Scene III: On the Right Track

Malone had been filling Aldaz in on what they had learned in the jungle when a guard rushed up to them.

"Sir," he huffed as he bowed deeply, "his friend was found hurt in the street. They have taken her to Maia."

Before Aldaz could reply Malone immediately jumped in. "Is Marguerite all right? What happened to her?"

"There were signs of an attack, but that is all."

Malone gritted his teeth as he followed the guard and Aldaz to the healer. Malone knew they had made progress but obviously they were on the right track if the murderer would risk revealing himself to harm Marguerite. He should have known better than to split up and leave Marguerite alone. She could handle herself yes, but it was hard to defend yourself against an unknown enemy. Malone sent up a few prayers that Marguerite wasn't badly hurt as they approached the healer's home.

Malone didn't have to worry too long before he heard Marguerite's voice all the more clearer the closer he got.

"…fine. How many times do I have to tell you? What are you lot looking at? Haven't you ever seen a woman taking a nap before?"

Malone and Aldaz entered the house and made their way through the crowd to find Marguerite trying to get up from a bed and a determined older woman keeping her from rising. "In the middle of the street? You are not fooling anyone. You will stay there until I deem you fit to leave."

Seeing Malone, Marguerite tried to get up again but found the same surprisingly strong arm push her back down. The healer shook her head and made her way to Aldaz. "Una mujer loca," she muttered to herself.

Without her there, Marguerite sat up without opposition. "Finally!"

Malone sat down next to her bed. "How are you, Marguerite?"

"Much better without restraints." Marguerite rose to her feet only to find her head swim and her vision hampered by spots dancing in front of her eyes. She felt steady hands guide her gently back down to the bed. "Thanks," she said as she took a deep breath to steady the nausea that came out of nowhere. Classic signs of a concussion, she thought to herself, just what I needed right now. Opening her eyes, she saw Malone's worried face. "I stood up too fast," she offered but could tell by his skeptical look that he didn't believe it.

She was about to try standing again when a guard entered and went to talk to Aldaz. She saw them both glance over in her direction which she deduced meant they were either talking about her or Roxton. "Malone, go see what they're talking about."

Malone nodded his head and made his way over just as the guard was leaving. "Problem, Aldaz?"

Aldaz sighed. "Roxton has heard your friend was hurt and now he is making demands to see either her or myself. I am on my way to talk to him now."

"Can I come with you? He's probably very worried and I can let him know Marguerite's not seriously hurt."

"Very well."

It only took Aldaz and Malone a few minutes to reach Burka's jail. It was a relative term as it seemed that Burka didn't have too many citizens that needed solitary confinement. It was a small building adjacent to the guards' barracks with a few barred rooms inside.

Approaching Roxton's cell, Malone couldn't help but sigh when he saw Roxton sitting on his bed with his head in his hands. He wished this mess could have happened to someone other than Roxton. Having heard footsteps, Roxton looked up. Malone could see the stress of recent events had taken his toll on him. Having nothing to do but sit and worry, Roxton looked like he had aged ten years in just a few hours.

"Malone, how is she?"

Malone reached through the bars and put a comforting arm on his uninjured shoulder. "Don't worry, Roxton, she's fine. She's already conscious and making the healer regret she let her inside her home. Just a bump on the head, that's all." He smiled and tried to alleviate Roxton's worry but he could see his face had turned hard. "We'll find who did this to you and who hurt Marguerite. Don't worry, Roxton."

Roxton nodded. "Thank you, Malone. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to Aldaz alone."

"Sure, if that's…" Alone? Malone thought to himself, What could he possibly have to say to Aldaz that he wouldn't want me to hear? Unless…he wouldn't dare! "Oh no you don't, Roxton! I won't let you do it!"

Roxton, startled at Malone's sudden outburst, raised an eyebrow. "Won't let me do what, Malone?"

Malone turned to Aldaz. "Would it be possible for me to have a few minutes alone with Roxton?"

Aldaz glanced between the two and saw that both of them were now angry. "Yo no se, it would not be very wise right now."

"It'll just take a minute, you can have the guard stand outside if you like."

Considering it for a few moments, Aldaz shrugged his shoulders and relented. "Cinco minutos, no mas."

"Thank you."

