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Sorry that he's out of spells... He's only a 3rd-level apprentice, and it's late in the day.
Albert thanks you and takes the gold before leaving. You never even got the chance to ask how to get in touch with him again if you wanted to... Stupid stairs distracting you.

The owner joins you in examining the stairs, but it quickly becomes clear that he's just pantomiming the act as he has no clue about carpentry related matters.

Your own investigation does show something unusual. It seems as though the stairs were repaired recently, but the repair work was done with the intention of it only lasting a few days before collapsing. It seems someone wanted this man to fall and die.