View source for A Killer Deal - RPLOG

=Participants=
* [[Angus]]
* [[Arimia]]
* [[Bite_PC]]
* [[Selena]]
=Date=
31/1/476
=Log=
<div></div><br> <br>The Quickpad Estate! A grand manor, rivaling that of some noble houses in elegance and grandeur. Many beings are gathered for the event being hosted, the majority wandering the grounds. Several pavilions have been set up, offering shade and places to procure refreshments, and many servants mill about in the crowd. A larger pavilion is set up to provide shelter for the entertainers currently performing, with seating for those interested in watching. As may be expected Carter Quickpad, a large, fit looking jaguar has a small crowd gathered around him. Guests are welcomed as they enter the gates, and those hired as servants or entertainers directed to their proper posts.<br> <br>Bite giggles as she arrives, stopping to inquire the directions to where she should be, as an entertainer before proceeding to slither her way over there. She stretches and pulls out her throwing knives, checking them before she stows them and waits for a chance to get on stage.<br> <br>Selena enters the grounds, fairly uninterested by the decadent setting. Noting the presence of the familiar taipan, she paces over and greets her with a wave. "Hey again, Bite." She chuckles. "Interesting to see you again so soon."<br> <br>Angus gives the greeter a slight nod as he walks through the gates, feeling a bit over dressed once again. The Kitsunes usual attire had been forsaken for something a little more lavished tonight, gone is the familiar weight of his armor as it had been replaced with a rather fetching red tunic, even his usual assortment of weapons have disappeared as he walks through the grounds feeling a little lost.<br> <br>As the event proceeds the time nears evening. Most of the performers have gone on stage at least once, and several have done multiple performances. Oddly, one servant seems to be wandering the crowd, looking for specific people. He stops, a conversation is held, and the person hurries off toward the manor and the servant moves on. This servant approaches Angus and Selena in turn, then walks over to the performers tent and calls out, "Attention, please! My employer would like to have one of you come and put on a special performance for him and a select few guests. I realize this is quite desirous, so if I could have a brief demonstration from each of you interested, it would be appreciated."<br> <br>Bite giggles and shows off a tiny bit of her talent, rings of fire appearing at odd places around her as she whips out throwing knives, every throw each knive goes through at least one ring. After a while she stops and bows, giggling to the servant. She doesn't even wait for his okay, she has seen what everyone else has to offer and snickers, proceeding to have them take her to where this special performance is to be held.<br> <br>Selena nods to the servant, replying an acceptance before she makes her way to the manor, passing Bite as she does. "Always the star of the show, aren't you?" She chuckles, looking a little nervous about the proposition of having the represent something other than herself.<br> <br>Angus smiles at the servant and gives him a polite nod, he thanks the servant for his message and then makes his way towards the manor. Walking through the doors he notices Bite and Selena, giving them a bow he smiles. "Ladies, it is nice to see you again." Standing back up he falls in line with them, Curious as to what these proceedings where about.<br> <br>The trio is met inside by another servant, a Siamese cat dressed in an attractive, but practical maid outfit. She leads the way to a study, and follows the group in. Once the three are in the room she locks the door. Looking around the study it's fairly spacious. A large desk dominates the room, behind which the jaguar, Carter, is seated. There are four other beings off to one side, talking amongst themselves. A female duck, a male anole, a male cricket, and a toad. The maid guides Bite to an empty section of the room and murmurs, "For now, if you could perform a soothing song for background noise, or do a small dance, that would be best." She then moves over to hand the key to the door to the Quickpad behind the desk, who says in a boisterous voice, "Please, make yourselves comfortable while I finish up a couple things here! There's wine on the table over there, and pleasant conversation to be had!"<br> <br>Bite thinks for a few seconds and nods. She pulls out a lute and begins to play, something that won't draw too much attention but will make itself known at the same time. It's background noise after all.<br> <br>Selena nods, flicking an ear back slightly. "It's a pleasure." She greets, taking a seat at a chair though making no attempt to take any wine from the table. "Good to see you again, Angus." She nods. "May I ask what business you've called me here for?" The wolf asks after giving the Quickpad time to sort his things out, looking a little unsettled by the situation.