As she walks off, Paprika opens her satchel and allows her cat to walk beside her.
She mutters under her breath: “Carrying out an investigation is fine, but arresting random citizens is just violent kidnapping. We already have sufficient information to locate and apprehend all of them, we just need permission. Do none of them understand that what they want to do will make them look like lunatics?”
And it’s completely boring. They can deal with the Watch if they want. What happens after I expose the truth is not my business. I’ve done my part.
Paprika’s eye catches on a stone wall that rises slightly above her head: by stepping on some nearby boxes, she makes it up to the top of the wall and sits, hanging her legs over the ledge. Then, she takes out her notebook and begins to write.
PREMISES
a. A symbol of the cult of Flauros was discovered in a disused cellar last Starday.
b. The cellar was then locked up by members of the Watch.
c. After the locking of the cellar, the evidence of the symbol was washed away with water.
d. Rafau of the Watch looked unsurprised at this disappearance and tried to dismiss the method of breaking and entering as trivial.
e. Rafau had an unusual amount of knowledge about the worship of Flauros and its history in the town.
f. When confronted about his involvement, Rafau repeatedly denied that he was not a demon cultist, even under the threat of truthspell.
g. There were no signs the lock on the cellar had been picked.
h. According to Valtyr of the Watch, the tip regarding the cult was made anonymously by tying a note to a fencepost.
i. When my companions Drakor and Zelsh followed footsteps leading out of the cellar, Rafau attempted to attack them.
j. After being accused of drawing the symbol, Rafau offered 10 gold crowns per member of the party as a bribe, a sum of 50 gold crowns, unusually high for a Watchman.
At this stage, the detective confronted the culprit with the correct deduction.
CONCLUSIONS
- Rafau of the Watch washed away the symbol, per Premises (b), (c), (d), (g).
- Rafau was not a genuine demon cultist himself, per Premises (c), (f).
- Rafau was nonetheless also involved in the drawing of the symbol, per Premises (e), (h), (j) and Conclusion (1).
- Rafau was drawing money from his involvement with the cult, per Premises (h), (i), (j).
After the culprit and motive were established, the detective’s intuitions were confirmed by truthspell and the culprit arrested.
Paprika scrunches up her face and frowns. We still lack evidence on exactly who reported the cult activity. It was certainly a member of the cult, as they knew to fear the Watch. Would it be appropriate to add this, or would it be a loose end I need to tie up first?
Plenty of mystery novels have anonymous tips like this. So long as the tipper’s motive is established, it’s fine.
With slightly cramped handwriting, Paprika inserts a line under Conclusion 4:
- The anonymous tipper was involved in the cult and aware of Rafau’s involvement, per Premises (a), (h).
She flips through her notebook idly, looking through dozens of pages of deduction: her handwriting really was worse when she was eleven.
It’s definitely not enough yet.
