“And that may very well be the news they wanted to tell her,” said Perry, “but I assure you, they would not have died for that information. Everyone here knew that certain families were taking advantage of the queen’s ignorance to import Monsea’s zilfium at shocking prices. Mikka and Brek wouldn’t have been killed to prevent them telling her. It was no secret. Everyone knew the queen would figure it out eventually.”

Giddon couldn’t breathe around his indignation. “And why didn’t anyone else write to her? Did everyone here find her ignorance so entertaining? Why didn’t you write to her?”

“I did tell Mikka. Look, I understand your feelings,” Perry said quietly. “I share them. But I do think it was less that people were actively upholding the deception and more that people were busy, and forgot about it, and failed to care. There’s an attitude here that all’s fair in business.”

“That’s disgusting,” said Hava flatly.

“I agree,” said Perry. “But I assure you that it does not extend to murdering people to prevent them communicating information that everyone knows.”

Then why were they murdered? thought Giddon, suddenly, impossibly frustrated. Maybe they weren’t? Could Katu have been wrong? No. Katu was no fool; if he’d believed there was something suspicious about the drowning of the Seashell, believed it enough to start diving for the wreck, he was probably right. And his subsequent disappearance supported the theory.

But if the deaths of Mikka and Brek had nothing to do with zilfium or the zilfium importers, where did that put Giddon and Hava? Exactly nowhere, for the importers had been their best lead. Their only lead, really.

Giddon was suddenly afraid he was going to start crying in Perry’s office.

“Perry,” said Hava, “how did everyone in Winterkeep learn that Monsea had zilfium?”

“A woman from Monsea,” Perry said. “A Graceling named Trina. I understand she’s one of your Estillan refugees?”

And now Giddon had a new person to kill. We helped her. “She showed the Keepish how to trick the Monsean queen,” he said quietly, “and she’s talked openly about escaping Estill to Monsea?”

“She has a price,” said Perry, “and a reputation. In fact, her reputation has largely ruined her own business here, if the rumors are true. People want her help, but they don’t want to work with her.”

“Is that because she’s unethical,” said Hava, “or simply because she’s a Graceling?”

Perry seemed startled, then unhappy, deflated. “It’s probably both. Was the queen aware of the size of her zilfium stores?”

“No,” said Giddon. “She began a survey before we left, but there wasn’t much time.”

Perry’s eyes widened. “Perhaps I should tell you that Winterkeep believes Monsea’s zilfium stores to be truly massive,” he said. “More massive than any known Torlan source. The queen is sitting on a fortune that Torla can’t match.”