<br> <br>Angus picks up a glass of the wine, before he grabs a chair. "What a lively party our host has given us." He states, raising his glass to Carter with a smile. "But I am curious as to what business you are wishing to discuss as well actually." Taking a drink of his wine his gaze roams across the room, taking in the other patrons with a quick glance, before his gaze strays back to their gracious host.<br> <br>The jaguar smiles at the questions and motions his guests over. "I am terribly sorry for pulling you away from the festivities, but me and my friends here needed reputable witnesses for what we are about to do. And who better than a representative of House Solacious and an esteemed Freesword and representative of Lady Ironsoul?" He pushes a piece of paper across the desk and says, "Me and my four friends here have decided to join together into a trade conglomerate! As soon as this agreement has your signatures, and then mine, it will be official! I must ask forgiveness for the secrecy but not all those out among my guests would be pleased about this news, and would try to disrupt the signing. So if you would be so kind as to place your signatures here? I will, of course, be open to certain considerations in exchange for witnessing this."<br> <br>Bite giggles softly as she continues, watching the proceedings with a bit of sway. She watches Selena and Angus, making sure they actually look at the document before they do anything.<br> <br>Selena reads over the contracts, looking rather confused by some of the nuances though figuring them out by the time she reaches the signatures. "...I'll sign, but I'm not exactly the head of our operation." The wolf sighs a little resignedly, taking a piece of paper from her bag. "I'm going to write a quick addenda here. Just so it can't be pinned on me or the defenders if someone doesn't like what happens." She explains, writing out a quick note. "Pardon if it seems unnecessary. I just want to be sure, you see."<br> <br>Angus gives the contracts a quick glance, but is soon lost in words. looking back up he smiles. "I'll give you my signature as well, but I am curious as to how this could benefit the Solacious house." Glancing over at Selena he chuckles. "I don't think Kilsa will be that mad if you manage to make a mistake."<br> <br>The jaguar offers no complaints as Selena makes her addendum, and he's positively bouncing in his seat with excitement while waiting for the signatures. A bit of an odd sight from one with his appearance. Once the signatures are applied he takes the contract back and plucks up a quill, placing it to paper and signing his own name. With the final flourish of that quill the study is suddenly plunged into darkness, all the flames in the room and fire mathemagic lanterns suddenly going out.<br> <br>Bite frowns when the lights go out, quickly managing some fire mathmatics to light what she can, which is apparently the candles.<br> <br>Selena perks her ears as the lights wink out, flicking a hand towards the lanterns in an immediate reaction, causing the lanterns to flicker back into brightness. "...Who was that?" She growls cautiously, turning back towards the merchant, glancing around the room and windows - if any - for signs of an interloper.<br> <br>Angus glances about as the room is instantly thrown into darkness. He had no idea what was going on, but it couldn't be good, as Bite and Selena will the lights back up he stands up, before looking around wondering what just happened.<br> <br>As light is cast again an odd scene greets those gathered. The jaguar has a dagger buried in his neck, glassy eyes and blood staining his shirt telling of a lack of life. Draped over his lap is the maid, another dagger in her back, though she seems to still be breathing! There are no windows in the study, and the door remains locked. The other four beings in the room look shocked when they see the dead jaguar, but unharmed.<br> <br>Bite blinks and takes inventory of her throwing knives in secret, making sure she has all of them and this can't be thrown back on her. She then looks to the shocked nobles, watching them for any signs that might tell something.<br> <br>Selena looks back at the maid, quickly checking the damage done to her by the dagger. "...That was too fast." She muses, quickly treating the wounded maid. "Do you have any idea who did this?" She asks, unsure of how else to proceed.<br> <br>Angus is truly shocked when he notices the maid, but then his thoughts turned to who could do this as it seems the killer might still be in the room. Quickly he takes stock of the other nobles, silently wishing he had actually hidden a dagger on his person instead of coming empty handed.