“Understood, ma’am,” said Ana.
With one last glare, Vashta turned, flung open the door, charged through, and slammed it behind her.
* * *
—
“WELL, DIN,” SAID Ana with a sigh, “I must admit, this…is not going well.”
“Agreed, ma’am,” I said.
“No doubt you would have counseled me to keep my mouth shut.”
“Very true, ma’am.”
“But I couldn’t bear it. I simply could not bear the absurd amount of bullshit being poured at our feet.”
My eyes fluttered as I recalled Fayazi’s story. “Her explanation seems…at least somewhat plausible, yes?”
Ana’s face slowly swiveled to me, her mouth open in outrage. “Did you catch a fucking blow to the head during your murderous scuffle, boy? If your father’s chest suddenly explodes with greenery, you get up and run screaming for help! What you don’t do is sit in total silence—unless, of course, you’re hoping nobody notices your father’s dead, because if they do, then people are going to start wondering why he died the exact same way as this other dumb bastard the next canton over! No doubt she hoped we’d never track the poisoning to her home. But then we did, and someone on the investigation must have just happened to mention to a friend, ‘Fucking hell, chum, d’you know I almost died at this Haza party?’ Then word got back to the Hazas, and that tipped them off that we knew the poisoning had taken place in their damned house. And if you can’t evade an investigation, you instead work to influence it. And here we are. The noble, famous gentryclan of the Hazas comes clean—but only to muddy the waters.”
“What happens now, ma’am?” I asked.
“No idea. None at fucking all. But I do feel somewhat satisfied. After all, I predicted another murder had occurred before we came here. Don’t you recall, engraver?”
My eyes fluttered. I recalled that first night here in Talagray, when Ana had said—What if they’ve murdered someone besides Engineers, so no one ever noticed?
“Yes, but…did you predict the murder of a Haza, ma’am?” I said.
“Oh, hell no. I figured it was likely that the poisoner had killed someone that would connect the dead Engineers to Commander Blas. But I didn’t think it would be one of the prime sons of the goddamned Haza clan!”
I shot her a glare. “Why not? You knew where the poisoning had taken place, after all. You knew from the start.”
“Ohh,” she said. “So. You’ve noticed.”
“I have, ma’am.”
She sighed and flopped down on the floor. “I wouldn’t say I knew where the Engineers had been poisoned, Din. I would say I simply possessed a high degree of certainty that this would all eventually lead back to the Hazas. If you want to figure out where everyone got fleas, look no further than the biggest pack of wild cats. Even if they do prowl behind high walls and fancy gates.”
I cocked my head, listening. I could hear a little discussion in the chambers beyond. It sounded like Vashta had negotiated things into a better position.
“What do you know about Kaygi Haza, ma’am?” I asked.
“Much,” she said. “Maybe too much. I know he was third in line to inherit the whole of the clan. A prime son of the lineage. Besides that, there is—was?—little that made him different from the rest of his greasy brood. He was wealthy, conniving, ambitious, and influential. And old. Like a lot of the Hazas, he had access to some very pricey vitality suffusions—I think the man must have been about a hundred and thirty when he died. Even Fayazi’s partaken, I believe. She should be about sixty, by my reckoning.”
“That girl in there is sixty years old?”
“Girl…Ha! I take it you were smitten by her. Not surprising. Every bit of the woman is altered, and rumor has it some Hazas sport pheromonal grafts—not as advanced as a court plaizaier’s, of course, but just below the legal threshold. The scent of the Hazas entrances the minds of those close by, ever so slightly. When Fayazi walks into a room you can practically hear the crinkling of pants as all the pricks stiffen. I’m surprised she’s even the one here, actually. She’s the daughter of the third son of the lineage—not exactly a position of power within their noxious clan, so to speak…Yet now we’ll have to work with her to learn why Jolgalgan went to the trouble of killing her father, along with ten Engineers whom she claims weren’t there at all!” She snorted. “It will not be easy. If it is Jolgalgan, she does not join exclusive company. The number of people holding a grudge against the Hazas is beyond count.”
“Might you also count among that company, ma’am?” I asked.
She raised her eyebrows at me behind her blindfold. “My, my. That’s rather insolent of you, isn’t it?”
“I would simply note, ma’am, that Vashta just referenced your old grudges with them.”
“A rumor,” she said dismissively.
“And you also once said of the Hazas—I wouldn’t mind seeing all their progeny rotting in the ground like a bunch of fucking dead dogs. Which is, I feel, mostly how one talks of one’s enemies.”
“Oh, yes, well,” she said, sighing. “This is why people are so loath to talk before an engraver…They never forget a fucking thing you say! One day, Din, when this is all over, I shall tell you many truths, and tales of all that occurred between myself and the Haza clan in the inner rings of the Empire. I’ve no doubt you’ve caught rumors of it…But today is not the day for my stories.”
I glowered at her for a moment. Then I had an idea.
“Are the Hazas responsible for your banishment to Daretana, ma’am?” I asked.
Her smile grew to a grin. “That’s not entirely true.”
“Did they kill your previous assistant?”
To my surprise, her grin didn’t flicker one jot. “That’s not entirely true, either.”
“What’s not? That it was the Hazas, or that your assistant was killed?”
“Focus, Din. We are here to figure out how this calamity happened and who is responsible. Follow that thread, and that thread alone, and we shall have victory.” Then she cocked her head, knelt, and felt the fretvine floor. “Vashta is coming back. I can feel her stride in the very wood…And I think Miljin and Strovi are with her. Come. Let us pretend to be professional, you and I, for hell and the gentry await.”
* * *
—
“HERE,” SAID VASHTA coldly, “is what I have been able to salvage. First, Fayazi Haza does not wish to be in the room with you anymore, Immunis. To have made such an attack on her character during such a period of grief is beyond toleration. Is that clear?”
Ana shrugged. “That is clear if not welcome, ma’am.”
“Secondly…Fayazi Haza will permit an inspection of her halls. Purely to identify the circumstances of her father’s death. We shall pry no more in their affairs than that. This inspection must take place today, immediately. Which means we must postpone interviewing your colleagues about their involvement at this…this party.”
“That is all well,” said Ana. “We’ll get to them soon enough.”
“Lastly, however…Fayazi is not comfortable with a large presence from the Iudex. So she has only agreed to open her halls to one officer.” Vashta’s eyes moved to my face. “That would be you, Signum.”
I stared at her, then at Miljin, who looked disgusted, then Strovi, who looked alarmed.
“Me?” I asked. “Just me? At the halls of the Hazas, ma’am?”
“That is indeed the case,” said Vashta.
“It does not feel,” sniffed Ana, “that the Hazas should be dictating who can or cannot investigate a murder, even if it did take place in their fancy house.”