Tumbly shakes his head gritting his teeth, " Best you lot move on.  I will do my best to smooth it over but you must know, with your Family connections and the difficulty we've had over the years pinning them down that at least one of The Families is likely involved.....I mean...probably not yours..."

" But if its one of the others I don't know that yours could shade you from all the trouble."

He began to list sideways and Scupper came forward and put an arm out to steady him.

" If you want to solve this your best keeping it completely off the books......that means not telling other Watch what your up to or......"

He drew in a harsh breath suddenly.

" Nay, don't worry about me, Lass.  Get yourselves gone...you've dead folk to catch."

" Don't fret, I'll write this poor sod...", he indicated Theron. " ...up as a victim not perpetrator."

" Go, catch em. Gods know your a better Watchman than me, but I can keep your name out of it."

Normont nods to Lokilia, reading the situation a little better now he is off his high horse. He looks from Tumbly to Jasper, trying to follow the parts of the conversation about family politics, but being genuinely grateful for Tumbly's handling of Theron.

"You are a fine fellow, Tumbly. I hope you don't get into trouble on our account, but I think you are right to keep this off the books. We must avoid letting the politics of the powerful families hinder our investigation", he says to Tumbly.

"You are going to have to explain the family politics side of things to me when we have a moment", he whispers to Jasper, likely loud enough for everyone to overhear.

He wanders over to Dev before he veers towards the gate, "Can you lead us through the alleys avoiding prying eyes, lad?".

Dev is lost in his thoughts when Normont speaks to him. The tiefling, not sure if he missed something, pulls back his hood part way, revealing more of his face, instantly softened by the desire to help, though still guarded as he asks rather dumbly, “Ummm… where?”

Dev is lost in his thoughts when Normont speaks to him. The tiefling, not sure if he missed something, pulls back his hood part way, revealing more of his face, instantly softened by the desire to help, though still guarded as he asks rather dumbly, “Ummm… where?”

Normont considers for a moment, before deciding on a good destination.

"Let's go where we were meant to go before, The Red Trout. We might pick up some good leads there, and it'll keep us away from here at least", he replies to Dev.

When the group is away form Tumbly, Magnus will ask, "Where did you find the body of the merchant? Are there any buildings nearby that might he might have just left or going to, or old locations of this supposed "Hidden" group? Was one of those other establishments nearby that he could have just left from, or could have been going to? On our way back to the Trout, why don't we swing by and see what is around. Then we can discuss our next options when we get to the Trout. Also does the Trout have sleeping arrangements or afterwards are we just all going our separate ways to sleep off the exhaustion that I am sure will hit us in a couple hours. With the attack from the undead, we might want to stay as a group. I would suggest my plae, but being just an office and a sleeping room off of it, might not be large enough to accommodate our lot."

Nerak nods listening to every word which Magnus rambles on. "We don't know much. Conroy Pekese was dead in an ally. He had a room key so checking that out seems like a good move once we get the chance. We also found he was punctured by a knife or some other blade multiple times and was dead a good while before our arrival. I did find an embroidered cloth with some blonde hair in his hand however, Normont did you have that?" He took a moment to think to himself. "Hmm, I think that is it."

As Magnus asked about the Trout and sleeping arrangements Nerak was clueless looking to the rest of the group for reactions. 

"Not so much dead in an alley, Nerak. He seemed to have been attacked, possible killed, on the street and dragged into the alley where we found the body", Normont corrects Nerak. "We didn't see signs of anyone leaving the scene. We have an image of how we found the body though, we can show you later Magnus. And that key was to his apartment, we took a look whilst you were on the roof, Nerak. I think Magnus and Theron had already searched it anyway though".

He thinks for a moment, "I forgot about the cloth and hair, I think Lokilia had that", he adds looking around for Lokilia.

"Oh, of course...Nothing of note uncovered inside then I would guess? We might want to move somewhere more hidden actually, it doesn't seem too unlikely someone might be watching. Those undead seem like they were teleported up there" he gestures to the roof "and I don't think they are capable of that on their own."

"Thanks, Tumbly. Appreciate it," Jasper sighs, patting Tumbly on the shoulder. "Sorry to get defensive there. This is a tense situation. We'll get to the bottom of it, I assure you."

Jasper then turns to their comrades. "Alright, gang. Time to put our heads together," They say. The sergeant listens to the reports of their fellow investigators, then chimes in with their own information. "Quinn and I chased someone fleeing the scene until they turned invisible... However, they did drop this pin. Does anyone recognize it? I couldn't identify it."

