Lorick felt relief, though his face did not show it, when the strange sibilant woman showed up to lead the maid away. His Djed was dangerously close to being drained, and he needed to find a quiet place to undo the Morph before it sent the woman into a paroxysm of shock. Following the woman out of the room, Lorick fairly shook with relief as she went into the room with the ambassador, feeling his Djed snap back into place, the unnatural shape it had taken reverting back to his normal, male appearance. He didn't have time to see if everything was perfect, just a quick glance in his mirror to ensure he looked mostly like he did before. Close enough; and no one was really close enough to him to notice minor changes anyway.
As she led him and a strange-looking man to the room where they first met, and asked what they had learned. Leaning forward and folding his hands, Lorick thought for a moment before speaking.
"The woman was not of much use to us," he replied blandly. "She saw nothing, heard little, knew even less. From what I have gathered, she was assisting the ambassador with a spill, and had gone away for a brief period of time. By the time she returned the man was dead."
Lorick shrugged. "She claims that 'anyone' could have done it as although the room was on the second floor it was near the stairs. I am not entirely convinced."
This was the moment of truth. Did Lorick reveal the growl, and his suspicions about its meaning? Or did he throw blame on the maid, pointing out the fact that she did happen to be the last person to see the man alive? Lorick tossed both ideas about in his head. They both had their merits, but the simple fact was, the maid had no motive for murdering the ambassador, and fabricating a legitimate-sounding one for her was more effort than Lorick was willing to apply to this enterprise.
"She mentioned hearing a low growl coming from the room, which was what made her want to check in the first place," Lorick explained. Well, it was now too late to implicate her. Still, there might be other opportunities down the road. "That, in addition to the fact that the room was not easily accessible, implies a murderer of a bestial nature. Possibly a Kelvic? Perhaps someone with some form of magic."
Such as Morphing. Lorick knew that at more expert skills of his art, mages could grow wings and claws and other such things. Such a mage could conceivably have done this. But why?
"I think what we need to consider here is not the what but the why," Lorick explained. "There are only three possibilities. First: the ambassador was murdered via random chance by a psychopathic madman. In which case the murderer would be too unstable to stay hidden as long as he had."
The issue with madmen was that by definition they did not have a good grasp on reality. So if the ambassador was a victim of bad luck and the killer was just a psycho, then all probability would indicate that murderer would have struck again by now. Since there hadn't been any indication that he, she, it, or even they had, that heavily implied that the killer was not just a crazed insane person.
"Second: the ambassador was murdered by a close friend or relative. Murders of that nature tend to be over a personal issue, such as a mistress." Lorick almost smiled. He'd caused exactly that sort of murder before.
"If it is personal, the question would be who did he know that was close enough. I do not believe any of their families came with them; it was just the three ambassadors. You have questioned one; you can answer that better than I."
Lorick leaned back a bit. "The third is that this was politically motivated. Politics in Ravok can get... dangerous. But the issue here is, who would benefit from such a murder? If this was politically motivated then the timing is crucially important, since it would imply that the murderer waited for the ambassador to be in Nyka before striking."
Despite the severity of the situation, Lorick shrugged and smiled slightly. "If that's true, it actually helps us somewhat. Think about it: there cannot be very many people or organizations that would benefit from such an act. The political fallout of such an action is that the relationship between Nyka and Ravok is strained. Who would reap the rewards from that? And it needn't be necessarily the murderer with the motivation. The murderer may well be a hired blade. But whoever hired him clearly has an agenda."
Truthfully, Lorick had his eyes on the other ambassadors. They may well benefit from their colleague's death, and it was entirely possible that they had... arranged for an unfortunate accident. The only issue was their unfamiliarity with the city of Nyka. If Lorick himself would not yet know where to go to hire a trained killer, despite his status as a fairly competent spy, he doubted the ambassadors would.
"If I may make a suggestion," he threw out, almost casually, "we can try 'killing' another ambassador. Not actually, of course, but if we announce that a second ambassador has been murdered, we can eliminate some of the aforementioned possibilities. Because if this murder was political, the announcement would be sure to send the culprits into a tizzy."
