What the Stranger Knows.

[agignac]

Rafe confirms what Fenris suspects - the dead man was killed by three magic missiles.

[The Hellbug]

"Hmm, and how do you know none of us"--he gestures to himself and the other recent arrivals--"were here when the crime happened?" Ennius prods, "we weren't, of course, and can all vouch for each others' location--we only just boarded--but how are you certain of that?"

"Oh, furthermore, we saw nobody pass us as we came from the back of the train to here so unless someone could have hidden from us or made it inside that prison car, your culprit is either here or between here and the engine."

[agignac]

Ignacious dipped his head, setting his tentacles wiggling, as he acknowledged Ennius's point. "I know it wasn't you, because I heard the door open as I came out of the privy at the other end of the car. Quintus here was already dead, so it couldn't have been you. And the door by my privy didn't open, so nobody left that way either. Which means the murderer is in this car!" He spun dramatically and pointed a the three observers. "Now, will you help me solve the case?" he projects to the four of you.

[Lioslaith]

”Might you be interested in an exchange of services possibly? I would be glad to assist. Given the fact that you did not hear the other privy door open the killer is possibly in one of these two cabins, or has yet to come out of the bathroom.” Fenris indicates the 2 possible cabins the attack could have originated from.

[agignac]

The detective agrees with Fenris's assessment. "Indubitably, you are correct. We must begin by searching the rooms and interviewing the passengers. Will your entire group interview each one, or will you, as they say, divide and conquer?" For the moment, he ignores the comment about exchanging services.

[Lioslaith]

Making a mental note of the detective ignoring the first portion of his question Fenris suggests ”If we assume the killer is in one of the 3 locations then I’d suggest we not all abandon the hallway should our choice be wrong and the killer attempts to flee.”

[The Hellbug]

"Fleeing without good cause would practically be an admission of guilt," Ennius supposes, "and where would they go? We're all on this train until it decides to stop. Speaking of which, someone should inform the authorities of what's happened here. If I'm correct, that's the train itself in this case. Some of our number should go to the front of the train while we investigate. Not you, though." The scholar points casually at Ignacious. "Technically, I believe you're still a suspect. You were the one who found Quintus's, you said, body."

[Lioslaith]

”If the train itself is sentient or semi-sentient as we were told then it likely already knows. But we could also tell the guards on the last car couldn’t we?”

[agignac]

Ignacious nods sagely, "Indeed I am a suspect, though I have no way of casting magic, nor access to a wand. You can search my person and my things if you like. I share this cabin with Meldar and his valet." He motions to the azer.

It's Ennius's mention of the authorities that provoke the first real reaction from the other passengers. The drow looks horrified, and says, "Oh please, don't do that! They won't investigate, they'll just throw every one of us in the jail car and let the authorities on Modron sort it out. I don't want to go to Modron! I'm on a quest to find the Time Dragon! Please, can't you lot sort it out?"

The detective adds, "I believe the engine is sapient, but that doesn't mean it knows everything that happens in the train cars. After all, your brain is hardly aware of what your liver is up to, despite its best efforts."

[Lioslaith]

”If they don’t have a wand or are wearing a pointy hat then I’m not sure how you can decide they can cast a spell.”

[Auranghzeb]

Tedras was up to interviewing the suspects!

I'll take the lead, I can be the good cop to Fenris brooding bad cop. Let's see let's see. We should start with motive, who would have reason to cold murder someone by magic missiles? Has the body been looted?

[The Hellbug]

"Well, a Wand of Magic Missiles would be particularly damning, but any sort of magical implement could imply capability of doing the deed, even if they aren't necessary for that specific spell," Ennius suggests. Seeing the elf begin to panic, though (and hoping that they aren't correct), he decides it's time to start moving things along a little more forcefully.

"And a motive is another thing we need," the warlock agrees with Tedras, "so in service of that, and so that we don't all end up in that jail car: everyone! Out of the cabins and into the hallway! As soon as we find out who did this we can put it all behind us so cooperation is, assure you, in your best interest if you're innocent." He turns to his allies. "I assume we'll go through the cabins and interview them?" he asks more quietly, somewhat rhetorically, before echoing it to the rest of the car, "leave your things. If there's anything sensitive among your belongings, we'll be with each of you privately so you can guide us to search more discreetly."

