Chapter Twenty-Five: Alibi and House Hremorson

…

Navi's approach to this case felt both right and wrong to Link. He had to admit that, for the time being, it was logical to assume that Fiametta Hremorson was the target in spite of the fact that she had at least two other friends who could have been victims instead. Should she not be the target, it would mean they had two, perhaps four or five, other victims waiting for this sharpshooter to try his luck again. He never thought he would have to do so much prying into the nobility this fast in Homicide. Even then, experience on the streets taught him that the nobles were not always forthcoming with details of their personal life. He expected that he might have to consult Layla again, this time with a list that was sure to make her wonder what was going on with the nobility.

He tried to dismiss the idea that this shooting was similar to Yoanna Merrill's death, mostly on the premise that he was still dwelling on the fact that they had not been able to close that case and arrest a suspect. He was willing to accept the fact that this sort of public murder was something that had not happened in a long time, but his mind wanted desperately to connect the two. The possibility was remote, given that this shooting had a different tactic. For this shooting, the gunman was much more exposed since he had chosen to fire from the top of a building; unless he was a student who could carry around a long gun without arousing suspicion (hardly likely in any case; there was hardly a person who would hear a gunshot and think nothing of someone carrying a rifle down the stairs and out the door), there was too much of a chance that the gunman would be seen leaving the building. That fact contrasted sharply with the killer in the Merrill case, who had used one of the Thieves' Guild's escape routes to reduce the likelihood of being caught. The distance was also a factor, Yoanna Merrill having been shot from a shorter distance and without much obstruction while Hremorson had been shot from seclusion on top of a building with the potential to hit the fountain. Link had a sense that this new gunman had a knack for risk, perhaps even a desire for it.

It must have been about mid-afternoon when the inspector returned to the classroom. "Detective Sergeant?" he said upon entering. Link, who was playing with a chalkboard eraser to alleviate his boredom, quickly returned the eraser to the chalkboard's tray.

"Yes, Inspector?" Navi asked, looking up from her notes.

"I have the address for House Hremorson," he said as he laid down a piece of paper on the lectern in front of her. "I also got word back from the boys checking the gun club."

"I assume nothing has been reported missing," Navi said.

The inspector shrugged. "Not even a cap missing," he said.

Navi nodded and picked up the paper. "Given that we may be dealing with a professional, they would likely prefer their own weapon to simply grabbing one up from the club," she said. She paused to look at the address on the paper. "Anything else?"

The inspector shook his head. "We've released the witnesses, and one of my sergeants should be about done getting information from the other girls. I have other officers expanding the search off-campus, but I suspect our shooter is long gone."

"You'd think someone would've caught sight of him leavin'," Link commented.

"You'd think," the inspector said, "but with people panicking left and right, no one noticed a thing."

"Has there been any interference from the staff?" Navi asked.

"Interference?" the inspector repeated in a confused tone.

"We were told that the staff here has a tendency to focus more on the school's reputation rather than the fact that a crime has taken place," Navi explained.

"Oh, that, huh? Well, I think this is one thing they can't really do anything about. A couple of the teachers I talked to seemed like they wanted to avoid accusing any students of the shooting. Of course, since we know the shooter was a professional, it doesn't really seem to be that meddlesome. If you've talked to these people as often as I have, you get that droning, cautious tone that tells you they're trying to steer the blame elsewhere." He gave one hand a dismissive wave. "But this doesn't seem like the kind of thing they need to defend themselves from anyway, unless one of the teachers was the shooter."

"Y'know, we didn't really think of that," Link spoke up. "We figure it couldn't be a student, but a teacher could have a side-job as a professional shooter."

"Maybe, but we've already accounted for all the teachers that were here at the time," the inspector said. "And none of my officers reported finding any sort of gun when they cleared the building." Link made a disappointed sound and glanced away.

