Reporting A Crime

[Malkavian Riddler]

Joely realised by the Captain\'s reaction that he wasn\'t wrong to think that mercy had been shown.  It was an unusual event that had transpired between the thief and himself.  He didn\'t know what to make of it, but now that the Captain was asking about something Joely wanted to talk about, words poured forth from his mouth like a fisherman unveiling his net-catch after a good day.

"After I tackled her and she fought me with ease, so that I was no longer a threat, she asked for my name and knew I\'d given her a false one.  I thought she would be angry but she counted what she\'d taken from me and then tossed the rest in my direction, telling me to hurry or less merciful thieves might cross my path."  His eyes shone with excitement now that he\'d got over his initial fear and shyness.  "It was mercy, wasn\'t it?  She\'d felt guilty from stealing from me, didn\'t she?  There\'s hope for her."

And here was the reason said out loud why Joely was dragging his feet on the thiefs description.  Perhaps Wilson would see it in his face or hear it in his tone.  It depended on how well she could read Joely\'s personality type.

[Existentially Odd]

"Mercy?  Hope for her?" Wilson repeatedly hollowly, face screwed up as if she\'d just taken a sample from the sourest lemon in a box.  The thought of a thief showing mercy certainly left a bitter stain upon her soul - why would this woman have done such a thing?  It made no sense.  It also implied that she was not - as Lam had suspected - likely to be the head of an organisation dedicated to thieving (as was the current theory, based on past calculated, perfectly-executed simultaneous crimes committed within the keep\'s walls - implying corroboration and something grand afoot, like a clan of thieves).  No-one in charge of a prestigious endeavour - whether it be King of the Castle, head of the stables or primary chimney sweep - would permit the work they loved to be presented in anything but a sterling light; and a dominant thief would never concede anything.

"Don\'t fool yourself into thinking such things, she\'s still a thief; I don\'t know what reason there might have been for leaving you with half your earnings, but I doubt mercy had a lot to do with it.  Perhaps she had a paticularly lucrative day and didn\'t want to tempt Talon\'s wrath too greatly; perhaps she has family on a farm and was feeling particularly homesick; perhaps she just thought you were handsome and worthy of a tip.  I suppose..." Wilson broke off, her gaze sliding over her interviewee\'s shoulder thoughtfully, "that it could just be a trick.  So that you wouldn\'t speak up about being robbed.  A way of convincing people who seek no trouble, to avoid it further."

As the thought occurred to her and she mused out loud, a few connections were made about the way Joely had been speaking. Reluctantly, hesitantly... not always making eye contact with her.  Her eyes widened as she looked swiftly back at him.  Although she\'d pursued her own route to drawing the conclusion that he had mixed emotions about reporting this crime, it had finally dawned on her that perhaps Joely wasn\'t as confused or lacking the ability to take note of circumstances as she\'d been crediting him for.  Maybe it wasn\'t the thief who\'d shown mercy, but the man sitting opposite her.  Could she trust any of what he\'d told her, if that was the case?  Her mouth opened, but she couldn\'t quite fathom a way to broach the subject without directly accusing him - and she was loathe to admit to being duped so thoroughly - so she simply gaped at him, her green eyes and flabbergasted expression doing the job for her.

[Malkavian Riddler]

Joely\'s cheeks blushed furiously, giving him away, though his eyes were downcast at her last suggestion so he hadn\'t seen the connection being made in the captain\'s face.  He found himself staring at the roll of material in which his coins were rolled at the hem of his tunic.  Had she paid him off to keep silent?  Was that why she\'d done that?  As the Captain had said, there was always a reason why actions were made.

"She had exotic eyes," he admitted finally, after struggling with himself, ashamed for not speaking up further.  "Pinched upward, and even though it was dark, I could still see her skin was tan - a little more than mine."

He looked up now and found himself shrinking beneath the Captain\'s accusing stare.  He dropped his gaze again, unable to look the woman in the eye, now fearful that he would spend the night in a cell instead of in a tavern room, because he\'d tried to mislead her.  "I... sorry," he stammered.  "I\'m remembering more clearly now."

[Existentially Odd]

"I see," Wilson hissed sarcastically, amending her notes before she chose to speak again.  She supposed he could be trusted to tell the truth after a fashion - he was simply too foolish to see the extent to which he\'d been victimised that night.  \'Remembering things more clearly\' her horse\'s ass!  He\'d believed the woman had taken pity on him, so he\'d been attempting to do the same.  Like a bee to a flower had she drawn him under her spell.  Men; stupid enough to favour the exotic, dangerous wench over those that sought to help, how damnedly typical!

By the time she\'d finished scribbling, she was thinking a bit more clearly.  "Alright then, tell me about her clothing and then run through everything she said," she instructed icily, not quite accusing him of telling a lie about the scarf - but hinting that now would be the time to change his story about that too, if it was necessary.  "I suppose it will help if you tell me what actions were being performed while she spoke; exactly what she was doing to you."

[Malkavian Riddler]

"I..." he began, but instead of making more excuses he thought really hard about what he could remember, though everything had been rapid and blurry.

