Rush made her way through the upper parts of the ship, where the cabins were situated. She took a look inside most of them, but didn't see anything truly interesting. Most of them were a mess - things broken and in disarray from the force of the ship's crash against the rocky cliff. Curiously, there were still no bodies to be found. A couple barely passable weapons and less costly valuables that had little potential, but no clues.
Then she entered the cabin specially set for the noble family, the ship owners. She found Bull on his knee, bent over a rotting, smelly corpse. Corpse in ruined but obviously expensive noble dress of Orlesian style.
This must be the wife, then.
"Found any clues?" she asked quietly so as not to disturb his thinking.
Bull lifted his head, but didn't turn towards her, obviously still deep in thought. "I did," he said eventually. "But I don't think they are the ones we are looking for." He gestured her to get closer and she took several careful steps towards him, trying not to disturb anything.
"What is it?" she asked uncertainly as she stepped closer.
"Take a look," he gestured at the corpse.
Rush did. The sight of the corpse was disgusting, true, but there must have been something else that Bull wanted her to see. She knelt down next to him and took a good look.
The first thing that she noticed was the dagger in the corpse's chest. So Lady Adlebrent was murdered, then. That complicated things. She looked closer still and saw that the dagger had the crest of the Adlebrent family crest on its hilt. A chill ran down her spine.
She opened her mouth… then paused. If Lord Adlebrent truly murdered his wife, he wouldn't leave the dagger with his family crest behind. Especially in the heart of the wife he just murdered. If Rush was in his shoes, she'd throw the murder weapon overboard. No one would ever find it at the bottom of the ocean, right? In fact, why not just throw the corpse overboard too? The fact that it seemed so clear he murdered her actually made it seem less like he murdered her.
She looked at Bull and found him watching her with a knowing look.
"So, not a crime of passion, I take it?" she asked in a dry voice. This was just too calculated.
"No, probably not." He agreed quietly.
"Did you find anything else?"
"No. There is still the captain's cabin to go through, but it seems the murderer covered his tracks well." Bull said, still deep in thought.
"'His'?" She asked him with a raised eyebrow. How did he know it was a man? Could have just as easily been a woman.
"The dagger is in her chest, not back. It must have been someone she trusted to come close to her, even with a weapon drawn, otherwise there would be either signs of a fight, or it would be in her back as she either tried to run away or didn't know about the murderer at all. So, it was a lover, probably." He finished in a carefully blank voice.
"How do you know her lover was not a woman?"
He gave her an approving look, despite the fact that she questioned him, "The attacker went for the heart. And managed to pierce between the ribs in both the right spot and with enough force to kill instantly. A woman wouldn't have the muscle strength to do that and would go for either the unprotected middle or the throat." He gestured at the way the body laid on the ground, "This is the work of a warrior, one used to piercing enemy guard. And Lord Adlebrent does not employ female guards."
Rush thought for a second, then nodded. It made sense. This also made her wonder about Bull's past - he seemed a bit too good at this for it to be the first time he dealt with murder. It wasn't something mercenary captains usually had to solve; that was a job for the guard. She will have to ask him about it sometimes.
There was nothing more they could read from the corpse. She stood up to take a look around the cabin. It was surprisingly well preserved, considering the rest of the ship. There were several locked chests, a comfortable bed, even a lady's toilette stand with an impressive mirror, mysteriously not broken. Rush went to check the mirror. It reminded her of the thing one of her older sisters had back at the Trevelyan estate.
"Something wrong, Rush?" Bull asked from behind her.
"Not… exactly." She began, hesitating. At his encouraging nod, she continued, "I know mirrors like these. My sister had one. She used to hide love notes from her sweetheart inside."
Bull came to stand beside her, a strangely comforting presence. "How did she manage that?"
"There was a latch hidden in the ornaments. It could be used to, well, open the mirror to get to the secret space behind it." She went to look at where the mirror stood against the wall. "The wood at the back is too thick to be made only for the mirror. I think there is a secret space between the mirror and the back."
Bull grinned at her, "Nice. Try to open it."
Rush only nodded, lost in thought, and tried to remember how her sister did it. Her fingers skimmed over the beautifully carved ornamentation along the rim. This mirror was slightly different, but not so much that it would be unrecognizable. There should be a latch or a button somewhere around… here!
A slight press of her finger in the centre of a wooden flower and a quiet click signaled the unlocking of the mechanism. A small handle popped out of the woodwork, which she used to gently pull the mirror open.
