Rebecca was Second Lieutenant Matherson’s reason to visit Drekenford. Rebecca was, most likely, responsible for the flowers at the side of the track. And she was growing in my day-brother’s affections – as distasteful an idea as that was. She was not a pious woman.

I lay in bed in almost complete darkness and stared at the ceiling. While there was some satisfaction in solving this minor matter, I struggled to see how it furthered my main investigation; except, perhaps, for ruling out a puzzling set of details. I could not connect Rebecca and her sordid romance with the officer with any other events, nor did it go any way to explain the strange happenings at the fort: the settled ash, meeting Death as she drove up the track, or the exact toll of the pox. If I were to suppose Rebecca had some mastery of the dark arts and that her relationship with Matherson had ended acrimoniously, perhaps it was possible to piece together a motive for such an extreme act. But it lacked the precision of what was done to Jan Harsson and Constable Webber – if Matherson were the target, why employ such a fickle, uncontrollable device as a pox?

Getting nowhere, I tossed aside the bedsheets and lit a candle. I opened the curtains but it was a moonless night, with a covering of thick cloud. At least it was dry. I took my time and washed thoroughly, and was pleased to find my finer clothes had been laundered just as I requested. Tonight I would be dining with the reputable part of the Eder family.

I had not seen Mrs Eder in a good few days, but I didn’t think my growing knowledge of her day-sister would affect my behaviour towards her. Would Mrs Eder see me differently, however, knowing that my day-brother was all but courting her day-sister? In our brief meetings she had struck me as an entirely sensible woman; I assumed she would understand the fleeting and misguided nature of the romance, given the situation, and simply tolerate it as I did until events naturally resolved themselves.

I spent much of the evening employed in writing correspondence. I advised the attendant of my boarding house in Esteberg that I would be away for at least another week, likely two, and that I would be grateful if he could water my ettiene plant.

I gave the chief inspector a detailed account of my progress so far, though had to admit I was still some way from an arrest. I explained the shift against me in the common feeling of the town. I apologised that I had not been swifter in my resolution of this case, nor had I been a particularly successful ambassador for the crown. I concluded my letter with the solemn promise to resolve my investigation and bring the perpetrator of these unnatural crimes to justice.

I wrote to Ignatius once again. I asked him if he received my previous letter, and implored him to send Bartrey’s History of the Baalimine. I considered telling the custodian of the horrors I had witnessed here in Drekenford that I believed were accounted for in Bartrey, but decided that would not help my cause. Custodians and librarians valued cool judgement and a calm hand when it came to their precious texts.