Amy seeming lost in her book, Inquisitive instead turned to Zanibi as she entered the parlor. "It's science fiction, not sure if it pertains to our case, Amy is checking it out. Did you find anything more?" He asked the gnome with a tired sigh, weariness from a long day starting to catch up with him.

As Nyral shifts through boxes, drawers and other such things seeking. Its slow with one arm but meticulous at least, oddly they are not using their mage hand spell at this time, as tehy do they continue their conversation with the dragonborn "You'd be surprised how few people feel that way.  The unknown, the unexplained, the untold, people seem to always fear what they don't understand.  They don't like not knowing.  I appreciate your understanding.  It lets me feel a bit more at ease.  I may be a lot of things but a betrayer of my friends has never been one of them.  So, you may not be able to say it, but I will say I am glad to work with you."  They pause a moment in their seeking as they turn to ask Truador,  "I know I'm hiding things so you don't have to answer but did you have to face a similar situation to mine?  An issue with keeping your loyalty I mean?  Sorry if it is prying, but I may have to choose to share information depending what I find.  I guess I seek an alternative option although I can't really see any at this time.  I'm just kind of hoping I don't find anything."

Truador pauses in his investigation back turned to the drow, "No, I'm not surprised. Not, anymore..." He looks over his shoulder at Nyral. With a hint of sadness in his voice he replies, "I've always done my best to be loyal. There have been times when my loyalty was misplaced. I was younger then, much younger, and was searching for someone to trust. I didn't have much experience with the world, outside of where I grew up. I suppose you could say I was thrown to the wolves when I had to introduce myself to society." He flashes a small smile that doesn't reach his eyes, "So yes, I have had issues when it comes to my loyalty. I don't think there is anyone in these lands who hasn't had at least one. However, I feel that I have been able to resolve most of mine." He turns back to his searching, "I hope you don't find anything either. I hope this person you are protecting has nothing to worry about. But again, I assure you, If you decide it is necessary to share any information with me, I will not disclose it to anyone without your permission."

"Hmm... sounds like you've been through a similar times as myself.  I won't pry, unless you feel like sharing, but when we find time we should drink to surviving those times."  Nyral goes back to searching as well.  

"Agreed," Truador replies.

Amy looks up from her book and offers a shy smile. "Short-stories, science fiction, mostly. I was looking for any notes or ideas maybe hidden away, but it doesn't look like there's anything here." She closes it and puts it in her pack. "Do we know how the victims were killed? I'm curious."

Inquisitive turned back to Amy as she put away the science-fiction book. "No, not really, but our working theory is that they were subjected to a nightmare curse transferred to them through their sleeping pillows. I realize that is not very helpful as it would be hard to tell who would be able to cast such a curse but at least it gives us something to go on while looking for more clues." Inquisitive answered the pink-haired woman. "Perhaps we should find Truador and Nyral, I think I heard them go upstairs." He said, turning and heading for the stairs, motioning for the others in the parlor to follow him.

Amy follows Inquisitive up the stairs. "I may want to talk with the mayor then. I'd like to know the cause of death, if only to have an idea of what our killer is capable of."

"Well, according to the autopsy report regarding the victim that lived in this house he died from blood and fluid loss, dehydration and seizures, but the underlying cause of death was not found. For reasons there are no other autopsy reports. I don't think the mayor will have anything to add to this I'm afraid." Inquisitive turned and said to Amy with a weak smile and a tired sigh, then turning to Nyral and Truador. "Anything yet?"

Nyral:

Once Nyral is done investigating the desk, they move to join you, Truador, in your promenade around the attic. The two of you sift through boxes, look at the walls, and don't see anything relating to the murder. Just a lot of books, and old rolls of photography film. Everything is covered in a thick layer of dust, with the exception of a single path on the floor, going from the door to the desk.

