Gem Kingdom Stories

The Mystery of the Midnight Makeover - Brisosceles

The vibrantly made up rock gnome had been sipping his marshmallow cocoa for some time now. Smiling as he tried to puzzle out just how much his stoic companions knew about his glittery beard and painted face.
The suspects, all currently seated around him, were a tough read. He couldn't rule out Deiran, who was all too easily denying any knowledge; his stone features giving nothing away. Sutha perplexed as always at the idiosyncratic social norms outside her cloistered Skymother den was also a challenge. She could as easily been trying to puzzle out the purpose of the vase of flowers on the table as she could be daydreaming of the odd mating rituals of her tribe.
This thought briefly saddened the tiny gnome, as he mindlessly fed Gary the gecko a piece of fruit. He recalled pouring his heart out to Flortma and Crara the night before about Gary, his halfling lover, whom had suffered an accident in the mine and forced to return to his home to recover. Zinc hadn't heard from him since, and, not for the first time that morning, his heart was heavy.
Flortma and Crara. They seemed the most likely suspects, though the paladin had already denied it. It wasn't really his M.O. however. He was more into lecturing and finger wagging to be a practical joker. It was a shame, really, Zinc thought to himself. Life was too short to be so serious all the time.
That left Crara. The only problem was that she was the most likely suspect. In all of his days investigating crimes; okay, okay. In all of the stories he read involving crime solving super sleuths, he had gleaned that the guilty party was almost always the person or persons you'd least suspect.
Crara had the means and the motive, but she had had to leave the table to redo her makeup once today. The blending, shading, contouring, highlighting, and glitter work seemed just too flawless to have been done at her hand.
This left their Dwarven hostess. It had to have been her, despite her insistence that they did not offer a complimentary makeover service, she was the one with the keys to the castle, as they say. It must have been her. He would be sure to get her a present as a thank you when they went into town. After all, he loved a good prank, and his face did look stunning.
He smiled again, this time in her direction. She nodded politely, albeit a little alarmed. Slurping at the sweet milk he chuckled to himself. Gary would be proud that he cracked the case, and hopefully one day soon, he'll be able to tell him all about the case of the midnight makeover.