The papers crackled as Mauthis leafed through them, his pen scratching his name at the bottom of each one. He paused at the last. 'And no. This must be called in at once.' He reached forward and took hold of a stamp, its wooden handle polished by long use, and rocked it carefully in its tray of red ink. It thumped down against the paper with a disturbing finality. And is some merchant's life squashed out under that stamp, do we suppose? Is that ruin and despair, so carelessly administered? Is that wives and children, out upon the street? There is no blood here, there are no screams, and yet men are destroyed as completely as they are in the House of Questions, and with a fraction of the effort.

Glokta's eyes followed the clerk as he hurried out with the documents. Or is it merely a receipt for ten bits, refused? Who can say? The door was pulled softly and precisely shut with the gentlest of smooth clicks.

Mauthis paused only to align his pen precisely with the edge of his desk, then he looked up at Glokta. 'I am truly grateful that you have answered promptly.'

Glokta snorted. 'The tone of your note did not seem to allow for delay.' He winced as he lifted his aching leg with both hands and heaved his dirty boot up onto the chair beside him. 'I hope you will return the favour and come promptly to the point. I am extremely busy.' I have Magi to destroy, and Kings to bring down, and, if I cannot do one or the other, I have a pressing appointment to have my throat cut and be tossed in the sea.

Mauthis' face did not so much as flicker. 'Once again, I find that my superiors are not best pleased with the direction of your investigations.'

Is that so? 'Your superiors are people of deep pockets and shallow patience. What now offends their delicate sensibilities?'

'Your investigation into the lineage of our new King, his August Majesty Jezal the First.' Glokta felt his eye twitch, and he pressed his hand against it with a sour sucking of his gums. 'In particular your enquiries into the person of Carmee dan Roth, the circumstances of her untimely demise, and the closeness of her friendship with our previous King, Guslav the Fifth. Do I come close enough to the point for your taste?'

A little closer than I would like, in fact. 'Those enquiries have scarcely even begun. I find it surprising that your superiors are so very well informed. Do they acquire their information from a crystal ball, or a magic mirror?' Or from someone at the House of Questions who likes to talk? Or from someone closer to me even than that, perhaps?

Mauthis sighed, or at least, he allowed some air to issue from his face. 'I told you to assume that they know everything. You will discover it is no exaggeration, particularly if you choose to try and deceive them. I would advise you very strongly against that course of action.'