[Closed] All You Have Is Your Fire

[maltesefalcon]

Who: Cerrit Agrupnin, Alex Conklin and a surprise friend that will help us later
What: A jailhouse conversation
When: Early July
Where: The Marrow Island Jail
Warning(s): Discussion of incarceration, death, arson, cults, cultists, murder, corruption, etc.


It was not, in fact, the cult nonsense that sent Cerrit to look at the jailhouse records and see who was currently incarcerated. It was a conversation with Elias Coldwood, one that had made him consider the value in taking a piece off a chess board.

That said, as news of the past of the Larkin estate starts to come out, there's more urgency in him to meet the person who burned it down.

He may be acting quickly, and perhaps with a little less oversight than he ought to, but he's smart enough to not go alone to visit a dangerous criminal; Alex gets the scoop and an invitation to join Cerrit on his little jailhouse visit. Cerrit is waiting outside the building when Alex arrives.

Comments

[cult_classic]

The prisoner that was requested has been brought into a separate space. This prison doesn't have a glass wall with a phone, just a holding cell bisected by bars, with a place for visitors to have a seat a ways out of arm's reach. However, the man within sits placidly, hands folded across his lap.

He's elven. A High Elf, with jewel-red eyes and long blonde hair that hangs limply about his face. The embroidered name patch on his plain white shirt, which matches his pants, says "L. Ecclestone". He mostly just looks very tired.

"Good afternoon," he says, polite as anything. "At least that's what time I think it is. It bleeds together a bit. I understand you wanted to speak with me?"

[saintoflangley]

Alex takes in the prisoner they're to be questioning with a glance. Some kind of elf, with red eyes.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Ecclestone," Alex says, as diplomatically as ever. "We're led to believe you may be able to assist us in an ongoing investigation."

[maltesefalcon]

"We're new to the Enforcers department on the island, and we're examining some older events in light of new evidence." Cerrit takes one of the offered chairs, and turns it around so he can do the bisexual straddle and avoid smushing his wings. It's a posture some might read as casual, easygoing. "Such as events that occurred on the Larkin estate before it was burned down."

[cult_classic]

"And you're hoping I can share more," Lysander assumes, letting out a sigh. "There's truly not much to tell. But I genuinely have nothing to hide. What do you know already...?"

[saintoflangley]

While Cerrit has gone for the classic Bisexual Pose, Alex has chosen to sit on the other chair normally, both hands resting atop the handle of his cane in front of him.

"There was a meeting of a particular group," he begins. "Some might call it a cult, because that's what it was. Many high-profile members of the local community were there, and they murdered quite a few people for their ritual."

[maltesefalcon]

"Ah, the cult probably had several meetings there. We only heard about one. We also know the estate burned to the ground during a Givingstide party, killing everyone inside. Strange, that not even a single person escaped, hm?"

Cerrit does the avian head-tilt, looking at Lysander thoughtfully.

"That, from what I understand, is the crime you were convicted of."

[cult_classic]

"It is," Lysander agrees. "And I'm sure I probably did it. But beyond that, I'm afraid I don't know much more. A cult would certainly explain a few things."

[saintoflangley]

Now that's an interesting choice of words.

"You 'probably' did it? This isn't Schrodinger's Arson, here. You did or you didn't."

[maltesefalcon]

"We're trying to understand the situation in its fullness. It really is in your best interest to explain things fully, instead of being cryptic, Mr. Ecclestone." Cerrit leans in over the chair, sounding as fatherly as he ever has. "We're interested in the truth of the matter, and ensuring we move forward in the most appropriate manner."

[cult_classic]

The man holds up his hands in calm surrender. "Yes, I know. I apologize, this all happened years ago--- nearly a decade. I've told this story about a million times, not that anyone particularly believes me."

Scooping his hair off to the side a bit, Lysander takes a long, slow breath.

"I don't remember any of it," he says slowly. "I have a vague recollection of speaking with... someone. A person that I didn't know. I can't remember any of their features, but I know that they were unfamiliar to me. And I remember feeling drunk. And then there was a match in my hand. I remember standing in the snow, and it smelled like fire. Then the constables arrested me, and I saw Larkin Manor ablaze in front of me. I have no reason to believe I didn't set the mansion on fire, but I also have no motivation to have done so, nor any recollection of the action. I must have done it, but I don't remember why, or how, or when."

"Everyone seems to believe I'm lying, and that I'll eventually crack and tell them, but it doesn't matter. I'm so clearly the culprit of a mass murder that I'm in prison for life anyway."

[saintoflangley]

Oh, interesting, interesting. Alex has seen this sort of thing before - not specifically this, but acquiring kompromat, as the Soviets so usefully called it, is standard practice when trying to recruit an asset. Money, Ideology, Coercion, Ego, he thinks to himself.

If Lysander was drugged and manipulated into it, it not only made him a convenient patsy, but was good to ruin any reputation he may have had before.

"Saying you 'can't remember any of their features' is certainly convenient," Alex notes. "Why were you speaking with them?"

[cult_classic]

There's a moment where he has to think very hard about this, squinting as if through a fog.

"They said something about liking my eyes," Lysander recalls dreamily. "Some remark about the color red. As if they knew something I didn't."

[maltesefalcon]

Alex is thinking drugging and manipulation. Cerrit is thinking compulsion magic. Unfortunately, it's unlikely that would leave traces that would still be noticeable now. He lets Alex take the lead for the moment, ready to step in and be the gentler hand when needed.

His burning question is why this particular fall guy? He'd originally wanted to check the prison for who might be locked up long term after a conversation with Dr. Coldwood about taking pieces off a chess board. Lysander had been rendered a non-threat. For whom was that beneficial?

cw: past alcoholism mention

[saintoflangley]

Alex makes a mental note of that - that the color red seems to be important, somehow.

The squinting, though - definitely a hallmark of someone who'd been drugged or otherwise put into an altered state. It's always difficult to remember things then, unless you're very careful about keeping the dose just enough. It was how he'd survived into retirement, carefully keeping himself functional during the day and letting the bourbon take the lead during the night. He'd lost quite a few years to that.

"A match in your hand," Alex repeats. "Lit or unlit?" Seemingly a small detail, but the little details could be the difference when it came to unraveling this mystery.

[cult_classic]

"Lit," Lysander replies with ease, then corrects himself. "It was burnt black. I remember coming into focus because it had singed my fingers. The pain, though inconsequential, snapped me out of whatever stupor I was in for a moment."

[maltesefalcon]

Cerrit gives Alex a quiet little look. "Could be a compulsion spell. Pain's often a way to jerk someone out of them, or at least try to jog them."

[saintoflangley]

Right, he has to take magic into account. He is no longer within even shooting distance of Kansas.

"So I assume that wasn't intended," Alex says to Cerrit. Then, to Lysander: "Since it was burnt to your fingertips, was the mansion already burning? Do you know where you were for that brief moment?"

[cult_classic]

Lysander frowns. "I didn't know at the time. Apparently I was behind Larkin Manor, but I didn't know that at the time. I'd never seen it from behind before."

[maltesefalcon]

"Who was it that found you, afterwards?"

Just in case they had ties to the cult or something he could trace.

[cult_classic]

"I don't know the officer's name, unfortunately," Lysander confesses. Though information like that should be in the arrest report, at least. "...May I ask the two of you a question?"

[saintoflangley]

"You can ask," Alex says. "Whether we answer is an entirely different animal."

Well, at least he's being honest.

[maltesefalcon]

"And we might not know the answer, considering we weren't on the island at the time of your arrest."

Also honest, but gentler, and tipping their hand just a little.