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“Or maybe the power came from the demons nearby immediately in that moment,” Townsend said. “You were on his property, close to this cave where they called them forth. The rest could easily have been a delusion constructed by the creatures to further their own ends.”
I couldn’t help breaking in. “Why do you think it’s more likely that they were deluded than that they really were collecting power?” I asked. Why was she so intent on downplaying their responsibility?
“It doesn’t even matter,” Rose said, her jaw set. “We can find out what’s real easily enough if we talk to them. If they’re compelled to tell the truth, there’ll be ways to fully confirm their stories.”
“Truth compulsion is only meant to be used under select circumstances where the proof of necessity is immense,” Townsend protested. “Even a carefully crafted spell of that sort can have lingering effects on the mind. These people may be criminals, but they still have some rights.”
Okay, now she was just being ridiculous. “How much proof do you need?” I asked. This was exactly why Rose had wanted me here. I waved my phone, which could have connected me to those files in an instant. “There are a whole bunch of records that mention ways these people were able to affect things, nowhere near the demons, that they shouldn’t have been able to do without some special power.”
“The power of a delusion—”
I talked right over her. “There’s the guy who managed to persuade a politician to pick his company for a contract from the other side of the restaurant they were both in—a contract other documents suggest the politician had been set to give to someone else. And the guy who shoved one of his business competitors through a window without even being in the same room as him, just watching via security camera footage. Do I need to bring up more examples? I can draw you some flow charts if it’ll help. There’s a lot more than some delusion going on there.”
Townsend’s mouth opened and closed and opened again, but she couldn’t seem to work any words out. Before she managed to, Lady Northcott spoke up.
“Both Lady Hallowell and her consort have made a convincing case. I believe we should move forward with this line of inquiry.”
Townsend’s mouth clamped tight. She shot a glare at Rose that made no sense to me at all. The back of my neck prickled. She seemed awfully invested in this discussion for someone who should have been most concerned about stopping that demon thing from hurting anyone else. Wasn’t she supposed to stand for justice?
“Perhaps Investigator Ruiz can oversee the questioning,” Lady Northcott went on, with a glance toward the enforcer. “Lady Townsend, we’ll want at least two other enforcers present, to witness the correct conduct of any truth compulsion used and, well, because we can’t be entirely sure how these accused will react.”
Townsend’s lips pursed. “I’ll need to confirm the allocation with the head of Justice.”
Northcott gave her a puzzled look. “Igive you the authority to make that call right now. We don’t have time to waste. I want them ready first thing in the morning.” She rubbed her jaw, a momentary weariness showing in her eyes.
Townsend’s comment stuck in my head.Confirm the allocation. Why did that sound so familiar?
My memories of the last several hours of research raced through my head. I’d seen that wording somewhere in the files, hadn’t I?
Yes. In a record mentioning some event where one of the faction members had planned to work some kind of scheme, where they’d wanted a few enforcers in attendance. There’d been a note about how an Assembly contact would need to “confirm the allocation.” It’d seemed like weird phrasing to me, and I hadn’t seen them use it anywhere else in their comments. Which suggested it hadn’t been their wording but the contact’s.
Between her weird behavior and that specific phrase, a sudden certainty gripped me. My back tensed, but I made myself look straight at Lady Townsend. “You were the one in the Justice division who helped the Frankfords out when they needed Assembly support, weren’t you?” We wouldn’t even get into the murders she might have helped orchestrate.
She clearly hadn’t been expecting that accusation. Her pinched features flinched before she schooled her expression back into her usual disapproving look. “What is your unsparked partner ranting about now, Lady Hallowell?” she said, cold and crisp.
I wasn’t going to let her dismiss me like that. “You’re doing everything you can to take the blame away from these witching people, to make it sound as if every crime they committed was the demons’ fault,” I said. “And you don’t want us to question them—because you’re worried someone who knows about you will end up mentioning your name? What you just said about ‘confirming the allocation,’ that’s something you said to the Frankfords before. They recorded it just the way you said it in their files, you know.”
Lady Northcott had turned toward Townsend, her mouth pressing into a flat line. “You have been raising a rather unusual number of concerns given the dire situation we’ve found ourselves in. Can you offer any other explanation for why you’ve been protecting these known criminals over the innocents the demon might harm?”
Lady Townsend started to sputter. “I simply— Our people’s rights must be considered—”
Rose’s eyes narrowed. “We know for sure there’s someone in the Assembly the Frankfords had help from. It had to be someone who could make decisions in the Justice Division.”
“This is absurd,” Townsend spat out. She turned to Lady Northcott. “I can’t believe you’d accept an accusation like this from a—”
Northcott made a gesture with her hand, so brief and small I almost missed it. Investigator Ruiz moved at once. Her fingers twitched as she swiveled her wrist, calling a spell into being.
“Lady Veronica Townsend, by the order of the authority of the Assembly and in this state of near-emergency, you will answer the next question truthfully.”
Her voice crackled with the same sort of power I’d heard in Rose’s on occasion. Townsend stiffened. Brimsey stepped forward behind her as if to cut her off if she meant to make a run for it.
“Did you assist Charles Frankford in any of his illicit dealings?” Lady Northcott said tersely.
Townsend’s mouth twisted. “Yes,” she said, as if the admission had been wrenched out of her. “I did.” She gasped as the spell must have loosed its hold. “You have to understand. I wasn’t fully aware—”
Northcott’s face had hardened. “We can discuss that in preparation for your hearing. Investigator, please take her to a holding room.”
When the traitor had left the room, I let out my breath, my chest tight. Lady Northcott’s shoulders bowed as she leaned her hands on the table.
