NOVEL NEXT Chapter 96 - Bard Position
The bard is the first to be brought in by a guard, stumbling a little on the final steps when the guard pushes him unsubtly towards the table, before turning and leaving the scene once more.
The bard huffs, rights himself, gives his outfit a once over and pats it clear before pulling out the seat opposite the investigator unbidden and plops himself down.
“Right, you got questions, I may have answers, what do you w-wanna know?”
The bard manages to get through most of the sentence relatively fine before slurring the final few words.
The inspector's mouth, the only part of their face visible to the audience, scrunches up in an expression of disgust. The bard, sitting opposite them, slightly wobbles on his chair before using both arms to lean on the table, giving his upper body support against some unknown force that seems to attempt to topple him.
“How much did you drink?” the investigator's voice cuts through the awkward stillness.
“Only a few… bottlesh?” the bard responds, unfazed.
A heavy sigh escapes the investigators lips, before going through their familiar spiel once more.
“Please, recount your evening for me. Broad strokes is fine, I will ask clarifying questions if required.”
“You got it boss!” the bard lilts, before focusing up… somewhat... and hurrying into a long winded recounting of his evening.
“Right, sho, I started off at the bar, singing a song for the noble gueshtsh, where a beautiful little thing was making eyes at me. When I was done with my perfo -urk- pefo- performance, it was late so I went to talk to her. We ‘ad some drinks and one thing led to another and we went to a secluded spot in the gardens and had some fun and when we was done I went to take a stroll and that's when I stumbled upon the corpse with the knife in her gut.”
The bard shuddered at that and just the memory seems to visibly sober him up. He steadies himself and gulps hard before continuing solemnly.
“I couldn’t believe it at first, so I knelt down next to her and went to check her pulse… but then I heard a rustle and what I thought at the time were footsteps, and in a panic I started screaming and running for help.”
He nods slowly to himself before looking at the other person’s darkened face again and continues.
“I ran into… the father and that one young lady, before finding a guard, which followed me to the body and confirmed the death.”
“Was there anything off with the body at either of the times you saw it? Anything strike you as… different?” Juliette questions.
“Ah… there was one thing, in hindsight. I didn’t really realize at the time but when me and the guard returned to the body, it was gone! Her circlet was gone!”
“You do realize this all puts you into an incredibly bad light, right? You were the first to find the body, and since we cannot narrow down the timing of the murder exactly, your… “fun” with this lady doesn't quite cut it as an alibi.”
The bard slumps at these and then looks up at his interrogator again.
“But you will find out who really is behind it right? I swear, I didn’t do it.”
“I will do what I can.” the investigator sighs. “Until then, you will be under careful observation by the guards.”