<br> <br>The feline maid gives a small shake of her head at the question and mewls, "It hurts." After a moment she seems to recover a bit. "It happened too fast. The lights went out, and then I felt pain in my back and I was being held. I felt warmth, then I was falling." When she is helped off the jaguar, it's obvious that her front is covered in blood. The others gathered still look shocked, though they occasionally murmur to each other. When the feline's front is exposed the toad shouts out, "It's obvious who did it! Look at her! She's covered in his blood!"<br> <br>Bite frowns and shakes her head. "Sssweetie the chances of her stabbing herself in the back, even with the aid of magic, and not dying from this are low, what if no one in here had medical training?" she hisses and tilts her head. She begins swapping out soul gems as she talks.<br> <br>Selena shakes her head. "You'd be covered in blood too if you landed on him." The wolf grumbles, and gestures to the hole where the knife punctured the maid's armor. "And somehow I doubt she could stab herself in the back hard enough for that to happen." She comments, nonplussed. "As Bite said - not going to happen. A convenient scapegoat isn't going to solve anything, and right now we need answers." The wolf states.<br> <br>Angus started switching out his own soul gem as he looked at the body. "No way she could do this, I mean look at the wound." Standing closer he looks at blade in the jaguars neck. "Unless her sleeves are soaked in blood I hardly believe she did this...whoever we are dealing with is skilled with a knife. I can tell you that."<br> <br>The toad glares at Bite when she states, logically, why the maid isn't the culprit. The gathered merchants grumble among themselves, apparently none of them pleased about spending time in the room. At the fox's words the toad glares at Angus and says, "If you're so knowledgeable about knives maybe you're the one who did it!"<br> <br>Bite slithers over towards the others and tilts her head. "Sssweetie if he did it why would he offer us his expertise in pointing out why the maid didn't do it?" she hisses and smirks.<br> <br>Selena looks back at the toad and rolls her eyes. "Let's not throw accusations around." The wolf growls. "I want some answers before anybody gets out of this room - Who would benifit from this good man's death? Since they've waited until the contract was signed, who would benifit? And did anyone resent the contract here?" She asks the gathering.<br> <br>Angus turns towards the Toad as the accusations start to fly. With a sigh he raises his hands, showing that both his sleeves and his tunic are completely dry and had neither a drop of wine, or blood, on them. "Selena does have a point, why would I help if I was the murderer." Turning back to Selena he exstends his hand. "Selena, the dagger if you please."<br> <br>The duck steps forward, placing a hand on the toads arm. "You have to forgive Bertrand," she says, motioning toward the toad as she speaks. "He was possibly Carter's oldest friend. And I suspect he's still in shock and expressing it through his current attitude." She turns to Selena and says, "All of us, and none of us. Carter had the controlling interest as specified by that contract. So if another of us could take that place in the proposed conglomerate we would stand to profit greatly. However  this is risky because any of us could nullify the contract due to his death."<br> <br>Bite tilts her head and shakes it. "So sssweeties, which of you would you all want to be in charge?" she says with a smirk, watching them all.<br> <br>Selena nods to the duck and toad somberly, passing the dagger to Angus. She approaches Bite and murmers something across to the serpent, nodding to the crowd. "There's still the possibility the contract could go forward, after all."<br> <br>"Does the contract specify who would take over if anything should happen to Carter?" Giving Selena a nod when she passes him the dagger Angus begins to study it a little, wondering if it might yield any possible clues as to who committed the deed.<br> <br>The cricket steps forward, with one set of arms waving as he speaks and the other folded behind his back. He chirps a little haltingly, "It would have to go back into negotiation. All of us would like to head it up, as there's the most profit in that. The most risk as well. Carter was selected because he has... Had a certain force of personality that none of us have."<br> <br>Selena nods to the cricket. "Thankyou." She smiles. "So, back to my earlier question - Would there be anyone that wouldn't want this contract to go forward?" She asks. "Or someone that would want it delayed?" The wolf asks calmly.<br> <br>Angus glances back at the body. "Clearly someone had enough force to murder him in cold blood." Walking back towards the desk he kneels down and gives the maid a smile. "I'm sorry to bother you again, but can you tell me anything about what happened when the lights went out. Any odd sounds you heard, was it someone with fur that grabbed you or feathers? I know these are some stupid questions, but they just might help."