"Hey, Detective Sergeant?" Navi and the inspector looked at the doorway to find one of the uniformed sergeants, one who had reported to her earlier, leaning inside. "We may have something."

"What is it?" Navi asked.

"Well… I don't know how it goes as far as motive is concerned," the sergeant said as he stepped inside, his eyes glancing down at his notepad as he spoke, "but Miss Hremorson's friends did mention that she had recently broken up with her boyfriend."

Navi gave him a disappointed look. "I don't really think that would be the kind of thing a person would kill over," she told him.

"Well, yeah, I'd agree, ma'am," the sergeant said, "but this was a bad break up."

Link shrugged and asked, "How bad could it have been?"

"His last words to her were 'If I had a gun, I'd blow your head off right now'."

Link's eyebrows rose. "Wow, that's… that's a hell of a break up."

"Her friends think he meant it," the sergeant continued. "They said that both of them are hotheads. She recently found out he was cheating on her, so she broke it off. Yesterday, he confronted her about it in the courtyard outside, they both screamed, and, well… he was louder and nastier."

Navi folded her arms. "Does this former boyfriend have a name?" she asked.

"Harland Vadas," the sergeant replied.

Navi heaved a sigh. She did not believe that it was so easy, but it was something to investigate. She turned to the inspector and said, "If he's still on the campus, have him brought here, Inspector. Otherwise, we'll need his home address."

The inspector nodded and said, "I'll see what I can do." He gestured at the sergeant as he spoke on his way out the door, "Let's go find a hotheaded boyfriend, Will."

"Highlight of my day, boss," the sergeant replied as he followed.

Navi glanced over at Link. "I don't suppose you believe a hotheaded boyfriend arranged this, either, do you?" she asked.

"Before talkin' to him?" Link replied. "It's a pretty weak lead. His motivation relies on what sounds like murderous stupidity, and he probably should've already been jailed if he was really like that. Really, it sounds like she'd had more reason to have him killed."

Navi nodded. "We'll take a look at this lead before contacting her family."

…

Nearly an hour later, the inspector brought Harland Vadas to the classroom. Vadas was a blond-haired young man wearing a wool sweater vest over a loose, white shirt and black slacks. It was an outfit common enough for young men attending the academy.

In the hour that it had taken for him to show up, Link and Navi had rearranged the smaller desks to make a larger table. Navi sat in a chair on the opposite side while Link leaned against the window behind her. Navi indicated the chair that had been left on the other side from her and said, "Please have a seat, Mister Vadas. Inspector, would you shut the door on the way out?"

"Yes, ma'am," the inspector replied as Vadas took the seat and set a leather book bag on the desk in front of him.

Once the door was closed, Navi set her notepad on the desk in front of her. "Mister Vadas, I am Detective Sergeant Navi of the Watch," she said. "Do you know why you're here?"

"Um… no-not really, ma'am," the young man admitted.

"Did you hear about the shooting this morning?"

"Yeah, I think I heard about someone getting killed," Vadas said, his tone a little confused. "I-I think it was a girl, maybe?"

"The victim's name was Fiametta Hremorson. And she was killed."

Vadas paled. Then he appeared to remember something and used a hand to shield his eyes. "Oh, no…"

"So, do you understand why you're here, then?"

He heaved a sigh. "Yeah, I think I do."

"Miss Hremorson's friends informed us that you leveled a death threat against her. Something you said to her in the middle of an argument yesterday, correct?"

Vadas dropped his hand to look at Navi. "Yeah, but I didn't do anything," he told her. "I've never held a gun in my life!"

"Why did you confront her yesterday?"

Vadas grunted and scratched at his hair as he thought. "I don't know…" he said. "I just… I got a little mad because she just broke up with me and wouldn't let me say anything to her about it. I wanted to give my side of the story."

"What was your side of the story? What reason did she have to break up with you?"

His immediate response was to heave a sigh. "She… she saw my tutor kissing me," he said. "I mean, don't you think I'd have that kind of effect on a girl? I'm a handsome guy, right?"

