Summons: The Fred

[Lent]

Success meant more work, not more success, just more work. More success meant even MORE work, and that's why success didn't lead to more success. Foot had to be put down somewhere, and that place was in the here and now. Lentham had, through no real effort of his own, found the bard, Descant. Brought him in for questioning. Just his damned luck. Because of that, he was sent right back out to find a name on the bard's list. Someone inconsequential enough not to be brought in. Someone who had to be questioned anyway. Clear pictures were important.

Here's some luck though. Fred. The name in question? Fred. A girl, carpenter, from the North. Problem solved. Lentham began his poor impression of work. One tavern went to then the next. Asking for a Fred. No details given. He met a few men with the name, shared a drink. They knew nothing. He moved on. Pleasant afternoon all around. Would take a minor miracle for him to bump into her. Still, job's a job and taverns were taverns. He'd keep on trying. Keep on refilling his flask too. Lovely day for it.

And really, what were the chances that TWO people would be so eager to find a Constable looking for them? This was Myrken. Ha.

[Dulcie]

By the time the Constable would have reached the Broken Dagger it would have been late in the afternoon and the carpenter was returning from her work at the half-dragon's tower. She had been tempted not to return to work there at all after the series of events that had occurred lately, but the tavern had been repaired and when jobs could come and go it seemed ridiculous to avoid perfectly good work when it was available. She was somewhat skittish as she made her way inside the tavern, pressing the door open as she glanced this way and that way for the glint of armour that might indicate that the Paladin was nearby lurking about for her. Not seeing him however the girl seemed to relax, making her way over towards the bar and the constable.

"Afternoon." She'd say pleasantly, and although she was plagued by the many thoughts that surrounded the things that had been happening there was no point in being rude to someone. That and having a Constable on your side could be a good thing, especially if the Paladin came knocking.

As she sat down she'd remove her cap, the palms of her hands still raw from where she had fallen in her escape from the burning dance hall and little scratches were evident here and there along her forearms as well. Her black hair that had been tucked up under her cap would come tumbling down in one big wavey mess to rest on her shoulders.

[Lent]

Nothing good. Nothing good ever came from the Broken Dagger. McCoy died here. Lentham had spent some time tutoring the manager in reading and writing. Maybe it could have led to something else. Maybe was too risky. He wandered on elsewhere. He saw her sparingly. Better that way. Had to check it out, though. No one else wanted to. Couldn't let one of the kids deal with it. How you ended up with no kids. McCoy died here.

Friendy girl. Bit too friendly. Bit too frazzled. Bit too scor..."Hn." Lentham exhaled even as he took the girl in. The hair, the manner, the damage. Only one way to deal with this. Either, he's right or he's not. If he's not then she'll get less friendly. Not a bad thing maybe. "Fred, I presume?" It was a madman's question, calling a girl friend, unless she was Fred. Then maybe it was something worse.

[Dulcie]

She blinked a few times when he mentioned her name, her green eyes moving to pay the constable more attention before they widened and she seemed to get a sudden idea that came to her. Her well toned and saw dusted frame began to tremble a little and she leapt up from her seat, knocking over a few stools accidently when she did, taking a few steps immediately away from the seated constable.

"I haven't done anything! I swear it! He's crazy Sir.. he's absolutely insane. There was this squirrel and then he was going to kill me and I made him promise, promise that he'd call the constables if he really thought that strongly about it. But he said he wouldn't if I went to him and I was going to, really going to... but he said I should go to his room and a girl's got to be careful about that sort of thing doesn't she? And I didn't do it and now he's gone and called you and you're going to arrest me but I haven't done anything, not a thing. I swear on the graves of both my parents I wouldn't harm anybody... not ever! And I certainly don't need to be killed! Oh please... please don't hurt me!" She blabbered suddenly in her stumbling back from the fallen barstools, having stumbled all the way over until her back was pressed up against the back of one of the couches, her green eyes staring at him looking completely and utterly terrified.

[Lent]

Less friendly. Scared. Little mad maybe. That's been going around. Lentham moved slowly. He took one step after the next towards her, in no rush. Wasn't about to chase her around the couch if it came to that. "Stay still. Not going to hurt you.... Fred." Still, he advanced, in his raggedy uniform and permanently bloodshot eyes and unshaven face, looking like one of those walking dead Myrken had been known for a few years before.

He would reach out, slowly, deliberately, methodologically and pull something out. Press it towards her. Was it a black jack, ready to thrash her across the face? No, a much more blessed and holy object than that. His flask. He offered it to her just as he hadn't to the bard. "Drink. You need it more than I do. Sayss something, that. Drink and then we talk. First about the ball. Then about squirrels."

[Dulcie]

It was extremely evident that this girl was no fighter, her green eyes nervously darting at the few means she'd have to escape if he continued advancing which he did. While at first she might have had the intention to run she found herself frozen in place, watching with eyes the bespoke of her terror as she regarded him with an expression that was fixed solely on the hand that went to retrieve something.

At the sight of the flask she'd blink a few times, having expected something nefarious or perhaps a summons or warrant of some sort that would provide a rationale for hauling her off to the jail. As she realized what it was however she'd reach for it with her shaking hand and would find a way to open it, sniffing the contents before she'd tip it back and take a drink that was far too long and too easily taken to be considered feminine at all. When she had finished she'd cling to the flask, watching him with a continued look of concern.

"Th..the ball?" She asked curiously, some of the color draining from face despite how much of it was already gone. "You... you aren't here because of the Paladin?" She looked rather concerned about the fact that he wanted to talk to her at all but at least she was relatively coherent now.

