Detective Sky Is On The Case
Jhelnae was surprised to find the furniture in the library of the Trollskull had been rearranged since she'd last been in there. With the exception of removing the boards blocking the stained-glass windows, the renovation had not really touched this room. They hadn't even really cleaned it properly. Which was why there were a few dust free rectangles on the floor showing where empty bookcases had stood before being shoved back against their fellows to make way for the desk moved to the center.
Sky rested behind that desk - booted feet up on the desktop, chair tilted back, and a battered long billed checkered hat pulled down over her face. Why she had the hat covering her eyes, the half-drow wasn't sure. It was after sunset and no light shone through the eastern bank of windows containing the stained-glass murals of the upturned crescent moon and the waterfall. None of the wall mounted lanterns were lit either. So the hat over the eyes really didn't serve any purpose - other than tabaxi affectation.
All who had entered the library with the half-drow, Aleina, Ront, and Kuhl, had the gift of dark vision. But the aasimar immediately set about lighting nearby wall lanterns with conjured flame anyway, the oil and wicks at least having been recently refilled and replaced.
"You better not have brought me back here to watch a tabaxi sleep," Ront said looking at Kuhl.
Sky stirred, pushed back the checkered hat onto her head and yawned. The front two legs of her chair thunked against the floorboards as she swung her feet off the desk and sat up.
"Sorry," she said. "Haven't gotten in my normal napping today. I've been very busy since my new client hired me."
"New client?" Kuhl asked? "You mean Remalia Haventree?"
Sky gave a dismissive wave.
"I solved the case of the missing Portable Hole yesterday. It was just in the pocket of a coat she forgot she had worn. But she did say the most curious thing. She said, 'Imagine if I had thrown that coat into a Bag of Holding!' I didn't ask her what she meant then, but now I am trying to imagine it. And I have no idea what would happen." She shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to find a Portable Hole and put it in my magic bag to find out."
"Or," Kuhl said quickly. "We could just ask her what she meant the next time she comes to the Trollskull for a drink. Since I'm the one usually carrying your bag, I like that idea a lot better."
"And if I'm with you and any of my stuff is in that bag," Ront growled. "Then I like that idea better also."
"We could do that," Sky said, but her whiskers twitched as she pursed her lips showing she wasn't in favor of the idea. "Anyway, I got a new client. She came into this office and hired me this morning."
"First off," Jhelnae said. "Our library. Not your office. And second off, we're not here to listen about how you found somebody's lost dog or whatever. Aleina told us you had a working theory about the Dock Ward killings."
"That is what she told me," the aasimar said, still lighting lanterns. "It really is dirty in here. We need to make some time to give the library a good cleaning. Then we can start filling the place with books."
"The Dock Ward killings are what this is about," the tabaxi said, with an exasperated sigh and an irritated lash of her tail. "But I have to give you the background so you can understand how I came to my theory. Where was I again? Before I was interrupted?"
"You have a new client," Kuhl said helpfully. "Not Remalia Haventree.".
"Yes," Sky said. "I was sitting at this desk, sipping kaethe and trying to ease the throb in my temples from an ill spent lonely night draining a bottle of Wyvern Whiskey down till only the scale remained. The miasma of potential eviction hung over me like a dark cloud since my evil landlady wanted to convert my office, my place of business, into a library."
She emphasized the last word like it was an utterance of horror and cast a glare at Jhelnae. The half-drow decided a roll of the eyes was the appropriate response.
"Then she walked in," the tabaxi continued. "Hair like midnight, skin like moonlight, eyes twin wells of mystery so deep a soul could drown in them. A dream made flesh and hopefully the answer to all my prayers."
"Wait," Aleina said. She'd finished lighting the lamps which filled the room with a warm glow, and she came to stand with the others in front of the desk. "Is that supposed to be a description of me? Because that isn't the way it happened. When I came in to ask for your help you weren't sitting behind your desk, you weren't drinking kaethe, you on a kaethe high is a frightening thought by the way, and you weren't suffering from a hangover. You were, in fact, kicking that leather ball around and pouncing on it."
The aasimar waved to an old, scarred, stitched leather ball which was the only thing sitting on one of the dusty shelves of the library.
"I was doing a creative retelling," Sky said, tail lashing. "Making it like a chapbook. I thought you'd all like that."
"And if you are hoping that your favorable description of me will make me side with you about leaving this as the office for your detective agency rather than our library," the aasimar continued as if the tabaxi had not spoken. "You can definitely forget that. Because we aren't converting it to a library, it is a library, just one without any books."