Zanibi watches as almost everyone walks upstairs. It seems like all of the rooms have been explored, so she steps outside.  She'll give a quick look around to see if she notices anything. (Perception: 14)

Nyral takes the letter with them then as they search the boxes and such upstairs and finding nothing else Nyral eventually says "I haven't found anything linking my friend.  A bit of a relief really.  Lets go back down and..."  Right as Nyral was mentioning them he notices Inquisitive and Amy joining them upstairs.  As the detective ask for their discoveries Nyral holds up a single letter and says "Actually, I found proof that both victims were affected by the same magical mark on a pillow.  The letter here I found mentions it.  Apparently the wife searched their house for signs of magical tampering and spotted it like I did at Elibyn's.  I haven't found anything else though.  How about you?  Any luck finding anything of note?  Are we ready to call it a night and head back to examine what we've found?"

Inquisitive listened attentively to Nyral as he spoke and nodded. " Zanibi found a letter from Thaymoor's therapist wanting to book a session with him. The therapist seems to be in Pisor and we will try to get in touch with him in the morning." He answered the drow, pondering what he just had been told. "I suspected Thaymoor's pillow might simply be missing from the scene. I suppose local law enforcement could have taken it, or the wife, but more likely the killer, or an accomplice is trying to cover their tracks, doing it more successfully than at Elibyn's house at least, suggesting there were two different persons for those jobs." He theorized. "We would definitely want to speak to the Thaymoor's wife as well in the morning. We will also visit the Esperal Police Department in the morning and I assume they will know where to find her."  He continued after a moment. "It is getting late, I would have preferred to visit the last crime scene before we return to the Lazy Peacock, but I suppose we could save that for tomorrow." He said with a resigned nod, then starting to descend the stairs again to head back to the tavern, a lot on his mind. It had been a fairly successful investigation so far, much thanks to the expanded investigation team. There was nothing ordinary over this case though and Inquisitive suspected there would be a lot more to discover before they could apprehend their killer, a nagging feeling that the motive would be found in the victims' past rather than present.

“That is good…” noticing the trail in the dust, he follows it to the desk. “Hmmm, just let me search this, then we can be on our way.” Once there he searches through it. Opening all the drawers and inspecting it for any hidden compartments. 

Investigation: 10

Truador, you figure that the trail of the absence of dust is mainly caused by regular foot traffic. Whoever used the desk would go directly to it, and nowhere else. It doesn't strike you as suspicious. There is nothing in the desk of interest, either.

The calmness of the night runs around you, Zanibi, as you step outside to the back porch to look around. A light breeze makes waves in the surrounding untamed grass, and a few vining flowers peek out between the leaves as they climb up to the sky. No one else is outside. You can hear the conversations of the rest of your group as a slight murmur above you, accompanied with footsteps descending the stairs. Noticing nothing out of the ordinary, you move to join them.

You all retire for the night, either at the Lazy Peacock or Marvin's house. Feel free to describe where you go, any departing words or gestures, decide a meeting place for the next day, round up all the evidence you've collected, etc. etc. Or not.

Either way, I'd like everyone to state whether or not they fall asleep for the night, and to roll a 1d6 dice. Why? No reason :)

I'll move on with the next day once everyone has posted!

Leaving the Thaymoor house, Marvin follows the group back to the tavern. While walking the man approaching Inquisitive and points at a building "That there's where your phones will be in the morning. I'm assuming you've used one before, yeah?" Upon stepping into the tavern and seeing his favorite half-elf behind the bar, Marvin pulls his tankard out of his pocket and approaches her "ah there's my favorite sister. Got anything good for me tonight?" He gestures towards the rest of the group making their way in "I've been stuck with these folk all day, I haven't had much time to enjoy the bar today."

(Alright then, ignore what he said earlier.)

"I think we've seen all there is to see here. Let us go back to the tavern and rest." He will follow the others back to the tavern.

