~Risch~

"The latest report says that something happened at the Masler estate. Are we going to follow up on that, sir?" asked Junior Inquisitor Ihre.

The floor had been cleaned up as much as was possible after having guests, but the smell still hung in the air. Risch wasn't particularly fond of the smell, it brought back some unpleasant memories, but it had been a long time since he had gotten so much done. Even the news that something had happened at the Masler estate, probably something deeply unpleasant, didn't drag him down as much. It was the feeling of accomplishment that he felt so rarely these days that had been his drug once upon a time. It felt like a rush of nostalgia and gratification and pleasure all at the same time, even now, hours later. There was also the empty craving feeling, like he had to do more, faster. That needed to be controlled or he would get careless. Bad things happened when he got careless.

"I think we will. Get transportation ready and I'll meet you outside." Risch sprang to his feet like he would have decades ago despite the protests of his body. "Don't forget to bring the prince's writ."

Risch hadn't yet interacted with the Masler boy. As far as what he could dig up on him, he had once been standoffish and arrogant, but now his reputation was more of a recluse. Still, background research was only useful up to a certain point. Too much and it started to inform misguided assumptions. Ihre had met him once on the prince's orders, so he had that, but that meeting was more than a little tainted by the script she had been made to read to him. It was probably long overdue that he finally got an idea of who he was investigating.

The plan after that was simple for once. Risch would feel Darren out for how amenable he was to playing along while Risch got back to more pressing matters. Herbert Masler's testimony confirmed that all the most important parts of their organization had been rooted out, so all that was left was to make a show of confronting Darren publicly for the prince's benefit. It was exactly the sort of job that his colleagues were especially good at and where he had next to zero experience.

***

The faint lingering smell of shit that existed as part of any horse-drawn carriage was one of the few bad smells that the rich were more familiar with than the poor. Risch was no more enthused by it than when he had first dealt with it. It all came down to whether going nose-blind to a smell was at all detrimental. If ignoring it meant increasing the chances of being run down by an out-of-control driver like it had for him and many other city-dwellers, it just never went away. He was also not so new to the experience that the sight of the streets from a pace off the ground masked the scent like it seemed to for Ihre.

The one saving grace of the carriage was the covering that kept off the midday sun. The heat was stifling enough within, Risch didn't want to imagine just how miserable it was outside. The outside of the carriage was marked as the inquisition's and the street was noticeably emptier for it. More unnerving than the lack of bustle that should've come with the midday break though, there was a crowd of guards milling about in front of the Masler estate's gates.

One of the guards knocked on the door to request an identification and start briefing him on the situation. Risch opened the door and stepped out. He didn't look back to check on her, but he had the sneaking suspicion that she was forgetting decorum, like usual. The guard was somewhat shorter than average, but he looked strong and used to the heat of the city. Not one of the captains who just sat back and let their teams do their patrols for them then.

The guard was quick to stand to attention when he saw Risch's rank. "Inquisitor, I am this patrol's ranking officer, Captain Horace Ked. We have so far identified the six who have been found outside and of the eleven inside, we have matched two to the estate's payrolls. We're fairly certain that the rest are immediate family of those employees, but we haven't found anyone who can confirm those. They were all new hires, so the two survivors, the Baron himself and his driver, didn't know them yet."

The sheer scale of the massacre explained why there were so many guards here. It wasn't likely that it was the prince's doing since he wouldn't have set this investigation in motion if this was his intent. Risch dug his fingernails into his hand. The pain helped him keep his expression bland.

"You said there were six found outside? Take me to them," Risch ordered.

The guard spun on his heel with military precision to turn toward the gate. So the sweat wasn't just from the heat. The man was falling back on training. He led Risch past the ostentatious gates and up a wide path surrounded by tall hedges. It opened up some after the first bend and the first bodies were spread out across the path. Some were more gruesome than others, but even the cleanest kills were enough to set Risch on edge. It took a moment for the fear and disgust to wash over him, but wash over him they did. His eyes were already checking the wounds for clues. Two with slashes through their necks had been taken by surprise, but the rest had been trying to get away. There were signs of different weapons being used, so most likely it hadn't been a lone attacker. Their attire suggested that they had been working before they were attacked, so it had to have happened sometime in the daylight hours.

Ihre went up to where two of the women lay and checked the ground around them. "These two were moved some time well after they died. The bloodstain doesn't match where they're lying now."

The guard spoke up, "Yes, the driver says that he moved them when he discovered the bodies with the Baron."

