Evidence

Winterfell, the great hall.

Robb sat beside Ned, distracted. He stared at the fried little fish on his plate, with no appetite.

After parting ways with Garon, he had gathered everyone who had found Bran and questioned them one by one.

But their accounts were almost identical. They all said they'd heard Hodor calling and gone over to help. Nothing about their stories seemed suspicious.

As for the first person to find Bran, Hodor—

He was simple-minded and could only call out, "Hodor, Hodor."

The two of them couldn't communicate at all.

Robb had tried all sorts of methods, even asking Hodor to gesture and having his great-grandmother interpret.

But in the end, he'd learned nothing.

With no other choice, Robb had decided to return to the great hall and see how things were going with Garon and Jon.

But when he got back, he found that the two still hadn't returned.

Robb looked around the hall. Ned was dining with the king and queen.

Theon and Tyrion, the Imp, were enjoying dinner at another long table.

Clad in golden armor, with a longsword at his hip, Jaime Lannister stood behind Cersei, silently scrutinizing Robb as he entered.

Robb stood in the doorway, about to speak, when Ned called him over to join them for dinner.

So he sat beside Ned.

Robert noticed his lack of appetite and realized he was still worried about Bran. He put down his knife and fork and asked,

"Robb, how's the investigation going?"

"Have you found the culprit who tried to kill Bran?"

As soon as he said this, Theon, at the other table, shuddered as though he'd heard something terrifying.

The wine goblet in his hand slipped free and crashed hard onto the floor.

Bang—

Everyone nearby turned to look.

The sound of the goblet hitting the floor made Cersei's heart leap.

She glared at Theon in annoyance, making him even more nervous. He stammered, "S-sorry..."

Before he could finish, he bent down to pick up the goblet with his bandaged right hand.

Across from him, Tyrion watched the scene thoughtfully.

Jaime furrowed his brow and cursed the fool under his breath, then tried to smooth things over. "Looking for a culprit? Didn't Bran fall from the tower by himself?"

Robb looked at the Kingslayer and explained, "My brother Bran is very good at climbing. He's climbed all over the place before without anything happening."

"But this time, something did happen. That's why I'm worried someone tried to kill him!"

Cersei heard this and relaxed again. "The boy is only ten. Even adults can lose their footing, let alone Bran."

"Rather than look for someone who doesn't exist, you should think about how to save Bran's life."

"Poor boy still hasn't woken up!"

Robert glanced at Cersei impatiently and snapped, "If you don't know how to talk, then keep quiet!"

When Cersei fell silent, he turned back to Robb and asked, "Where are Giant Bear Slayer and your bastard brother?"

"Why aren't they here?"

After the bear hunt that day, Garon's nickname had spread quickly once they returned to Winterfell.

Jaime and Tyrion had also heard from their own knights about Garon single-handedly killing the giant bear and rescuing Joffrey.

The two of them had been greatly shocked.

Robb replied, "After leaving Bran's bedroom, we split up."

"Garon and Jon went to investigate the scene, while I gathered clues from the time of the incident to see if anything seemed suspicious."

"But Hodor was the first to come into contact with Bran. He has some intellectual difficulties, so I couldn't find out anything."

Jaime and Cersei exchanged a glance, feeling even more at ease.

Ned shook his head, clearly unconvinced that Garon and Jon would find anything.

"People have been coming and going at the spot ever since Bran's accident. Even if there were clues, they'd have been ruined by now."

"They went all that way for nothing..."

"Not necessarily!"

Just then, Garon burst into the hall with Jon. "Lord Ned, Jon and I found something at the Broken Tower!"

His words sent a stir through everyone in the hall.

Ned and Robert hurried to their feet and asked in unison, "What did you find?"

Garon stepped forward and motioned for Jon to bring out the wooden box of moss he'd collected. Jon set it on the long table and opened it.

Everyone else immediately gathered around.

"Jon and I went to investigate the Broken Tower. The spot where Bran fell had been trampled, and there was no way to make out any clues."

Garon first described their investigation, then pointed at the box and said, "Fortunately, we found something on the stone steps of the Broken Tower!"

"Your Grace, Lord Ned, take a look!"

Seeing that everyone's attention was fixed on the box, Garon reached out and opened it.

At once—

The moss inside came into view, with bloodstains and an off-white, foul-smelling solid stuck to it.

"What is this..."

Ned could hardly believe it. Garon pointed to the moss in the box and said, "Jon and I found footprints on the stone steps of the Broken Tower."

"Only after looking closely did we realize..."

"On the hundreds of steps from the bottom of the tower to the top, there were drops of blood on the moss at regular intervals. They were perfectly clear!"

"And there were plenty of traces of blood in the room at the top of the tower, too!"

He looked around at everyone, his words heavy with meaning. "So I'm certain Bran's fall from the tower was no accident. Someone did it on purpose!"

In an instant.

As Garon's words echoed through the hall, the calm expression vanished from Cersei's face. Panic filled her eyes as she looked at Jaime.

Even Jaime began to grow nervous.

But only for a moment. He quickly steadied himself.

Meeting Cersei's gaze, Jaime gave her a slight shake of his head, signaling her to stay calm.

Then, without drawing attention to himself, he glanced at the panicked Theon beside him and cursed the "good-for-nothing" under his breath.

A murderous glint flashed in Jaime's eyes. His hand slowly moved to the hilt at his waist, as if he were ready to kill Theon at any moment.

But Tyrion, beside him, noticed the movement.

Tyrion immediately realized that Jaime and Cersei must have been involved in what happened to Bran.

My dear brother, you've certainly given me a difficult problem to solve...

His expression grew grave. He turned, picked up his goblet from the long table, took a big gulp, and began thinking about how to handle this.

Suddenly, an idea struck Tyrion. He walked over to the box and pointed at the off-white solid inside.

"Garon, what is this?"

Garon glanced at Tyrion and shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure. We found these solids along with the bloodstains."

"They weren't all in the same places, though."

"I was planning to ask Maester Luwin to identify them. What do you think, Lord Ned?"

Ned nodded and looked at Theon. "Theon, go fetch Maester Luwin!"

But Theon remained frozen in place, staring at the bloodied moss in the box, consumed by fear.

"Theon?"

Ned called his name again, puzzled.

Garon turned his gaze to Theon and immediately noticed his bandaged right wrist. An idea struck him.

"So you're the one who left the bloodstains!"

Robert ignored Ned's call and stared curiously at the moss in the box, inspecting it closely.

He leaned over and sniffed the box carefully. A familiar stench reached his nostrils.

"Strange. That smell is familiar..."

"Like... like..."

Suddenly, he slapped his thigh and shouted, "Isn't this the bodily fluid left behind after having sex!"