There were several things inside. Brass keys hanging on small nails, a couple coins in one corner, some very small knick-knacks… and a thin diary. She picked the diary up and turned to Bull with a triumphant smile.
He smiled back at her and she felt warmth spread on her cheeks. "Good job, Rush." Then he looked behind her at the secret space, specifically the keys. "I'll try to unlock the chests and search for the jewels; you read the diary to see if we can find a clue about the murderer."
She nodded and went to sit on the bed to make herself comfortable.
The diary was written in the typical looping scrawl of an Orlesian noblewoman.
It seemed to date to the beginning of the lady's marriage to Lord Adlebrent, back when she was just a Miss Anabelle Poutouille, the spoiled brat of an extremely rich but minor noble family. A woman who wanted and cared for nothing and seemed to find it unjust she had to marry a man someone else chose for her. From her writings, though, it seemed her husband was not exactly pleased with the match either. But, in true Orlesian fashion, the match was deemed more important than personal feelings, and so she was 'happily' married off at the tender age of nineteen. A tale as old as Orlesian nobility.
Rush skipped through several very detailed chapters describing mostly the lady's suffering in her new mansion. And the way her husband didn't seem to want her enough to at least give her an heir. While touching in places, it was covered in selfish rants about how the bath water was too cold today and how she had to personally beat the servant girl because no one else seemed capable of exercising 'discipline' over the 'useless knife-ears'. Several pages later, she had almost no sympathy left for the woman.
Rush skimmed through more pages, until a passage caught her attention.
—
Today was a special day. I met a man that finally makes my lonely heart beat faster.
After that terrible fright I had two days ago, I could barely sleep or stomach any of the mediocre garbage the servants cook, so my husband finally listened to my advice on how we should tighten our security. Just imagine, being robbed in front of my own house!
Krestus hired someone he called a 'specialist' who will be the new captain of our guard. We will finally have our own captain of the guard! It was high time we hired one. If my husband wasn't so stingy with his precious gold, we would have had one ages ago. Still, he couldn't have made a better choice if he tried.
Louis is the most charming man I've ever met. He treated me with all the respect I deserve and kissed my hand, as is proper. I still feel the tingling in my fingers from where his lips touched me. He is beautiful, with long, blonde hair and bright green eyes. And those muscles! Oh, I mustn't think on it anywhere else but in my room, or my husband might think I actually desire him.
The only thing that bothers me is that he does not come from proper stock. Why, I couldn't find any mention of the Croux family in any of the genealogy section of our library! But then, a captain of the guard does not need a title. Not if he moves the way Loius does. Like a big cat on the prowl. Almost like the thief who took my coin - and, oh my, what a strange comparison is that to make!
Still, that man is undeniably attractive. I believe I will postpone the journey to our summer estate and watch the guards train more often from now on.
—
Her eyebrows climbed up. That sounded like the man who hired them to salvage the ship. There was something very wrong about hiring mercenaries to clear out a ship where the obviously infatuated wife of your employer died and not even ask for the body to be retrieved. Skipping through several entries showed how the lady was becoming more and more obsessed with the strapping young guard captain… and eventually began a secret love affair with him.
She turned the diary pages with flaming cheeks. Some of those entries were rather… graphic.
Then the entries got much darker. Anabelle was becoming more and more unsatisfied with her marriage and it clearly showed. She started to mention her desire to run away to live a life of romance and luxury with her lover, Louis. That was also the first time the missing jewels were mentioned.
She sighed and Bull turned towards her. When their eyes met, she turned to sit on the edge of the bed and waved him over with the diary, "Bull? I've found something."
Bull looked up at her and went to join her on the bed. The moment he sat down, she handed him the diary, opened at the proper page.
He took it from her and started reading while Rush looked around the room once again. Before she could find anything interesting, though, Bull's snort attracted her attention. "What is it?"
Bull just gave her an innocent look. "Oh, nothing much. It's just too bad I wasn't there for her; I could have done it better."
"Huh?" She stared at him, uncomprehending.
Bull smirked and started reading aloud in a mockingly high Orlesian accent, "Louis kissed me so very gently, then lowered his head to lick my…"
"Not that!" Her cheeks erupted with a fierce blush. She flailed in panic and tried to grab the diary.
Unfortunately for her, Bull only pulled it away from her and she almost fell on top of him. Only her outstretched hands saved her from falling, but that didn't make her feel any better, as they ended up splayed over his muscular chest. She felt the strong muscle under her fingers, looked up to see Iron Bull's devilish smirk and pulled her hand back as if burned.
What was wrong with her today?!
