Eight Intertwined

88 - Underground

The travelers wound up settling down on a pair of benches near the inn on a small outcropping of rock that overlooked the suspicious building below. They ranged from indifferent to excited over what was to come with Therion resting at one end of the spectrum while Tressas gladly claimed the other. Cyrus was the only exception in the situation, as rather than sitting, he chose to take a place in standing before the rest of the travelers. He had one hand cupped around his chin as he spoke with the other members of the party. "Now that we've gathered all the information we need, I believe it's time for us to go over our new facts and use them to find the truth," he declared.

"First of all, we know that all of the disappearances took place around the inn," Ophilia remarked. "People seemed to have rounded the corner to go around to the back of the building only to disappear."

"Humans cannot vanish into thin air though, so we know there must be some other explanation for it all," Cyrus pointed out, and Ophilia nodded her agreement. "The culprit must have had some other way of taking them away from the vicinity."

"And that's where the sewers come in," Therion said simply. "We know they're in the area of the inn, and if there's no other way for a person to have abducted others without being seen, then we know where we're supposed to be looking."

"Quarrycrest is a rather busy place. It would be pretty hard for someone to just kidnap other people and get away with it," Alfyn chimed in. "That sounds almost impossible, if you ask me. The sewers must have been used to cover up the kidnappings as they were takin' place."

"The kidnappings took place at all hours of the day as well, so it seems as if there's little in terms of rhyme or reason as far as the culprit's actions are concerned," Primrose commented. "I would have thought the victims would only go missing in the dead of night, but I suppose the sewers would have offered ample cover for the culprit to take their targets whenever they wanted."

"I can't believe they weren't seen before this though," Alfyn frowned. "It doesn't make any sense, does it? I mean, Quarrycrest is constantly bustlin' with some kind of activity, and I would have thought at least someone would have spotted the culprit up to this point, especially if it's been going on for months..."

"It's not like anybody would have been able to go down into the sewers to take a look around," Tressa said, and everyone turned to look at her in muted confusion. "This is a mining town, and if what Bishop Bartolo said to Ophilia is true, the people here already have a lot on their plates. They wouldn't want to wander off and find themselves in danger when they've already got so much to do as miners. Odette seems to be the only one with the time to search for the truth since she's here to study rather than to sell goods or mine them within the mountains."

Ophilia went tense at her words, but everyone could tell Tressa's conclusions were correct. "If Morlock really does think of people as so disposable, then he probably wouldn't bother to conduct a full investigation into this either," Therion pointed out. "It would have just taken people's attention away from their jobs, and he doesn't want that. As long as the people of this town are working, they're putting money in his pockets and coffers. People like him don't give a damn what happens to those under their command as long as it serves their own desires."

Olberic frowned at that before pushing himself to his feet. "If Morlock isn't going to help with the investigation, then that means it falls to us. The people who have been taken deserve to have someone on their side, and we would be more than glad do it if no one else is willing to step up to the challenge," he declared. Even though he didn't say the other half of the thought on his mind, everyone knew what it was easily. Olberic wanted to do what he could to bring Morlock to justice, but that wasn't going to be happening. Morlock wasn't going to be an easy target, and beyond that, they had vowed to stay out of his way if they could avoid it. For now, the most they were going to do was try to help the people who had been kidnapped. If they decided to pursue Morlock more later, they could cross that bridge when the time was right.