A Lesson in ForensicsIndex | HomePage | GameLogs | HoldfastGameLogs | A Lesson in Forensics When they arrived back, the cottage was illuminated by the glow of a few fitful candles. Rhys dismounted, tied his reins loosely around a handy branch, then walked to the door. Godwyn ordered the two guards to stay with the horses, then strode to the house with Rhys. "It was all closed up when we got here," he explained. "No answer to my knock. I kicked the door in." He pushed the door open and walked in. Rhys followed. Arney came to his feet, giggling as he pointed a long boadsword at them. Odette, sitting by the fire with a large tankard of ale, said placidly, "Now, now, Arney. These are friends come to call. Master Godwyn, Maester Rhys ... you are right welcome." "Thank you, Mistress," Rhys replied, eyeing the pointy end of Arney's sword. She rose to her feet and began to make her way towards the long deal table where the late Tovis was laid, candles set at his head and feet. "Well done, Arney," Godwyn said approvingly. "You're right to protect the Mistress." He walked over to the table and gazed down at Tovis. "Here he is," he said. Then he looked at Odette. "The Maester is going to examine him," he explained. "He'll be able to tell us a lot about who killed him, just be looking." He turned back to Rhys expectantly, as though waiting for him to do a conjuring trick. Rhys grunted noncommittally. "Godwyn, grab a candle please and hold it up here..." He gestured with one hand to a point a few feet above Tovis's head, then bent to examine the corpse. Godwyn did so. "He was sitting in that chair, there," he explained, as he held the candle and watched Rhys. "Had his hands clenched when we found him, and was sort of leaning down into the table. Blood all over his chest." Rhys paused to glance over his shoulder at the chair and table, then turned back to Torvis. "We went to talk to Mistress Odette, and ask around to see if anyone had seen anything at his place today, and when we come back, couldn't be more than an hour later, if that, someone had cut his hand off. " He gestured with the candle, casting shadows over the body. "That's the hand, there," he said helpfully. "Someone had smashed the fingers open, then tossed the hand in to the pig. He nibbled it a bit before I could get it back." "I'll look at it in a moment. Look here...see this?" he said to Godwyn, under the strong conviction from his time with Sewell that every moment can be a possible teaching moment. "The cut in the neck starts shallow here on the left side, by the time the knife is in front it's very deep, and then it was pulled out abruptly on the right side. So the murderer slit Tovis's throat from left to right. What does that tell us about the murderer?" Godwyn thought, staring at the wound and unconsciously moving his right hand as though wielding the murder weapon. "He was killed be someone standing behind him?" he hazarded. "Someone who stood behind him, had good leverage, was able to get a really strong cut in. Kept the blood from splattering on him, too." "You're on the right track," Rhys said, watching Godwyn go through the motions. "Slitting the throat is almost always done from behind, for those reasons you mentioned: good leverage and you avoid spattering blood all over yourself--though I'll warrant some of the blood splatter caught the murderer's arm nonetheless. What else? What does the direction--from left to right--imply about the handedness of the murderer?" Godwyn tossed the imaginary knife to his left hand and made another slash. "Hmm," he said. "You pull with a cut like this, you don't push. A lot more power that way. So left to right, if you're standing behind the victim, that means right handed. Right?" "Right." Rhys smiled at Godwyn grimly. "Most people are right-handed so it doesn't help much, but it's something. Next question...notice that there are no cuts on the hands... What does that tell you?" Godwyn frowned. "Why should he have cuts on his hands?" he asked. He stared down and his imaginary victim, puzzled. "To have cuts on his hands..." he said slowly... "He'd have to have had his hands where they could be cut. Up near his neck..." Suddenly his face cleared. "Right!" he exclaimed. "If he'd been trying to protect himself, to keep his throat from being cut, then he'd have cuts, just like you said. But he didn't. His hands were still on the table, in fact. So he wasn't trying to stop the fellow from cutting his throat, he was taken by surprise. But why would he let someone stand behind him like that? Tovis was a suspicious fellow. It would have to be someone he knew and trusted. Or else..." Godwyn's eyes narrowed in concentration. "Or else he was sitting at the table talking with one fellow, and another one came up behind him and slit his throat. Is that it?" Rhys nodded. "That's a likely scenario, knowing what we do of Tovis and the position he was in when you found him. The blood spray on the table supports it, too. Mistress Odette, you don't see any books or ledgers here that would