Ennius, though well-rehearsed at keeping up appearances, hopes that the illithid's confidence lends him more legitimacy than he really thinks he has.

[agignac]

The three passengers exit their rooms, the drow looking relieved. "What about our valets? Do you want them out too? They can't talk or anything." She points into her room, where a small monodrone stands quietly.

The cambion says, "Yes, that makes sense. I'm Abernathy Vernus," he steps carefully around the corpse and holds his hand out for Tedras to shake. "Call me Vern. How can I help?"

The azer, head radiating from him, steps out of his room as well, but says nothing. The drow edges around the corpse and steps back a few feet. "I'm Ethlynn Stalaczic. That's Quintus," she points to the body. "We were sharing a room together! Why would anybody want to kill him? He seemed like a nice man."

[Lioslaith]

Fenris will check the bathroom and make sure it’s empty, no windows etc.

”Yes, bring the valets out as well.”

[agignac]

The two privies, one at each end, are empty. Each have a small window to let in light, but it doesn't open. Nothing looks tampered with.

Fenris approaches the closest valet, ”Are you capable of answering a yes or no question?”

The valet from Ignacius and the azer's room, a monodron called Orb, nodded its body up and down in what was clearly a "yes"

"Is there anyone else in the room you were in?”

It points to the azer and to Ignacius.

Fenris nods his acknowledgment as he waits for his answer.
He thinks to himself , what the heck. ”Did you see either of them kill this man?” as he points to the dead man on the floor.

The modron shakes its head "no".

Nodding again Fenris asks ”Can you lie?”

The modron shrugs.

Chuckling to himself ”Fair enough.”. He will repeat the same questions to the other valets

The valet that was serving Ethlynn (Bot), only shrugs to every question put to it. Vern's valet, Higglesworth, keeps pointing to itself, not matter what question is asked.

[The Hellbug]

"Thank you for your cooperation. I'm Ennius, and these are Fenris, Rafe, and Tedras," Ennius says politely before magnanimously sweep of his arm across the whole scene and turning to his allies, "anywhere you'd like to start? Wait." The warlock casually points in Vern's direction. "You had a cabin to yourself? No roommate?"

[agignac]

Vern shrugs. "Just lucky I guess. Actually very lucky - I won this trip! A free tour on the Concordant Express. And it's been wonderful so far, well, until the murder."

[The Hellbug]

"Thank you," Ennius says to the cambion, but it's to the drow and deceased aasimar's cabin that he steps and opens the door.
"Sir Inkblot, can we count on you to look after the rest of the passengers?" , he asks while motioning for Ethlynn to follow him, "Miss Stalaczic? Would you please? Fenris, Tedras? Unless someone wants to keep things moving up the train."

Once everyone he's invited has followed him or declined to do so, Ennius steps into the victim's cabin and closes the door behind him. A plan has been forming in the warlock's head about how this disturbance can be used to suit the Golden Vault's purposes, but that's for after solving this murder. Now the work can begin in earnest.

[Lioslaith]

Fenris will follow Ennius inside the cabin.

[agignac]

The cabins are nicely appointed, with a comfy bed on each side, a trunk each, comfortable chairs and a table. Each bed is perfectly made and the room is very tidy.

Spoiler: In Quintus's trunk

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A satchel containing spare traveler's outfits, a set of cartographer's tool, an a map case containing what looks like ancient treasure maps.

Spoiler: Ethlynn's trunk

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Spare clothes, a journal, a nice writing set, several books on dragons.

[The Hellbug]

"Alright," Ennius declares with a deep breath once the door is closed behind him, "first of all, Miss Stalaczic--is that what you wish to be called?--as I said before, do you have any sensitive belongings we should know about before we search your things? You might as well speak for Quintus, too, as well as you're able."

"You can also start with the basic facts: who are you, where are you from, when did you board the train, where are you going, and, finally, what is your relationship to our dead man? You mentioned a quest for a Time Dragon? What does that entail?"

[Auranghzeb]

Tedras thought the others were doing a great job. Instead of bothering them, Tedras decided to walk around the scene of the crime, looking for other valuable clues.

