Swamped

"I see your crossbow's gone missing," you say calmly.

"I didn't exactly get much choice in the matter," they grumble. "It would be nice to get it back once this whole business is over, but I don't have high hopes for that."

"We'll see. Still haven't made up our minds on what to do with you yet."

Mostly you were just looking for a reaction. You didn't catch any particular one, though; they seem to have resigned themselves to capture.

"Where'd you get it, anyhow? I had plenty of time to look at it last time we met, and it didn't look cheap."

"Of course it wasn't," the hunter snaps back. "I'm not about to risk my neck out in the desert with subpar equipment. As to where, I was hunting for eight years before I started coming out here. So I saved up and bought the best one I could find. Bought it from a father-and-daughter business somewhere in Grenham. Didn't pay much attention to the name of their store, though. I was on a hunt and only briefly stopped in when I felt the string on my old one start to get loose."

That story would sound fishy as hell even if you didn't suspect an enchantment on the crossbow. You're starting to wonder if the hunter is stalling as much as you are. Maybe it's time to just wrap this up.

Before you can think further on that, though, Rider comes back.

"I've thought this over a bit and I'd like a word with you, Corvus. Provided you're done asking questions."

You get the feeling he's having the same doubts you are. But it might be worth asking one more question before you wrap this up.