Murder: To catch a Killer? (Attn: Sieve)

[_Kynwric_]

Kynwric was sitting in his office staring at the board he had created to help keep track of the murders, there had been 4 now and things seemed to be pointing in a direction.Kyn had talked to many people about the murders and the same name was appearing over and over again. He had also searched her belongings while she was in training, and the woman in question possessed a cloak of the same make and with rips in it, and her dagger sheath was empty. It was enough that Kyn had asked for a pair of Tower Guards to accompany him to arrest her, he wanted this whole series of events to be over with... not the least of which was because it was interfering with his other duties.

 

---

 

Now that they were walking across the yards Kyn was even more confident in his conclusions, they had to be right... a few steps more and they were inside the barracks building and Kyn was stopping in front of a door and checking with the Guardsmen to either side of him. Once they were all ready he drew his sword and pushed the door open wide. "Don't move... you are under arrest."

[Sieve]

Marli Chasin sat in her room in the Barracks getting ready for her shift of guard duty.  Her auburn hair was tied back in a neat braid as she always wore it when she was on duty.  In her off time she let it flow loosely.  She picked up her Tower Guard cloak frowning at the torn liner.  The fine black cloth that lined her cloak was torn in several places.  The dreadful thing always got caught on something but it was part of the uniform.  One day she would have to request a new one or have the liner replaced.

 

Marli checked herself in a stand mirror.  She was pretty and had a body made to make men drool, all her curves were in just the right places.  She enjoyed the attention she received, not just from the men but it was the men that she preferred.  Except for that fool Marek, he was not a man but a swine.  How dare he sleep around on her when she was faithful to him.  Well she was almost faithful yet still the nerve of the man.  Marek was dead now and she had not shed a tear for him.  Him or that trollop that he had cheated on her with.  Well that trollop wasn't the only one from what she had heard but at least she had gotten her due.

 

Marli looked around the room spotting her sword belt draped over a three legged stool.  Another frown formed as she took in the empty scabbard.  In a drunken stuper a few days ago she had lost the blasted thing.  The other night she was fooling around on the wall while on duty idly flipping the dagger when the hilt bounced off the tips of her fingers and dropped into the harbor below.  It didn't help that she had been drinking on duty.  Her trouble with relationships had led her to seek comfort in a bottle.  Either way she should get a new dagger as there was no chance of recovering the other.  With all the murders going on, she should have another weapon to hand in case she did not have time or the space to draw her sword. 

 

Her back was to the door as she heard it being pushed open.  She turned ready to scream at whoever was invading her privacy though her eyes went wide at what she saw.  Light could she reach her sword in time.  No she scolded herself.  Three men faced her and for the moment she felt some relief.  A murderer would not bring witnesses unless, no it couldn't be that.  "Don't move... you are under arrest."

 

"Me...for what!"  She yelled at the man.  She was off balance turning the fear into anger.  She had done nothing wrong other than drink on duty and hold grudges long after they should have been put to rest.  "Drinking on duty is not a arrestable offense."  She challenged the man.  "and I am not the only one.  Are you going to arrest half the guard for drinking on duty?" 

[_Kynwric_]

"Drinking on duty is not a arrestable offense, and I am not the only one.  Are you going to arrest half the guard for drinking on duty?"

 

"Good, then I'll get to add lashes to your sentence before we hang you." He gestured for the two Guardsmen to take her. "Take her to the cage, while I search her room for the rest of the evidence."

 

Once Marli has been taken away Kyn went through everything meticulously, cataloging everything he placed in the box to take with him, what it was and where it was in the room. There was the cloak, with its rips and tears, and the empty dagger sheath of a Tower Guard and the dagger was no where to be found. He had already found a few Guardsmen who would attest to her venom for Marek since. It was overall a good case, he thought.

 

---

 

Now that he had all his evidence he was heading for the cage to have words with Marli, see if he could get a confession from the Murderer and save them all the trouble of a formal trial. Pushing open the door he looked in at her and dismissed the Guard on duty. "Wait outside 'til I'm done." Kyn watched as the man stepped outside and then turned his glare on the woman inside the bars. "So you were drunk on duty?"

[Sieve]

"Good, then I'll get to add lashes to your sentence before we hang you."  The last three words resounded in her head as her legs gave out.  The two Guardsmen had picked her up and half carried her from the room.  "For what!?!?" her words echoed in the hallway.  It was all she could get out as the Guardsmen manhandled her ordering her to be silent.  Without a word the Guardsmen threw her in the cell, one of them remained gurading the door.  She flinched as the door slammed closed putting her head in her hands screaming in between sobbs that wracked her body.  She cried until the tears no longer formed in her eyes.

 

Marli looked up as the man appeared dismissing the guard at her door.  Now that she had time to calm down she recognized him for what he was, a Warder.  There was no doubt with that deadly grace.  "So you were drunk on duty?"  The Warder's glare was intense.  She had to work moisture in her mouth before she could speak.

