The City Guard Office (Day 2)

It was the crack of dawn and clocks across the city rang their seven o'clock chimes. A oncoming storm was dulling the sunrise, leaving a slow wind as a warning. Already the city was growing busy. The docks were already bustling with people heading out for their ships and welcoming in new ships. Shops were turning on their lights and flipping their signs. Even the City Guard station was opening for business.

A dwarf in a trench coat shuffled his way into the office, having to stretch to unlock and open the large oak front door. He set his hat on the rack by the doorway and headed to his large yew desk to get a start on the paperwork that the night shift could never seam to finish in time. Several awards hung on the wall, though no one payed them any attention when waiting in the chairs lining the wall. Not when they were waiting to either head to the left for the questioning offices or to the right to the temporary cells.

Mr Marblehorn was always the first to go in, last to leave, but that was the life of a receptionist. Sure, his dwarven heritage could have gotten him a job on a ship or as a bruiser easily, but he wanted something more stable than that. Something similar to accounting, except with less numbers.

Alistair was gone. Jonathan did not know where, but he knew what he had to do. The master had left the checks and letters with him, but there was a chance, if he was revealed as a fraud, that all remaining assets would be seized, leaving those he had attempted to provide for with nothing. So it was that in the middle of the night while the others slept, he carefully dismantled the setup in the study, removing the switch, the fan, and the victrola. He could do nothing much about the wiring, but he DID push most of it under the floorboards or back into the wall where one would need an axe to make a proper search. The most damning evidence was neatly disposed of by walking out the front door, to the edge of the street, and throwing it out into the open air. With any luck it would land on an uninhabited island hundreds of miles away and become unrecognizable.

The next morning, the servants went about their normal routines preparing for the day... until Childress made the discovery that the master had disappeared in the night. There was some disquiet among them. Master Alistair had never been away before... especially not after a seance. They all knew he was much too tired to leave. That was when Jonathan suggested going to the police. After a half hour's deliberation, that was the decision.

So it was that Jonathan arrived at the police station wearing his good valet's uniform and looking a bit nervous. Would he be able to pull off this deception? "Excuse me, sir," he said to the dwarf at the counter, "I need to report a missing person."

Mr Marblehorn looked over his desk. "How old is this person? How long have they been missing?" He asked in an almost bored tone. Most missing persons cases were for children and ended up with a child showing up at a park or at the zoo. They had enough false reports to not investigate one until 24 hours after the initial disappearance or until they had reason to suspect fowl play.

"My Master... I believe he's 27," Jonathan answered, feigning real worry. "He turned up missing this morning, sir. He hadn't slept in his bed, and he never leaves in the night without telling anyone, and he was especially tired last night, sir, since he'd had company. Yet here it is morning and he's not there, sir." The valet wrung his hands a bit. I know you'll think us all silly, sir, but Mr. Fairchild is a creature of habit, sir, and this just isn't like him."

The dwarf sighed. Oh great, another missing master case that would likely either end up in one o two situations: a duel or a lady friend. Oh well, procedure couldn't rule out kidnapping or murder and he at least had to send the valet back for an interview for the time being. "Very well sir, please take a seat and I'll get one of the investigators."

With that he stood and headed to the door that wasn't barred and locked. A few minutes later he came back and paused at the doorway. "Investigator Lee would like to hear your account on what happened last night," He said, looking directly at Jonathan.

Jonathan moved to follow the man to the door, working out the best way to spin the story that put some suspicion on Lord Fairfax, but left the door open to something resembling the truth. With any luck, the investigation would stall long enough for Alistair to make his escape, and the charge of fraud would be impossible to prove, leaving all assets to the servants as promised.

Mr. Marblehorn lead the way into a dingy little office with the nameplate "George Lee" screwed into the wood. The inside was a small, dingy office with the smell of rum and cigar smoke lingering in it. A tall, broad man with a fedora say at the desk with two chairs in front of it, a notepad and pen at hand. The receptionist was quick to excuse himself once he had lead Jonathan to the office, heading back to the front desk to work on more paperwork.

"Sit down, son, 'n' start at the beginning. Who's missing and what's your relation?" Said Investigator Lee, gesturing to the seat across from him.

The servant took a seat as prompted, wringing his hands in his lap. He only hoped he could pull this off. "Mister Alistair J. Fairchild, sir," Jonathan answered. "I'm his valet." His eyes turned down. "He disappeared sometime during the night, sir. He didn't sleep in his bed and when we all woke up this morning, he was gone. He was so tired after the seance, sir. He wouldn't have left in the middle of the night without telling anyone. We're all quite worried."

Jonathan had made sure to lay the checks and letters in Alistair's desk drawer in the study where few had tread. Childress had poked his head around the door this morning to see if Master Alistair wasn't just sleeping in his chair, but none of them had dared walk in when the master was out. When they were found by the investigation, it might not seem so overwhelmingly out of place, considering the conversation heard the previous evening. Master Alistair had decided to leave on Monday, likely for a good long while. Dismissing servants and leaving them letters of recommendation was not out of the question in such a case. The fact that they weren't left out meant they weren't to be found right away.