"Come on, Aleina, "Sky said, throwing up her hands. "You and Jhelnae have that big room with a turret and a private bath. Kuhl and I each just have one small little bedroom. We need this library for our detective agency."
"You know," the half-elf said. "You say our detective agency. But I only worked on the first case. You solved the one for Remalia Haventree yesterday by yourself and came up with whatever your theory is on the Dock Ward killings on your own also."
"Is it my fault Dawnbringer makes you do those morning training sessions?" the tabaxi asked. "It just happened to be when the clients came in."
"I did not come back here to listen to you argue the library," Ront snarled. "I was told this would be about the Dock Ward killings. So tell me about that. Without any more creative retellings!"
"Fine," Sky said in a tone indicating it was not fine. "Aleina came in this morning. She wasn't happy with the plan to use Kuhl as bait. Shanathera, in a dream, told her to hire me. So she did."
She pointed to two copper coins sitting at one corner of her desk.
"Shanathera?" Kuhl said, giving the aasimar a confused look. "The celestial guide who visits your dreams?"
"Sometimes visits my dreams," Aleina said. "And only when I sleep under the moonlight."
"We spent a cold night up on the turret for that advice," Jhelnae said.
"You didn't have to come up with me," the aasimar said. "I told you that."
The half-drow shrugged and gave a reassuring smile.
In truth it hadn't been so cold. They'd broken out their bedrolls and had plenty of blankets. Jhelnae would be happy to be back in her bed tonight, but it had been sort of fun to sleep out on their turret.
Ront barked out something in orcish, presumably a curse.
"I was brought back here because she had a dream about hiring her?" he asked.
He jabbed a finger at Aleina and Sky in turn, but his questioning glare was directed at Kuhl.
It was the aasimar who answered.
"Why are you pointing and saying that like we are crazy?" she asked, eyes narrowing.
"Because you are crazy!" the orc yelled. "You even said you didn't even know if this dream guide was even real…"
"Actually said I was mostly sure she was real," Aleina said.
"…and she…she runs a detective agency where she charges two copper nibs a case," Ront finished.
"I wanted everyone to be able to afford it," the tabaxi said from behind her desk. "Not everyone can afford Vincent Trench's prices at the Tiger's Eye."
"We're not crazy," Aleina said. "You know what is crazy? Having a plan that involves using yourself as bait for a killer who has already decapitated four people! I kept saying that and saying that, but you and Kuhl are dead set on that stupid plan."
She winced, probably not liking her word choice.
"We've been over this," Kuhl said, shaking his head and sighing. "Those other four were not trained soldiers of Evereska. It will be different this time."
"You don't know they weren't trained," Aleina said. "Anyone can get surprised. Even Sky, as fast as she is, can get surprised. Tell him, Sky."
The tabaxi stood and walked around her desk in response. For some reason her silence held them all spellbound, and they just watched her in anticipation of what she would say. But she didn't say anything. Quicker than the half-drow could react, Sky lunged at Kuhl, fingers outstretched towards his throat. The half-elf stepped back in surprise, raising his hands in defense. But she pursued, not giving him a moment of respite or a chance to recover. They fell to the hard wooden floor in a tangle. Once, twice, three times the tabaxi's arm rose and fell before Kuhl bucked her and rolled them, securing a hold on a wrist to keep Sky from stopping their turn. Jhelnae thought the tabaxi would end up pinned on the bottom, but she twisted free and kicked out from under the half-elf as they rolled. Both the sudden opponents scrambled to a crouch facing each other, the Kuhl breathing heavily.
"By all that dances!" Jhelnae yelled, mouth finally catching up to events. "What are you doing, Sky? Trying to prove that you actually are crazy?"
"A little over dramatic," Aleina said. "But thanks for proving my point. Anyone can be surprised."
"Of course she missed the point entirely," Ront grunted, shaking his head.
"Missed the point?" the aasimar asked. "Sky just showed how easily someone could be surprised."
"I was going for his throat," the tabaxi said. "Claws sheathed of course. But I never got there. Never landed a clean blow anywhere. His instincts are good. Using himself as bait is not as crazy as it seems."
She shrugged, popped the claws of one hand and admired them, calm as could be, as if she hadn't just been rolling around the dusty floor in a desperate struggle moments before. She stood up.
"Entirely too dramatic," Kuhl said, also standing and dusting himself off. "But thanks for proving my point."
