The investigation begins

[obligatoryass]

Their arrival in Amebergeldar is rushed, but Logan had time to grab a camera, a ball point pen and a notebook. He can write with a quill as needed, but it's so much easier to not have to bother. The camera...well. It's always handy to have a way to document evidence, as he learned from Veronica Mars. Even if he isn't nearly as good a photographer

Comments

[kitchen_maid]

"I think so, yes," Amy says.

She gestures to the man standing near the doorway, and he closes it before stepping into the room.

"Lord Stefan, I'd like to present Baron Logan von Echolls and Lady Meghan Ford. They're here to help.

"Lord Stefan is the commander of the Palace Guard, and I trust him completely. You may do the same."

Lord Stefan bows, then steps back to stand in the doorway, eyes alert, hand on the hilt of his sword.

Amy sits down at the table in the middle of the room, which is far more often used for tea than strategy sessions.

"Now, what do you need?"

[obligatoryass]

"The staff list is a huge help," Logan says. "Um. Or it will be, once I figure out who to start with on it. Do you have a list of the courtiers who live in the palace? That would be helpful. Um. And you really have no idea who might be responsible?"

Because as it is, he's got a lot of possible suspects and very little data to go on.

"No one who's, oh, say, a very close personal friend of dear old Max?"

[kitchen_maid]

Amy makes a face.

"I shouldn't think Lord Maximilian would consider anyone a friend, I'm afraid. Perfectly odious man.

"As for who is responsible . . ." Amy trails off, thinking. "No, I'm sorry. Below a certain level, it's not the staff. A kitchen maid doesn't have access to the sort of information or power that this required."

Amy knows.

"But someone's personal secretary could. The ministers. The councilors. Some of the senior stewards. And day ago, I'd have told you this sort of thing was not possible, so . . . I'll see to it that a list of the palace residents and guests is assembled for you.

"I don't know if we'll be hearing from Maximilian again. Presumably, the way news travels, there's not a person in Amber who doesn't know at His Majesty's abduction yet, and I suspect the reaches of the kingdom will know by tomorrow. But very few people outside this room knows that I was the intended target, and like Lord Stefan, they are all people I would trust with my children's lives."

[obligatoryass]

Logan sighs. "That's what I was afraid of. He doesn't have the necessary social skills for it."

Logan's met Maximilian. Briefly, at Susan's christening. He wasn't a big fan.

"We'll start with the staff then, to see if they have any ideas or have seen anything odd. Then when you get the list, we'll go through courtiers and their staff. And if you do hear from Maximilian again, you'll have someone let me know immediately."

That isn't a request, or a demand. It's really just a statement of fact.