Ashfoot silently watched until they were out of sight, then turned to Firestar with a sigh. “I wanted to talk to you alone, Firestar. There’s something I have to tell you.”

Lionblaze’s belly lurched. Had Ashfoot been by the stream that night? Could she put a name to the cat whose teeth had torn out Ashfur’s life? But the WindClan deputy looked too calm for a cat who had been a witness to murder.

“Go on,” Firestar meowed.

“A few sunrises ago,” Ashfoot continued, “I was leading the dawn patrol along the stream when I spotted Sol—you remember, the cat who took over ShadowClan for a while?”

“Sol?” Firestar’s green eyes stretched wide. “I thought he had left the lake.”

“No—or at least, he was here a few days ago.”

“Then why didn’t Onestar tell me about him?” Firestar’s shock was giving way to anger.

Ashfoot shrugged, looking uncomfortable. Lionblaze knew that she was a fair-minded cat; she couldn’t be happy about the tensions between her own Clan and ThunderClan. But her loyalty to Onestar wouldn’t let her speak openly.

“Ashfur’s death is your problem, not ours,” she pointed out. “You can’t expect Onestar to be happy when you come barging into his camp accusing his cats of murder.”

“We didn’t—” Brambleclaw began indignantly, his amber eyes blazing.

Firestar raised his tail for silence. “Let’s end this misunderstanding now,” he meowed to Ashfoot. “We are not accusing WindClan of anything. We just want to find out anything we can about Ashfur’s death. Now tell us what you know about Sol. Where did you see him? When?”

“It was about a quarter moon ago,” Ashfoot replied. “He was near the lake, in the woods on your side of the stream. I don’t think he saw us; he was too busy eating some fresh-kill.”

“Prey-stealing!” Sorreltail hissed.

“That’s not the day Ashfur died,” Brackenfur murmured thoughtfully. “But it’s close to the place where we found his body.”

“Very close,” Firestar agreed. “Thank you, Ashfoot. That’s the most useful thing we’ve learned so far.”

Ashfoot dipped her head. “I’m glad to be of help. I wish you and your Clan well, Firestar.”

Lionblaze could see the sympathy in her eyes. She can tell we’re in trouble, he realized. If only she knew how much!

Sunhigh was past and long black shadows were beginning to creep across the hollow when Firestar’s patrol returned. The queens and Birchfall were drowsily sharing tongues outside the nursery, while Cloudtail, Brightheart, and Hazeltail were crouched beside the fresh-kill pile. Foxpaw and Icepaw were practicing fighting moves outside their den. Lionblaze heard Icepaw screech, “WindClan murderer! I’ll rip your pelt off!”

Firestar sighed. “We’d better put a stop to that. I’ll call another meeting right away.”

Brambleclaw’s whiskers twitched in surprise. “Shouldn’t we discuss it with the senior warriors first?”

Firestar shook his head. “No. The whole Clan is involved in this. I want them to know about Sol right now, before some of these hotheads manage to sneak off and attack WindClan.”