The pungent smell of disturbed earth and something vaguely metallic – blood, Ryan knew – hung in the air. He looked down at Evan's still form, the unnatural pattern of bleeding on his face a different scenario to a death far removed from a simple carriage crash.
Ryan thought back to the initial, brief report that had reached the palace: Lord Evan's carriage overturned, presumed fatalities. No details on the state of the bodies. "So that's why the messenger didn't reveal the real situation of the accident," he mused internally, his jaw tightening. "He probably saw this… this horror… and chose vague words. It's indeed gory, but not in the way they'd expect from a mere tumble." The official narrative would be one of tragic misfortune, but the truth, Ryan felt, was etched in the gruesome tableau before him.
He turned to Chief Investigator Hemlock, who was overseeing his men as they carefully documented the scene. Hemlock looked grim but resigned.
