Pelleas' coin flitted through their fingers and then as they flipped it, it landed on heads. A good sign for things to come, so to speak. The head on the coin was Queen Iolanthe, and on the back of it, there was a large deer's head with branching, frozen antlers.
There were questions in their head that kept swirling like a hurricane, and Pelleas rolled over onto their stomach to look at Bula. She was half-asleep on the inn's feathery down bed, and they opened their mouth, and then closed it.
Bula could rest. This was something that Pelleas had to do on their own. They slipped on their shoes and quietly exited the room, going downstairs to the inn's lower tavern area. It smelled like beer and bread, and strangely enough, it was comforting to them.
Today, they and Bula would be investigating lord Teloran, and they weren't looking forward to it. Uppity nobles like Teloran always seemed to be looking down their noses at the common folk, even if they were investigators.
Pelleas sat at the bar and ordered a coffee. They watched as people came in, and left, and came in, and left, sipping his coffee until it became lukewarm. Eventually, Bula wandered down the stairs too.
"Why didn't you wake me," She asked in her usual gruff tone.
"You looked comfortable. We're going to need our rest for the questioning today."
"Lord Asmodeus Teloran. How could I forget?"
"I wish I could. You know I hate –"
"Dealing with nobles."
Pelleas smiled, Bula always knew just how to read what they were thinking. They nodded, and finished off the coffee with a little grimace as they drank the grounds at the bottom by accident.
"No time like the present. You ready, Bula?"
"Ready as I'll ever be, Pel."
The trip to the Teloran mansion was uneventful. The self-driven car, powered by mana, parked in the driveway after the duo explained what they were here to do. Like the Chantilly manor, lord Asmodeus Teloran's house was covered in snow due to living in the perpetual winter.
Unlike the Chantilly residence, however, there was no familial warmth. Pelleas and Bula walked up the stairs carefully, and then Bula knocked on the double doors.
A maid came to the front and asked what they were here for. Bula and Pelleas showed their badges, and she motioned for the detectives to come in.
Bula entered first, followed shortly by Pelleas. The maid scurried away to get the master of the household, and both of the detectives remained standing in place.
Lord Teloran appeared not long afterwards, and he gave them both a rather pointed look.
"And to what do I owe the honor of having you in my parlor, detectives?"
Bula cut straight to the chase. "We're here to ask you about the fire in the Chantilly mansion."
Lord Teloran's smile became tight.
"I'm not certain what that has to do with me."
"You did threaten the lady of the house shortly before the house was set ablaze, no?"
Pelleas interjected, leaning against the chair's leg. Lord Teloran took a seat, and so did Bula.
"Yes, but it was not I who did it."
"Of course not," Bula said as nicely as she could, "But tell us where you went afterwards anyways."
Pelleas crossed their arms as Lord Teloran explained.
"After I was rejected by that – lovely young thing, I came back here and remained here. You can ask any of my servants, but I did not move from this mansion. I did not return to the Chantilly residence, and certainly not with any arsonous intent."
"Right," Bula said. She stood, putting her hands in her pockets. "So you won't mind if I go and talk to a few of them?"
"They'll all say the same. I spent the night in, detective."
Lord Teloran smiled. Bula did not return it. Pelleas nodded to her and grabbed their notebook, beginning to trot off to go and speak to the hired help. That left the detective with her prime suspect, which meant she could push harder.
"To be frank, I don't quite believe you, Lord Teloran. Why don't you tell me the truth?"
"I beg your pardon –"
"I know a liar when I see one, my lord."
Silence fell between them as lord Teloran's smile ebbed away.
"You want the truth?" He asked in a rough, harsh hiss, "Then that's what you'll get."
"I had planned my revenge on the young lady of the Chantilly residence. But it was nothing so wicked as ARSON. No, I was going to do something simpler. I was going to ruin her reputation, as fragile as it already is."
"So you were going to resort to blackmail?"
"If needs must, detective. There are already plenty of rumors about the scum that she is friends with. Take the Maritritz twins for example; A known womanizer and a cheater. Then there's the Gauthier family, and of course, there's the Baron nobility. It's no wonder her house burnt. With friends like that, who needs enemies?"
Bula felt not a single shred of sympathy for this man. He was willing to do all of this over a mere rejection? Even she got rejected from time to time.
"I see. Well, lord Teloran. You've got other issues, but you're no longer suspect number one. Congratulations." She stood to go and find wherever Pelleas had run off to.
She let him stew in that information as she gathered Pelleas, and they left the mansion. It wasn't until they were in the carriage that she asked them,
"What did you find out?"
As the two talked, the sun began to lower in the sky, and as the light grew dim, so too did their investigation. They had to figure out what to do next.
There were still more witnesses to talk to, so Pelleas and Bula buckled down and got to work. However, as they went about locating the different hired help, another conversation began in the heart of the city.
Vianola and Madalina had much to talk about, after all. And they had to start somewhere.