The Shadow of Death
Chapter 1 – The Crime Scene
As a pair of Wind-riders soared through the hot desert air, Superintendent Canner filled Detective Inspector Thaxis Bain in on the situation. They were both officers from the Orgrimmar Patrol, who were responsible for all work regarding crime in the areas surrounding Orgrimmar. Detective Inspector Bain worked in the Alliance Affairs office, whose job it was to investigate all crimes which seemed to have a link to the Alliance. Thaxis was a rather small and thin specimen as Tauren go, with small horns and sideburns that ran down his face. He wore plain clothes that were designed more for practicality then comfort. Superintendent Canner was a bad-tempered Orc, with grizzled features baring the marks of many battles.
"The victim's name is Arthur Greendass," explained Canner, directing his wind-rider towards a small farm a few miles outside of Ratchet.
"Wait a minute," exclaimed Thaxis, staring in surprise at his superior, "are we talking about the Arthur Greendass off the council of Undead magic?"
"The very same," replied Canner. The council of Undead magic was a group of elite mages who ran their operation from the Undercity. From there they experimented with new forms of magic, and made sure that no magic user abused their power.
"Damn," muttered Thaxis, "if the council is involved then this is not going to be an easy case."
"Look," begin Canner as the wind-riders began their descent, "For some reason the man who called asked specifically for your department. I don't want any huge publicity scandal or wild goose chases on this one. Just find out what happened quickly with the minimum of fuss. Got it?"
"Yes sir," replied the Tauren as their mounts touched down onto earth again. With a grim nod, Canner took off again, heading in the direction of the main offices at Orgrimmar. He had arrived on the outskirts of a small field, a few untidy buildings clumped at the opposite end. The reason for police presence was immediately apparent, as the body of Greendass lay slumped across one of the field's fences.
"Ah inspector," it was Sally Nian, the undead pathologist assigned to all of the Alliance Affairs cases, "As you can see from the angle of the body on the fence, he must have hit it with some impact, most likely from quite a distance." She pointed to the tall mountain that bordered the farm from the north.
"Suicide?" inquired Thaxis, running through the possible scenario in his head.
"It seems likely," replied Sally, "For if you notice the damage to the cranium, it was clearly hit from the front."
"Couldn't we just get a priest in here to resurrect them?" asked Thaxis, confident that there would be a good reason they couldn't, but still wanting to be sure.
"I'm afraid not," replied Miss Nian, "There's too much damage to the cranium and brain tissue to restore the mind." Thaxis nodded. If the mind was damaged beyond repair then resurrecting the body would do nothing more then create a mindless undead drone. He didn't however get a chance to examine the scene further, for a familiar figure approached him, a man Thaxis didn't recognise trailing just behind. The familiar figure was an attractive female Blood elf, with long, blonde hair, Detective Inspector Mercury Dawnsoul, who had been the Detective Sergeant assigned to Thaxis for several years.
"Good morning sir," she stated, as usually too cheerfully for their line of work," I believe you haven't met Mr Mortan." She gestured to the man beside her. Mr Mortan was a tall, muscular Troll with tusks that smoothly curved down past his chin.
"Hello officer," began Mortan, shaking Thaxis's hand in greeting, "I'm the owner of this very farm."
"If you don't mind me asking," began the Tauren, "but what exactly do you farm here?" Thaxis had often wondered what it was that people farmed in the barrens, for he couldn't think of any crops offhand that grew in such harsh conditions.
"Oh Cacti mostly," replied the troll, "although I'm afraid that my farm hasn't been producing many crops recently." He waved one hand towards the field, where only a few, very small cacti were poking up through the earth.
"I'm sorry to hear that," replied Thaxis honestly, "Now then, did you know the victim personally?"
"I hadn't even heard of him until I found him dead on my property this morning. I immediately called the patrol and they arrived soon after."
"Do you have any idea how Mr Greendass ended up on your property?" asked Mercury, who turned back from talking to Miss Nian, "and keep in mind, anything you tell us will be useful."
"I can't be certain," mused Mortan, "but I think I heard several mounts near my farm last night at around 2 AM. At the time I put it down to passing traffic."
"Thank you Mr Mortan, you've been very helpful," stated Thaxis, nodding to the troll as he turned and returned to his farm. As he left, Detective Inspector Bain turned to his Detective Sergeant. "There's one thing I don't understand, why is this an Alliance Affairs case? I'm failing to see the connection."
"He was found with this," replied Mercury, surprising solemnly. She held up a plastic evidence bag, inside was a golden disk engraved with an ornate lion. Thaxis knew at once what it was, having seen them during his time in the army. An Insignia of the Alliance.
"This isn't good," replied Thaxis, staring at the insignia in worried contemplation, "These things are soul bound. If Greendass has an Insignia of the Alliance then he must be have been working for them at some point."
"You think he was a traitor?" repeated Mercury inquiringly, the uncertainty on her voice coming through clearly, "Excuse me sir, but I'm afraid that the idea of such a high-ranking mage committing treason doesn't sound very likely."
"It's just a theory," replied Thaxis defensively, "But either way, he has to have the Insignia for a reason, and they're not something that you find all over the place.
Well Inspector, have you found anything? It was Canner, he had opened up a magical whisper channel to Thaxis from the patrol headquarters.
"It seems like suicide, the angle and position of the body indicated that he leapt from that nearby mountain," he spoke out loud so that Mercury could here what he was saying as well as Canner, "The farm owner has reported several mounts travelling around the farm last night, I was planning on visiting the crossroads guards to see if any of them saw something."
I hardly think that's necessary if it was suicide, but It's still good idea to check. He closed the channel, preventing Thaxis from saying anything further.
"Why didn't you tell him about the Insignia?" asked Mercury under her breath to prevent others from hearing.
"If Arthur was working for the Alliance then this thing will go above any of us," explained Thaxis, "I'd rather not give Canner any reason to take this case away from us unless it's absolutely necessary." Mercury nodded in agreement, and together the pair headed off in the direction of the Crossroads.