She coughed and straightened, trying to recover her dignity and said as calmly as she could, "Th-the other page. It mentions the missing jewels."
She pointed him the part where Anabelle wrote down her plans to take every piece of jewelry she owned and run away with her lover on her family ship.
Bull stopped teasing and his eye narrowed as he stared down at the diary. Then he snorted, "Ten gold says her 'lover' killed her to get the jewels."
"I'm not taking that bet," Rush said quietly, thinking. "Why make the ship crash, though? It would be much better for the murderer to… I don't know, throw her overboard and claim the ship for his own, wouldn't it?"
"Not if he planned to return to his employer. This is the man Adlebrent sent to hire us, right?" Bull turned to look around the cabin, "Selling a ship is no easy matter. It would take time. A short absence can be explained with any number of excuses, but anything longer than a week would be questioned." He sighed and looked back at the diary. "It would make more sense to make the ship crash and kill everyone on board, than to try and sell it."
"Where are all the corpses, then?" she almost looked around as if the bodies would pop out of the chests at any time.
"That's what we need to figure out," her Chief said as he stood up. "Well, that and find the jewels."
"Yes, the missing jewels…" she repeated quietly. It seemed less and less likely that they will find them. They were probably already sold… Meaning they will probably fail this job.
She suddenly remembered an incident from several years ago. One of the old enchanters sent her to bring him a precious manuscript from the archives. Manuscript which she found burned. She was then used as a scapegoat when she came back with the damaged book, as no one else was around when she found it and everyone insisted they didn't damage the thing, so she must be the culprit. She had to do a lot of favors to 'pay back for the damage she caused'. "Bull?"
"What is it?"
"I think the lord or the captain are trying to accuse us of stealing the jewels."
His eyes narrowed in suspicion, but he didn't seem to disagree. If anything, he considered her words. "What makes you say that?"
"Well, they sent us to find one thing, which they say no one else could have possibly found and taken, since the ship only 'reappeared' now. We are alone here, with none of Lord Adlebrent's guards to keep an eye on us. Who's to say we didn't steal the jewels? There's no way to prove we didn't."
She started pacing up and down the cabin, "This must be just another insurance so the murderer can't be blamed. The Lady was killed with her husband's dagger, while the jewels are missing and the only people around are the mercenaries. And no one trusts mercenaries, right? 'Probably tried to fake the murder to hide their own crimes', that's what they'll say. They'll accuse us of creating a fake murder scene, instead of admitting she could have been murdered. And if we by some miracle proved she was actually murdered, the blame would simply fall on Lord Adlebrent's shoulders and we're still blamed for the missing jewels." She put her hand in her hair, not seeing a way out of this. "Crap."
Bull stood up to his full height until he loomed over her, then laid one of his large hands on her shoulder, effectively slowing her down. "Calm down, Rush." He said soothingly. "We can still solve this. We will find proof of the crime. Once we've found evidence of murder, the jewels will not seem as important." He looked at her and she was honestly a bit scared at how cold his eyes got. "Worst comes to worst, we say that Lord Adlebrent could be accused of murder and he'll back down about the jewels."
That didn't seem like a good enough plan, "How do you know that he will? Perhaps he'll be greedy enough to risk scandal and take us to court." Before he could reply, she closed her eyes, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound so pessimistic. But… let's search the rest of this ship first, and try to find proof about both the murder and the jewels. And who knows, if this Louis Croux really is the thief and murderer, perhaps he has not sold all the jewels yet."
Without her knowing, her eyes got just as cold as Bull's were a moment ago, as she added, "We don't really need to find them all. Just one in the right pocket will be enough."
He gave her an approving smile and squeezed her shoulder gently, "Good thinking." Seeing her blush, he only grinned, then pocketed the diary and moved towards the door.
Rush thought about all the praise she got from Bull today and how warm it made her feel. How his giant form comforted her, instead of intimidating her as it should have.
How he made her heart beat faster despite only knowing him for a short time.
So similar to this betrayed lady.
Or maybe not. Anabelle's diary made it obvious she didn't care about Louis. She didn't respect him either. In fact, she barely even knew the man. If Rush was any judge, that thing between them was nothing more than sex, confused for a romance. Compared to that, the Iron Bull was…
Well, she didn't know what he was, but should anything ever happen between them, it will definitely be more than an affair. Much, much more. No matter how many sparks there were between them, she doubted he'd treat her as a warm hole to stick his dick into. Nor would she do that to him.
They respected each other too much for that.
She took one last look around the room, and the corpse lying in the middle of it, then turned to follow her Chief.