The detective took down a few notes furiously. "I'm going to need to know about the details before his disappearance. Who all did he see during the day? What was involved in this seance? Has there been any discontent in the house?"

"There's not much to tell about yesterday, sir. Master Alistair stayed in most of the day and only went out in the afternoon for a walk. He did come back a bit... ruffled, sir. His hat was ruined and his suit was a bit dusty. He didn't tell us why, sir. He just seemed a bit... irritated about it. After he changed, he spent the rest of the day in his study until the guests arrived," Jonathan answered.

"Childress answered the door for them while I went to tell Mr. Fairchild that they'd arrived. It was the Lady Fairfax and the new Lord Fairfax there as well as Lord Syme. In any case, he went off to greet them in the drawing room while I helped Mary and Mrs. Henderson set up for supper, which we had ready in just a few minutes."

At the mention of Lord Fairfax the investigator's face went sour. "They were the ones there for the seance?" Hen asked, keeping his grumpy look. Great, the cox was trying to bypass the law through a seance. He had spent a good deal of time in the Guard House, running from department to department and trying to flash his fancy title to get access to the files on his father's death investigation. Spoiled brat.

"What was the mannerism of the guests?" He finished, still looking irritated.

Well, something had irritated the investigator and Jonathan was tempted to ask what, but if it was some sort of bias against the guests then it would only serve to strengthen the case. "Well, the Countess was very polite, a great lady indeed, though she seemed sad. She wanted Master Alistair to call up her husband so she could speak to him."

Jonathan shook his head. "Lord Syme and Lord Fairfax took up half the evening trying to ask all about my Master's skills and abilities instead of attending Lord Fairfax's mother. She was the one who had invited them, but they paid her only the barest respect. Lord Fairfax seemed especially unhappy there, though he was polite for the most part."

Jonathan looked rather troubled. "My master did agree to go to Shelby to meet some professors and explain his gift to them on Monday..."

The investigator wrote down several notes on the case, looking annoyed as ever. So much the the seance theory. "Was that it? No threatening gestures, no signs of distress from Mr. Fairchild? Nothing else unusual about the evening?"

"Well..." Jonathan said, thinking it over. "They went to Mr. Fairchild's study afterward for the seance like usual. Master Alistair always holds them in there. I wasn't in the room, but it sounded like a normal evening. When they came out, though..." Jonathan shook his head. "Lady Fairfax was pretty upset. She refused to be near Lord Fairfax. Lord Fairfax seemed livid. I don't know what happened precisely, but... I fear it did not go well.

"Master Alistair was a bit more shaky than he usually is afterward. He seemed distracted, like he had something on his mind. Worried too, I think, Sir. I tried chatting with him as I laid out his things for bed, but he didn't even seem to notice. I went to bed myself, and when all of us woke up this morning, there wasn't a sign of him."

"I see," Grumbled Mr. Lee. "Do you have a description of Mr. Fairchild? And I'm still not sure how he got along with the other servants on his house."

"We've none of us got any complaints, sir," Jonathan answered honestly. "Never was cruel to us, paid us on time, and always treated us well, sir. When Mrs. Henderson's boy took ill he even sent a doctor to her house to check him over. Childress thinks of him almost like a son. And Mary... Well I think Mary rather fancies him."

"As for a description, Sir, I'd say he's about two inches taller than me, late twenties. Has blond hair that's a bit long for a gentleman, though it suits him. And really blue eyes. Sort of a handsome face, I think, the way the ladies tend to react to him, sir," Jonathan continued thoughtfully. "And he's not very pale, but not dark either. And always dressed like a proper gentleman, though I see to that," he added with a bit of pride.

"Alright then," Said Lee as he stood up from his desk, flicking his fedora out of his face. "I think that's enough information for now. We may call back on you if he doesn't show up, but we can't start investigating until he's been gone for more than twelve hours."

He headed outside the hallway, a standard protocol of the office. Don't leave suspicious people around to look through the files and reports. Common sense really. He opened the door for Jonathan to leave just as Lord Fairfax arrived.

Instead of his previous black suit, he was wearing a dark red suit more common to his usual apparel. In his hands he held a piece of paper detailing what he could remember from the night before in mediocre handwriting. He moved to wait for Lord Syme in one of the seats, reading over the notes he had taken.

Inspector Lee looked at the Count with suspicion, though stayed in the doorway. He wasn't sure what the kid was doing there this time, though he wasn't planning on taking his demands if he could help it.

"Yes, sir," Jonathan answered, getting up to leave. "I hope It's nothing, sir, but we are all a bit worried." He paused in the doorway on seeing Lord Fairfax in the waiting room, then bustled toward the door, hoping not to be noticed. With any luck, he would get that extra twelve hours before they came to the house to inquire. With extra luck, the police would not seize the assets remaining if they decided that Alistair J. Fairchild had run away and not been murdered. Only time would tell. Jonathan only hoped it was on his side.

