I answer something Emily says, and then I give her grandfather another dubious look.

“Yes, he keeps immaculate records,” he says. “I taught him well in that regard. I also taught him to keep them locked away. I bought an excellent safe for that exact purpose, an impenetrable one with a foolproof locking mechanism.”

Now my look has him smiling again.

“You are wondering whether I expect you to be an expert cracker of safes? No, child, because this safe is custom made. To change the combination, my son would need to bring a man up from London.”

“Which he has not done,” I say, too low for Emily to hear while she’s exclaiming over a distant ship.

“Yes. Why would he go through all that trouble to change the lock when the only one who knows the combination is deceased?”

I continue talking with Emily—which involves mostly listening and making appropriate noises as she talks—while I work this out. I cannot deny the allure of such an escapade. Getting myself invited to the home of an evil lord so that I may sneak into his offices and steal papers from his safe? It is exactly the sort of adventure I write about. However, it is also the sort of adventure I know is best reserved for works of fiction.

That is not to say Nicolas and I couldn’t pull off such a caper. We could and would if the reward was great enough. Is it great enough, though? What are we going to find in that safe? I understand the late Lord Norrington thinks this a fine idea, but no matter how meticulous the current Norrington’s notes, what exactly could we find? A receipt for money paid to “nail the cabin boy in the pantry”?

It is possible we could find something to prove Norrington is overtaxing the villagers or placing impossible regulations on local trade. But is that worth breaking into his office when the penalty could be death? We cannot even be certain the Crown would care about the overtaxation.

Wait.

Do we need to find proof of wrongdoing to take to the Crown? Or do we simply need to find proof of wrongdoing that we can threaten to take to the Crown? Threaten to deliver to the local authorities. Threaten to hand over to men like Lord Thorne, who would happily take down Norrington and who would not fear repercussions.

That is what we would be looking for. Not proof that Norrington had Andrés killed, but incriminating evidence of any sort that we could use against him. Use it to force a confession regarding Andrés? No, I cannot see either Nicolas or myself playing that particular role. But we can use it to alleviate the dire situation in Hood’s Bay.

We will likely find incriminating evidence of overtaxation. If we can also find anything—anything—to prove Norrington ordered Andrés’s death, then that is only more reason to do it.

Now, how to win myself an invitation to the home of Emily’s uncle? If I ask about him again, she may think I am using her to secure a wealthy husband.