Examination

In the infirmary, Birger had been placed on a cot in a corner away from the patients. A white sheet was laid across him to conceal him, and a gnome guard was lazily watching his body.

"Where is the lead physician?" Ravenna asked one of the healers.

The woman hesitated. "No one is allowed to see the doctor. He is confined to his room."

Ravenna adjusted her pink hair with indignant disgust. She glared at the young woman and lowered her voice. "You think I want to be here? I am here on official business. Now where is the doctor?"

Her words recieved the proper amount of respect, and the healer pointed toward the doctor's room with a shaky hand. Ravenna turned her back on the young woman and strode confidently toward the surgery room behind which the doctor lived.

Human soldiers guarded the door to the doctor's quarters. "No one see the doctor without permission."

Ravenna turned her nose up at the soldier. Who did these people think they were? "Do you not recognize me? I do not need permission. Step aside or go bother the new Emperor during his coronation to get permission directly from him. I am here on important business, but I do not think His Majesty will appreciate the interruption."

Like a key to a lock, Ravenna's words allowed her to enter. She passed the two men with a derisive snort.

Inside the room, the doctor was reading a book while on his bed. He did not look up.

"The tray is by the door," he said.

Ravenna looked at the small table near her. A tray of half-consumed food was neatly packed to be taken away.

Ravenna's voice was soft but firm, "I could you put in the dungeon for your obvious disrespect. I know you could hear what was going on outside."

Glancing up at Ravenna curiously, the doctor gently closed his book. "I wish you would send me to the dungeon, Councilwoman Ravenna. At least there I would have company. Being by myself when I am used to being around patients all day is driving me slightly mad."

"I can relate, though the dungeon is not the answer, trust me." The pink-haired woman chuckled bitterly.

"You must really need a favor to be so kind." The doctor was suddenly interested. He sat up on the bed raised his eyebrows thoughtfully. "As duchess, you berated me to no end when I helped to investigate your son's death. I always thought you blamed me for not finding more clues in my examination of Lord Turpilius."

Ravenna winced. "Oddly enough, that is why I am here. I need you to do another examination."

The doctor furrowed his brow. "Lord Tupilius has been dead a long time, I am not sure there would be anything left to examine."

The Councilwoman took a deep breath and tried again. It would be easier for her to just order him around, but his honest help was far more valuable than her pride. She needed to use all her charm and civility. "You misunderstand me, Doctor. You told me back then that the weapon used to kill my son was very unique. You said it was likely made by a strangely shaped blade of a dagger. What did you call it?"

The doctor nodded and thought for a moment. "I kept records of all my findings. They are in my surgery. But that examination has always stuck with me. I believe I called it a tri-blade dagger."

"How many tri-blade daggers have you seen in person?" Ravenna inquired.

"I have never seen one, actually," the doctor admitted, scratching his head. "But it was the only thing that made sense at the time."

"And that is why I was so angry with you. I thought you were inventing a weapon to cover up the Empress's guilt." The pink-haired woman tapped her finger to the side of her mouth with a frown.

"You have changed your mind, then?" the doctor was finding Ravenna more interesting by the second. She waved off his question.

"I need you to examine another body and tell me if you think the same weapon caused the injury to him as my son." The woman paused. "Can you do that?"

"I can try," the doctor answered honestly. "But I would need to get to my surgery both to get my notes and examine the body. Do I know the victim, if I may ask?"

"You do. It is Councilman Birger." The woman saw no need to soften the blow. The physician would find out in a moment anyway.

Saying a silent prayer, the doctor let out a deep sigh. "He was a good man. Do you know who killed him?"

Ravenna stayed silent, but nodded. She wanted to give as little information that might sway the doctor as possible.

The man sighed again. "Very well." In truth, it had always bothered him that Turpilius's killer was never caught. He didn't like the lord, but he hated injustice more. "I will get to work if you can get me out of here."

"That is not a problem." Ravenna smirked viciously.

After a little more snobbish bossing by the former duchess, the doctor was released from his room to the room just outside, and Birger's body was brought in from the infirmary.

"Wait outside," the woman ordered the two guards.

"But!" one of them protested.

