Gareth had, despite the early hour, already attended a few injuries and some very frightened ill folk from Hama Valon who had come seeking more intensive treatment than the city could provide. It was part of the duty of the Tower, he felt, to tend to the people within its walls as well as those who lived without.
He was just finishing up one such case when the young man came in. He had not met the other, but had seen him in the infirmary in days past. When he said that Ria needed him, well, her husband's heart stopped for a beat before the Soldier considerately (whether he knew it or not) reassured him and let his heart begin again.
"I shall follow," Gareth replied, his voice rumbling like mountains grinding together.
With a quick word to Thea that he was needed in the Yards, he hurried out. Being that the infirmary and the Yards had been purposely and wisely situated close to one another, it was not a long journey. He asked no questions as they walked, because he knew that all would be answered shortly. And he was right, although this answer certainly wasn't the one that he'd been expecting.
He nodded in greeting to his wife and the silent Gaidar, but said nothing as he lowered himself beside the obvious corpse. It didn't take a Yellow to recognize that. What was also clear was that this was no sparring accident, or any sort of accident. She had been murdered, and he was sure a hunt was already on.
Reaching down, he respectfully checked the fingers--only to discover they were all broken, and roughly. He tests the joints he could. "She has not been dead long," he rumbled. Taking a breath, he reached into the One Power and seized the male half of the source. Long practiced, he forced it to his bidding with ease.
Creating the fine mesh of Spirit, he lowered it upon the body. "Her fingers were broken after she was dead," he said, letting the weave seek out everything about her and relay it to his mind. His pale eyes moved to the gash opening her neck, where her head leaned back like it was nearly taken off. He frowned, for more than the obvious reason.
"That cut happened just after she was killed, but it didn't kill her," he determined. "She was suffocated. I'm seeing the signs of air deprivation all through her body."
A flash of movement beside him made him look up. Lysira Gaidar was speaking. He knew that his wife could read her signs, although he was not nearly as conversant and even though he was sure she was wrapped in the Void, the swiftness of her movements belied her agitation and he wondered who the girl had been to her.
"She asks if maybe the knife cut could have been to hide the marks around her neck," a Ji'dar said. A few trainees were lingering around the edge, not yet chased off though maintaining a respectful distance. This woman--wearing the uniform of a Ji but looking a bit older than the average trainee--stepped forward slightly. The diminutive Gaidar was looking at her with surprise. "I can read your signs," she admitted.
Lysira nodded slowly and turned back to Gareth. He contemplated the question. "It's possible," he said. "The blood on the ground makes it clear she was killed here. I'm guessing...not planned, so strangulation was likely with hands. The prints left on the flesh could give clues as to the person who did it..."
OOC: Leaving this open for it Zeen or Ria want to react, if anyone wants to talk to Seira or ask Lysira questions, or if Ravak or Dax want to show talking to people/searching. If you want hints as to clues or what-not, PM me!
