«Of course, sir.» I bowed once more, because that's what you do when a factol calls you «mister».

«In the statement you gave to my sergeant, you simply stated the facts. Now we'd like your opinions. Hunches, suspicions, impressions… you're a blood with a keen eye and your work gives you contact with plenty of folks here in the Cage. What do you make of this all? If you had to guess, would you say the attackers were Anarchists? Or maybe Chaosmen?»

«Neither, sir.»

Captain Sarin raised an eyebrow. I hurried to explain. «The Anarchists have a lot of experience pretending to be Harmonium guards – disguise is part of their basic training. I'd guess there are half a dozen Anarchists in this building right now, eavesdropping on the way you're handling the present situation.»

The captain made a face. «You're probably right.»

«So,» I said, "they aren't going to make an elementary mistake like folding their neckerchiefs wrong. Anarchists are just too good at infiltration to slip up like that.

«As for the Chaosmen,» I continued, «they don't have the discipline for what I saw. The false guards marched like soldiers and fired in unison – Chaosmen simply wouldn't allow themselves to be regimented like that. They might dash wildly into the building, fire about at random, then run away again; but they'd despise the very idea of planning the attack with military precision, and they certainly wouldn't carry it off.»

The captain cast a glance at Guvner Hashkar and Lady Erin. They both nodded. Sarin sighed. «That's pretty much what we concluded too,» he told me. «We hoped you might have noticed something to indicate otherwise. Life would be less complicated if we could blame this mess on the usual pus-kickers.»

«I take it you didn't capture any of the attackers?»

«All three escaped,» Lady Erin answered with a keen edge of anger. «As you say, the massacre was planned with military precision. The moment Judge DeVail showed up with that staff of hers, one of the fireballin' berks shouted, 'Hop it!' and activated some magical boojum. They disappeared in a shimmer of light, and no one knows where. DeVail fired into the shimmer anyway on the off chance they'd just turned invisible; but it didn't do any good.»

«Does Judge DeVail know what the thieves stole from her office?»

«Haven't been able to talk to her yet,» Guvner Hashkar replied. «Soon as the attackers vanished, Oonah started helping the poor sods who got caught in the middle. Tried to calm the mob, bandage the injured… even stopped the deva and cornugon who were still brawling in the middle of the flames. Eventually, the old girl pushed her luck too far – inhaled more smoke than she could handle. Healers got to her in time and she'll be right as rain in the morning; but for now she's sleeping, and they don't want us to wake her.»

«Pity,» I said. «If we knew what those two had stolen, maybe we'd have a clue what was really going on.»

Captain Sarin grunted. «You're certain the theft was connected with the fire attack?»

«Absolutely,» I told him. «First of all, the thieves had been waiting in a position to see Judge DeVail dash to the rescue. Then they went straight to her office and rummaged through her desk for one specific scroll, ignoring dozens of valuable curios in the rest of the room. Once they had the scroll, they systematically torched her office and other rooms to cover their tracks, intending the secondary fires to be dismissed as offshoots of the fire downstairs. They must have known about the fire attack ahead of time, and were poised to move on DeVail's office once the coast was clear. My guess is the fireballs were simply a diversion to make it easier for the thieves to get in and out without being noticed.»

«But a githyanki and githzerai working together,» Sarin shook his head. «That's almost impossible to believe.»

«Their appearance could have been an illusion, or some temporary shapeshift. Remember, Hezekiah knew they were coming because they radiated magic.»

«Maybe,» Lady Erin said, pursing her lips. «Still, if they had the magic to disguise themselves, why become a githyanki and githzerai? It'd make more sense to look like Guvners or Harmonium guards. That way they wouldn't stand out if someone noticed them in the hall.»

«A good point,» Sarin admitted. «But I still think —»

There was a sharp knock on the door, and a lieutenant of the guard hurried in without waiting to be invited. She handed the captain a slip of paper which he read in silence. I could tell that Lady Erin and Guvner Hashkar were both aching to read over Sarin's shoulder, but they managed to restrain themselves until the captain looked up grimly.

«Bad news?» Lady Erin asked.

«Not exactly news,» Sarin muttered. Glancing in my direction he hesitated a moment, clearly debating whether to say more in front of me. Before I could offer to leave, however, Sarin simply shrugged and continued. «I asked some of the bright bloods in our backroom to propose theories about what in The Lady's name is happening here. They've dug up some troubling connections.»

«What connections?» Hashkar asked.

«Ten days ago, there was an ugly little riot in the Gatehouse asylum – the part of the building used as headquarters for the Bleak Cabal. Everyone knows a fair number of barmies in the asylum used to be wizards, till they learned one too many secrets mortals weren't meant to know. Anyway, one of those wizards escaped, got his hands on the ingredients he needed for some fireballs, and freed a whole block of other violent inmates. The wizard vanished and the others demolished a good chunk of Bleaker HQ before they could be stopped.»

«And what does this have to do with the courts?» Lady Erin asked with some impatience.

«Keep listening,» Sarin replied. «Six days ago, a furnace in the Great Foundry blew out one of its walls. Flames and molten metal sprayed all over the place – dozens of poor sods killed, heavy property damage, and surprise, surprise: most of the damage was centered in the part of the foundry the Godsmen use as their headquarters.»

«I read the reports on that,» Lady Erin said. «Everyone agreed it was an accident, pure and simple.»

«If you like accidents, try this on for size,» Sarin told her. «Two nights ago, we had a serious fire in the Hive… not unusual for slums, but my bloods tell me it took out several buildings the Xaositects used as headquarters.»

Lady Erin's eyes narrowed. «So you're sayin' there've been three disasters in three faction headquarters…»

«Four disasters,» Guvner Hashkar corrected. «The City Courts are headquarters to my faction.»

«And all four involved fire,» the captain added. «How's that for coincidence?»

«All right,» Lady Erin said. «I'm callin' an emergency session in the Hall of Speakers. One hour from now. Every factol of every faction, if they can make it. Can you send out runners, Captain?»

«I'll pass the word,» Sarin nodded.

«And are you finished with Mr. Cavendish?»

The captain nodded again.

«Then,» she said, turning to me, «I'd appreciate you waitin' for me at the Festhall. It may be some time before I get back there, but my steward'll see to your needs – food, a place to sleep, don't hesitate to ask. Of course, you realize none of what you've just heard can leave this room?»

«Of course, my lady.» I bowed very low.

«Very well then,» she smiled grimly, «let's all get to work. It's promisin' to be a long night.»

The three factols hurried out immediately. The rest of us, lieutenant, corporals and I, all kept bowing until the door closed behind them. Who knows if factols really care whether people bow to them or not? But I, for one, didn't want to be the first person to defy the custom to their faces.

The lieutenant waited for a good count of twenty before opening the door to leave. I suppose she wanted to make sure the factols were well gone before she ventured into the hall – like me, she must have had enough bowing for one day. Trying not to be obvious about it, she looked both ways to check that the corridor was empty; then she instructed the corporals to handle my release, and sped away to other duties.