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The elezen woman already had a guess at why Briardien had drawn her aside. In this whole affair she had been careful to keep her thoughts to herself while she observed, and it seemed he had taken notice of her silence, to her dismay. Being a member of the same species, she suspected, may have played a role in his slight (very slight) bias towards her as well, though he hadn't even bothered to learn her name until moments ago.
"Anyone with half a brain can see that you, Vienne, are more competent than the company I always find you in," he said, watching with intent the backs of Hildibrand Manderville, agent of enquiry, and his assistant as they chatted where they had been left on the docks of Costa del Sol. "Your reputation is known to me, though it would seem no one else present has the slightest idea who you are."
"Why should they? What use has wealthy heir and his entourage for a traveling bard? Or anyone else here, for that matter? My reputation isn't worth printing, and certainly isn't bringing me any marriage offers from greedy merchant empires," said Vienne, tucking a strand of cerulean hair behind her ear.
"Perhaps, but you're no fool. While those two dash about like chickens with their heads cut off, you've followed this case far more closely. If I'm correct, I believe the two of us are of the same mind on this matter," the inspector said coolly.
She kicked a bit of sand at her feet pointlessly, staring down at the sandals she had donned just for this adventure. No one else seemed to be taking advantage of the sun, but as long as she was here, she intended to make the most of it.
"Do you think so? I don't think we've seen enough information yet, to find our culprit. We're all more or less in the same boat," she said. "I agree that the pool of suspects is quite narrow at the moment... But that's all we have to go on."
"Leave the inspecting to the professional, I suppose?" Briardien mused, turning his attention away from the hyuran man on the docks at last so that the sun glinted off his spectacles in a way that made Vienne have to look away. "Surely You must have an idea of what we're looking for. After all, you were there in Vesper Bay when the treaty blade was stolen from right under your nose. What did you most notice about our culprit?"
She gave a small hum of wonder. He was playing with her, but though his words seemed to appeal to her, he did not see her as an equal. "Well... Obviously, there was little of note aside from their meticulousness. The thief disguised themself as Durilda, the treaty blade's owner, using a mask likely laced with a sort of glamour, and their performance was so spot on, no one noticed a thing until the blade's true owner arrived."
"Wasted effort," snorted Briardien. "Even the worst actor could have fooled that buffoon up there."
Vienne's eyes trailed up to where the other two stood, watching them now for a sufficient distraction from her conversation. She didn't doubt there was some truth to his insult, but he had been there as well. Clearly, hard work paid off in this case, if even Briardien had failed to notice.
"But yes, that is correct," he continued. "On closer inspection, there was a prism sewn inside the mask that likely aided their disguise until they made their escape, so your leaping assumption isn't without basis either. Following that logic, who in attendance to this wedding, is most likely to be replaced by our culprit?"
She cut her eyes back at him briefly, tugging her light jacket around her shoulders. The breeze was warm, but the air around Briardien was more frigid than the winds of Coerthas she had been glad to leave behind.
"The staff, probably," she said, glancing at him after a moment. "There will be caterers and servers at the reception, and fewer eyes will be on them than any of the guests. I doubt anyone would notice them coming and going, as long as they appeared busy."
Briardien shook his head, a smug smile as he tutted at her. "I would dare to call into question a bunch even closer than that to our lapis maiden. The Brass Blades will be at the side of each and every guest in attendance. Security is their main priority, but even they must not be above scrutiny, wouldn't you agree?"
It was bait. "Yes, that is true. They would probably be each other's witnesses though. It's a lead worth following, but I doubt any of them will be alone while on duty long enough to have their place taken by the thief."
"Not so - one of the Blades has been absent from his favorite pub for the past three days. Our culprit has already been hard at work. All that remains is to find our missing Blade to prove my theory," said Briardien, tutting once again. "If we find him, we can find out which guests were part of his detail."
"...Then why are we not looking for him?" she asked, raising her eyebrows behind her own glasses. "How long have you known?"
"Not to worry, I only just learned of this myself. I actually wanted your assistance in searching for the man," he admitted. "There is much ground to be covered, and you are the only one here who I can be sure isn't the culprit herself, and can be trusted to follow simple instruction. Therefore, you are the only one who can aid me."
Being alone in a case where one was in danger of having their identity stolen seemed a bad idea to her, but she would rather agree to his plan than have the whole group questioning each other's identity. Secrecy would probably keep the thief less suspicious of how close they were, and following Briardien's plan would bring them closer to solving the mystery before it was too late.
"That seems reasonable," she nodded finally. "Show me where you want me to start, and I'll scour the beach with Kwehnevere."
She whistled, and called the chocobo in question to her side, stroking her minty feathers before mounting and darting across the sand on the bird's back at Briardien's behest.
The search wasn't a long one, and though they had briefly split up, Vienne and Briardien found a man, bound and stripped of his uniform, near a den of crabs. Discarded not too far from the town.
After interrogating the man, Briardien freed him, then turned to her with more thoughts of his own.
"He was investigating the groom's father, Yalto Nolto and his wife, and the steward, Lewenhardt. As much as Arabella's father has spent on security, that does seem to spread one man rather thin, but it narrows our options once again, just as I expected," he said.
"How do you mean?"
"It isn't likely our missing Brass Blade was here for very long, and since he was abandoned here in haste, it's likely that the thief has already assumed the identity of one of those assigned to this man," he said, thinking. "The next step is to investigate the three of them, but before that, I have other business to attend to. I must see that he makes it back to town, for one thing, so I'm asking you now to keep an eye on Hildibrand for me. See to it that he doesn't ruin my efforts before I return."
That, she could do with pleasure. She grinned lazily at Briardien, stifling a chuckle.
"This is no laughing matter," he scowled, staring at her. "Whatever are you grinning for?"
"I'll pass the information along, but it would doubtless be bad for my health to actually attempt to stop Hildibrand Manderville from doing anything," she laughed, not hiding it this time.
"...What?"
"You don't get it? I'm just here for the craic."
She wouldn't have even been here if not for the show. It might have been Nashu Mhakaracca's unusual plight that had drawn her in when she heard her mention... 'dapper zombies,' but unfortunately, the result of the investigation into the claim had turned out to be too amusing to ignore. Unfortunately for all involved, Vienne had become invested. Her presence rarely helped, but hopefully never hindered, the work of the opposing inspectors, if they could be called that.
"Gods. You're a lunatic, aren't you?"
Vienne simply shrugged. "I can't say I want to see the girl or any of her valuables stolen away, so believe me when I say I will not get in the way myself. But no. You would have to be a lunatic to stand between Hildibrand and his idea of an investigation."
Briardien pinched the bridge of his nose with a pained expression, and to Vienne it seemed the atmosphere couldn't get any colder. She was sure she had made an enemy, even if it wasn't fully intentional.
"I'll keep an eye on him. You can rely on me, Inspector."
"For your sake, I certainly hope so."