Sunny and Deathbringer- Partners in Crime

Episode 7, Part 1: Mayor or Murdered

10:18 am, border of the Sand and Sky kingdom, Possibility

     "The victim's name is Aloe. She's 28, demi-girl, and has lived here for the past eleven years." Sunny said. "Her body was reported yesterday by her long-time friend, a Mudwing named Fen."

"Do you know why Fen was at her house?" Deathbringer asked as he tentatively walked around the messy living room. Cabinets had been flung open and ransacked, their contents strewn across the floor.

"Letter says that he and Aloe work at the same retail store and that they would fly there together every day. He came here as usual and waited for her to come out. When she didn't he called out." Sunny read, "Since he didn't get a response he thought she might have been sick and entered to check on her. Found her body in the kitchen."

Sunny folded the letter, placing it in a small satchel she had, and turned to the kitchen entrance. She drew a quick breath as she caught sight of Aloe's body.

Aloe was face down on the floor, half-way under the table. Her limbs and tail were splayed out and a pool of partially dried blood had formed around the left side of her neck.

Sunny cautiously stepped forward and extended her talons. She gingerly lifted up Aloe's head and shoulder to reveal three knife wounds. The first Sunny saw was a deep wound in her left shoulder, reaching so far Sunny was surprised that she couldn't see bone. There were two gruesome cuts on her neck ran from the left side to the center, slashing down at sharp angles.

"You think it might have been a burglary gone wrong? They were trying to find something valuable when she came home and surprised them." Sunny asked, carefully placing Aloe back down and stepping away with a shudder.

"I think that's what they want us to believe." Deathbringer said.

"What do you mean?" Sunny surveyed the room, looking for something she could have missed.

"The talon-prints." Deathbringer said, flicking his tail at a bloody trail that stopped shortly before the front door, "Whoever did this wore some kinda sock to blur their talon prints and hide their tribe. They had a very good knife too. Most knives would've gotten stuck that deep in someone's shoulder but there's no signs of a weapon being jerked free, it's a clean cut. Oh, and they're tall."

"Tall?"

"In front of the bookcase."

Sunny hurried over to the bookcase and started searching. After a minute, she spoke. "They moved the stool instead of using it, like it was in the way. Most dragons would need the stool to reach that high."

"Yep. From the size of the talon prints and the height of the shelf, I would guess that they're probably a young adult, somewhere between twelve to fifteen years old." As Deathbringer spoke Sunny moved the stool into place and reached on top of the bookcase. She stepped down holding a small chest.

Sunny cleared a space on the floor, grimacing as she noticed faint bloody talon prints on the edges of the lid. She opened the box, revealing a stack of papers that she and Deathbringer immediately began to sort through.

"It seems to be mostly letters, and a few financial documents." Deathbringer noticed, placing the letters back in the box. "Let's head back to the office to finish reading through them."

*****

The next day 8:12 am, border of the Sand and Sky kingdom, Possibility

"~I thank you all for coming out and supporting my campaign." Aella spoke. Despite her older age, Aella's voice was strong and carried over the square. "I would be honored to serve as mayor of Possibility."