<br> <br>Bite giggles and looks over the group. She picks out the Anole and giggles, moving closer to them. "What do you have to say sssweetie?" she hisses, acting a little fllirty as she asks. She can't contribute anything else that hasn't been said, but she can try another approach.<br> <br>As the anole is addressed he turns to look at the serpent and says, "I am not saying much because I know I am an immediate suspect. Carter and I did not get along." The lizard gives a small smile and says, "Also, The cute fox over there would have better luck with me. No offense dear. I'm sure you are quite attractive to those interested in such." As the anole and Bite have their conversation the Siamese says, "Couldn't tell. It was cloth. They were strong." The cricket says to Selena, "Any of our rivals would try to stop it. Or any of the current trading companies. But of those here? I would have said no, but..." He trails off and turns his eyes to the dead jaguar.<br> <br>Bite pouts at the Anole, but giggles and nods. "Alright sssweetie, just thought i'd try my luck." she hisses and smiles. "So why didnt you get along? And if that's true why would he let you come here to be part of the trade sssweetie?" she tilts her head. <br> <br>Selena perks her ears as the maid's voice trails off, and she looks back down at the cat. "But what?" She asks the cat. "Any information would help. Do you know if any of the people here have any skills in math?" She asks.<br> <br>Angus sighs as his inquiry gets them nowhere. "Either way thank you, I'm suprised your so calm about this actually. Does it hurt?" he asks the Siamese, as he gives the wound a quick glance, even as he continues to question the cat he still trys to follow the conversations around the room, hoping to hear something that would help.<br> <br>the Anole gives a small shake of his head and says, "It is a private matter. Nothing worth killing over. I would rather not share it. And I agreed because despite my dislike of the cat, he had one of the best minds for business I knew. When he asked, I knew there would be profit in it." At the question about skill in math the Siamese speaks up, "Betrand has some skill in water math, but not much. He is a shipwright. Martha, the duck, is a spellcrafter, and as such is skilled with the magics. Rod, the Anole, is good with numbers, but possesses no skill with mathemagic. And Franklin, the cricket, is an artisan. He has some skill with mathemagic, used for sculpting statues or creating fountains." She then turns to Angus and says, "I was just in Quickpad's employ. I am a professional bodyguard as well as maid. This is not the first death I've seen, though this is the first time one I was guarding did without there being a larger battle. So the death does not upset me. This is also not the first time I've been hurt, but it happened so suddenly and unexpectedly that the details of the attack aren't clear in my mind."<br> <br>Bite listens to the Maid and tilts her head. "Well sssweetie, since everyone but this cute gentleman here can perform divine math, it's likely at least one of them was involved. If it wasn't a joint effort. You'd have to be pretty fast to put out the lamps and take care of both of them before we got the lights on sssweetie." she hisses and smiles. <br> <br>Selena nods to the cat. "And what about other talents? Those daggers couldn't have been easy to use so... Decisively out of trained hands." She asks quietly, giving the cat a glass of water from the bottle she kept in her bag. "Nobody could've seen that coming." She comments, keeping an eye on the other tradespeople.<br> <br>Angus glances at Selena. "Not in pure darkness they couldn't." Standing back up he gazes at the others again. "My question is, how did they manage it in such a short time. The dagger wasn't thrown I can tell you that, so we are looking for someone with the speed and the skill for such a strike."<br> <br>The maid gives a small shake of her head. "I don't know how skilled any of them are with weapons. They all have some skill, I know. But I don't know who among them is fast enough, skilled enough, and who isn't." The others look between themselves and shrug. "I am both fast enough and skilled enough," the Anole says, "But could not have put out the lights." The others speak up then, and the only one who doesn't claim the skill in use of daggers is Bertrand, who claims he's always preferred guns. He's fascinated with them, and boasts a bit about his collection of custom made muskets, sounding as if he's trying to forget about the body in the room.<br> <br>Bite shakes her head and sighs. "So it was a joint effort, someone with the skill to put the lights out, and someone with the skill and proximity to him to do him in, in the dark." she hisses and then frowns, slithering to the maid and whispering something to her.