My stomach quailed for a moment as I saw that one of the three men who sat at a long table was Dr. Kostich, but I remembered that Cyrene, as a naiad, had no special fear of him. Chin high, I stormed forward in my best impression of her at her most outraged. ‘‘This is an obscene injustice! I demand to be released immediately. If you do not, I will alert the sisterhood to this travesty, and then you’ll all be sorry!’’

The man at the end of the table, a dark-skinned man with lovely brown eyes, grimaced as he glanced at the papers before him. ‘‘I am Monish Lakshmanan, currently acting head of the watch. You are Cyrene Northcott?’’

‘‘I certainly am!’’

‘‘I am pleased to inform you that the charge against you of assault has been dropped due to lack of evidence.’’

‘‘And rightly so, since I never did assault . . . er . . . that person.’’ I backed out of the corner from which I found myself with as much aplomb as was possible, which admittedly wasn’t a whole lot.

‘‘The dragon in question,’’ Monish said with a slight emphasis, his eyes watchful, ‘‘refused to make a statement, and in fact, left the building rather hurriedly.’’

‘‘He was a liar,’’ I said, tossing my head in a trademark Cyrene gesture.

‘‘She did not say much to allow us to make an assessment either way,’’ he said.

I forced a light, lilting laugh. ‘‘You fell for that cross-dressing act? I would have thought someone in the watch had more sense. You can take it from me, Mr. Lakshmanan—that dragon was no lady.’’

The moment of silence that followed was pregnant with unspoken words.

Monish cleared his throat and slid a glance toward the mage next to him. ‘‘Indeed. We cannot help but find your presence here somewhat of a coincidence, Miss Northcott. Your sister is arrested and tried for crimes against a number of individuals, and that very same day you are brought in on an assault charge that is mysteriously dropped.’’

I tried to school the surprise I felt at his words from showing on my face, arranging my features to display vague indifference, instead. Sister? Monish had said sister, not twin. The word ‘‘sister’’ was never used to indicate a doppelganger, except occasionally by the originating twin as a form of affection. But everyone else always referred to the two people as twins, not sisters—which could only mean that Monish and the others did not realize the truth of our relationship. Savian knew I was a doppelganger, as did Porter. Why did neither of them tell the committee? I gave a mental head shake—the whys weren’t really important now. What did matter was that the two thief takers and Cyrene had managed to keep my origins quiet, and that, I saw, was the key to Gabriel’s plan for my escape.