Chapter 4

'No, no, I certainly don't see the logic in that' Commander Coamenel said shaking his head. 

Turi hid hear face in her hands, trying to keep her composure. Even though she was the equal of the head of border patrol now, their relationship hadn't markedly improved since the last case they had worked on.

She pleadingly looked up at Rhaidmir, who was the head of the elven armed forces and thereby also their shared superior. He'd been tasked with informing the council on her ongoing investigation, and Turi now seriously regretted even mentioning the meeting to Coamenel.

The latter seemed to nervously shift from one foot to the other, casting furtive glances at his boss from under his trimmed eyebrows. Coamenel was known for being a bit of a dandy, and, Turi had to admit had outdone himself on this occasion . The commander wore a brilliantly green tunic bordered with red pheasant-like feathers. A similar feather of impressive length and sway was planted on his hat, which sat low and gave the finished product a suave look. Turi sighed.

'The female elf who worked as his helper hasn't been seen since the fire' she started, but was interrupted by a strange haughtily laugh emanating from the commander. She fixed him with an incredulous stare. 'And I bumped into a brown haired elf leaving the scene.'

'Hm' Rhaidmir nodded. 'If she didn't come back this may have been our perpetrator, also given the likeness in hair colour and built.' Turi gratefully smiled and nodded. Commander Coamenel looked a bit deflated.

'But what of this cat then, hm?' Coamenel asked a bit too vehemently. 'Have you considered that?' 

'Yeah' Turi said 'the cat angle makes sense. But there are, what, at least one hundred cats being kept as pets here. And only half of them will have alibis.' She shot another angry look at the commander before turning to Rhaidmir. 'Indeed, we can't explain the note' Turi admitted, hastily adding 'yet.'

'Maybe the elf took offence to our victim's lacking morals in trade?' she suggested. Rhaidmir nodded pensively, but Coamenel looked like he'd smelled something unpleasant.

Turi suspected that he wasn't pleased with her controlling this investigation, but she couldn't care less. She was not interested in power games, and the commander could start foaming at the mouth, literally or figuratively, for all she cared. She was going to solve this case and wasn't planning on letting him screw it up.

Just as she wanted to speak again, commander Coamenel cleared his throat and stated in an off-hand manner 'She was a disgruntled helper, didn't agree with our victim's practices, took the law into her own hands. Seems pretty open and shut to me.' He cast a haughty glance at Turi.

The commander's smug look dissipated as Turi squared her shoulders and shook her head. 'There is something off about this.' She stated the theory she'd been working on with as much clarity and confidence as she could munster, given the poisonous looks the commander was shooting her way.

'Female elves don't tend to engage in violent crimes like this, yet the victim was bound and burned alive.' A shudder ran down her spine. Hell, as a rule elves didn't tend to engage in crimes like these. She continued 'the note refers to an 'us': come join us.' 'Cha, the cat' Coamenel laughed. 'This is clearly a prank.'

Turi watched with her mouth open as the commander smacked his lips smugly. 'Taking it a bit far for a prank, wouldn't you say?' Rhaidmir cut in. This shut Coamenel up. Choosing to ignore the commander altogether now, Turi finished 'I believe this is a group, and we haven't seen the last of them.'

As Turi walked home, she felt what an intense experience that meeting had been. This was the first time she had to step up and take responsibility for an entire investigation, rather than kick back and let her former partner take the lead.

She'd done well, she concluded. She smiled to herself and straightened her back. Nevertheless, she still didn't have a clue about how to proceed. No one had come forward with an accurate description of the mystery domestic helper. It turned out she'd only been employed there recently, and hadn't been social.

Turi had a sinking feeling that this wasn't the end of it. The crazed note, the nastiness of burning another elf alive. This couldn't be just it. 

She had no idea how true that notion would turn out to be.