<br> <br>Selena nods, pursing her lips and resting back in thought for a moment.<br> <br>Angus frowns as he continues to play the possibilities over in his mind. His grip on the dagger tightened as he looked over the supsects again. <br> <br>The Siamese glares angrily at Bite, swinging a hand in an openhanded slap. "How dare you! I made an official agreement to protect Quickpad and I would never break that contract!" The outburst draws some attention over toward the feline and the serpent.<br> <br>Bite shakes her head. "Sssweetie you're involved no matter how you look at this. You had your chance. No one had anything to gain from stabbing you, no one at all, unless you knew something. Why would they stab you and eliminate a suspect, unless you knew something, you were supposed to die. Only a fool would think that leaving you as such would make you the suspected killer, you couldn't have stabbed yourself. You could have killed him though, and someone could have wanted you gone so that you couldn't point them out, or collect on a deal." she says.<br> <br>Selena nods at the Taipan's words. "I'm sorry, but if we're going to figure out what happened, we need the information." She adds. "I'm not sure what Bite said, but I'd appreciate it if you could not fight until afterwards." The wolf looks back at the merchants and sighs. "Does anyone have any other information they'd like to give us? Any at all?"<br> <br>Angus turns as he hears the maids words and tilts his head. He says nothing but his eyes narrow as he leans against the desk, the dagger easy to see in his hand as he sits. "Any information would be good, even the most trivial things could help. Something you heard, something you smelled or felt." He restated the same comment he made to the maid, feeling like he might as well comment instead of staying silent.<br> <br>the Siamese hisses "I was not involved in killing him! Do you realize what that would do to my career? I wouldn't be able to get hired again! Maybe they wanted me to take the fall. Or maybe I was between them and Quickpad! Or maybe they just wanted someone between them and the blood spray to keep it off of their clothes and avoid suspicion!" Even as she says this the duck steps up to Selena and says, "We seem to have our obvious suspect. Why don't we just hand her into the guard and let them find out. I'm sure they can arrest anyone else involved, if there is anyone else, once they know."<br> <br>The maid looks at Angus and shakes her head, saying, "I don't know! I was too busy being stabbed in the back and manhandled!"<br> <br>Bite shakes her head. "No because someone else in this room is involved at the very least, if not two people sssweetie. Someone had to kill the lights, someone with enough skill in water magics to douse all of the torches and candles in the room at once. If the maid killed carter, someone doused the lights, then who had the time to stab the maid?" she hisses and smirks. "No sssweetie the door remains locked until we figure this out, whoever's involved can simply skip firmament, and never be seen again, start a new life, or use their contacts to smooth this over. If someone leaves now at least one murderer walks free." she hisses. "Turn out your pockets sssweeties." she hisses and smiles, looking over each of the four's outfits.<br> <br>Selena shakes her head. "Unless you can account for who doused the lights and stabbed the cat in the back, no. No we do not." She replies bluntly. "Dousing all the lihgts in a room isn't exactly simple math. Not something a sculptor or shipwright would have to know." She states. "I'd like to get out of this as well, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't jump to a conclusion that makes no sense. I suggest you all go with Bite on this one." The wolf comments, turning out her pockets as a gesture of good faith and displaying the spell foci, her medical supplies resting on her bag.<br> <br>Angus remained silent, as there was nothing more to say on the matter. Instead he emptied his pockets as well, showing that he himself had nothing to hide as all that came out was some lint.<br> <br>None of the beings clothes, besides the maid, have any blood on them, and they all turn out their pockets without any fuss, save the toad. The cricket has a dagger, a fairly ornate one, mostly for show it seems, though if tested the edge is sharp. The other two are unarmed. The toad just sits there, staring ahead a bit blankly, until the duck walks over and murmurs something to him. He gives a slight start and blinks, saying, "W..What? Oh. Of course." He then turns out his pockets, though there is nothing of note in them.