"The doctor is checking for sickness to see what made Birger go crazy and act as he did." Ravenna said with conviction. "I would hate for you to catch anything. The doctor cannot guarantee your safety." The Councilwoman held a cloth to her nose as she spoke.

The two human guards paled slightly. "We will be outside. Call if you need us."

"More and more curious this is all becoming," the doctor mumbled to himself.

Ravenna heard him. "I came for your medical skills, not your comments," she snapped.

The doctor inclined his head and hurried to a shelf of bound books. The physician kept note on his discovered as well as other medical knowledge on various book cases around his room and surgery. By now, he had a small, priceless library. "Believe it or not, few murders occur in the palace," the doctor felt the need to fill the silence, "but when they do, I usually hand over most of my notes to the investigators. Luckily for you I made two handwritten copies of everything. I really did want his lordship's killer to be found, even if it pointed to Her Majesty."

"I believe that now," Ravenna answered, though she did not explain her change of heart.

The doctor did not respond as he pulled a large album of notes and sketches from the shelf and brought it to his work table. With Ravenna looking over his shoulder, he flipped through the pages, some of which had small drawings of gruesome injuries that made that made the high-born lady slightly queasy. She looked away and held the handkerchief close to her face in earnest now. She refused to be sick in front of the man she had asked for help.

After what seemed like an eternity of grotesque images and writings, the doctor pointed emphatically at a page. "Ah, here it all is! This is what I thought the dagger looked like."

Peeking back over the man's shoulder, Ravenna's eyes grew wide. "Are you sure?" she asked. As she stared at the yellowed page, the blood drained from the woman's face. In the drawing, a dagger with three edges twisted around itself like a deadly screw. The hilt had sharp point at each end, making it even more dangerous.

"Since I have not seen such a weapon, no I am not sure. Let me look at Birger and I will tell you my honest findings. You can watch if you like," the physician offered.

"I will just sit over here." Ravenna did not want to relive the events of the coronation.

The doctor nodded. He brought a second sheet from a drawer and covered up Birger's upper and lower body, leaving only the wound area visible. He cut away at the bloodied Councilman's robe and the clothing underneath. "I am sorry, friend," he whispered quietly before beginning his work.

It took time for the doctor to complete his gruesome work. He would stop and clean his hands to make notes and mumble to himself, but seemed to forget that Ravenna was there. At one point he even got out a string to measure from the man's feet to the wound and seemed to have a revelation, but he did not share it. The former duchess was growing impatient as she was expected upstairs. She tapped her foot. "Well? What have you found?"

"If you can stomach it, come and look for yourself." The doctor wiped his hands and motioned her forward.

Ravenna did not want to look, but she needed answers. She stood and steeled herself to receive the results.

The doctor tried to be as clinical as possible, but Ravenna turned green. The physician was accustomed to his new healers and nurses emptying the contents of their stomachs when they saw open wounds, and he handed the woman a small cylinder for her to vomit in. When she was ready, he continued.

"These cuts are very strange in their pattern and angle. See these edges? They suggests a tri-blade weapon. The wound was made by an upward thrust by a rather short individual. I suppose you saw me measuring. The injury is at an identical height to that of your son. And see these punctures here on both sides of the main wound? They are made by the two points on either end of the hilt. Many hilts point down to protect the hand, but this points up to inflict more damage." The doctor finished his evaluation.

"What is your conclusion?"

"I believe that these wounds were not only inflicted by the same weapon, but I would also venture to say that the same person killed both men," the physician led Ravenna over and together they compared the drawings of both wounds and heights side by side.

"I see what you mean." The pink-haired woman frowned.

The doctor wiped his brow and looked as if a huge burden was lifted from him. "I am glad you were able to discover your son's killer. Empress Aurora did not want to stop searching for the murderer, but after a year Cafer finally closed the case for her. He told me at the time that we needed to move on."

Ravenna drummed her nails on the table in contemplation. "That is funny...Cafer told me how quickly Aurora wanted to close the investigation, but that he held it open longer hoping to find the truth. He practically pointed the finger at the Empress, and I took the bait."

"Perhaps Cafer was just remembering incorrectly?" the doctor's words sounded innocent, but his tone suggested otherwise.

The former duchess shook her head as her eyes filled with anger. "No, Cafer was lying. That snake was lying this whole time. Cafer killed my son..."