“But you are aware that Kaylin is Chosen; you are aware that she has a familiar. On occasion, the familiar will allow his master—” Hope squawked at the word, which Teela ignored “—to look through his wing. If he notices something out of place, he will raise the wing and place it across her eyes.

“When she looked through the wing at the foot of the mortal’s modest dwelling, she could see the...ghostly outline of a much larger building above the old woman’s residence. It was research into that that allowed Kaylin to stumble across the forbidden name. If, as we have believed, she is dead, someone thought to play a joke on the government: her name was listed as owner a century ago, in mortal time. No other records list that name, but these were found in the taxation Records.

“Kaylin recognized the styling as a Barrani name—and in the experience of the Halls of Law, Barrani ownership of buildings in certain areas has generally led to the discovery of many, many broken Imperial Laws. It was natural that she attempt to find information about the owner, given the lack of the building the mortal theoretically owned, the lack of a legal lot partition, and the presence of a modest, small house in roughly the same geographic location.”

The Consort nodded.

“But the name has history, and the history is dark; it drew attention Kaylin had not considered possible from tax Records. Understanding the sensitivity of the investigation, I chose to accompany her when she returned to examine the interior of that house.

“The first unusual thing occurred before I managed to reach the house itself. The neighbor—about whom Kaylin will say nothing or she will rant about bullies for far longer than either of us have the patience to endure—threw himself at my feet, weeping and groveling. He felt he recognized me. In fact, he was certain that I was...someone else. Barrani, to humans who do not interact with them with any frequency, look very similar. He assumed that I was a different Barrani woman—one with whom he had some sort of relationship.”

The Consort looked mildly disgusted, but nodded.

“In and of itself, this would not give rise to suspicions that a historical criminal somehow escaped death; it is a small shadow, a strand.

“It is the interior of the house—or rather, one room—and the story of the old woman who lives there, that provides the stronger concern. The woman was born in the house; it was owned by mortal parents. They had one child that we know of, and they grew old and died in the house, leaving it to their daughter.