[Lent]

Tough kid. Well, no. Not exactly. Shaking, scared, too paralyzed to run. Not tough kid, no. Good drinker, though. Something to that. Too good a drinker, actually. Lentham grumbled a bit as she took far more than a sip. Looked like a tight grip too. He scratched at his forehead. "Hnn." He put one palm over his left eye and looked at her with the right. Might have to use drastic measures to get the flask back. Hopefully wouldn't come to that.

Oh yeah, questions and answers. "Paladins die here." There's an answer for her. Myrken, where good men came to die. He was a good man once. He died. Now she had his flask. "I'm a Detective Constable, Kurt Lentham. You're a Fred. Tell me what happened at the ball. Then give me the THAT back." A nod to the flask. "Then tell me about the squirrel. Then the paladin." That seemed fair. He wouldn't even get for the flask back until after she told him what he was here to hear.

[Dulcie]

The flask would be given up first however, realizing that the man seemed somewhat worried that she was going to keep it. There'd hardly be call for that, the tavern had plenty of alcohol and she'd had enough work to keep her drunk for a good long while if she wanted to.. and what with the way things were going lately that could be a distinct possibility. At his comment about Paladins dying here she'd look somewhat disconcerted though she'd nod at his request to tell him about the ball.

She was considerably more collected when she'd speak this time, feeling more assured that he wasn't just going to up and cart her off to the jail based on the decision made by some man in shining armor.

"Umm. I don't know what to say about the ball really. I mean, nothing that you probably wouldn't already have heard. I arrived with Genny but when we walked in Catch was doing his mad man raving thing and then it was sort of hard to tell what happened. I think he might have done something, or maybe someone else did something violent because there were people screaming and running around and I'm pretty sure I saw blood at one point."

She'd pause then for a moment, catching her breath so that she wouldn't end up just blabbering out a ton of information like she had earlier.

"And then James.. Lamai's Companion was laying on the ground and we all thought he was dead, but I guess he's not.. and Genny was upset and there was this weird little man pouring something into the punch and then I'm not really sure what all happened next. I guess I got caught up with the crowd and sort of shuffled out 'cuz a couple minutes later the whole place just blew up and started on fire. I managed to get out just before the fire caught up the part of the building that I was at." She had of course conveniently left out the bit about what happened after she had made it out of the building.

"I dunno what else to tell you. 'Spose I'm not the world's greatest witness huh?"

[Glenn]

The flask was snatched back. Peace of mind was snatched back. THAT he would arrest her for. Not anything else. Not on the say so of some Paladin. Unless that Paladin said she was going about not giving back flasks. After that, he'd let her ramble. Nothing was jotted down. Nothing to jot down. The bit about the punch, maybe. Easy enough to remember that. In the middle of it all, he'd take a long drink from the flask. Old friend returned home. Kindness not to be repeated for a while.

"Terrible witness," Lentham agreed helpfully. "Tough to find. Confusing name. Crazy talk about Paladin squirrels. Not a lot of details." Another sip from the flask was suddenly necessary. "No idea about the fire, then? Fire makes people touchy." There was hesitation. If he made it through the ball questions, there was all that other stuff she had brought up. Seemed like a headache waiting to happen.

[Dulcie]

"I'm not that tough to find, and my name isn't difficult and I wouldn't have talked crazy if you would have just introduced yourself like a normal person instead of being all creepy and saying my name before I'd said it first." She said with a bit of a challenging look after he had rattled off the things that weren't necessarily in her favor.

"I'm not sure about the first. I mean, there was alot of scuffle near the man with the punch but I'm not sure if that's where it started. I couldn't see over most of the crowd and I was trying to get around everyone anyhow. There was so much screaming and bumping elbows to get out it was hard to see. I just know that I barely made it out in time and that's really all that matters to me. No one was killed were they? That'd be awful if anyone got trapped inside."

[Glenn]

Lentham stared at her, listening. Lots of words. Not a lot of point to them. Useful in one way, though. Drive a man to drink. That's just what he did, sipping of the flask and then sloshing it around a bit. "Come on." He was headed to the bar now, putting a halt to the investigation, if one could even call it that, in order to get himself a refill. Priorities, like always. This would take some time though. No harm in continuing to talk to the girl while it happened.

"Alright, then. You know what you know. Well and good." The fact of knowing, perhaps. Not what she knew. Because that was scattered and headache-inducing. "Cooperative. Appreciated. Great. Tell me about the squirrel."

[Dulcie]

She bit down on her lip a little as she listened to his one word answers about her response to his questions about the ball, noting his obvious disinterest in what she had to say, or perhaps how she said it. She'd wait a moment, her lips pressed together as she thought about how she was going to respond to the question about the squirrel, this time answering a little more coherently because she had taken her time to think.

"I was working at Miss Drache's place, you know the half dragon woman?" She'd ask, her green eyes searching over his face as if looking to see what his reaction to that would be. "And I went upstairs to check on the structure of the floor and the stairs there and there was this dead squirrel that one of the birds had brought in or something. So I went to pick it up so I could get rid of it, and then.. well, I'm pretty sure I touched it but when I went to throw it out it started blinking at me. Scared the living daylights out of me and I went tumbling down the stairs." Another pause and she'd watch him, looking for his reaction.

"So anyhow, Miss Drache patched me up and I came back here and bumped into this Paladin who said he could heal my injuries. So I agreed and he took my hand and it burned me when he did his Godly Healing thing or whatever it is that he does. So anyhow, I guess that meant to him that I was some sort of bad person.. but i'm NOT, and I told him so and he said it didn't matter, that I should come up to his room and he could try to fix whatever's wrong with it, but that if it didn't work he'd smite the badness out of me or something. He can't do that can he?"

Green eyes would look at Lentham imploringly then, seeking some sort of confirmation that the paladin couldn't just do what he pleased about her situation.