 

Hoarsely she spoke with out the defiance in her voice that had been present when he first burst into her room.  She seemed defeated, almost.  "Y..Yes, several times"  She paused trying to work more moisture into her mouth.  The Warder's gaze was unsettling at best.  She wanted to crawl into a dark corner and hide.  "You are going to hang me for driking on duty?  It seems a harsh penalty for such an offense, does it not?"  A hint of defiance returned but it was all she could muster.  She wished her hands would stop shaking, she could not recall a moment in time where she was this nervous.  That was understandable, until this day nobody had ever threatened to hang her.  Light she wanted to pinch herself to wake from this nightmare. 

[_Kynwric_]

"Oh no, I am going to lash you for drinking on duty." Kyn said it all very softly, as if it was really no concern to him at all. He could see her nerves were frayed already and that was just as he wished, hopefully with just a little push  "Did you know the Tower Guard Marek? Or the girl Sheira?"

[Sieve]

"Yes I knew them both"  Marli had stood to face the Warder though she stayed near the cot.  Had she stepped any close to the man she wouldn't have been able to talk.  The bars between them did not seem a sufficient barrier.

 

"The first was a scoundrel and the other was a Trollop."  She knew the Warder would have asked questions so there was no hope hiding the connection.  Best to come right out with it.  "Marek and I were intimate until that Trollop enticed him.  Well she wasn't the only one so I have heard."  Her cheeks blushed then it all hit her.  Marek and Sheira murdered, Light they thought it was her.  He said he would hang her!

 

She did not know how she got there but she realized she was no longer standing.  She was sitting on the cot now.  She quickly worked moisture into her mouth.  "No!"  Her breath was ragged  "I swear under the light it wasn't me!"  "I swear I didn't do it!" "No!!!!"  again she sobbed for what seemed an eternity.

[_Kynwric_]

Kyn had steeled himself for this, he knew through long experience that those capable of murder could say and do anything to escape justice. "So you say, where is you dagger? And how did you cloak tear?" Holding up the empty scabbard and cloak to emphasize his question.

[Sieve]

Marli stared at the empty sheath and torn cloak like adders.  She was desperate, he needed to believe her.  Her words come out in a rush.  "I was bored, one drunken night on the wall I was foolishly tossing the dagger and missed it.  It bounced off my hand and over the wall into the harbor." 

 

She took a quick breath then worked moisture into her mouth so she could continue.  Again her words came in a rush "The cloak...well I am klutzy at times you could say.  Especially when I am drunk.  Unfortunately I catch the bloody thing on corners all the time or I manage to step on it.  I have had the cloak for years." 

 

A look of fear consumed her face.  She quickly added "You h..have to believe me!  All I am guilty of is drinking on duty.  I swear it under the light and by my hope of salvation and rebirth, I swear it!"  She was frantic.  She wanted to run, though there was nowhere to go.  Instead she curled up on the cot with her arms holding her knees tight to her chest.  "I swear that is all." 

[_Kynwric_]

"You want me to believe the oath of someone who can so shirk their sworn duty that it puts all that I have spent my life defending at risk?" Kyn was taken aback at the visual cues coming his way, this woman was not acting that of guilt... he pushed it all aside as he turned his gaze back on her. "I find that it is hard to believe one that would betray their own oaths so easily." Kyn threw the scabbard and cloak on the table. "Where were you on these nights..."  and he began naming off the nights of the murders.

 

OOC: There should be 5 at this point, IIRC.

[Sieve]

Light her head was spinning.  It had all happening too fast.  She had to think, she knew the five nights which he spoke about yet she did not have anyone who could vouch for her whereabouts.  She roomed by herself and her guard posts were solitary ones.  If she wanted to could slip away without anyone noticing.  Well she had in fact, on numerous occasions she had slipped away yet she certainly hadn't murdered anyone.

 

She sighed and slumped visibly realizing she wasn't helping her case.  She could lie but he would be able to easily sniff them out with the proper questions in the rigths ears.  She took a deep breath but her words were spoken softly, she was doomed "Yes I want you to believe me though I realize that you have no reason to."  She paused just staring at the floor.  "I was either in my room or on guard duty."  She shook her head, it was hopeless "I don't room with anyone and my posts are solitary ones.  There is nobody who can speak for me but I swear I didn't do it."  She put her head in her hands again sobbing...she could already feel the hangmans rope around her neck. 

 

 

[_Kynwric_]

Kyn shook his head. "No alibi, evidence that contradicts what you say and still you expect me to believe?" He just shook his head, it was at that moment that a guardsman burst into the room.

 

"Master Kynwric, you are needed..." The man glanced at Marli and broke off his words. "You are needed in the yards."

 

Kyn turned and looked and was about to dress the man down for interrupting his interrogation, then he saw the look in the man's eyes. How? The murderer is here... he turned and took another look at Marli appraisingly and then said to her. "I will return..."

 

---

 

About half an hour later Kynwric returned to the jail cell and asked the guard for the keys, he walked slowly over to the cell and unlocked it without saying a word, swinging the door wide open and gesturing for Marli to exit. He led her out the door of the jail and then spoke. "You've been spared the hangman... another guardsman was killed while you were in custody and that makes you not the murderer... I owe you a grave apology."