Page 92 of The Dragon King's Assassin

“And why offer to pay more than usual?”

“Crushei just had an argument with the King.” I grimaced. “He didn't think the King would agree to see him. Having been a witness to the argument, I'd say he was right to be concerned.”

“If Crushei is telling the truth, someone deliberately put that letter in Yusef's desk to implicate him.”

“Yes.”

“Someone with Crushei's initials.”

“Most likely.”

“What did the steward say?”

“He admitted to taking bribes and said that Crushei had sent him such letters in the past, but he swore he'd never seen that particular note.”

“So, the note was intercepted before it reached the palace.”

“Possibly. There's more.”

“More?” Teng's eyes widened.

“Once we had Crushei in a cell, his home was searched. They found a dagger with remnants of blood on it and a letter from Yusef. Unsigned, of course, but it was his handwriting, and it advised that the service would be performed the following night if payment was received on time.”

“Standard procedure for any kind of criminal work.”

“Yes, and pretty fucking damning.”

“But you're not convinced.”

“Why would Crushei keep that note? And, as he pointed out himself, if the blade is the weapon he used to murder two men, why would he keep that?”

“Two men?”

“A violinist was killed as well, just hours after he told me that he had information about the man who hired me.”

“A violinist? Fucking musicians get the best gossip.” He grimaced. “Wait, where did you meet a violinist?”

“They had a party at the palace for Ensarena's rite.”

“So, the murderer was at the palace for the rite.”

“Yes, I believe so. Although that hardly narrows it down, everyone with any bit of money or influence was there. Oh, and the dagger we found in Lord Crushei's house was made by humans. Crushei recognized the wood and swore that he would never buy a human-made dagger.”

“As offensive as this may sound to you, Lock, that's not an uncommon attitude among the other races.”

“Yes, I know. I'm inclined to believe him, Teng.”

“I'll look into him. It could take some time but with this,”—he held up the coin—“I'll have what I need to loosen the tongues that might not otherwise wag.”

“And there's another one for you if you succeed.”

“Sea serpent shit! Are you fucking with me?”

“Nope. One now, another when you're done.”

Tengven laughed. “This is your doing.”

“I might have told the King that the other coin was for me.” I shrugged. “My finder's fee.”

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