"You're asking a disinterested party," Navi said. Then she glanced over her shoulder at Link. "Constable?"

Link shrugged and said, "I suppose he's good-lookin'. This isn't the kinda thing to ask another guy, Detective Sergeant."

"I'm inclined to think the other Homicide detectives are just more secure with themselves than you…" Navi mumbled, her hair changing to a lighter shade of blue. She turned back to Vadas. "So, you wanted to set the record straight with Miss Hremorson, then?"

Vadas quickly nodded. "Yes, ma'am," he said.

"So, how did that conversation lead into you threatening to kill her?"

Vadas gave a frustrated grunt. "She… wouldn't listen to me," he said. "She was still mad about the day before. I know what it was. She told her friends about it, so they just sat around and badmouthed me until she decided to just cut me out. Who wouldn't be mad at that sort of thing? She wasn't listening to me, and… I got a little mad at her and had the idea to say something that she would listen to. The-the words were out of my mouth before I thought about it."

Navi contemplated him for a moment. "When Miss Hremorson caught you and your tutor kissing, what happened? Did you try to talk to her about it then?"

"Uh… actually, I, uh…" He paused and raked a hand through his hair. "I-I wasn't sure what to do about it at first. I-I thought I'd… try to let her simmer down. Give her some time to calm herself before I tried talking to her. So… I… I finished my tutoring session, went to my last classes, then went home."

"What about yesterday? What did you do after your argument?"

Vadas grimaced in response. "Well, I, uh…" Navi leaned back and crossed her arms. His face showed a moment of worry before he bowed his head. "I, uh… I went to my tutor for our… usual session. And… when it started happening again… I let it."

Navi raised an eyebrow. "I assume you mean you made out with your tutor." Vadas nodded. "How long did that last?"

Again, Vadas raked a hand through his hair. "Well… when our session was over… I-I went to my last class. Then… I met her on my way home."

"The tutor?"

"Yes." He looked between Navi and Link. "Uh, look, is… is any of this… Will you have to tell anyone about all of this?"

Navi's next words were emphasized by her hair subtly turning crimson. "Mister Vadas, in spite of what you may think, my partner and I have better things to do than gossip about your personal life. We are in the middle of a homicide investigation; our priority is the fact that your former girlfriend was killed in the courtyard outside in front of hundreds of people and you threatened to kill her when you spoke to her the previous day. So whatever poor decision you think you'll cover up for the sake of not being a subject of schoolyard rumors, let me remind you that not talking to us is going to make us dig the truth out. That is how your private life gets exposed."

"Okay, okay," Vadas quickly said, holding up his hands to stop her. He still hesitated. Then he took in a deep breath and clapped his hands on his lap. "I… brought my tutor home with me. We… we slept together last night. We… had sex."

Navi gave him a disappointed look. "Naturally, she undressed you."

Vadas raked his hair once again. "Okay, so, I admit it, I was the one making the moves. Fiametta wants to do things at her own pace. She didn't want to say anything to our families until we stepped up the relationship. How's a man supposed to wait for a woman to sleep with him?"

"As I understand it, there's supposed to be some kind of faith involved," Navi replied in a dry tone.

"Just how long were you and Miss Hremorson together?" Link asked.

Vadas shook his head in disappointment. "Seven months. And, well… it seems like we spent about as much time arguing as we did making out."

"What did you argue about?" Navi asked.

"Stupid things. She'd catch me looking at other girls, and… I'd accuse her of doing the same thing whenever a guy walked past, but… dear Goddesses, it was idiotic. I know she busted me all the time. I just wish I could've actually caught her once."

"So, if we asked your tutor about the past couple of days, she'll give us the same story?" Navi asked.

"I don't know; she should. She doesn't come from a big House like me, so we weren't really that… open with what we were doing."

"What is her name?"

