Close and Constant Supervision's Cold and Cruel Impositions

The man lifted the vial as if to let the light expose concentrated specks of its lethality. "Finally I have required the perfect poison to do away with him. Swift, sure, and, because of my circumspection in acquiring it, incapable of giving me away. I would have preferred to have effected a false reconciliation in order to prevent suspicion at all, but were he at all capable of compromise, I wouldn't need to remove him in the first place."
The man was still admiring the devilish mixture when his butler eased open the study door and presented a salver on which rested a few sheets of paper. "The latest divine proclamations, sir."
"Hmph. I suppose one ought to keep abreast of such things. Let's see. 'In view of the recent battle at Iestol Fields . . . charge bonus reduced by 3 . . . axe wounds have increased chance of infection . . . crafting skills . . . recipes moved from haberdashery list to milliner list . . .' What! 'Poisons in their current state have limited counterplay?!' That's why I wanted to use it! 'The chance of death on the first application has been lowered across the board . . .' My efforts and expense have come to nothing!"
"Very good, sir. Shall I engage an ax instructor?"
"Yes. He can start by demonstrating on me. If I survive, find me priests willing to beg the gods not to update quite so often. How can we make plans as things stand?"
"Most inconvenient, sir."
Finis

Challenge of the Flavorful Dish

"No, inspector. There are no signs of violence and no indication of poisoning. The cause of death is natural."
"I have reason to doubt that," Inspector Iagius said. What reason need there be aside from the intuition of that veteran avenger of crime? Nevertheless, grounds existed! The dead man had not gone through life without enemies or without making a will. That will . . . was missing!
The doctor cared about physiological signs and not motive. And rightly so. He shook his learned head. "The sole unusual fact about this corpse is how much garlic he must have eaten!"
"Garlic, you say?"
"Crates of it!"

*****

"Well, Mr. Modusta, I only have one question for you before I stop wasting your time."
"Not at all, Inspector. Happy to help."
"Is it true that the victim dined here the night of the murder?"
"It is."
"Falgunus! Arrest this man!"
"What?"
An escape attempt! Mr. Modusta made his try, but Custos Falgunus was too fast for him in body just as Inspector Iagius was in mind. He struggled, but he might as well have wrestled against a mountain!
"He's full of energy, sir!"
"I am! Because this is outrageous!"
"And deviltry. Mr. Modusta, I talked to your other guests. They reported tasting no garlic at all. You knew the victim had worn a vampire costume for a party once! That made him vulnerable to garlic in sufficient amounts, larger of course than what the true vampire requires, and that's why you had your chief load his dish alone with all the garlic in the house! Take him away, Falgunus."
Another triumph for Inspector Iagius!
Finis

About Character Descriptions

Bad: "He was wearing leather gloves."
Good: "His leather gloves had spikes coming out of them that glowed with demon poison that dripped to the earth and scarred it forevermore."
Bad: "The man looked to be about twenty-four."
Good: "The man stood among twenty-four corpses, a number the same as his age."
Bad: "Her eyes, one green, one blue, blinked."
Good: "The apocalypse had already begun."