Chapter 71
Nirma and Arya exchanged a look for three full seconds.
It was a silent dialogue that could only be understood by two people who had endured too many sleepless nights together, too many witnesses who died before they could speak, too many clues that vanished like smoke at the tip of incense.
Then they nodded, a small nod that was almost imperceptible, an agreement born from intuition sharpened by experience.
Arya drew a long breath, feeling the heavy air of the room—thick with the scent of olive oil and beeswax—fill his lungs.
He began his explanation in a flat yet clear voice, like a teacher reciting a long list of facts before even the most unruly student.
"During the investigation we conducted, Lord Georgios," Arya said, his hand reflexively reaching for the wax tablet at his waist, though he already knew the numbers by heart, "we identified one primary crime scene at the Theodosius Harbor Warehouse, five secondary locations scattered from Kapeleion to Psamathia, and a total of twenty pieces of evidence that we successfully collected and documented."
He paused for a moment, letting the numbers settle in the air, watching for even the slightest change in Georgios Palaiologos' expression.
"Of those twenty pieces of evidence, Lord Georgios, two are directly connected to your name and your movements."
Georgios Palaiologos remained seated in the same posture as when they first entered the room.
Not a single muscle in his face moved to indicate surprise or unease.
His left hand still held the cup of diluted wine casually, his fingers occasionally tapping against the silver wall of the cup, producing a faint chime that was almost inaudible.
Even after Arya finished speaking, after his final words echoed through the silent chamber, Georgios did not respond immediately.
Instead, he lifted the cup to his lips and sipped the wine slowly, truly savoring each drop as though nothing in the world mattered more than the taste that had just passed over his tongue.
After swallowing the wine, Georgios Palaiologos smiled.
It was the same smile as before, a smile that could not be read.
He placed the cup on the table, this time with a slower, more deliberate motion, then folded both hands upon his lap in a posture that suggested he was the most patient man in all of Constantinople.
"In that case, Sir and Madam," he said in a tone that remained cordial, yet with something beneath it—something that reminded Nirma of calm sea water concealing a powerful current below the surface— "I ask that you explain directly what evidence you possess that requires my clarification. At the very least, so that there will be no prolonged misunderstanding that might ultimately disrupt the course of your investigation."
Nirma nodded slowly, acknowledging Georgios Palaiologos' direction with the same calmness she had carried when she first stepped into this room.
Her hand slipped into the fold of her robe, retrieving the first three pieces of evidence wrapped in thin linen cloth.
She placed them one by one upon the table before Georgios, her movements slow and deliberate, like a surgeon preparing instruments before beginning a complex operation.
Beside her, Arya sat upright, both hands resting on his lap, his eyes never leaving Georgios' face, observing every blink, every subtle shift at the corner of his lips, every movement of his fingers that might reveal what truly lay behind the nobleman's cultivated composure.
"This is the first piece of evidence, Lord Georgios," Nirma said as she unwrapped a small fragment of robe cloth that had dried yet still bore a faint greenish stain upon its surface.
"Residue of a bitter green liquid that we found on the victim's robe.
After consulting the Greek alchemist's workshop behind the Mangana Palace, this residue matches a formula they refer to as 'green bile,' a slow-acting poison made from a mixture of bovine bile and extract of the aconite plant."
She paused briefly, allowing the words to settle, then continued in the same level tone.
"The issue, Lord Georgios, is that the alchemist's workshop records show that you purchased this formula two weeks ago.
Your stated reason at the time was to exterminate rats in your armory warehouse.
However, according to the Prefect's soldiers who had previously inspected your armory, there were no rats whatsoever.
Your armory warehouse, Lord Georgios, is one of the cleanest and best-maintained in all of Constantinople."
Without waiting for a response, Nirma moved to the second piece of evidence.
Another cloth was unwrapped, revealing a drawing created by the palace illustrator—an intricate depiction of the victim's upper right back marked with strange clusters of small blisters.
"The second piece of evidence concerns the wound on the victim's upper right back.
Around this area, Lord Georgios, there are circular blister patterns measuring two to three millimeters in diameter.
Such wound characteristics can only result from contact with heated metal bearing a specific pattern.
Interestingly, this wound emitted smoke without burning the victim's internal organs, without damaging muscle, flesh, or bone beneath it.
It was as though the heat was intensely localized and controlled—heat that touched only the surface of the skin."
She lifted her gaze from the drawing and looked directly into Georgios Palaiologos' eyes.
"And we know, Lord Georgios, that you possess the Palaiologos family signet ring with its layered circular gold pattern.
A ring of that kind, if heated with certain alchemical formulas, could retain heat long enough to leave a mark precisely like the one we observed on the victim's back."
Georgios Palaiologos remained silent, his hand still holding the wine cup casually.
Yet Nirma could see that something had shifted in his eyes—something so slight that an ordinary person might never notice it.
She continued without pause, producing the third piece of evidence: a small pouch containing fabric samples taken from the victim's clothing.
"The third piece of evidence is the faint smell of sulfur still clinging to the victim's garments.
Sulfur, Lord Georgios, is not only found in the Adrianos formula we previously investigated.
It is also used in the public baths of Zeuxippos to bleach marble.
And according to testimony from the Prefect's soldiers, you had just returned from the public baths of Zeuxippos only minutes before the murder occurred.
Those soldiers stated that they saw you leaving the baths in haste that day, mere seconds before the victim was found dead in Kapeleion."
After explaining the three pieces of evidence, Nirma placed both hands upon the table.
Her posture was upright but not confrontational, merely that of an investigator presenting facts as they were.
"Through brief discussion with Arya at the scene of investigation, Lord Georgios, we suspect that your motive in this murder was not personal vengeance nor an ordinary commercial dispute.
The motive, in our assessment, is access.
You possess access to Varangian and Latin soldiers, access not granted to many nobles in this city.
And the victim, Étienne d'Arques, before he was formally declared dead in Kapeleion, was frequently involved in altercations with your men at that establishment.
Not once, not twice, but repeatedly—so often that the servants of Kapeleion memorized the faces of your soldiers who came and went with the victim, sometimes laughing together, sometimes nearly killing one another."
To be continued…