Read Online Hunt of the Bandham (The Bowl of Souls: Book Three) by Trevor H. Cooley - Free Book Online
Authors: Trevor H. Cooley
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explained.
“But it wasn’t me.”
“I know. Go on with your explanation.”
“But if you know it wasn’t Wizard Randolph, then why go through that whole explanation . . . never mind.” She shook her head and continued, “The rest of the students were either too inexperienced to understand how to awaken the perloi or just too stricken with sadness over Piledon’s death to be the killer. Pympol and Arcon were the only ones to give any hint of fear that they might be suspected.”
“Okay, so narrow it down for me,” Locksher said.
“Once I had the four main suspects, I eliminated Justan from consideration because of his personality, lack of ability to cast the spell on the perloi, and the . . . letter he left me. Some of the things he said in that letter could not possibly have been written if he had just left because of murdering someone.”
“Are you sure that you won’t let me read it?” Locksher pleaded.
“No! Next I eliminated my father. You might find my reasons suspect, but first of all, he is my father and though I know him to be capable of many underhanded things, he cares too much for the students in this school to kill one of them. Besides, if he was going to kill someone, he wouldn’t have murdered him in his bed with a knife or something. Blood is too easy to trace. He would have talked Piledon into walking with him to the edge of the moat and put a paralyzing spell on him before pushing him in with the perloi.”
“My, you do know your father well.” Locksher had leaned forward, his elbow on the desk, his head resting on one hand, enthralled with her explanation. “So tell me how you decided that it was one of the other two.”
“Well, I feel bad about it, because they are both friends of mine. But Pympol and Arcon along with Piledon were the ones responsible for that golem catastrophe last year. They were always around Piledon and if he knew something about it that he hadn’t told the council yet, they might have had reason to kill him. They were also both mages before their demotion and both had the skill to use the spell on the perloi.”
“True,” he said.
“Both of them were given a lot of extra duties around the school as punishment. That includes helping to feed the perloi, and extra library duty which would have given them the opportunity to study how to awaken them. Now Pympol hates Justan. He never liked him from the moment they met. It got even worse after Justan told the council about his involvement with the golem. That gives him an edge motive wise if he felt that he could frame Justan for the murder.
“Arcon on the other hand, had extra cleaning duty and would have had the opportunity to switch the mattresses in Justan’s room to try and cover his tracks.”
“Amazing. Well done. Well done indeed. You made good use of the evidence available and puzzled it out. So who do you think did it?”
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. They looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Locksher got up to answer it, but Vannya whispered after him urgently.
“Wait! What if that is the murderer? Right now, since he can’t leave the school, the best thing for him to do is make sure that you don’t live to reveal him!”
“True,” he said. “But I am not defenseless.”
He opened the door and Vannya’s father barged in.
“It was Arcon!” Valtrek blurted. “I couldn’t believe it, but he went missing an hour ago. One of the guards saw him on the wall and he disappeared over the edge. They are out looking for him now. I-.” He paused. “It is quite clean in here, Locksher.”
“I knew it!” cried Vannya. “That’s what I was going to say!”
“I had confirmed it too,” Locksher said. “Just before I came up here I spoke with Professor Beehn and confirmed that Arcon was the student on cleaning duty at the cadet dormitory that
“But it wasn’t me.”
“I know. Go on with your explanation.”
“But if you know it wasn’t Wizard Randolph, then why go through that whole explanation . . . never mind.” She shook her head and continued, “The rest of the students were either too inexperienced to understand how to awaken the perloi or just too stricken with sadness over Piledon’s death to be the killer. Pympol and Arcon were the only ones to give any hint of fear that they might be suspected.”
“Okay, so narrow it down for me,” Locksher said.
“Once I had the four main suspects, I eliminated Justan from consideration because of his personality, lack of ability to cast the spell on the perloi, and the . . . letter he left me. Some of the things he said in that letter could not possibly have been written if he had just left because of murdering someone.”
“Are you sure that you won’t let me read it?” Locksher pleaded.
“No! Next I eliminated my father. You might find my reasons suspect, but first of all, he is my father and though I know him to be capable of many underhanded things, he cares too much for the students in this school to kill one of them. Besides, if he was going to kill someone, he wouldn’t have murdered him in his bed with a knife or something. Blood is too easy to trace. He would have talked Piledon into walking with him to the edge of the moat and put a paralyzing spell on him before pushing him in with the perloi.”
“My, you do know your father well.” Locksher had leaned forward, his elbow on the desk, his head resting on one hand, enthralled with her explanation. “So tell me how you decided that it was one of the other two.”
“Well, I feel bad about it, because they are both friends of mine. But Pympol and Arcon along with Piledon were the ones responsible for that golem catastrophe last year. They were always around Piledon and if he knew something about it that he hadn’t told the council yet, they might have had reason to kill him. They were also both mages before their demotion and both had the skill to use the spell on the perloi.”
“True,” he said.
“Both of them were given a lot of extra duties around the school as punishment. That includes helping to feed the perloi, and extra library duty which would have given them the opportunity to study how to awaken them. Now Pympol hates Justan. He never liked him from the moment they met. It got even worse after Justan told the council about his involvement with the golem. That gives him an edge motive wise if he felt that he could frame Justan for the murder.
“Arcon on the other hand, had extra cleaning duty and would have had the opportunity to switch the mattresses in Justan’s room to try and cover his tracks.”
“Amazing. Well done. Well done indeed. You made good use of the evidence available and puzzled it out. So who do you think did it?”
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. They looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Locksher got up to answer it, but Vannya whispered after him urgently.
“Wait! What if that is the murderer? Right now, since he can’t leave the school, the best thing for him to do is make sure that you don’t live to reveal him!”
“True,” he said. “But I am not defenseless.”
He opened the door and Vannya’s father barged in.
“It was Arcon!” Valtrek blurted. “I couldn’t believe it, but he went missing an hour ago. One of the guards saw him on the wall and he disappeared over the edge. They are out looking for him now. I-.” He paused. “It is quite clean in here, Locksher.”
“I knew it!” cried Vannya. “That’s what I was going to say!”
“I had confirmed it too,” Locksher said. “Just before I came up here I spoke with Professor Beehn and confirmed that Arcon was the student on cleaning duty at the cadet dormitory that
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