The raid occurred in the predawn hours in the Highland Park neighborhood. The deputies managed to breach the security of the family compound where Hamilton-Green, an investor and activist, was staying for the holidays. Private security forces in the family’s employ were caught off guard, but managed to put up a fight. One of the deputies was killed, along with two of the guards, but the mission was successful and Hamilton-Green is now reported to be in custody in New Orleans.

Since the signing of the Interstate Compact for the Cessation of Hostilities, New Orleans has been occupied by the demilitarized remnants of the Popular Front, the guerrilla band that originally formed during the federal occupation of the city under the Mack regime, and later coalesced into one of the forces that led the uprising that ultimately removed President Mack from power. The Compact gave New Orleans a measure of independent governance that has allowed it to serve as a foothold for efforts to undo some of the strictures of the Compact, and last fall the government there established a new truth and reconciliation tribunal for the declared purpose of holding accountable “not just the current generation of criminals and klepts, but all the generations that came before them and stole the fortunes their heirs are now hoarding.” The arrests are among the first judicial acts of this new body, which has announced its plans to begin its first trials as soon as April.

The family of Ms. Hamilton-Green could not be reached for comment.

Donny was pretty sure he could reach the family of Ms. Hamilton-Green, because he knew them. Her father, Lou, had been one of Donny’s closest friends, a former colleague who had stayed on to become a star partner at the firm where they both started their careers. Politics got in the way of their friendship, as it began to take over their lives, each of them on opposite sides of the conflict that consumed the country.

Donny knew the daughter too. Not as well. But the things he knew about her made the pieces of the story that was now coming together seem incongruous.

Donny went to find the documents Karen had proffered that morning, but was interrupted by a loud knock on his front door. He got up, expecting to see the guy who had been sleeping there.

Instead, he found the detectives who had been hounding him outside the courtroom that morning.

4

“Can I help you?” said Donny.

“I’m Inspector Blonk,” said the guy, holding up his badge. When the light hit it, you could see the lenticular of the agency logo layered over the identifying info, a ring of stars in a blue field with a tiny map of the world. “This is Deputy Commissioner Abboud. We are with Interpol.”