2000-03-09: Locke Murdered; Motive Unknown
Melindra Locke was found dead in woods near Moonglow Monday evening with a stab wound in her left shoulder. After close examination, cause of death was found to be poison, identified by a green residue in and around the wound. Melindra was a maid for Avridas, owner of the Keg and Anchor. She cleaned both the tavern and his personal residence.
A witness said he was hunting for some deer in the woods and heard a woman’s scream, so he followed the sound to see what was happening. As he got closer, a man rushed past him with a short spear. The screaming stopped just before he got to the woman, and he found her body crumpled next to a tree, her right hand clutching at her left shoulder. He called out to her, but there was no reply; he was too late to help. He ran to the nearest guards and told them what he had seen and gave them a description of the man. While one of the guards accompanied the witness back to the body, another guard, Stanford Regnold, asked some townspeople if they knew a man fitting the description the witness had given. A couple of men at an armor shop said the description sounded like that of Morgus Zaerin.
Regnold recruited a group of adventurers to help him hunt down Morgus. The town criers yelled for help and guided the adventurers in the right direction. They tracked Morgus through a secret passage through the mountains south of Trinsic with hopes of capturing him alive. Morgus gave chase and refused to surrender until it was too late; he yielded only as someone struck the fatal blow. Upon inspection, it was found that Morgus’ short spear had some poison residue on it that appeared to be the same as the poison found on Melindra’s body. There is no known motive at this time.
