Earle kept track of the time with how many meals he was fed. He was given a good three meals per day, excluding the first, since he arrived in the afternoon. Not something he expected with how neglected all his inmate predecessors looked. About 6 days had passed. His restraints were also removed at some point, since he was behaving very well, allowing him to somewhat clean the clotted blood out of his ears, enough to recover his hearing. He didn’t make much progress wiping blood off the rest of his body. The bleeding hadn’t stopped up to this point. A real shame, about that spell. It was still a mystery as to why he was here; none of the guards even knew themselves. They weren’t privy to that sort of information, apparently.
The lock tumbler spun and zapped, and the door opened with a click. Meal time!
”You’re Earl Earle Earlando Earlson Earlacle the Fourth?”
Or not. Instead of one of the usual four guards, a woman with a much more commanding presence entered his cell, followed by a small entourage. One who looked rather scholarly, holding a very clearly magical device in his left hand, and another who was a familiar face. It was Oeh! But who were the other two?
”What an inconvenient name.”
The scholar quickly presented herself as little more than an oaf, unable to see the brilliance in his name. It wouldn't be worth wasting his breath on her. The woman in standing at the fore of their triangular formation had an awkward expression.
”Oeh! What is going on here? Why have I been arrested?”
The trio exchanged glances, clearly confused. The woman asked in their stead.
”Oeh? I’m not sure who that might be, but I am Inspector Tarah, working with the Aevum kingdom’s defense department.”
She presented her identification. It definitely said Inspectore, Tarah. So she would be Inspector Inspectore, Tarah. It made sense now why she had such an awkward look. She, too, held a brilliant name! Earle could respect this one. It was strange that Oeh did not respond to his own name, however. There must’ve been a good reason, if such a righteous person would hide their identity from all but Earle’s just self.
”What business would Inspector Inspectore have with me, who has just arrived to the capital?”
Inspectore responded with a light blush on her face. Probably from his dastardly charm.
”I apologize for the disrespect you must have endured up to this point, but we have an urgent investigation that we’ve been dealing with, going back to around 8 days ago.”
Disrespect? It was quite enjoyable, aside from the first day. He could lounge around all day without Mayid nagging at him, and he didn’t have to eat eggs for every meal. This was bliss, if anything! The void beast wasn’t present here, either, so he could actually heal the damage he sustained from the extended loss of circulation in his arms. He even had company in the cell to his right to pass the time talking.
”Doctor Harthim, the foremost practitioner of medicine in our kingdom, recently went missing. He was the one overseeing the king’s treatment. As such, we cannot afford to leave this case unsolved; the very fate of our kingdom lays in the balance.”
It was a name Earle had never heard before.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
”His last known destination was the estate of Earl Earlacle. In other words, your home, Earl Earle. You are, to put it frankly, highly suspicious. You were supposedly in critical condition, according to the correspondence between your maid and the doctor, yet here you are, sitting before us, without so much as a scratch.”
Earle gave himself a once over. Pants torn, clothes soaked in blood, blood caked on his arms, more blood caked on his face, some more blood on his shoes, a lot of blood fresh blood pooling on the ground. Mayid’s camouflage must not have worn off yet. This time, Oeh was the one who looked awkward. He was the only one who’d seen Earle’s state prior.
”On the other hand, Doctor Harthim is missing, and the gift he was promised was never received. You are the prime suspect in this case.”
This… was this about the doctor who was eaten by Mayid at his mansion? He didn’t think it would land him in such a predicament. Then, the scholarly looking one was probably holding a lie detector; it would light up if he were to say anything other than the truth. Earle wasn’t concerned in the slightest; he used to play games with his brothers using a lie detector of a similar make. It was easy to fool. Especially with how the event occurred.
”I will make this brief; it is unlikely you were the one behind his disappearance, given your conduct while in confinement.”
Inspectore let out a sigh.
”Now, then.”
She pulled out a notebook and started flipping through the pages.
”Did you, Earl Earlando Earlson Earlacle the Fourth, correspond with Doctor Yael Harthim in order to knowingly lure him out of the confines of the capital with malicious intentions?”
”No. I wasn’t conscious during the time the correspondence took place.”
The lie detector did not light.
”Did you, Earl Earle Earlando Earlson Earlacle the Fourth, meet with Doctor Yael Harthim on the 5th of the month, exactly 8 days ago, to receive treatment for a critical injury?”
”Indeed, I did, though he didn’t do much to help me.”
The lie detector did not light. Inspectore nodded at him and wrote something down.
”Were you, Earl Earle Earlando Earlson Earlacle the Fourth, involved in any way with Doctor Yael Harthim’s disappearance?”
Inspectore was an expert. There were seemingly no holes in her question. It would’ve been hard for him if he didn’t have ample experience. All he had to do was not answer the question; she wouldn’t push for a clearer answer, either, since she already had a bias.
”I witnessed the doctor leave through the door with my own eyes.”
The detector did not light. Inspectore nodded again, finished writing, and gently closed her notebook. She slid it back into her pocket and clapped her hands. Oeh looked relieved.
”See, you two? I told you he wasn’t the type.”
She technically wasn’t wrong. He wasn’t the type. Mayid was, though. And he was highly involved as a bystander to his disappearance into Mayid’s shadow monster’s stomach. He did also see the doctor leaving; he was now entirely sure that the doctor was dead, but it still wasn’t a lie that he’d seen the man leave. He felt a little sick now, drudging up the memories of Doctor Harthim’s chunky remains.
”Well, then, we just have to finish your out processing and you’ll be free to go, Earl Earle. It was a pleasure speaking with you. Unfortunately, you’ll have to stay in the cell for a little longer until you’re cleared. And regarding your belongings… we aren’t tracking anything, so you should be out a little faster. Enjoy the rest of your time.”
”Before you leave, may I know what will happen with my neighbor? He, too, seems to be innocent. I wouldn’t want to leave him here alone; he’s a kindred spirit.”
”Neighbor? You don’t have any neighboring cells. Besides, the maximum security cells haven’t been used in decades.”
Inspector Inspectore left with Oeh and the scholar in tow. She locked the door behind her. No neighbors? It hasn’t been used in decades? Haha. There’s no way. There was even a window to Jeremy’s cell and everything. Then again, why would there be a window in a maximum security cell?
”Hey, Jeremy.”
”What’s up?”
“I never asked what you were in for.”
”Oh, that? I murdered, raped, and cannibalized my sister, the first princess.”
He was not a kindred spirit.