Vadas gave her a stressed look. Then he sighed and said, "Clover Raneri."

Navi jotted the name down. "Okay, then, Mister Vadas, you may go."

"Yeah…" Vadas said as he stood. He gave off an air of defeat as he picked up his book bag and slowly walked to the door. Navi almost wanted to hustle him out the door, but she waited until he opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

Then she heaved a sigh and turned in her seat toward Link. "Well? Any remarks of wisdom?"

"His love life's shot to hell, and he's full of shit," Link said, disappointment prevalent in his tone. "I doubt he'd had the idea to kill her, much less know where to find someone to do it. I know noble kids are petty, but this whole break up is too recent to be the cause."

"I agree, but I am curious now," Navi said. "If Miss Hremorson is as confrontational as him, then Sergeant Aiola might be right; she probably made an enemy that would be willing to shoot her."

"Uh, assumin' we're still certain she was the target," Link pointed out.

Navi nodded. "It's looking a little less likely, now that I think about it. Our professional shot into a group and happened to get the girl that had just had a bad break up. But you would think that the professional would wait until he had a clear shot. Or maybe wait until she was alone. It seems a little reckless to shoot at a group expecting to hit one person." She folded her arms. "This is confusing."

"Maybe he's just ridiculously confident in his skill," Link suggested. "Or he just couldn't find an opportunity to shoot her while she was alone."

"Anything else you need, Detective Sergeant?" the inspector asked.

Navi and Link glanced over to see him standing in the doorway. Navi sighed and stood up. "Have Sergeant, uh… what was his name, the man who interviewed Miss Hremorson's friends?"

"Sergeant Ingelson."

"Have Sergeant Ingelson track down…" She paused to look at her notepad. "… Clover Raneri. He says she can alibi him for yesterday following his confrontation with Miss Hremorson. Have him call in to Homicide once he double-checks. For the time being, we're done here, Inspector."

"What's your next stop?" the inspector asked.

"We'll be speaking to her parents at House Hremorson," Navi said, pulling the address he had given her out of her pocket to show him. "Have your sergeant leave a message for us. And, unless you've turned up anything else, I think the scene is ready to be released."

The inspector heaved a half-groan, half-sigh. "Yeah, we haven't found anything else. I'll start pulling my men out."

Link pushed away from the window as Navi stood. "You think this'll be anything like visiting Lord Merrill?" he asked.

"I can't really say," Navi said with a sigh. Then she realized something. "Do you think Layla could look into House Hremorson for us?"

Link gave a quick grimace. "I don't know," he said, "she might. I may enjoy causing her a little frustration every now and then, but I don't think we should tap the guild too much."

"I'm considering it if nothing turns up from questioning Miss Hremorson's parents," Navi said as she led him out the door. "If we don't have any leads, we may move to the other girls and investigate if they have anyone interested in shooting them."

"Boy, this is gonna be a lot of runnin' around."

…

They found Constable White nodding off in the seat of their transport. Navi gave her the address and prompted her to get underway. The ride was a little over half an hour of them throwing out a few ideas between them only to have them eventually reason that nothing made sense without further evidence. Navi carried an air of expectation for this outcome, repeating Wheatland's previous warning about Homicide's closing rate for cases. Although he did not openly say anything, the sentiment irritated Link.

House Hremorson was on Silver Road, a somewhat affluent area bordering the residences own by the nobility in the Autumn District. The property occupied what amounted to a whole city block, considerably smaller than some of the other residences in the area but still affording the House a decent amount of room. The home itself was a three-story building of red brick at the center of the property. The boundary fence was a combination of flagstone and iron bars. As White spoke to the caretaker in the gatehouse, Link spotted a bronze plate on one side of the gate. It must have been the family seal, a letter "H" stamped into the image of a flame with the family quote arranged in an arc over the flame. The quote read "There can no great smoke arise, but there must be some fire". Link had to admit to being a little confused by the archaic wording.

