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Stuart’s cheeks flushed and his head jerked back as though the words themselves had hit him in the face “Lily! I…” He put a hand to his brow and rubbed “I apologize I hadn’t thought about what ht have been done to her” He dropped his hand and took a deep breath “She must have suffered terribly”

Hulan watched hi a murder was to be expected, and people tended to do it pretty well, given the stakes Grief, by contrast, was hard to iame A lot would depend on how he answered her other questions

Hulan veered back again to the dam “You mentioned you’ve had some problems here in the construction zone”

Stuart looked puzzled “I don’t remember any problems”

“Faulty components…”

“Oh, those problehed sadly and shook his head “I just wanted to avoid your interrogation”

Hulan proed…”

“Inspector,” his voice sounded world-weary, “have you been on a construction site before? Construction—whether it’s a siued with problems So yeah, we’ve had problems, but I don’t see what they could possibly have to do with your investigation”

“Still, I’d like you to take h some of your difficulties as you see them”

“We’ve had delays in the delivery of materials, because your Custohai”

“What else?”

“We’ve ordered materials here in your country, but each tiet defective batches”

“Another outside problem, correct?”

“Another problem caused by your country, if that’s what you mean,” he replied irritably

“And you say these complications are to be expected?”