“I don’t want to talk to you anymore,” she said.

“But they took Slider away from you, didn’t they?”

Now she looked really mad.

“Have you ever heard the story of Erysichthon?”

“Who?”

“I’m probably not saying it right. I’d never heard of it until last night, when I came across it in an old book.”

“Where are you going with this, Donny?” said Carl.

“Let him talk,” said Joyce.

“Thank you. Erysichthon was a king in ancient Greece. A rich guy, basically—owned a lot of land. He thought that meant he could do whatever he wanted with that land. Including cutting down the trees to build himself a sweet new house. But he cut down the most precious trees. The oldest ones, even as his guys tried to get him to stop. What he thought was some great lumber was the sacred grove of Demeter. The goddess of the harvest, who got so pissed she cursed him with famine. Hunger so bad he ended up eating his own leg.”

“Sounds like justice to me,” said Heather.

“Sounds like your family to me,” said Donny. “Or maybe our whole big American family. And I haven’t even got to the part about his daughter. His beautiful daughter. He was so hungry he sold her. First to the sea god, but then over and over to others. Do you know how?”

“She was a shapeshifter!” yelled Joyce.

Donny looked. Joyce had already rendered her verdict on Heather.

“Are you a shapeshifter?” asked Donny.

“I’m exactly what you see,” said Heather.

“A rich and powerful young woman who thinks she knows what’s good for others.”

“I’m a worker in the fields. Carrying on the good part of the work my mom started, but in a spirit of service instead of profit.”

“Do your coworkers know you’re a spy?”

“What?”

“Explain it to the others here, how you’ve been pretending to assimilate while you work as a clandestine source for those who would have the people leading this work locked up.”

He had their attention.

“You know all about lying to your friends and allies,” said Heather.

“Maybe. I also know that someone here has been serving as a confidential informant for both Interpol and private interests. Providing intelligence about the clandestine operations of the Council and its teams, in support of its judgments, including the sentences it delivers in secret. Information that will be used to develop prosecutions of some of the people sitting here in this room right now. And to bankrupt this project.”

“What evidence do you have of that?” said Ellen.

“It’s circumstantial,” said Donny. “But Heather can tell us.”

He looked at Joyce. She looked authentically surprised at the revelation, but also surprisingly pleased.

Heather looked like a rich girl suddenly ready to defend her privilege.

“I understand, Heather,” said Donny. “Slider was the only person left that you were close to. Other than maybe your dad.”