<br> <br>Bite empties her own pockets, a flute, a set of boxed throwing knives that barely fit in the box, a couple of divine mathematical scrawlings that look to be for fire magic, and a two piece swim suit fall to the floor. "Well sssweetie, you'd be a poor bodyguard if you didn't come in here with a weapon." she hisses and nods. "Since none of them are bloody in the least, and no one had time to clean their clothes, the only excuse of yours tha makes any sense is they used you to sheild them from the blood, but then in the dark, how would they know if they'd successfully done that? Using you to take the fall still makes no sense sssweetie, because again they'd just be taking you with them. There's one, possibly two murderers in here sssweetie. If they wanted you dead, or to come with them they must have hated you, do you know anyone like that?" she giggles. "That leaves us a highly possible duck as our main douser suspect, and an unknown back-stabber to clean up after you. And sssweetie I don't buy the career bit, if people have died under your watch before why would he hire you to watch him? Your career here wouldn't even end, if you'd gotten away you'd be quite the assassin sssweetheart." she hisses and smiles.<br> <br>Selena looks back to the maid. "Anything to say for yourself? She asks the maid. "You can turn out your pockets, too." She states, voice demanding. "If you're innocent, then what do you have to hide in them?" She asks, readying herself incase the feline makes any sudden moves. "From the looks of it you still have some weapons on you. Care to share?"<br> <br>Angus continued to remain silent as he leaned against the desk. He hadn't moved, but he was poised, ready to intervene in case the feline attacked, as he watched her out of the corner of his eye. <br> <br>The feline rolls her eyes and slips a couple stilettos, not the broader bladed daggers used in the killing, out of her sleeves. Then more out of her boots. And more from the waist band of her uniform. As she pulls the last one out she slams it onto the desk, causing it to stick. "I am not an assassin! And I have the honor to not break a contract! I'm still employed after those couple deaths because, as anyone in the bodyguard business would tell you, you can't win every fight. After each of those I was laid out for at least a month, recovering from injuries gained while trying to fight the ones who killed. This time I was taken by surprise." Three of the four beings are staring at the feline with suspicion, the fourth being the toad who has gone back to staring blankly.<br> <br>Bite giggles and shakes her head. "Sssweetheart you don't hire someone who consistantly loses their quarry, one might be forgivable, but after that? Your skill comes into question. With multiple losses on your record you really expect me to believe someone would trust you with their life?"<br> <br>Bite giggles and shakes her head. "Sssweetheart you don't hire someone who consistantly loses their quarry, one might be forgivable, but after that? Your skill comes into question. With multiple losses on your record you really expect me to believe someone would trust you with their life? I didn't hear any denials on the other topics sssweetheart."<br> <br>Selena sighs quietly and nods to the feline. "Thank you." She replies, checking the stilettos for any marks, then the dagger. "I have a question for you four, actually." the wolf comments. "So you mentioned a clause that the entire agreement could be voided if your figurehead died. Why was it necessary to but that there? Surely any negotiations could be done with the initial contract intact."<br> <br>Angus places the dagger down on the desk alongside the others and stands up. Taking a few steps forward he stands next to Selena and crosses his arms. "Excuses me Bertrand is something wrong, you've been staring off into space for awhile now."<br> <br>The Siamese lets out a soft growling hiss and says, "I'm hired because I have lost three clients out of a hundred. Fifty of which there were actual attempts made on their lives. I am good at what I do. And am not some and not idiot of a musician trying to play guard. I'm done answering your questions. You can bugger off." At Selena's question the duck replies, "It was more for if he wanted to back out. He thought this had fantastic potential, but wanted the option to back out just in case. It stipulates that with any one of the signed parties the contract is null, any profits are to be divided up evenly, and the whole thing called a wash. We could negotiate to change that, but if we don't... Everything is ended." The duck then turns to Angus, looking a little disgusted, "He just lost one of his oldest friends! I would expect he is quite in shock!"<br> <br>Bite giggles and shakes her head. "I"m barely a part time performer, but that's fine. You've yet to dispute anything, and only defended yourself with your 'honor'. If that's really what's important to you, you're doing a poor job of defending it. If you cared so much about your honor you would do more to protect yourself than try and have us give you good faith, you're about to lose it all anyhow." she hisses and smirks. "So that leaves a backstabber and a douser sssweetie." she hisses.