record Tovis's business dealings?" "Why, no, young maester. Tovis couldn't read or write, you know." Odette smiled apologetically at him from her seat by the fire. "Ah. That's inconvenient," Rhys commented, then continued his examination of the corpse. He talked to Godwyn as he progressed down the body, pointing out things of interest that illustrated Tovis's lifestyle and current state of health when he died. "No other unusual marks on him, though, except what you'd expect to find from one in his line of work." Godwyn watched with interest, nodding as Rhys talked. "Rigor has set in fully. We don't know why, but a few hours after a person dies the body turns stiff for a few days, then relaxes again. The process take some time, maybe as much as twelve hours or so to set in fully. Based on this and the blood pooled in his lower body--see the reddish patches here?--I'd place his death at sometime early this morning. "Let's look at the hand." Grisly though it was, Rhys didn't hesitate to pick it up and--with some effort--pry apart the battered fingers. "Because rigor had set in by the time whoever it was came back, they couldn't force apart his hand. I'm not sure why they cut it off after they removed whatever Tovis had been holding there. Must be that there was something on the hand that was incriminating... Ah, see here?" Rhys held up the hand to Godwyn. The shape of a half-circle showed red on the palm. "What do you make of that?" Godwyn smiled. "That one I'd already thought of," he said proudly. "I'd wager that they gave him a coin to get his interest, and when they killed him he wouldn't let it go, even in death. And then they came back to get it, either 'cause they wanted their money back, or else 'cause they realized it could point a finger of blame at them. Or both." Rhys nodded. "Sounds reasonable. I have to wonder why they didn't take it right after killing Tovis--it would've been an easy thing to pry it out of his fingers then, as rigor doesn't set in until several hours afterwards...though...I have heard in rare cases of rigor happening immediately after death. Perhaps something like that happened here and they didn't have time to deal with it right then. Perhaps they needed to get the cart following the maester instead--he did leave pretty early in the morning." Godwyn's smile grew larger. "And I think I can answer why they cut it off, 'cause that's something else I've been thinking about. They came back after the Bear and I found the body, and didn't know how long they'd have 'till we came back. They couldn't get the fingers open 'cause of the 'rigor,' so they cut it off, took it out back where he has his tools, and smashed it open and got their coin. Then they tossed it in the pig pen." He stopped and cocked his head to one side. "Right?" he asked. Rhys sighed. "Don't know for sure, but it fits the clues we have. It becomes our 'working hypothesis' until we find reason to change it. Good job, Godwyn. I'm impressed." Godwyn looked quite proud of himself at the praise. "If you're correct, then that means the murderers were still hanging around the area, watching Tovis's house. It also means that they're still nearby. Even if they left immediately after getting the coin, they can't have gotten far--it's night. Are there people out searching?" "I sent the Bear to rouse the village watch, get them out looking for strangers." He shook his head. "I'm hoping it was strangers. Boltons or them sellswords who came with Evan Tamm, maybe. Or..." He looked over at Odette, then back at Rhys. "You weren't here back a couple of years ago, when someone killed a man at Mistress Odette's place, and then tried to kill Ser Corryn. There were some men in the woods then, wearing Night's Watch black. Maester Sewell thought they might have been wilders, though, who'd killed some men of the Watch and took their clothes. I mislike having wilders in the woods just now, when we have all this other stuff going on. Seems like it might all be tied together, somehow. Last time Corryn was here we had wilders in the wood, and then no sign of them until just when he comes back. It's like they're following him." "Interesting," Rhys said thoughtfully. "How that would tie in with Tovis and Merivel is unlear to me, however. I'll give it some more thought. Please let me know if anything else occurs to you or you find new evidence." Rhys put the severed hand on top of Torvis's torso, wiped his hands on a spare rag he pulled from his robes, then walked over to the table and chair where Godwyn had found Tovis. Blood spray was evident in the expected pattern for someone who's throat had been slashed from behind. Nothing else on the table looked unusual or noteworthy. Rhys studied the floor around the table, then shook his head. "There might've been a footprint from the murderer's boots, but the area is too disturbed now. Too many comings and goings." He looked up at Godwyn. "This is the second murder in as many days that you've come across. Apparently the gods think you're the man to handle such