"Is the Baron still here to talk to then?" Risch asked. He didn't want the lordling disappearing right after an attack clearly targeted at him. It was an uncomfortably common occurrence for assassination targets to wander off to bars and be offed in follow up strikes. Something in the noble psyche that believed that if they survived the first time then they were in the clear.

"No, Inquisitor. He's holed himself up inside while we watch the gate. I'm not sure if he has another place to hide out until this blows over or if he plans to stay here, but my men and I are needed elsewhere. If you could see that he finds himself somewhere safer, then that would be very helpful." The guard's grimace bore out both his desire to get away from the scene and his desire to get back to normal patrols.

"I will see if I can convince him. For now though, please continue as you are," Risch replied.

"Of course, Inquisitor." The guard turned back down the path and towards his patrol.

Risch continued down the path, noting the trampled flowerbeds with their bright pastel colors. There must not have been any other exits since the trails of crushed flowers continued for quite a ways into the gardens.

"Do you have any guesses for what the attackers' motives were?" he asked Ihre who walked beside him now that the guard was gone.

"Sir, the most likely thing is a reprisal for helping the previous investigators," she said.

"That would imply that he didn't do a very thorough job in his cooperation if there are still some elements with the means to do that." Risch gestured at the bodies behind them. "Those kinds don't pull their punches with rats, but he is supposed to be on our side. They wouldn't draw attention to themselves like this if that was all there is to this."

"Then he has more and they don't want him talking?" Ihre asked.

"That's what I'm thinking right now." Risch nodded. "While I'm talking with Masler, I want you to go ask some more questions of that driver. Why was he not at home when the attack happened? Where did they go? I want those answers to know if Masler is hiding something."

Risch clanged the knocker against the door and waited with his arms crossed in front of him. Scared people responded well to authority, so he would be that authority. It also meant that when the door opened, Risch was a fraction slower to cover his nose to the smell of blood. The man who had opened the door had his shoulders tensed into a standing cringe and it was easy to tell why.

The scene was macabre to say the least. Decapitated heads were lined up in two columns, all facing the door. On the other side of the room the other remains were piled up in one large stack. Risch heard Ihre take a step back and to the side where she couldn't be seen. A moment later, he heard the sound of muffled retching. He kept his gaze fixed on the man who had to be the driver since all the rest were dead.

"May I enter?" Risch asked with an imperiousness that he couldn't feel even a hint of. At least torture was a necessary violence. This was a display.

"Please, you'll want to see Lord Masler I assume." The driver took a quick glance at the heads. "I'll lead you to him right away."

The driver tread carefully around the bright red of the gore that still hadn't fully stained into the wood of the floor and through a maze of trashed furnishings. There were signs of the attackers searching for hidden passages. The driver stopped at a door which only partially obscured the view into a study since there was a large hole where it had been broken through. Among an overturned table and bookshelves, a lone boy in his late teens sat.

***

~Darren~

The arrival of an inquisitor was neither unexpected nor something that I was particularly looking forward to. It was simply an unpleasant inevitability that I had to wait for. If memory served, he had insignias that honored distinguished service among an assortment of different divisions within the inquisition and a black circle marked that he was a member of the King's Tribunal. Supposedly different divisions of the inquisition were kept separated to minimize the effects of individual cases of corrupt inquisitors, so the fact that this one had experience in so many different divisions was unusual. There was too little information in the game to draw conclusions, but it seemed unlikely that the was incompetent at the very least.

Behind him was a woman who also wore the uniform of the inquisition. She lacked any distinctions at all. Most likely a subordinate of his. It was also probably not a coincidence that she was both young and pretty. I wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea, but it felt vaguely hypocritical given the way that I had used politics to attach myself to Mary. Even if that wasn't the intent, it didn't make much of a difference to her did it?

He was clearing his throat, as if to establish himself as important even despite the proud display of more awards than even the amount that most nobles were given during wartime. He hid it well, but he was still shaken from the scene at the entrance. His fist was too tight and his knees were locked straight even while he projected confidence.

***

~Risch~

The old blood nobles often talked about their inherent superiority, but too often that meant they were just predisposed to self-aggrandizement. Darren though, he was the embodiment of the ideal that they so proudly ascribed to themselves. Even sitting as he was, he was obviously tall and well-trained. Darren's eyes bored through Risch and Ihre behind him. Rather than fearful, he looked bored. His wasn't that of a military man who had seen too many of his comrades die though, there wasn't any pain behind the boredom. If anything, he looked more like the addicts on the streets while they waited for another fix.