“There’s also… I don’t know if this means anything but there was a footprint outside of Connor Pekese’s apartment.” Dev continues, melodically, in a minor key, “It looks like this…,” and holds his hand out in front of him, palm up. The illusion he practiced appears.

“Turned invisible??,” he parrots Jasper, blinking disbelief. 

(OOC: Does the pin look familiar to Dev? (History: 16+2=18))

“To clarify, I believe they disappeared. I had a good scene of the ground and there were no foot step vibrations after they vanished.” Quinn say to clarify his account.

Lokilia nods to Normont. "I do have the cloth.  Don't recognize the embroidered symbol." She pulls it out, offering to let others look at it if they wish.

"It seems we have many leads, that is good", Normont interjects. "I would be interested in looking at all that we have found. I agree with Nerak, perhaps The Red Trout has a private room or at the least a booth that will offer privacy?".

He looks up at each of his taller companions, "It seems that whatever we have become embroiled in, our adversaries are powerful, possibly in more than one sense of the word. As a member of the Pale Guard, I see it as my duty to see where these leads take us. I expect Jasper and Quinn feel the same, and Magnus. I hope the rest of you will continue to help get to the bottom of this", he says to Lokilia, Dev and Nerak.

The companions move off rapidly, and just in time as they see Tumblys second offsider returning with a large number of Watch officers and one of the on duty medics.   Dev guides them through the streets back towards the Red Trout passing close enough to the original alley to peek in but not close enough to draw attention from the Watch officers within, two of whom are carrying a covered body on a stretcher towards a waiting wagon.

Slipping within The Red Trout they are directed to a booth by an older dwarven woman with a great mane of black and silver hair and a dark grey apron.

They quickly note they are alone here other than the server and the kitchen staff.

She does a quick head count and brings over some menus and waits for a moment, " Drinks?  Your not our usual late night crowd....far too sober."

Dev:-  The pin does not look familiar, there is something about the circular pattern on it but it escapes him for the moment, perhaps something will jog his memory in time.

As the others check the embroidered symbol both Lokilia and Normont note that it is quite similar to the decorations on the label of the bottle of wine the saw in the merchants apartment.

"Just a small mug of light ale for me please", Normont says to the dwarven lady, before waiting for privacy before continuing the conversation.

When the others have ordered and they are alone, he suggest they put the evidence out on the table so they can all see. That will include the crime scene photo.

"That symbol on the cloth fragment looks like the symbol on the wine bottle in the apartment. It was from Golador Estate", he says as he stands on his chair so he can lean over the table.

Dev orders nothing, simply shrinks back into the corner. If the Dwarven lady asks him specifically, he asks, “How much for a glass of water?” If water isn’t complimentary, he changes his mind and says, “I’m not thirsty.”

Re: (Normont) “I hope the rest of you will continue to help get to the bottom of this.”

The tiefling joins in shyly, ”Um, Hook Korat hired us to find out Conroy Pekese’s real reason for being here and who he has connections with. I guess even if he’s…” — Dev finds himself unable to say the word ‘dead’— “we can still try to find out.” 

A jug of water is brought to the table along with everyone elses drinks.....though she does throw in a plate of stone-cakes (arepas) and some spicy mutton stew simply because it will otherwise need to be thrown out before morning.  She then leaves you all alone to talk.

Dev's eyes bulge. Having never eaten in a tavern before, this is a meal beyond his wildest fancy. Well, except for the time there had been no food at home and he had lurked stealthily behind a small restaurant until very late, when the chef came out to throw leftovers to the rats. He had scurried with the rest of them, fighting for a piece large enough to bring home and share with his parents.

The teen tiefling chomps at the bit to chomp on the stew, and when he does, if the others find it spicy, he looks up at them impassively. "Oh. It is?," he says, without irony, chewing on a large whole pepper -- the kind meant as a decoration, not to be eaten -- thoughtfully as if it was a length of carrot. He is eager to try the stone-cakes too, after which, without haste, Dev downs the entire jug of water, glugging down its contents unselfconsciously all in one go.

Normont is far too consumed in examining all the evidence laid out in front of him to take much notice of the food in the centre of the table, and only absently sips at his light ale. He also doesn't really take much notice of Dev wolfing down the food and guzzling the jug of water.

He will focus intently as he picks up the pin and signet ring in turn, looking at them closely trying to see if he can identify any sigils or markings, and then he takes one of his tools out and attempts to make each one glow.

"Let me see. Hm, yes, yes. I wonder if there is magic in these", he mutters as he works.

Investigation (with guidance): 15+5+3 = 23

(OOC: Magical Tinkering only works on nonmagical objects, if they glow, it means they are mundane. He will cancel the magical tinkering after each attempt)