Goodwill lifted one of Clemency’s hands and drew her attention to fibres caught in the black spikes of the claws. ‘Mercy was struck by the speedboat and killed instantly, but his brother became entangled in a rope when the skiff sank. He struggled to get free before water filled his lungs.’

Ysbel asked for permission to take some images, for her records and the bailiff’s. While she extracted one of her bots from the satchel that hung at her hip, Goodwill explained that the two brothers had been lamping for squid.

‘Solomon Firststar rents the island from the town council, but he does not control the fishing rights. Nor can he, because the waters belong to everyone.’

‘Was any warning given about the race?’ Ysbel said.

‘None that I know of.’

‘So it is unlikely that the victims put themselves in harm’s way.’

‘Mercy and Clemency broke no law, and had every right to be there.’

Ysbel took pictures and deep scans of the bodies and sent the bot trawling the length of the speedboat to record the damage. She said, ‘Will you be able to bring Joyous Hightower to account?’

‘I will do my best, but it is clear that he is not an honourable person. And nothing is ever straightforward when dealing with wealthy folk.’

‘Hopefully, Trina Mersdaughter’s statement will help.’

‘Perhaps.’

‘Our authorities will have to decide whether she is responsible in any way for the deaths. If you or the family of the victims want to know how that works out, I can pass on the details.’

‘But we will have no say in it. And she will not have to answer to the family of Mercy and Clemency.’

‘Not according to the treaty, no. But we can ask her if she would agree to meet the family, and make amends by your custom and law.’

‘Yes, we can ask,’ Goodwill said, clearly having no expectation that anything would come of it.

Ysbel was folding her bot into the satchel when a servant entered the boathouse and bowed to her in human fashion and told her that Solomon Firststar would be delighted and honoured if she could spare a little time to meet him.

‘With your permission,’ Ysbel said to Goodwill.

‘Why not? Perhaps he will be more candid with you than he was with me, given the nature of his business.’

As they followed the servant towards the house, Goodwill told Ysbel that Solomon Firststar was a half-and-half, a fixer who helped to arrange deals between her people and his. ‘Someone who lives half in one world, half in another, and is committed to neither. He has kept his tribal affiliation, but borrowed his birth name from your people. He is as slippery as kelp, but he is also the kind of person who thinks they are smarter than anyone else.’