As soon as the door was closed, Malone rounded on Roxton. "Did you really think I'd let you turn yourself in for a crime you didn't commit? And what do you think Marguerite would do once she found out? If you weren't already sentenced to death, she'd kill you!"

"Look, Malone, I was only-"

"No! I don't care how you justify it. Marguerite and I are adults and we chose to stay here and help an innocent friend who was accused of a crime he didn't commit. Don't push us away now. This is a time when you need your friends the most."

Roxton shook his head. "Don't you see, Malone? He already had the opportunity to hurt Marguerite. The next time he might not stop at a blow to the head. If confessing will save you both then I won't hesitate."

"How dare you?"

Roxton almost had to strain to hear his words, but he heard them. "Excuse me?"

"I said, how dare you? What makes you think your life is worth any less than ours? If Marguerite or I were in that cell you know damn well you wouldn't just leave us there and walk away. How dare you assume that we would even consider doing the same to you?"

"This is different, Malone. I-"

"No. I'm not going to let you continue thinking that what this situation needs is a foolish self-sacrifice. Now I'm sorry this happened to you and I'm sorry that Rani is dead, but it can't be helped. If I could I'd switch places with you but I can't. You'd probably have gotten me out of there already."

Roxton smiled and shook his head. "I have faith in you and Marguerite."

Malone placed his hand on Roxton's shoulder and gave it a heartening squeeze. "Well then let us do what we set out to do. We'll get you out, don't worry."

Roxton nodded. "Just be careful. Please."

"We will. Marguerite will be even more motivated to find who did this if only to return the blow to the head and then some." Malone gave Roxton one more encouraging smile before he walked out the door. Once outside, only grim determination could be seen on his face.

It was a close call. Good thing Marguerite sent me over there, he thought. Marguerite would be furious when she heard what Roxton had been planning on doing. But she needed to know. Half their day was already gone. Once tomorrow night came, Roxton's fate would be sealed. They had to move faster if they wanted to set Roxton free. So far the killer had been a step ahead of them each time. That had to change.

Malone quickly made his way back to the healer and filled Marguerite in on what happened.

"Damn the man! I should have known he'd try something stupid like being noble at a time like this." Marguerite muttered a few things under her breath that Malone didn't catch and began to gather her things.

"Should you be getting up?"

"Maybe not, but I've done a lot of things I should not have before. We don't have time to waste. We have a murderer to catch and a thick-headed man to save. Let's go."

Marguerite raised an arm, which Malone took to help raise her to her feet.

Making their way outside, Malone checked to make sure Marguerite was managing with her concussion. He could tell by the slight grimace on her face that she was in pain, but she seemed steady on her feet. He turned back to look around the streets that were crowded with people going about their daily business. Malone sighed. So many people to rule out, so little time. "So," Malone began, "at this point we have a lot of circumstantial evidence and no suspects."

Marguerite gave Malone a small smile. "Oh, I don't know about that Malone. I have a pretty good idea of where to start."

"Oh?" Malone asked. "You have a suspect?'

Marguerite nodded her head and wished she hadn't when it made the pounding in her skull worse. "Yes, I do. Shall we go have a talk with him?"

"All right," Malone said as he began to follow Marguerite, "and how did you find this mystery suspect?"

"A little birdie told me," Marguerite replied with a grin, "after he knocked me out."

Malone's jaw dropped in shock. "You know who did this to you and you didn't think this information was worth sharing with me? Well, who was it?"

Marguerite rolled her eyes. "Calm down, I didn't see him. I barely had the chance to see knuckles speeding at my face before I went down. But, I was following Aku towards Roxton's cabin when I lost him. It's not a leap in logic to assume he was the one who did it."

"Oh," Malone said as his face fell, "well I guess not. But just because you were following him doesn't mean he did it. It could have been anyone. The real murderer could have seen you in the streets alone and known it was the perfect opportunity to send us a message."

"I know, but most of the town was having lunch together. While I'm not ruling out the possibility of someone else, the odds are against Aku right now. And if it wasn't him, he can start by explaining to me why he was heading for Roxton's cabin."

After asking a few people in town, they found out where Aku's home was and went to pay him a visit. Marguerite knocked on the door and turned to Malone. "Follow my lead."

The door opened revealing a disgruntled and bruised Aku.

"What the hell happened to you?" Marguerite asked.

