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‘It’s not inconceivable that someone could have framed him,’ said Garovel. ‘And according to Ibai’s own account, Fuad was dead before he arrived.’

“He also sounded extremely confused,” said Lorenzo. “Could be that he didn’t realize what he’d done until it was too late, but that doesn’t change the fact that he did it.”

“That is not a fact until we confirm it as such,” said Carlos. “You are also not a part of this investigation. You’ve given us your witness statement. You may leave now.”

“And who put you in charge, exactly?” said Lorenzo. “This isn’t Roth.”

“You are correct,” said Carlos. “But this is not Deynos, either. This is Moaban. And as we are guests here, we should defer to the Lord Najir. Agreed?”

Lorenzo gave a slow nod before he and everyone else turned to Asad and Qorvass.

And despite having been put on the spot rather suddenly, the tattooed Sandlord lost none of his composure. “Lord Lorenzo. It is my understanding that you worked as a constable in Deynos for many years, no?”

“I did, yes.”

“And Lord Carlos, you served in the Vanguard’s OSI, did you not?”

“Yes.”

That caught Hector’s attention. ‘OSI?’

‘Office of Special Investigations,’ Garovel said privately.

“I would like the both of you to head up your own investigations, independent of one another,” said Asad. “Do not waste time sharing information. Simply return to me in six hours with whatever you have learned.”

Lorenzo shifted his feet and tilted his head. “Six hours isn’t much to work with.”

“You’ll keep investigating afterwards, but I need your preliminary reports by then. At most, I can buy us twelve hours before Hahl Saqqaf shows up and starts asking a lot of difficult questions--not the least of which will be why the hell I chose to give refuge to so many Rainlords without informing them.”

“Do you think they will kick us out?” said Carlos.

“No,” said Asad. “This is my jurisdiction. But they will certainly not be pleased.”

“All the same,” said Lorenzo, “perhaps we should be ready to leave in a hurry.”

“I won’t discourage your people’s caution,” said Asad, “but just focus on the investigation right now. I will inform Abel and Salvador of what I am having you do.”

‘What about the Blackburns?’ asked Garovel.