1638 The Old Man
"Why did you do it?" the Captain asked. They were waiting for the female guard to get whatever the truth revealing medicine was, so no one had spoken for a while until the Captain decided to.
"I didn't," the woman said with a tiny voice.
"Then what did you feed my daughter?" the man demanded. "What did you put into her water? What was it?"
"Nothing. I put not—"
"He told me what he saw," the man said, pointing to Ning. "He saw you putting something into my daughter's drink."
"He's lying," the woman said.
"Why would he lie? He has no reason to lie to me. We only just met today!"
"I don't know," the woman answered. "I really... I don't..."
"Please stop this. We'll find the truth soon enough once the medicine comes here," the guard said.
"I won't take that medicine," the woman said. "You people are in on this together. You're trying to poison me."
She stood up. "I'll not have this. I'm leaving."
"Ma'am!" the young guard quickly reached the door. "You cannot leave. You are a murder suspect. Until we figure out the truth, you cannot leave."
"You cannot keep me here against my will," the woman practically shouted. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"We can," the man replied. "Now please go back and sit, or we'll be forced to make you sit."
The woman shook a little and moved back to where she was sitting in the room, on the complete opposite end of where everyone else was.
A while later, the woman arrived with an older man in his late 50s. The man was completely bald with a graying beard, a short stature, and to Ning's complete surprise, a single wavering white light around his body.
The woman still did nothing.
"Alright, lock her up," the older guard said. "We'll feed her the drink when she accepts."
"You can't do this to me," the woman said. "I have done nothing wrong."
She looked at the guards with blinding fury in her eyes.
"Hey! Aren't you Vyra?" the old man in the room suddenly asked. The woman turned to look at him and quickly looked down, hiding her face.
The guards turned toward the old man in surprise. "You know who she is?" one asked.
"Yes," the old man said. "She's a customer of mine. Or was. She used to buy from me all the time."
Ning looked at the old man, then at what he prepared and his eyes slowly widened. "Wait, did you sell her some sort of powders?" he asked.
"Uhh... yes," the old man said.
"What sort?" Ning asked.
"I... don't remember what she wanted," the old man said, thinking a bit. "It's been a while."
"Do think," one of the guards said.
"It was something to help her sleep. She said she couldn't sleep, so I gave it to her," the old man said.
Ning's eyes narrowed. "And what would have happened should that medicine find its way into a child?"
"A child?" the old man said. "No, no, no. That medicine is not meant for a child. It's strictly for adults. Once or twice every few months won't do much to a child though."
"What about every day?" Ning asked.
The old man shook his head. "That child would die."