Aku's brow darkened as he looked the pair of them over.

Malone cleared his throat. "Can we come in?"

Aku opened the door completely and went back inside leaving them on the doorstep.

Marguerite scoffed. "How can we resist such a gracious welcome?"

They walked inside and found Aku sitting at a table and gestured for them to join him.

"Please, sit."

Marguerite had a closer look at Aku as she and Malone sat down. Since the last time she saw him, Aku's face was now sporting several bruises and a split lip while his hands were bruised and scratched up. "Last time I saw you, you were looking healthier."

Aku nodded. "I was attacked not long after you were."

"Who attacked you?" Malone asked.

"Jun."

"Jun? Why would he attack you?"

"Yo no se. Shortly after the commotion of Miss Krux being attacked, I was walking home when Jun stepped in front of me blocking my path. When he did not move I tried to go around him, but he started shouting that I was speaking ill of Rani while his body was not yet cold in the ground. Then he started attacking me. I had no choice but to fight back."

Marguerite scoffed. "You expect us to believe this? Next you'll say you weren't heading to Roxton's cabin before you decided to attack me."

Aku bestowed a rare smile on them after hearing her words. "Of course not."

"So what you're saying is," Malone asked, "that you had nothing to do with Marguerite's injury."

"Oui."

Marguerite crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. "Even if I were to believe that, that still doesn't explain why you were heading towards Roxton's cabin. Leave something behind after you framed him, perhaps?"

Aku appeared confused. "I was not going to his cabin."

"I was following you. That's where you were headed!"

"That may have been the general direction, but that was not my final destination. I was coming to find both of you. To talk."

Marguerite scoffed. "Likely story."

"We were both at lunch, why didn't you talk to us there?" Malone asked.

Aku shrugged, "I did not see you there so I went looking."

"And just what exactly did you want to talk to us about?" Marguerite said with obvious skepticism.

"This has been an unusual day for me. I wake up to find a childhood friend dead, I get attacked in the streets for no reason, and then I come home to find this." Aku reached behind him and placed something on the table in front of him.

"Son of a bitch," Malone breathed out as he reached for Roxton's missing Webley. "Where did you find this?"

"I found it here. Rani's killer is doing to me what he has done to Roxton. I am being made to look guilty."

Marguerite reached over and took the gun from Malone. Opening the chamber, she saw there was a bullet missing. "So this is what you wanted to talk to us about?"

Aku shook his head. "No, I did not find this until after my encounter with Jun. I was coming to offer my help."

"And why would you want to help?" Malone asked. "From what Rani himself told us, you two weren't the very best of friends."

"For the longest time I was not able to forgive him for betraying me, but now that he is dead, I have realized what a fool I have been for all these years. I wanted to make amends for my actions by helping to put his soul at peace."

"Uh huh," Marguerite said with obvious skepticism.

"Je sais, je sais, it looks bad. But I did find this gun here. I had nothing to do with this mess! Let me prove it to you!"

"And how will you do that?" Malone asked.

"I can help you. I know these people better having lived here my entire life. And they treat me a una espectro, a ghost, and I can find information that you may not."

Marguerite turned to Malone. "That's what I love about this place, everyone wants to help!"

"Uh, sure," Malone began, "find out what you can. For now, we have some other things to check out so we need to be going."

"So lovely, chatting with you," Marguerite added before they rose and left.

Back in the streets, Malone sighed. "Looks like we're back at square one."

"What are you talking about?" Marguerite snapped. "If anything, he's more of a suspect now than he was before!"

"He's being framed. He gave us the gun back, how can he be a suspect?"

Marguerite shook her head. "You are so gullible, Malone. It's a wonder you've survived to live this long. We only have his word that he's being framed. Everything points to him!"

"Like what?"

"First of all, we know that Aku didn't like Rani. Aku had plenty of reasons to resent him. Secondly, he has the missing gun in his possession. He knows we're getting close to him so he tells us he found it, and then the suspicion is off him, as simple as that. Thirdly, I was following him when he suddenly disappears and I get knocked out!"

"I don't know," Malone said, "we don't have any proof and I'm not entirely convinced it was him. Someone might be framing him and we'd be playing right into the murderer's hands. We still have so many holes in our theory."

"We're running out of time to save Roxton and if we don't find Rani's killer another innocent person is going to die at his hands! Why are you so quick to take everyone at their word? Don't be naïve, Malone!"