The servant passed Lord Syme in the doorway and Syme glanced after him, before coming into the office.

Despite staying up rather late and drinking a bit more than he normally did, Syme looked as refreshed and brisk, as he always did in the mornings. He suit was a pale gray and his silk waistcoat was silver in color. A slim leather bag was over one shoulder.

"Good morning, Fairfax," Syme greeted cheerfully, taking off his hat, as he came into the station. He gave a friendly nod to the dwarf and the inspector as well, before walking over to Perry. "I see you got home alright. I hope you mother wasn't overly concerned by your late return.

"I have the testimony I promised and a little more besides. I called city records this morning and also spoke to some administrators at Shelby and asked if they could find anything about an Alistair Fairchild, gifted in auquamancy, in any cooperative schools around surrounding islands."

Lord Fairfax stood and offered a nod of the head, "Lord Syme. I'm surprised you could manage to contact Shelby administrators so early in the morning. I imagine if we continue to work at this rate the entire case will be closed before noon."

He looked over to the inspector who was wearing a curious look on his face. "However, we should probably relinquish the information over to the guards. They made it quite clear to me a few days ago that they do not respect the authority of Coxish nobles on any matter."

The look on the inspector's face was not one that Perry was growing to like. He also didn't like the way the inspector just hovered there in the doorway like a shark waiting for blood to spill.

Syme lifted an eyebrow, looking over at the inspector, but shrugged and nodded, before leading the way over to the reception desk, his bag in hand. "Good morning Sir Dwarf," he greeted, but left it to Fairfax to explain why they were there.

Mr. Marblehorn nodded to Syme, offering a grumbled, "Good morning." before Perry could arrive and ruin any pleasantries with his no-nonsense attitude.

Lord Fairfax stepping up to the desk and clearing his throat. He delivered his words in his clinical voice, "Officer, it has come to our attention that there is a fraudulent spiritualist in town. We have evidence against him though would like to request a search of his house for evidence of our claim."

"I'll send your request in with Inspector Lee," Said the dwarf in a tone that was a sigh in itself. The new Lord Fairfax couldn't help bit droop a bit himself. Great, the usual bureaucracy of Central City. It would have been quite a bit easier if they took the neater, saner approach of just assigning a noble to take care of these matters.

The inspector by the door offered a slight wave to the two. "Don't bother with the request, we can get a search going by this afternoon..."

This statement caused Fairfax to raise his eyebrows in surprise. That went quite a bit more smoothly than he was expecting, and he managed to keep from having to go into those gross office. It was not somethign he was expecting at all. "Well then, we would be delighted in assisting in the investigation if you would permit it."

"Permission denied," Said the Inspector, a small smile appearing on his face. "You see, we don't let suspects investigate crime scenes. And with Mr. Fairchild's reported disappearance this morning and the recent testimony from one of his servants, you've become the prime suspect."

"Suspect?" Syme said in offended surprise. He glanced between Lee and Fairfax and could tell that there was some bad blood between them, but it didn't excuse the way this inspector was speaking.

Syme crossed his arms, "You certainly have a lot of gall, speaking to a nobleman like that, Inspector Lee," Syme said, "Before you start jumping to conclusions about crimes and prime suspects, maybe you can explain what's going on. You said some one reported Mr. Fairchild as missing?"

"That's right, one of his servants reported him missing. Said he wasn't in his bed this morning. Considering the fact he reported Lord Fairfax to have been quite angry and Lad Fairfax and Mr. Fairchild to have been nervous when leaving a seance that took place last night," said Mr Lee. "We can conclude that there is one of two things happening. Either Mr. Fairchild is fleeing from his claim of fraud or Mr. Fairfax had something to do with it. We won't know much more until we can investigate the scene further. And I have respect for noblemen who have respect for my job."

Fairfax kept a stiff stance, lifting his head in a proud, somewhat indignant manner. "You must be joking. I had no less than six witnesses to my whereabouts last night, not including the trail my money has left."

Lee grinned. He was having a fantastic time making the young lord squirm under his boot and learn his lesson about wasting the time of the city guard. He moved behind the desk and toward the other door, opening a drawer behind the desk. "Well then, we're going to have to interview your witnesses. It may take a few days."

By that point Mr. Marblehorn has moved to take out a blank piece of paper himself, transcribing the conversation as it took place.

"Why don't you start with me, Inspector," said Syme, in a rather annoyed but condescendingly patient tone, "I was at the seance and then with Lord Fairfax until 1:30 the whole evening afterwards. I think it's likely we could clear this up in almost not time at all."

Without waiting to be invited, Syme sat down on the chair across from Lee and put his bag on the desk, obviously ready to start answering question right away.