“Cuffs, he had me fetch Lord Bayar’s girlie. The tall scary one with the white hair. First he had me drag her all over Ragmarket and Southbridge to shake any footpads. Me, I thought it was a setup. I thought he meant to do her like he done the others.”

“What do you mean, like the others?” Raisa asked.

“Those other jinxflingers he killed.”

Raisa tasted ashes on the back of her tongue. “What jinxflingers?”

“You know. Them as has been found all over Ragmarket.”

“You’re saying that Lord Alister is the one killing wizards?” Raisa struggled to control her voice, to keep it matter-of-fact. To avoid shrieking, Liar!

Flinn heard something in her tone, just the same, and shrank away on the seat. “None of the rest of us was in on the shoulder-taps, least not that I know of. He likely doesn’t want any tongues wagging.” Flinn scratched his head. “That’s the thing I don’t understand. He kills ’em, secret-like, and then he turns around and puts his mark on ’em.” Fishing under his filthy shirt, he pulled out a beaten copper talisman with the familiar markings on it. “The staff-and-flash, he calls it. If he’s trying to lie low, then why would he do that?”

“Why, indeed?” Raisa muttered. She didn’t look at Amon—she knew he’d have recognized the symbol, too. “Have you actually seen him kill anyone?”

Flinn shook his head. “Nobody sees him, nobody hears him unless he wants them to. I thought that since he was working for you, the bluejackets would look the other way.”

“Just because he’s working for me doesn’t mean—” Then it came to her—what Flinn was suggesting. “Wait a minute. Are you saying you thought he was killing wizards for me?”

Flinn looked baffled at the question. “’Course. I mean, wizards killed the old queen, your mother, and they tried to take away your throne and all. So I figured Cuffs—Lord Alister—was doing the rival gang.”

“Sweet Lady of the Mountains!” Raisa rose and paced back and forth. “You thought Lord Alister was my hired assassin?”

“That’s what I thought,” Flinn said, nodding, seeming oblivious of Raisa’s agitation. “We all did. Until I come to find out he was plotting to murder you.”

Raisa swung around to face him. “What?”

“When I found out he was meeting with Lady Bayar instead of hushing her, I wanted to know what they said. There’s a scullery that runs from the kitchen to the back room at the Smiling Dog, and I hid in there with my ear to the wall.”

“What, exactly, did you hear?” Raisa said, her heart thrumming painfully.