things. In the future, try to keep the body and the area undisturbed until it's been thoroughly investigated, all right? There's always the possibility that there's a clue or two to find." Godwyn nodded, looking a little chagrined. "Aye," he said. "I'll recall it next time." Rhys clapped him on the shoulder. "Do you want to come back with me and report our findings to Ser Godfrey? Or do you want to stay here and help with the search?" "Both," Godwyn answered with a laugh. "But let's say we do this, instead. We can go talk with the Bear and see if the village watch has found anything, and you can question him and see if he noticed anything I forgot. He's an experienced man, he's forgotten more about being a guard than I'll ever learn. Then, depending on what he has to say, I'll either send you back to the castle with a good strong escort, or else I'll go with you myself." He looked at Tovis' body and shook his head. "Whatever it is that's going on, it's all directed at Holdfast. We might find these 'clues' of yours here in the village and out in the wood, but it's at the castle that the true danger will lie." "Mistress Odette," he said, with a respectful bow of the head to her. "The Silent Sisters are busy with other dead at the castle right now. I fear it may be some time afore they can be here. Is there ought you'd have me do for you, a message to take to the tavern or some such?" Odette smiled comfortably. "I'm well provided for here, Master Godwyn. Arney's here for now, and then Lemuel will come after the milking's done. And I've no fears now that John the Bear's put the village on alert." "Let's go talk to the Bear, then," Rhys said to Godwyn. "You lead." "Aye," Godwyn said. He nodded once more to Odette, told Arney, "You keep good care of her now, mind?" and led the way out of the hut and back to the horses. Swinging back up into the saddle he gazed around at the trees that grew close to the dirt pathway and shook his head. "Not good for folk to have to be so scared of their own country," he said to Rhys as they began walking the horses towards the main part of the village. "Even after we find out who's responsible, it will be a while yet before folks can feel safe again." "Tell me about the situation that happened a few years ago with Corryn. I take it the men who tried to kill him were never found?" Rhys asked. "Well, the fellow Corryn killed was," Godwyn said with a laugh. "We never did find out who he was, though, just some stranger. He killed a hedge knight who was sleeping in Corryn's bed, thinking it was Corryn. Corryn was spending his night with Mistress Odette." He glanced at the two guards, then leaned towards Rhys. "There's a bit more to it," he said in a lower voice. "Ask your uncle about it. He knows." Rhys nodded, bemused. Godwyn straightened in the saddle again. "There were men in the forest as well. One of them stabbed me in the leg when I rode in on their camp unaware. Anders' men couldn't find them later, though, nor any sign of their camp." He scowled. "You were stabbed? I didn't know that." Rhys filed that away for future reference. "Which leg?" "Here," Godwyn answered, slapping his right thigh. "And then I rode around for a while before having it tended to, of course." He grinned at Rhys. Rhys gave him a stern look in return, then broke down and smiled. "Your uncle had some things to say about that, I can tell you. Syndra stitched it up for me in the village, but your uncle said she made a good job of it. There's a nice scar, but it never pains me. Nettle, mustard seed, and firemilk," he said reminiscently. "Good for keeping a wound for going bad. Oh, yes, and some of that moldy bread your uncle always has around." He shook his head, bemused at the ways of maesters. "We are a strange lot, aren't we?" Rhys said mildly, still smiling. "So...was there evidence that the men in the forest that stabbed you and the man Corryn killed were working together somehow? It could've been two unrelated incidents." "Could have been," Godwyn admitted cheerfully. "Just like the wilders in the woods right now might have nothing to do with what's going on at Holdfast. Ser Corryn's the man to talk to about it, he's clever at these things." "Indeed." Rhys was silent after that. They rode on in silence for the few minutes it took to reach the main body of the village. Godwyn paid careful attention as they rode, looking for sights and sounds of activity, and as soon as they came upon any villagers he asked for news of the whereabouts of Jon the Bear. They were at once directed to the inn. John the Bear was not noticeably bibulous, but he recognised the importance of a good gathering point for work like this. The whole place was in a bustle, with patrols being readied and dispatched - or greeted with spiced ale on their return. Godwyn directed the guards to dismount and tie the horses once they reached the Goose and Gander, and he led the way into the inn. He greeted the villagers with good cheer, asking after the results of their patrols so far, and looked around to