The second meeting in Remington's cellar took place nine days after the first.
This time, the mood was different. Where the first gathering had been tentative ...four men sharing suspicions, testing each other's resolve, feeling their way toward an alliance ...this one crackled with the focused energy of people who had found what they were looking for and now needed to decide what to do with it.
Lord Blackwood arrived first, as was his habit, settling into his chair with the folder of evidence that had grown considerably since their last meeting. Harring came next, carrying a leather case that clinked faintly with each step. Fairfax appeared precisely at the agreed time, his expression the carefully blank mask of a man who had spent the past week suppressing emotions that would have overwhelmed lesser composure.
Duke Remington opened the session without ceremony. "Report. All of you. What have we found?"
Blackwood went first.