Lorick shrugged and grinned. "Of course, if we kick that particular hornet's nest, we'd have to deal with the angry hornets. But at least we'd know where the hornets are."
As she led him and a strange-looking man to the room where they first met, and asked what they had learned. Leaning forward and folding his hands, Lorick thought for a moment before speaking.
"The woman was not of much use to us," he replied blandly. "She saw nothing, heard little, knew even less. From what I have gathered, she was assisting the ambassador with a spill, and had gone away for a brief period of time. By the time she returned the man was dead."
Lorick shrugged. "She claims that 'anyone' could have done it as although the room was on the second floor it was near the stairs. I am not entirely convinced."
This was the moment of truth. Did Lorick reveal the growl, and his suspicions about its meaning? Or did he throw blame on the maid, pointing out the fact that she did happen to be the last person to see the man alive? Lorick tossed both ideas about in his head. They both had their merits, but the simple fact was, the maid had no motive for murdering the ambassador, and fabricating a legitimate-sounding one for her was more effort than Lorick was willing to apply to this enterprise.
"She mentioned hearing a low growl coming from the room, which was what made her want to check in the first place," Lorick explained. Well, it was now too late to implicate her. Still, there might be other opportunities down the road. "That, in addition to the fact that the room was not easily accessible, implies a murderer of a bestial nature. Possibly a Kelvic? Perhaps someone with some form of magic."
Such as Morphing. Lorick knew that at more expert skills of his art, mages could grow wings and claws and other such things. Such a mage could conceivably have done this. But why?
"I think what we need to consider here is not the what but the why," Lorick explained. "There are only three possibilities. First: the ambassador was murdered via random chance by a psychopathic madman. In which case the murderer would be too unstable to stay hidden as long as he had."
The issue with madmen was that by definition they did not have a good grasp on reality. So if the ambassador was a victim of bad luck and the killer was just a psycho, then all probability would indicate that murderer would have struck again by now. Since there hadn't been any indication that he, she, it, or even they had, that heavily implied that the killer was not just a crazed insane person.
"Second: the ambassador was murdered by a close friend or relative. Murders of that nature tend to be over a personal issue, such as a mistress." Lorick almost smiled. He'd caused exactly that sort of murder before.
"If it is personal, the question would be who did he know that was close enough. I do not believe any of their families came with them; it was just the three ambassadors. You have questioned one; you can answer that better than I."
Lorick leaned back a bit. "The third is that this was politically motivated. Politics in Ravok can get... dangerous. But the issue here is, who would benefit from such a murder? If this was politically motivated then the timing is crucially important, since it would imply that the murderer waited for the ambassador to be in Nyka before striking."
Despite the severity of the situation, Lorick shrugged and smiled slightly. "If that's true, it actually helps us somewhat. Think about it: there cannot be very many people or organizations that would benefit from such an act. The political fallout of such an action is that the relationship between Nyka and Ravok is strained. Who would reap the rewards from that? And it needn't be necessarily the murderer with the motivation. The murderer may well be a hired blade. But whoever hired him clearly has an agenda."
Truthfully, Lorick had his eyes on the other ambassadors. They may well benefit from their colleague's death, and it was entirely possible that they had... arranged for an unfortunate accident. The only issue was their unfamiliarity with the city of Nyka. If Lorick himself would not yet know where to go to hire a trained killer, despite his status as a fairly competent spy, he doubted the ambassadors would.
"If I may make a suggestion," he threw out, almost casually, "we can try 'killing' another ambassador. Not actually, of course, but if we announce that a second ambassador has been murdered, we can eliminate some of the aforementioned possibilities. Because if this murder was political, the announcement would be sure to send the culprits into a tizzy."
Lorick shrugged and grinned. "Of course, if we kick that particular hornet's nest, we'd have to deal with the angry hornets. But at least we'd know where the hornets are."
Boxcode by Savio
