By noon, Halvren had become useful.
Nobody was happy about it.
Least of all Duchess Aureline.
"No."
Halvren stared across the investigation table.
"What do you mean, no?"
"I mean I refuse to accept this."
"You asked where Varros was on the seventeenth. I told you."
Aureline looked toward Inkaris.
"Verify it again."
"I already have."
"Again."
Inkaris' expression remained painfully neutral.
"Varros attended a private dinner at House Varelle on the seventeenth. He arrived shortly after eight in the evening and departed shortly before midnight."
Aureline's expression tightened.
Halvren smiled triumphantly.
"Exactly."
Seris leaned against the table.
"And you remembered this because…?"
Halvren looked offended that anyone needed to ask.
"He insulted my boots."
Silence.
Liora slowly lowered the document she had been reading.
"Your boots."
"They were custom-made."
Aiden glanced down.
Halvren immediately pointed at him.
"Do not."
"I didn't say anything."
"You looked."
"I looked at your boots."
"Judgmentally."
"I genuinely didn't."
Inkaris continued before Halvren could initiate a diplomatic incident over footwear.
"Your recollection is nevertheless accurate."
Halvren straightened.
"Thank you."
"It remains concerning that personal grievances constitute your most reliable mnemonic system."
Halvren's satisfaction disappeared.
"You could simply say I'm useful."
"I could."
Inkaris returned to the evidence.
Halvren waited.
Inkaris did not continue.
"You're not going to."
"No."
Liora covered her mouth.
She was beginning to understand why Aiden found Inkaris simultaneously reassuring and infuriating.
The investigation had consumed an entire palace conference room.
Documents covered nearly every available surface.
Financial records.
Statements from the surviving assassins.
Weapon inventories.
Descriptions of the intermediary.
Maps.
Payment records.
Varros' correspondence.
Halvren's correspondence.
A surprisingly large collection of written insults exchanged between Varros and Halvren that Aureline had repeatedly insisted were not relevant.
Halvren disagreed.
Inkaris had sided with Aureline.
This remained Halvren's greatest grievance of the morning.
At the center of everything was one question:
Who hired the assassins?
The obvious answer remained Varros.
It fit too well.
Varros had surrendered voluntarily.
He had requested protective custody from Halvren.
Within an hour, armed attackers had stormed the palace specifically to kill him.
Surviving such an attempt strengthened his claim enormously.
More importantly, the assassins hadn't been pretending.
They genuinely believed they had been hired to murder Varros.
That was exactly the kind of deception Inkaris had just taught Liora to recognize.
Tell everyone enough truth that nobody needs to lie.
Liora stared at the evidence.
It made sense.
That bothered her.
"Again," Inkaris said.
She looked up.
"What?"
"Explain the assassination."
Liora sighed.
"We've done this."
"Again."
"Inkaris."
"You requested instruction."
"I am beginning to think you intend to use that sentence against me forever."
"Yes."
Seris smiled.
Liora glared at her friend.
"You're supposed to support me."
"I do support you."
"You're enjoying this."
"Those aren't mutually exclusive."
Liora sighed and looked back at the documents.
"Fine. Varros needs people to believe Halvren coerced him."
Halvren immediately raised his hand.
"No."
"We know."
"I feel obligated to continue clarifying."
Aureline didn't look up.
"Your obligation has been noted."
Liora continued.
"The assassination attempt supports Varros' story. If someone is trying to kill him after he surrendered, then it makes him look like a witness someone wants silenced."
"Good," Inkaris said.
"So Varros hires assassins through an intermediary. He doesn't tell them the attack is supposed to fail because then they could expose him."
"Good."
"He arranges the attack somewhere he's likely to survive."
"The palace," Aiden said.
Liora nodded.
"Full of guards. Aureline. Seris. Us."
Halvren raised a finger.
"And me."
Everyone looked at him.
"I punched one."
Aureline closed her eyes.
"Yes, Halvren."
"Thank you."
Liora continued.
"Varros gets a genuine assassination attempt without needing anyone involved to know it's staged."
Inkaris nodded.
"Conclusion?"
"Varros probably hired them."
Inkaris leaned back.
"Wrong."
Liora stared.
"What?"
"I said wrong."
"I heard you."
"Then why did you ask?"
"Because I wanted you to reconsider."
Liora folded her arms.
"You spent yesterday teaching me exactly how someone like Varros could arrange this."
"Yes."
"And now you're saying he didn't?"
"No."
Liora paused.
"You are an unbelievably irritating teacher."
"So I have been informed."
"What are you saying, then?"
Inkaris tapped the table.
"I am saying you have moved from one assumption to another."
Liora looked down.
Inkaris continued.
"You began with the assumption that an assassination attempt means someone wants Varros dead."
"Yes."
"You correctly challenged it."
"Yes."
"You then replaced it with the assumption that because Varros benefits from the attempt, he must have arranged it."
Liora frowned.
"That isn't unreasonable."
"No."
"But it isn't proof."
"Correct."
Liora stared at the evidence again.
Truth.
Intent.
