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- I looked down. Ana was lying on the floor on her back at Strovi’s feet,
- half-concealed in a pile of parchments, blindfolded as usual. To her left was
- a tray containing the remains of a fish, salted and piled with herbs, the flesh
- so pink it must have never known flame.
- [...]
- “He’s just brought you your orders, ma’am?” I asked. “From the shape
- of things, he’s been here awhile. You’ve been interrogating him, haven’t
- you.”
- “It, ah…” Strovi cleared his throat. “It has been an hour or so, ma’am.
- Possibly two. Or, ah, three.”
- Ana waved a hand, indifferent. “Possibly. It’s not very often that I get to
- parley with a Talagray Legion officer.”
- [...]
- We possibly have a who. Kind of think we have a how—--for, presumably,
- Jolgalgan came to one of these secret meetings of Engineers and poisoned them
- all there. And thanks to your and Miljin’s work yesterday, Din, we also have a when
- ---the Engineers were poisoned eight days before the breach, the date of their last
- meeting, the sixth of Kyuz. Now we just need the where. And Strovi here has already
- given us the materials we need to solve the rest!”
- She turned her blindfolded face to him.
- “These orders are from every fernpaper miller in the city, correct, Captain?”
- “Yes, ma’am,” said Strovi. “All we could find.”
- “And we’re looking for big orders. All conducted on or about eight days
- before the breach—the day of the poisoning.” She pursed her mouth,
- chewing on an especially tough piece of gristle, then said, “There are, I
- think, four options.”
- Strovi looked startled. “Y-you’ve already read them all, ma’am?”
- “Our conversation was interesting, Captain,” she said. “But not so
- interesting as to occupy the whole of my attention…” Still blindfolded, she
- snatched up four different papers, walked over on her knees, fumbled to
- find Strovi’s legs, and then stuffed the papers into his lap. Then she leaned
- forward to search the top one with her fingers until she pointed to a line.
- “This mill here—Ostrok’s? See it? Order for four panels, nine days before
- the breach.”
- - The Tainted Cup, Chapter 19 pgs. 171-174
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