A Drop of Corruption
by Robert Jackson Bennett
Contents
Chapter 4
Overview
Kol’s interviews with the tower staff replace wild rumors with concrete clues: before disappearing, Sujedo was seriously ill and showed repeated twitching or tapping motions, yet his room’s windows were closed and locked and no one heard an attack. The guard’s testimony adds a major new lead, revealing that Sujedo deposited a sizable bag in a bank vault shortly before returning to the tower. Kol’s final inspection of the adjacent room turns up nothing, narrowing the investigation toward Sujedo’s condition and whatever he left at the bank.
Summary
Kol interviews the Old Town tower staff to reconstruct Sujedo’s last ordinary movements. The porter, Hajusa, says Sujedo was handsome, short, polite, and generous enough to tip him a silver talint. Hajusa noticed nothing suspicious about visitors that night and, when Kol asks about Yarrow’s coming adoption into the Empire, responds cautiously, revealing local political tension but no useful lead.
Kol then questions the maids who attended Sujedo’s room. They describe Sujedo as quiet, neat, and visibly ill; when one maid collected his untouched broth after dark, Sujedo was lying on the bed with his eyes closed and breathing hard. Both maids remember the windows being closed and locked, and they recall one of Sujedo’s hands twitching against his belly, which gives Kol a specific physical symptom to connect to the crime.
The maids also confirm that they heard nothing during the night, despite the violence later found in the room. Their frightened talk of spirits shows how bizarre the disappearance appears to ordinary witnesses, but Kol rejects supernatural explanations. When Kol shows them the strange iron piece found in the room, neither recognizes it, so the object remains unexplained.
Finally, Kol questions Klaida, the Apothetikal guard who escorted Sujedo through the city. Klaida says Sujedo visited the bank vaults briefly and deposited a bag large enough to hold more than documents, creating a new lead about what Sujedo left behind. Klaida also reports that Sujedo deduced details about his recent marriage from small observations, suggesting unusual perceptiveness, and remembers Sujedo repeatedly tapping his leg as he walked, which echoes the maids’ account of involuntary rhythmic movement.
To close out the inquiry, Kol inspects the vacant room beside Sujedo’s. Hajusa explains that the tower leans and gathers moisture on that side, and the room proves to be an abandoned, mold-choked twin of Sujedo’s chamber. Malo confirms there is nothing unusual there beyond damp and rot, eliminating the neighboring room as an immediate answer and leaving Kol with stronger interest in Sujedo’s symptoms and the bank deposit.
Who Appears
- Dinios KolIudex investigator who interviews witnesses and narrows the case toward Sujedo’s symptoms and bank deposit.
- Mineti SujedoMissing Treasury official described as short, observant, ill, and prone to twitching before disappearing.
- KlaidaApothetikal guard who escorted Sujedo, saw him visit the bank, and noted his leg tapping.
- Tira MaloApothetikal warden assisting Kol, offering local perspective and confirming the moldy room held nothing unusual.
- HajusaElderly porter who helped Sujedo to his room and recalls his appearance and generosity.
- Tower maidsServants who last saw Sujedo ill in bed, with locked windows and one hand twitching.