White brought the carriage to a stop at the front of a wide, open porch sporting outdoor furniture. Link was amazed to see that the furniture looked to be hand-carved, a short table and two equally-short chairs with an extra leg rest and a back that reclined much further than any chair he had seen before, both covered in thick cloth for comfort.

When Navi knocked on the door, there was a moment of delay before the door opened. A big-eyed young woman wearing a cleaning uniform peered out from a small gap in the door. "Yes?" she asked.

"I'm Detective Sergeant Navi of the Watch, Miss," Navi said. "We're here to see Lord Hremorson regarding his daughter Fiametta."

"Um… I-I'm afraid that my lord is… unavailable at the moment," was the young maid's answer. "How-however, my Lady Hremorson said she will take visitors for the time being."

"As long as we can speak to one of her parents, that will be fine," Navi said.

The young lady nodded and pulled the door open further. "This way, please."

Upon stepping inside, Link could smell it in the air. It was not strong, but the scent of wood graced the house much like he could remember when he visited House Brettson. The entry hall sported a pair of plate armor suits flanking the door as well as a small collection of medals and trophies in a display case to the right of the door. As they passed by, Link leaned over to look at some of the trophies. Jousting and combat trophies dominated the display. He also noticed one medal with a Triforce emblem overlaying a pair of crossed hammers and surrounded by a banderole reading "Order of the Hammer, Knight Fourth-Class". It caused him to blink. It could not be a coincidence.

The maid brought them to a parlor, and Link's doubts faded upon noticing a chair in one corner of the room, placed behind another set of chairs as if to weaken its visibility. It was a high-backed chair with fur upholstery of yellow with black stripes, the same gaudy chair he had seen in Reba Brettson's home. He swore in his head, having difficulty believing that there were two idiots with the same taste in furniture.

"My Lady," the maid said as she crossed to the desk at the back of the room. "The Watch is here about young Miss Fiametta."

Link turned to quickly take his place beside Navi. A figure rose from the desk. Lady Hremorson had a willowy build which she covered with a poet blouse under a stiff-looking bodice and a pair of men's dress slacks, the bodice and slacks a deep shade of red against the shirt's white. Her features closely matched Fiametta, her skin just a slightly darker shade and her hair black, straight, and draped with purpose over one shoulder. Her eyes were almost black. She seemed upset to see the two Homicide officers.

Then her features softened as she told the maid, "Thank you, Mabel. Please prepare some drinks; I am sure the Watch officers have been quite busy today."

The maid nodded. "Yes, My Lady."

Lady Hremorson waited for the maid to leave before telling the pair, "Thank you for coming, Detectives. I am Afra Hremorson."

"My Lady, I am Detective Sergeant Navi of the Watch," Navi said. She indicated Link. "This is my partner, Constable Fieldview." Link gave a nod of greeting.

"Please have a seat," Afra said, indicating the chairs in front of the desk. She waited until they had sat down before resuming her own seat. She pushed aside something she had been reading and relaxed against the back of the chair, although Link had to admit she did not look any more comfortable than them. "I must admit, when we were informed by the school that Fiametta had been killed, I could not believe it. It was so sudden."

Navi nodded and said, "I can imagine your shock, My Lady, and you have our condolences."

"The school was not able to give details of her death. Could you enlighten me?"

"My Lady, sh—"

Afra raised a hand. "Please, do not," she said. "The title is my husband's; I have no interest in listening to the same words over and over right now. I feel no nobler than a pet at the moment."

"Yes, ma'am," Navi said. "I'm afraid your daughter was shot in the heart. It appears that she was killed by a marksman on top of one of the school buildings."

"A marksman…" Afra breathed, a look of shock decorating her face. "Why would a marksman want to kill my daughter?"

"We had hoped to find answers here," Navi admitted. "The marksman evaded the Watch; we do not know who did it."

"Do… you think that she was killed on purpose?" Afra asked.

