Editing Elementary, My Dear Inspector (section)

==At the Chapel of the Mind==
The Companions then proceed to the Chapel, where they are informed of a great deal of House politics.  It seems that House Stenmark, headed by Jurgen Stenmark, has assumed control of the investigation and is preventing any of the other Houses and the Grey Guard from entering the Inner Chamber of the Advanced Wing of the School.

After a long discussion of the relative positions of the house, and their relation to the school, [[Regina ip Sunglimmer|Regina]] and [[Jericho Arnon|Jericho]] negotiate entrance to the Inner Chamber with [[Inspector Firehammer]], a gnomish detective working for the Palace of Smoke. They offer to split the questions granted by a ''speak with dead'' spell with the inspector, and he agrees to allow them to inspect the scene and the body.

He summarily ejects both House Stenmark and the Grey Guards from the scene, then begins his investigation. [[Baelwren SummerStorm|Baelwren]] makes a point of being seen as Jurgen Stenmark exits, to remind him of her presence.

The only known fatality in the kidnapping was the child Jaren, whose severely battered and broken body was found in the middle of the chamber. He had been sponsored by House Nolan.

Questioning of the 2 instructors who reside in the wing leads to them asking for immunity. They reveal that THEY opened the secure doors to the wing, apparently under compulsion, and then fell unconscious until after the kidnappers left. [[Baelwren SummerStorm|Baelwren]] pointed out that their confident statement--that Jaren was the one to detonate a major explosion--contradicts their claim to have been unconscious throughout the ordeal.

Jericho casts the spell, and the group asks their questions. The four questions, and their answers, are:

; (Inspector Firehammer) - Describe in detail your attackers 
: I only saw one, a short, stout man with a beard.  He was on fire.
; (Ins. F) - Tell me of the other students
: They were my classmates, they were spellcasters.
; (Companions) - Tell us of your powers
: I make things do what I want. I make people do what I want.  Sometimes, I make the world do what I want.
; (Companions, after much discussion) - Tell us how you have used your powers in the last week
: It was all normal. Then, I woke up.  The voice in my head was telling me to open the door, but it wasn't my voice.  I went to look anyway, and it was already open. Then the red man came in, and tried to grab me.  I shoved him against the wall, and lashed out. Next thing I know, I was here.  Dead.


From this, the Companions deduce that the fallen child is a mentalist, a spirit-mage, of tremendous potential. The instructors seemingly downplay his abilities, but the fact that he was a student in the Advanced Wing suggests that he had much more potential than they claim, and leads the Companions to suspect that the instructors themselves either don't know of his potential, or have (more likely) been "instructed" to forget.  They also deduce that either the "red man" or another working with him is a mentalist of some great power, and also much more in control of his/her powers than the fallen child. A strong possibility is that Jaren was the only child to fight back because the others were all mentally compelled to cooperate while his powers made him resistant to such compulsion.

Damage to the children's rooms indicates that they were destructively searched. All of the tools and devices used to contain and control their powers are missing.

Further questioning of the instructors gleans information regarding the other, missing children.  There are five, and each of the children is sponsored by one of the major houses.  They are also children of high potential, and they are each focused on one of the classic elements - fire, air, earth and water.