Dominic began to draw out the scene in his notepad, then wrote notes on everything that he saw, and everything that he thought might be suspicious. It didn’t take long, but by the time that he was done, there was a member of the Royal Guard, as well as the local physician coming down the hallway.
"Why is it so dark down here?" The guard complained.
"We use minimal mana settings in the servant areas to save energy. Would you like for me to call someone to brighten the lights?" Dominic heard an unfamiliar voice respond.
"Don’t worry about it. Dominic, I need light!" The Guard called.
Dominic smiled and flooded the lights all along the hall with mana, bringing the brightness in the hall to a level that was nearly as good as a sunny day outdoors.
And that made all the difference.
"There is blood on the wall. Someone was injured when they left here. The handprints lead away. And, they have been skimping on the cleaning, since nobody can see anything down here.
The layers of dust in the cracks hold blood very well.
But that’s a good thing. I can use that to help track down the culprit." He declared.
"Find the culprit? How would a dirty hallway help?" The unfamiliar voice asked.
"You’ll see shortly. Dominic, what did you find?"
"Two dead. They put up a struggle, but it looks like a setup. One is holding a bag full of gold, and there are more Dagos gold coins on the floor between the bodies. One has been stabbed in the back, but it shouldn’t have been by the other body.
There are no footprints in the blood around the corpse, so he either died first, or he wasn’t near the one stabbed from behind.
I didn’t get close enough to check them for skin or blood under the nails, as I didn’t want to disturb anything before the experts got here. I also don’t know if they are alive, and I don’t have any medical skills if they are."
That got the doctor moving, but he instantly shook his head when he touched them.
"They’re both slightly below normal temperature. Dead at least an hour, likely closer to three." The doctor determined.
"Then they were dead before the food was delivered. Even an hour dead would make it very unlikely they actually delivered the food." Dominic noted.
The Doctor frowned and took out a thermometer.
"Six degrees below normal. Given the temperature of the servant quarters, I would say over two hours dead."
Dominic touched the floor. "Blood is still sticky, not dry. Two hours dead, the blood should be dry in all but the deeper spots."
He added it to his notes, for someone who knew more about crime scenes.
But the Guard was already moving back down the hall and holding up a magitech orb to a bloody handprint on the wall.
It glowed on one side, and the guard nodded.
"The perpetrator is not the one that we caught. They’re on an upper level of the Keep right now, not in the dungeon.
Mister Burton, would you like to accompany us, or will you see to the murder scene?" The Guard asked.
"I will take care of the scene here. You can take the Advisor with you if you need."
The Guard nodded. "Advisor, please accompany me. If the suspect resists, do your best to restrain them with nonlethal means."
Dominic smiled. "I have just the spell for that."
The man who the Royal Guard had identified as Mister Burton, meaning he was a son of the Marquis, gave Dominic a curious look.
"And what sort of spell might you have for nonlethal apprehension of criminals?"
Dominic smiled sweetly at him. "[Chain Lightning], of course. Just drop the output a bit, and it will put anyone on the ground with minimal lingering damage."
The young Nobleman frowned. "Can you verify that?"
"You want me to shock someone?"
To Dominic’s surprise, he nodded in agreement, and gestured to one of the Keep Guards, who gave him an incredulous look.
Dominic turned to the Royal Guard for confirmation, unsure how to handle this situation.
"Go ahead. He will get danger pay and a combat injury bonus for the day if you do."
The guard still didn’t look happy, but Dominic hit him with [Chain Lightning] at one third output anyhow.
The man howled in pain as his muscles spasmed, then he fell to the ground twitching.
"See, he’s down, and he’s not dead."
The Royal Guard snorted in amusement. "But you might be if he catches you alone. That looked like it hurt."
The doctor cursed as the man’s armour shocked him when he attempted to remove it. But other than a slight burn mark on his stomach, there was no obvious damage and the guard got to his feet within thirty seconds.
"Point proven. I will be sure to put the bonus on the payroll."
The city guard glared at the Nobleman and grumbled. "Better be a good bonus, I still can’t feel my tender bits. If this stops me from having children, I am coming back for compensation."
Dominic motioned for the Royal Guard to lead the way. Once that man started to recover feeling, he was going to be even less pleased with the situation than he was now.
Dominic had shocked himself more than once while working on damaged Magitech items, and the tingling and cramping of muscles afterward were much worse than the numbness.
Using the magitech Orb he had attuned to the blood on the wall as a guide, the Royal Guard jogged through the hallways, with Dominic chasing after him. It was impossible to tell if he knew where he was going, but the orb was leading them in a general direction, and they were reaching the edge of the Keep.
They were also on the sixth floor, and the target was still above them.
The Guard motioned for silence as they reached a door at the end of a staircase, and Dominic prepared himself for a fight.
The door swung open, and Dominic found himself standing at the edge of the Airship platform, having entered from the service stairwell.
The very crowded airship platform, which was preparing to receive an incoming pair of transports at the same time.
"Dammit. Try not to make it too obvious what we’re after. It will be difficult to track down the right person in this crowd, but they’re not going anywhere. I can use the Royal Prerogative to prevent the ships from leaving." The Guard whispered.