[Cerek the Barbaric]

I recently entered the Bridge District with my solo Bard and met the Guard Captain warning me about the murders in the area. I decided to help investigate and went through the preliminary steps. Then I went to see the tanner. He didn't offer any information and I was giving 3 dialogue options.

1) I'll leave for now, but this isn't over.
2) Sorry to have bothered you.
3) Perhaps I should just kill you anyway to be certain.

My bard is Neutral Good, so I chose #2 to start with. I left the building, then immediately returned. In previous games, the tanner was usually gone on my second visit, but this time he was still here. I spoke to him again and chose option #1 this time. He said he would have armed guards when I returned. OK, now we're getting somewhere. I rested for the night and went back the next day. Sure enough, he had 3 guards, but none of them turned hostile. I questioned the tanner yet again, and got the same 3 dialogue options.

So now I'm stuck. Apparantly, I have to choose option #3 to initiate any hostilities. But I just can't see my bard doing that from a roleplaying standpoint.I did try to go on down the stairs beside the tanner with him standing there, but the game said "It wouldn't be prudent to search the house with the owner standing there in plain sight".

Is this a bug, or do I really have to threaten the tanner before this particular quest will proceed? If so, then I guess I'll just skip that part. I have no intention of using the item I could eventually gain from the quest and I can't envision a Neutral Good Bard threatening to kill the tanner just to make him attack.