“You are making entirely too many intellectual leaps based on almost no information.”

Mandoran said, “How’s that different from what she usually does?”

“I wouldn’t make the leap at all if it weren’t for two facts. One: Azoria owned 14 Orbonne Street. Not fourteen and a half. Two: number fourteen is missing, Teela. It doesn’t exist. It’s not just the renumbered neighbor’s house on either side. It did exist; it was in the city tax Records. It doesn’t exist now. Instead we have fourteen and a half. Which is where Mrs. Erickson lives. And the children who are ghosts who somehow didn’t die until fifteen years after they theoretically escaped the damn house.”

“They escaped fourteen and a half.”

“We don’t know that. According to Records, fourteen and a half didn’t exist when any of the four were executed. I might be able to ignore things if it weren’t for the disappearance of a house and its lot. But if she was a dangerous Arcanist, and if she was doing her research in the human part of town, then the children may well have had something to do with the ill effects of that research.

“And I can’t do anything until I know whether or not that’s the case. I can’t determine whether or not that’s the case without more information.” Kaylin folded her arms. “And I’m not going to give up or look the other way. If I could think of some way to free those children without any research at all, I’d do it.”

Teela was utterly silent.

Mandoran said, out loud, “She’s the Chosen. You all go on about how she doesn’t do anything with her marks—”

“I heal.”

“—and it seems clear to some of us that this is something she’s supposed to do with the marks. This is part of being the Chosen.” Mandoran grimaced; Teela turned a very dark blue glare on him. He was clearly more comfortable with this than Kaylin would have been. “What? She’s here, and she’s the one it involves and someone won’t let me share my own name with her so we could avoid the whole talking-out-loud-in-person thing. She’s going to keep doing research unless Teela can convince her boss to nix it.

“Even if she can—and I allow for the possibility—she’s just going to move the investigation to her personal time. If the Emperor forbids the investigation, she’ll be stuck—but I’m not thinking the Emperor is someone any Barrani of note is going to approach. It makes more sense for us to help her figure it out—quickly—so that we can put it all behind us.” He turned to Kaylin. “I don’t suppose you’ve got anything else you shouldn’t be investigating?”