‘Welcome back, probator,’ she said. It was hard to tell what her mood was. She never looked exactly happy, but then again she didn’t look obviously furious either.

Zidarov tried to push his head up a bit, and was more successful this time. ‘Is this my debrief, Castellan?’

‘Something like that. Why don’t you start?’

He wondered where to begin. ‘Well, I was right.’

‘You say that a lot.’

‘I was. The boy’s dead. He was dead right from the start. It was just to draw us in, to get us to go after the Vidora. How is Yuti, by the way?’

‘Still angry.’

‘The whole thing was a feud between cartels, legal or other­wise. I started to think about it in business terms. A friendly takeover. Only, Udmil couldn’t quite handle the major partner. She thought she’d got one thing, she ended up with another.’

‘Not any more.’

‘Oh?’

Vongella gave him a searching look. ‘I don’t know just how much of this you know about. I don’t know how much of it is actually down to you in the first place.’

‘You give me too much credit.’

‘Avro Lascile is dead.’

‘Ah.’

‘There’s an open case file on it. I won’t be giving it to you. It’s all very strange – Udmil Terashova reported it three days ago. That’s two reports she’s brought to us in such a short time. Seems it’s become something of a habit for her.’

‘How did he die?’

‘Heart attack. Something he was prone to, apparently.’

‘Then that’ll be a short case to wrap up.’

Vongella uncrossed her legs and got up. She walked over to the window, and ran her finger down the frame. ‘I’m not stupid. In another world, I might not be reliant on men like Avro Lascile to keep this place running, but his absence gives me a problem. I’ll have to find other patrons now, ones with equal generosity.’

‘His widow might be prepared to donate.’

‘Yes, I think she might. What were you doing on that highway?’

‘My job.’

‘Funny. I spoke to Gurdic Draj. He claims to have been doing his job as well.’

‘I actually quite like Draj now. Imagine that. Under all that–’

‘Stop it.’ Vongella suddenly looked tired, exasperated, like a parent stuck with squabbling children in a hab-chamber all day with no respite. ‘I do not like any of this. Jazc Corporation is now in turmoil. We have swapped a compliant benefactor for one I know much less about. There have been explosions up at the suborbital receiving-cradles, lots of them, and that will have an impact on tithes. Whole dynasties have gone under. The slate loss is heavy. Where there is strife, there is disorder. I do not know what you have done, but I know that none of it was sanctioned. You could have come to me. You should have come to me.’