not given up without a fight. Darius turned towards the entrance and blinked in surprise. The entire wall around the door was scorched, though these were not the marks of a torch or anything similar; the lack of charring above suggested magic. It was surprising and strange, given that, according to all records, the dead City Watchman had no magical abilities. And yet someone had attacked the assailant with fire magic. Apart from this single instance of extraordinary abilities being used, no other traces clearly pointed to a duel between mages.
‘This definitely didn’t happen yesterday,’ Rex stated with a grim expression. The corporal voiced the thoughts that had been running through Darius’s mind for some time.
‘And that's the problem. The report stated that the murder took place on the same day, yet the testimonies of our witnesses and these traces clearly indicate that it happened much earlier.’ The colonel examined the traces of fire magic, paying no heed for the time being to the other items in the room. ‘And it seems this isn’t the only discrepancy between the documents and reality.’ He nodded towards the door. ‘It appears that the honourable Mr Rocha has concealed his magical abilities in the field of fire magic.’
‘I’m liking this less and less,’ Rex muttered resignedly.
‘There have been nothing but problems from the start, and we haven’t even got round to what we actually came here for.’ Bleist sighed heavily and gestured to the Guards waiting at the entrance. ‘Search the room; perhaps the murderer and the local soldiers missed something.’ He turned towards the bloodstain on the floor.
‘Do you think he bled to death, Colonel?’ The corporal stood beside his superior and focused on the same trace.
‘With that amount of blood?’ Darius almost snorted. ‘It’s possible, but I suspect whoever is responsible for this murder went to great lengths to finish the job themselves.’ He assessed that the unnatural bloodstain had not formed uniformly. There were places on it where it was clearly evident that the body had been moved or dragged, with streaks running in
