Ilysveil: Den of Delirium
by J. H. Zech
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Table of Contents parts: 1, 2, 3 |
conclusion
The master brought her a cup of steaming coffee on a saucer, and she thanked him. After a warm sip, she set the cup down and asked the important question: “What did you do after running into Simon?”
“I returned to my office and did some paperwork for the night.”
“Can anyone vouch for that?”
“My secretary had a day off, so no.”
Tanisse repressed a sigh: Everyone had motive, means, and opportunity for this crime, and no alibis. “Did anyone else meet with Simon after you?”
“I left after meeting him in the lobby, so I can’t say. Hmm... I do recall someone heading in the direction of the den from the train station as I was on my way back, but it had gotten dark, and I didn’t get a good look at their face. And either way, it could have been a normal customer.”
Tanisse pondered the story. Is Dainritter being truthful or is he trying to shift suspicion from himself onto a nameless third party? He does have motive, but his troubles with Simon are from long ago. Would he really murder him now? Tanisse wanted to say no, but there was a nagging doubt. One could never be sure how a grudge would manifest in a person. With that in mind, if Dainritter was telling the truth, she needed to ascertain the identity of the unknown person heading for the den.
“Thank you for telling me this. It will be of help to the investigation.” Tanisse got up.
“Am I still a suspect?” Dainritter asked.
She gave her usual polite smile, this time for his sake. “You’re not the top suspect.”
Tanisse returned to the Tobacco House to reexamine the scene and was greeted silently by Beimi. “Has anyone else gone in that room?”
“No.”
She walked into the corridor and entered the room of the crime. There wasn’t much blood on the floor, yet it wouldn’t make sense if the body had been moved here from somewhere else. The front was the only entrance, and carrying a bloody body with a dagger sticking out would have been far too conspicuous. If he had been murdered outside, his body would have been dumped somewhere outside.
Assuming that Simon had been murdered somewhere inside the room, where did the blood go? And how did the culprit leave? Even if there were too many customers for Beimi to remember each one, someone drenched in blood leaving would surely have left an impression. They had to have cleaned up the blood before they left. But why did they choose to murder Simon like that?
Thinking about it in that sense, everything began to fall in to place. Simon was truly scum, and everyone in the company knew about it and encouraged him because he brought in profits. The company was backed by the Ilysveilan imperial government too, so perhaps it was the whole country that was scum. Not that she had any right to say anything, being employed by such a company and country.
Tanisse went back to the front desk and borrowed the telegraph from Beimi. She sent a message to Dainritter asking for more details about Simon’s previous incidents. If her hunch was correct, then it would seal the deal.
After reading Dainritter’s response, she slipped the paper into her coat. “Tell Jian that he’s going to be summoned to the Ilysveilan Trading Company’s office regarding Simon’s death.”
Beimi said, “Yes, I will,” with a look of trepidation on her face.
Tanisse sent messages to Dainritter, Matthew, and Madam Ningli saying much the same, then left to return to the branch office.
* * *
Everyone had gathered in the drawing room, sitting at a circular table, with the exception of Madam Ningli, who was crouched on the floor as they didn’t have a chair for centaurs. Tanisse stood before them, assisted by Wudao holding some of her notes.
“I assume you all know why you’re here. The murder of Simon Phansby, one of the employees of this company,” Tanisse said.
“This is ridiculous. You’re not even a police officer,” Jian argued, standing up.
“Indeed, I’m not. But several of us here are involved with opium, so I’m here precisely so the police don’t have to get involved. Or would you prefer we all go to hell together?”
Jian simmered down into his seat.
“Wudao, my notes from the nurse.”
“Yes.” He shuffled through the papers and handed her one.
“Simon Phansby died some time two days ago from exsanguination due to a stab to the heart. No one has a solid alibi for that time, and each of you has a motive.”
“Now, hold on. What motive do I have to murder him?” Madam Ningli asked.
“Simon was planning to buy Jian’s den and use his direct supply of opium to undercut the other dens. Even Dainritter, who doesn’t trade opium, knows about it, so you must have. Preventing Simon from monopolizing the opium profits must have been high in your mind.”
Madam Ningli looked away.
“When I inspected the room where Simon’s body was found, I discovered something was amiss only because of the smell of the body. Even though Simon had bled to death, there was no blood on the floor. Considering there is only one entrance, getting a bloody body from outside into the room without being noticed is impossible. He must have been murdered in the room and the blood cleaned up.”
Matthew pointed at Madam Ningli. “It must have been her then! She used purification magic to sober me up. She probably can make blood disappear, too.”
“That’s mere prejudice against centaurs!” Madam Ningli shouted.
Dainritter chimed in, “I’ve seen you around. You’re also a distributor that sells opium. Did Simon pull some underhanded trick on you?”
Matthew froze.
“As I said, everyone has a motive,” Tanisse declared. “That includes you, Dainritter. Simon pulled an underhanded trick on you, too, did he not?”
Dainritter chuckled nervously. “I can’t deny it at this point. So, it could be any of us. Who do you think did it?”