Interpretation.
She hated this lesson.
That probably meant it was useful.
Seris pushed herself away from the wall.
"What do we actually know?"
Liora began counting.
"The assassins genuinely intended to kill Varros."
"Yes."
"They were hired through a broker."
"Yes."
"The broker received payment through three separate accounts."
"Yes."
"The money originally came from an estate belonging to Lord Meredin."
Halvren scoffed.
"He hates Varros."
Aureline looked toward him.
"How much?"
"Considerably."
"Why?"
Halvren shrugged.
"Varros slept with his sister."
The room went silent.
Aiden looked at Varros' documents.
Seris blinked.
Liora slowly turned toward Halvren.
"Seriously?"
"No."
Halvren smiled.
"He convinced Meredin that he had."
Aureline rubbed her temples.
"Why?"
"Because Meredin had called him boring."
Aiden whispered:
"I am beginning to understand why so many people might genuinely want Varros dead."
"That's actually becoming a problem," Seris replied.
Inkaris tapped the payment record.
"Lord Meredin denies authorizing the transfer."
"Convenient," Aureline said.
"His denial appears credible."
Aureline looked at him.
"How?"
"He reported irregularities in the account four days before the assassination."
That changed things.
Liora leaned forward.
"So someone used his money."
"Yes."
"To hire people who already had reasons to kill Varros."
"Yes."
"Which makes Meredin look responsible."
"Yes."
Halvren crossed his arms.
"Excellent. Someone else is being framed."
Nobody acknowledged him.
Liora studied the records.
The payment had passed through three intermediaries.
Each existed.
Each transaction was real.
Each step could be explained individually.
Again.
Truth arranged into a story.
She felt something cold settle in her stomach.
"Inkaris."
"Yes?"
"This looks like Varros."
The demon's eyes sharpened.
"Explain."
"Not the evidence."
She gestured across the table.
"The method."
Everyone quieted.
"Varros uses real things. Real threats. Real people. Real motives. He doesn't invent more than he has to."
Liora picked up the payment ledger.
"Whoever did this used Meredin because Meredin genuinely hates Varros."
Another document.
"They hired assassins who genuinely wanted him dead."
Another.
"They attacked while Varros was under protection, which genuinely makes Halvren look like he might be trying to silence him."
Halvren muttered something unpleasant.
Liora ignored him.
"It looks exactly like something Varros would do."
Inkaris said nothing.
That was usually a sign she should continue.
"So we assume Varros did it."
"Yes," Seris said slowly.
Liora stopped.
There it was.
The thought she'd been circling all morning.
"What if that's the point?"
Aureline looked at her.
"What?"
Liora stood.
"What if whoever arranged this knew we'd eventually realize the assassination helped Varros?"
Aiden frowned.
"So they want us to think Varros hired his own assassins."
"Maybe."
Halvren brightened.
"So Varros didn't do it."
Liora looked at him.
"I didn't say that."
His shoulders fell.
"Oh."
She started pacing.
"If Varros arranged the assassination, he wants us to believe someone else did it."
"Yes," Seris said.
"But if someone else arranged it and understands Varros…"
Aiden's expression changed.
"They could make it look like Varros arranged it."
Liora nodded.
"And because Varros absolutely would do something like this—"
"He becomes the perfect person to frame," Aureline finished.
Silence.
Halvren slowly looked around.
"I would like everyone to acknowledge the irony."
"No," Aureline said.
"I have been framed by Varros, and now Varros may have been framed by someone pretending to be Varros framing himself."
Aiden's eyes narrowed.
"I think that's accurate."
Seris sighed.
"Please don't encourage him."
Halvren looked delighted.
"Finally, politics makes sense."
"It absolutely does not," Liora said.
Inkaris was watching her.
She noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You're doing the thing."
"What thing?"
"The silent evaluation."
"Yes."
"And?"
"You are improving."
Liora waited.
"That is all."
"That's almost a compliment."
"It was."
Aiden looked genuinely surprised.
"Are you feeling alright?"
Inkaris looked at him.
"Yes."
"You complimented someone."
"I can rescind it."
Liora immediately pointed at Aiden.
"Stop helping."
Seris laughed.
Aureline did not.
She was staring at the evidence.
"If someone else arranged this, then we've been assuming the coup has two major players."
"Varros and Halvren?" Aiden asked.
"No."
Aureline looked toward Halvren.
"One major player."
Halvren looked offended.
"Your Grace."
"Varros."
"Better."
Aureline continued.
"But perhaps someone else has been watching."
Seris' expression hardened.
"Someone who understands how Varros operates."
"Or studied him," Liora said.
Inkaris nodded.
"Better."
Liora turned.
"What?"
"Do not assume personal familiarity when observation is sufficient."
Another lesson.
Of course.
Aureline began gathering documents.
"We trace Meredin's accounts again."
"We already did," Seris said.
"Then we do it better."
Halvren raised his hand.
Everyone ignored him.
He kept it raised.
Aureline finally sighed.
"What?"
"I know someone who might recognize the broker."
Silence.