Malone's brow darkened. "And why are you so distrustful? I want to save Roxton just as much as you do, Marguerite, believe me! But if we go around being suspicious and counting everything everyone tells us as lies, it won't get us anywhere and we'll never catch the killer in time. I know we have to treat everyone as a possible suspect, but we can't stick another innocent person in jail just to get Roxton free. Sometimes you have to have a little trust in people."

Marguerite scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I haven't lived this long by trusting people. I've always depended on the one person I could count on, myself."

Malone frowned as he learned something that helped him understand Marguerite a little better. "I'm sorry you've had to live your life that way. But you should know that you can trust me, and the rest of us for that matter. We're your friends and you can count on us."

Marguerite sighed and lowered her arms to her hips. Giving Malone a small shrug of the shoulders in the way of a truce, they started walking.

Malone eyed Roxton's Webley. "You know, it's too bad Challenger isn't here, he could probably lift some fingerprints off this thing."

"Don't be ridiculous, Malone. That has changed hands several times, besides even if Challenger were here, we don't have the right equipment at our disposal. Besides, there are still plenty of things we need to figure out," Marguerite said determinedly. "We still need to figure out how the killer lured Rani outside the town's walls without anyone noticing. I think we should split up and try to find what we can."

Malone nodded. "We'll meet back for dinner. And Marguerite?"

She stopped walking and turned to face him. "Yes?"

"Be careful, will you?"

Marguerite raised an eyebrow. "I am always careful, you just worry about yourself."

Malone shook his head in bemusement as he heard Marguerite mutter under her breath. "Roxton's barely gone…already giving me orders…probably his idea…"

Malone set off in the opposite direction while Marguerite headed to the market place and started chatting with some of the people doing some last minute trading before dinner. As she was talking to one woman at a stand she noticed an older man sitting in a rocking chair looking intently at her. Marguerite excused herself from the woman and made her way over to him.

"Hello, my name is Marguerite Krux. I was wondering if you might be able to help me."

The older man continued to rock in his chair and nodded. "I know who you are and I know what you are looking for."

"You do?"

"You are trying to prove your friend's innocence, yes?"

Marguerite nodded. "Yes, that's right. Can you help me?"

"What do you want to know?"

"Well, do you know why anyone would want to kill Rani? Have you noticed anyone who had a problem with him?"

The older man shook his head. "I did not know him well enough to judge such matters."

Marguerite sighed. "I see. Well, I don't suppose you know a way that Rani or the person who killed him could get out of Burka without the guards seeing them?"

The old man sat silently for a few moments, the only sound between them was the squeaking of his chair. "Très intéressant."

"What's interesting?"

"There is one way out of Burka that would not require passing through the front gates. It was built long ago not after its first being established. Burka was facing its first war against a formidable enemy. The outer walls were breached forcing everyone to seek shelter behind the inner walls. The siege lasted weeks and food was running low on both sides. Luckily the enemy decided to retreat allowing our people to come and rebuild the defenses before they came back. However, in order to prevent such a thing from occurring, the town decided to build a tunnel leading from underneath the center of town that opens up outside town. In case Burka is ever attacked again, the women and children will be able to leave and seek shelter in the hills while our people may be able to leave to replenish supplies or retreat if Burka were ever to fall."

Marguerite listened to the old man with great interest and couldn't believe her luck in stumbling upon this piece of information. "Tell me, is this tunnel still standing?"

"Yes, it is. Burka has had many wars but we have not had cause to use the tunnel in many generations. However, every few years it is inspected to make sure that it has not collapsed."

"And everyone in town knows about this tunnel?"

The man nodded. "Yes, of course."

After Marguerite was able to get a few more details out of the older man about the tunnel's precise location, she thanked him and left him in peace in his rocking chair. Marguerite headed to the center of town. As much as she wanted to go looking for the tunnel, she promised she would meet Malone at dinner. She hoped he'd show up soon and with some useful information. With a possible means of exiting Burka, now all that was left was to find out why Rani would want to leave the town in the middle of the night. All the evidence seemed to point to the fact that he was meeting someone out there and that he knew his killer. The question was, who was Rani expecting?

End Scene III
End Act II

A/N: Next part is coming on Monday so stay tuned!