Page 23 of A Drop of Corruption

Tufwa watched me irritably, as if wondering what other idiotic questions I had for him. “Anything else?” he asked.

“No,” I said, bowing. “Thank you, Signum.”

—

Malo and Itrudged back through New Town together, dodging the pack animals and the streams of Apoths flooding out to begin their day.

“So what the hell was that?” asked Malo as she stepped around a heaping mound of feces.

“Mule droppings, from the look of it.”

“How amusing. I meant your questions back there. Why was I awake so early for that? What did that teach us?”

“I’ve no idea. My immunis asked me to ask, so I asked. I will now give her the answers. Then we shall move on, to more questions, and hopefully more answers.”

Malo shook her head. “I thought the Iudex moved in ways more interesting. Is it always like this? For if so, I shall not look forward to Yarrow becoming a full canton and getting its own courts.”

“Take comfort. If we make a horrid mess of this, you may get neither.”

We rounded the corner to my lodgings, the gulls wheeling and laughing overhead. I knocked at Ana’s door, heard her voice within singing, “Come!” and we entered.

Ana’s rooms, as always, had turned into an utter mess overnight, with books lying open everywhere and papers covering nearly everysurface. Ana sat in the middle of the floor, blindfolded, her Pithian lyre in her lap. She turned her head toward us. “Ah! Din. Good morning. And…unless the sound of feet has confused me, there is another with you?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said. “This is Signum Tira Malo.”

Malo bowed and muttered a quiet “Good morning, ma’am.”

“Ah, very pleasant to meet you!” said Ana brightly. “I’ve two questions I wished to ask you, Malo. Is that all right?”

“Ahh. Certainly?”

“Excellent. The first—would you betrueYarrow, Malo? Born and raised?”

Malo looked quite uncomfortable at that. “Well. Yes?” she said. “As much as one could be, ma’am.”

“Then could you possibly point Din in the direction of a place to procure another Pithian lyre?” asked Ana. She laid a hand on the instrument in her lap. “I’ve one here, but the Yarrow court is rather renowned for their duets, as you no doubt know. I believe I have a method of attaching two together so that I can attempt a duet on my own, but I would naturally need to have a second to do so.”

Malo stared at her, boggled. “I…Yes, certainly, ma’am.”

“Yes,” said Ana, grinning. “Now for the second question…You’re a true warden? Augmented and all?”

“Yes?”

“I’ve always wondered—is it true that wardens can tell a lie by the way a person’s heart beats? Or detect if they are in love, or at least significantly aroused? I should think that’d make partiesveryinteresting to attend, yes?”

There was a beat of painful silence.

“Uhh,” said Malo. “Sometimes?”

“We have just come back from the bank, ma’am,” I said quickly.

“Oh? Very good! Before you say more of it, Din, I have one question that has weighed most on my mind.” She set aside her lyre. “Tell me—was Sujedo everalonein the Treasury vault at any point of his visit?”

Malo and I exchanged a worried glance.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said. “He was.”

“I see, I see…Intriguing! Very good work, both of you.” She stood and blindly walked over to me, hand extended. I met it with my forearm, and she grasped it tight. “You can tell me the rest on the way. Let us all go to Old Town, to speak to the Treasury prificto, and review where at least one of these many crimes took place.”