āI am a woman of facts over theories, mister,ā answered the black scientist, examining the body with a minucious eye. Her job demanded her to see horrid sightings every day, and even though that unusual one had made her shiver when she first saw (or rather, didnāt saw) the wizardās face, now in front of theĀ mage her expression was somewhat cold and calculist, as if that was just another day at work. Her gloved hands touched the deceased body carefully, almost kindly, tilting itās head and itās hands slightly to better observe the lack of skin and members.
āI believe evidence is crucial before trying to jump to conclusions -ā she turned to him as she spoke, raising a disapproving brow and prolonging her eye contact when she saw the litten cigarette; her voice gentle, yet reprimandingĀ ā - and Iād like to make sure Aurelius did not blow his face off while trying to light up a smoke. So if youād be so kind to stop dropping embers over my patient. We try to find traces, not make them here.āĀ
She turns for a moment to look for empty flasks and instruments that could help her collect small samples of the missing surfaces. Those would be helpful to compare to any clues found at the crime scene when they were looking through the files later.Ā āThough from what I could observe - ā she sighed, grabbing a pair of tweezers,Ā Ā āThe injuries seem to come from a similar source.āĀ
āIām sorry if that may sound obvious to you, but what did he do to deserve such fame? Iām afraid the gossip doesnāt run as fast when you work down here.ā
āFigure of speech,ā he reassured, stifling the barest hint of a chuckle behind a cough. Theories only went so far when you needed evidence to solve cases, to put dangerous people away. And when you tracked wizards with infractions or expired credentials, everyone you met was potentially dangerous.Ā Alistair was cavalier and lackadaisical about many things, but the safety of the general populace was not one of them. If there was a rogue magic user out killing others that worked in support of the people, he wanted to know everything he could prior to tracking him down.
The mage hunterās eyebrows arched at her question, though his expression remained more or less good-natured.Ā āCrane?ā He released the smoke from his lungs, careful not to breathe in her direction or in the direction of the corpse, dispelling the ashes in question with a brief roll of the eyes and a wave of a hand. āHe was a conjurer, a powerful one. A teleportation specialist primarily - he built the teleportation circles for the Empire. But, heās been known to dabble. Iām sure he stepped on a few people to get where he got.āĀ
Alistair turned then and walked a pace or two away, choosing to keep the cigarette over getting a third look at the corpse. He frowned down at his feet a moment, mulling over what sheād said so far.Ā āIt makes sense, one source - magic, surely. Any hint of a signature left behind?ā Another long drag.Ā āAnd why the roof? What was he doing up there?ā