground path into the fresh air of early morning. It felt a little strange, sneaking off like this. He’d already grown accustomed to following the lead of these more experienced and powerful lords. He hadn’t realized how much he enjoyed this sense of independence. Though, he WAS still taking orders from Garovel, but that didn’t really count, Hector felt.

Without any other method of transport, Hector resorted to running. He considered using iron platforms to launch himself over long distance--like he’d practiced in Gray Rock--but Moaban made that seem like a bad idea, what with so many trees everywhere. The deep forestation might have been pretty to look at, but it sure didn’t make navigation any easier. After about five minutes, he’d already lost track of which direction Dunehall was in.

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‘I suppose that’s as good a place to start as any,’ said Garovel.

‘Well, it WOULD be,’ said Hector, ‘if there was any sort of evidence to go on.’

‘Actually, the lack of evidence might itself be a kind of clue.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘Just think about it. If someone framed Ibai, then they did it without leaving any real evidence behind. And which ability type has the easiest time not leaving any traces of their work?’

‘Ah. Materialization.’

‘Yup. Not that it proves anything, of course. I’m sure someone with one of the other types could’ve figured a way to be clever with their power. And moreover, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. But it’s something to think about as we investigate.’

Hector paused a moment. ‘Isn’t it also possible that Fuad Saqqaf is still alive? I mean, Qorvass only identified him by his shoes. Someone could’ve taken them off him and used them for the frame up, right?’

‘Mm. Technically, yeah, that’s possible. Not very likely, though. For such a plan to work, the culprit would’ve had to know that Qorvass could identify Fuad from those shoes. And if you’ll recall, even Asad seemed surprised when Qorvass pulled off that bit of absurdity.’

‘Absurdity? You don’t think you could’ve done the same thing?’

‘Sure, if I paid attention to the shoes of everyone we meet. But why the fuck would I do that?’

‘For situations like this, apparently.’

‘Apparently.’

Hector smirked. ‘Oh well. I guess Qorvass is just better than you.’

‘Oh, fuck you. I remember plenty of other seemingly worthless shit. Like your dumb birthday.’

‘What does that have to do with anything?’

‘It’s in two weeks, you know.’

‘Is it? I thought it was closer, actually. How long’ve we been in Sair?’

‘Hardly even a week.’

‘Seriously? That can’t be right. It feels like ages already.’

‘When we weren’t waiting around for something to happen, we were busy trying not to be mashed into a meaty pudding, as Lord Xuan phrased it. And both of those things tend to make the time drag.’

‘Hmm.’

‘Anyway, my point was that I doubt the killer would’ve expected Qorvass to identify Fuad the way he did.’

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“For now, no one is to take action against House Blackburn without my approval,” said Asad. “Speak to them if you feel it necessary, but if you do anything more than that, then regardless of the outcome, expect that your entire house will no longer be welcome here at Dunehall. This is not a matter for debate. Have I expressed myself clearly?”

“You have,” said Lorenzo.

“Indeed,” agreed Carlos.

“Very good, then. Now please hurry on with your work. I do not have time to assist you myself, but Imas, please accompany Lord Lorenzo, and Jada, please accompany Lord Carlos. I will see you all again soon.” And with that, the Lord Najir departed, no doubt going to talk to the ruling Rainlords. Between them and the Saqqafs, Hector didn’t envy Asad’s position right about now.

“Never thought I’d be taking orders from a Sandlord,” said Lorenzo.

‘Never thought one would stick his neck out so far for us,’ said his reaper. Marosso hadn’t said much thus far--at least not aloud--but that particular statement earned some points with Hector and, by the looks of it, with the two Najir women and their reapers, as well.

After that, the group split up as Asad had dictated. And since Carlos had been the one to ask Hector and Garovel for assistance, they went with him.

Their first order of business was to talk to the Blackburns and get a second, and hopefully clearer recounting of events from Ibai. However, the only thing that became clear was that House Blackburn did not intend to let Ibai talk to any of the investigators again. Perhaps they were afraid that he would be ganged up on, or perhaps they were simply afraid of what he might say; either way, it didn’t bode well for the family’s position.

From there, the investigation was already at a bit of a loss for leads, so they decided to spread out and begin questioning people. And Hector and Garovel found themselves on their own again, going from corridor to corridor while searching for more clues.

‘So what’re you thinking now?’ said Garovel.

‘Uh... well, I guess I’m just trying to figure HOW someone could have possibly framed Ibai. Even a servant, I mean. It just doesn’t seem very... easy.’

‘You’re wondering what ability they used?’

‘Yeah.’