"We cannot be certain. She was surrounded by friends at the time; one of them may have been the target. For now, we are assuming that your daughter was the intended victim."

Afra sighed and rubbed her forehead for a moment. "I have to admit… Fiametta gets her hotheadedness from her father. Both quick with anger, both getting out a word before they can think about it. She's… admittedly a work in progress. I cannot say that she might have made herself much of a lady… but she certainly knew how to be a strong woman. I think my husband and I would have been happier with that anyway."

"Did your daughter make any enemies at the academy?"

Afra put a sad smile on her face. "I'm sure she knew how to ruffle feathers here and there. It is not as if we had to go there every day because she cold-cocked another girl. That only happened twice."

Both Navi and Link put on shocked expressions. "She… you mean she actually punched another girl?" Navi asked.

Afra almost wanted to laugh as she replied, "Twice. Insipid young ladies, as I recall. You know? The kind that every young noble wants to become."

"Do you know what those conflicts were about?"

"Boys. These young girls seem to do anything to make one another jealous, even seducing a classmate's boyfriend. Fiametta, though… she may be hotheaded, but she also values loyalty. Not that a boyfriend wants to be around someone who would punch them in the nose if they let their eyes stray. She lost a couple of boyfriends because these girls thought they could show her up by stealing them. But only a fool with a small grasp on life brags to the Wolfos 'I have your nose'."

"Do you believe that perhaps one of her assault victims could be involved?"

Afra gently shook her head. "Those happened two years ago. The first one was subject to rumors that Fiametta was violent when she was angry. Not necessarily unwarranted, mind you. But, after the second time, Fiametta was not troubled by them any further. No, Detective, I am not inclined to believe that they would pose such a threat to her."

"Would there be anyone else you know of that might retaliate against something she did?"

"I understand that her last boyfriend, Harland Vadas, threatened to kill her just yesterday."

Navi nodded and said, "We are well aware of this; we've already interviewed Mister Vadas. He may be a hothead himself, but we aren't really convinced he had anything to do with this. We are checking an alibi as we speak."

"Then… I am afraid that I have no other candidates for you."

"What about your husband? Is he at odds with any other House who might do this sort of thing?"

"My husband is a knight and a competitor," Afra said. She indicated the entry hall with a hand. "I am sure you saw his trophies on your way in."

"Jousting and personal combat," Link spoke up. "Tough games."

"As much as he would rather not admit it… he is a mediocre competitor at best. His victories have been few and far between."

"And you are certain he has no standing rivalry with any other noble?" Navi asked.

"Only the friendly rivalry between him and his fellows. This House is mostly built on his duty to the Royal Family; the competitions are a diversion of his, something he does not take as seriously."

"Where is your husband now?" Navi asked. "Your maid said he was unavailable. Does he know about your daughter?"

Afra sighed and stood up. "Follow me," she said.

Link and Navi exchanged glances before standing and following Lady Hremorson out the door behind the parlor. She took them through a small study and into a dining room with a large window facing the rear of the property. She guided them to the window and indicated something outside. Link and Navi were surprised to see a pair of workshops. One was closed while the other one had one door open. In front of the open workshop was a man hammering something with such force it was a miracle he did not break the wood he was using. He had chestnut-brown hair and a full beard. His shirt had been cast aside, revealing a frame thick with muscles made for work. And work they did, leaving the man coated in sweat.

"He says he's making a coffin for our daughter." Link and Navi turned to see Lady Hremorson holding back her desire to cry, her eyes welling and her voice cracking. "When my husband's upset… he makes things. When Fiametta was six, she once became so riled up that she punched him in the genitals. He went out back and built her a dresser. When he's like this… he won't stop. I suspect… when he's through, it will hit him hard. She's the… She's the only one… we could have." Navi and Link backed up a step. It seemed to be what Lady Hremorson had been waiting for because, in the next second, she fell to her knees crying as one hand pressed against the glass.