Zanibi catches up with Inquisitive as they follow Marvin - evidently to the tavern.  "We should really share what we found. I found a photo album at Thaymoor's house. A lot were from a war. My guess is that was the source of his seeking therapy. But I'm not sure I've heard what else everyone found. And I'd like to read through the older journals from Elibyn."  She glances up as she realizes they are back at the Lazy Peacock. "Were we staying here tonight?" 

Inquisitive glanced up at Marvin. "Yes, I'm city folk, remember, we do have phones there too." He said with a slight smirk. "Thank you though Marvin, we will visit this place in the morning." He added quickly, walking back to the tavern.

"Yes, I hoped we could have a quick debriefing, summing up the investigation so far at Nyral's room before we retire for the night. It seems like nightmares was one thing these victims had in common so far, I'll not be surprised if we'll find that Calda Tengrove too had nightmares before her death. Perhaps the motive might be connected to the reason for those nightmares." Inquisitive answered Zanibi as they neared the Lazy Peacock. "Yes, it was either here or Marvin's house and no one seemed to have an opinon on which we should go with." He said to his gnome associate as he entered the tavern.

Once inside, seeing Marvin immediately head for the bar, Inquisitive spoke up quickly for the team to hear him. "Alright team, I would like for us to meet briefly up at Nyral's room before we call it a night to make sure we have shared the information we have so far, feel free to join us Marvin." He then walked up the stairs, waiting for Nyral to let them into his room, currently serving as their base of operations.

"We should get a chalk board or something in here tomorrow to map out the progress of our investigation." Inquisitive muttered, motioning for those who followed to take a seat in the comfortable chairs, waiting for everyone to do so before speaking again. "So, we have three victims so far that all died in their beds, possibly due to some curse. At least two of them had nightmares and was afflicted with some sort of nightmare curse through their sleeping pillows. Both crime scenes investigated so far have been tampered with, one more obvious while the other was simply missing the cursed pillow as far as we can tell. Tomorrow morning I suggest Zanibi, Nyral and Truador visit Calda Tenrove's home to investigate that crime scene, possibly also interviewing her mother and her roommate if you find them around. Meanwhile Marvin, Amy and myself will visit the Esperal Police Department, trying to get the current adress for Thaymoor's wife among other things. Then we will go and make some long distance phone calls, trying to get in touch with Thaymoor’s therapist in Pisor and Elibyn's wife, possibly also finding time to talk to Thaymoor's wife. After that we reconvene for lunch at the Lazy Peacock and decide how to proceed. We are looking for connections with what we've found so far, nightmares, cursed pillows, scene tampering, but also trying to find the motive, possibly hidden in the victims past." He said, then stopping to look around to make sure everyone was still with him and hadn't dozed off. "Did I miss anything important?" He added after a moment, looking at Zanibi.

The building Marvin had pointed towards is the second biggest building on the street. Fancy brick steps give way to a very large set of double doors. The words "Town Hall" that sit above them are barely visible in the scarce streetlight.

Even though it's only been a few hours since you were last at The Lazy Peacock, walking into the barroom feels different than earlier. The lights are dim. There are only two or three people in the entire room. The half-orc, Maggie, is no longer behind the counter, and is instead replaced by a half-elf that is conversing with a human dressed in all black, who is franticly asking her for 15 cups of their strongest coffee. She nods, and as she spots your entire group, moves over to the side to greet you all with a wave.

"Hello, Marvin," Alisa has her hand ready on the tap handle as you sit down. She fills your tankard and hands it to you. "Nothing new, just the usual. Long night?" As she listens, she turns around to the counter directly behind her, and starts working the coffee machine that sits there.

The rest of you walk up the stairs to Nyral's room, and when you arrive at the right floor a certain buzz fills the air. A few more people clad in an all-black ensemble run soundlessly past your group towards the entrance of the establishment. Excited chatter cane be heard coming from a pair of rooms a few doors down from Nyral's quarters, but you think nothing of it and step inside.