"I wasn't trying to prove anything one way or the other," Sky said. "I didn't know what would happen myself. But I did know that Kuhl is pretty quick. I mean he is no tabaxi, but he is pretty quick and very strong. Anyway, none of that might matter. Because I have my own plan to suggest. One where Kuhl isn't used as bait."
"Then can we finally hear it?" the half-drow asked. "Without you randomly attacking any of us?"
"No promises," Sky said. "The Dock Ward killings. Four murders so far. All elves or half-elves. The first thing to do was to go to each of the sites of each of the killings."
She moved to the desk and pointed to a laid out stylized map of Waterdeep with four X's marked at various places in the Dock Ward. The map looked very familiar.
"Is that the board of our Masked Lords game?" Jhelnae asked, knowing the answer.
"I needed a map to see if there was a pattern based on location," the tabaxi said with a dismissive wave. "Other than them all being in the Dock Ward, I didn't find one."
"Sky…" Aleina growled.
"Oh, relax," Sky said. "It is still playable. It just has a few X's now. I went to each place to look for clues. Didn't find any. There was still some dried blood at the last one from a couple days ago, but that was it."
"Who are the people in the drawings?" Kuhl asked.
Four small sketches on parchment were arrayed on the desktop. One was a featureless woman except for really long hair, another was of a really fat man, a third, the most detailed, was of Sky herself, and the last a man in a loose shirt and pants, with an anchor tattoo on one brawny arm, an eye-patch, a peg leg, and a parrot on his shoulder. Each picture had a series of question marks in the margins.
"Suspects," the tabaxi said. "When I was asking around to find each site, I also asked people if they had any guesses as to who the killer might be."
"You asked random strangers who they thought the killer might be and considered them suspects?" Aleina asked, a hint of despair in her voice.
"It's my method," Sky said.
"Crazy," Ront said. "And you hired her. Which makes you crazy too. And also makes that guide in your dreams not real."
"Let her finish," Jhelnae said, coming to her friend's defense.
Not that she really disagreed with Ront. She'd called Sky crazy herself all the time. But Derendil had said something once, 'though this be madness there is method in it.' The half-drow couldn't even remember what the cursed quaggoth had been talking about, but that phrase perfectly described Sky.
"The one with the long hair is Laeral Silverhand," the tabaxi said. "I don't really know what she looks like, but people said she has long silver hair, the next one is someone called Mirt the Moneylender…"
"Hold on," Kuhl said. "Laeral Silverhand? The Open Lord of Waterdeep? One of the Chosen of Mystra who fought in the Evereska-phaerimm war. She is one of your suspects?"
"It's what a dockside worker said when I asked his opinion," Sky said, shrugging.
"I am almost too afraid to ask," the aasimar said. "But why did you draw a picture of yourself?"
"A fishmonger said for all he knew it could be me," the tabaxi said, tail lashing. "And I thought maybe he was right. Maybe my evil twin from another dimension has made it to our reality and was committing the murders. But it isn't a strong possibility."
"About as likely as Laeral Silverhand," the half-elf sighed, shaking his head.
"Less likely than that," Sky said. "Because that fishmonger was a real jerk. He said he didn't give out free samples and didn't suffer beggars and told me to go away and stop bothering him."
"Well," Ront grunted. "This has been a waste of time."
"What about the last drawing?" the half-drow found herself asking, even though it was looking more and more like Ront was right.
"That is a sailor," the tabaxi said, stating the obvious. "There was an old man watching the ships load and unload. And he said, 'Look here cat girlie. The killings started suddenly. Nothing then one, two, three, four. And they're all in the Dock Ward. So, the killer is probably a sailor, see, or someone who came on one of these ships. You find out which ship, you'll be closer to finding your killer.'"
The group went silent. Ront, Kuhl, Aleina, and Jhelnae traded glances.
"That actually makes sense," Ront conceded.
"It did to me as well," Sky said. "Which is why I went to one of the Harbor Master booths and asked them which ships had come into port just before the first killing and were still in dock as of the last killing."
"Sky, you are brilliant!" the aasimar said, throwing a triumphant grin at Ront and Kuhl.
She put an arm around the tabaxi and gestured to include both of them.
"Not crazy by the way," Aleina said, then released Sky. "So what did you learn?"
"The Harbor Master's office wouldn't tell me anything…at first," the tabaxi said. "The guy at the booth said a little coin might gain his cooperation and I told him I never carried any."
This was mostly true, the half-drow knew, and when Sky did have some coin, she spent it almost immediately.
