The sixth installment of the Murders at Karlov Manor story picks up with Proft and Etrata making their way to meet with one of his trusted friends to have the unknown substance investigated.
The pair make their way down a series of alleyways until they come upon a dead-end. In the same way that Etrata had entered a secret code and opened a hidden passage, Proft does the same, opening the door to a previously hidden storefront. They make their way inside and find a ransacked office. Undeterred, Proft digs through the destruction and finds a secret hatch under an overturned bookshelf.
Proft and Etrata make their way down into a series of tunnels, taking care to avoid tripwires and other traps until they finally come to a narrow passageway. At the end of the passage the pair finds Proft’s contact – a Viashino named Kylox. Kylox tells the pair that he was assaulted in his office, but managed to escape down into the Izzet-controlled tunnels under the city. Proft tells Kylox about the substance, but he refuses to examine it, telling him that he doesn’t have the time now to look into it, but would send word when he could. Before Proft can protest, the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps echoes throughout the tunnel.
Kylox tells Proft and Etrata to hide in a hollowed out section of piping and the pair takes cover just before a gang of goblins burst into the room and take Kylox hostage. After the goblins leave, Etrata and Proft tail the group back to rundown pawn shop, where they overhear Krenko talking to Kylox. Rather than wait, the pair rush into the room and quickly take down the goblin guards. The startled Krenko has no time to react, and they free Kylox. In typical Krenko fashion, the mob boss explains that he only kidnapped Kylox because he thought the viashino had secret information that would help keep himself safe. Before the group could press further, the window of the pawn shop shatters and a man with a knife attacks. In the presence of a professional like Etrata however, the assailant isn’t able to do much, and is quickly disarmed and subdued.
When examining the man, Proft realizes that he is under some kind of mind control, which Etrata is able to snap him out of. The man comes to and has no idea what he was doing or where he was – just as Etrata had experienced the night of Zegana’s murder.
Catching up with Kaya and Kellan, the pair make their way through the city streets, headed back to the Agency to share their information with Ezrim. Thanks to her keen senses, Kaya realizes they are being followed, and they duck into a nearby alleyway. Before long, a group of cloaked men ambush the pair, but clearly underestimated who they were attacking. Kaya and Kellan quickly beat the group of assailants to a pulp and attempt to extract information from the last one standing. Before they can get any intel, each member of the group consumes some kind of green sprout which quickly melts their bodies into a mossy slime.
Kaya and Kellan examine the remains for any clues, finding only a “tuft of white fur tipped in gray” attached to one of the coats. Before long, a thopter from the Agency flies in and records their altercation. The flying robot sections off the area and Kaya and Kellan continue onward to the Agency offices without further problems. Once inside, Kaya and Kellan make their way to Ezrim’s office and upon entering, the Archon tells them that they’ve captured Teysa’s killer.
As it turns out, the person who killed Teysa is just a “low-level hitman, no guild affiliation” who doesn’t recall how he got into the situation – another victim of brainwashing. Before Kaya can react to the information she’s been presented with, the door slams open and Aurelia charges in along with the ghost of Agrus Kos, Boros’ best investigator, plus a tied up Massacre Girl in her custody. The angel explains that Massacre Girl had tried to kill her (big mistake), to which the captive Rakdos assassin snaps back, claiming that she had no memory of attacking Aurelia and stated she didn’t get paid for it either. True to her nature, Aurelia has had enough and states she plans on marching the Boros legion against the Rakdos. Thankfully Kaya and Kos are able to talk Aurelia down and convince her to give them 24 hours to solve the mystery before waging war.
Read episode six in full from Wizards of the Coast.