<br> <br>Selena nods. "Thank you again. Unless someone has anything more to say, I think we might have to call the guard in for a formal investigation." She sighs. "Of course - that would look bad for your businesses. It'd be regrettable to let it come to that." The wolf comments. "Or, we could turn in the two parties most likely to have committed the crime to the authorities. That would look even worse." Selena shrugs.<br> <br>Angus gives the Duck a glare before shrugging. "I was just wondering if he was ok, no need to get defensive miss." Turning around he walks back to the desk and leans on it.<br> <br>The maid rolls her eyes but says nothing. At the suggestion of turning the investigation over to the guards, the three responsive members agree, standing up and straightening themselves out, getting ready to lave. The duck says to Selena, "We all know what it would do to our business! However, we aren't the only suspects in here, are we? It could easily have been you, or that fox, or the snake! What excludes you from being the ones who coudl have done it?"<br> <br>Bite shakes her head and points to where the maid had directed her before. "I was playing music when the lights went out sssweetie, I couldn't have put them out. I also wouldn't have been able to make my way over here and do them in sssweetie, and still make it back to light the candles." she hisses and looks around the room, trying to take note of anything out of place, or more importantly, if the document in question is still there.<br> <br>"You're right. It could have been us. But what would we stand to gain from it? I have no intention to shame my organization. Angus wouldn't want to shame his house. Until today, I didn't know this man." Selena replies in an even tone. "I appreciate the points you've put forward, but I don't have the right to condemn the innocent - nor do you. My honest opinion is that you're the only one here that could have snuffed the lights - Bite was playing music, I was writing and the others don't have the skill to do so reliably unless they had a focus on them. And I saw no focus." She comments, checking the desk for drawers or other documents or items that might shed any light on the subject. "But I won't say you did it."<br> <br>Angus nods in agreement as Selena defends them. "She is right. What exactly would we gain by commit it? Out of everyone here we three had only learned about the contract when we came into here" Standing back up the Kitsune makes his way over towards the fireplace, wanting to check to see what was burnt recently.<br> <br>The signed contract is still on the desk, though it now has a bit of blood on it, as does most other things on the desk. "So you say. We don't know if you did or didn't have any contact with Carter! We have your word, but that's all anyone in this room has, isn't it?" The duck says. She looks positively aghast at the rest of Selena's words. The desk drawers all open, save for one which is locked, revealing lots of papers. Various business notes and correspondences. Nothing that looks related.<br> <br>Bite giggles and shakes her head, apparently having a bit of recall. "Mk sssweeties, the coat rack's been turned, and the ducks chair isn't where it was." she hisses. and nods. She looks to the duck and hisses "Sssweetie, what did you need to move the whole chair for?"<br> <br>Selena sighs a little as no additional evidence is present in the desk, then back up. "Yes, my word is all I have. So I'm not going to lie either." She sighs. "...Martha, do you have anything to say for yourself?" She asks impassively, looking back over at Angus and asking the fox something quietly enough for the rest of the group not to hear.<br> <br>The duck straightens her back and says, "I must have pushed it back when standing up after seeing what happened to poor Carter!" She paces back to sit down next to the dazed looking toad and says, "This is ridiculous! I thought we were going to bring in the guard! Let them get to the bottom of this!"<br> <br>Angus whispers something back to Selena, and then hands her something. Standing back up he turns, and gives Martha a hard look. "Are these yours miss Martha?." Taking a step forward he holds out a pair of elbow length gloves covered in blood. "Wonder why they were in the fire place."<br> <br>The duck straightens her back and says, "I must have pushed it back when standing up after seeing what happened to poor Carter!" She paces back to sit down next to the dazed looking toad and says, "This is ridiculous! I thought we were going to bring in the guard! Let them get to the bottom of this!" When the fox approaches with the gloves she says, "W..What? Those were in my coat! But they're all bloody now... Whoever killed dear Carter must have taken them from my coat!"