Broneslav's discoveries caused uproar and Goodwife Thanato's house was soon packed with Watchmen, several of whom were sent into the cellar to investigate the tunnels.
Broneslav and his captive were taken to the Watchhouse to be questioned. Seated on a rough wooden chair behind a rough wooden table, Broneslav felt nervous, like he was the criminal here. He knew his family connections would prevent any miscarriage of justice, but it still felt more nervewracking than his first serious sword fight.
However, it turned out not to be that bad. The Watch had a priest of the Church of Karameikos present who vouched for Broneslav's version of events after communing with the gods. With that done, the Watch asked Broneslav to accompany a Tribune of the Watch to the scene of the crime, there to relate what he had seen and show how events had occurred. Two priests accompanied the Tribune, presumably to bear witness.
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| The Tribune |
The Tribune led them to a house near Goodwife Thanato's. It was clearly the home of a well-to-do merchant or similar. Upon hearing that this was a the home of Fortunato Vorloi, Broneslav immediately recognised the name and guessed that the woman in the cellar was probably his daughter Lucia. More importantly, she was also the niece of Baron Vorloi. That did not clear up what was going on here, but it at least showed that there might be political motivation behind it. The involvement of the The Veiled Society, which he had previously been unaware of, suggested some kind of underground power struggle in progress.
As they entered Vorloi's house, they saw signs of struggle. Furniture was turned over and scattered on the floor. A search of the house found the entrance to the cellar in the kitchen. A signet ring lay on the floor near the cellar entrance, near a short length of bloodstained rope. Examining the ring, Broneslav noted that it was a Torenescu signet ring. He struggled to comprehend that any in his family could have acted in this extreme fashion. Even the vain Stephanos, whose advances Lucia had recently spurned, did not strike him as a man to resort to physical violence like this. His revenge would be more political.
The young warrior pondered for a moment. It seemed that no one had seen him pick up the ring, so he could hide it if he wished. His conscience got the better of him.
"I found this ring near the trapdoor," he announced as he handed it to the Tribune, who also took charge of the rope. The Tribune gave Broneslav a funny look. Was she not used to people being honest?
Further searching of the house found a bloody dagger. The Tribune spotted some red hairs dried in the blood. Bloodstains on the floor were intermingled with another brownish liquid.
"Interesting," mused Broneslav, "The man I captured has red hair. And, look here! The bloodstains have been smeared and rubbed away a bit. It looks like the victim tried to write something in her own blood ... BAD ... BAO ... RAD ... RAO? Hmm, hard to see what it is meant to say. No doubt all will become clear in due time."
"We have the information we need from here. I shall return the evidence to the Watchhouse," declared the Tribune, "Don't leave town, Torenescu. This ring suggests one of your kith or kin was involved, though we have cleared you personally, and we shall need to speak to you again."
The Tribune ushered Broneslav out of the house and locked the door behind her. Broneslav stood on the street and considered his options. Should he go late to his appointment, or dared he take time to investigate further first?
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