“The biggest question to answer is why the culprit chose to murder the way they did. A room in an opium den is an unusual place to murder someone. Jian wouldn’t want to cast suspicion on himself by having a body in his own den. The receptionist Beimi doesn’t remember who exactly went in two days ago, but she would have noticed if someone either went in with a bloody body or came out with bloodied clothes. Whoever murdered Simon would have a lot of blood on them.”
“Then purification magic’s the only solution to that mystery,” Matthew said.
“No. That can’t be. What about the elf? Can’t he use illusion magic?” Madam Ningli deflected.
“This coming from the lady talking about prejudice a moment ago? The only people who can use illusion magic well enough to disguise their whole bloodied body would be members of the military. I’m a mere merchant. I can barely conjure a single coin.” Dainritter pointed to the table, and a fuzzy image of a silver coin appeared. “That’s the extent of my magic. Forget about concealing blood.”
Tanisse cleared her throat, and they all looked up. “You’re all overlooking a very simple solution. A change of clothes.”
“Then, this was premeditated, but they chose to murder him in a den full of people of all places?” Dainritter questioned.
“What if the change of clothes wasn’t intended for the murder?”
“You’re saying the murderer just had a spare set of clothes handy after killing someone? Well, that’s convenient,” Jian quipped.
“Dainritter, recall that you saw someone headed towards the direction of the den the night of the murder. Where was he coming from?”
“The train station.”
“Exactly. The murderer had been travelling, and it would have been natural for someone traveling to have a spare set of clothes. Isn’t that right, the man who had been visiting his family for the New Year holidays recently...” Tanisse turned her head to the side. “Wudao?”
The papers slipped out of his hand and scattered on the ground. “M-me? Just what are you saying?”
“Here’s how it happened. Wudao, you went traveling to visit your mother and sister up north. Then you came back prepared to kill Simon and, as one of the primary assistants in the company, you knew Simon was frequenting the dens for opium sales contracts. You headed towards the den areas, and when you saw Simon, you found your chance.
“You likely told him that you needed to talk to him quietly and suggested a room in the den. Simon was sensible enough that he wouldn’t go alone with someone to somewhere deserted, so taking him out to the woods to murder him was out of the question. He figured no one would try anything in Jian’s den. After all, coming out with bloodied clothes to the only entrance or exit would mean being caught with certainty.
“He doesn’t work in the tea department with you, though, so he didn’t know you had come back from vacation. By simply hiding your bag and asking to meet while going in separately, you managed to fool him. He may have suspected something, but probably not murder.
“After he went in, you picked up your bag and went into the den after. You entered his room, stabbed him with the knife you had prepared, used those bloodied clothes to clean up the mess on the floor, and then changed into clean clothes from your bag. You then hid his body behind the couch to delay discovery. You put the bloodied clothes in your bag and walked out as though nothing happened.”
“This is nonsense. What motive do I even have to murder him?” Wudao asked, indignant.
“There was an incident with a silverware vendor last year. Simon cheated the vendor, and they went bankrupt. I did some digging on that incident. Wudao, you said your sister had been having a hard time but that it was over. What you really meant was that your sister had gone bankrupt and after drowning in debts for a while, committed suicide shortly before the Lunar New Year.”
He went red-faced. “Even so. Everything you said is speculation! Show me the proof!”
“Very well. When you came to Jian’s den with the nurse, I asked you to take the nurse to the body because I was busy. I didn’t tell you which room he was in, yet you confidently led the nurse directly to the back room where the body was and didn’t ask me anything. The only one who could have known where the body was without checking the rooms was the murderer.”
Wudao sank to his knees. “I can’t believe it. Just because I was used to figuring out the details of orders on my own, I dug my own hole.”
“What a farce. It was someone from your company all along,” Jian grumbled. He stood up and left.
“Whew. I’m just glad I’m cleared of suspicion.” Matthew slid out of his chair and exited.
Madam Ningli stomped her hooves. “Ugh. Humans. Dragonborns. They’re all the same. Nothing but trouble.” She trotted out.
“Maybe you should consider changing careers to a police detective,” Dainritter suggested.
“I would, but Scantia Hall doesn’t pay very well and, as a woman, I can’t get promoted to full inspector.”
“You make the case for changing that rather well. For now, I’ll look forward to working with you as a merchant.” Dainritter strolled out of the room.
Wudao hugged his knees. “What are you going to do with me now?”
“The Chief said he was going to get the Ilysveilan embassy involved. They plan to torture a confession out of you that says your motive was hatred of Ilysveilans due to their opium sales. They’ll make the Centrosian government completely lose face and pressure them into legalizing opium in Centrosis. The potential profits are enormous.”
“My mother refers to humans as pale-faced devils. She was right. Using my tragedy and the life of that scum to plunge the whole country into misery simply for a profit.” He sobbed.
Tanisse had made her decision. She crouched and drew a packet of opium from her coat and placed it in Wudao’s hand. Even if it meant betraying her company and her country, she wanted to give Wudao the little solace she could, though that couldn’t make up for the suffering Simon had caused.
“This is...?”
“Enough for an overdose. Many dragonborns around here have opium addictions. It wouldn’t seem strange at all. You can decide what you want to do with it.”
Wudao grasped the packet firmly.
Tanisse walked out and closed the door to the room filling with smoke.
Copyright © 2021 by J. H. Zech