<br> <br>Selena smiles. "You seem disappointed. I said we'd bring in the guard if you had nothing more to say. And you have given us more to look through." She replies over her shoulder, thanking Angus for the blindfold and scrutinizing the math on it for a brief moment. "That's convenient, Martha. That you'd also have a heat-sensing blindfold." She comments, dangling the 'mask' form a paw.<br> <br>Bite watches the unfolding events.<br> <br>Angus shakes his head with a sigh. "Unless someone else could fit these gloves I think I know who the killer is." Turning back to Selena he offers her the gloves, after that he goes to stand by the desk again. "Honestly why? Thats what I'm still confused about, why go to all the trouble to murder him?"<br> <br>The duck pushes herself up from the couch to speak, looking outraged. But before anything can be said there's a flurry of motion. The toad starts to launch himself toward the duck, screaming, "YOU KILLED HIM!" only to be knocked out of the way by Selena. The duck had reacted when the toad started to move toward her, reaching out almost impossibly fast to grab for him, but with Selena's move ends up reaching for the wolf instead. But the wolf proves too fast yet again, just barely slipping out of reach of the duck. If she had been half a second slower. "That bastard and I have been sleeping together for years, and he was going to drop me! Didn't want to have a conflict of interest by sleeping with a business partner!" The duck then starts to speak some math, preparing some sort of spell.<br> <br>Bite giggles and flashes a grin, working her magics out quickly. She places an explosion just behind the chair the duck leapt out of, which is sent flying towards the duck, a leg shattering off and skewering her gut. <br> <br>Selena seems to stand still for a moment, before slumping over as the real one stands to the side of Bite - The decoy buying her a little time, simply shaking her head at the duck. "You are despicable." The wolf states, and glances apologetically to the Anole, cricket and toad.<br> <br>Angus curses as she begins to prepare a spell. Picking up the dagger on the desk he prepares to send it in her direction in the hopes to distract her. Yes Bite beat him to it as he watches the explosion happen, and is suprised at the decoy Selena as well. ".....Mages, I will never understand how you arcane users work."<br> <br>The duck spits up a little blood as she's stuck by the chair leg, saying, "B-bastard deserved it! You... I could have... Damn you!" She coughs up a bit of blood then seems to pass out. The others all stare down at her, the cricket and anole looking surprised, and the toad just looking furious. That fury seems to fade, however, once her turns and sees Carter's body, and he says, "Can... Can we leave now? Carter... He doesn't have any family, and... I need to make arrangements for him."<br> <br>Bite frowns and nods, tilting her head. "I'm sorry for any stress i've caused any of you." she hisses, slthering the maid and giving her a kiss on her cheek and whispering something to her before moving to the duck and sighing. "She needs treatment now or she'll die." she hisses and frowns more.<br> <br>Selena nods. "All of you are free to go. If one of you could kindly fetch a healer, I'd appreciate it." She sighs, moving over to the duck and beginning to work on the wounds. "I imagine you'll enjoy your stay in prison, or whatever comes after." She says coldly, not bothering to administer any anaesthetics as she sutures shut some of the minor wounds, disinfecting and tending to the rest. "Bite, that was an impressinv shot you made." She comments.<br> <br>Angus sighs and places the dagger back on the desk as the danger seems to have past. Turning around he rummages through Carters pockets until he finds the key, and heads over to the door to unlock it. As soon as the door is opened he gives a bow. "I apologize for how the night has been and I do hope you had alteast a bit of fun before this all happened. I want to to all know that the Solacious house grieves for the lose of Carter and will surely help with the funeral arrangements."<br> <br>Once the door is opened and unlocked those able to do so leave. The maid remains, and the toad returns before too long, with guards, and a healer in tow. The healer goes over to tend the Siamese first, then moves on to the Duck. The maid, after being tended to stands up and walks toward Bite. "My name... If you laugh, I'll stick you, but my name is Katriona. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to report back that my contract has ended." The feline turns and walks out the door, and before too long the guards usher the others out as well, with hearty congratulations, and promise of a reward for their deliverance of justice to be picked up at the guardhouse later.[[Category:RPLogs]]