The Spoiled Surety

The Surety Settled
Solved the case of The Spoiled Surety.

Patron: Halvik Storn, in Dreskmark Market Square. The sheet asks for Culprit, Motive, Method. Each answer must rest on a finding; a lead only points you onward.

Usually heard from the Posted Confession in Dreskmark River Docks. You need not wait for it: a case enters your casebook as soon as you hold one of its facts.

Gather the proof

1. Take the Clamped Cover Batten in Dreskmark River Docks.
   Needed before Corwin: “Show Corwin the clamped batten”.
2. Talk to Corwin in Dreskmark River Docks and choose “Show Corwin the clamped batten”.
   Finding Spoilage Deliberate: “The bonded woad was soured on purpose, not by neglect — the vat-covers were clamped down and pinned tight to hold the river-damp in against the lot, by a hand that knows dyeing.”
3. Take the Bond Pledge Record in Dreskmark River Docks.
   Finding Welk Owed Surety: “The ruined lot stood as surety against a hush-debt named to Yorsa Welk herself — spoiled, the pledge is worthless and nothing remains to call on.”

Keep the order: a topic only appears once you hold the lead or the item it needs.

The answer

Show the case sheet

Question	Answer	Proved by
Culprit	Yorsa Welk	Spoilage Deliberate; Welk Owed Surety
Motive	Escape Debt	Welk Owed Surety
Method	Staged Spoilage	Spoilage Deliberate

The trap

These are true findings that point at the wrong story. Presenting a sheet built on them costs a segment of the day and the clean pass.

• Joren Confession makes a wrong sheet presentable (Culprit: Joren Vint, Motive: Apprentice Blunder). “Joren Vint, apprentice to the dyer, has posted a confession owning the whole fault — he left the covers off, he swears, and let the river-damp ruin the lot.”
• Vossel Rivalry makes a wrong sheet presentable (Culprit: Perra Vossel, Motive: Ruin A Rival). “The rival dyer Perra Vossel profits by Welk's ruin — ten years they have clawed at each other for the cloth-trade, and a blackened name would hand Vossel the whole row.”
• Careless Proof makes a wrong sheet presentable (Method: Careless Damp). “The dockside bond-shed truly is river-damp — it sits low on the water, and good lots have soured there honestly before from nothing but loose covers.”

Close the case

Stand beside Halvik Storn and present. When the sheet holds, Halvik Storn offers courses; the case closes, and The Surety Settled unlocks, once you commit to one. Any course counts; they differ in the morale and marks shown beside each. This run chose Convict.