The investigation continued later that afternoon, after the adventurers got some rest. They first stopped at The Stonehill Inn where they found Gerbo Fallack ordering chicken noodle soup for a fellow guardsman, Ethor Halus. According to Gerbo, Ethor was ill the day of the party, sick with a stomach bug that he caught the night before. They also learned that Ethor was assigned to guard Harbin Wester during the overnight hours. The adventurers ask who was watching Harbin in Ethor’s absence. Gerbo tells tem that he doesn’t know, but they can ask Ethor. He’s in tent city, still shitting his brains out. 

From there they stop at the Townmaster Hall and learn that Halia still has not returned. Sir Adelard Chase has sent men out looking for her and will let them know as soon as more information is found. They ask him if the Neverwinter Guard was responsible for leaving the door to the Sleeping Giant open last night, to which he responds he’s not sure. He tells them the names of the guards who escorted Grista from there — Dimble and Harol. At this time of the day, the two of them would be tat Tent City. Dare, Lilvari, Mystic, Mercarri and Dare decide to head there. First though, they stop at the market close by to look around. While there, they question one of the workers, a halfling standing behind the produce area. He doesn’t have much to offer in the way of information. There wasn’t anything suspicious that he remembers. He mentioned the apples come from Edertmath’s Orchard and that the morning of the party, the market was busy as usual. “The biggest purchaser of food items was the Stonehill Inn for sure,” he says. And that makes sense given the party was later that night. When asked who else bought food from the market, he shrugged. “Everybody,” he says, “like usual.” He cited ‘their friend’ Freda as an example.

Mercarri spots Efi M’mi buying a small amount of grain — one of the wait staff of The Sleeping Giant Tavern. Dare almost causes a scene when he tries to slap the bag out of her hand, but she’s a little too fast. Several guards take notice but wait to see how it plays out. Apologies are made and Efi stays long enough to answer some questions. She tells them that she has no idea what happened but know Grista would never hurt anyone. She does admit that she knew Grista had her busboy drill holes in the Stone Inn to attract the rats, but says she only found out after the fact. “And I could tell Grista was sorry for doing that,” she adds. She gives them the name of the busboy who had drilled the holes — a kid named Yaul Genderan. They ask her where she was the night of the party and she tells them that she was working at the Sleeping Giant. “At least until around 10:45. Then Grista returned to take over. My babysitter only stays until 11 so I had to be back for my son.”

So now they know that Grista left the party at some time and was seen at the Sleeping Giant before 11pm. After questioning her, she hurries on her way. They continue on towards Tent City but decide to make a stop at The Miner’s Exchange. Halia’s not there, and according to Laral Benners, who’s minding the store, he doesn’t know when she’ll be back. He’s not very forthright with his answers about her whereabouts, claiming he has no idea where she is or when she’ll return only that she comes and goes often. Dare has enough and decides to find answers for himself. He heads over to the only door he sees and asks to be let in. Laral tells him no, that its for employees only. Dare responds by kicking it in. 

Laral jumps the desk and hurries outside, calling for the guards. Lucky for him, the guards aren’t far away. Three guards try to calm the situation down, telling Dare that he has no right to search here, that Sir Adelard Chase has made it clear the limitations of the investigation. Dare says he has probable cause and continues to argue. The guards decide to send out for Sir Adelard. While Dare is arguing with the guards, Lilvari gets a chance to sneak back through the busted door. She doesn’t find much except for a very sturdy door at the far end of the room, one with a very expensive looking lock. There’s another door as well, and when she heads through it, finds herself back in the main area of the store behind the counter which was previously occupied by Laral. She’s seen by the guards who demand she leaves at once, which she does.

Sir Adelard arrives and repeats what his guard has already said: They aren’t authorized to search the Miner’s Exchange, as it is not part of the investigation and there is no probably case. Angry, the adventures leave.

They make one more stop on their way to Tent City — Halia’s house, which is on the way. They check the doors, which are locked. They also peek through the windows. Lilvari can see a few interesting things. The window she’s peeking in looks upon the living area. There’s a table in the far back of the room. On it is a small pedestal, and on top of the pedestal is a very large book. The sunlight coming through the windows catches the gems that decorate the book, making it almost seem like it glows. A bit further in the room, Lilvari can also make out a very large portrait of Halia. There’s writing in the bottom left corner, but it’s too far to read from where she is. 

Guards patrolling the area call out to them before they can investigate further. While talking to the guards, Sister Garaele sees them and tells them to come with her, that Isolde has information for them. They accompany her to Last Rites, where they find Isolde in the basement where she’s performing autopsies of the victims. She tells them that she’s only done two autopsies so far — Harbin and Freda’s. In both she found traces of Midnight Tears. She can’t tell what food was tainted, but she can tell them that Harbin had eaten fish, chicken and some fruit. Freda has eaten the same as well as bacon, eggs and some other things. 

They finally get to tent city a bit before dinnertime. They find Dimble and Harol in one of the tents, playing cards. They admit that they most likely left the door opened and apologize. They also tell them that they can find Ethor in the infirmary, probably shitting his brains out. They’re right. 

In the infirmary, Ethor fights through the stomach pains long enough to tell them what had happened. He was standing outside Harbin’s back door like he does ever night when another guard, Menelaus Cree, stopped by. Ethor asked Menelaus what he was doing on this side of town, since his normal post is at the North side of town. Menelaus said he’d forgotten something at Tent City, a notebook. Ethor says that Menelaus must have had a cold because he sounded a little different. What happened next kinda confirmed it for him. Menelaus sneezed right on him. Ethor then tells them that they talked awhile but then he started getting sharp pains in his stomach. Menelaus told him that he should go to the infirmary, and that he’d watch his post for him. “It’s the least the bastard could do,” Ethor says, “Bastard sneezed on me. Probably him that made me sick.”