Aureline stared at him.
"Why?"
Halvren smiled proudly.
"Because Varros once used the same district to arrange a humiliating theatrical performance about me."
Nobody spoke.
Halvren's smile faded slightly.
"It involved a donkey."
Seris looked away.
Aiden immediately became interested.
Liora desperately wanted details.
Aureline pointed toward the door.
"You're coming with us."
Halvren brightened.
"I am?"
"Yes."
"Because I'm useful."
"Do not make me reconsider."
Halvren stood immediately.
"I shall be unbearable about this later."
"I assumed."
The broker operated from the eastern commercial district.
Or had.
The address Halvren remembered belonged to a narrow building wedged between a closed tailor and a perfume merchant whose owner insisted she knew nothing about political assassinations and would prefer to keep it that way.
They found the broker's office empty.
Not abandoned.
Empty.
That distinction came from Seris.
"Someone left recently."
She crouched beside the desk.
"No dust here."
Liora examined the shelves.
Documents were gone.
Personal belongings too.
No blood.
No signs of struggle.
Aiden stood near the doorway.
"So he ran."
"Probably," Seris said.
Inkaris moved toward a small fireplace.
Cold.
Recently cleaned.
Too clean.
He reached inside and removed a tiny fragment of paper trapped beneath the grate.
Aureline looked over his shoulder.
"Can you read it?"
"Partially."
Halvren suddenly leaned forward.
"I know that seal."
Everyone turned.
On the corner of the burned fragment remained half an embossed symbol.
A circle intersected by three narrow lines.
Aureline frowned.
"Whose?"
Halvren's confidence disappeared.
"I don't know."
Aureline stared.
"You just said—"
"I've seen it."
"Where?"
Halvren thought.
For once, there was no theatrical outrage.
No bluster.
He genuinely struggled.
Then:
"Varros."
Liora's stomach sank.
Aiden frowned.
"You saw Varros using it?"
"No."
Halvren shook his head.
"I saw it among his things."
"When?"
"Months ago."
"Where?"
Halvren's expression tightened.
"At a gathering."
Inkaris held up the fragment.
"Was it his?"
"I assumed so."
Liora looked at Inkaris.
He looked back.
There was that word.
Assumed.
Seris noticed too.
"Could someone have given it to him?"
"Yes," Halvren said.
"Could he have taken it from someone?"
"Yes."
"Could it belong to him?"
"Yes."
Aureline exhaled.
"So we have learned nothing."
"No," Liora said.
Everyone looked at her.
She stared at the burned symbol.
"We learned someone wanted this destroyed."
Inkaris nodded.
"And?"
Liora thought.
If Varros wanted them to find the symbol, burning it badly enough to leave a fragment would be useful.
If someone framing Varros wanted them to find it, same problem.
If someone genuinely wanted it gone—
Then they had failed.
She shook her head.
"We can't decide yet."
Inkaris smiled faintly.
"Good."
Liora looked at him.
"That was the answer?"
"The correct answer is occasionally admitting insufficient information."
"That may be the most frustrating lesson yet."
"It is also one of the most important."
Aiden had been watching Inkaris.
Not the fragment.
Not Halvren.
Inkaris.
Because when the demon had bent down to retrieve the paper—
he'd hesitated.
Just briefly.
And when Aureline asked about the symbol, Inkaris had looked at it twice.
As though confirming something he normally would have remembered instantly.
Nobody else seemed to notice.
Aiden did.
He said nothing.
Not yet.
Outside, evening had begun settling over the city.
Varros sat alone in his protected room when a guard delivered the news.
The assassination investigation had changed direction.
Someone else might be involved.
Varros listened quietly.
Then asked:
"Who suggested that?"
The guard hesitated.
"I don't know, my lord."
Varros smiled.
"Find out."
The guard left.
Varros' smile faded.
He turned toward the narrow window.
Someone else.
Interesting.
Because Varros knew something Aureline did not.
He had not ordered the assassination.
Which meant someone had either genuinely tried to kill him—
or someone wanted Aureline to believe he had orchestrated his own attack.
Varros rested his fingers against the windowsill.
For the first time since the coup began, he wasn't merely changing games.
Someone else had sat down at the board.
And he didn't know who.
Back in the broker's office, Liora studied the burned seal one last time.
The question had changed.
Not:
Did Varros arrange his own assassination?
Not even:
Who wanted Varros dead?
Someone had used Varros' methods.
Someone had anticipated how Aureline would investigate.
How Inkaris would interpret evidence.
How suspicion would move.
How Varros himself would appear responsible precisely because the scheme was clever enough to resemble him.
Liora looked at the others.
"I think we've been asking the wrong question."
Seris raised an eyebrow.
"What should we be asking?"
Liora looked down at the symbol.
"Who benefits if we think Varros did it?"
Inkaris' expression became very still.
Halvren looked between everyone.
Then raised his hand.
Aureline sighed.
"What?"
"For once…"
Halvren swallowed.
"…I don't think it's me."
Nobody laughed.
And that was when Liora knew they had a real problem.