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"That would be logical if your theory is correct But that’s a big ‘if,’ baby"

"I know it is For ating Jimmu I can see there’s a pattern here somewhere; I just can’t quite make it out But I knoho -suffering tone "You can’t keep bla my chin to meet his eyes "I still believe there was more to Jimmu’s murders than we know, and I think that one of these days we’re going to discover that it all traces back to Jarl" Ryu made a noise as if to protest, but I didn’t let hie that Jarl sent someone here to keep an eye on us? And why is Phaedra’s lot always divided into two groups, one of which is with us and one of which is alwaysand the other is on call to act on whatever is uncovered"

Ryu shook his head, as I kneould

"And why haven’t we talked about the note in front of Phaedra? None of us trust her, Ryu Not even you How far does that distrust extend, if not to her boss?"

"There’s a difference between not trusting Jarl or Phaedra, and thinking that they co the And yet, if I’ is that there’s not only a connection between Jarl and these murders, but also a connection between Jiht now You do realize how crazy that sounds?"

"Okay, so it’s a stretch, but--"

"Jane, what part of ‘We investigated every aspect of Jimmu’s crimes’ don’t you understand? Do you think we’re inept?"

"No, I don’t think that at all I just think that our enemies are smart, Ryu Maybe smarter than we are"

Ryu took a deep breath I kneas frustrated withto back down

"So how do you think Jarl is involved?"

I took a deep breath, carefully ordering hts I knew I had a tendency to spout off and sound like a conspiracy nut, so I had to choose my words carefully "Because I think Jarl is the mystery sponsor You said yourself he’s the spy Conleth, but he squashed it and took over the investigation hi in a lab, he took it over using , no muss, no fuss"

Ryu looked at me like I’d just barfed cockroaches

"That’s so ridiculous I don’t even knohere to begin No member of the Alfar would ever risk our discovery like that We’ve guarded the secret of our existence with an avidity that has been entirely unscrupulous Any human who discovered us, and atte with anyone he or she could have told Back in the day, iped out entire villages protecting our secret" I frowned but Ryu didn’t letyou this to debate theyou because it’s the truth Besides which, what you’re saying doesn’t otten involved in such an enterprise? And kept it hidden?"

I thought about Ryu’s words There’d been soo, ere at the Compound, that had been really important at the ti I’d gone over and over everything that had happened, alet why Jimmu had done what he’d done The other supes seeas off as e of an opportunity to kill halflings But I knew there was more to their murders than just hate I felt it in an’s fateful words had obviously stuck with uised Jimmu in Rockabill But now they took on an entirely different connotation

"Ryu," I interrupted, twisting my neck around to peer up at hian tippedabout ‘teams of scientists’? "

"Yeah, ’course"

"Well, think about it for a ht it eird that she’d say that We’re talking about supe fertility, and she brings up the fact that they don’t do things like hus she could have said, so why that?"

Ryu thought about it a second and then nodded, albeit grudgingly, as he follohere I was leading

"Like she had it on her mind," he replied

"Exactly And noe’re suddenly investigating a laboratory that tested on a halfling What if it was soht up to her and Orin by Jarl? They would obviously dismiss the idea; she said ‘science’ like it was the craziest thing she’d ever heard"

"But she still had it on the brain"

"So, what if Jarl brought up using huan, and they immediately pooh-poohed his idea? Jarl’s not the type to let so by hi to start up sos, that would explain Peter Jakes’s assigns," Ryu broke in, "why kill them?"