“Nothing?” he said softly, still staring up at her. “Can you think of nothing you might have done that I could have discovered and would be willing to tell the world?”

“Coto,” she snapped. “Show this man to the study and bring a tray of refreshments. No one is to disturb us. I’ll be down in five minutes,” she added to Nolan, and disappeared.

It was more like fifteen minutes before Cerisa joined Nolan in the small, plush sitting room whose walls were filled, floor to ceiling, with shelves of medical texts and journals. Nolan had already helped himself to the food and wine Coto had brought in. He was starving. A stress reaction, he supposed, the body using up all its reserves as it launched itself into combat. The food was delicious. He took another bite and watched Cerisa shut the door behind her.

“Now, Nolan,” she said in a smooth, dangerous voice. “Why don’t you tell me what you think you know?”

No need for games and subterfuge. Nolan swallowed his last mouthful. “On Ariana Bayless’s orders, you developed a virus fatal to the gulden. You exposed Chay Zanlan to it when he was in the city visiting his son. Apparently, you also administered it to Jex Zanlan, because he’s been released from prison to die in the arms of his cohorts and infect the lot of them. And your purpose was to destroy the gulden completely. Plague. Genocide.”

She didn’t deny it; she didn’t even look concerned. It occurred to Nolan that she was planning to have him kidnapped from her home, taken away somewhere and quietly disposed of. It was probably within her means and definitely in character. “Even if that were true,” she said, “I don’t see what you could do about it.”

Nolan actually laughed. “I can do a lot!” he exclaimed. “In fact, I’ve done it.”

“Really? And what exactly have you done?”

He counted off the items on his fingers. “I worked late to modify some of my general gulden formulas to counteract the virus. Same with existing vaccines. I traveled into Geldricht to share the drugs with Chay Zanlan. Who was pretty sick when I left, by the way, but stabilized. He may recover. At any rate, we’ve heard no news of his death, which I consider a good sign.”

Cerisa preserved her calm, but her eyes had taken on an icy intensity. “You’re right, that is quite a lot,” she said. “I’m impressed by your industriousness, but—may I say it?—disappointed at the direction your conscience has taken you. Has it occurred to you that Ariana Bayless and I may have had perfectly legitimate reasons for constructing such a virus?”

“No, not really,” Nolan said. “What would those reasons be?”