"It happened quickly," he told her, not sure if he\'d said that already, but deciding it would be best to go over it again.  "I was on my back as though my feet had been swept out from beneath me, and she was above me.  All I can remember about that was her knee on my chest, a blade at my throat and her eyes above her scarf."  He frowned.  "Straight black hair.  Dark eyes, maybe brown, but that\'s my best guess in the dark.  She was mocking me, and that lended to my anger along with seeing my earnings in her hand."  He shook his head.  "I... can\'t recall what it was exactly she said."

He looked up now, a guilty expression on his face.  "I did run at her, and that got me nothing but a winding.  She threw the coins at me after that.  I don\'t remember what she was wearing, but I don\'t think it was womanly."

His gaze dropped to the Captain\'s uniform and he lowered his eyes with a cringe, wondering if he would now be facing the woman\'s wrath for misleading her in the first place.  Would he be spending his night in an innkeep room or in a dungeon cell?

"Sorry," he said again, softly, resigned and ashamed of himself.

[Existentially Odd]

She wrote studiously, until everything he\'d said was on paper.  Reviewing it afterwards - not responding to his apology, nor refusing it - she realised what one thing had struck her while she took notes.  Perhaps there was still something unique to be salvaged from his bad luck; she could only hope.

"The dagger," she said suddenly, anger gone from her expression and voice non-committal as she looked up at him once more.  "Was there... anything interesting about it?  Markings?  Extra long blade?  Unusual colouring?"

[Malkavian Riddler]

He shook his head, then shrugged.  "I don\'t know, I was only aware of how sharp it was."

Eyes lifted to meet the Captain\'s face and she would see that tonight had impacted on him greatly.  His stare was one that obviously needed rest, his face drawn and his expression filled with tension and worry.

He looked more like an older boy than a young man.

[Existentially Odd]

She sighed, mulling over the information she had recorded, trying to find something within the words that she could pounce on, or turn into a decent lead but... there was nothing she was missing.  Not that she could tell at this moment - and not that she could define by looking into Joely\'s eyes, either.  He looked tired and she knew she was; for different reasons, it had been a long day for both of them.  And the sun had only been down an hour; perhaps they could make a better job of the night.

"How about we see about getting you that room and I buy you a drink, hmn?" she asked, glancing up at him as she replaced her pen and ink bottle, tidying the paper she\'d written on.  She left it on the desk, wanting Freddy to read over the recount and share his thoughts on the matter when she saw him next.  Also, she simply couldn\'t be bothered filing it at this point, and he would do her that favour.

Standing, she smoothed her clothing for something to do while she waited for him to agree or refuse.  She\'d offered the drink as a gesture of truce - to let him know that she held no grudge against his inability to add any information that would noticeably further her cause.  Also to show that she understood his willingness to have faith in a thief\'s mercy and be a little less willing to share everything; she trusted that he\'d rectified that impulse so... she wished to subtly communicate her approval.  She thought that The Scowling Boar Tavern would be a good place to settle their differences once and for all - and would provide him with a very comfortable bed at the city\'s expense.

[Malkavian Riddler]

Joely was floored by her offer, he looked up with an expression with nothing other than surprise cast upon it.  "Thank you, that would be an honour."  Wide eyed, the young farmer nodded, then looked down at his shirt.

"Is there a pouch or handkerchief that I might borrow or buy from the guard\'s resources?" he asked timidly.  He no longer wished to walk around with coins bunched up in his tunic, and was embarrassed at the prospect of going to an inn and drinking with one hand while his other clutched at his own shirt for reasons nobody save himself or the captain would understand.

[Existentially Odd]

"Ah, of course.  I\'ll be right back with one," she smiled and left the room.  She approached Freddy first.  He was aimlessly wiling away his time without an office by perching on the corner of a desk, one leg swinging slowly as he watched his fingers chase a few ants around its surface.  He was poking and prodding them, hemming the tiny insects off whenever they tried to get to the neat pile of crumbs he seemed to have dropped deliberately for picking up.  He was still idly chewing on whatever had been the main part of those morsels.

"Freddy," she began, her tone suggesting that she was approaching him with an offer or to beg a favour.  He looked casually up at her, not jumping to attention or shouting something obedient, merely raising an enquiring eyebrow, a suspicious smile lifting half of his mouth.  "Would you mind looking over the report I just took and seeing if there\'s anything in there that I could have missed?  Or anything at all helpful?" she asked, her manner that of a superior giving an easily-followed order, but her eyes dancing mischievously.  "And might I borrow your store room keys?"

Both of Freddy\'s eyebrows rose a notch.  "You\'re taking him into the store room?"

She gave him a withering look.  "No.  I\'m merely going to collect a money pouch for him to keep the remains of his earnings in, then we\'re going down to the \'Boar for a drink."  She held her hand out to take the key he\'d extracted from his pocket.  Unperturbed by her glare, he chuckled, telling her to have a good evening.  With a smile, she spun on her heel and headed for the room that lay down the hall a little - directly behind her office, in fact - intending to get a leather pouch and some coins to pay for Joely\'s room.  "I will," she assured him over her shoulder, her smug inflection certain to make him realise she was salting the wound of him having to work... while she \'played\'.

Had she looked back, she would have seen that Lieutenant Frederickson looked much less happy now.

Continued in \'Common Ground\'