[agignac]

"Alright," Ennius declares with a deep breath once the door is closed behind him, "first of all, Miss Stalaczic--is that what you wish to be called?--as I said before, do you have any sensitive belongings we should know about before we search your things? You might as well speak for Quintus, too, as well as you're able."

"You can also start with the basic facts: who are you, where are you from, when did you board the train, where are you going, and, finally, what is your relationship to our dead man? You mentioned a quest for a Time Dragon? What does that entail?"

Ennius has certainly never heard of a Time Dragon before.

The drow woman is pretty in a non-descript way. Dark skin, long pale hair, wide eyes and a friendlier expression than you see on many drow women. "Goodness! That's a bundle of questions! Just Ethlynn please. I'm from Menzoberranzan, and boarded there. I'm going to Arborea. I didn't have a relationship with Quintus, other than we were assigned as roommates. He seemed nice and knowledgeable. We talked about places we'd travelled to." She got more animated when asked about the Time Dragon. "It's an old legend, or at least, that's what most believe. But I know it's true! A dragon older than time itself, that can change its age a will, and travel back and forth through time as easily as we travel through this train! I have reason to believe the Arborea is where I'll find a clue to its whereabouts."

She gestures to her trunk with a "go ahead" motion.

[The Hellbug]

Ennius nods to Fenris to indicate that he should be the one taking care of the searching while he continues to question the drow. "Oh, and I'm afraid they won't be the last, questions, that is," the sylvan scholar warns, gesturing for the subject of his interrogation to take a seat as he sits down on the murdered man's bed, "as you may have guessed, Ethlynn, if you are indeed innocent, it is likely you were the last to see Quintus alive. Of course, I don't need to tell you that your proximity to him also makes you a prime suspect."

"I'm not telling you this to intimidate you," the warlock continues, producing paper and a quill for note-taking. Only partially true. While Ennius keeps his tone calm and charming, if her being nervous means she's more likely to divulge things she wouldn't normally, he'll be happy to take advantage of it. "But to stress that anything you can tell us is potentially important. And if we can identify who the murderer is, nobody except them will have to see the inside of the cell. Like you said, very inconvenient. So first, you both travel. What kind of travels did you talk about? Do you know why he was on this train? Where he was going?"

[agignac]

Fenris prowls around the room, but doesn't find any hiding places. There's nothing under the beds, or sign that the mattress or pillows have been tampered with. The rooms are very tidy and sensible, with no hidden nooks or crannies. He does, however, detect that Ethlynn seems to have something bulky in her pocket.

"Let's see, he said that he was going to the Feywild, but he didn't tell me why. He told me about all sorts of travels he's been on..." she expounds at length about tales Quintus told her, each one more unlikely than the last.

[Lioslaith]

Fenris will motion to Ennius that there seems to be something in the lady's pocket while standing behind her out of view.

[The Hellbug]

Once Fenris has pointed it out, the silhouette of a bulky object in the elf's pocket is obvious. His eyes only drift there for a second, though, and he saves the fact for later. "So he really did get around," Ennius marvels, cutting Ethlynn off somewhat. If the aasimar's previous activities are part of a potential motive, the drow clearly either doesn't know it or isn't going to share it. "Thank you, that's enough of that. Let's move forward a bit. As I mentioned, you were very likely the last person who saw Quintus alive besides the murderer. When was that? And like I said, the details could be important."

[agignac]

"I saw him only a few minutes before I heard Ignateous here say there'd been a murder. He said he was off to the privy. He was only gone a few minutes."

[The Hellbug]

"And he didn't seem distressed, anxious?" Ennius pauses for her response but has little hope that it will spark any sudden realization or change in attitude from the elf.

"Well, if that's the case, thank you for your help. We'll do our best to get to the bottom of this. Fenris?" He stands and starts leave with his companion but pauses when he puts his hand on the door.

"Oh sorry, one more thing. Potentially important. Or, at least you thought it was," the warlock suddenly says, turning around to face the dragon-chasing drow again, "what's so valuable that you've been hiding it in your pocket this whole time?"

[agignac]

The dark skin of the drow's cheeks flushed a little darker. "Well, I don't know about anxious, I didn't ask about that!"

She looks startled when he mentions her pocket. "It's just my bag. That's where I always keep it." She pulls out a soft silken pouch.