see if the Bear was presiding inside the inn, as he expected, or if he had gone out with one of the patrols instead. Rhys is quiet, letting Godwyn talk to people and lead the way. He listens intently to the news of the patrols, if any. The bear was stationed at a table in the centre of the room - and the village Septon was beside him, laboriously making notes on what was being reported by the patrols coming in, and recording where those being sent out were headed. The Bear looked up from his discussion of a crudely drawn map with two of the foresters, saw Godwyn and Rhys, and nodded an acknowledment that seemed to invite them to cross to him. At the same time he signalled for ale to be brought. Godwyn crossed the room and pulled out a chair. He sat across from the Bear, motioning for Rhys to take a chair as well. Rhys did so. "Jon," he said in greeting, and he gave a polite, if distant, nod to the Septon. "What have you found out so far?" The Bear rose respectfully and remained standing until they were both seated. Then he sat again and began to describe where and how he had sent patrols to check the small town (all safe - and now being regularly patrolled), and the edges of the woods. The coverage seemed efficient - designed to reassure the townsfolk as much as to track murderers in the darkness. "If it's all the same to your, Sir, I think I should stay here tonight," he said, as the ale was served. "I think my presence here is helping." It certainly seemed to be. "Aye," Godwyn answered. "That's a good thought. Send to the castle if you have need of anything." He gestured towards Rhys. "The maester has some questions for you, I think." "I'll be pleased to answer them," said the Bear courteously, turning to the Maester. "And I'd be grateful to ask you a few too, Maester." "Have any of the patrols returned with news?" Rhys asked. "Several have, Sir," said the Bear. "But none have seen anything. Is there anything that you would be having them look for when it grows light?" Rhys spread his hands. "Perhaps someone skilled in tracking might be able to discern a trail from Tovis's house, but with all the comings and goings there, who knows? There's also the question of how far to pursue this, but that's not something I can answer." He looked at Godwyn. "We want to keep the patrols going until Ser Kenrith and Ser Anders have had a chance to a larger force out and clear the woods. And what the patrols find will help them, I hope." Godwyn frowned and looked at the Bear. "I think," he said, "That we probably want to make sure that the patrols don't travel more than a quarter day's journey in any direction, so that we'll know if anyone is gone more than a halfday that means there's trouble. And everyone should know that if they find any sign at all, they need to come back at once and report, so that a larger force can go track it down. Last thing we need is a small group of villagers trying to track Wilders through the woods." "Yes Master Godwyn," agreed the Bear. He hesitated, and then cleared his throat. "So ... it was Wilders whi killed him, Maester?" Rhys shook his head. "It might be Wilders, it might be men trying to make us think they're Wilders. I don't know for sure. I wish I did." Godwyn nodded and sighed. The Bear sighed heavily. "Anything else, you can tell me, Maester? That might help me calm the villagers?" "I think knowing that you're out here patrolling will be the greatest comfort to them," Rhys replied. "Speaking of villagers...another possibility is that our quarry is still here, but holed up with someone, whether intentionally or by force. Have you checked all the houses and outstructures?" Godwyn nodded again, thoughtfully this time. "All the houses, yes," said the Bear. "But we're leaving barns and pigsties till there's more light. Unless you think we should do that now?" Godwyn frowned, and answered, "I'd be careful of having the villagers poking around in dark places, unless there's a bunch on them together. We want to gather more information about the killers, not end up with a bunch more victims." He looked to Rhys for confirmation on that. Rhys nodded. "Check the houses. If anyone acts funny or unusual, keep an eye on their place. Otherwise, check the barns and such in the morning. I think that's all you can do--make sure they're not still in the area--and leave the pursuing part to the Hardy's." Rhys turned to look at Godwyn for confirmation. Godwyn nodded, relieved that Rhys agreed with his assessment. "Are you ready to head back, young Godwyn?" Rhys asked. "Aye," Godwyn answered. "Unless there is anything more you have to ask, or to tell us?" he asked, looking from the Bear to the Septon and back again. Both men shook their heads. "If you send some men to relieve the guards here in the morning, Sir, I'll be grateful," said the Bear. "But I'd like to stay here myself until we have this sorted as best we might." "Aye," Godwyn says. "Send to the castle if you need aught." He rises then and nods to Rhys. "Shall we go, Maester?" Rhys nodded and stood. |
