The confession had already acquired a clean folder.
It lay on the witness table beside a prepared announcement, while Gareth Ashford explained how much time it would save.
“A direct acknowledgment,” he said. “No more wondering who authorized the adjustments.”
Lyra read the page without sitting down.
The text resembled a private instruction from Balthazar to an accounts officer. It referred to altered tribute weights, additional recovery charges and the need to keep inconvenient questions within the household. At the bottom, his name curved in a familiar hand.
Below that stood a certification naming the record office and the source transfer received yesterday.
The seal looked right.
She wanted it to be right with a force that embarrassed her.