"So, I told him I would wait until he changed his mind and he sent one a runner to call a Watch Officer on me," the tabaxi said. "And they said they were going to haul me off for harassing a city official."
"So, you didn't learn what ships have been in harbor during the murders," the aasimar said. "Well, we can go back. Bring some coin to the greedy bastard. Still better than using Kuhl as bait."
"Oh, I got the information I needed," Sky said. "Eventually."
"Sky…" Kuhl sighed and put fingers to his temples and rubbed for a moment. "Please do not tell me you stole the dock logbook and ran away. Because even if you got away with your magic boots, you're still a tabaxi in a city without many tabaxi. They will track you down."
"Didn't even cross my mind," the tabaxi said. "I said I wasn't harassing anyone, just hanging around, and they said I couldn't do that unless I had business there. Then I pointed to a street minstrel and asked why he was allowed to stay, and they said his business was crowd entertainment. So, I started my own performance."
"Street performance?" Jhelnae asked. "What did you do?"
"Cartwells," the tabaxi said, shrugging. "Flips. That sort of stuff. But that made the officer of the Watch mad, and he talked to some kids, and they picked up garbage and started throwing it at me. You would recognize them, Jhelnae, a boy, a girl, and a tiefling."
"The pickpockets from the dram," the half-drow said, jaw clenching. "I told you we shouldn't have given them any money. If I see them again, I'm blasting them. Not enough to injure, but it is definitely going to sting."
"I thought I smelled the hint of something when I put my arm around you," Aleina said, wrinkling her nose. "You didn't dodge everything they threw at you, did you?"
Sky shook her head. "Most of it. But I made sure to dodge as dramatically as possible and the growing crowd loved it. Pretty soon it wasn't just the three kids throwing, everyone wanted to try. I started having so much fun, I forgot all about why I started the street performance."
"I see what happened," the half-elf said. "The Harbor Master official and the Watch officer were so impressed with your skill, they shared the information with you."
The tabaxi shook her head again.
"I'd stripped off my long-sleeved shirt to move better and stay cool," she said. "And passerby's tossed coins onto it. The Harbor Master official and Watch officer suddenly stopped me and said I could trade the accumulated pile for the information I wanted."
"Now that I believe," Ront said, giving a grunting chuckle and a tusk filled smile. "So how many boats? You better not tell me more than a dozen. Because I did not listen to all that to find out you really learned nothing."
"There are three ships that came in just before the first murder and are still in port," Sky said. "The Coin Maiden's Glory out of Baldur's Gate, the Clockwork's Bounty out of Neverwinter, and the Sea Maiden's Faire out of Luskan. That last is three ships that are part of a fleet of a traveling carnival. They set up on one of the bigger docks. A big tent showing off performers but also clockwork animals and people."
"You've already been to the three ships," Jhelnae guessed. "Well six if you count the last one as another three. And you already have a suspicion as to which one holds the killer."
The tabaxi nodded.
"I already went to all three," she said. "And I can't say for sure that the killer is part of the Sea Maiden's Faire. I couldn't get into the tent to watch the performances because I didn't have coins for entry. But I looked around, and the entire time I was there, none of the sailors on the two ships docked came ashore. They just watched from the deck, shading their eyes from the sun."
"That is suspicious?" the half elf asked.
"Kuhl, Kuhl, Kuhl, Kuhl, Kuhl," Sky chided, shaking her head slowly from side to side. "I can tell you were raised in a landlocked city and worked as a caravan guard. "But like I told you all in the Skewered Dragon, I come from Maztica from across the Trackless Sea. I know sailors. And there isn't one alive that can resist the allure of shore leave. So, there is definitely something suspicious about this Sea Maiden's Faire."
Once again, I don't know if this chapter works. This is not what I had planned. I planned a night battle with the Dock Ward killer. Had it all plotted out in my head. But whenever I tried to write it, the ever infuriating Aleina, kept popping into my head and saying, "No way I would have gone along with this plan. NO WAY!"
And I kept saying, "Listen...this is great. He levitates up to the roof and you follow him and you have a solo battle with him up there and you WIN a very desperate battle. You get a totally heroic moment that is all YOURS. So quit complaining."
But she would not shut up! I was stuck. I couldn't seem to make any progress...until Aleina popped back in and said, "Okay, I have an alternative for you. It involves Sky. What you should do is..."
And then it all flowed out no problem. But I'm not sure if it works! Just because I met no resistance with this route doesn't mean it is interesting in the least. So let me know...and if you say it doesn't work then I'll be able to hopefully rework it back to what I had originally planned...