Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry I haven't written in some time. As always Games Workshop owns Warhammer.
They rushed to the High Justice's office in the carriage that brought the messenger. The ride there was silent. Werner was clearly deep in thought and Karl did not wish to disturb him. Upon their arrival they hurried up to the office where they had met him.
He was slumped over his desk; a cup of tea had been overturned and spilled its contents over the papers that covered his desk. His eyes were wide and foam was at the corner of his mouth. A small amount of tea remained in the cup.
Werner dipped his pinky finger in it and delicately dabbed it on his tongue. As soon as they made contact he spat onto the floor. "Cyanide." He said simply. At Karl's questioning look he elaborated. "A kind of poison, fast acting."
He turned and an addressed a middle-aged man dressed in the uniform of the City Watch but more elaborate than those Karl had seen before. "Captain Henricus," Werner said; "Has anything happened out of the ordinary happened recently? Did he give any indication that he thought his life to be in danger?"
The man shook his head. "No Brother. He has been following your investigations and has been under tremendous pressure to produce results, but that is nothing new. If there had been any changes he would have told me. Certainly if he had felt himself threatened."
Werner nodded. "Who brought him the tea?"
Henricus turned to the servant who had fetched them from the inn. "Gundel, who prepared the tea?"
"He did it himself. His Lordship often made his own tea when he worked late."
"Are you saying he poison himself?" Henricus asked incredulously.
"No sir, I am not saying that sir. He would never kill himself like that. But I do know that he had taken to adding something to his tea. Feyeyes I think, many people, both here and in the Guard take it."
"Feyeyes?" Karl asked.
"A draught." Werner explained. "When drunk it helps keep a person awake and alert, fairly common among watchmen and those who have to work late. Still, what killed him was clearly cyanide. So how…"
His voice trailed off as he turned in place, taking in the whole room. He stopped, his eyes fastening on the small table that held the tea set. He went up to it and lifted the lid of one of the small bowls. Inside it was a white powder. Again he daintily tasted it and again spat it out and declared it cyanide.
Turning his attention from the tea set he looked around. His attention focused on the window next to the table the tea set sat on. He examined it closely then opened it and stuck his head out and looked out, first down to the street below and then up towards the roof.
"So that is how they did it." He said softly, clearly speaking more to himself than to the others in the room.
"Did what?" Henricus asked, a note of annoyance coloring his voice.
"Why, how he was poisoned of course. Look he said, gesturing at the window. "Look here you can see on the insides of the window are scratched; and up there." He indicated the edge of the roof tiles where something had rubbed against it.
"Those marks," he said indicating the roof tiles; "Were made by a rope. Someone repelled from the roof to this window. They then slid a thin a blade between the windows and slid the latch open, which caused the scratches you see here."
"The sugar bowl is where he kept the Feyeyes. The assassin, whoever he or she was, obviously knew where he kept it. They simply waited till he was gone and the added the cyanide to the bowl. He would have mixed it in with his tea and downed it without thinking."
"But who could do that?" Karl asked.
"Right now I don't know. However as we are going to call on Albert Leitdorf, we may get some answers. His niece, Elise Leitdorf, was poisoned. As I believe there is a strong possibility that poor Von Rohm was killed because of these murders; there is the possibility that we may learn something that may lead us to the killers."
They remained in the office for a short time longer. Though they searched the office minutely they failed to uncover anything more. The entered the carriage to take them to the townhouse of Albert Leitdorf, Captain Henricus promising to inform them at once if any new clues were uncovered.
As they rode to their destination Karl told Werner what he had learned from his conversation with Esmeralda. "So," said Werner when Karl had finished; "That explains a lot. I admit it was what I was thinking. Von Galt is known to be deeply in debt and realistically he had to know that he had no chance of winning. In fact I would not be surprised if he wasn't aiming for something like this from the start.
"The presence of the Strigany is an unforeseen addition, as is the knowledge that there are more deaths."
"Do you think they are connected then?" Karl asked.
"We must consider that possibility, though we cannot be sure of that without investigating ourselves. And it is more than likely that all evidence is gone by now. If it is true, that they have moved from peasants and burghers to nobles and aristocrats, than that bodes ill."
"Why?"
"Because theses killings, which are far more likely to draw attention and dramatically increasing their chances of capture, means one of two things. One, they have no plan and are just killing for the sake of killing, if this is the case they are becoming more deranged and uncaring of consequences. Which makes them even more dangerous and unpredictable.
"However, I do not believe this to be the case. The killings have been too precise. Such as the killing of Fredrik Von Alptraum's son. They had the chance to kill all three but they did not, which means they have plans and are not bent on random murder. Which could, in a way, be worse."
"What do you mean?"
"Because if they have a plan and they are willing to risk exposure it can mean only one thing. Their plans are nearing fruition and secrecy will either be no longer possible or no longer needed. And, as of right now, we still do not know for certain what those plans are."
After nearly an hour long drive they arrived at the country house of Albert Leitdorf. It was a large affair with an expansive garden dominated by a larger than life statue at the center. Werner told him it was Marius Leitdorf, the previous Elector Count and head of the Leitdorf family.
They were led down a corridor festooned with yellow and black, the state colors of Averland. Albert Leitdorf received them in the great hall, he was at the back of the room seated on a chair in the middle of a raised dais, and Karl thought he looked as if he were attempting to imitate an Elector Count or a monarch. He looked down on them like a monarch regarding a pair of peasants.
He was a tall, thin middle-aged man and his face bore more than a passing resemblance to the statue outside. But there the similarities ended; where its face had been hard and stern Albert's face was not, it was actually rather a silly face. It had the same narrow structure but had been made plump with good living and bore the marks of heavy drinking. Where the statue had had the air of strength Albert's body was spindly except for a potbelly. His silver-streaked hair was curled and hung down to his shoulders.
"I greet you," he said formally; "I am pleased that the Church of Verenean has taken an interest in the horrid murder of my dear niece Elise. Though I must note with some displeasure that you went first to that old fool Von Galt rather than to me, the rightful Elector Count of Averland."
Werner bowed to the man. "I thank you for your greeting. I apologize for not coming sooner but I hoped to gather evidence by interviewing the families of the most recent murders. Thus I investigated the murder of the daughter of Von Galt and worked my way back from there.
"I have now come to you. I have read the report regarding your niece's death of course. But still, if it is not too painful, I would like to hear from you what exactly happened. Especially now because, as you may have heard, the Lord High Justice was murdered this morning; it is quite possible that whoever is behind these murders also killed him as well. I hope that you might be able to provide information that can lead to the killers."
Albert Leitdorf nodded his head. "I see and I had heard of the death of the Lord High Justice; it is grievous to me to lose such a faithful servant of my family. Unfortunately, I can offer you little in the way of help. I was not here at the time."
"I see," said Werner; "Well, perhaps you can help clear up a few points. Now, according to the report she was poisoned, the poison was believed to be in a bottle of wine; some of which was given to a stray dog which soon died with symptoms corresponding to those of cyanide poisoning. Do you have any idea how the assassin or assassins gained access to your wine cellars?"
"Quite simple they didn't. The wine was a gift."
"I see." Werner said. "Do you know from whom?"
"Of course I don't. If I did they would have faced my wrath by now!" He snapped, leaning forward his eyes blazing and appearing less than sane. He took a deep breath and sat back appearing calm and in control again. "As the heir of the rightful Elector Count she often received gifts from those seeking my favor. I did not recognize the bottle when it was shown to me so this must have been such a gift.
"Elise, for all her good qualities, did not always listen to me. Due to the usurpers attempting to steal my title I always employ a food taster to sample everything I eat or drink. She did not and someone took advantage of that and now she is dead."
"I see." Werner said. "By any chance did whoever on your staff accept the gift remember who brought it?"
"No," Leitdorf said impatiently; "The stupid boy could just say that it was an average looking man that's all."
"May I speak to him please."
"If you can find him; I dismissed him. I have no use for someone that deficient in intelligence."
"Well,' Werner paused for a moment; "Perhaps you can tell us where he lives."
"I have no idea where he lives. I take no interests in peasants lives. I shall have my butler question the other servants, one of them probably knows."
"Thank you my lord." Werner said, preparing to depart. "Oh, one more thing, my lord. The last few days we have been followed. One of them it seems works for Marco. He is known to have business connections with your family. By any chance do you know who might have set Marco and his cronies on us?"
"Yes, me." Leitdorf said complacently. "We Leitdorfs are the lords of this city. I would be a poor lord if I allowed things to occur in my city without my knowing it. If there is nothing else you may go now. I will have my butler question the servants. If I learn anything about the boy I will send a messenger."
Author's Notes: Well there you go I hope you liked it. Well, we are coming to the end anyone have any ideas yet? Please keep praying for those affected by the South Dakota storm and all the other people I've mentioned and all who need it including the missing hiker in Washington. Thank you and may Jesus bless you.